[ He'd rather have ruffled-cat, sulky Miles than him flustered and nervous about his love life any day. Gregor sends him a reassuring brush of affection over the link and turns to get them all coffee, smoothly stepping behind the counter without a hint of self-consciousness. He tries to convey a wordless sense of it's fine, I've got this, I do this all the time to help him settle. ]

Of course. It's a funny story, actually. [ To Miles: And it will be a neat segue into your 'straightening out'. ] My lord regent, Aral Vorkosigan, married a Betan. Reportedly, no one thought her taking over my education could possibly have some sort of lasting subversive effect on me.

[ Gregor reports this with all the light airiness of someone who's had more than enough practice at purposeful socializing, intentionally redirecting the conversation and smoothing things over, inviting Bel into the joke at Barrayar's expense. It's a calculated joke even so, a part of Barrayar he's willing to concede and cast negatively. He's careful because he doesn't want to come off as some sort of paradoxical anti-patriotic Emperor, but this extent should be fine.

Betans seem to take ridicule of one's own government as a civic duty. Possibly they won't even realize how scandalous this sort of talk is in truth. ]