"Yes, actually that's identical."

"Well, then he'll be here in a few minutes and our systems of timekeeping correspond very conveniently and," she glances down at the chessboard, "I've forgotten whose move it is but I suspect that means it's probably mine."

"It is, yes."

She makes a move. The distraction has thrown her off but not too too badly.

Aha, he cleverly anticipated that move.

That's the sort of thing she has come to expect from him, yes.

They can pass the next few minutes like this without any trouble.

Then the doorbell rings.

Chris gets it.

The person on the other side greets her with a smile and a kiss on the cheek, then steps inside to be introduced.

"This is Rupert, Chris's boyfriend," says Eliza, and then presumably the reverse in the local language; Blai will be able to catch his own name but little else. Without actually waiting for further interaction from Rupert she adds, "He wants to know where the books are."

Here they are in his bag. "These are two copies of the Acts of Iomedae, this is the Lastwall disciplinary handbook - Lastwall is Her theocracy - and this is a book of chess variants. I also have some letters but don't know them to be of academic interest."

Rupert has questions!

"—he wants to know some things about how the books were made, I'm not sure how capably I can translate them—how much do you know about where the paper and the bindings and so on came from?"

"...not much. The nicely bound Acts and the handbook were a gift from a Commandant who received my letter when I was Selected and the other one is just on standard issue fort paper that we were issued regularly along with food and other supplies and tied together with string. I traded a passing adventurer for the chess book."

She translates this for Rupert.

He nods along and has a few more things to say.

"Would you like to bring your books to Rupert's house where he can use the gentlest of book-copying widgets on them? You could also let him borrow them and return them later today, but I'd imagine you might not like to let them out of your sight, seeing as they're the only written material on this planet that's in a language you speak."

"He's more than welcome to borrow the less nicely bound Acts, since I have the other?"

"Sure. But does it seem a reasonable use of your morning to take your other books to Rupert's house and watch him widget them? It seems so to me but you may have other priorities."

"I am perfectly willing to take your advice on the matter." He collects the books into a stack.

"We will travel by transit widget."

She gets up and gets her shoes and jacket.

Blai has... a Worldwound coat. It's not cold enough for a Worldwound coat and he will do without.

Out they go to Rupert's transit widget, which is stationed just outside. He opens one of the forward doors and gets in.

Eliza opens one of the rear doors and gestures Blai into the seat thereby revealed.

Plop. And then the door... closes? Nnno it's not all the way - closes? How do you close this thing so it will be closed.