" - you could have told me there was someone in particular not to pick a fight with, I wouldn't have begrudged you -"

"Findekáno."

" - I guess I would absolutely have begrudged you Findekáno - why - he does not have any good qualities -"

"I am aware that you think so."

"You sacrificed me thinking you were an interesting person for him?"

"What if I did? But - not just that - I wanted to be able to do things, even if I didn't know yet what the things would turn out to be, and eventually an interworld visitor came to feature in them, which I couldn't possibly have guessed - and I didn't want to spend all my time and energy making you understand something you didn't want to know."

"I guess you couldn't have just demonstrated it by murdering twelve people while under constant supervision."

"Would've have known how, anyway. Got it off him." He glances at Telumë.

" - you - he - Nolofinwë's son -"

"Technically the Valar only said a man must not take two wives and I don't ever expect to do that."

"Huh. - how did you notice that he was an interesting person," he asks Telumë.

Do you mind if I tell him the honest answer, which is that I read your thoughts? Telumë quickly asks Maitimo. 

Go ahead. Apparently we're just - saying things out loud now - sorry - that wasn't what I'd expected to end up doing -

Telumë takes a step closer to him, lets his hand dangle where Maitimo can take it easily if he wants to. 

"I arrived in an alien world with no idea of what was happening except for the fact that people were pointing swords at each other - swords they were handling very badly - and yelling at each other. And since this was very alarming to me, I - read some people's minds. Maitimo was the first person I encountered who was - hmm, who was oriented, the way I try to be, who knew all the relevant information about what was happening. He spoke my language - not literally, but he understood what I was trying to convey with less cultural translation needed, and he - took it seriously, accepted my advice, provided avenues for me to help. I could offer magic and experience of violence, but I did not understand the Noldor at all, and he did. I am certain that things would have deteriorated into violence long before we could Gate out, if not for his help." 

"It's kind of a spectrum, isn't it, between going to parties and running intelligence operations for a country, and running intelligence operations for a country is important."

"I don't even know that it's a spectrum. I do one thing and I do it by going to parties and by sending people presents and by writing them letters and by - sending them fake Foresight dreams - I don't do that anymore - okay actually I did once but Foundation thought it was all right -"

You did what?? Telumë asks, trying not to betray any surprise in his expression.

"When I arrived, he was doing it by talking to a dozen people at once constantly, whether he was at parties or not," he says out loud to Fëanáro. "Though I imagine the groundwork for it, the fact that he had relationships with all of those people such that he could draw on them then, was done at parties. But there was an extremely impressive feat of social coordination happening there, I did not think it looked possible to gather the thousand initial explorers peacefully and cooperatively but we did and that made such a difference, and he was trying to keep a lookout and warn me of anything suspicious that might indicate Melkor's activities... It was very impressive, is all I can say. He had to learn paranoia from me, but he has a skill with people that I lack." Fondly. 

In Rethwellan. They would have been really good for each other and both of them were deeply in denial about it - I said to Foundation, it'll be good for them, they'll endorse it if I ask in a year, are you going to smite me - 

"Well. It is a good thing we had both of you. And a good thing Telumë knew what you were capable of - though we would've taken him more seriously if he hadn't married you -"

"We should have told people about the marriage sooner so the timing didn't look so suspect."

His father looks confused. "It's not that it looked suspect it's that a lot of mind control was involved."

"No," Maitimo says firmly. "It's my marriage and I decide how it happened and we got married before the war, accidentally, it only came out during."

" - okay, I respect the thing you do but that doesn't mean I'm just going to let you get away with doing it at actual facts about reality that have a truth of the matter!"

"Well, you can shut up about it, or you can say things such as 'they should've told us sooner so the timing didn't look so suspect' about it, which give me some room to maneuver, or you can say that I told you that we married before the war, which is true, I did tell you that, but you may not bring it up if you're going to say anything else about it. This is important to me."

"Lying to people is an act of sabotage; you shouldn't do it where you wouldn't also deshoe their horse."