This is the stupidest dream timing ever. She was nineteen, on the beach - we were married for five years and I never got a single dream with him in except that one with the eclipse and it was maybe four minutes long and I didn't get it and pox dreams where I was too delirious to know who was looking after me -

Are you worried that he'll feel betrayed?

I - I don't know - I didn't remember but if he thinks I ought to have put it together quicker, looked Aly up sooner -

Would you fall in love with the sort of person who'd be angry you didn't immediately realize you were the resurrection of a dead girl and traipse across the multiverse to find her?

It's not the sort of situation that comes up a lot! In particular it was not under discussion when we got engaged or while I was dying or while we had our tasteful autumn wedding!

You mentioned wanting one, Findekáno says with something of a hysterical half-laugh.

I know! Apparently Aly wanted one too! It was on a beach and it was positively lovely and oh hell what do I say to him.

You are in love with him? Or expect you will be by the time you get all the memories?

No question about the second part. First one is kind of a mess -

The way he looked at me -

Kib takes a deep breath. I'll go to Lapis and look him up, I've got his full name. Aydanci Evaret. I'll figure it out from there, I don't know how the last eighteen years have been to him.

Forty-two or forty-three I guess, I don't have his creche date but he was about Aly's age.

So not too late, if we get him to Melkor with reasonable haste - and he likes men, that's a big if -

Yeah.

I'm - neither legally by human standards nor magically by Elf standards but - kinda.

Kib is therefore oblivious. Oh. Hey. Must have been him making the extra storks.

Lovely, Findekáno says, again not to Kib, and then Lovely in a different tone which is.

It is really not fair for me to be unloading on you two about this in particular.

He's - he was - says Kib helplessly, apologetically.