And she approaches him, tense and quivering with joy and with the effort of restraining it. She lays her muzzle across his chest, over the blankets. 

:Never letting you go. Never ever ever: 

.....Okay this is so stupid. Why is THIS the time his body picks to start sobbing uncontrollably. He's trying to cling to her and to Leareth at the same time and he has no idea why and Leareth must be so confused - 

Leareth isn't especially confused, actually. He's been through his share of awful traumatic experiences, recently, and the aftershocks are a known phenomenon to him. He lets Vanyel cling to him. 

:- I think that could have gone worse: he says to Carissa, eventually. :Sorry. I appear to be somewhat stuck now: 

You two are very cute together. She sounds deeply entertained. 

:I am not entirely sure why he wants me here - for most of the time we have known one another we were destined enemies! ...I suppose I did provide him with somewhere safe to stay during this, but I am surprised it would have such a large impact on his - emotional trust?: 

It's probably just your ineffable aura of being too Good for your own Good.

:...You know, I think you are literally the only person who has ever accused me of that particular thing! Vanyel spent the first...eight years? ...of our conversations, thinking that I was disturbingly evil!: 

You keep saying that! While hugging people who try to murder your friends and explaining why you wish they would trust you because we're all on the same side of making everything nice forever.

:See, I think most people who were not literally raised to worship Asmodeus write off the possibility that I actually - care about that - as soon as they learn I was willing to murder ten million people to achieve it: 

That's - what caring about things is, being willing to trade off other things to get them.

:- See, and this is - why in some sense you are an unusually good ally for me to have! Because I think that is very difficult for most people, who were raised to be decent and Good and care about others, to understand. Many people feel that - being willing to trade one precious important thing for a different precious important thing is...a path to madness. And you may have some very bizarre limitations and barriers baked into your thinking patterns, but at least you do not have that one: 

'm glad you didn't instantly catch it yourself when you became Good.

:- I mean, I am sure that being Good will change the exact tradeoffs I am likely to make! Because - it massively changes my incentive structure, right, having access to allies who will trust me if I am cooperative with them and not otherwise. But...I think in the end it is not a different kind of tradeoff. In all cases, always, I am trying to figure out the best path from here, the world as it is now and the resources I can command, to a future world that is better according to my values. And that is what Iomedae is trying to do. Perhaps not all of the Good gods are - you mentioned one who just values people farming? - but I have seen and touched Her, and She is: 

Carissa doesn't have the slightest idea what to do with that, not really, but she knows how to smile, so she does that.

He's maybe pushing her too hard again. Leareth smiles back, and then leaves it alone. 

"Vanyel?" he murmurs. "Do you need anything right now?" 

"Dunno." Vanyel is mostly not crying now, just sniffling quietly and petting Yfandes' mane. It's so nice and soft and well-brushed! He wonders who's responsible for that. Feels quietly grateful to them and also weirdly jealous but he tries to squash that. 

:It was Ignasi: Yfandes offers. :The paladin of Iomedae. They have animal companions too, I think? He was very kind to me: 

Leareth hunts briefly in his pocket, finds a handkerchief, offers it to Vanyel. 

Leareth is being so bizarrely thoughtful and perceptive and nice to him! It's confusing but Vanyel cannot exactly say that he minds. 

"...We should talk," he says, a little hoarsely. Tries to scoot himself into a sitting position in the bed. "Probably to Carissa too? Is she here?" 

Leareth nods. Beckons for Carissa to come over to the bed. 

Vanyel blows his nose, tries to clean up his tearstained face a little, and then makes eye contact with Carissa. "I - wanted to say thank you. For what you offered. It was - very kind of you - and you didn't have to, er, take that risk - Leareth says he's not mad but you couldn't've known that..." 

"I mean, in hindsight it'd have been out of character. I don't even know how I'd make him mad if I were trying."

"Heh. I know, he's weird like that. ...You know, I once screamed at him - in our Foresight dream - and then said I'd never speak to him again, and he didn't even seem upset." 

....Leareth in fact experienced nonzero distress about this event, but he says nothing. 

"I got him to threaten me once and I was so pleased with myself about it, and then he immediately went off and became a paladin."