:Of course I don't mind! Leareth is one of my closest friends, and - you're him, even if you're a different young him. And you're having a bad time and could use some help: 

:That...means a lot. Thank you: 

Tadesse has been considering reading Vanyel's mind - Aroden's amulet might get past his Mindspeech shields, or he could just ask - but Leareth trusts him. He should still check for himself, of course, eventually, but he's tired and right now that's enough. 

:Do you want a hug?: 

It still surprises him every time someone offers that, which probably means there's some sort of update he's failing to make, but. :Yes: 

Hug. 

:...Want to tell me what you're feeling right now, or today in general?: Vanyel asks. :It'd help me understand: 

That sounds like effort. But, again, he's a bit less leadenly exhausted when actively being hugged, it's so strange, and - it helped, before, talking to Carissa. He was worn out from it afterward but he felt lighter, too, in some entirely non-physical way. 

:All right: He takes a deep breath. :I - miss Urtho - I know it is stupid to be jealous of Ma'ar, but...: 

Leareth watches them talk; Vanyel is including him in the Mindspeech link. 

He's still worried, but less. And he's feeling very very fond of Vanyel right now. 

Tadesse talks for a while. He manages to avoid overtly crying, this time, though he sometimes has to pause and collect himself before he can go on even in thoughts. 

Eventually Ekunde interjects. "He's getting really tired again, I think you should let him be. And I want to finish the game with my baby brother. Thank you for talking, though." He really hopes it helps. It's sad, watching his immortal brilliant scheming ancestor be miserable half the time. 

Vanyel doesn't understand the spoken response, but Leareth can relay. 

:Of course: Vanyel squeezes him a final time and then stands up. :Anytime. And I'd love to spend more time with your parents and siblings, they're lovely: 

:I will pass that on: 

Leareth walks a very tired-looking Tadesse back to his room, and quietly asks Yewande to keep an eye on him and make sure he gets some time to himself tonight. Then he heads back to see Carissa. 

Working on a ring for Ma'ar to take with him when he goes back to his own world.

Interruptions are costly during magic item work, so Leareth just sits down quietly nearby and waits, watching. He likes watching her work anyway. She's very good at it. 

She doesn't notice him there until she's at a stopping point. " - hey. Is everything all right?"

"Tadesse is stil very concerning but Vanyel is so good with him." Leareth gives a quick run-down of their conversation. 

"Oh good. It seems like his sort of thing."

"Hopefully it will help. Vanyel had a good idea, I think, that it would help for Tadesse to do things he enjoys in small chunks, even if he is not able to want to do them right now. I am planning to set aside some times to teach him all the magic I have learned or invented in the last thousand years, I think that would be good for him." 

"Oh, I bet it will."

He leans against her. "And - we will go from there, I guess."

"Mmhmm."

They fall into more of a routine. Tadesse stays with Ekunde's family, explores Egorian with them, and spends an hour or two a day on magic work with Leareth or Vanyel, and sometimes also talks to Vanyel about his feelings. Leareth invites him over for dinner once in a while, during which he's at least leading his and Ekunde's shared body for most of it, if not necessarily that animatedly participating in the conversation. He sleeps a lot. He does ask Leareth for access to his more recent records to read through, which Leareth thinks is a promising sign. 

A week and some later, he spontaneously comes to their suite looking for Carissa. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course! What?"

"You are a cleric of Iomedae, right? Aroden...thought I ought speak with Her, at some point. But I am not as sure how to pray to Her, because She is not - another me. So I wanted your advice on what She is like." 

"I didn't know her all that well when She chose me, but - sure. Uh, Iomedae is an ascended god, She was a Chelish woman who Aroden chose almost nine hundred years ago. She founded a paladin order and fought Evil a lot and did things no one had ever heard of a paladin doing before, and then ascended, and became the Lawful Good god whose main domain is the war with Evil."