...okay, how to best...

She's waiting for him out the front door when he exits it.

"Hi I know you said you didn't want to see me today I'm sorry but can we talk?" She's fidgeting.

"...Something's clearly bugging you a lot, right okay. Back upstairs, I've got time if you run me to breakfast and class after talking."

"Okay, can do." Fidget.

Upstairs is gotten to. "So, what's wrong?"

She tells him what she did last night very briefly, but when it gets to the part with the prophecies relays them verbatim.

"Wait wait centaurs? Centaurs! Augh. I- You can't- Uuuugh."

"—yes?"

"Prophesy is a huge mess that I really could have done without. It'll just make both of us super anxious and paranoid and, ugh, whatever this 'bad thing' is I can't try to do more than brace myself. Even the fact that I know about it now and expect it means it'll probably be worse than if it was a bolt from the blue. You're almost panicking over it, that can't be healthy! Even though the long term is supposed to be good!"

"Well but—I mean I can prepare at least—he said it was probably not physical and maybe it was just the—I'm sorry."

"Centaurs. Yeah, make the most of it while it's already done. Ideas for the last two questions? I'm thinking 'will I fully recover in time'."

"I don't know, I kinda just—wanted to see if he could give us more details with you there. He said it was all vague, but 'a conflict with a king that will not want to adopt computers' sounds pretty detailed to me."

"The conflict with the king has something to do with computers but not necessarily him not wanting to adopt them. It's always twisty. What you say he said is the straightest talk I've ever even heard about from a centaur. Let's go."

"—where? To the centaur? Or breakfast-and-class?"

"Centaur. This class isn't as strict as yesterday's."

"Okay," she breathes, relieved in spite of herself.

Out they go.

Loqil is practicing with his new bow. He starts putting it away as Sadde talks to the Knight.

"Hi, Karil." Terel starts emptying his pockets of magic gear rather than have it removed when he crosses the barrier.

Sadde still only has the token.

And they're through with a nod, and Loqil is making tea for two still before they actually arrive near him.

"Hello," she greets him again. "This is Terel."

"Well met, Terel. Tea?"

"Um, sure."

He serves tea. Terel apparently doesn't know how to start.

"So, you might've guessed this is my mate, erm." She looks at Terel. "Will you ask, or do you want me to?"

"Will the 'bad thing' have permanent lingering effects on me?"

"Hmm. Well, to be plain, everything has a permanent effect. On your memory if nothing else. But I hear the sentiment of your question. Let me look deeper."

"It will not debilitate you in the way you mean. No brain damage, no mysterious curse, no vengeful Fates."

Okay. Okay, that is—good, she guesses. Yes? She has way more than just two questions, though—how long will it last? Would Terel want to not have met her, if he knew now of what awaited? Would—

She remains silent.

Terel is sipping his tea and rubbing his head. "Sadde, what do you think of 'how can I best prepare for it?'"

"I can't answer that, alas."

"Nevermind."

"—I have a few suggestions. The most—general—would be 'what kinds of details can you get now that Terel is here?' I'm not asking this now, by the way, the question's his to ask."