:That makes sense. I am sure he can cope, he is a me - just, even so I do not want to make things harder for him than they must be? I...think that maybe it is an important part of how I became - myself - that things were very hard when I was small. But...surely there is a limit, there - and I also wonder who I could have become instead, if - I had been able to have allies from the very beginning...: 

:Yeah. Worried about that, a bit. That I'd make him - too soft to survive - I didn't want to, say, make him not the kind of person who'd built the immortality method that worked - but the gods don't hate him yet, the person he needs to be is different -:

:I think that is right. I have had to - become a different shape of person, in a way, in order to work well with the forces of Good in Golarion. And I am good at doing that, because I have had a very long time to learn how the pieces of myself fit together, but - I do not see why he must relive all of the exact same lessons that I did. And...: Shrug. :I want him to be happy. I was unhappy for a very long time, I think, and it did not prevent me from - growing into who I am now - but I am not sure it helped either: 

She is relaxing into him. :He's very good. I love him. - differently. Obviously. I want him to be all right. ...are you all right. It must've been stressful...:

:It was. I am - mostly all right now that I have found you, I think. And I would have been all right eventually, if I had not, I - know what I can learn to bear. I am very relieved I will not have to cope with losing you, though, it would have hurt: He lets out his breath, slowly, one hand stroking her hair. :I am tired, I think. I find  look forward to a year of not doing anything adventurous at all: 

:Mmmhmm.: She feels like there's got to be more she should be thinking about, but she doesn't know what it is. :Felt like I was - carrying your ghost everywhere - much nicer to have you.:

:I am glad: Snuggle. :...I am quite curious what you argued about with Urtho. He is very...: He pauses for a moment, trying to find the right word to describe what Urtho is like. :- he is very not Chelish. Innocent, in some ways: 

He's very not Chelish! It was like it was a fight to get him to notice half of reality, at all... I warned him about the war, because it seemed very stupid not to, and he was worried about guiding Ma'ar wrong...

:I think I must have frightened him, I assume that is what caused the war. ...How did he think he might guide Ma'ar wrong? Was - it frustrating for you, trying to talk to him about it?: 

:I don't like powerful people who don't obviously gain much from having me alive, I wouldn't say 'frustrating' exactly....he was worried that he'd guide Ma'ar wrong by failing to make his wisdom convincing to Ma'ar. On things like blood magic and compulsions. Which to be fair Ma'ar had an unnuanced take on.:

:Mmm, I am not surprised. I imagine it is very valuable for him to have advice from you, though, you would better speak his language: 

:I think so. Hope so. It'll be best for him to have you, I think, to see what it looks like when he has grown into it...:

Ma'ar is at this point fast asleep, cuddled up beside Carissa. 

:He must trust you very much: Leareth sends, softly. :I - cannot imagine my younger self falling asleep like that among strangers: 

:He was very responsible about not trusting me for a long while. I think he got there, though.:

:Mmm: He falls silent, thoughtful, still gently petting her. 

:Missed you so much. Felt stupid, to miss you so much. Want you to-: Wiggle. Shrug. :Make sure everything's safe. Is everything safe?:

:I am quite confident that we are in fact in Urtho's Tower and he would not harm us - I know him fairly well, I think, he can do terrible things when pushed to it, but - only at a distance, he could not bring himself to harm people he offered a place in his own Tower. Also if anything does happen, we have a shielded bubble in the Void within easy Gate-range, with the Urtho we know waiting there, and I can transport all of us there in less than a second if I sense any threats. We cannot ever have perfect certainty, but - I think we are safe: 

:Mmmkay. Gonna sleep. Love you.:

:I love you too. I will stay awake and make sure that nothing happens to us and in the morning we will explain things to Urtho and go home. Sleep well:

She sleeps wonderfully, and clings to him.

Dierne Aspexia Iomedae sleeps well too, without fussing, because Vanyel has settled himself in beside the bed and is still softly singing lullabies to her. A few times she wakes briefly, making little noises without actually crying, and Leareth nudges her toward Carissa's breast while trying not to wake Carissa. 

Vanyel thinks this is adorable and the best and he wouldn't mind staying up all night for it, though that's not really what he's doing anyway, their sleep cycles are clearly thoroughly offset from day-night in this version of Velgarth and it feels to him like midafternoon. 

Leareth stays awake, watching his family sleep - what an odd yet compelling thought, that he has a family, a wife and baby daughter - just like Aroden did, once, decades ago, as he slowly rebuilt from the ruins of his plans... 

He feels gradually less rather than more tired. 

She doesn't sleep through Dierne Aspexia trying to nurse but she's reasonably well rested. Maybe a lot of what she was mistaking for tiredness was fear. She wakes up and helps Dierne Aspexia latch and then looks at Leareth.

Leareth smiles at her, the rare-for-him smile that seems to light up everything about him.

:I want to switch Vanyel with Urtho on our Void-vessel: he says to her, in Mindspeech since Ma'ar is still fast asleep next to them. :Someone needs to be there to watch it, and I think it more productive for the older Urtho to talk to himself a bit, rather than needing to explain another stranger's presence to him. And after that we can all go: