I bet Loki recommended you someplace nice.

She'd done lots of research for this specific purpose!

And of course I have the excuse that I'm off gallivanting around with my alts.

You should talk with Aydanci about what he wants. I would eventually like to stop keeping the important people in my life secret. But I imagine the last thing he wants is attention, while he's still getting used to having you back...

I think he's less worried about attention from random people - we could just move, or make rude remarks to them, whatever - more concerned about his family.

Yeah, that's reasonable. I'm not expecting mine to take it well.

On a happier topic! Planets can petition to join a very loose Noldorin empire whose capital is Vanda Nossëo, the only rules to join are that you have no legal barriers to freedom of movement, let them come around dropping tech and magic to reduce non-legal barriers, and sign some sort of generic galactic rights of persons treaties. Mitros and Iobel aren't joining because they want their own galactic empire, but I'm sort of inclined to sign Shine up, thought I'd ask you about Stork -

I don't in fact rule Stork.

Yes, but would you like to?

Maybe.

I'd do it the same way my counterparts are building their galactic empire, on a smaller scale. Any city-state can sign up, minimal criteria and minimal oversight and lots of bribes if they sign up, then once you actually have the time and attention to exert more power and a better sense of the problems to exert it at, everyone's used to being one of your citizens - 

It kinda doesn't meet the outlandish starting conditions criterion.

...do you want me to build you an empire as a birthday present, because I can also just do that. Enemy gets nothing from you.

I love you.

I want to work on it, I - just -

Trust me, I know. 'take over Stork' is exactly the sort of project whose absence you were commenting on. Dote on your husband, make up for a couple decades' lost time, let me establish to myself that this is real and then give Maedhros two more colony planets - it'll soothe my pride anyway, the only reason he's got a galactic empire is because his war happened first - and then give you a crown once conditions have changed enough...

It's so frustrating. And, like, this being the worst of my problems is pretty tame, but.

I remember the feeling from that year I spent carving chassis while we decided what to do about me, yeah.

If Aydanci were similarly inclined I'd suggest dropping the two of you on some planet that's not currently under Vanda Nossëo's close supervision just because they are spread so thin, sufficiently bizarre starting conditions, go have a go of it - but I don't think he'd find that very fun. 

He'd do it but I have really overtaxed his boundless willingness to do things for me.

I don't know, maybe I can help in respects that wouldn't interest the Enemy - less strategy and more keeping the population happy and, and economics and public education interests and stuff.

Sounds good. 

Thank you.

Oh, this is entirely a question of personal convenience, I was thinking about how even if we could ever be open I can't have two King's-consorts, people'd confuse them, and you'd probably chafe anyway, so making you a King of something was the most obvious solution, and anyway Mitros promised Iobel an empire and he's not even in love with her, and promised her it would span the stars before they even knew that stars were suns and around them were other worlds.

And then you'll have to change my nickname to Empire!

You can pick your own nickname if you want to change it, you don't have to wait for me to do it! ...My entire template will just decline to use it in protest if it's numerical or similarly tasteless.

I think this is very silly of you, the numbers are hilarious. I like my nickname. But I like it because I gave you an island, and once I give you an empire I shall want to be named after that. 

I'll make sure I name it something nice then.

I think Aydanci'll be good at coruling a planet, too.

Yes, I think so. He'll take it very very seriously and he works very hard and he's brilliant. 

It's really convenient that all my significant others get along so well.