"Likewise. I'll let you know the verdict on a filtered gate as soon as I can."

"Cool. You wanna keep me up until Laurelin's peak playing Governor or should I go program?"

He twitches. "I'd love to keep you up until Laurelin's peak playing Governor."

"One of my favorite things about the game is the paper record you can learn from," he agrees.

This game has a good setting; he's having a lovely time with it. He's also thinking how to get the Valar on board with a gate in a way that doesn't invite future disasters.

Maitimo blinks at the orders for a minute then stares at Kib like he's the Trees at their Mingling. "I think," he says, "you win."

"Gosh," says Kib, grinning with insufferable smugness. "Do I."

"You're right, winning is very enjoyable."

He very vividly imagines shoving the table out of the way and lifting Kib off his very smug feet and pressing him against the wall and kissing him until he looks less smug. Instead he starts gathering their notes. "That was very clever. Good game."

"I'm sure you'll get me back next time. Watch out though. - You should've stomped on the committee I gave that stupidly long acronym name when you had the chance but you were all preoccupied with the labor union..."

"Should I have."

"I had a contingency but it was way lower percentage, you probably would've been able to crush it at the sabotage step."

What the Halls would it look like if you were doing this on purpose.

Don't know yet. But I don't have to be trying very hard to be brilliant and vain, if that's what you're talking about. I'm just like this all the time.

I want you and when you're being like this I cannot remember all the reasons it's a terrible idea.

I could also leave you alone, if you prefer. From of course a sober all-things-considered perspective.

He makes a helpless strangled noise.

I think I remember most of your list. Here I am paralyzed in fear that you're going to kick me out in the street if something should go wrong, look at me, I'm shaking. Stork dropped me eighteen years ago and in that time I can't possibly have accumulated enough experience at, (why is this so much fun, he licks his lips, why not), anything. Those were the main ones, right?

There is genuinely a lot at stake, especially if we need to extract a sane-and-not-potentially-lethal policy from the Valar, though I guess you already know more than enough to hurt me - I have no idea how humans do this sort of thing - I will concede that you have got a lot of accumulating experiences into your eighteen years -