"I can do that!"

Nefreti is weaving up some kind of incredibly complex spell - no, two of them, one in her right hand and one in her left.

Leareth watches, both curious and wary. Probably nothing is going to explode but he's sort of tense about unknown magic happening near him right now. 

"Um, Nefreti, what is that?" 

"It's a contingent plane shift to send you home at the end of this dinner, I don't think I want to stay for the whole thing. We'll need to be in rapport for the last bit of it but the Dome slows down my casting so it's going to be a few minutes before I even get to that part."

On the one hand he had been under the impression she would send him back as soon as the important advice-giving part was done; on the other hand, he's not exactly in a hurry to get back to the demiplane, and it's not clear his presence was actually making the situation less awkward. He nods. "I'm impressed you can do magic in the Dome at all, it really messed with my diamond spell the first few times and that one's incredibly simple." 

"It takes practice! I do think we are doing our future pharaohs a disservice, raising them in an environment that makes it harder for them to learn magic."

"It's not that bad if you grew up used to it. And we split time between here and the other palace, usually, when that one's not being used to stage for a war."

"And maybe there won't be future pharaohs anyway," she says thoughtfully. Khemet stiffens. "I can't see the future here," she says chidingly. "Just other places."

"With the same stories, right. Does it -" A gesture at Vanyel and Leareth - "usually go like this - is that even a meaningful question -"

"No, but I respect you for trying to ask it anyway. Herald Vanyel, will you let me attach this spell to you so you can Plane Shift back when you'd like?"

Vanyel nods and shifts closer to her, trying to slip into rapport and not quite sure how to do so with her, she's not the same kind of magic-user as him at all. 

She's not but she knows what she is trying to do here and can send mental impressions until they get it, and then finish up the spell scaffolding around him. "All right. When you say the word 'hippogriff' you will go back to the demiplane." She stands, bows. "I'll see you tomorrow," she says to Aroden.

"Of course. Thank you for your offer to help with this." 

"You're very welcome." And off she goes.

"Sorry, Van, sorry, Leareth." He looks exasperated but also happy. 

"It was very, um, Nefreti-like of her." Vanyel turns in his chair. "Leareth, are you all right?" 

"...Mostly, yes." He's much closer to his previous level of calm, now, though he's still sort of leaning his head against Khemet's forearm. "It seems it is not a comfortable topic, right now. I suspect I will be more reasonable about it in a week or two." 

"Leareth, hey, it's very reasonable to be upset about it. The Goddess did something incredibly horrible to you. When horrible things happen to me I generally find the topic upsetting for years." 

"Vanyel is very wise."

"Leareth, do you want a hug?" 

Nod. 

Vanyel scoots his chair over and gives Leareth a somewhat awkward one-armed hug. 

If Leareth is being adequately hugged he'll go sit down. 

Vanyel hugs Leareth for thirty seconds or so, but then keeps his chair close to Leareth's. "I didn't know you had a husband," he says to Khemet. "It's, er, lovely to meet you, Hemaka." He seems faintly self-conscious about it. (He is also trying very hard to quash the rising jealousy.) 

"It's nice to meet you too. I've heard so much about you all. Honestly most of it has been extraordinarily confusing and this dinner has been the opposite of clarifying but I managed to gather that you're the interdimensional visitor we were so astoundingly lucky to get."