Osanwë giggles. That does seem like the sort of thing that would amuse you.

I could quite literally order everyone in this city not to touch you and they'd do it. It'd be both very wrong and very unwise, but I could.

If you included Findekáno I would be annoyed.

Hmm? No, telling him things to do with you, or let you do, is much more fun.

Well then. I only bother being irritated about being forbidden things if I actually want the things.

Generous of you. But it's important to me, now more than ever, that you feel confident I actually won't do certain things, so I won't even do entertaining variants on them that you aren't bothered by.

I'm just playing with the hypothetical, I do not expect you to announce anything of that nature.

It'd raise some questions. They're at the house.

And how interruptible is Fëanáro? Or for that matter Nerdanel, who Kib feels ought to know how long she has after her kid comes of age before it is necessary to worry if she feels this information would help her.

They are both of them at work; another Feanorian is watching the baby, reading an economics book in the common aloud to her while he does.

Awww. "Not typical bedtime story material at this age."

"Father thinks she's smart," he says, "so I thought I'd give her a chance to prove it. Carnistir. What's going on?"

"Pleased to meet you. I'm compiling prophecies and have a bit of a puzzle on my hands, is going on." He boops Lári's nose.

Lári giggles. "Okay," Carnistir says. "If it's worth interrupting them both then you may as well do it right away."

Kib glances at Maitimo.

"Let's," he says.

Interrupting it is.

"I am not collecting prophecies because it causes people to show me cool futuristic botanical crossbreeds and architecture," Kib says, "and I'm on a deadline." Privately to Nerdanel, I think I know when, if it's not averted. Would that help or make it worse?

"Fifty Years," your answer too, "which would be loads of time if I knew more than I do about what needs to happen instead of what was going to happen and how."

"Collecting prophecies won't help you there. They're a ridiculous divine way of dangling string in front of us to see if we'll jump like cats."

"Oh, they seem sadistically designed in the standard case, and I say this as somebody whose dreams occasionally literally torture me, but I'm not in the plan and I can hear them from and relay them to anybody without interference, so I'm collecting them to see if they make more sense than misery all in a heap."

"And do they?"

"They come together in frustrating, patchy bits but it's not nothing. And a lot of them tie back to you."