Everyone would be extremely confused about how the first one was supposed to apply to you. But once an assumption takes root it rarely manifests in only the forms corresponding to its actual reason for existing. So. Probably wouldn't be a problem.

Kib sighs.

If you conduct yourself discreetly I do not care how you live your personal life, he says, still looking miserable, and would hope that we could remain friends, even more miserably.

That's good to know.

And I am sorry.

I'll live.

Hopefully forever. We're working on it.

That'd be nice. I like being alive.

"Thanks for the summary."

"My pleasure." His voice is almost normal. He is still rigidly backed against the nearest shrub.

"Are you okay? I accept your apology and everything..."

"I can fake being okay if you'd like and it'll be very convincing but I'm worried that will not actually reassure you. I am not exactly the victim here."

Blink. "In... what way are you not okay?"

"How did you meet Findekáno?"

"...he brought me lunch? He's interested in the scribe?"

He stands still for a second later. "Right. How's the scriber coming along?" And then the tension melts away to be replaced with a wry smile, "are you one of those people who works better when annoyed, or worse? Not that I'm going to terrorize you over the next cultural misunderstanding just to get books a little sooner..."

"I mean, I was sort of feeling like I had fewer other things to do with my time but I don't think my quality improved any. The chassis is about done, it puppets very smoothly."

"What does that leave?"

"Programming, quadruple-checking the programming, etching, checking the etching, and waking."

"Exciting. Did you want to finish our game of Governor sometime? Tonight?"

"Tomorrow? I don't know how long it's going to take you to trounce me and an evening start seems like a bad plan." And I have a date and is this what scheduling around dates is always like here aaaaaugh.

"Tomorrow works." He walks him comfortably about the palace gardens, recommends some tasty plants.

"Oh, I was thinking maybe eating flowers was an Elf thing. Humans don't usually eat flowers."

"Everything in Valinor is edible and technically nutritionally complete."