"Jedi is a faction not a species" confirmed? No, it's common to have a special word for children (pups, kits, taddies, kids, chicks, calves, eggs, flits, flecks...).

"What does help you use the Force better?", which is safe now that it's clear that Force requires skill.

"Meditating - sitting still and watching the Force and letting it sing with me. And katas, moving in certain ways, those help a little bit. And practice, I'll get better as I do it more. And I can maybe figure out how to do new things by watching other Jedi or by trying to."

She wants to know if watching Sith helps. "What is the Force doing right now?"

"Just here, nothing strange - or, nothing strange for a Jedi being here. I can see with the Force that you're here, and the fire a little bit, and I can see that there are people outside." He gestures indicatively at the door to the hallway.

He can see fire, or catfire? He already knows that catfolk have a species magic, so it might be safe to ask.

"What does the fire look like?

Also, how can the Force tell you about places where there are no Jedi? Are there places where you can use the Force to see, but nothing reacts to you being there? So if you were not there, it would look the same?"

She calls out the door, "Yes?"

Eilha and a new werewolf come in, with a different harp and a large, coiled-up flute.

He blinks in surprise at Eilha and the new werewolf - were they waiting out there? Why?

Hey Force, general vibe check here?

Vibes: worried.

Except, if he has the precision to tell, the musicians. They're chill.

He does have the precision to tell!

"Is everything okay?" he asks Mirana. "You don't need to..." he gestures at the musicians and then at the door.

"Hm? Don't need what?"

Does the catfire have some Sith nature to it that Rafiik hadn't noticed because he hadn't looked closely enough? He exhales, getting ready for a thoughtsprint that might be his last.

"I didn't see them because I can't see that well with the Force, but I think they were there when you said to come? And they didn't come before you said. I don't know why you think you need to do that for me." He doesn't especially approve, either, from his tone.

"I didn't realize they were waiting until you mentioned that you could tell there were people outside, and once I acknowledged them they came in. They didn't want to disturb you by coming in at a bad time."

Eilha nods.

He's going to be one of those people who gets weird about luxury, isn't he? He didn't seem the type before...

He doesn't seem to think that that's a good answer. "It's okay to knock," he tells Eilha, with a demonstration, "next time." And he'll have to pay more attention to his surroundings from now on.

She smiles slightly. "Understood, thank you."

"What's wrong?"

"Probably someone said to you, be good to Jedi, they're..." can he explain 'important' with the help of the sand table without losing the thread of the conversation, no he probably can't; he shakes his head instead. "That's not... you don't need to. Nothing bad is going to happen to you if I'm unhappy."

That's very sweet and also she doesn't believe him.

Mostly.

What does he mean? Is he a person she can believe?

Coming from her housechief, er, coming from the chief of a new household that she was marrying into, yeah, she'd believe it. 

Coming from a town councilor, no, they'd just be saying words. 

Coming from the head butler of a shrine she just transferred to...hm, she'd have to ask around. There's no one she can ask about Rafiik.

Coming from a visiting ambassador, illthrift no, that's not just a lie but a command to lie in return, force herself to relax, and still arrange to please them. 

Coming from an elph, yes, absolutely. Elves, at least titled Lei elves, do not lie. The Lei empire has lasted a thousand years. They have burnt the trust of their friends and servants and allies and enemies, made every mistake, wasted every kind of opportunity - and they learn from their experience. Their word is precious.

Which of those is Rafiik?

She kind of likes him.

She kind of wants to ask, even if she's a creation of the Sith, raised to destroy the Jedi like a swarm of ravenous pests whose name she's forgetting, her very nature offensive to him? (There hasn't been a swarm of ravenous pests in Lei for decades, but she's heard stories. Locusts, that was one of them.)

And then he'd kill her, but not because she made him unhappy. Because of being a creation of the Sith, etc.

Oh, there is something she can ask.

If it goes badly, well, her friends will have learned something from her sacrifice.

She holds back a nervous giggle.

"Why should I believe you?" 

"I'm not..." He pauses, sighs, relaxes the tension in his shoulders. "I'm sorry. You've been good to me and if you want to keep doing that," he shrugs. "But no Jedi is supposed to ask for this. I think you haven't seen a Jedi before and you're doing what somebody told you. If your Jedi asked for this, that's bad, and I will try to fix it."