:I trust Ma'ar not to let her contact Asmodeus - if she even wanted to, which I do not think she does, she knows at this point it would not stop our plans and would just accelerate them: 

A pause. 

:...Ma'ar asked me for advice. He - said that she seems upset about something, he thinks it is separate from the matter of Hell, and - when he pressed her on it she apparently said something he found very confusing, about how she wanted him to respect her?: 

:I can try to give advice but I'd be guessing? Does he remember what she said exactly -:

:I think I ought probably send him to talk directly with you, if he wants your advice on it. After their trip to Absalom, probably: 

:Sure. I'd be happy to try to help.:

And, about four hours after he left, Ma'ar knocks on his Carissa's door again. "So. Absalom?" 

Four hours is a long time when you are a very pathetic emotional wreck but she eventually settled in to working on Carissa's shirt. "- yes. If you modify Leareth's compulsion I can teleport us there."

"I ought probably ask– You know what, never mind. He said we could go and we are going to go and it is not as though I have a Gate-location there. One moment." 

Ma'ar closes his eyes and reaches to rest a hand on her shoulder. 

It doesn't feel like anything. She waits for the go-ahead to Teleport them. 

"All right, it should work now." He takes her hand. 

It's a different world but the plaza overlooking the piers shouldn't look that different, it's well-understood to be a Teleport location. She Teleports them, and they're there.

Absalom is sprawled along these cliffs for miles in each direction, with an enormous port, hundreds and hundreds of ships visible. There are people walking by and flying overhead and Teleporting in around them. 

Ma'ar stares around in awe. 

"It is so -" his breath catches, "there is so much of it..." 

"Yeah. Aroden raised this island from the sea, four thousand seven hundred and fourteen years ago, and it's the second biggest city in the world."

Ma'ar squeezes her hand more tightly. "Then I am glad I have you here to show me all the best parts." 

"Have you had breakfast? I know some nice brunch places." And she tugs him off on a tour. And spends a lot of money. Because she can.

Ma'ar is so delighted by it! Occasionally she catches him staring into the distance, weary and resigned, but mostly he's very engaged, commenting on all the parts he finds most impressive, listening intently to her explanations. 

"Have you had much of a chance to speak with the littler me?" he asks, a long time later, as she's giving him a tour of the street with all the fanciest magic shops. 

"Only a little bit, when we watched movies - I think Carissa and Leareth more or less adopted him and it was probably very good for him."

"...Huh. I - find it hard to imagine, honestly. What my life would have been like if..." He trails off. "How old was he, when they found him?" 

"It was while Carissa was pregnant with Pexa, and she's three, so - he'd have been thirteenish?"

"Oh. I -"

Eventually he gives up and switches to Mindspeech. 

:- it seems very stupid to be jealous but - I am, a little. That would be... He would not even have left the Plains, yet. Gods. I - cannot say his life has been easy - and of course being adopted by Leareth cannot be easy either - but, still, he - it would have saved him so much incredibly pointless awfulness.:

:When did you go to the Tower?:

:I was fourteen when I arrived. But - it took six months of travelling there overland, alone - and I looked younger, I was very undernourished...: 

:Most places it's not safe for a kid to travel alone.:

:And Predain is - worse than most places:

He doesn't add anything more. 

She squeezes his hand and then buys him a Ring of Sustenance, because the shop's right here.

Ma'ar is so pleased and grateful! He kisses her. "I wish I could offer to pay, or at least pay half, but - I think we are far less rich than you are."