It's a nice library, especially for such a small town, with plenty of everything, but a focus on science and poetry, a well-appointed children's' section, a nice selection of music and holovids, and comfy chairs offering varying amounts of privacy.
Right now, though, it's closing time; the announcements have been made, the final checkout rush handled, and now the librarian is making one last check before she locks up for the night.
That's fine.
Once all the ingredients are in their bowls, the bowls and a pair of metal skewers go on a tray, and Daisy carries them outside, where Pradnakt is sitting on the ground by the small fire going in the front yard, leaning against a rock. She looks up as they come out - "You okay, Love?"
"Yes, I'm fine," Daisy says, but after she sets the tray down between Pradnakt's spot and the other rock set out by the fire, she goes back to sit on the far side of her, and rather closer than she usually would.
His attention is immediately drawn to the fire, but then he's distracted by Pradnakt and Daisy's words, and he's not sure if he's reading it right, but he thinks he upset Daisy. And he didn't mean to, and that wasn't good, but he wasn't entirely sure what he did to upset her?
He stays, hovering awkwardly a little away from them.
He winces more than flinches, and is quick to sit next to the other rock, although he curls his knees up to his chest rather than lean against it.
Pradnakt sighs, and turns to Daisy. "Just the obvious thing, Love?"
"Mmhmm."
"All right. Nova, she's upset that she upset you, you haven't done anything wrong."
"O-Oh. I-"
No-one had ever seemed bothered by upsetting him in the past. He doesn't like that Daisy's upset that she upset him when she didn't mean to, but he has no idea how to stop that happening.
"It's all right. If there's anything she can do-"
Daisy cuts Pradnakt off with a strangled grinding-gears noise, and produces a flurry of sign when the woman looks back - too fast to follow, mostly; something about choice, though.
"Okay," Pradnakt nods, and then turns back to him. "If you do come up with something she can do to make it up to you, she will, but it's fine if you don't, and you don't need to worry about it right now at all."
He does flinch at the noise, but from the rapid signing hopes it was just Daisy getting Pradnakt's attention.
He's still through Pradnakt's speech but gives a small, hesitant nod at the end. (He doesn't think Daisy does need to make it up to him, but it's definitely still a relief to be told he doesn't have to try to think of something.)
"Sweetheart - " Pradnakt sighs. "Have you talked to Nova about your friend?"
Nova's watching them with wide-eyes, not sure what to make of the interaction. He finds himself nodding slightly at Pradnakt's question.
...He hopes Pradnakt won't change her mind about letting Daisy bring Nine here.
"All right. Go and get him, and when he and Nova have had a chance to get used to each other we can hole up and talk about it. All right?"
"Yes, Ma'am," Daisy replies, sounding much less miserable, and scrambles to her feet to head for the speeder; a minute later, she's gone up the path toward town.
Meanwhile, Pradnakt turns back to Nova. "She'll be all right. This is new for her, too; it's not your fault."
Nova watches after Daisy, a little nervous at being left alone with Pradnakt. But. (But things have been okay so far.)
"As you say, ma'am," he agrees placidly.
She floats the tray onto her lap and begins assembling a kebab. "You have to realize, Daisy was made to be a servant. We've worked very hard on her having her own opinions about things, and being comfortable spending time on her own projects, and things like that. But when it comes to other people, well. The type of person who'd buy a servant droid isn't the type of person who's going to have trouble knowing what they want, usually, so she wasn't made with instructions for handling it, and it's not something she's had a chance to learn to deal with, either. And at the same time, she does want you to be happy, or at least satisfied, and it upsets her that she doesn't know how to do that."
"Oh," he says thoughtfully. He's quiet, staring at the fire now - shuffling a little closer, not entirely consciously. He opens his mouth to say something, can't actually say it. He closes his mouth again, breathes. Closes his eyes and pretends it's Daisy he's saying this to, not Pradnakt.
"I- don't know how to be that." (Which to him seems to have a logical connection to thinking Daisy shouldn't be upset by that. It's fairly clear he doesn't like Daisy being upset.)
"Yeah. And that's okay; she knows that it'll take time, because it took her time. It's just still hard for her." She floats the kebab over to the fire, carefully wedging the end of the skewer between two of the stones ringing it, and begins putting together another one. "She'll be okay, though. Having something to do will help, until I have a chance to talk her through it."
He makes a quiet sound that is somewhere between agreement, acknowledgement and slight distress at it being hard for Daisy. Then he just...keeps watching the fire, and the kebab that is busy cooking.
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