He mentioned you! What can I do for you?

Uh, the Leareth you've met mentioned you and apparently he used to read your mind a lot. He thinks replicating the experience would be hard to fake but obviously this would involve having your mind read which would be understandable to never want and also I'd have to relay which would be understandable to additionally and separately not want, even though I'd consider anything I got that way to fall under my rules of confidentiality, which may or may not have filtered to you if Fëanáro complained about them or something.

I don't think I can do that, I'm sorry. Maybe someday. I can give you a message to convey to him if you'd like that.

Sure, one second, I'll write it down. ...ready.

We were contacted a month ago by persons claiming to be from another Velgarth and another Arda, earlier in their respective histories, and with a bewildering number of related claims most of which we are not presently dedicating any effort to verifying. Their goals are unclear and we are planning to mostly ignore them, although if this was a plot to distract the King with unfamiliar languages to learn it has met with an expected degree of success. I've given particularly little attention to their claim they have you, which is distracting out of all proportion to its strategic relevance. But whether or not they do, when this war is over, we will get you back and we will fix this, no matter how many years or worlds it takes. 

...okay. You can also just ask me questions if you want but I have that down.

I don't think I have any questions. Do you have any for me?

I'm curious what Fëanáro is like as a dad. As an adult in general actually.

He's very ambitious and very talented, he achieved a lot of important things especially in the leadup to the Noldor departing Valinor. He has high expectations. The last few decades have been challenging because of Melkor's interference; before that I think he was very happy. He invented a new script for writing for one of my brothers, who has trouble with getting letters mixed in his head when he reads. 

Awww. How many of you are there, he's told me he wants ten - I heard he married Nerdanel, what's she like grown up -

There are seven of us. I think he'd have had more but she thought seven was quite sufficient. You know her as a child? She's a wonderful woman, and good for him. One of the first things Melkor tried to do was to get him to stop listening to her.

Yeah, I know her and your aunt Hyellindë too! When I landed I wanted sunglasses because it was so bright and everyone was like 'what's glass' and they brought me to your grandfather's to explain it to him and I met her there. She made the frames, I think.

Awwwwww. I have a meeting I should not be too delayed to but maybe when all of this is over we can come and meet them.

Sure. Tell Van if you or anybody else in your family wants to hear from me.

I will, thank you. And thank you for rescuing Leareth.

Of course.

Angband Leareth is ready to sleep before Bella's bedtime (he's rarely anywhere except his bed), and agrees to it with gratitude albeit not very much interaction. 

He doesn't ask to talk to her the next day. Instead he writes some very cryptic notes to himself on the torn-out notebook pages. 

The two Nayokis talk! 

It doesn't take long for both to be convinced of the other's veracity, and they talk research, relaying through Bella. Older Nayoki has a proven-fully-reversible method of blocking Gifts, but even the least invasive version isn't side-effect-free. That being said, she's deduced that Melody in the other Velgarth has some sort of newly-invented method for blocking Gifts, which might or might not be better. (There are a number of ways of blocking Gifts that older Nayoki has discovered, but most of them are either not fully reversible or have side effects or don't work reliably.) 

The easiest way to convey it would be between two people who are both Mindhealers. Local Nayoki would understand if Bella still isn't comfortable lending the earcuff to her, but if she's comfortable lending it to local Melody, then Melody could learn the technique from her alt and then pass it on to Nayoki. 

"You could probably talk me into it but I'd be slightly less hesitant about Melody if that works for you."

"Melody would be fine. It might actually be easier for her to explain it to herself!" 

"Makes sense." So next time she sees Melody she'll bring that up.

"Huh! If I really invented something then I'm pretty impressed with future me! Er, any suggestions for trying to aim at her with the earcuff?"

She can try to explain how it's done - "though we haven't found more of me anywhere, so it might be weird somehow to aim for yourself -"

Well, Melody can take the earcuff and try it. 

...After a few tries, it works! 

The Mindhealing technique for safely and reversibly blocking Gifts turns out to be fairly easy to explain; the hardest part is other-Melody finding someone willing to be grabbed and have it demonstrated on their Gift so that local-Melody can observe.

Twenty minutes later, though, local Melody takes off the earcuff. "Huh! I would never, ever have thought to do that. It wasn't even me, actually, it was my eleven-year-old student who I apparently have in the future, I'm told she's very, er, creative. And she got the idea from some weird mushroom I've never heard off that partially scrambles Gifts, combined with the fact that she used to go around sneaking peeks with her Sight all the time. Sounds like she really could have used an ethics lecture from you, actually. Anyway, I've got it, I could pass it on to our Nayoki and then she can use it for whatever she needs?" 

"...an eleven-year-old Mindhealer? That sounds... uh... I'm glad she has a you around. But I can supplement if she still needs the lecture. I'll bring you next time I go north."