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The grownups are all very busy, but the children are all bored.
Bored or having nightmares. But Tasárinon was not on a ship and did not see the people dying and has only heard it thirdhand and can't exactly have nightmares about the look in his mother's eyes - well, he probably could, but he hasn't - so he's bored, and he is drawing on the floor. It is an absurdly intricate drawing. He has been embellishing it for three days.
Findekáno gapes at him speechlessly.
"Cam," says the King, "come back over, will you? Nolofinwion, there'll be less friction if you send someone else to run errands. I do read your messages, or would if they contained anything of value, so there's no strategic need -"
Findekáno is still gaping speechlessly, but manages to congeal back into intense dislike, at that. "Yeah," he says, and takes the drugs and leaves.
(And leans against the wall as soon as he's in private and barely conquers the urge to wake Maitimo up with intense anger and terror and whispers '...what'.)
The King looks confused for about a quarter of a second, which is as long as he ever does. "Oh, right. No Valar, and no childbearing - in Hell there's no sociological reason they'd even have that taboo - suggesting someone has a male lover, here, is a grievously insulting thing to say of him. I thought you did so knowing that, and I disapproved, because I wouldn't see the laws of the Valar weaponized like that. Or heeded at all, frankly, once we don't need them for reembodiment."
"...Oh. No, that is not what was happening. I can... go apologize? Or would that make it worse?"
"I don't know him, I have no idea. You can help me figure out a way to get the Silmarils so we don't need Mandos for backup and inappropriate sexual inclinations aren't ironed out of people by divine command."
"Yes, that is the plan in the long run," Cam says. "Thank you for the cultural update."
And then he goes to see if Findekáno is within finding-and-apologizing range.
He has still managed to resist the urge to wake Maitimo up - waking up to upset osanwe is unpleasant - but barely. The adrenaline hasn't yet faded and he's telling his body to stop doing it. Hallway's still empty.
"Hey. I'm sorry about that, culture gap thing, I was not trying to insult you like that." Just a little bit. Not that much.
"I'm surprised Maitimo didn't explain it to you. You could have made a costlier mistake. The King already can't be bothered with me.
Culture gap thing?"
"It didn't come up with Maitimo," shrugs Cam. "Although I suppose if I'd been peeking at the Valian reactions to the library of Hell I would have noticed? Uh, I was being slightly rude about your general... dramaticness... but not in non-Elf cultural terms especially rude about anything else."
"Feanáro was not in fact in line for the throne; he'd just recently been sentenced to probation for holding my father at gunpoint over a political disagreement. He'd literally invented guns for the purpose. The Valar weren't amused. Maitimo maneuvered him into the throne anyway, taking advantage of the fact we all know we can't afford divisions and that they weren't going to back down. Also their oath is to never relent in attempting to kill anyone who withholds a Silmaril from them. We need my cousins to win this war and I am torn over whether any of this worth mentioning, but you could learn it from the Enemy so perhaps better to learn it now. And if you were under the impression that our internal divisions are all the result of drama-loving people who can't see past their petty personal grievances.
Maitimo manages people. I'm not saying you shouldn't let him, but you deserve to know he's doing it."
"I am curious whether Maitimo fed you the line you used earlier or whether you came up with it independently."
"If he implied it without explaining what it meant, then he did so expecting you'd say something in front of the wrong people, which would be an interesting thing for him to have done. If you came up with it on your own I'd like to know how so other people don't."
".......it has seemed like a painfully obvious background fact since about ninety seconds after I met you and I just didn't bring it up with anyone for any reason until just then."
"You seem better positioned than I was to notice what Maitimo's steering you into before you've killed ten thousand people for him. Take care." And he leaves.
... that seems like a weird thing to say. Why did he say that.
Anyway. Cam shakes out his itinerary and determines there is nothing else he needs to do here before giving Maitimo a ride to Brithombar. Where is Maitimo.
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