"We should probably go to the city anyway and get food to bring to Lórien. Nienna had a lot of people I think and probably they are even sadder than Karen because they don't know anyone."

"We can do that once we have learned English."

"In Karen's world you cannot eat the plants because Melkor poisoned all the water so that no one can live except in the city. So probably they will not know they can eat the plants here."

" - I guess we could practice English and bring a cart of food to Lórien."

"I think we could."

Oh thank God something useful to do.

"It's not really hard to walk and talk at the same time. Also I think relevantly most of the people we picked up were in hell, or some kind of alien prison, or something, and they would probably appreciate it. - Also also I should probably at some point ask Nienna what I should be expecting in terms of getting Connor and Zana back."

"What I should be expecting in terms of," he repeats, frowning to himself slightly.

Maitimo races off around the side of their house.

"Um, what the plan is. For - I'm not sure what Maitimo told you, I have a niece and nephew back in the dimension I came from and it seems irresponsible to just - leave them." Also she's kind of a wreck without them but that seems like a less good reason to bring them here. Also it occurs to her that maybe that didn't actually need any clarification, but if she thinks too hard about that then she'll probably run through all of her cope pretty fast.

"Maitimo said we're fetching them but the idiom was unfamiliar. Do you want to build a house first or get them first and then build a house?"

"I... think they would prefer to be here. And that in an ideal situation I would probably also talk it out with their grandparents, who they're staying with right now, but I'm not sure that's possible or if it would actually be helpful." It will be the worst thing, honestly. "Also I - can't build houses. Actually. If me building them was implied there."

Maitimo comes back riding a cart that apparently moves under its own power. 

He stands up to follow it. "Do you want to live in a house?"

She opens her mouth and fails to produce sounds for a few seconds.

"I - guess?"

"Is that an offensive question?" There's a road here, paved in white stone. The cart rolls smoothly along it.

"No, no, it's just - I don't really know how to live without a house. And am incapable of giving anybody anything to build one for me. Unless language lessons are valuable around here."

"Oh! You just pick a style of house you like and a place you'd like to have it and then let people know that they should build a house there. And get a Vala if you don't want it to obey the laws of physics."

"...I find the laws of physics kind of comforting, honestly. Do people not have other things to do?"

"Most things are not as important as people who want houses having houses? That's pretty urgent."

"I guess. If you don't have anything more pressing to work on."

"Some people will probably have projects that are time-sensitive but not very many of them."

"Well. If they want to, I guess."

"Building houses is fun! And it's a useful skill to practice because once you can do it then if you ever want a house way out far away from everyone or anything you can do it."

"Yeah. That sounds like a useful thing to be able to do. In theory."

"In theory. Would one say, 'I'll get married some day, in theory.""

"Um, you could but it sounds kind of weird? I'd probably say 'I'll probably get married someday.' I guess."