Kyeo is running his hand up and down Sarham's back, as though counting scars he can't feel, and then there is something, in the room, something enormous, and he sees his own face and Sarham's mirrored in an incoming oval and then -
- they aren't sitting on Kyeo's bed in Crane Mountain any more.
"Do you mean that in the way where you always want to do it then, then, or where it maybe being more convenient to meet the historian at night outweighs it?"
"We'll feel worse-rested if we move around what part of the day we sleep in too much. And also can't see in the dark. We could stay up a bit late or wake up a bit early but not just put off sleep till daylight comfortably."
"Oh, I don't want you to feel worse-rested! I'll send this in the mail and add a scheduling note. Do you want to see her this weekend or wait?" She starts writing. "I think it should count as work if you want it to."
"Uh, the cultural origin is about religion, which I haven't seen much evidence of around here, but it persists in secular civilization - mostly I just notice you have a much reduced need for rest, and if you wanted more leisure time, you could do a lot of it at night. In societies where everyone is inevitably going to need time off because they're sick, or taking care of sick family members, or catching up on their grocery shopping or their sleep or their exercise, there are plenty of professions that need to be available all week long and so days off aren't always on the weekend, so between that and the way it'd be easy for you to slosh time off around freely, I'm surprised the concept hasn't kind of evaporated."
"Nights aren't free leisure time because most places are still open then. There are stereotypes of, say, someone opens a shop and acquires the will to work every single day for the next few decades to become rich, but most people don't want to work that much. And having specific days for it built in lets people meet up with their friends more easily, or schedule theatre performances when more people will be able to go see them."
"I guess! Though it is still dark at night. You probably have much lower labor force participation but I would not have naively expected that to result in weekends retaining fixation."
"But instead it's the opposite, because I had to coin a - not particularly creative - translation for seasonends."
"Your years are short but they aren't that short, I usually observe about, let's see - eleven, twelve - fourteen holidays in a standard year."
"There are usually twelve days' worth of seasonend in a year, with some but not all of them also being other holidays and some holidays being on non-seasonends."
Colley doesn't look up from her writing. "And a musical tonight! - Unless only Kyeo wants to go?"
"Oh good! Do you want just the premise or nearly-full spoilers going in?"
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