What.

:Pray to who?: he says, blankly, he's not alert enough yet to play guessing games about this.

:Abadar. My things are, I want to fly and I want it a MILLION. I want to go home and I want it a BILLION. And I want White and I want White a BILLION AND BACK.:

:- I see: Abadar. The god of wealth and trade. He supposes it's not completely unimaginable that some other version of him would end up approving of Abadar enough to literally pray to Him. :I do not have time right now, can you pray by yourself today?:

Pexa thinks this is weird, her daddy never doesn't pray, but she sits cross legged in the corner and repeats what she just told him out loud, in Taldane, and rocks back and forth impatiently, and then pops back to her feet.

He takes her down the hall to the cafeteria, where a number of confused and stressed staff are talking quietly or in Mindspeech, and gets her a plate of food grabbed at random, which he plunks down on a table. :Here, breakfast:

She eats breakfast until she sees Carissa, and then runs over to give her a hug. "Mommy!"

"I'm still not your mom."

"I want you to be my mom again."

"Do you have, uh, nursemaids, who mostly play with you?"

"Yeah."

"Well, we can probably get you those here, too, all right? And then they can tell me how you're doing, and I can be proud of you."

Pexa seems to find this at least moderately reassuring. "I want White."

"Well, maybe we can also get you a cat."

"Another cat?"

"Well, it won't be the same cat, so yeah."

"Then I'll have two cats!"

"Look, kiddo, I think you need to be - more careful, all right? I think you shouldn't tell people who your mommy and daddy are, and you shouldn't call us mommy and daddy if we're around people who don't know."

"Why?"

"Well, some people don't like your daddy, so if they know he's your daddy, they'll hurt you."

"They can't hurt me because I have my emergency ring and my bracelet and my necklace."

"I don't think any of those would stop you from drowning if someone dumped you in a lake! And anyway if they don't know who you are they won't know from what direction to expect a rescue, so one will be easier."

Sigh.

Leareth still can't understand the words but was able to follow the approximate gist of it by Thoughtsensing both of them. He sighs. :Sorry. Thank you for - trying, with her. I...am not sure what to do with her. She was banging forlornly in the door in the middle of the night and somehow convinced me to let her sleep in my bed, and then she startled me and I - could have hurt her...: He lets out his breath. :I thought probably we should just tell her we are not her parents rather than - pretending forever, but I expect quite a lot of crying, and delaying it does not make me feel any readier for that:

:I wish I knew what was actually going on.: