You don't expect to live very long?

Oh. Kobolds don't, uh. We don't stop aging, we don't live forever. I'm expecting another hundred twenty-five years at most.

I'm sorry. I have no idea how to approach protecting someone from that, I've never heard of it at all before.

...I don't expect it fixed, I meant by then - before then, actually, we get fragile as we get old - there needs to be someone ready to take over for me, if they still need it. Or some kind of plan, anyway, but that's the usual thing to do.

Maitimo's going to be back on his feet in a couple of months, he can't afford not to be. But that's thoughtful of you.

Mm. Doesn't mean they'll be okay, but we'll see.

Snuggle? No, not snuggle. Not that she's pulling away but she can at least hold steady here.

Do you have any idea what kind of place I should be looking for to send your host to?

He won't be okay, but he'll be in a place where caretaking him does more harm than good. He - well, I don't know what he's like now, but before everything happened he hated being managed or catered to, it's a role he prefers to take himself.

We will do best somewhere pretty and unoccupied where food grows and we can mine. That's about all, I think.

He's never met a kobold before and won't notice if she's torn over snuggling but he squeezes her gently.

Oh nooooo...

Yeah, okay, snuggling. Hardly makes things worse, right now.

Yeah, they've already been complaining about that. I'm trying to find ways to make it less obvious, but while they're still not acknowledging their own needs reliably I can't just not do it.

I don't know very much about what Eldar think of as pretty, yet - it's not really a need that kobolds have. But someplace warm and fertile with iron ore - if you want things other than iron I can look for those too, but I'll need to get samples from somewhere so I know what to look for - won't be too hard.

And we can build a pretty city ourselves given the resources. 

One way to get Maitimo to express preferences is to frame it as "I need you to make these choices, I find it exhausting to make all these choices for you"

That'll work for some things, at least, yeah. Not some of the more important ones, though. She sighs and pulls away a little. I'm pretty sure they're afraid to acknowledge any need or want that they don't absolutely have to, with only a few exceptions. They still think this is a trick, and I think they think that if I know that kind of thing, I'll hurt them with it. She looks away.

Doubt it's fear. More that it wouldn't serve him, given his best estimate of what's going on.

...probably that sometimes, yeah. I think everybody does that at least sometimes. But it doesn't fit everything I'm seeing.

Maybe you can explain more what you're seeing?

It's... I'm good with people too, and that's an explicit job where I'm from, I'm used to working with other people who're good at it. So it's not that hard to notice when they're deflecting, or trying to lead me away from a topic, or refusing to actually answer a question. It's not always obvious why, I'm pretty sure sometimes it really is that they just mostly don't want things and are practicing hiding that, but when they obviously do want something, and want it badly, and are trying to hide it anyway...

He's also a Feanorian. They are very averse to looking weak or admitting mistakes or being dependent on others even in the best of circumstances, and these aren't. Maitimo's favorite form of interaction is with people who are utterly devoted to him but where he can do much more for them than they for him. 

...maybe.

The thing they need is for me to stay away from you.

...really? I am pretty skeptical of that. Did he say so?

No. But they all but outright refused to say they didn't. And wanting someone you think is an agent of the Enemy to stay away from your partner is reasonable under any circumstances. She isn't touching him. She's kind of... huddling. And doing her best not to look guilty, and only sort of succeeding.

If he thinks you're an agent of the Enemy he thinks I am too. He thinks I'm someone impersonating his friend, not his friend in the flesh. I expect he's apprehensive about what tortures of the Enemy would involve having someone impersonating me around.

...pretty sure not. You haven't seen how they've been reacting to you, it doesn't make sense. But - they haven't heard me swear, yet, unless their siblings told them they don't know I can. And that I think settles it as either really a hallucination or really not, and I think in either of those cases they'll be okay. I should go do that. She's considerably more relaxed at this realization.

He's going to have a lot of emotions around me regardless because I once trusted him and he betrayed me to die on the ice. There's lots going on there. I really don't think it's that he objects to us working together.

Anything I should know?

No. Just - expect him to be emotionally complicated, don't over-interpret it.

All right. Hug! Hugs are a thing that can be, now, apparently, at least brief ones.

She considers for a few moments. I don't think I want to wait on letting them know I can swear, but then I can come back and look for some places for you?

Hugs are completely okay! He cannot imagine a Maitimo objecting to him hugging someone who will be more productive and happy if hugged. That is just a categorical thing about Maitimo. He tries to communicate it.

Sounds great! Thanks!