Melody gives her a meaningful look, which Yfandes doesn't appear to notice. 

:Yfandes?  Correct me if I'm mistaken, but - I don't think your lifebond-replacement to Vanyel is strong enough that he no longer sees you as an external social agent whose opinions he has to consider and whose status-perception of him he'd instinctively try to manage while also having conversations with his doctor.:

Yfandes’ tail flicks, unhappily. :You - think I should leave?:

:Based only on info that has already been publicly revealed - I don't actually have the ability to interpret Vanyel's mind-state, even as seen with Melody in concert-sight - it would look like Vanyel has a systematic difficulty about asking for things that he needs.  It may be that one of the things he needs, and doesn't ask for enough, is privacy.:

:I think you should tell Vanyel that it's okay if he wants you to stay, or okay if he wants you to stay but not be in the Mindspeech link, but otherwise you'll go with the others.  You can optionally add 'because Thellim said that was doctor's orders' if your better model of Vanyel leads you to worry that he'll think you're - abandoning him, that you don't want to be with him?  We did see in your own mind that this was not the case.:

:...I guess that makes sense: Yfandes is clearly reluctant, but she isn’t disagreeing. 

She turns to nose at Vanyel’s shoulder, and includes him in her Mindspeech. :Melody thought it should be up to you if you want me to stay for this, or go, or be nearby but not listening in. I’m fine with whatever you need. If you’re not sure, I’ll go with Thellim for now and you can call if you decide you want me here?:

Vanyel gives her a blank, indecisive look, then shrugs. :I...guess it might be helpful to just talk to Melody for a bit:

He swallows a yawn, then rubs his eyes.

:Of course: Yfandes blows softly into his hair, then gracefully unfolds herself from the floor. Her ears twitch in concern at Vanyel’s visible fatigue, but she doesn’t say anything, just watches him a moment longer and then slips out after Lissa.

:Thank you: Melody sends privately to Thellim, though her eyes are still on Vanyel.

Thellim shall tromp out with Yfandes and Lissa and head for Lissa's tent.

As soon as they reach it, Lissa retrieves the jug of wine and cups again, pours three, then drops onto one of the stools with a groan, propping her shoulders against the bookshelf and her feet up on the table.

:Well, I guess that - went a lot better than it could have:

(Yfandes, too big to fit in the tent, hovers and paces outside.)

(to Yfandes, Lissa)  :What's in the cup?  And, at least on the surface of things, assuming that there are no invisible side effects and that the great shift in his mental equilibrium ends up good for Vanyel, I would easily rate it 10 out of 12 on the Manic Science scale.:

Lissa giggles, nervous and quickly choked off. :It’s wine. What’s the Manic Science scale?:

:It's not a formal-standardized-scale, but broadly it measures how much you can combine neuroscience and Mindhealing from two different dimensions, on the spot, without doing any advance investigation or small-scale tests, and have that actually work out great.:  Thellim still has an uneasy feeling about this, but Vanyel does seem better, literary tropes aside.  :What's 'wine'?  It sounds like a transient mind-altering drug, but what does it do and why would we want to consume something like that now?:

:Wine makes everything better: Lissa shakes her head a little. :It’s watered, not that strong. You really don’t want to drink the water here plain - even when we boil it, it tastes like feet. Which have been in the same set of damp boots all summer:

Thellim gives the wine a wide-eyed look of innocent credulity.  It makes everything better?  That sounds super valuable.

:How much does wine cost?:

:Well, a bottle of good wine costs - hmm, I guess you don’t know our money, it’d be about a day’s wages for a laborer: She gestures dismissively at the jug. :This is not good wine, so who knows, but it’s drinkable and it does the job:

She takes a long gulp from her own cup. 

Thellim leans over to give the wine a closer look.  :And there's literally no downsides?  It improves all aspects of mentation simultaneously?:

:Oh, I mean, it’s not like it makes you sharper, for alertness you want something else. And I guess not everyone likes it. It’s...relaxing, I guess - it makes overwhelming things feel easier... I dunno:

:Ale and wine usually make people - less disciplined, I guess? More in the mood for rest or celebrating, not working. Some people get impulsive or angry or want to do dangerous stunts, but usually that’s sixteen-year-old boys when they’re egging each other on. If you drink enough you’ll start slurring your words and stumbling, I wouldn’t recommend that: 

Lissa rolls her eyes. :Speak for yourself: 

:Except Lissa, who starts fights with tough men in taverns when she’s had a few. And generally wins. Van finds it mortifying:

Giggle.

Thellim carefully sidles away from the wine.  On second thought, she will not be exploring the space of mind-altering drugs developed by a tiny region with no standard-professional-ethical-codes that does not know what neurons are.  She's afraid to even ask what the experimental protocols were like before this product was rolled out.  Two patient groups of size N=12 with the results recorded in crayon, she's guessing.

Lissa shrugs and lets this slide.

:Anyway. I can’t believe Van tried to jump right back into working. He’s impossible sometimes: