[…] enjoy the combination of a general easing of discipline (to aid retention) and mixed sex (and I mean that any way you want to take it, fnar fnar).

Marta's gander was a magnificent snow-white bird: the object of terror to foxes, children and dogs. She had reared him as a gosling; and whenever he approached, he would let fly a low contented burble and sidle his neck around her thighs.

Who'm I going to work with?

in a fair / better / worse train