"By that logic I shouldn't count."

"You honestly might not. Your people can't have children anyway, so everyone'd be very confused and very lost. But - it's only the actual content of the prohibition that's divine law. No sex with men, that's from Eru and the Valar. All the assumptions that apparently Maitimo explained to you, those come from cultural and historical contingencies."

"Yeah. I haven't even had any sex with men. Or with anybody, but it's the men I haven't had sex with who are relevant here."

"...I am a mature adult human, I'm allowed to vote and have sex and get a passport and own a house and whatnot. I was like a couple months away from formally finishing my apprenticeship, at home. As for the rest of what you just said you're going to have to be less oblique."

"We consider someone of age at fifty but I'd hesitate to pick up a man who was fifty. Also - " what else had been in Maitimo's litany - "you're here as a guest of the crown, one usually doesn't proposition people who might feel they're depending on you for a place to sleep. I don't know your customs and sometimes cultural differences can result in people miscommunicating intent in a way that gets someone hurt."

"It would be inconvenient if I had to find somewhere else to sleep because most places to sleep are much less dark," Kib says. "But since you are troubling to bring this concern up at all I assume I should not consider my nice dark place to sleep at stake."

"Absolutely not."

"Also it has crossed my mind that if it turned out to be unwise to go off to secluded places with you without telling anyone where I am while literally incapable of breaking into a run, well, I do retain the option of going around loudly ruining your life afterwards and then traveling to another universe to escape all social consequences if that seems like a good plan. So, y'know, don't rape me."

He is smiling delightedly at him. "Another way having a royal reputation to fear for comes out useful! Also osanwë range is the whole city and there is no way to block it. Should you have bad judgment in future paramours."

"Good to know."

"It is safe to kiss you now and I'd very much like to. Can I do that?"

"Yes. Please."

They do that. It's lovely! He is such a pretty human and he has stubble and Findekáno is fascinated.

"...Should I just actually grow a beard? Will I be the textural envy of the city?" murmurs Kib when he breaks for air.

"It would be pretty fascinating. I like the shape of your face, though. I would miss the shape of your face. Unless I am misimagining how beards go on people."

"It'd depend on how long I kept it but I would be down a bit of jawline definition."

"I think I would like both ways but I need to kiss you more to be entirely sure."

So Kib kisses him.

A while later he confirms that in fact he would like Kib both ways, and pulls Kib into a nook in the rock where they can sit and he can hold Kib quite tightly and - "normally I would play with your hair but I assume that does not play a significant role in human makeout sessions."

"It can, it's just not a standout thing? I do not object, I would not miss it in its absence?"

"I've actually wanted to ever since I first saw it, it must be a very odd texture." He ruffles it. He makes a delighted sort of purring sound. "Oh, it's nice."

Kib laughs and performs a reciprocal investigation. "Soft!"

"You can unbraid it," he says, "it's much more fun that way."

Unbraid unbraid unbraid.