There's places that - seem this nice, at home. But they aren't. I like this one better.

...Fëanáro must be rubbing off on me, that was a kind and beautiful thought and I should go 'I'm glad you're here' and yet what comes to mind is 'seem this nice but aren't? What's the story there?'

Well, I mean, people aren't constantly depressed about how horrible the world is. Most people you probably couldn't even get to agree the world is horrible. But if I went to some town square and there was nice food and kids playing in a fountain, it'd - way more than one kid in town would have something awful going on with a parent. If you stood around without paying attention someone might pickpocket you. If you went down a side street there'd be somebody who was homeless and begging sitting there, and not just because they hadn't complimented enough people on their design. And at any moment whether anybody liked it or not it might start raining. And everybody would be - I mean, it could be that everybody in this hypothetical square was doing exactly what they wanted with their afternoon, but - but maybe in a nicer place some of them would've been scientists or wouldn't have had to give up their plans to go to art school so they could pick up something that would earn them enough to feed their families or wanted to travel but they couldn't take even a smallish manticore in a fight so they couldn't explore particularly wild places - and this place doesn't - smell like strangled potential?

That's - I wish you'd met Finwë on a better day. Because yes, all of that, potential, the kind of growth that's only possible with plenty and safety, that's what we crossed a continent and an ocean for, and he sensed it and would do anything for it.

Nod nod. He seems to be a good king. ...Questionable father, though Fëanáro doesn't seem to want to hear it, blames himself instead.

We've done him a disservice by being so hesitant to point it out to him.

I might be cheeky enough after a while. I'm adjusting fast.

It's a joy to see.

She giggles. You're so nice.

I think I'm about average for nice, just unusually observant. It makes my niceness more targeted.

I guess that could be it too. But you're nice-here, not just nice-for-home, and you're being nice at me, so you are by far the most obvious niceness around.

He laughs. You are also extraordinarily nice. It takes a lot of bravery to take on everything you've taken on since you came here, and that's even for someone who doesn't come from a background where telling a King that you need to know you won't be punished for hurting his wife is possibly lethal.

I don't usually think of myself as brave. If I thought of myself as brave I'd have gone for epic. Or, presumably, died trying.

I wanted to be epic, though. I wanted it a lot. I just - fewer people there die of being timid than die of ceasing to have to be timid. And I wanted to be alive more. And yeah, that's what it means. Wouldn't have been aiming to do therapy, I'd have been a utility/combat subtle artist/wizard and saved up for better boots than this and made friends with compatible life plans and complementary skills and gone on adventures and poked things that poked back until - until I didn't.

And worlds shouldn't be places where that's the choice. And now it's not, and you can be epic in other ways.

Giggle. I think I'll go easy on reinventing the combat parts of wizardry. Even though that's like most of the spells I've ever heard of.

Good idea. Someday when someone else stumbles from your world into ours, they'll be very confused that we have epic wizards all of whose spells are for construction and gardening and exploring the bottom of the ocean and flying to the stars.

Bella laughs. They'll be all, how did they come up with this much wizardry and never reinvent Fireball? Fireball is a staple! For all your fireballing-stuff needs!

I probably already know, but what does Fireball do?

It makes a large ball of fire. Area of effect. For killing things. If you just want a campfire the thing I showed you works fine.

I see. Yes, let's focus our wizardry on architecture and activities, I think the Valar might worry about us if we spent all our time designing ways to kill things with fire.

I'd worry about us too! Paranoia's the sort of thing you go to a subtle artist about!

...you said trauma was, too, from bad past experiences?

Yeah. I don't even have a book about that one but yeah.