isthisart | line dance

Linya settles thoroughly in. The rest of her Barrayaran clothes filter in and she mixes and matches in Alys-approved ways. Cordelia continues to be welcoming; the Count continues to be more or less awkward (though she does catch him stifling a laugh the first time she has occasion to scoop up her husband in his presence). Tsipis continues to be marvelously helpful; between them they pick a factory that will be able to make pens for a reasonable bid, and she goes in to visit and makes sure they have everything right and decides what colors the chassis ought to come in (four standard colors, a dozen more available as custom order with optional engraving). She asks Cordelia what color she wants hers; since she doesn't want a complicated nib-end she can have the first one off the production line. For the complicated-nib version, Linya is still studying optics. She writes a letter to a local manufacturer of holoprojectors to see if they have any insight. She wraps up her study of Greek and starts on French - French, she already knew, but this is a different dialect with peculiar Barrayaran Cyrillic spelling rules, so it still requires nonzero effort.

Oh, and she snuggles her tiny Barrayaran. And makes music and has groats for breakfast roughly every other day.

Setting a date for a groat-related wedding as opposed to a groat-related breakfast is a little complicated, but they are formally, as it were, engaged.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

isthisart

Linya sings to him until she needs to nip out for lunch, and then she comes back and goes on petting him with one hand while she programs with the other. She behaves roughly the same on the remaining three days, and then Miles is discharged; she brings an Armsman with her to the hospital to haul her keyboard so she can carry her husband out herself. (There is also a car involved, but both Miles and the keyboard need to be brought to the car.)

From:

thisvorlunatic

Miles is, under the circumstances, completely willing to let his wife carry him in semi-public. It sure beats walking out by himself.

From:

isthisart

And then they are home! In she conveys him.

"Where to, my portable little Barrayaran?"

From:

thisvorlunatic

Miles giggles.

"I love you. Upstairs? Our rooms? I want my comfortable bed with its comfortable blankets. Even though my fond memories are probably yielding erroneous predictions of how comfortable they're actually going to be."

From:

isthisart

She kisses his head. "Our rooms it is." And she ports her portable little Barrayaran there.

From:

thisvorlunatic

"You are definitely my favourite porter. Ooh, bed." He snuggles into the blankets. "Disappointingly unmagical, but still better than what I just left."

From:

isthisart

"You'd think for all the little reminder sheets about turning patients to avoid bedsores that I saw posted around the place, they'd save themselves a little work with nicer sheets."

From:

thisvorlunatic

"Eh. The bedsheets and the reminder sheets are probably procured by different departments. Bureaucracy, you know."

From:

isthisart

"Oh? No single 'sheet department'? How inefficient."

From:

thisvorlunatic

He giggles. "Department of Sheets. Amazing."

From:

isthisart

"For all your reminder notice, bedclothes, and printed musical notation needs."

From:

thisvorlunatic

"And, and... what else comes in sheets? Loose flimsies... metal..."

From:

isthisart

"Complex planes. Financial summaries."

From:

thisvorlunatic

"Parchment!" giggles Miles. "To-be-assembled plastic models!"

From:

isthisart

Linya giggles and gives him a careful hug that does not interfere with his recuperating legs.

From:

thisvorlunatic

He hugs back. "I love you. This is much better than grouching around the house by myself."

From:

isthisart

"Are you usually a terrible grouch when convalescent?"

From:

thisvorlunatic

"Yes. Awful. Be glad you've been spared so far. I apologize in advance if I get moody."

From:

isthisart

"Why, are you likely to snap at me or just - brood, be somewhat less effusive in your appreciation for all things Linya-related, what?"

From:

thisvorlunatic

"I'm not actually sure. I've never been simultaneously in the dumps and married before. I do snap occasionally, and brood, and moan, and sleep a lot, and have a general difficulty bestirring myself to enjoy things - these are all symptoms of a bad mood, of which convalescence is but one cause. Sometimes they happen by themselves."

From:

isthisart

"Noted. What's the prescribed treatment if I should observe this to befall you?"

From:

thisvorlunatic

"Er... I don't know, I've never had to deal with me. Ask Mother? Ask Ivan? On second thought, save Ivan for a last resort; I'm not sure I'd be pleased with his suggestions."