Lead the way?

Vanyel gets up and walks in silence, his movements jerky. He dodges off the path to avoid going near any of the other people walking about the grounds, which makes their route less direct, but they eventually reach the path down the riverbank. 

Yfandes is waiting there. She goes up to Vanyel, but stops short of touching him, and turns to look at Bella. :You wanted to talk? Van hasn't said, er, about what...: 

Though, from the overtones, she has a pretty good guess, which she's trying to avoid thinking about. 

Uh, I think the conversation you've been failing to have for a couple days might go better with me facilitating, especially if you don't mind me reading you.

Yfandes nods, and she walks over to one of the vine-overhung caves and settles down at the mouth, looking out at the river. :...Van's shielding me out. And I'm pretty sure you're doing the calming thing to him again. And he won't tell me why. What I'm putting together is that this is...more urgent than I'd realized: 

I think on the object level it actually isn't but having it in the way of you two talking is.

:I see. Is this something where...Van was having trouble coping, and went to you instead of me?: Yfandes shifts her position, lets out her breath in a very humanlike sigh. :I - imagine the conversation we're avoiding - and I see it going - not well. Do you have any specific reason to think...not that?:

I don't think it will be any fun but I think it can end up all right. I don't see you just not talking to each other until Vanyel gets into a habit of really aggressively biting off his own thoughts ending all right.

Yfandes is quiet for a moment, giving Bella an appraising look. 

:I trust you: she sends finally. :If - you think this has the best chance of - things ending up all right. Then I'll try: 

Vanyel is...calm, of course, but he's still standing in exactly the same spot, looking uncertain, and not making any motion toward approaching or talking to Yfandes. 

Vanyel? I'm hoping to be a facilitator rather than doing half the talking myself.

"Um. Right. Sorry." Vanyel jars himself into motion, walks over to the little cave-grotto, sits down close to Yfandes but still not touching her. "'Fandes, I'm going to...take down my shields, now, and tell you what's been on my mind." 

A moment of silence; if Bella is watching, her subtle arts will notice their minds blurring together a little, not just connected by a Mindspeech link but overlapping. 

"Leareth's motives involve the gods," he says. "And their goals, or his interpretation of them anyway, and the fact that he disapproves. It...feels really important to me, 'Fandes, that I can think about his argument there."

He swallows. "I don't know if he's right, that the world could be better if the gods weren't in his way. I don't know, they're gods, maybe they see a really good reason why letting civilizations change would actually make everything worse. And maybe the gods aren't perfect but Leareth is still worse. But...I think that's an open question? And I think...what we want to do about Leareth...depends on the answer." 

He hesitates, biting his lip, before finishing. "I don't know yet, but right now it really does look to me like Leareth has a point. Can you, please, tell me what you actually think."

Yfandes has been noticeably tensing at pretty much every sentence. 

:Van, I–: Long pause. :I know you need–: Pause. :I want – we should...: She looks helplessly at Bella. :I want to. He needs me. But I...can't. I don't know why: 

There's two - bits of you, that make you mentally a Companion instead of something else, and they're in conflict right now, says Bella, the part that's committed to Vanyel and being what he needs and the part that's committed to Valdemar and its god-backed charter.

Yfandes gives her a slightly cross-eyed look. 

:That - would make sense as a theory: she sends, hesitantly. :What I'm feeling is–: Pause. :It just, feels wrong, absolutely obviously wrong, that - Leareth fighting the gods - could be a–: Pause. :That's how it feels. But...I must've told Van a thousand times that his feelings aren't always reality. And that wasn't Van's question. What I think, is–: Pause. :If we posit that–: Pause. :Logically speaking, there could – goddamnit:

She shifts around, finds a more comfortable position. :Van, I'm - trying, I swear. I know - how I feel - but I know that cou–: She lets out a frustrated whinny. :Kernos' balls, this is stupid. I'm sorry. Bella, do you - have any advice...?:

The bits aren't usually in tension, and I think being there for Vanyel will win, if they crash into each other hard enough. I could try to help directly but I'd be in pretty novel territory, it's probably safer for you to do it if you can. If you like I'm less nervous about kind of muffling the part that's giving you trouble.

Vanyel, can I try easing up on the calm a little?

Vanyel considers it. Nods. "Um, I might get really upset again, but I think I can probably manage." 

Yfandes nods as well. :I - certainly want that. To be there for Vanyel. It's just that the - whatever's in the way - it doesn't feel breakable. Not from here. It feels - like the least breakable thing in the world. And I'm really, really scared that - if I push it - it might...go the other way: She lowers her muzzle to the grass. :But if what you're seeing makes you think that pushing is safe and might help, then I guess I trust you: 

I am not speaking from a place of really extensive experience but I'm keeping an eye on things - I can try the muffling, that may help you think around it better?

:Anything that might help with that seems good, honestly. Go ahead: 

Bella drapes a heavy fog over the worse half of the Companion-psychological-architecture.

:That feels weird: Yfandes shakes her head as though to clear it. :Not - bad weird, it's fine. I'll try again. I think that...: She trails off, but it's less of a hard-stop. :I think - that reasoning about things - is valuable. Including - for domains other than math. I love how Van tries to actually think about things. I...don't think he's doing anything different here: 

She stops. :That - it let me think it - but it felt really bad-and-scary to go there. Bella, does it look like I'm about to break the wrong part?: 

Bella looks.

The tension is more clearly visible than it was before. The half of the structure that's commitment-to-Vanyel does not appear to be anywhere close to breaking. It's unclear whether the other part is, yet, but it's definitely taking more of the brunt. 

Looks like you're on the right track.