"That works for me." Hand?

Hand! Here they are outside Satele's room, and then there is sitting and snuggling.

"So, the first thing I should tell you is that Occlus asked me to keep a secret today, and I said I would unless it put anyone in danger for me to do that."

"And would it?"

"I don't know; it depends on how you're thinking about some things, and if Occlus is dangerous in the first place."

"That Occlus is dangerous is not in question. But I do not think she bears us any malice."

"That's what I meant; if they're not going to hurt you anyway - and if they're not going to use your trust to hurt anyone else - then it's not a dangerous secret for me to keep. But if there's any reason to believe that's not true, it'd be a good idea to tell me."

"In that case, I think you may keep your secret without fear."

Hug. "Good. I also asked them for advice on where to rescue slaves from - I'm going to talk to Bar too, but I thought it'd be interesting to see how they answered the question. Does it make sense to rescue Hutt slaves before Empire ones?"

"The Hutts do have more, and we are not currently at war with them... It makes sense that she would suggest them as the first target. I do not think there is a trap here, beyond giving her more time to prepare for the economic disruption."

Nod. "I don't mind doing it in a way that inconveniences Occlus less. I am a little surprised that they didn't send me after a personal enemy, or to someplace meaningful to them, but that's interesting information too. I'll see what Bar has to say about it - Bar can sometimes figure out which groups are most malnourished, in a situation like this, which is nice to be able to prioritize - and go from there." Hug.

"She can? That's interesting."

"It depends on what kinds of records they can get, but they know a lot about what kinds of food people need, so they can do more with that than they can with most things. And they care more about it - it's a more obvious kind of harm, to them, than most things; they take nutrition into account when they make food suggestions even for people who are healthy."

"I see. Well, that should be helpful for your project."

Nod. "Mmhmm."

"I also had a chance to ask Occlus about showing her force signature thing - they're okay with you and two Council members seeing it in Milliways, you get to choose who."

"Really? That is more than I expected. We will be able to do that whenever is convenient for her."

Nod, hug. "They want you to trust them, I mentioned that part."

"This will get us closer."

Nod. "I expect they'll be willing to do it tomorrow after lunch, maybe with the magic lesson first but those have been pretty short."

Hug. "I'll mark it on the calendar."

Grin, snuggle.

Snuggles.

And eventually dinnertime, at which point the kobold goes to Milliways to chat with Bar.

The next morning: Breakfast!

Breakfast! Ana is slightly late.

Ana is more than slightly hugged. "Good morning!"

Hugs!

"Hi!"