Nod. 

Leareth is starting to look visibly tired again, not enough that Mhalir can notice but probably enough that Matirin will. 

<Perhaps we can speak again next week, once I have more details of our progress on these projects to share.>

"Of course." A respectful nod. "Thank you. I agree with Leareth now, that it was worth it to speak with you directly." 

"I will have someone Gate you back to the surface." And Leareth goes to check which of his mages is available for it. 

<I am more circumspect in text because other people will review it> he says, and nods in return. <I enjoyed meeting you.>

Mhalir kind of doubts that, but he smiles at Matirin with Amanda's lips, and follows Leareth out. 

:Well?: Leareth asks Matirin, once the Gate is done. :What is your impression? Do you in fact no longer hate him now?: 

<Yes> he says tiredly. <It always works. I still think that he did a lot of terrible things and ought to be held accountable for them, and I still think that if there hadn't been a stupid war and my father was alive then they could morph and they could advertise and it'd be so much better - but once you meet people then they're very - not a story, right, and they make sense, and they're scared, and they want so many things you could just give them - this is not an Andalite thing this is a me thing.>

:It makes sense. It is - not how I think, especially, but perhaps it is why we can work together well: 

Also Leareth has EMOTIONS about it, probably because he's exhausted and his insides feel worn raw again. And Mhalir is gone and no longer needs to be reassured that Leareth is the wise adult in control of everything, so it's okay to let himself look as tired as he feels. :- I wish it was not so relentless. The cleanup after we won here. There is just - no escaping having to stare over and over and over at the damage done. It does not feel very victorious: 

<It is too late for almost everything I cared about to have been salvaged and it is too soon to safely start caring about new things and it is very tiring.> If Leareth were also an Andalite he could brush his tail across his but he worries that this will be alarming to a human. He does step a little closer, because Leareth looks so tired and probably won't fall over but just in case.

...Well, if he's going to stand right there then maybe Leareth will lean on him, just a little, without saying anything. 

<I don't understand why so many humans are nonchalant about Yeerks> he complains. <I guess it's a good thing but I just cannot wrap my head around it. It would be horrible in every way!>

:I would certainly not have sought it out, and I almost never have the problem with procrastinating for weeks on tasks that take five minutes, but - there was something I liked a little about having Mhalir in my head, I think, despite all the associated awfulness. And once he was being less horribly frustrating. It was a little like being able to think my own thoughts twice as fast - that might be specific to Mhalir thinking similarly to how I do though. I do think many humans are frequently lonely? There is a reason almost every child in Valdemar dreams of growing up and having a Companion to share their head and talk to them all the time. Perhaps Andalites have less need for that: 

<I would be very lonely if I could not talk to people. I guess humans all live in separate little houses. But presumably they prefer that to sleeping in heaps like your people are doing in the ship right now?>

:Sleeping arrangements vary widely between human cultures. In Velgarth it is common for families to sleep all together in a single bed, though part of that is poverty, wealthy families have separate bedrooms at least for the parents and children. It is hard to get enough sleep when there are crying babies beside you. Do Andalites have that problem?: 

<Of children interrupting sleep? They do that sometimes, but usually settle back down quickly enough, and most people who haven't been at war can sleep through someone thoughtspeaking them while they're asleep. And most Andalite herds do not have many young children at the same time, though I noticed the Companion herd had quite a few.>

:- Wow. I would absolutely not sleep through somebody Mindspeaking me. In case you were wondering. I think the Companion herd has a high birthrate currently because their war just ended and they had many casualties among the Heralds and Companions, so they have numbers to make up: 

<Before the war we strictly limited families to two children so that our population would level off eventually. Now they are permitted one daughter and as many sons as they wish, because -> tail-gesture. <I had six brothers.>

Leareth nods. Tries to count up in his head how many living brothers Matirin now has, but he's not actually sure he properly met them all. 

<Do Companions have specific target birth numbers? That sounds so obtrusive.>

:You would have to ask Vanyel for details, I have had little involvement with them because they are god-created and the gods dislike me. I believe they are tied into a Foresight system and they get nudges through that, gut feelings that now is a good time to carry a foal, and such: 

<Huh.>

:It is a very odd system. The founder, King Valdemar - the kingdom is named for him - supposedly prayed for a way to avoid future corruption, and they showed up: 

<Your world's gods confuse me.>