It's nice to be in a position to appreciate him, too! So nice.

Good. That's the idea.

All nice things must come to an end. A bubblegum-pink licoricey end, in this case. Leo provides adequate warning in the event that Aleko wishes to prepare himself.

Aleko likes licorice just fine.

That's good! Leo's fond of it as well. He'd like to see if he can return the favor.

What, was he expecting protests?

No, but he's glad none are forthcoming.

Does he need more active encouragement, because Aleko can also do that.

He's quite fond of it! Leo is a very receptive person.

Oh good.

After the narcissistic festivities have concluded, Leo is inclined towards cuddling. (Milliways has such nice soft beds.)

Aleko could take or leave cuddling. Leo seems like a taker, so, taking cuddling it is.

"Recreational narcissism's pretty great. It seems like a weird priority for a magic bar though."

"I mean, I've had other interesting experiences here, but Bar's got a weird sense of humor. Or whoever runs the door, her boss I guess. It's not an unusually weird priority, is what I'm saying."

"Why, what else have you had happen here?"

"Mm... I've been here a couple dozen times, they've all been some kind of interesting. I met another of Zanna once, she had pointy ears and some kind of weird blood powers. She turned me into a meat puppet for a bit. It was fun. And this one time I saw a little girl who said she'd tell me how to take over the world if I bought her mashed potatoes. There was the lady with the facial tattoos and the spaceship. The league of tiny men. A dragon tried to punch me in the face. Miscellaneous talking birds."

"Why did a dragon try to punch you in the face?"

"...Linguistic missteps. There was a lot of cultural baggage to it, as far as I could tell, but I only got as far as saying 'but could you say this word in your weird magic language' before he was screaming and punching."

"That's very strange."

"Yep. We were getting along so well, too. But it was certainly interesting."

"I'll give you that."

"Anyway, I like Milliways even given its weird priorities. It's a fun place. Plus Bar gave me and Zanna an absolutely terrifying library, which she's very pleased with."

"What makes a library terrifying?"

"Knowledge is power. And with the right books, that becomes extremely literal. That library contains enough magic that we have to use searching spells just to find the spells we want. That kind of power in Zanna's hands should frighten anyone. It doesn't frighten me, but I think we've established that I don't make sense."