Frown. "...evidently? I don't, uh, speak any Earth languages. I don't really know how they're spinning it."

"Hmmm. Do the Carthons know of this gate?"

She looks like she's about to say something, and then frowns again. "I... don't think I actually know that, either."

This is unsettling. Being unsettled earlier would not have helped anything whatsoever, but she still wishes she'd picked up on it. She wishes she knew more things in general, it kind of seems like that might be super important now.

"Don't worry about it. We want to go in with as much information as we can, but we aren't expecting you to know everything or to be right about everything you have been told."

She nods. "I'm sorry. I'd tell you if I knew, I just - they've been keeping us up on the ships for so long, and they don't really stop to have in-depth conversations about politics with us."

" - slaves of evil empires aren't usually useful information sources, you know, it's not that you did badly at something -"

She nods. "...yeah. I guess not. I hope it's, um, something to go on."

"I think so. Would you like a hug."

She nods much more enthusiastically. "I didn't want to ask 'cause I didn't want to be weird or annoying and I don't know how much you all hug people here but if you don't mind then - yeah - " 

Hug.

She hugs him back. When she pulls away she's wiping tears out of her eyes.

"Thank you. That - that helped."

"Of course. I think possibly you should be less reluctant to ask for things that will help you."

"Possibly," she agrees, smiling weakly. "I don't have a lot of practice at it, and when I first got here I really didn't want you to think I was going to be a problem, so I don't think it'll come naturally. But I'll try."

Hopefully this doesn't end with her simultaneously feeling guilty about asking for things and for not asking for things. At least she's aware that this is a likely failure mode.

"If you were a problem we'd probably disable the chip and then send you down to the human settlements on Endorë, instead of having you decide whether you'd rather do that or stay here. It wouldn't be a very big deal."

"Not having any chance to try to help my niece and nephew and everyone I've ever met would be upsetting, but having to live on Endorë is admittedly several steps up from day one theories about my fate. Those were mostly centered around ways to avoid being killed."

She ducks her head, but she's smiling - this was a perfectly reasonable thing to be worried about at the time, so there's a limit to how embarrassed about it she can feel.

"Of course they were! If you'd been found by the Enemy it would have been an entirely justified concern, and it was just luck we found you first."

"Well. I'm glad to have finally had some luck. It's made much more of a difference than I expected it to. Vocabulary lesson?"

"Good idea!"

And so they practice. Learning languages without being an Elf is painfully slow, but she continues to try her best. She's not sure what's going to happen when the ship's crew returns to Endorë, and she wants to be able to communicate at least basic information before anything happens that might necessitate not spending most of her time glued to Ettelië.

The ship takes its time. 

(They are debating whether she is a trick of the Enemy).

Ettelië is delighted to continue to provide vocabulary help. "And the Lord Curufin is interested in learning the other languages you know, if that's possible."

She is immediately excited at the thought that she might have more useful information to share.

"OK! I know three languages. The one we've been using is Etra La, the common language that spacer Liars share. Spacers change planets a lot and have to be able to communicate with each other. Then I know the dominant language on Yahi - it's my first language, it's the language my name comes from, but it's also the least likely to be strategically useful to you. And then I know Confederate One, which is the most widely-used Alteri language. You can't speak it aloud, the Alteri use lights. Liars have hand signs, each finger corresponds to one of the lights. It takes a little bit to get used to, but it's really structurally similar to Etra La - Etra La used to be a phonetic cipher of Confederate One, but that was a long time ago and they've diverged a lot since then."

She spreads her hands out in front of her and demonstrates the method of bending one's fingers to represent the blinking of a particular light.

"Huh. Do you mind if I also set up the computers to learn the light patterns?"

"Yeah, that's a good idea! I can read the light patterns just fine, but it'll take a little longer for me to produce them for you. I can do it, though, it's the same language no matter how you're signing it."

They get a tablet set up that can flash light patterns in Confederate One - "is there a Confederate Two? Do your people prefer numbers to words for names, generally?"

"Hm?" She frowns at the Alteri being described as her people, but she doesn't comment on it. "Oh, the languages had names, but the Alteri government gave them numbers when they standardized them. There are six in standard use. There are also some other numbered ones that aren't officially recognized. Liars don't have any numbered languages, really."