"Comparison of - how important things are in my head in relation to other things. If you're curious, the measuring point here is the token point for being alive and sentient. Because I had to pick something to measure this all by."

"So having magic is three and a bit times more important than being sapient? Is my portal bag, being magic, three and a bit times more important than some random nonmagical person?"

"It sounds really bad when you say it like that," laughs Adarin "The portal bag itself, no, it's like a - point two or something, it's useful but not irreplaceable. I mean that you have magic that can be used for useful things and that is a valuable resource that can be used for other purposes. For example, helping sapient people."

"I use my portal bag for that, too," she points out.

"Yes, but it can be replaced. It's just one singular thing that is useful, it is not a thing that makes other useful things. It's useful, but it's not the one that's resurrecting the dead, it's just helping a bit with that."

"Your number system is cute and so are you. I love you."

"Thanks! I love you, too. I didn't make it to be cute, but I'm not complaining that it is!"

"The exact mechanism isn't so much cute, the fact that it has such exact mechanisms is cute."

He snickers. "I like being precise and exact! It's a bit less - nailed down to numbers in my head, you were easy to do because I think about you a lot. So I don't have to look through the metaphorical filing cabinet. Other people I'd have to poke my head a bit to come up with exact numbers. I could easily ballpark it, but not to - decimal points."

Isabella picks up his hand and kisses it, eyes sparkling.

Adarin smiles back, looking embarrassed. "The comparisons themselves don't bother you?"

"Why would it, am I missing something?"

"No, but I mean - Ana would be upset if I told her that there was something in my head that made me care about how good you are at fixing things in comparison to being hopelessly in love with you."

"Why?"

"The fact that it has a higher number in the math problem. I don't think she cares that I find it important, I think she would care that I find it - more important than just being in love with you."

"Well, I mean, you're in love with me for reasons, you were not shot at by a cherub with questionable morals."

He laughs. "Yeah. I would be so confused if that happened, my math problem would be confused at reasonless love."

"What would happen if you were shot at by such a cherub, do you have an algorithm with enough plasticity to handle that?"

"I... Have no idea. I hope I'd be able to handle it? It's - not the sort of situation I've been in, before."

"How long a while? I think the letter-sending thing will help..."

"I have no idea. But just - I'm remembering how scary other planes can be."