I will be sure to make fun of you only very discreetly. You will have no idea what is said and languish in indefinite contented ignorance.

In that case I will have no pretext at all to keep my boyfriends in the dungeons. I am not even sure what else power is good for.

What is the appeal of keeping people in dungeons and so on? I mean, it's reasonable if the answer is 'I have no idea, just put together that way' but maybe it has moving parts or something.

...just put together that way is pretty close? It's - related to wanting omnipotence, I find it tremendously satisfying to have everyone in my grasp so I can do right by them. I also have a tendency to derive immense satisfaction from how much people are willing to sacrifice for me and forgive from me  - which I'd never use on wronging them or on orchestrating situations for them to make sacrifices that they experience as such, but doesn't stop me from enjoying the knowledge that they would...

Huh. I want omnipotence and would do strikingly similar things with it but I don't kink on it. And I think insofar as I have anything like the second bit it works by ordinals and not sheer magnitude.

I haven't been able to conduct a survey but I think I'm pretty unusual. If you also had a power kink that'd be terrible or interesting. 

Terrible or interesting?

Well, I am not compatible with myself, so if you had my exact set of interests we'd be stuck playing power games over poor Findekáno - who'd find this hilarious, don't get me wrong - but I am certainly in principle compatible with people who'd find keeping their boyfriends in dungeons interesting, if they knew in turn that I'd consider that 'politics with an interesting handicap' and not 'deference to the wishes of my boyfriend'.

Huh.

This is delightful and much simpler.

It is fun that there are things like haircuts where it dovetails.

Yes! And protecting my valuable strategic asset, that's very emotionally satisfying. 

Giggle. I get a non-kinky but very distinct kick out of being a strategic asset.

You have not actually expressed kinks farther outside the mainstream than 'attractive men who are madly in love with me', do you even have any?

If things like 'being kissed on the back of the neck' do not count then I don't think I actually do, no.

All right. Go make fun of me with Findekáno, if it helps the valuable strategic asset decompress between military projects.

Will do.

Where's Findekáno?

Just returned from a difficult and dangerous mission north. clearing sites for mining of residual orcs and the mundane and magical traps they'd left behind. He's in his room when Kib finds him.

Hey. How'd it go?

Lost two people. I was worried it'd be worse. I think it's too mountainous for automata on rails to help us much, but I've got sketches if you want to take a better-informed guess. How's everything back here?

Okay. Automaton rails can climb hills but it requires more sophisticated engineering. I'm working on identity-confirming golems because I think they might not be fooled by shapeshifters same way they can identify people across reincarnations, and Maitimo's going to send somebody to Doriath to see if the Maia there is helpful.

And how are you?

Pretty okay all things considered. Maitimo told me the story about how Imaginary You desidewaysed him by repeatedly slapping him.

Regrettably his prediction of me was sufficiently good that the real me never even got the chance! By the time he acknowledged he'd been paying me any mind at all he was quite sure of what he wanted.

This is regrettable?