"...Yyyyes but that doesn't mean it wouldn't cause negative emotional associations."

"It is not as if I was planning to hit on him."

"You weren't?"

"...no? It won't work."

"Well, I didn't mean now."

"If I notice that hitting on him would work then I'd probably do it, but that'd mean whatever factors are present would have changed..."

"Have you considered having a conversation with him about your feelings like a grownup."

"Yes. I decided against."

"Why?"

"Usually what people get out of confessing their feelings to someone is the answer to the question of whether they are reciprocated; I have that answer. It's considered rude to ask someone out, get a no, and demand a reason. I already have the 'no', so the only thing to ask about would be the reason, and  'I like you, I've picked up you don't feel the same way, why, can I change that' is an inappropriate line of questioning that puts a lot of pressure on someone. I am very curious about the reasons but they're actually not my business. There are people who'd like the information 'I like you, I picked up you don't feel the same way, let's proceed exactly as we were' but I have to spend the next century around him and if I'm wrong about thinking he'd like to know that, the downside is ruining a very pleasant social relationship."

"I guess that makes sense."

"Maybe when I know him better and am more confident he'd want that information and take it in stride."

"Yeah, okay. Still. I feel like erring on the side of behaving like a grownup is likely to lead to less drama in the long run."

"Yes, once I know what space I'm navigating in and that I'm not - invoking painful memories or whatever -"

"Okay. D'you want a hug?"

"Sure."

She hugs him.

"Is it obvious, or is it just Tyelcormo knowing what to look for?"

"It is definitely not obvious to me when you're actually around him."

He relaxes. "Thank you. We are very fortunate to have you."

"It's mutual."

"There are a lot of low-tech worlds out there, if they're pre-industrial it's actually easier because we can just drop modern infrastructure on them, and we can conjure up samples to work out biology from, have vaccines and perhaps chips for them...I really think we'll be able to do a lot more than end the war."

"Chips are lethal for Men, 's why Ada and Amelia look like Elves."

"Naively, sure, but there's probably a way to do it safely given a century to experiment."

"Yeah, fair. I can make basement-dwellers for that."