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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.
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isthisart
isthisart
"Well, when people asked me if my tendency to trip if I change direction at speed was figured out they didn't have to be delicate, it was just a background assumption... I may do."
thisvorlunatic
"The background assumption being... that you're haut and you have an entirely different psychological relationship to your genes than the average Barrayaran?" He sighs. "Yes, quite."
isthisart
"Not so much that - I mean, if someone wanted to start a fight with me about it they could have just gone straight from watching me trip to calling me a botch job or claiming that I was designed by lemurs or similar. But there was definitely the assumption that tripping is not a desirable trait, and that the project everyone present was cooperating with involved making sure it didn't happen again, and - it's different."
thisvorlunatic
"Right. Whereas on Barrayar, there are relatively few ways to discuss somebody's genes without starting a fight, especially if there is the slightest implication that they might be carrying undesirable traits. Happily, I am harder to piss off than that."
thisvorlunatic
"I know. Thank you. I love you. I'm... mostly just fine. But it might be a good idea to route genetic queries through my mother wherever feasible; she lacks the relevant inner demons."
isthisart
And the next morning sees her snuggled up not very gingerly at all.
thisvorlunatic
He approves so much!
Although he also feels kind of self-conscious about the fresh new collection of scars on his legs.
Although he also feels kind of self-conscious about the fresh new collection of scars on his legs.
isthisart
"Are you okay?" Linya asks, pausing in her not-very-ginger snuggling.
thisvorlunatic
"Um. Yes. Sorry," he says. "I just - feel even less attractive than usual."
isthisart
"Is... there anything to be done about that?" she asks, wrapping her arms around him and holding him close.
thisvorlunatic
"I'm sure I'll get used to the new scars eventually," he sighs.
isthisart
Hug.
She will leave it up to her tiny Barrayaran if he's up for anything else this morning besides minimally tentative snuggles.
She will leave it up to her tiny Barrayaran if he's up for anything else this morning besides minimally tentative snuggles.