"How do you tell which gods are doing a thing if they don't kinda sign their name? I don't think anyone's sure who handles Companions unless the Companions do and aren't telling, for instance."

"Some have signature methods - for example, Vkandis is occasionally fond of striking people with lightning bolts to make a point. The Star-Eyed has Her spirit warriors, Vkandis has Suncats. Also if something is clearly within one territory - Karse, or the Pelagirs - that is a hint. And of course if the gods scheme by sending visions to priests and such, generally They do so to members of a religious order that worships Them. Often, however, it is not clear which god is responsible for something." 

"Why are you classifying Astera as 'more neutral'? You're using her religious hierarchy to pass your mail, that has to be incredibly open to sabotage on her part, and she hasn't touched it! Someone who had no opinion on you at all might still object to the co-opting of their stuff."

"...I suppose that is a fair point. Though as far as I can tell Astera does not interface directly with that priesthood in any way and has not for centuries. Perhaps She does not consider it to be among Her possessions, if that is even how gods think of things." 

"I guess. I'm really curious what-all you've got on the gods and what they're up to."

"I have theories and quite a lot of notes, but," he looks down at his empty porridge bowl, "are you going to be late for classes?" 

"The one I'm teaching is in the afternoon and I don't feel nearly as bad about skipping the ones I'm taking, though I guess all else being equal it would be nice to show up and that would involve leaving now, yes."

"Would you like me to sneak in to those with you as well?" 

"Up to you, if you're interested in a lecture on the circulatory system and a survey course on economics."

“I am if it is where you are - only if you do not mind, of course...”

"I guess it's a little weird looking but I'm not going to - stay, am I, so -"

“If you think it would stand out a great deal, I could find somewhere to wait nearby...” Being highly conspicuous also seems bad although maybe Leareth is just being unreasonably paranoid. It’s very irritating how all the lifebond emotions make it hard to tell if his paranoia is reasonable or not. 

"I mean, if anyone's paying attention they'll notice you're following me around, right, and that might actually be weirder if you're not also sitting in on the classes."

"Fair enough." At least that will also give him the advantage that if anyone does come after her then he'll be right there. 

So she walks him to her room to pick up her school stuff and they attend a lecture on the circulatory system and she takes a lot of notes and asks a question about capillaries and then they attend her economics seminar and it's about currency exchange and she takes a lot of notes on that too and then it's lunchtime and they can go to the cafeteria. No one tries to assassinate her the whole time. Someone does ask her who Leareth is in econ and she tells them "he's my lifebonded" and they say "that's new" and she says "yes it is" but that's the end of it.

It's a weirdly enjoyable morning even though none of the material is that novel to him. (Though it's kind of novel, especially the circulatory system, he hasn't put a lot of effort in this lifetime into learning about that field.) 

After lunch she goes to her lab to check on her eggs (they have numbers painted on them) and do class prep work and teach microbiology! It's about things-like-flus and how they wreck tiny creature-parts (better names pending) from the inside.

That part is incredibly fascinating! It's Leareth's turn to take a lot of notes. 

Awwww she likes that. Warm fuzzy feelings.

And then she's free for the day unless she wants to do more things to eggs, which is always an option. "Except I should stop by the Dean's office, let him know..."

"Would you like me to come with you for that, or hang back? Also, I would not at all mind seeing more of your work in the lab. I am quite curious." 

"You may as well come along since I have to explain you anyway." She heads toward the admin building.

Leareth follows. He keeps finding himself smiling for no reason other than the fact that he's with Belrun.

She has a five minute wait to see the dean. "Hello sir."

"Sujana! If you need more funding you need to go through the -"

She shakes her head. "Uh, I actually came to tell you I might be leaving soon. I got, um, lifebonded, only he doesn't live in town -"

"I can tell them to up the funding -"

"It's -"

"And we can get you joint accommodations and -"

"Sir -"

"- a grader for your class and he can move here so -"

"I'm going to see about finishing out the term," she says, a bit loudly, "but it might be that urgent business calls him away and I'll need to go too, I'm afraid he's not as portable as I am research and all in the long run. It's nothing to do with the university, I've been very happy here."

Leareth feels kind of bad for the poor man now, who clearly wants to hang onto Belrun so badly and rightly so because she is great. It's not like they really have the option of her sticking around long-term, though. 

"What's the urgent business?" the Dean asks Leareth directly, frowning.