<What sleeping arrangements do humans require?>

Oh, right, of course he might not know. :Er, generally a softish surface to lie down on - ideally a bit softer than this grass, although the grass would do - and I'd prefer if it were dark and somewhere private. Also blankets, but I can just use my cloak: 

They can find a conference room and pull safety padding off a wall elsewhere so it has a soft surface on the floor, and make it dark.

(Andalites, it transpires, sleep standing in a herd.)

Vanyel curls up under his cloak and goes to sleep. 

- and, sometime later, finds himself in a snowy pass. 

He starts walking. "Leareth." 

"Herald Vanyel. I gather your day was as busy as mine." 

"...It's been kind of surreal. I hear you kidnapped one of their scouts and mind-controlled them." 

"I hear you also captured one and used a second-stage Truth Spell. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, it seems they are getting along rather better with you." 

"They're pretty concerned about you stealing their technology and conquering the universe with it. Makes it hard to trust you." 

"Which is fair enough, I suppose." Leareth reaches Vanyel and starts building a snow-hut around them. "You convinced your King to send a Herald tomorrow?" 

"Yes." Vanyel takes a deep breath. "I - do want to know, one way or another. If you're telling the truth. It...matters a lot, right." 

"And this is a convenient opportunity for you to verify it, that would not otherwise be worthwhile for either of us to take. But I think we agree that the stakes on this 'Earth' are high enough to change both of our strategic landscapes, here." 

"Five billion people." It's still hard to imagine. 

"Were you aware that their contingency-plan is to kill everyone, if they cannot win against the Yeerks?" A flicker of something in Leareth's expression. Pain, maybe. 

Nod. 

"They must be very worried that I will steal their technology to study it." Leareth pauses, seeming to choose his words with care. "For what it is worth, I do not intend to do that. There is a great deal at stake, here, and - the possible trust burned by doing so would be huge. It is possible I could not even learn that much, given the technological gulf between us. And it is not the only method of access. If ships can travel across planes to land on other worlds, I am nearly certain that so can mages." 

"...Oh." Somehow Vanyel hadn't considered that at all. Or, no, he'd told Matirin it wasn't feasible with magic. Leareth must be seeing something he isn't...

"In order to make travel times feasible, I think they have to be doing some sort of space-folding, perhaps not dissimilar to Gating. Which is not much to go on, but - I have time, and even if it takes fifty years to achieve on my own, that is better than opening a war which could very quickly escalate out of hand. If they are willing to kill everyone on Earth..."

All Vanyel can do is nod, blinking. "I'll - tell him that." 

"I will of course repeat it under Truth Spell." 

Leareth pauses, his black eyes impassive, then leans forward a little. "Herald Vanyel, I trust your judgement further than most people's. What is your impression of the Andalites, so far. Do they seem - trustworthy, worth helping - does their story about this war hold together...?" 

"Oh. Um." Somehow this also catches him off guard, even though it's the obvious question. "They're - very desperate. Their leader seems smart and capable, but they're in a bad position and a lot of their options are bad ones. I think their policy against giving us any technology is maybe overcorrecting, but it's an understandable reaction given what happened before. They're understandably not as invested in Velgarth as we are, it's not their world." He shrugs. "Matirin said under Truth Spell that he'd hold to the terms of the agreement for meeting you. He - seems to me like someone with integrity. Who might take very ruthless options if they're the best he has available, but really, that doesn't make him too dissimilar from you." 

Thin smile. "I certainly do not judge him for it." 

"He'd probably resent the comparison. They think you're basically a Yeerk. I told them my theory of your immortality method and they were so horrified." 

"- That I take over bodies?" Leareth frowns slightly. "I am aware my immortality method is appalling, but it is not moreso than murder." 

"Ohhhhh do you, um, evict them or something." This doesn't sound any less horrifying to Vanyel but maybe it will to Andalites. 

"Yes. Mostly I do not even keep their memories, only a few bits and pieces."