"That is weird. I'd look into what might cause it but the relevant research is in another universe and probably thirty thousand years dust."

"Yeah. Add it to the list of mysteries, I suppose."

"There are annoyingly many of those but annoyed is better than dead, so."

"It really is. And someday we'll figure them all out."

"Yeah, we will. Dunno how, but we've got time to figure it out."

"We really do."

"I mean, unless it's like when we thought that in Valinor, but Morgoth is actually dead this time so probably not?"

"And I know it doesn't feel like it, but it's been thousands of actual uninterrupted Years of peace."

"Yeah, I know. But it's gonna take some time for the relevant instincts to go away."

"I bet. You have as long as you need."

"Yeah. I mean, I want to just be magically uncomplicatedly okay. But that's not how it works."

"No one's expecting you to be magically uncomplicatedly okay."

"I want it for myself, not to meet other peoples' expectations. Unsurprisingly not being totally okay is less pleasant than the alternatives."

"Yes, but feeling like you need to be okay or need to act okay can be even more unpleasant."

"Yeah. Well. I definitely don't feel the need to act any more okay than I actually am."

Hug. "Good."

"I'm significantly more okay than I would be if you hadn't made the world such a lovely place to grow up in."

"Awww. It was my pleasure, really, very very much."

"I believe you."

"Ruling the world is so much fun."

"As far as I can tell it's a good thing on every possible level that you get to rule the world!"

"Well, I bet it's inconvenient for someone somewhere who wants to rule the world."

"They wouldn't do as good a job and can therefore cope."

"I appreciate your confidence in me."

"Well, there's no Treelight to put peoples' souls in any more but I think you've adapted marvelously."