“Huh,” Vanyel says. “You should’ve said - I could make a portable artifact. Like the big fixed one in the Palace. No one ever asked me to for some reason.”

"Explains rampant alcohol. Water purification's doable with tech, probably scales better if you have the logistics to get the things everywhere they'd go anyway."

Vanyel rolls his eyes. "I think Lissa just likes being drunk, actually." 

Lissa sticks out her tongue at him and then turns back to Cam. "Huh! That's neat. We can pretty reliably get things places but not always fast." 

"Tech also improves on the fast but with more infrastructure requirements."

"Amazing! ...Vanyel, no, how about you don't go ask Bar for books on it right this second, you're the worst, this is having-fun time. If you don't go get your lute right now I'm going to start singing 'Demonsbane'." 

Vanyel gives her a withering look, but he does go get his lute from the booth where he left it.

Lissa will swing by Bar to get him a mocha and herself something alcoholic and surprising. 

Bar complies.

Cam picks up his violin, why not.

Lissa will sit and listen. She thinks Cam plays beautifully, though it's not like she's as good a judge as her brother. 

They do not get to find out what Cam did anonymously because he doesn't sing, just plays a cheery little song, looking at sheet music on his computer.

Vanyel wanders up in time to catch a glimpse of the sheet music. “Oh! What’s that?”

"Sheet music. I didn't memorize any of the songs on this subject."

"Oh!" Vanyel leans closer to look, fascinated. "Is it hard to learn to read it? Do you need to have heard the song before or is this enough by itself? We've got some music notation conventions but it's generally not enough by itself, it's more of a memory aid." 

"This is enough by itself assuming you're prepared to do your own artistic license and, like, know how to play the instrument and stuff. It takes a while, most people from my world learn it at the same time as they learn to play though."

"That's pretty incredible." Vanyel has a new item on his list of 'things to learn which he can justify while outside of time'. "Er, I guess it's my turn. I'll, um..." He has the first few stanzas of 'Demonsbane' stuck in his head now, thanks to his damned sister. He casts around for literally any other song. "Um, this is my mother's favourite song, it's kind of stupid but the instrumentals are interesting. It's called My Lady's Eyes." 

He perches on the booth table and starts playing. 

My Lady's eyes are like the skies / A soft and sunlit blue
No other fair could half compare / In sweet midsummer hue 

Cam records it into a melodic dictation program and then produces a hard copy for Vanyel when he's done.

Vanyel is suitably pleased and impressed. He's curious if he can figure out how the notation works backward, from the fact that he knows the song, though he's planning to go ask Bar for an instruction book or something later. 

"Cam, your turn!" Lissa says brightly. "Play us the anonymous heroics song?" 

"That was the one I played before! There are others but they're not as good, or not suitable for violin."

"Oh." Lissa makes a face. "But what was the heroic thing you did?" 

"Oh, uh, it's possible to summon creatures like me and I publicized that information, it had been secret before."

"...And you got everyone the magical creature afterlife if they wanted it? That's neat!" Lissa bounces a little. "Well, it is still your turn, maybe you can play us a song from the other world, the one with the gods and the war?" 

"I didn't learn their music and their sheet music is different. Also it wasn't about the afterlife, I didn't know that at the time, it was about - shipping and goods and healing and stuff."