She shifts the paper so he can more easily see the picture: A bulky droid, with his head set between broad, rounded shoulders and a torso like an inverted, armored cone. He could easily be intimidating, but the pose she's chosen, of him slightly turned away, looking off into the distance, makes him seem much less so.

"I- your friend?" he asks quietly. (And there's only the tiniest indication of a flinch there.)

"Yeah." There's the same fond tone to her voice that he's sometimes heard when she talks about Pradnakt. "9P-3X-UU0Q; I've been calling him Nine, but he might want to pick a new name once he's here."

He nods, and quietly sets about clearing his dishes.

She lets him, keeping an eye on him so she can help if he runs into any trouble, and when he's done she's waiting by the door. "Ready?"

He doesn't run into any trouble, and is quick to join her, nodding almost-eagerly.

She leads the way around back. The sun is still low enough that the garden is in the shade of the barn, and Daisy passes it by to let the chickens out of the coop - there are more, now, the half-dozen dusty red ones he'd seen before and a new half-dozen in fancy black and white - and milk the goat.

Nova trails after her, looking a little lost. (He watches the new chickens, a little surprised by their presence, and curious.) "I- can help?" he offers quietly.

"You can see if there are any eggs, if you'd like."

He nods and goes to do that, finding three eggs which he carefully carries back to Daisy.

She's putting the milking supplies away when he gets back to her. "Good," she nods. "You can put those by the spigot for now, and we'll bring them in when we're done."

He smiles a little at the praise and follows the instruction before heading back to Daisy to see what they have to do next.

She has the goat out into her pen by the time he's back, and is just picking up the bucket of milk. She drops it off by the barn door, and then heads for the gardening supplies. "Do you know how to check plants for pests?"

He nods. "Had to do it sometimes."

She nods. "I like to do that every day, so if there's a problem I can start fixing it right away. Do you want to do that while I water?"

He gives a tiny smile and nods. "I will."

And sets about doing so. He's efficient but also thorough about it.

And Daisy follows with the watering can. The plants are in good shape, and soon they're done, with the sun just starting to show over the barn.

When they return to the house with the eggs and milk, Pradnakt is sitting at the table with a second datapad, reading aloud from it.

"...Stamp and neigh, as the hostler calls;
The day returns, but nevermore
Returns the traveler to the shore,
      And the tide rises, the tide falls."

[source]

He pauses in the doorway, a little worried he's interrupting.

She looks up, nods a greeting, and fiddles momentarily with the pad before continuing.

"There Is The Worst, and Then There Is More.

You silly little boy,
you think
you've survived so long
survival shouldn't hurt anymore.

You keep trying to turn
your body blasterproof.
You keep trying to turn your heart
bomb shelter.

Stop, darling.

You are soft and alive.
You bruise and heal. Cherish it.
It is what you were born to do.

It will not be beautiful,
but the truth never is.

Come now,
you promised yourself.
You promised
you'd live through this."

[source]

He's staring at her, almost forgetting to keep his eyes down (still isn't quite looking at her face), breath catching as he listens. (Because it feels like she's speaking directly to him, but he's still not sure what exactly she means, or what she's trying to tell him.)

She grins, putting the datapad down and folding her hands over it, and recites again.

"Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things,
feel the future dissolve in a moment
like salt in a weakened broth.
What you held in your hand,
what you counted and carefully saved,
all this must go so you know
how desolate the landscape can be
between the regions of kindness.
How you ride and ride
thinking the bus will never stop,
the passengers eating maize and chicken
will stare out the window forever.

Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness,
you must travel where the man in a white poncho
lies dead by the side of the road.
You must see how this could be you,
how he too was someone
who journeyed through the night with plans
and the simple breath that kept him alive.

Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,
you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.
You must wake up with sorrow.
You must speak to it till your voice
catches the thread of all sorrows
and you see the size of the cloth.

Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,
only kindness that ties your shoes
and sends you out into the day to mail letters and
purchase bread,
only kindness that raises its head
from the crowd of the world to say
It is I you have been looking for,
and then goes with you everywhere
like a shadow or a friend."

[source]

He's forgotten, momentarily, how to breath, too busy trying to-

He has no idea what he's feeling, just that he is and it's too much.

Yeah. Well. "Breathe, Nova. Sit?" she waves at the bench across from herself.

He manages to take a breath in, before moving over to perch on the bench opposite her. (He's very focused on keeping breathing right now.)

He obviously needs a minute; she picks up the datapad again and lets him be.