"Ainu psychology, a comparison of Noldorin and Vanyarin culture, ethics, the development of writing, Endorë - some of these are collaborations with Rúmil."

"I have next to no interest in ethics but I would absolutely read a book you wrote about it."

"It was mostly 'ethics in the context of Valar/Eldar friction'."

"Oh?"

"They used to do things like prohibit homosexuality and refuse to reembody people without making sure they were straight first, and had some interesting ideas about the relative importance of the members of various species and divine command and such, and the book examines their ideas and the principles according to which they evolved over time."

"...Wow."

"What?"

"Just - the concept of gods being like that. If I'd had to live with them I'd end up wanting to kill them but from the outside it's funny."

"I've always found the Valar very interesting and worth taking the time to understand."

"Yes, that does sound like you."

Giggle.

He laughs.

"I don't really understand the draw of this hobby of yours, but I'm glad you have it."

"It's handy sometimes! The Valar are quite responsive to everyone now, but I've been talking to them so much for so long that I have their ear quicker than anyone."

"Useful. But is it interesting because it's useful, or on its own merits?"

"The two are sort of entangled."

"How so?"

"When Oromë found the Elves on Endorë and offered to bring us to Valinor, he was the most interesting thing anyone'd ever seen. He made the air around him crackle and he had to speak to Elves by osanwë because he didn't even have vocal cords, let alone a word of Quenya, and he was so strange and enthralling. The man who is now our King, with a couple of his friends, went to look at the paradise he told everyone about and see if it was good, and they came back fifty years later to confirm that it was, and I was a little girl then and Oromë was a little better at interacting with incarnates by then but not by much, he was so strange. And I thought, 'him and the other ones like him are the most important things there are that I could go talk to' - since you couldn't go talk to Eru, then - 'I have to know how they work, I have to know why they do things and what they can do'."

(He giggles at 'didn't even have vocal cords'.)

"Well. I'm glad it worked out so well for you."

"Me too!"

"How much of this logic applies to befriending the Emperor, or am I mostly a coincidence?"

"I would have eventually tried to find a safe way to meet you if busking hadn't done it. You are not an Ainu but you do seem to have interesting mental architecture."

Giggle. "Do I?"

"You do!"

"Can't say I've heard that one before, but then I don't spend much time talking to people about how I think."

"I find different ways people think to be one of the most interesting topics in the world. I had been vaguely considering writing another book consisting of interviews with married couples, who if they have the right marital style and blessings have a lot of insight into each other's thought processes."