"What, so you can kidnap them?" Vanyel says waspishly.

"No. I - realize it is difficult to credibly promise that, though. I will think about what to do." They must be almost out of time in the dream.

This is maybe a good thing, because Vanyel looks like he's on the edge of bursting into tears from sheer overwhelm.

"Did the little girl ever stop wailing," he says flatly. "Don't figure you'd like that."

"Oh, yes, she calmed down when I snuggled her and sang her a song."

"...You what?"

Behind them the sky is starting to come apart.

"I do know some songs, Herald Vanyel. She requested the Windrider Cycle."

Vanyel is still kind of boggling at the mental image of Leareth snuggling a toddler who supposedly isn't even his toddler and just thinks she is for some reason. He doesn't answer.

The dream ends. It's not until after Vanyel is awake that he realizes he didn't even ask Leareth what his theories were for the discrepancy there. Is time travel possible?

...That's a very distressing thought actually and he not-thinks it as hard as possible, and takes notes, and eventually goes back to sleep.

Leareth wakes up, groans, rolls over, and checks the wards on Pexa's room from a distance to make sure she's not screaming in there or something.

She appears to have fallen or gotten out of bed and is banging forlornly on the door.

Leareth groans again, but levers himself out of bed and heads down the hall to open her door. He's not very sleepy right now anyway.

:Are you all right?:

:Daddy! The doorknob wouldn't turn!: She wraps her arms around his legs.

:I am sorry. Can we get you back to bed now?: He sighs and bends to pick her up.

:I wanna sleep in you and mommy's bed tonight. It was a real emergency and I need soooooo many hugs.:

Leareth blearily considers his options. He desperately doesn't want to deal with her inevitable dissolving into tears when he tells her how lost she is, not right now in the middle of the night, and - probably putting compulsions on the small child will just traumatize her even more...

:Your mommy went somewhere else for a bit but you can sleep in my bed, I suppose: he says wearily. :If you think you can be quiet and not squirm: This seems like the plan that results in the shortest interval before he gets to be back asleep, albeit also one that will probably mean being woken again later.

:I can be quiet and not squirm!:

Leareth carries her down the hall to his newly-acquired bedroom and plops her into the bed and then lays down as well. :Now can you sleep?:

She hugs him very tightly. :Do the ceiling with stars?:

Leareth is almost too drowsy to manage an illusion, but he wakes himself up enough to put stars on the ceiling again, and then he pulls the covers over himself and incidentally the very clingy toddler, and closes his eyes.

The very clingy toddler wiggles, and chatters to herself softly in Taldane, and within ten minutes is fast asleep.

Leareth had a very long day, and very interrupted sleep, and is tired enough that he'll probably sleep through a moderate amount of wiggling and chatter, and stay asleep until mid-morning unless Pexa is very determined to discourage this. The stars fade out after a candlemark and it stays pretty dark in the room even once it's daylight outside; they're underground.

Pexa also had a long day, but she still wakes up ahead of her daddy, and fixes this by poking him in the tummy and singing 'wake up wake up'.

This is very startling and Leareth is sitting up and raising shields half a second before he's properly awake and remembers why there is a small child in his bed. :Sorry: he says. :I am awake: This part is kiiiind of a grumble.

:Are we going home today?:

:No. Sorry: He yawns and stretches, not feeling entirely rested. Why did he let the toddler in his bed again, oh right, he was half asleep at the time and not thinking things through at ALL.

He briefly considers turfing her back into the other bedroom and trying to sleep more, but that will probably result in wailing and - well, it's not Pexa's fault that reality has stopped making any sense, she's going to be just as confused as he is and more upset about it.

:I need to explain some things: he admits. :Breakfast first, though:

:I want to pray with you! I thought of my things already.: