:I guess so: He blinks, rubs his eyes. :...Sorry, did you want to talk about something? Or, oh, right, you'd said you wanted to spar at some point: 

:That's what I came out for, but I'm not in a rush.:

:All right: But he doesn't say anything else, just sort of stares into space until, a good thirty seconds later, he shakes himself back to alertness. :Gods, I'm sorry – I'm kind of distracted. I must be terrible company: He ducks his head, not quite meeting her eyes. :But, um, it is really good to see you: 

:It's fine. I have some meditation I can be doing, if you don't mind the company out here.:

:Of course! I, er, appreciate the company: He leans back against the tree and closes his eyes, apparently reassured that his social obligations are met for now. 

And she meditates. It's a little concerning that he needs healing again so soon, but, well. It's not going to hurt her any, anyway.

Forty minutes later, there's a gentle nudge against Van's shields, and Deskyl offers him a globe of blue light. :Healing.:

:What?: Again, he has to take a minute to shake himself loose of whatever he was thinking about. :Um, sorry - why? I'm not hurt or anything:

:It fixes sleep deprivation, too.:

He still seems uncomfortable, and dubious. :Is that the same thing you used to Heal me from the Gate?: 

:Yup.:

:...All right, my Companion thinks it's safe and would be good, so go ahead, I guess: He still closes his eyes and seems to steel himself for it. 

The light itself doesn't feel like anything, when she touches it to his hand, but the tiredness and effects of the stress dissipate.

:...Huh. Thank you: Vanyel uncurls his limbs, stretches a bit. If she's paying attention, his mood already feels better, the exhaustion and stress-headache really weren't helping. :That's - wow. That feels a lot better: Then self-consciousness slips in. :Um, that's very generous of you, but you really don't have to Heal me just because I was stupid and didn't get enough sleep:

:I know.: She stretches and leans back against the tree.

:Well, I really appreciate it: He smiles more brightly. :How's DZ doing? I really enjoyed showing her some of our music the other day: 

:She's good. She liked the music a lot.:

:I'm glad!: He looks actually happy for a moment before it fades. :Um, I did want to, I guess ask your advice about DZ? It's fine if that's weird or it's private or something, just, I feel like I don't know how to talk to her. When I was showing her music I found it really hard to tell if she actually liked it or was just being polite. Maybe it's just that she isn't human so I can't read her face, but...she's always polite, I think she would be anyway even if she was annoyed with me, so I wish I had another way of knowing if she actually wanted my company: 

:Droids are like that, yeah - she doesn't know herself most of the time. She'll figure it out if you ask her to - you have to be specific about it, if you just ask what she thinks she doesn't always realize you want a real answer. Takes patience. She really doesn't get annoyed, though, you don't have to worry about that.:

:Huh: Vanyel seems like he can't decide whether he's reassured or not. :That's – is it because she's a servant droid and that's a rule? I don't...just, if it's that she isn't allowed to be annoyed, that doesn't seem right. If I'm being a fathead to her then she should be annoyed with me. I'm trying really hard not to do that, but still: 

:Yeah, it's not actually great. It's not just a rule, it's how she's made. If I think you're treating her badly I'll say something, though.:

:How she's - oh!: A flash of recognition in his eyes. :We have a race sort of like that here, actually. Hertasi. Some ancient mage made them from lizards, made them to be just as intelligent as humans, but in order to be servants, and he shaped them so they want that. Which i don't know how to feel about: 

His nose wrinkles. :It's kind of different, though. They're fully capable of being annoyed. If their human charges, say, aren't eating enough. They used to be incredibly passive-aggressive about leaving food everywhere when I lived there. And if they think two people should, er, be a couple: he blushes, :then they'll drop even more obvious hints about it. DZ seems different: 

:I wonder what would happen if she met some. Anyway, yeah, that seems different. She's not meant to be a person who wants to serve, she's just meant to be a servant.: Deskyl's creeping horror at this fact is fairly muted, but still comes through. :It's not true, her makers didn't succeed completely, but it goes pretty deep, at least so far. I hope she'll grow out of it.:

:No, what?: The word choice finally seems to land with him. :She doesn't think she has a right to be– no, doesn't think that she is a person?: That's awful. It makes him a bit nauseated to think about. :Why would they do that? Make her alive and smart enough to BE a person, but not think she is one?: 

:I'm not sure what she thinks about it, I haven't pinned her down about it recently, it bothers her when I do. My guess is that it isn't possible to make something that's smart enough to do the kinds of work people do without being a person. They obviously tried very hard to.:

:Do they know? That they created people even though they weren't meaning to?: Vanyel seems like he isn't sure which answer would be worse.