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And Linya waits. She's a little too distracted to program; she goes over to where her keyboard stand is set up and plays little snatches of this and that.

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There comes a knock at the door of the suite.
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Linya gets up to answer it.

"Count Vorkosigan," she says politely. (She looked him up and knows what he looks like.)
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"Lady Vorkosigan," he answers, equally politely. "I, ah... wanted to assure you that you are welcome in my home."

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"Thank you. It's a lovely house," she adds.

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This observation surprises a smile out of him.

"Is it? This decrepit old pile? Maybe it takes an unfamiliar eye to see the beauty."
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"I'm rather charmed by the maze aspect - perhaps I would be less so if I had not drawn myself a map - and I like that it has a piano."

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"You're the first person I've ever heard describe themselves as charmed by that. But I'm hardly going to complain. You play the piano, then? Has Cordelia located it for you?"

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"Yes. And I retuned it."

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"Well... well, I hope it brings you some enjoyment," he says.

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"It has. My keyboard's perfectly nice, but a real, good piano is inimitable."

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He smiles again, hesitant but genuine.

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"I sing too," she offers. "But I've been spending more of my time teaching myself the local Greek dialect and programming and taking economics lessons from Tsipis, who is helping me arrange to market a little gadget I invented - did Cordelia tell you about my pen?"

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"She mentioned some sort of technological project...?"

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"This is my prototype, after a fashion - the consumer version will be different in a few ways," she says, tugging her pen free from her necklace. She woggles it and draws a line of light through the air. "It's almost like a portable comconsole."

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"Interesting," he says. "I can see how that would be convenient."

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"Mm-hm." She puts it back on her necklace and the light winks out when she lets go of it. "Do you want one?"

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"I very well might."

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"Miles asked first, but he is going to have to wait since he wants one that will require complicated optics finagling."

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"He wants it to look like an old-fashioned pen, nib and everything, instead of having the round ends," she says, tapping one of the cabochons. "I don't know how to do that yet."

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"I might wait around for one of those myself," the Count muses. "The aesthetic is very appealing."

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"It's definitely going to take a while, but Tsipis is being so helpful that I can probably find time to figure it out sooner than I was imagining a couple of weeks ago - Cordelia said you hired him?"

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"Yes. A decision I have never regretted."

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"Yes, he's fantastic," agrees Linya. And, more shyly: "So is Miles."

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