They seem pretty self-explanatory, yeah. Abras doesn't have a lot of practice Mindspeaking people he doesn't know, but that's one of those problems that solves itself. He drinks tea and passes messages and checks them off and if there are any responses he does with them whatever seems to be the done thing.

Fortunately Tran demonstrates the done thing first, by flipping to the next page and noting down a message bound for Haven about an injured Herald, along with its originating destination. At one point he gets one from the north, his own half, that needs to be passed to the south, Abras' half, and he prods Abras and points at it so he can add it to his own list. 

It takes about half a candlemark and then they've hit all of it. "Whew!" Tantras says cheerfully. "That's so much faster with your help. And less tedious." 

"I'm glad I could help. I can see how it would get repetitive after a while, but it clearly needs doing. Thanks for teaching me."

"Aww, come on, I didn't even teach you anything, you picked it up like a natural. Anyway, I'm going to go work out at the salle - want to come?" 

Well, he doesn't have anything planned for the next while and if he doesn't pick something immediately that time will get eaten by sadness. "Sure."

Then Tran will skip along to the salle, humming, and grab one of the practice-blades. He starts out warming up on one of the pells. 

Abras does likewise. Swordsmanship has never been his strong suit or even his mediocre suit and Tran could totally wipe the floor with him, but being bad at things is more rather than less reason to practice them.

Tran quickly strips off his tunic and tosses it to one side, rolling up his shirtsleeves. His forearms are marred by faint but visible burn-scars.

"Wanna spar?" he says, a couple of minutes later. 

"Uh, sure. Practice-blades or hands?" (Don't think about the scars, don't think about how he probably got them--)

"Huh, do you have much training with barehanded fighting? I don't, honestly, but I'd be happy to give it a go." 

"Me neither, really, but maybe if we're both clueless you'll wipe the floor with me less." Shrug. It'll be an experiment.

Tran laughs. "Hey, hey, I'm not here to show off." He steps out onto the mat. "Ready?" 

"Guess so." And now he can attempt to imitate Lissa and Starwind, and Tantras can attempt to imitate anyone he's seen who knows how to punch people.

Tran is reasonably quick, and he's taller than Abras and definitely stronger, but he doesn't appear to have grown up with an older sister who liked to pick fights, and he also seems a bit reluctant to actually hit Abras, which is throwing him off. 

Well, it would be pretty obnoxious of Abras to hit harder in a practice fight than his opponent is hitting, so now they're both just dancing around trying to tap each other.

Tantras eventually changes tack and tries to get in close enough to trip Abras and knock him to the ground. 

Abras wasn't expecting that! Down he goes, in a tangle of limbs and with a last-minute attempt to pull Tantras down too.

Tantras yelps and lands on top of him. He laughs, then attempts to turn this into pinning Abras down. 

Abras flails around and eventually gets pinned.

And then freezes, hyperventilating and tense. 

He's here in the salle--

He's paralyzed in the snow outside K'Treva--

He's tied up in a barn and Krebain is leaning over him--

Tantras is laughing. "Got you! That was really fun." It takes him a moment to notice that Abras...doesn't seem to be responding. 

He backs off. "Abras? Are you all right?" :Abras, hey – did I hurt you?: Worry and consternation in his mindvoice. 

Abras' mind starts to clear again as soon as he can move freely, but he's still disoriented and full of adrenaline. :I--what--: He rolls onto his back and stares wide-eyed at the room, his brain slowly accumulating evidence that he's here and not in danger. "Oh gods, I just--I lost my head for a minute. Sorry."

"No, I'm sorry. It, um, it makes sense that it startled you." (Tantras knows the story of Abras' kidnapping; he was there, after all, organizing search parties from the Leshara landholding – and he's tensing up as well, now, remembering what happened next.) "Hey, um, do you need a hug?" 

Yfandes, sensing Abras' distress, sends a wash of reassurance and hovers mentally nearby. :It's all right, Chosen. You're not in danger: 

Abras would really rather not have anybody touching him for a bit, actually, but Tran looks like he might be asking for himself, and of course he would have some bad memories too. "Um, I'm okay--do you need a hug?"

To Yfandes, he adds :Thanks. I know where I am now, don't worry. I didn't mean to startle you.:

"I'm all right." Tran sits back on his heels, waits a bit for Abras to catch his breath. "...hey, do you think practice blades would be more fun? Or we can just call it a day."