"We don't have to open the door soon if you need a bit - what's wrong -?"

"It's, um – I'm just..." Vanyel sits up, yanking at his hair in frustration. "Don't know how to explain. I'm - everything is bad - for stupid reasons you can't do anything about." 

"Uh. Okay. Take as long as you need, I'm not in a rush."

"Van, I think you should tell him. He's incredibly powerful, maybe he can fix it–" Lissa stops dead. "Wait. The Yfandes thing. What if...?" She trails off. 

Vanyel seems too frozen to say anything. 

"What if what?"

Vanyel gives Lissa a very dubious look, and then turns back to Cam.

"I, er, have a problem that you probably haven't heard of in your world, if you don't have lifebonds. I...was lifebonded to someone...who died a long time ago. I know it's stupid that I can't get over it, it's been fourteen years, but - it's still really bad sometimes - like right now." He puts his head back down on his knees. 

"Tylendel was a Herald," Lissa explains helpfully. "The person Van was lifebonded to. He might've come back? Like Yfandes did." She makes a face. "...Which would be really really weird actually, but it might be less bad than Van being miserable all the time forever because of this." 

"Do... you want me to check?"

Yfandes answers eventually, after neither of the others do. :Doesn’t seem likely, I’ve met nearly all the new Companions, but what are we going to do at this point, NOT check? It’s a quick test, no?:

Check.

"This is, uh, a human child."

Vanyel is determinedly not looking over. 

Lissa bursts out laughing. Thirty seconds pass before she can speak. "Van, oh, gods – it's not even funny – but it's hysterical – you have to see this – you aren't going to believe it..." Aaand now she is laughing too hard to speak again. 

"Van seriously you can't just never look." 

"I mean, I'm reading a little into what 'lifebonded' means but it does seem like it might be awkward."

"You know," Vanyel says wearily, "I previously would've said that I firmly believed all information is worth having, but I'm starting to have second thoughts." Pause. "Goddamnit. It's Stef, isn't it. I asked myself the question 'if Tylendel was reincarnated as a person I know and my sister is making that noise with her mouth, who is it' and it was obvious." He puts his head down on his knees. "This so incredibly isn't helping at all." 

"...sorry."

"No, Yfandes was right, once Lissa had to say it out loud we couldn't not check, and...I was thinking it earlier...I would've gotten up the courage to ask eventually. So I was sort of already doomed." 

Sigh. "This might even help at a different time, I don't know – it's, I have to process what that even means, but right now I just really really needed my life not to get any weirder and then it went and got several levels weirder, and, gah." He yanks on his hair. "I don't know what's going to make me less miserable. I'm sorry. I would try sleeping but I just woke up." 

"I don't really have any useful suggestions, I'm sorry."

"I'm going to go out in the backyard and yell at trees for a few minutes." He gets up and marches out. Yfandes follows. 

Cam picks up his computer and reads things.

"Why do I always say things out loud when I shouldn't?" Lissa storms over to Bar, stops, and politely requests an alcoholic drink of some way shape or form. "...Oh, and can you do food and one of those coffees for my brother? I actually have no idea when he last ate and I probably should've thought of those sooner as things that might improve his mood right now." 

Bar provides peanut butter apple oatmeal, two hot fried eggs, three sausages, triangles of rye toast, and a cup of coffee, milk no sugar.