Melkor is currently in the form of a tall Elf, dark-haired, a little paler than most of them but not someone you'd stop to stare at on the street, except for the static. "They don't know how to compress themselves enough the air effects go away," Findekáno says. The lecture is not beyond Kib in more than a handful of places, and Findekáno can fill in the gaps there.

Kib takes notes. It's all interesting.

There's a question period after. People ask favors as much as questions.

Seems like a weird thing to do at a lecture. What are they asking for?

"Can he enchant this, can he explain exactly what this ring here is doing, can he turn this glass pendant into something more durable without changing the appearance -" he can do all of these things, and does, explaining how as he goes.

Huh. Think this is a good time to ask if he can stopgap me some immortality so I'm not middle-aged by the time something more general is figured out?

Couldn't hurt.

So Kib raises his hand. Although when called on he leads with a clarification about something Melkor said about rust because this still seems like a weird context in which to ask favors.

He is happy to clarify that.

"And another thing, I'm a mortal and find this likely to become inconvenient; while something that doesn't require Vala intervention is in the works would it be possible for you to prevent me from aging? Where I'm at is fine."

"I can make the process a thousand times slower, very trivially; stopping it would be harder."

"Thousand times slower will also do the trick for the near future."

"Can you come down here, please?"

Down he comes.

Melkor takes his hand. At this range the staticky feeling is very strong and the air pressure seems to have ratcheted up, but Melkor's smile is reassuring. "Changing the pace of a process is much easier than restructuring the body not to have it," he says, "and a thousandfold is safe; past that I could be affecting something I wouldn't anticipate. If human brains process memory different than Elven brains in some way that makes being a thousand years old distressing I'm not going to anticipate that either. Is that an acceptable risk to you?"

"Yeah, I can deal with that when I'm a thousand years old."

"Indeed. All right, all set." He releases his hand.

"Thanks!" And Kib goes back to his seat.

And the lecture wraps up, though some people move in to the front rows to hang around talking to Melkor.

Do you think Governor makes a good spectator sport? Kib wonders to Findekáno on his way out.

I think you and Maitimo make good spectator sport no matter what you're doing. If that was an invitation.

Sure it was.

So he joins them for Governor and amusedly settles down to watch.

Kib expects Maitimo to be trying harder than he was last night and does not anticipate winning, but he gives it a solid go anyway.