...Leareth winces. 

...sorry.

Leareth takes a deep breath. :Apology accepted: He tries to find his train of thought again. :I do - like that thing about Maitimo. But he is very extreme in a certain direction, yes. I suppose I was very extreme in a different direction, when we met: 

He mentioned. He said - if you're trying to make the most beautiful glass it won't hold water, right, because if you're trying to make something perfect along one dimension it'll end up having the most startling traits along all the other ones -

It's - beautiful, and touching, and very Maitimo, it makes Leareth draw in a surprised breath and blink away tears. :He said that?: 

Yes. When he was trying to explain to me what he wanted, that's what he said.

:...Honestly, I feel very well understood: 

You came to the right place for it. Fondly, again; he loves Maitimo a lot.

Well, that's quite reasonable and correct of him. 

:Is there anything else you wish you would have known about Maitimo in the beginning?: Leareth asks finally. 

...he's better at winning arguments than he is at being right. He's very good at being right! He's just even better than that at winning arguments. 

:Yes, I see that: Maitimo has to be one of a fairly small number of people who are better at winning arguments than Leareth himself is. And - normally he wouldn't worry, he is very paranoid and very careful, but he's - meaningfully less paranoid around Maitimo, for a long time it was very loadbearing that he could afford that, and maybe he doesn't need that sense-of-safety as desperately now but he still wants it. Which makes it a lot more important to remember that Maitimo isn't always right.

:Thank you for your advice, Findekáno: He feels meaningfully less confused. Not all the way to solidly prepared, but apparently no one is. 

Of course. Have fun.

Smile. :...Oh, should we actually talk about artifact design? I do not have urgently burning questions, I think, but I do have some: 

Oh, sure.

And they can talk about artifact design.

This fills about an hour and is actually pretty useful, and then Leareth thanks him again and ducks out to find where Maitimo's gotten to. 

Wandering through the city talking to people! He can send where exactly.

Then Leareth will meander in that direction. 

"Leareth. Did you get the research notes you needed?"

“Yes.” He holds up the notebook. “It was quite a productive meeting.”

"Oh good. Shall we get tea while we're here?"

“That sounds good, yes.”

The tea shop he liked in Tirion has relocated here; he orders the same thing as usual. "Will it be too disruptive to Findekáno if you take a trip to Velgarth before all the artifacts are done, as we'd discussed?"

“I think not? I will lay out a schedule with Vanyel and divide the work and we can see. It would be worth checking back about trading in any Herald-Mages from Valdemar, since I imagine some of them would enjoy a vacation here, but this might still be too early for King Randale to have made a decision.”

"That makes sense. I'll follow up in a couple of weeks."

“Sounds good.”