He gets off and strokes her mane. "I think I'll go for a swim." He takes his clothes off and folds them, leaving them in a pile on a rock before climbing into the pool.

It's not hot like the pool near the ekele; it's cool, but pleasantly so. The water is so clear that he could count the pebbles on the bottom of the deepest part, at least five yards down. 

That's really nice. He tries to swim to the bottom and grab a pebble, but gives up on that quickly when the combination of holding his breath and pressure in his ears becomes unpleasant. Instead he can swim in circles until he's worn out.

When he’s done (which probably won’t take long given that he’s been approximately bedridden for a couple of weeks) Yfandes will be waiting to snuggle, and food has appeared from apparently nowhere on a tree stump beside her.

Indeed, Abras only has about fifteen minutes of leisurely swim in him before his arms and legs start complaining. He gets dried and dressed and snuggles up, then notices the food. "Did someone drop off food while I was swimming? I totally missed them." He hopes they didn't think he was ignoring them on purpose.

:Oh no, that’s normal here. The hertasi - they’re sort of lizard creatures who live here and help out the Tayledras - are very discreet. They take pride in it: Snuggle snuggle.

Another species of people: extremely cool. A species all of whom are good at sneaking up on him: kind of spooky, for all they're apparently nice folks. Don't think about how easily he was captured by a fellow human, do not, pet Yfandes and eat and don't think about being tied up and helpless. Think about literally anything other than that. "It would be cool to meet one if they wanted to talk to me but it sounds like they don't."

:They may warm up to you at some point, but yes, they’re shy: 

Yfandes nuzzles him, and he can feel her thinking, not quite the thoughts themselves but the fact that she is thinking, and unsure of something. Kind of weird. 

:Chosen: she sends finally. :I think...it would help to speak of what happened to you, at some point. To me, or Moondance, or Savil. Maybe not yet, but - I doubt it’ll help to keep it bottled up forever: 

She sends a powerful wave of caring and reassurance along their bond. :I love you, Chosen. And I think you’re being very brave:

"What would I even say? Just tell you what happened?" He's pretty sure being brave is when you do dangerous things without freezing up, and what he's doing is freezing up in the absence of actual danger which is the opposite of that, but if he contradicts her it will just sound like he's asking for compliments so he's not going to mention it.

:Yes, my understanding is that it can help - make it just another part of your past, not something frightening even to think about. But I get it, if it’s too fresh now: 

Her soft damp nostrils blow into his hair. :Chosen, you’re very hard on yourself. You went through something that most people can’t imagine. It’s normal for that to affect you - just like a physical injury, except that wounds to our mind can take far longer to heal. It will get easier, I promise, but...it does take courage, to get up in the morning anyway.  I recognize that: 

She settles her head in his lap. :We can stop talking about that now if you want: 

"Yes please, talking about something else would be good." (He doesn't want to have a wounded mind. He is his mind. Having a wounded mind means being worse, inherently. It's true, though, for all he hates it.)

Yfandes, seeming a bit apologetic, gamely starts a conversation about math. When the sun sinks below the tall rock, the light turning golden, she suggests they head back to the ekele for supper.

Abras can talk about math for quite a while! Math is fun and abstract and doesn't remind him of anything. Yfandes can definitely keep him functional until supper and then bring him to same.

Savil, who's lounging around outside the ekele, practically beams when she sees him. (It's a weird look on her). "Abras! You look so much better, I can't believe it. Want to come up-above for supper with Starwind and Moondance?" 

She points. There's a rope ladder hanging from one of the enormous trees. Looking up, Abras will notice another treehouse, this one built into the first branches that split off from the trunk. At least thirty feet off the ground. 

His eyes go alllllll the way up the ladder, and he suddenly regrets the time he spent deliberately wearing himself out swimming. "I would love to, but, uh."

"...Is is the heights that bother you? Or are you just not feeling up for the climb?" Savil shrugs. "They can come down as well. I'll Mindspeak them." She seems...relieved, if anything. 

"I'm not scared of heights. Just, really weak arms." At least there's one thing he isn't scared of.

Savil chuckles. "That's one place you're ahead of me, then. I've been visiting this place once in a while for thirty years and their ekele still gives me the shivers." 

Seconds later, Moondance is scrambling down the ladder, light and graceful; he lets go five feet off the ground and hops down, grinning and bouncing. Starwind follows, slowly and with more dignity.

"Hello, Moondance. H-hello Starwind."

Moondance smiles brightly. "You spent a pleasant afternoon? I hope you are enjoying our Vale. I found it wonderful indeed when I first came."

He points Abras down a short path, toward what prove to be a shady clearing with lounge-chairs and more tables made of tree-stumps. 

And then Abras catches a glimpse of a colorful scaly creature! It's about two-thirds the height of a man, and just slipping away into the undergrowth. There's a laden tray of food and a jug of some sort of drink that definitely weren't there ten seconds ago. 

"Yes, it's beautiful he--" he jumps at the sudden movement. "Was that one of the Hertasi Yfandes told me about? Wow, they're fast."

Savil laughs. "They are! It's fascinating, actually. We think they're a created species, dating back to before the Mage Wars – not that they talk about their history much, but the sense one gets is that they were made to be servants. And they're very good at it." 

Moondance chuckles as well. "Though they are not exactly servile. Sometimes one thinks they consider themselves our masters instead! They adore feeding and clothing us, in the way they see fit. And trying to 'fix' our lives in all ways, perhaps things we find not in need of fixing. They are such gossips – if they think two people ought be a couple, they will go to such ends to arrange this. Romantic decorations and food will appear whenever the two are alone together. It is rather charming, and occasionally awkward." 

"Wow. . . . I guess if someone is going to create a species of servants that's one of the least bad ways it could go."