He could find himself someone else to fall in love with, right?

Yeah. But there aren't many people as amazing as you. And somehow I don't feel like your alts are going to go for it, although what do I know.

Doubt it. They all act like everything to do with me is irrevocably tainted.

Yeah.

Snuggle.

It makes plenty of sense that they'd think that way but Raika-seren can't help feeling like someone who concludes that anything to do with Midnight is irrevocably tainted will miss out on a lot of great things. Such as Midnight himself.

Well, they want me dead, so I don't think they see that as a drawback.

Their loss.

I guess.

...snuggle.

I am very glad I don't have to deal with them ever again.

I'm glad of that too.

Snuggle.

I love you and I want you to be happy and not have to deal with people who hate you.

And someday he'll give them all enough wonderful things to make Maitimo's presence on the periphery of their lives unquestionably worthwhile - on top of everything his alts are already doing for the peal - because he is a Taliar and achieving the gloriously unachievable is what he is for.

Sigh. That still involves engaging with them. Even if it's worth it it will certainly make me less happy.

....aw. Well. It can wait. I'm sure I can find other impossible things to do in the meantime.

There's hardly a shortage.

Although sadly very few of them are as much fun as seducing you.

Is that so.

He giggles. He remembers the way it felt to lose his ability to associate people with identities. He giggles some more.

Yes. Seducing you is tremendous fun.

You're a very interesting person.

It gives me great joy to be so interesting to you.

Which is part of how much fun it is, but only part. There's also the ironic part where it involves terrible suffering, and the extra layer on that where the terrible suffering is worthwhile and in its own way enjoyable, and the part where sometimes Maitimo does something like get him high on trust songs and it is legitimately entirely fucking amazing, and the part where just being in love with Maitimo and being around him and getting to snuggle him and kiss him and work on interesting projects for him is very deeply rewarding in its own right.

He laughs, and takes Taliar's soul again, and goes back to work.

Taliar very happily drowns in love. He feels so safe with Maitimo, and it's a very silver kind of safety a lot of the time but that's not necessarily a bad thing. He is glad to belong to him, glad to be with him, glad to be in his power. Glad to be so fascinating to him and glad to be the kind of person who can handle the kinds of things he finds fascinating. He is Raika-seren Taliar and he was made for this.

This time around, the overwhelming intimacy of soul contact feels satisfying and fulfilling and comforting. To be completely inescapably wrapped up in Maitimo is exactly the thing he wants most. It's perfect. Not a soft cozy painless blanket like soul contact on trust songs, but delightfully intense, unbearable in a good way.

There are people whose minds haven't been untangled yet; he's going to send them all to Dawn in one trip. He sets himself to logistics.

And Taliar, of course, experiences no substantial changes in mental state. Although he's getting better at noticing time passing during soul contact. His fragmentary half-thoughts are happy when he realizes he's being left like this for a while.

It's kind of a convenient way of getting things done without being bothered by the knowledge that Taliar's a little lonely.

He is absolutely not lonely at all. He is the exact opposite of that.

Good. Eventually he lets go.