:Yes: He can't quite stop crying enough to say any words but he can do Mindspeech. 

Calm.

Okay. Sorry you were up before me. Was it really bad?

Vanyel wipes his eyes and takes a few deep breaths. "It...wasn't as bad as I would've thought? I woke up and, and there's always a second or two before I remember he's dead – usually there's a block in the way so I don't think about it for long – and there wasn't, so I kept thinking about it. And it hurt, I miss him so much, but I could still think, and if you hadn't come, I was starting to try to calm down and I probably would've gotten there eventually?" 

Okay, that's promising. I think I can finish what I was doing and also do the salience strip today if I'm efficient about both. And taking half an hour to calm down is a step up from what it sounded like you were working with before, so it should be all right if I'm not this aggressively on top of things this evening and tomorrow.

"...It is better." Vanyel looks like he's only just realized this. "Even with Lancir's redirects – it meant I didn't get upset as often but if I did I would lose the whole afternoon. Anyway, you can start if you want." 

Here goes!

The day is much like the prior one. She finishes picking the burned out husk of a lifebond away from the normal grief for a dead boyfriend and then when Vanyel's ready he can walk through the structure of his traumatic experience while it all seems vague and dull and not the sort of thing worth making a fuss about some five or six times.

It's a pretty surreal experience. Vanyel wonders what Shavri would– wait, is he actually thinking he might tell Shavri about this? She would definitely find it fascinating. But it's not something he talks about to friends. He can tell Savil what it was like, at least. Later. When they're done. 

Need another go or does that feel like enough?

"I think that's enough." He's pretty meh on the idea of doing it again, at least, it's getting repetitive. "What now?" 

Now we're done for the day. Tomorrow, if you're sure you want to keep them all, I can stick the association pinches on permanently so they don't come unstuck. And then I can start you on learning to lucid dream so I don't have to keep reapplying your nightmare patch once a month.

"...I've done some lucid dreaming practice. It was in a book on long-range Foresight. I, um," he glances at Savil, "it didn't seem to help with nightmares so I stopped. But it sounds like it would help if I did more of it? Maybe you have different exercises that are better." 

Well, I'm curious what you've tried, and if it's a lot like my process then maybe it won't work for you. It's not like redoing the block once a month is impossible or anything.

"That makes sense. Um, were you going to put me to sleep again?" It's not exactly a normal bedtime yet. "I, um, thought I might want to try this evening without you keeping me calm. Since I have to do it sooner or later anyway. If you think it's a bad idea I don't mind going to sleep now but I'll probably wake up in the middle of the night, I'm not nearly as tired as before." 

I'm all done, you can resume normal sleep patterns and I'll back off on the calm whenever you're ready.

He reaches for Savil's hand. "Ready." 

She lets up gradually over about thirty seconds.

It's a lot better than the morning, either because Bella finished her work or just because he's expecting it, not disoriented from being suddenly woken. "I'm...all right, I think?" He's a bit shaky and the prospect of concentrating on any work sounds impossible, but it's been a long day, that isn't very surprising. "Thank you. So much." 

You're welcome!

Savil thanks her as well. “Shall we go get some dinner?”

”I don’t want to be around people that much and I think I’d rather go for a ride with Yfandes, but you should both go if you want to.”

Have a nice ride!

Vanyel fixes his tunic and puts his boots on and heads out, Savil hugs him and then peels off in the opposite direction toward the dining hall, glancing back to see if Bella is going to follow her. 

Yup, she's following along.

Shavri is in the dining hall. She's talking animatedly with another girl her age, but when she glimpses Bella she instantly becomes very focused on her plate of food. 

And there's another tall, sturdy red-haired woman in green robes sitting with Gemma, the Healer from night shifts – and now she's on her feet and heading for them. "Ooh, are you Bella? I've been really looking forward to meeting you."