Giggle.

Beam.

"Will you design your own fossilized creatures or will each planet have its own Cambrian era?"

"Designing my own fossilized creatures sounds like tremendous fun."

"Cave art? Clay tablets?"

"Maybe. But then I'd just end up inventing entire lost societies. I suppose that's not necessarily a bad thing."

"Sounds like fun. You could have, like, puzzle theme parks for archaeologists."

"Brilliant. I love it. That can be my hobby when I run out of real problems."

Giggle. "I am pleased to have solved your quandary there."

"I'm sure I would've thought of something. But it's nice to have options."

"If I run out of substantive problems I might settle in to being emperor of something, or taking enough voice lessons to do magic Elf songs, or something like that."

"I don't think I'm temperamentally suited to being emperor of anything. I make a better thane by far. That's not to say that I couldn't do it, just that I'd be very aware the whole time that it was a suboptimal use of my talents."

"I think I'd have a great time with it. I could be wrong, though, haven't actually tried."

"When you do, will you be in need of a thane?"

"Possibly! You're not too attached to Thule to thane elsewhere?"

"Thule will always be home, but I go where I can do the most good."

"A thane seems like a useful sort of person to have."

"We generally are!"

"Seems to be the idea. How many thanes are there?"

"Ballpark of a thousand. Some more active than others. I'm on the busy end."

"What's that per capita -"

"About one thane for every two hundred and fifty citizens."

"Do most of 'em start at sixteen?"

He laughs. "No, it's usually twenty or later. I'm just very impatient."

"You? Seems out of character."