They stand there for another minute, in quiet contemplation, and then it seems like there's twenty things to do at once - a pyre to be made, and Daisy to be called back from where she's been hiding out in the desert, and Nine to be gotten down and thanked, and Isk to be debriefed. Pradnakt makes sure that Alek eats, too, a few handfuls of dried fruit, easy enough on his system in his current state.
"Oh. No, we wouldn't expect it back; we can put that in writing, if you'd like. We know that we're asking something significant of you, to start over in a new place."
He whistles a bit anxiously, "That- does not seem particularly even. It was not your fault I came to be here."
She inclines her head in what Cue won't yet recognize as the sort of fond smile that suggests she's thinking about Pradnakt. "No, but you are here, and the easiest thing for you to do would be to go back, and we're asking you to do something much more difficult without much advantage for yourself. What happened before doesn't matter much, for that, to her way of thinking."
There is a barely perceptible pause. Then-
"I would like to send her a message," he agrees. "I will tell her what you have offered, and let her decide if she will accept."
"All right. We'll be going to Kincardine in the next day or two, we can do it then."
"You're welcome. Will you want anything else, while we're there? Pradnakt would like to get you a vocoder like the one Isk has."
Nervous hum, but, "I... would like a vocoder, I think. It hadn't occurred to me." His dome swivels to look up at the ship, and then back down to Daisy, "You will sell the ship, yes? I don't believe it has trackers, but it is still very obviously a Jedi ship. I believe Isk will be willing to host me, if so, but if not I would appreciate a place to charge."
"We'll want to do something with it, yes. We'll get supplies to set something up for you, do you have any preferences about what it's like? Size, furniture?"
"I would prefer open space, myself, though Sara will need furniture if she does join me here?"
"All right. I'll talk to Pradnakt about it, but I expect she'll be willing to build a guest house. Are you all right being this close to us?"
Uncertain whirr, "Yes? I do not think any reasonable distance would make me safer, if it turns out I am not in fact safe."
"It might. Darksiders are impulsive; ten minutes on a speeder will make a difference, if they're upset rather than pursuing a goal."
"Here, with a human, not very much; it's a safe area, and Pradnakt is a sense specialist, she'll notice if something upsets your friend, or if she's injured. By yourself - if something were to damage your ability to contact us and your transportation at the same time, we wouldn't know until we noticed you not checking in. That's not likely to happen, though, especially if we design with it in mind."
"Perhaps it would be wise to stay some distance away, then," he admits. "I do feel some amount of apprehension at the idea of being so close, if impulsive destruction is a possibility."
She nods. "I don't think it's likely, from either of them - Pradnakt hasn't lost her temper like that in nearly two years, and Alek hasn't damaged Isk at all, or even Nine when he shot him. But it's still reasonable to want to be careful."
Whirr, "For Sara's sake, then. She is not a droid." She may also find living too close to the darksiders uncomfortable, at least at first.
"It would be fine if it was just for you," she says, gently. "You don't have to put up with a risk like that, even it it's a small one."
He squishes down a bit, "...Yes, that's true. I could stay out of the way, though. Force can't sense me."
"You shouldn't have to," she asserts, and folds down to sit cross-legged, putting herself on eye level with him.
"When my Sith first realized how much of a problem she had - how bad her self-control had gotten - she had me read books, for organics, about staying with someone who's dangerous like that. They weren't right about everything, but one thing that they said over and over was that being in a relationship like that is bad because of how you get in the habit of limiting yourself, to stay safe, and how anyone who really cares about you won't want you to do that. And she doesn't, and she won't let Alek ask it of you either."
He shifts a bit, "Sometimes staying in a less than perfect situation is necessary," he points out. "The Jedi do not, on the whole, treat us as people. We are still in danger of being sold or wiped, with them, though it is rarer. It's safer than most other places, but being as covenient to them as we can is important."
"Yes. But it's still wrong, to need to do that. And Lord Pradnakt holds herself to a higher standard."