"He woke up in a strange room with his captured husband in arms' reach having gone to sleep mid-war, I did not marry an insane person, Findekáno."

"Nope, nope, perfectly sane, all of you, perfectly sane and perfectly justified and - okay. Maitimo, snap the fuck out of it and act like you are a happy person with a worthwhile life and some comprehensible but not deeply horrifying amount of trauma, give me five fucking Years, and then I will kill you and somehow keep going but five. Years. You owe me that."

"Of course, my beloved. I don't want to die and never have. Milliways is marvelous."

"Aydanci, I apologize for moving you in your sleep, people who'd been here with Kib thought it'd stress him out to be relocated to the city. You were doing work of tremendous interest to the Enemy and now you're not going to do anything but hug Kib for eternity so I'd be a very dumb enemy to tip my hand like this if I'd captured you. Can you until someone gets hurt give us the benefit of the doubt here?"

"I just woke up," says Aydanci. "Too early."

"Tea," snorts Kib, "they always include the tea thing, they can't get anything else right but groggy they can do!"

Snort.

He stomps downstairs to get tea.

"What's the matter?"

He asks the bar for tea for Aydanci. "They all think they are in Angband and it was a bit much when just Maitimo did. Ambela, right?"

"That's me. I think Kib will come around in the long run."

Mug of tea.

"Kib will, Maitimo won't, so I asked Maitimo to cut it out so I can try to have some - energy for - Kib doing it, and he did, won't ever mention it again, but of course quietly revised upwards his confidence I'm Melkor when I asked it of him. Aydanci I think will stop it once he's thinking clearly."

"I hope so, but him I don't know any of. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"You could ask Lórien for us if he can give one of Maitimo's alts all his memories so he can kill himself sooner."

"All right. I don't think my variety of Vala can do that but maybe the flat ones can."

"Thank you." He takes the tea upstairs.

Not enough time has passed for anyone to have moved.

Aydanci takes the tea. "Thank you."

"Let me know when you are ready to talk."

He sits. Maitimo takes his hand. He sings.

Kib starts crying again.

Aydanci puts down his tea - hesitates -

"You can touch me, I didn't turn out with all the exact same problems."

Hug. So much hug.

Aww.

Eventually Aydanci manages to simultaneously drink tea and hold Kib.

He finishes the mug and takes a deep breath and looks at Findekáno and says, "Okay."