"The actual combat portion of that escapade lasted a couple of hours at most, sir."

"Sounded more like six weeks to me."

"Eh. But if Count Vorvolk is of the opinion that I should have traded lives for equipment, he can take that opinion, fold it until it is all sharp corners—"

Illyan holds up a hand. "I understand, Miles," he says dryly. "Believe me. I will deal with Vorvolk and his opinions. I personally guarantee that this little plot will not intrude any further on your recovery."

"Thank you for that," sighs Miles. "I'm... sorry that my carelessness shook your confidence in me, sir. I'll try to be more intelligent in future."

"As will I," Illyan says quietly.

"Ah. Yes, m'lady," he says, and departs expeditiously.

"Am I even medically cleared for visitors of any kind?" wonders Miles.

"No." She bends down and kisses his forehead. "You'll know when you are, because your wife will be here. Now rest up. The sooner you convince that doctor of your good behaviour and general recuperation, the sooner you can be down at Vorkosigan Surleau, recuperating."

"Yes, ma'am."

Lady Vorkosigan,

I find I must apologize. When I denied you clearance to know about your husband's work, I did it as a mere default, absent any well-founded suspicion. It is impossible to prove a negative; no amount of evidence could have reversed my decision. I would not have treated any other covert agent's wife the same way. I acted on prejudice, without considering the costs, and for that I am sorry.

Respectfully,
Simon

"He's... moderately unhappy. But I think he's settled down. What's the etiquette problem?"

"Captain Illyan sent me an apology." Linya calls it up to show her. "And signed it with his first name. Letting it go unacknowledged seems hostile, but I'm not sure how I am at this time supposed to format the salutation."

"I'm willing to accept his apology," says Linya. "He might have to do something beyond formally cease to consider me an information security hazard before friendship becomes likely."

"Simon considers almost everyone an information security hazard. Going as far as sending you an apology note about not trusting you enough implies that some degree of active trust has been achieved."

"Hmm. I wonder what the tipping point there was? He got my story about Earth weeks ago."

"He had a... conversation... with Miles just now. At a guess, I'd say he was moved to apologize to Miles about something, and doing so reminded him that apologies are an available course of action when one has made mistakes that affect others."

Linya laughs. "Well. Thank you for the consult. Any idea when Miles can be visited?"

"Not yet. I'll let you know first thing."

Simon,

Your apology is accepted. I acknowledge that my circumstances are exceptional and am glad that I located an opportunity to demonstrate my harmlessness sooner rather than later; thank you for your openness to necessarily finite evidence.

Likewise,
Linyabel