He heads off.

"Any requests for your supply stockpile while I'm gone?" Cam asks Auda.

"How long will you be gone?"

"Don't know yet but I'd be surprised if they wanted more than a week subjective? And I can argue 'em down if they want more than you're comfy with."

"I'll be all right. You'll tell them not to touch me?"

"Yes."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. You have enough embroidery stuff? I can get another couple book translations patched and make however much food you'll need."

"I have enough. I don't want to be inconvenient, when you have all those exciting ideas, and could rescue some other people.

Do you - " She shakes her head.

"Do I what?"

"I realized it was a stupid and impertinent and personal question."

"...if you say so."

She concentrates very hard on the ground for a while. "He is interested in you. I am only mentioning it because not having been around fairies you might not have thought of something like that but they are like that."

"- didn't pick up on that, but I'll keep the possibility in mind, I guess. Uh, that's not just faeries. I guess maybe it's more common."

"I don't know how common."

"Numbers in humans - of, to be clear so we don't euphemize ourselves into a confusion, interest in the same sex - wobble all over the place depending on how you collect your data but it's fewer than one in five probably, and a lot of it's masked if people grow up in an environment that doesn't support it."

"I wondered when you didn't want me."

"That's not why. Wouldn't I, like, have a medical problem or at least an angry faery knocking on my door with a medical problem if I lied to - I guess maybe nothing I said was that unambiguous before? But no, it's nothing to do with that. Some people like whichever and still don't want to take advantage of uninterested whichevers we encounter."

"That also seemed possible. Lots of things seemed possible. - sorry. I ended up thinking about it a lot but not because you did anything wrong."

"I'm hardly going to blame you for what crosses your mind."

"Still not entirely convinced you'll blame me for anything I can come up with to do with myself, no matter how outrageous. I bet if I took to wandering around with no clothes you'd tell me future humans don't think anything of that and if I cut off all my hair you'd tell me future humans believe women should look like men if they want to and if I sawed off my foot you'd make a replacement."

"...uh. I mean, yes, I'd replace your foot, assuming I got to you before you bled to death. Please do not saw off your foot. Haircuts are indeed much less gendered in the future. Future humans do mostly still wear clothes and there's variation in how many, and I would personally prefer that you continue to wear clothes but do not plan to appear them on you against your will if you should decide otherwise?"

Giggle. "Okay. Good luck on your trip."

"Thank you."

He returns not that much later with an itinerary. They can hit up these nearby courts in this order and with reasonable efficiency, and then forward some letters to more distant ones setting up meetings there.