"Eh, that would probably depend a lot on his reaction. I know that I can locate him and tell him off with effective impunity; the only satisfying part would be if he acted suitably told-off."

"Not bloody likely."

"Yeah, I didn't think so."

He sighs and hugs her.

Hugs.

Yes. Hugs.

"Well, I suppose if he hadn't exercised his particular brand of awful we wouldn't have met."

"There is that. Maybe you should track him down and thank him."

"I don't think I will be doing that. He knows now you have a girlfriend - does he know it's me? Actually come to think of it you've still got that non-disclosure geas on you, don't you."

"Yeah, I still do." He looks at her quizzically. "Why, would it have stopped me from telling him who my girlfriend is?"

"Nnnno, because strictly speaking I didn't ever tell you who your girlfriend is. It just made me think of it."

"...Have I been going around all this time not being able to tell anybody anything you tell me? And if so, can I stop?"

"I relaxed it some a while ago - I imagine you would have noticed if you couldn't discuss certain things with the Jokers and the relvant information isn't secret from them - but yeah. ...If you run into Rayne again are your bad decision-making habits likely to extend to making poor choices about what to tell him?"

"I'm not going to tell him magic things," he says. "I don't know what else I shouldn't be telling him."

"Personal stuff about me. Possibly I should not want him to have my identity at all, I'm not sure what he'd do with it."

"Nothing good, I'm sure. But look, I meant it about the geas, can you get rid of it?"

"I can make it less restrictive along any dimension I like, or abolish it altogether, at will, that's built in."

"Right. Will you?"

"- you just want it completely gone and even if you run into Rayne on a beach-bubble I'm not going to regret it?"

"I don't mind not being able to tell anybody about the stuff from that one conversation, I guess," he says. "It's not my favourite thing, but I agreed to it. I didn't agree to never be able to repeat anything my girlfriend tells me to anyone who's not a Joker. From anybody else, that sounds like a horror story waiting to happen. I don't think you're going to be that horror story, but I shouldn't have to trust you that much, d'you see what I mean?"

"Yeah, I get it." She waves a hand. "All gone."

He sighs and hugs her. "Thanks."

Hugs. "You're welcome. Please don't make my public relations department run around like chickens with their heads cut off."

"I won't, I promise."

"Thanks. It's not a good look on them."