Raylan was told in advance that this wasn't a regular meeting, and the only way Adelaide had convinced him to come had been by promising him the good shit -- it wasn't that he didn't care about the mage council, but he was busy, despite all appearances to the contrary. Raylan had recently been called out on making a show of laziness and ignorance, allowing those around him to think he wasn't doing anything of consequence.

But he'd been promised the good brandy, so Raylan was there, sipping and lingering near the edge of the room, wishing there was a window he could be gazing out of contemplatively. Instead, he could only look at his fellow councillors, and, while they were beautiful, it came off a lot less 'enigmatic intellectual' and more 'creepy loner.'

That was probably for the best. Intellectual didn't fit with the image he was going for. Still would have been nice, though.