<How does that... work, I guess...> It keeps coming up and he’s finally gotten to the point where he can be curious about random things and he’s very curious about what it’s like to be a Yeerk.

<Good question, but I don't really know how it works! We evolved to be symbiotes to Gedds, but it's not like they're especially traumatized all the time in the ancestral environment all the time as far as I know... I guess they're kind of helpless and confused and it would be bad if we were too, since that's what we did for them was be agentic and smart.>

He doesn’t entirely follow that. <So what do you get?>

<Skills like languages, and memories and knowledge.>

It doesn’t quite make sense that that’s separable from more objectionable things - is there some difference between learning to think of a duck when you hear the word "duck" and learning to think of pain when you open your eyes? Is there some difference between skills for free people and skills like complying when ordered to hurt yourself?

<I can think about pain without this being bad, I guess might be the difference? But I do also think the skills are different. And also having them from you is different from having them myself - I'll retain them less well when I'm out, and I can decide to use them or not a little more discretely.> Can they skip rocks? Well, if they keep trying they'll be able to.

He doesn’t consciously remember learning how to do that but seems to have some sense of how it works, so maybe he did once.

He finds the explanation enlightening.

Skipskipskip. When Ashkon finds a nice one he puts it in his pocket. The rocks here are nicer than the ones on Earth beaches, there are especially nice ones every twenty or thirty they pick up.

He hasn’t been to many beaches. He really only has expectations about lava tubes.

Ashkon doesn't know much about what to expect either. But when they have a pocketful of rocks he gets up and heads back to the center of campus to pick up his course schedule. <Is it confusing for you if I arrange things telepathically with Elves in a way you can't hear? I can probably figure out how to copy you on those conversations if you want me to without being hopelessly confusing about who's talking but it's not automatic.>

He instinctively sorts that into the category of things he should avoid having preferences about and catches himself doing that and asks how bad it would be if he turned out to care.

<It'd be a little higher friction but probably not that bad? It might be easier if you started paying attention to public Elf thoughts and I could ask the ones I'm talking to to address both of us.>

<How do I do that?>

<I can get someone to try talking directly to you and then it's just paying attention to that same... channel, but while it's less conspicuous.>

Hi! says an Elf voice in his mind. I'm Rost, the registrar that Ashkon has been discussing classes with.

Eep! Another person!

...Hi? Am I doing this right?

Yup, I can hear you!

Do I need to think in words for that to work or...?

Nope, osanwë does nonverbals like pictures and emotions just fine.

Appreciation of how convenient that is! Vague uncertainty about whether to say "nice to meet you", here just have the sentiment behind it instead. So how about that discussion he was maybe supposed to be listening to?

Rost and Ashkon experiment with ways to fold him into their conversation about Ashkon's assessment tests and what classes he can join. Apparently in the morning he is supposed to go get checked out for singing talent and possibly recommended remediation if he doesn't have any; that could be folded into morph plans. He's also signed up for introduction to music notation and has tutoring for getting to know his hammered dulcimer scheduled.

Ashkon had better bring his own singing talent or pick a new host.

He doesn’t want to interrupt but that’s sort of questionably possible at the moment and he'd like to know at some point if Ashkon using him for hammered dulcimer lessons is going to result in him knowing how to play.

<That depends on how much attention you pay! If you're thinking about math or talking to somebody by osanwë the whole time almost certainly not.>

Imaginary nodding. ...He’s probably going to come out of this with weird body language habits, isn’t he, since he isn’t tracking whether he would actually like his body to move in whatever way he's ?trying? to move it.

Oh, well. Way more importantly he totally could have friends to talk to all through Ashkon's classes like that. If he can figure out how to start conversations. And if he were less interested in the hammered dulcimer, which he’s actually very excited about.

The sun is starting to go down. Ashkon goes over to a bunch of passively welcoming Elves sitting on a retaining wall to watch it and joins them.

Watching the sunset is a good use of eyes and he’s on board with this plan but also he’s interested in the retaining wall. And kind of wants to examine it himself even though Ashkon would definitely do it right. He can even keep watching the sunset since it’s not like he’d use his eyes to get information about something he can touch.

<Can I have a minute?> It’s not a huge deal or anything but also this thought is public.