Yeah,

It's - when people start saying that the only difference between people and animals is people talk, what I hear is that they think it'd be totally okay to hunt us. For food. Because that's happened. I really can't.

Do you mind it if they know that? That that's what you hear?

I kind of don't want to deal with them being shocked or upset? It was a complicated situation and I have complicated feelings about it, I can't always deal with other people with that. But I don't mind them knowing, no.

I can arrange for them to find out when you are not around and they will have to get over their shock and regret on their own.

Not sure how you're going to manage that, it was the other host. Though the chance of the same thing happening here is part of the problem, this is totally something I'd switch tribes over.

I think it'd happen most places. You know what the word 'Quendi' means, right?

Enough to guess, yeah.

I can still tell people to be less stupid, but they'll need telling.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Sorry.

Not your fault.

I knew this was going to be hard. It's still looking better than the alternative.

Anyone would've done what I did in the city. Well, maybe not Nelyo, because he'd have worried he was endangering all the kobolds for the sake of one, but that's a different kind of not doing it.

Mm.

Hmm?

If I was in better shape I'd have an easier time believing that.

We didn't try to rescue him. I promise it wasn't because we didn't think he was a person, it was because some things are more important than one life.

No, I know that, that's not what this is about. There's a difference between thinking many lives are more important than one life and not thinking someone's life is important at all. First thing's fine - I keep ending up on the wrong side of that and it still doesn't bother me - but the second one... second one's scary.

Yeah, I know. That's why it was important to me to say that with Nelyo it'd be the first one.

Yeah. I don't doubt that, and I don't think they do. ...if you've noticed them being distant around you, there's another reason for it, but I'm not sure they'd be okay with me saying more than that.

I mean, he doesn't get distant when he's mad at me, that'd be counterproductive. He yelled at me and I said 'yep, sure, I'm not a good person' and then we hugged and that was it. Him being out of sorts is, I think - 

- at home he could always have time for everybody, he could invest himself fully in all their needs, he could be generous with his attention, and now there's a war on so he can't. 

Yeah. That's fine, that's not really what I was worried about.

What're you worried about?

Sigh. Like I said, I'm not sure it's okay for me to talk about - I know some stuff about what happened to them in Angband that I'm pretty sure they haven't told you, and it's - if they want it private that's completely reasonable, but it might've still been affecting how they were acting around you, and if it was that might've caused problems. It sounds like it isn't, though.

I don't need Nelyo to be okay. I care about him so I want him to be okay, but I don't need it, like, for me.

Right, but if you didn't know that was why they were off, it'd be easy to think it was about you instead of about that.