"This is a good solution, I think it'll legitimately make everyone happy."

"Okay."

He has no reason to think Maitimo is wrong about that, he believes him, but - it's not without costs, and that bothers him a little, the same way it bothers him that some of the aliens died in riots before the conversion was complete even though by any sane standards that was probably the most amazingly bloodless galactic conquest ever accomplished and much better than they could reasonably have hoped for. In the long run, the outcome matters more than the process, but the process still matters some.

"You can resurrect the aliens who died. And I'm not even sure that kidnapping the Findekános is better for them, though I can't ask mine -"

"The solution I'd be tempted by looks less like kidnapping, more like erasing all their oaths and giving them an irrevocable teleport power somehow."

"Erasing all the oaths would be fine, teleport - maybe if you told the me that you want to give everybody a teleport, but will take your cues from him on when to roll that out without it being disruptive -"

"We'd be a lot less miserable about it with the oaths erased, and even less miserable than that if the Findekáno also had a teleport. Not completely unmiserable, but it'd help. Not that I'd actually want to make these decisions based entirely on what would make me more or less miserable, what I actually want is 'everyone is instantly okay', and everyone being okay in the long run is more important than everyone being okay immediately but I still prefer more immediate-okayness to less..."

"What would you still be miserable about with no oaths and a teleport?"

"Well, I suppose that depends on whether no oaths and a teleport would make him instantly okay."

Sigh.

"If he left and the Maitimo was really unhappy about it that would also make us sad, just in a different way, and - if he didn't leave, and wasn't okay... and I don't get the impression that Findekános can make themselves okay the way Taliars can..."

"In Elf time. To you I suppose that's the same as 'never'."

"Absolutely not, there is an immense difference between 'a long time' and 'never'. It's just that there's also a pretty big difference between 'a long time' and 'hours or days'."

"Or seconds, I think it took you last time. He'll - eventually get to the level of fine he prefers."

"I did take about a day to become okay all the way down instead of just functionally okay and suspending all not-okayness until I was less busy. But yes. It's good that he'll be okay eventually - although 'the level of fine he prefers' is kind of an unpromising phrasing, what does that mean..."

"I do not know that he will prefer to be entirely fine."

"I love him. I am pretty sure I can get it right eventually."

"Okay. I'll be really glad when you do."

Nod.

Snuggle.

That seems like maybe it's enough of the miserable topic for now.

Yeah.

Instead, hugs. Beautiful feathery hugs in Raika-seren's outrageously beautiful floating castle.

Sounds lovely.

It is lovely.

And then they can settle back in to bringing their world up to date with modernity?