"Leareth!! You ready to go meet this big sword?"

Leareth has changed into travel gear and has a pack with him and looks cheerful. "Yes! I am intending to Gate us to the receiving area for visiting mages at the Academy - Rethwellan has much higher Gate-traffic but it will still be less conspicuous, and then we can send a note to the Palace with the official Academy stationary and seal, and likely get an appointment at court sooner. Which might still be a day, but I have no doubt there will be plenty you can find to occupy yourself with in Petras." 

"If you don't want me I'll hit up a bar."

"Well, you did also promise me kissing lessons, and at this point I think it makes sense to head over and get our message sent and do that afterward? If you are still offering." 

"Are you one of those people who's going to need 30 PRV before it's at all fun to threaten your prisoners? I do still want to do kissing lessons."

Leareth is confused what that has to do with kissing???

"I think I do not understand the mechanism that would make that fun! Is this a way people feel sometimes? When they are not being led around by the erogame, I mean." 

"I mean, threaten your prisoners in a sexy way. - I think lots of people who aren't erogamed are into that except normally it's, you know, wrong."

"I cannot say I have ever considered whether or would be fun in a sexy way! I have not considered most things from that angle! I suppose I could do a poll of my staff just out of curiosity." 

And they can Gate to the Academy in Petras!

Petras is a large, bustling, surprisingly clean city. The Academy is magnificent; it's probably just as old as the Palace in Valdemar, but it's maintained by magic to a higher standard, and the architecture is a lot more ambitious. Petras looks visibly wealthier, visibly - it's not a modern city but it's a little less a medieval one. 

It's packed with people. Mostly they don't pay Leareth or Elfyn much mind, but when they do notice them, Elfyn gets a lot of double-takes. 

That's probably because she's not exactly dressed. She gets a lot of skill bonuses that only apply when she's practically nude, sorry not sorry. She sticks close to Leareth and appreciates the city.

It's such a contrast with the local fashions! The women - there are a high fraction of women among the scholars, wearing the Academy tabard over their gowns or robes - are dressed on average more conservatively than in Valdemar; the style leans more tightly-fitted, but long sleeves and high necks and ankle-length skirts seem to be the rule. The women who see her look scandalized and avoid eye contact and sometimes whisper to each other. The men occasionally look intrigued. 

Leareth walks them in straight to the registrar's office, where he gives a name - not 'Leareth' - and produces a signet ring and an official-looking document, after which point a servant is summoned to whisk them over to the visiting scholars' guest quarters. 

The rooms aren't as cozy as Leareth's library, but there's a sitting room, tastefully furnished and not too shabby with age, and two small but well-appointed bedrooms, and a dining table in front of a big window letting in lots of sunlight, and a nook with a writing-desk that has Academy stationary. 

Leareth immediately settles himself there to write a note for the King of Rethwellan, or more precisely to his secretary but still. 

"Why's Rethwellan so much nicer than Valdemar?"

"Hmm?" Leareth glances up. "Partly having more mages, I think. Their mages are wealthy and tend to have more surviving children, whereas Heralds - often do not marry or have children at all. Though also it is a matter of prioritizing different things. The poorest people in Rethwellan are no better off, and perhaps worse off, but the Academy prides itself on its image. Valdemar does not especially try to make their Palace look as impressive." 

" - I'm tempted to have a take on capitalism but I guess no one has invented capitalism so I can't have my take."

"I would still like to hear it! I - do not recognize that word but it might still be a concept I have thought of before. There are many concepts that do not work well here for, I think, god-related reasons." Which maybe someday soon they can ASK the gods about. "...I should finish my letter for the King first, though. And I worry that if we start talking about 'capitalism' I will find it very interesting and we will not get around to kissing lessons." 

"Finish your letter, and then we can have kissing lessons, and then you may ask me questions about capitalism. Though I don't actually know very much, really."

Leareth finishes his letter, seals and stamps it with his Academy of Petras signet ring, rings to call for a page, and sends it off. Then he bolts the door, turns back to Elfyn, and smiles, looking expectant and also slightly nervous. 

The only kind of kissing lesson she has the slightest idea how to provide is a hands-on one but she can provide that very effectively! She can use FUK for it and she has very high FUK!

Leareth was expecting hands-on lessons! That's generally the best way to teach mage-craft, why wouldn't it be the best way to teach kissing? 

Honestly, the fact that it's a lesson makes it a lot easier to get absorbed in. He is very earnestly trying to be an attentive student. He can ask clarifying questions in Mindspeech without interrupting the hands-on kissing practice.