"It's also useful for cover fire from multiple directions, and earthquake-stability considerations. But yes. It's on our banners and our armor and so forth. I suppose you haven't seen us march off to an ordinary battle, the only ones were before you arrived."

"Yeah, wouldn't have come up."

They've more or less walked the perimeter of the city. "I'll start importing food for your Men. Send someone ahead with notice of when they're arriving, please."

"Sure. They'll be able to bring some non-bulky cargo if they're traveling, is there anything besides their magic stuff and personal possessions I should load them up with?"

"Nothing comes to mind. Supplies will be a problem once fighting starts but isn't at the moment."

"Okay. I will probably try to aim for before this winter."

"We will be prepared. What conditions do you work best in, if we're hoping you'll get a teleport spell fast enough?"

"I can put in a couple full days in a row but not routinely; I need other things to do now and then. I can occupy myself but don't mind running other helpful errands as they come up. I don't forget to eat but I do like not having to worry about cooking. And in the wintertime I have developed a fondness for living in an igloo but I will understand if there is no convenient place for me to put one."

Since you can create the ice for it, it might be doable somewhere next to the underground river. The river - or, rather, our reliance on it - is a secret, otherwise he'd probably poison it or something.

Is it the same river that has a Maia of its own?

I wish. No, this is just part of the Gelion that happens to run underground in this area. No friendly Maiar here. I don't think Thuringwethil will visit you either.

I know where she lives if I want to talk to her, but I decided against propositioning her so I don't currently have any specific anticipations of wishing to do that.

He raises an eyebrow. Lonely, huh?

Not lonely enough to be one person away from Thauron on a map of who's slept with whom, but oh stars yes.

His face goes oddly rigid. Yes, I suppose people wouldn't want that.

Yeah. I'd say 'maybe when the Men are a little more grown up' but I've gone and finagled myself a position of pretty heavy power over all of them and that'd be somewhere between weird and unconscionable even if they were chronologically old enough to be adults for their species. Mostly I just wish Sigyn were here. Sigyn would probably even be better at all the social crap I'm mishandling, he's weird at social skills but differently.

I didn't mention considering propositioning Thuringwethil or why I stopped considering it to Findekáno and if - okay here comes the rant on the distinction between consensual sex and rape. For the purpose I was being flippant about? If somebody has, not even necessarily kidnapped and tortured and mind-scrambled one, if they have just gotten one really drunk - or if they run into one while one is already really drunk - or if they have, I don't know, taken one out on a boat ride and there is substantial implication that one will not be getting back to shore without putting out, something like that, if something is going on besides at least moderately sober and unfettered decisionmaking, then for the purpose I was making my stupid regrettable joke about, doesn't count. Different category of thing. If it would make you feel better for me to find an excuse to discuss this exciting cultural convention with Findekáno at some point in the next few decades or something I will hunt such an excuse down.

Much larger and more significant betrayals sit between us, I think. I will obviously at some point tell him, and tell him that by Asgard's norms I did nothing wrong if that seems relevant.

This is not exciting local Asgardian cultural color commentary! By civilized galactic standards - like, 'not literally a planet of interplanetary criminal hideouts and stuff' - Asgard's way too permissive, especially on how drunk is too drunk, female perpetrators, and whether it's polite to call the circumstances of my parents' marriage incredibly sketchy.

Vanaheim and Asgard were having some scuffle, I do not know the fine details but I believe it was heavily implied that Odin would leave them alone if she got a pretty husband and some other concessions, and while I may be a kidnapped frost giant I thoroughly doubt Thor is.

Macalaurë said you felt strongly about that sort of thing.