"I am also noticing that it feels uncomfortable to consider meddling with the lifebond. Really quite frustrating, that." Leareth's emotions are screaming at him that there is a person right here who he trusts and that never happens and what is he thinking, considering undoing that. He has to keep reminding himself that no, actually, that is a mind-control feeling and not endorsed.

"I suppose we could ask for a research project on a reversible method of doing this – something that would roll the lifebond back to how it was before we met, for example – and then we could become re-lifebonded if, for some reason, we still consented to it from a non-mind-controlled state." 

"I guess? That sounds like it yields nearly all the discomfort and if we wind up exercising the reversal option also nearly all the mind control and only gets us, like, a while to think about it without interference. And unless the research project would occur overnight we'd be trying out the lifebond removal after getting slightly more accustomed to it than we currently are. It's hard to think around it but it doesn't seem so impossible that it's worth buying a little clarity at that price."

"That makes sense. It could be that sufficiently thorough external shields between us would get most of the benefit of thinking without interference, without the cost of new research into it." 

"Maybe. Uh, I have been told before that I have strong shields but it seems like it must be one of those automatic things because I don't know how I'm doing it, so I don't know how to make them any stronger..."

"I was thinking more the level of shielding that is standard on a mage's Work Room," Leareth says. "Personal shields are clearly not sufficient here." 

"That seems worth a try. But it might also just do the thing that happens to lifebonded people who are really far apart."

"I suppose I could briefly Gate home - it is very far - and then come back? Though I think it is supposed to be very uncomfortable to be lifebonded and far apart, and also I would be concerned about your safety in the interim." 

"I'm in your secret note stash. Last night you left me alone in my dorm room and nothing happened. Or are you thinking you'd be gone for weeks?"

"I put up quite a lot of wards around your dorm room and would have been there very fast if anything had happened. If you would be willing to stay here for a couple of candlemarks, that seems reasonably safe." He has permanent alarms around it, he'll find out if there's an attack on it, and also it's pretty remote. 

"I guess I might wish I'd packed lunch? Have you considered that if anyone notices heavy duty magic centered on my room they might find that conspicuous."

"I think I am fairly good at magic that is not conspicuous, actually. It was not intended to stop an attack, more just to warn me since I was nearby anyway. I took them down afterward." He tries to think of a way to get her lunch that doesn't involve multiple redundant Gates. "...I can bring you back some food? It would not be in that long. Possibly I will decide it is very uncomfortable and come back sooner, unless you would prefer I stick it out for a pre-agreed time." 

"If it's uncomfortable enough you want to come back sooner then do, I don't have a way to signal you so that's the best information handy about how tolerable it is. A couple candlemarks otherwise lunch to follow sounds good."

"All right." Leareth gets up. Might as well do it immediately and avoid making her wait longer than necessary for a meal. "...Do you want some unused paper to write on? I am not sure if you brought any of your notebooks."

"I always have a notebook on me. When not caught by surprise at home." She pulls one out.

"How prepared of you." Leareth raises a Gate. It is somewhat difficult because it's over a thousand miles, but it won't be up for long. He steps across. 

–ouch. 

"hng"

Leareth is not very happy about this either. It is - tolerable, though, for a little while.

"Sorry, I will see you soon," he says, and takes down the Gate. 

Belrun takes a few deep breaths. She squirms, trying to find a comfortable position, but this is obviously futile from the first and after a couple of squirms she has convinced herself of this. She stacks up two crates in front of her by way of a desk and she writes.

Leareth makes some notes of his own. It's not clearly less distracting, being a thousand miles apart, but at least it's distracting in a different way, and one that doesn't make faces or have different emotions at him depending on what exactly he's writing.

He gives up after a candlemark and some, and goes to collect some lunch for both of them before Gating back. 

She does not pause to discuss the ramifications of hugging him before she does it.

Oh no hugs are very good and he's very happy and relieved to see her and this is strange.

...Also he's less tired than he expected to be, huh – oh. "Belrun, are you feeling tired? I have a suspicion that I accidentally grabbed some energy from you for the Gate." 

"Uh, I think I'm okay? I haven't been using my Gifts very much, maybe it'd be more noticeable if I were already drained."

"Fair enough. Anyway, I brought us some food." He starts unpacking the basket of it on top of a crate. "We can eat and then discuss what we concluded separately?" 

"Yeah." Food food food. She's left her notebook open to what turns out to be weird gibberish mixes of two alphabets, lots of arrows, a division problem, and a large repetitive doodle dominating the lower right corner.

Leareth respectfully does not look. She's seemed defensive about her personal notes in the past and it's very understandable, he's protective of his too even if they're usually not readable by other people. 

He eats. "So?" he says finally.