That was a pretty clever play. Didn't even - didn't even take you that long - we're going to be okay.

And it won't take a thousand years. Kisses.

Sixty years with you in them had more - meant more - felt more - than the two thousand before that - you're contagious or something - Kisses.

...that is the best compliment and Kib is thrilled have some being-thrilled.

Kib being thrilled is lovely, he can bask in it and make a longing pleased noise that's probably slightly less of a lie -

- and be kissed! Lots of being kissed going on. And going sloooooowly with anything else that might be happening.

Look at him, not panicking or freezing up or admittedly being particularly responsive but you have to lose some games of Governor to get your brain back in shape to win them - and the kissing is nice -

Yeah, Kib was not expecting to work literal magic here but this is still - nice. Slowly slowly slowly. Generous with the thoughts as they go by and meet standards for sharing.

Scared this'll end is not a thought worth sharing. Scared Kib's voice will change and he'll say 'I think I was very nice to you with this lovely hallucination that you won the war, Maitimo, I think you owe me' is not a thought worth sharing. Guilt and helplessness and a hundred memories that weren't really Kib, not sharing.  Tirion, before the war, dizzy with love and want and the certainty both those things would last forever - Kib shining gold and silver by light that'll never grace the world again -

No, he can do better. Waking up with Kib in his arms. 'do you like waking up to oral sex,' he'd said, 'I meant to ask', and Kib had worried it'd interfere with the dreams and Maitimo'd started rebraiding his hair and Kib saying '...So were you offering..." - Kib looking so smug -

I remember that - He has his angle on the memory, doing that thing where he takes a question at face value and evaluates it on the practicalities and then catches up to the context - it was still novel at the time how Elves love having their hair played with -

He can definitely send how Elves love having their hair played with - how Elves love having their hair played with while their human boyfriend is squirming delightedly- 

And his hair is still so soft. Pet pet. (Slowly, no sudden movements.)

Hair petting is nice. The Enemy kept it short and it's too sensitive that way, overwhelming when touched and not in a good way. Now his hair is nice and long again and hair petting is nice and he doesn't have to dredge up memories to send.

Oh good. Lots of that then. Pet pet pet. Running it between his fingers. Kisses, roaming away from his lips and sprinkled across his cheeks his forehead and onto the scalp.

He can reward this with happy gasping noises, he remembers what those are supposed to sound like.

And he mostly lets himself relax. Mostly. 

Love you -

I love you, I love you, I love you - And those are good noises; Kib's trying not to dwell on the pretense, trust the feedback he's getting on at least the level that if taken at face value it'll steer him where Maitimo wants him to go.

Yes, that's the idea. Slow, very slow, and responsive to how Maitimo's reacting less because Maitimo's sure of what he wants and more because that means it matters what he wants -

It matters. Kib follows the hints as he gets them without holding out for decades-gone enthusiasm. Slowwwwwwwly.

He is worried that Kib isn't having any fun. This seems silly; he sends it anyway, tentatively, after a while - don't have to do this for me -

You're lovely, Kib says. Worry about me being bored in bed with you after it hasn't been years and years - or don't worry about it at all, that also works - Kisses.

It has been years and years. And they're very nice kisses. And he will nudge Kib away from having his arms around him, or having his weight on him, or holding his head in place, but everything else is fine - sometimes quite nice -

Kib picks up on the nudging, makes sure Maitimo can move around even though he's not doing much of it. Slowly slowly slowly.

...not infinitely slowly though...

Of course not. This is Kib. He can send how much he adores Kib's impatience, see if that suffices as permission -

It's close enough.

Whatever you want, he says, in case that's clearer. Just need to be able to move around a little -