"Four or five colors, placing the lines prettily will be very important to us. I don't know what tolerances correspond to what aesthetic appearances..."

"You have a pretty swoopy alphabet - is it important that the swoops come to points and those little spur serifs, for instance?"

"Yes, definitely."

"Okay. D'you have pressure-sensitive pens? That's definitely the easiest way to get that in."

"Yes, let me get those." His expression flickers. "One second, then you can look at everything I have and see what suits."

Nod. "I'll need to try writing with them and the golem will be best suited to whatever pen I write its program while anticipating it'll use."

And a minute later someone comes in with a box of pens and Maitimo thanks them and really loved their sister's poem at the reading a week ago, convey his compliments, that blue is striking on you, and then they have pens to work with.

Kib goes through them and picks one that he thinks will be easy to get decent handwriting out of a golem with. "These easy to come by?" he asks, waggling the pen between his fingers.

"Yes, definitely. How many do you need?"

"One's fine to start but if this was the only pen of its kind then if anything happened to it the golem might have unbeautiful handwriting and that would clearly be a catastrophe."

"Well, then we wouldn't have a useable book at the end, would we? And no, I don't think I have any one-of-a-kind pens except ones I disastrously tried making myself when I was thirty-five."

"You wouldn't have a museum piece! You could still read it!" says Kib lightly. "Except maybe you'd clap your hands over your eyes in horror and fling the book to the floor, perhaps that's what happens if you try to read bad handwriting, it must be awkward to be a small child around here wobbling out a holiday card or whatever small children here write." He starts sketching plans for an etcher - it's elegant but simple, a couple extensible clamps to grab onto the sides of a golem surface and a stick with the diamond embedded in it to press and move and pick up again via wheels attached to the frame.

"Luckily for me, we had not yet invented writing when I was a small child, let alone pens."

"...I would not have considered that lucky even if I'd had to wait to have decent handwriting for anyone to be willing to look at what I wrote. I basically breathe writing, mostly to myself."

"My father must be of a similar temperament, because he went out and invented it. I picked it up fine, but I can't say I couldn't live without it."

"Oh wow, I had a conversation with an inventor of writing."

"You will have lots more of them, I think he wants to cure death and learn your language and figure out how your magic works and so on."

"And he invented writing! This is so great." Sketch sketch.

"Should I leave you to it?"

"Depends on how interested in puppetry and golem-making you are."

"Fascinated, but some people don't like having an audience."

"I don't mind, I'm the oldest apprentice my teacher has and got used to having people look over my shoulder. Usually shorter people, mind. How much explanation d'you want?"

"Is it easier for me to ask questions or for you to chatter as you go?"

"I'll chatter about the programming part; ask about the chassis."

So he does. And they work through the night and are brought two hot breakfasts.