Eserik leaves the planet (tentatively named Iie*a) with one (1) sullen juvenile alien. He tries to make conversation as he steers the ship, but he's never been very good at that, so he allows it to lapse into awkward silence almost immediately.
He's headed back to Tython, when he perceives another eddy in the Force. "We're going to take a detour," he says to Joy.
"I would have read the manual - what of it I could," Eserik clarifies. "But I doubt I'd have been able to actually make use of it. I was terrible at mechanics."
"I'm terrible at eating," Joy confesses. "I always make myself sick. I'm hoping my lover can help with it."
"Oh. Um, my species - isn't very good at a lot of things? But we evolved with another one that can sort of. Burrow into us and make us better at stuff. Like, they'll take over our bodies for a little bit while we're distracted or tired, and - clean things instead of letting them pile up dirty, or stop us scratching at a wound, or make us eat better. We call them lovers, because the way they curl around your spine it's like a hug, a little."
"I guess. I just like the idea of - having someone there, who wants what's best and can make it happen even when I'm not strong enough to."
"Sure. But if I had someone like that who was inside of my body and could make me do things I'd be afraid of them and it'd be awful. So I guess it's good that you have one and I don't."
"Joy, would you like to stay with Teela and Talon while I set our course?"
"Don't be precious. Teela, Talon, it's your ship; would you be alright with Joy staying aboard?"
The ship starts moving after a few minutes.
"Whee," Joy says gravely.
"Welcome to the Silverwing. Do you like reading? I'm going to read to Talon and you can read with us or read something else if you want."
"Oh, I haven't read anything from the rest of the galaxy yet. What are you reading?"
"I found a series on folk tales from uncontacted planets and we're in the middle of the third one."
She finds them all a comfortable place to sit where everyone can see her datapad and starts reading aloud. This story seems to be about giant snakes, and how they're dangerous but extremely lazy, so the hero keeps convincing them to leave him alone by promising to find them something to eat so they won't have to stir themselves to gobble him up. She's very good at doing the voices; her giant snake voice is slow and yawny, and her hero voice is chipper and well-enunciated.
He listens happily.
"I wonder if the snakes are real?" he asks after. "Probably they don't behave like that even if they are."
"Probably you're right," she agrees. "I'm not sure how real they are. There might be snakes that are big but not that big, or there might be snakes that aren't really very big at all. Probably there are at least snakes of some kind. It would be weird to invent snakes without ever seeing one."
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