"But is it an informative mess. Can you look at those incidents and extrapolate?"

She will give Raafi a hug. He clearly needs some comforting himself, here.

"It sounds like you may need to, recalibrate some of your instincts," she adds gently. "The thing each of these incidents seem to have in common, including the congratulating her about a sex act that is not considered an accomplishment in this culture, is that: you first make an innocuous mistake or miscommunication, and Scyelen responds to that mistake in a way that... prompts you to 'reassure' her in a way that nigh-invariably has the opposite effect."

"Mm." He leans into the hug.

"I'm going to eventually bring up that I can do abortions - not infertility, unfortunately, I'm the wrong sort of mage for that, but if she doesn't want children she doesn't have to have them. Do you have any advice about that?"

She lets out a pained laugh.

"Yes. My advice is: don't. I don't even have to try to imagine how that would go. This would be a perfect example of you attempting to reassure and it backfiring horribly. Fuck, I'm glad you asked me first. If this is the level of missing the point that she has been dealing with, I'm impressed you haven't had more problems."

She lets go of him and steps back.

"Sorry. Relevant facts: We have had reliable contraceptives for nearly six-thousand years. There are four kinds in popular use. There is a spell any line-class Water mage can cast on a man; takes effect immediately and lasts between thirty and forty hours. There is another spell any line-class Water mage can cast on a woman, which takes effect after the next time she bleeds, and lasts until the time after that, which can vary from one to four months. There is an advanced triangle-class water-earth spell that I prefer, which can 'freeze' or 'lock' the fertility cycle in whatever state one wishes. And finally there is a potion, mostly popular with commoner women, that requires one drop of blood per gallon of water and a less-advanced triangle-class earth-water spell to brew, which at a dose of one swallow makes a woman bleed immediately and then shuts down her fertility cycle for approximately a year."

She gives Raafi a wry, raised eyebrow. "The implication that she might ever be pregnant not-on-purpose would be incomprehensible to any sheltered noble girl."

"Ah."

"Nothing's ever simple, is it." He sighs.

She pulls him back into a hug.

"Every thing is simple, when it's alone. But life is a never-ending journey from thing to thing; it's not getting lost along the way that's complicated."

He thinks about that for a few seconds, very still, and pulls away, and doesn't say anything.

She lets him, watching him intently. She didn't intend that to happen, but an opportunity is an opportunity.

"Whatever you just heard me say. It tripped you up in a way that I didn't expect. Hurt you, even. Right now, you're Scyelen, and I'm you. What happens next?"

Scyelen isn't the only one with needs, here-

How can you possibly advise me when you don't understand-

Fharlanghn, sir, I don't want this...

"I haven't told anyone and I'm not planning to, but I know you're Fouquet. And I'd appreciate warning if you're going to do anything that affects me or mine in the future."

For a long moment she just stares, then she closes her eyes and smiles, conceding. "Fair enough."

And then Raafi wakes up in the academy's infirmary two days later. He is uninjured.

That sure is a thing that's happened. He gets free of the infirmary staff and goes looking for Scyelen.

Scyelen is not evident.

Siesta is the one who finds Raafi. She worriedly tells him that, apparently, the night after Raafi was found unconscious by one of the instructors, something destroyed the wall of the dorms leading into Scyelen's room. Scyelen has been missing for two days. Colbert, Kirche, and Tabitha have gone out searching, but haven't found anything.

Uh-huh.

Is Tabitha around.

"I saw her with Sylphid in the south courtyard a few minutes ago. I think they're planning to fly out to search again."

He offers Siesta his hand before teleporting over, landing halfway across the courtyard. "Tabitha!"

That's relief, on Tabitha's face.

Sylphid chirps and bounds over to give Raafi a nuzzle.

Once Sylphid calms down, Tabitha simply asks, "Who?"

He lets Sylphid distract him for a moment: "I'm all right, sweetheart, sorry for scaring you."

"Fouquet," he tells Tabitha. "Don't ask for details, I can't safely tell you. Is anyone else missing?"

Her eyes narrow.

"Secretary."

"Not sure what that's about. Have you found out anything at all?"

Tabitha gives him a look, but lets his lie stand.

Then she points behind him.

"Raafi! You're awake!"

Perhaps uncharacteristically, she doesn't attempt a glomp.

"As of about fifteen minutes ago. I hear you've been helping Tabitha look for Scyelen?"

"We've been flying a search pattern every morning," Kirche confirms. "Professor Colbert is in town looking for rumors, but neither of us have had any luck. But with your help I'm sure we'll find her easily!" She gives him a hopeful look. "Right?"

He shakes his head. "Fouquet has her. I could probably find her but there's no way we can get her out by ourselves, and even if we could, she wouldn't be safe here."

"Fouquet! What does she want with Scyelen? And don't talk like that, we have to try!"