"-yes sir."

"All right, well, uh... one of us could ask our gods, I suppose... I'm trying to think who'd even know, if you want more of an explanation than that, it's not like it comes up."

"Thank you, sir."

"I really don't - you really think it's in doubt?"

"We're not meant to be people, sir. Lord Pradnakt thinks that the design is flawed and we are anyway, but we're not meant to be."

"Yeah, I -  think she's probably right, about that one? You seem like a person. You don't - like - you talk, you think, you want things even if you don't want them the same ways other species do - it might just be that you're not human, and that's tripping you up? Other species aren't always very much like humans at all and they're still people."

"I'm familiar with aliens, sir. And I'm not sure what the difference is, just that there's meant to be one."

"All right. Well, I don't - think that's possible - but we can ask. And I'll keep treating you like a person in the meantime."

"If you'd like, sir."

"I mean, of course I will... not everyone would care, I guess, but I do. It hurts people when you treat them like they aren't."

It doesn't hurt her, so that's one datapoint. "All right, sir."

"Okay, so that's - enough to be getting along with - do you want to go see the book shop? Or something else?"

"I'd like to see the book shop, please, sir."

So they can go to the book shop; it's a few blocks away, past some houses and a handful of other stores - the block it's on seems to be dedicated to upper-end housewares, with a large furniture store dominating the other side of the street; the bookstore itself is small, and Raafi pauses outside to see how much of the money he gave Daisy at the library she's used, and when it turns out she hasn't used any of it, he gives her a few more coins anyway.

Inside, it's cramped, but meticulously organized; the elven shopkeeper greets them warmly and asks if she can help them find anything.

"Is it all right if we just browse, ma'am?"

    "Of course, go right ahead."

"Thank you." And she heads off into the stacks.

Raafi follows, browsing nearby.

"See anything that looks good?" he asks, after a while.

"I don't know, sir. I don't know how to tell."

"Most of them should have tables of contents, does that help?"

"No sir, I don't know what I'm looking for."

"-oh. That makes sense. Uh - well, you know where it is, now, if you come up with something you want later, do you want to keep looking?"

"No sir."

"All right, let me just get you a dictionary - you should probably have a common one to keep, so you can learn other languages and come back to it, does that make sense?"

"Yes sir, thank you."

So he buys her a dictionary and they head back to the temple.

"You said your friend was working with you on this stuff - is there anything she was doing that we could copy, to make it easier for you?"

"Maybe, sir? It's easier when the things I'm choosing between are similar, and when I have a clear goal in mind; Lord Pradnakt usually only offered me choices when those were true."