façade

[isthisart]

Linya gradually feels her way around being proper friends with Ekaterin, not wishing to wreck things with a premature "will you be my Second at my duplicate wedding" request. There is companionable gardening. There is, when Linya and Jocelyn make an unexpected sudden breakthrough in causing the nibs to behave, which holds when they fabricate a prototype and test it out, a fountain pen for Ekaterin. (In addition to Miles's and Count Vorkosigan's. And one for Emperor Gregor, which has got to be worth all the R&D in advertising alone.) When Miles's legs are more or less completely healed, they skip off to Vorkosigan Surleau for a few days and he teaches her to fly a lightflyer, which she enjoys very much and picks up very quickly. Linya writes Miles a song. (It has no words, she doesn't feel up to lyrics, but it is very pretty and slightly different every time she plays/sings it.) With the nibs handled and all the Barrayaran languages learned Linya spends more time reading textbooks and signs up for a university placement exam to see how far ahead into advanced classes on various things she can skip, and awaits her results.

And snuggles her tiny Barrayaran.

Comments

[thisvorlunatic]

Groatful.

"Groatful," giggles Miles. "I love you. Groatfully. Well, ask her whenever you feel comfortable, and I suppose I'll call Ivan, and then we can start planning the wedding."

[isthisart]

"All right." Nuzzle. "And there will be colorful groats and oaths and it will be very wedding-y."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Yes. Wedding-y and groatful." He's not going to let that one go anytime soon.

[isthisart]

"You are easily charmed by neologism."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Yes."

Pause.

"Groatful," he whispers.

[isthisart]

This inspires her to get up off the sofa so she can twirl him around. "You are so cute."

[thisvorlunatic]

Miles squawks and then clings to her, giggling. "I'm very pleased you think so!"

[isthisart]

She flumphs down again and kisses him.

[thisvorlunatic]

He snuggles into her lap and kisses back. "I love you. You're delightful. An absolute treasure. I'll even let you get away with picking me up and twirling me around. Because I love you so."

[isthisart]

"Is it a matter of getting away with it?" she wonders. "I'm not certain I could kick the habit of scooping you up in the first place if I tried - well, I could, but it would be legitimately challenging - but if you do not care to be twirled I can do without."

[thisvorlunatic]

"It's a matter of finding endearing from you what I would find inexcusable from anyone else."

[isthisart]

"Aha. We shall have to make sure that no one infringes on my wifely entitlements. I might get jealous, on top of your own dismay."

[thisvorlunatic]

"I am certainly not going to stand by and let myself be twirled by unauthorized persons."

[isthisart]

"Well, no. If unauthorized persons are trying to twirl you, your feet will not be near enough the ground for standing."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Metaphorical standing, Linya. Standing of the metaphorical kind."

[isthisart]

"Aha. That you could surely do from arbitrarily compromising positions."

[thisvorlunatic]

He cracks up.

[isthisart]

And Linya grins and snuggles him.

[thisvorlunatic]

Snuggles! So many snuggles. They must catch up on their snuggles.

Perhaps they should retire to their suite and do some catching-up there.

[isthisart]

Whether she had the idea independently or is picking up on some silent cue, Linya picks him up again and saunters upstairs.

[thisvorlunatic]

Good. Miles has the best wife.

[isthisart]

Why yes. Yes he does.