Vanyel is, right now, mostly thinking about the sheer awkwardness of the initial few exchanges in his conversation with Iomedae.

How She seemed apologetic about the lack of any furniture in the endless white of the Shadow-Lover's realm, but wasn't sure that he wanted Her looking at his mind. He remembers Her wondering, out loud, if there ought to be a rug. 

She asked if he wanted an afterlife. Informed him that She wasn't sure if She could get Yfandes too. And then She said...

If we were in a hurry, I would tell you that; it would be a disservice to you to pretend otherwise.

She told him that he didn't have to go back to Valdemar. 

She told him that Leareth loved him - 

Imagine needing Iomedae to point that out to you when Leareth has been petting you for the last hour.

"Um. Right. She - tried to talk through with me whether I - wanted to be alive for myself, or only for other people? It...felt like She kept telling me that I shouldn't feel I had to go back, if it was just because I wanted to help people I care about? Even though She admitted that was way easier and less confusing. And then I guess we talked a bit about whether they could resurrect Tylendel. She thought - maybe someday, not yet? ....And then I decided to go back. Guess it was never really a decision. I always do." 

(And then he was too shy to ask Her for a hug, but She hugged him anyway, and held him for a long time - it doesn't feel like there's any point saying this out loud...) 

Wow, that's weirdly ...what Carissa would be like, if for some utterly baffling reason she was a Good god, and not stupid in any of the ways she would've expected. 

"- Anyway I think that's most of it? Oh, and, also She mentioned something about having - made a deal with the Shadow-Lover's god, or something? So it would only take Yfandes one day to sort things out. I don't know why She cared so much about that." 

(Leareth feels that the answer to that implicit question is so obvious that he's not even sure how to say it.) 

" - well, would you have taken my offer, on day four?"

"- Ummm. I'm - glad I don't have to find out the actual answer to that question. But - maybe. ....Probably." 

"So probably Iomedae saw that, and was like, wow, then Leareth's miserable and Vanyel's dead and Yfandes is dead, seems bad."

Leareth had already started preparing his own answer, but Carissa beat him to it. 

Well, he might as well say his piece anyway. 

"...Also, you were suffering. Which Iomedae disprefers in itself. And - it was damaging you, and there is the consideration of our very short deadline for the upcoming war. I think She would appreciate your help, but - not if it came at the cost of - being very bad for you. And so it is just much better for there to be less cumulative damage, and more time for you to recover from it." 

....damn it what did he manage to say wrong this time??? 

"- But we do not need your help?" Leareth says, hastily. 

- oh no, Vanyel can tell that Leareth is confused and he's said something wrong and gaaaaaah. 

He looks helplessly at Carissa, though even as he does this he's realizing that he has no reason to think this will improve anything here. 

Carissa's going theory of Vanyel remains that he's a weird opposite person and you should say exactly the opposite of what you'd say to a normal person. What she'd say to a normal person would be something like "I wish you a quick recovery." ...what's the opposite of that -

"Is Iomedae hot?"

"I– what? Is that - sorry - that's not the sort of thing I...would usually pay attention to with a god..." 

- all right that's in fact completely false, the Shadow-Lover somehow manages to be attractive despite not having a visible face. 

Vanyel made such a face when Carissa said that! It's bizarrely amusing. 

"Is it just that you are not attracted to women?" Leareth asks dryly. 

"Er." 

How did they even end up on this topic. What. 

A normal person would explain why she'd asked that question and apologize. A weird opposite person - "I'm sure we can find you a Golarion god who competes with the Shadow-Lover. Irori's supposed to be a looker, by virtue of being literally perfect in every possible way, of which that's one?"

What. Just...what. Why is this is life right now. 

...All right, this is still amusing but also Leareth is noticing that Vanyel seems, perhaps, genuinely uncomfortable, and that's not ideal. 

:- Carissa, I think you are embarrassing him. What exactly are you aiming for, here -?: 

.....embarrassing him? How would - what - he is embarrassed by Carissa asserting that he should date Golarion gods? But what about that is there even for him to feel impinges on his reputation - 

My working theory of him is that he has exactly opposite reactions to everything. It might be deficient, though. There aren't people that weird in Cheliax.

:I think that is not a particularly high-fidelity or detailed model of Vanyel, but I am not sure how to explain exactly how it is wrong?: 

For lack of anything helpful to say, he squeezes Vanyel's hand again. 

He takes a deep breath. "Right. So we're invading Cheliax? When?" 

"Vanyel. We do not need to talk about your involvement in those plans right now." 

"I just want to know!"