"I took their circle right when you laid down your second one, realized there were two new ones a moment too late."

Hug.

Hug. "I love you."

"I love you. It's really convenient, being able to talk to you without Mingling mediating."

"Was I not good at it?"

"You were great at it but that well-intentioned lady would have had a legitimate complaint with me if I'd had you relay Cam questions about what we were going to do for privacy if he was stuck there for eighty years."

"...she would have?"

"Well-intentioned lady?'

"There were doubts about whether I was raising a small child appropriately."

"It should've occurred to me, just because I know Elves don't need that much food or sleep..."

"Should have occurred to me too. I was keeping an eye out for whether Mingling knew his limits but not for whether an outside observer would think we were staying within them."

"Well she didn't kidnap me. I liked her, she treated me like I was bigger. Maybe I should write her and tell her I'm home okay?"

"She might appreciate that."

So he writes her a note saying that he is home from Ganymede and happy because Ganymede was a sad place but he's probably going back soon, as long as there are people there who can't talk. And he has Cadillac (he didn't take Cadillac to Ganymede in case they died along the way and it was too hard to retrieve her).

"She would find this note pretty confusing, kiddo."

"If I say 'also Timothy has stopped lighting things on fire when he's mad and my other cousin gets along really well with his boyfriend he bought so they bought his sister and in a few months my parents will be done making necklaces and I can tell them all about it' would she kidnap me."

"Uh, yes."

"You don't buy mages you buy their contracts, the difference admittedly doesn't translate to material power to not lead their lives as they're told but it is a difference."

"There usually isn't money in boyfriend things at all."

"I know."

"Do you want help with a more reassuring note?"

"Yeah. Dunno what reassures humans."

"Well, she was worried that you weren't eating and sleeping. You could tell her what you had last time you ate and maybe include a picture of the house your family has out back and say you're home now and slept in it."

The revised note says,

Hi! Thank you for coming to check on me on Ganymede. I am home now but I might go back to Ganymede soon because there are people there who can't talk and it's not okay. Today I had pancakes and apple pie and I slept in my own bed and it was cozy. You seemed nice so I wanted to tell you that I was okay. Also Timothy's boyfriend Cam can talk now and that's really good.

Love,

Mingling

"That will probably reassure her just fine. Maybe less than if you didn't draw attention to the fact that your babysitter is dating a demon criminal but that did not seem like her focus."