"What frightens me is when events that should be path-dependent aren't. But - Bells don't seem to come in Elf, probably because not having free will just doesn't suit you. It would not surprise me if I similarly fail to come in 'a gender where my social expectations were all things I couldn't do'."

"We don't seem to come in very similar the way Arda staples do, even the Earth ones have all different magic systems and are all strongly affected thereby at or before age seventeen. We might come in Elf once and just not do it twelve times."

"That would be exciting. I hope there's an Elf of you out there somewhere and that they still manage to avert everything being terrible and then they can meet the rest of you and be appalled at your hair. I'd find that really soothing."

"Last I checked you were not appalled at my hair per se."

"Does Maitimë cut yours, Isabella?"

"...no?"

He seems to read a lot into that, for some reason. And adoringly ruffle Kib's hair.

...Kib takes a little longer and then he laughs.

"I'm missing something."

"I think it only worked because you got her so young - oh gods -"

"...what?"

"The hair thing is a - uh - roles thing?"

"Yeah, though that's pretty culture dependent, if I were from China or something I'd have it really long probably."

"It's one with Elves too, other way around."

"I've... never seen an Elf with short hair, it'd hurt or something..."

"It's kind of extremely kinky. You've sorted out in a sort of compromise direction and we're doing, like - haircut commensalism."

"...haircut commensalism. That's cute."

"It worked out tremendously conveniently, how many things had equivalents to haircut commensalism."

"I could imagine doing something sort of like haircut commensalism in the sense that getting my haircut is a service I pay barbers to provide but it'd probably parse weird somehow."

"How does how young she was affect it?" Kib wonders.

"...well, I'm assuming I was unattached, since Isabella's come out here alone? And probably in denial, because those went together, and - a girl, I don't know how that bit affects it - and anyway less likely when trying to acquire the shiny Bell to think of it in those terms."

"Annnnd the first person habit is uncured..."

"Unattached, yeah, should I like, apologize to Findekané for counterfactually stealing her girlfriend do you suppose -? It's sort of a cute story how it came out she had a crush on me actually. I already had eidetic memory down when I landed and she was jealous and I said I could learn to hand it out and she said if I did that she'd offer me anything in her power short of the empire - and then later I did, and gave it to her and said I'd take a raincheck on my anything, and she blushed, so I asked - counterfactually but I bounced it when I had the answer -"

"Awwwww. I do not think you should apologize to Findekáne for counterfactually stealing her girlfriend, I think she will say 'it does not seem like that life choice would have bought either of us much happiness!' and at least until you two are all squared away that will just make you needlessly sad."

"Yeah probably."