Good.

We should probably get a meal sometime and talk about - what you envision from a life here, if it can't involve a wedding party in King's Square, what relationship boundaries work best for you, things like that. I think that sort of thing is generally better navigated by sober undistracted conversation.

Tonight? I have some work I'll regret neglecting if the Valar move quickly on portals. And by the time more people speak your language that might be wise.

Tonight works. Is anybody both liable to read the notebooks and find a code an interesting challenge, I don't know how good your father is about privacy? They are all marked 'do not read'.

My father would never read something marked 'do not read'. He's also not - obviously you value your privacy for other reasons but if he discovered we were involved I don't think he'd either disown or imprison me.

Which I suppose is a high bar around here?

Very.

Sigh.

I don't know what Eru was thinking.

Me either. Doesn't he have to make everybody here? If you're supposed to be straight why aren't you, it's not to spare me lonely nights.

Exactly. If that's what he wanted, why make people who can't do it? The general answer is 'the Enemy tainted Arda's perfection', but how would he have pulled this off. For that matter, why did Eru let the Enemy exist?

I mean, if there's a Vala who can straighten people the reverse doesn't seem impossible conceptually but you'd think somebody would have noticed...

And why do it? Does he think it'll - what, make the Noldor weaker and worse off, if their most capable leadership is all secretly - perhaps I should ask Melkor to play Governor with me, that's a plan worthy of a game -

Oh wow.

I don't think it's very probable. He'd have to be able to do it from prison.

Range limits?

Tricky, agrees Kib.

He was a monster, you know. Inconceivably evil. Captured and tortured people mostly for the fun of it, made them bear children and raised the children in constant pain to see how it'd interact with the Elven capacity for the body to take the form that the soul thinks suitable for it...

Kib shudders.

I feel like people should resolve in principle to, if they can figure out how he's manipulating them, not permit themselves to be so manipulated. But saying that is one thing and going to Lórien and asking his aid is quite another.

Yeah. Adding mental tampering on top of mental tampering is not a really straightforward question.

And I don't think I can go to Lórien and say 'if something was done to me, reverse it'.