<Yes. They made me practice with a cover on my tail until they said I was skilled enough to be safe.> 

<Then I will spar with you.> He bows, slightly.

Leareth is pleased. <...I can give you feedback, if you wish, after> he adds. <On - how you move wrong, so you know better what to work on. The Andalite body comes with instincts for it, so I do notice, but I am less bothered than actual Andalites, I am used to morphs having instincts and it is not as bad as being a squirrel and wanting to run up a tree at the slightest sound.> 

He holds himself very still. <I think I have mostly stopped moving wrong. But if you notice - yes, say something.>

<You mostly have! I have hardly noticed anything until this point; the only instance I remember was when we were over there near the trees and you got your hoof caught under a branch, and it was just for a moment. Tail-sparring is more complicated, though, and you have not had a chance to practice it again until now.> 

And he readies himself to spar. He's not planning to go easy on Alloran, exactly, if he wins he wins, but he's aiming to be very - in control, to make sure he's not going to harm Alloran even if he does something unpredictable. 

He is substantially better at tail-sparring than Alloran. It turns out that a month of learning is better than a month of unlearning having no power over your body.

Then he's going to win, fairly promptly; it seems like less valuable practice for Alloran if Leareth isn't fighting in earnest. He does watch carefully for anywhere Alloran's movements read to his Andalite instincts as wrongbad and not just unskilled. 

He freezes up, sometimes, when surprised; normal Andalites don't do that.

Leareth points this out after he's won, very matter-of-factly, and points out some places Alloran could have done something better - it's pretty easy for him to analyze, having learned so recently himself, it's still close to the surface for him. And he also makes sure to highlight a couple of things he thinks Alloran did well. Honestly this part is nearly as fun as the actual sparring, and it shows in his body language. Leareth intrinsically enjoys teaching, even for things other than magic, and he doesn't get a chance to do it that much. 

<Again?> 

<Yes>.

They they can spar again! Leareth is a bit more relaxed and less cautious this time, now that he has a sense of Alloran's skill. 

He loses, again, and then asks to go again. He does not seem to be enjoying himself but he does seem very focused.

Leareth happily spars with him as many times as Alloran is up for, and gives him constructive feedback each time. When he notices Alloran seeming tired, he apologizes and says he should get back to his responsibilities on Earth. (Also he's getting close-ish to his morph limit.) 

<I would like to do this again, though. Melody thinks it will help with your recovery, which - is important, both strategically and to me personally.> Tail-swish. <And of course it is good for my ego to not always lose.> 

<I do not think my recovery is strategically important> he says. <But I would prefer to do this again.>

<I will stop my on my next visit to Velgarth, then.> He demorphs, switches to Mindspeech. :Is there anything else you think we should discuss now, before I go?: 

<Be careful around Visser Three.>

:I know. I will be: 

And Leareth has the other mage Gate Alloran back to Haven, and then heads back to Earth himself. Mulls on ways to startle Mhalir into trying to override his compulsions. He doesn't feel like it's particularly necessary, but the entire reason he wanted to speak to Alloran again was to get an outside perspective... 

Leareth should talk to Matirin about it, probably. He looks for him. :Matirin?: 

<Yes?>

:I spoke with Alloran about the plan involving bringing Mhalir in my head. He was unsurprisingly very concerned Mhalir would try to betray me instantly, and specifically he worried Mhalir might be able to work around our mind-control somehow, if he were trying hard enough. I - doubt it, and also I am quite confident Mhalir does not wish to betray me actually, but...I did go to him because he will not have my biases toward trusting Mhalir, and so I do feel I should listen: And he recounts the idea they had floated for stress-testing Mhalir's inability to override hosts when under compulsion. 

<Huh. If someone tested that on me I would be pretty angry with him and trust him less after that; if that is a risk then it's probably not worth testing, since it seems unlikely and we do need Mhalir's cooperation. If Mhalir would take it better than that maybe it would be worth it.>

:I expect most people would be angry. I would not be, I think; if you had arranged to test either my loyalty or capabilities in an analogous way, I would have understood why, and - appreciated that you were, in fact, trying to strengthen your own ability to ally with me, not trying to harm my interests. Mhalir...might understand that less well than I do, at first. He is very young. But I am fairly sure I could explain it to him, and that if he knew it were my idea for reassuring you, he would not be angry with either of us: 

He makes a face. :...The obvious time to test it would be when he is with Cayaldwin, unfortunately, and without warning Cayaldwin of it, which would likely upset him. Mhalir does not usually have compulsions with his human host, and I think he would not feel threatened enough if he were in my head, he trusts my ability to defend both of us: 

<I would probably be inclined to tell Cayaldwin that there was a new communication from our homeworld I urgently needed to discuss with him without Mhalir present, when you were for some reason not around, and have someone else volunteer to hold Mhalir until you were back, someone I had informed that our homeworld wanted Mhalir killed and that I intended to do it before you got back.

That way Cayaldwin is not himself in danger or apparent danger and Mhalir is in the head of someone he would sincerely want to override and not expect it to be wiser to reason with.>

:...That makes sense. In his place, I would be confused and somewhat suspicious at your choice to tip your hand by placing you in the head of someone who knew, rather than simply putting him in a fishbowl or something. But I think he would be more than panicked enough to try fighting the mind-control very hard: 

Sigh. :I...do not at all want to do that to him. He will be so scared, even if you quickly reveal it was a test. If I am to be not around, I think I had better be easily summonable, so that I can reassure him afterward. I know I am - more difficult to reason with, when I am terrified, and he has far less life experience than I do: 

<If you do not want to do it and do not think it is necessary I will not insist. It does seem unlikely to me that he knows a way to ignore your compulsions when such a thing is unknown within your magic system.>

:I would be shocked and baffled if he did. Especially this quickly, when he has had very little time to research it without our noticing. I do not want to do it and it does not feel necessary to me, but...again, I am not unbiased about Mhalir, and so I will take your judgement on it very seriously: