"I wanna terraform planets. I don't know how yet but I wanna do it."

"Nice. Let's start with Mars."

"That was my first thought but it might wind up making sense to start near the Dwarves."

"Eh, depends how fast the Dwarven contact project goes. I bet I can get you to Mars faster than you can get past Valinor, and there's bound to be some people who'd rather stay in this solar system, and then if Mars is the first try we'll know more about the process by the time anyone gets near enough to the Dwarves to play neighbours."

"Valid points, although I will still have to learn to terraform."

"How better than by doing? And talking to experts, of course, but you're probably well equipped to look for those."

"Terraforming is a thing demons have been doing recreationally ever since we've been able to travel sufficient distances within Hell to avoid everybody's projects crashing into one another. I can pick up a lot of it out of books."

"Perfect. How soon would you like to visit Mars?"

"Sometime when I don't feel the need to be paranoid that the lightspeed delay is the difference between me and my loud platform getting across urgent cautions and not that. It would be moderately challenging to find a demon who wanted to park here and conjure for emergency Youtube videos from my Mars habitat whenever anything happened."

"Well, that's a nice leisurely schedule to work with. If you'd said 'next week' I would've had to have a very interesting conversation with Myriol."

"Oh? How would you pitch that?"

"Oh, I'd open with, 'How fast can Thule get a space program? I want to take my future husband on a date to Mars.' And then she'd roll her eyes at me and I'd explain that my future husband is a demon so materials and manufacturing costs, ah, aren't, and she'd get serious about it and we'd probably be in the air in less than a month."

"That's how you're planning on referring to me, is it?"

"I can cut it out if you'd rather."

"I wouldn't dream of restricting your palette of communication options."

"Could also go with 'this lovely man I've gone on a date with, who I arrogantly assume will marry me,' which is what most people who know me will hear in the original phrase."

"For all you know you wouldn't be able to cope with some irritating personal habit I have!"

"And yet here I am, arrogantly assuming!"

"I'm not sure an assumption that nothing about me will put you off is arrogance per se."

"It can be framed that way. As assuming I'm adaptable enough, as assuming I guessed right about our compatibility."

"You didn't have nearly enough information to conclude that I talk in my sleep."

"That's adorable."

"Thank you."

He grins.

"Unfortunately I am far too arrogant to be inclined to list my actual faults."