Melody blinks in confusion for a moment, and then - since Leareth does not seem like he's going to elaborate further - glances at his laptop screen. 

That's super not his code editor! Or even a website with programming instructions. It's an explanation of cryonics. 

Reading Kayshu is still pretty laborious and non-instinctive for Melody, so it takes her a minute to decipher this. 

She would be surprised if Leareth were this upset about the concept? Velgarth arguably has better options for solving the problem where people die. The Quendi don't have that problem at all and they immediately offered to help, to build on all of Leareth's previous work. 

Though, of course, that isn't exactly going according to plan...

:Leareth, can you please tell me what's wrong?: 

Can he? ....No! Apparently he cannot! 

This is frustrating! Melody is doing her very best not to let that show. It would mostly not be frustrating, she's used to Leareth being very easily upset and often being unable to communicate while upset, but they have people over and it would be great if she could give them an explanation and maybe advice on whether they should leave to give Leareth space or wait around because he'll be fine again in two minutes!

- oh, right. Leareth must have overheard the bit of their conversation where Idrial was explaining cryonics, in order to have known to search it. Which means he's been listening in. Which means maybe he heard the latest bit as well - well, Idrial's half, Melody herself was using private Mindspeech. But he could still have followed all the same inferences she did, and ended up in the same place... 

She has absolutely no idea what to say that would be helpful! She wants to tell him that it wasn't his fault, but since he isn't communicating what he's feeling, there's an even chance it just makes things worse. So instead she is going to sit here awkwardly, looking indecisive. 

Leareth is oblivious to this, because he's hugging his dog and sobbing and also kind of edging toward a panic attack. 

....Yeah this is incredibly awkward. 

...Idrial decides to start figuring out what kinds of pharmaceuticals might conceivably help Crying Man.

Probably he should at some point try to communicate? 

:I need to get back to Velgarth: 

Leareth is not particularly succeeding at directional shielding or keeping his Mindspeech quiet, so it's going to reach Dree and Idrial as well. 

:- Leareth, that is really not the thing you need to be prioritizing right now: 

He doesn't know how else to explain it. 

:People are dying - people who matter to Vanyel are already dead - and if I cannot help yet I should at least be prioritizing getting to the point where I can but I am not even doing that, I am only doing completely unrelated things: 

It will NOT HELP to tell him that he's sounding like Vanyel on a bad day.

It will also not help to suggest that he table the question for now and they can talk about it later once they no longer have company over. Melody...is surprisingly unsure what will help, actually. 

:It makes sense to be upset about it. It's a bad situation and I'm upset and angry about it too. I - don't think that programming is unrelated, actually, it seemed like it might be actively helpful for your recovery and - getting back to being able to do things. I'm sorry that something happened to make you feel time-pressured and I desperately wish it hadn't happened, I think it's - predictable that it's going to make everything ten times harder. I think it would have been wronging you more to avoid telling you, even if that were possible, but.....: Helpless shrug. :I'm sorry: 

And she kind of feels like crying as well but that's the last thing Leareth needs to see. 

Leareth is sufficiently upset that he's having trouble breathing, let alone Mindspeaking an answer. 

This...is probably a healthier sign than if his main response were scared? Melody is a little surprised, actually, that Leareth apparently isn't dedicating much mental energy to being terrified of the remote but real possibility that the war will follow them here and they won't be able to keep him safe. (She's not worried about it, it sounds - genuinely unlikely, both for it to be possible to trace them and for that to be the Enemy's top priority, and it's not like they can do anything to act on the risk, so it's not worth dwelling on. But she would have expected Leareth to be less than entirely rational about this subject.)

And - up until now, she's had the impression that Leareth was still...not very able to care about all the problems he was unable to fix? He shredded the part of him that wanted to be able to steer, to shape the broader future of a world, because it was too dangerous for that to be a lever that Melkor could use. It seemed like it was a lot harder to rebuild than the parts of him that can be curious - which he was remarkably bad at suppressing - and even the ability to want good experiences and seek those out. 

These seems like very much not the ideal circumstances for Leareth to be trying to process all of that, on the path of putting himself back together. She feels, actually quite strongly, that he's not ready. But it is what it is. It's certainly not on her to tell him he can't or shouldn't. 

...She should probably explain something to their guests. 

:Dree, sorry, I - Leareth is upset because he can't help with the war and so our side is less likely to win and more people will die. I - he was used to being someone who could do something if a situation was bad. I'm going to try to calm him down but - I don't actually know if I can be reassuring, the situation is in fact very bad: 

"- is this the sort of thing where it would help to find him something to do or something where purely emotional reassurance is the only way even if it's frustrating?" murmurs Dree.

:I definitely think it'd be better if we can find him a distraction so he doesn't spend the next six hours stewing about this. He might not be very receptive right now, he's not really responding to me. - Oh, I should ask if he wants music, that's seemed like a helpful distraction before: 

To Leareth, :- should I put on the music on your laptop?: 

It seems like that won't change anything about the situation, so how could it help. Also, answering would require Mindspeech, which is impossible. 

:Leareth, I'm going to put on your music because I expect it won't make things worse and might help, I'll leave it up to you to tell me if you want me to stop it: 

She does this. 

Idrial is slightly annoyed about this because he was having fun talking to Melody and now it will be harder to think but this is the kind of annoyance he runs into thirty times a day and usually for less good reasons so it's not a big deal.

Forgiver is still attempting to lick Leareth better.

The music does not really result in Leareth being less upset, due to not changing the larger situation at all, but it's - maybe a little easier to think around the edges of it. 

:I should go to my room so I am not bothering you: he manages after a couple of minutes, including Dree as well. 

:That's probably a good idea, just so that you can be more comfortable? I don't especially want to leave you alone right now, though: 

:Forgiver would be there. I - you - were doing things -: 

:I was having a conversation which isn't urgent on the scale of minutes or hours and I think we covered the key points already. But let's get you upstairs, and then we can figure out what makes sense from there: 

The problem is that this plan requires moving, which Leareth is observing himself not doing. 

:Leareth, is it all right if–: No, she shouldn't be asking him questions when he's this overwhelmed. :Leareth, I'm going to take your hand and help you get upstairs. Tell me if you don't want me to do that: And she moves very slowly and non-startlingly in his direction.