I'll get something set up. 

And he informs Vanyel that Leareth is here. Our Leareth, that is! I was not expecting him!

:Huh! Neither was I. I should probably go talk to him...?: 

Probably! I also thought I'd ask you to shield a room for him, he's in the infirmary right now but he should probably have his own space.

:That's a good idea. He still has his Gifts blocked?: 

Yes. I tried to ask nicely but I'd have been kind of alarmed if he didn't.

:My impression last time is that he would find it alarming too! He was really scared of anything that involved taking actions, though maybe he's doing better now, I don't know. Should I do shields first or go talk to him?: 

How long will they take?

:An hour or so, to do properly, though I could spend longer since I really want him to be safe there. It'd be fine to do it while he's there, it doesn't need my full attention: 

Then I think I might go get him first, and he can watch you do it and hope that helps him feel very reassured - since he won't be able to see them like usual -

:Oh, gods, right, he doesn't even have mage-sight. And I can't sense-share with him because he doesn't have Thoughtsensing either. Er, if you were nearby and up for it, I could bounce my Sight to him via you, osanwë is really good at that: 

I can come right over. 

He has a room in the palace, with its own external entrance and a courtyard on the other side, cleared out for Leareth. He sends Vanyel the location.

Sounds good. Vanyel heads there and waits. 

While he can go get Leareth from the infirmary and escort him there. 

Leareth looks older. Of course. It hurts. That's probably dumb. Hey. We got you a room. Vanyel thought you might want to watch him set it up for you.

Leareth involuntarily shrinks back a little when he sees Maitimo approaching, but that's stupid, and he forces himself to relax. It is very good to see you again. That much is true, even if it's also inexplicably - no, probably very explicably - terrifying. Is it far? He's still so tired. 

Not too far. He would offer to carry him but he noticed that flinch. He keeps his distance. Walks very slowly.

Leareth walks a distance away. He's vaguely wishing that something were different but he isn't sure what. He does slowly relax more, as the parts of him that are very glad to see Maitimo win out against the memories of not-even-very-convincing fake Maitimo being very kind to him for a while and then turning around and hurting him - or being angry - or worse... But that wasn't real and this is; on top of all the other accumulating evidence, which part of him is still quietly tallying, at this point it's too goddamned weird not to be. 

"Vanyel seems well," he says finally. "You took good care of him." 

"I really like him. He is very competent and low-maintenance and sensible."

Leareth isn't sure those are exactly the adjectives he would use for Vanyel, but he nods. "And I was right, I think, that he was very motivated to help you." 

"Yes. He said you'd been entirely right, to bring him in."

Leareth smiles a little, though it fades quickly. 

There are so many things he wants to say, or thinks he does, and he can't find the right concepts let alone words for any of them. 

I think you were paranoid enough, he settles on, finally. In the war effort. I am glad. 

It means a lot to hear you say that. I expect there are things we could have done better but - we won.

You won. Leareth looks away, shoulders hunching a little. I am sorry. About the Gates. About...everything. He doesn't know what the rest of the 'everything' is but it feels like there has to be something there.

He keeps expecting Maitimo to be angry, even though objectively speaking that doesn't at all seem like the thing Maitimo would do, here. 

You landed by accident in a strange world and immediately decided to help prevent a civil war and almost as immediately identified it the work of an evil god. You got us out of Valinor safely and then realized you needed the assistance of a powerful acquaintance whose trust you'd earned by spending decades talking with him even when you thought someday you'd have to kill him. It worked. You got us the resources we needed to win the war. And also in the course of five years of torture the Enemy on one occasion managed to get you into an information state where you'd do him favors!

Shiver. From what I can tell, (limited because he hates looking at the Angband memories even though he definitely needs to sort through them and figure out what his mistakes were and why it took him so long to notice what was happening), he did not actually torture me before the Gates. He - repeatedly tried to be convincing, and erased my memory of his failed attempts. There were at least several hundred iterations. 

Huh.

We are not upset with you about it.