"Hello?"

"Hi. Ah, sorry about that."

"What happened?"

"Remember how I said it isn't a good idea to challenge her? It's not very hard to come up with something that she'll take as one."

Blink. "Okay. I'm not sure what I did that to take as a challenge? It was mostly a flippant comment, unless that is enough?"

"It can be. She's touchier when droids are involved, and I'm sure the extra magic isn't helping. With Sith, disagreements usually turn into fights, if they're similarly strong or don't have a good feel for who is the stronger one or it's about something they care about in particular; even if she doesn't want to start a fight herself she's not going to trust you not to."

"Okay... Uh, what should I do then?"

"In this case, just don't bring it up again - I can explain why we haven't rescued any more droids, if you want, and I think you'll agree that it's the right decision, though it's not really mostly about that. And in the future, keep in mind that if you say you think she should be doing something, she's going to hear that as a threat, that you'll try to make her do it - she might react badly even if she agrees, and definitely if she doesn't. Indirectness helps; if you say you're going to do something, or that it would be good if that thing was done, that doesn't have the same sort of problem, you aren't saying anything about her."

"Oh, I agree with you about the droids. Even with Felix's capabilities I don't think we should recklessly throw ourselves at rescuing droids or something similarly unsustainable. I wasn't think at all in terms of judging Dusk's actions, past or future, more like... I wanted to make it clear that while we are not going to try to fix the droid entire situation today, it's entirely because we can't and in the meantime we are happy to help some droids."

She nods. "I'll tell her that."

"I should probably also mention - that reaction means she respects you. Sith culture is all about status through power; if she's taking you seriously as a threat she's acknowledging that you're on the same level with her, in a way that really matters."

"Heh. Okay... Uh, for how long should I avoid her?"

Shrug. "Half an hour? She's meditating now, she'll be fine when she's done."

"Alright. I have reading to do anyway. And I will try to be careful in the future."

Nod. "All right."

"Thank you, for your help."

"It's all right. Sith are - difficult, at best; I don't want you to regret helping us."

Nod nod.

"Anything else?"

"...I didn't want to ask this in these terms, but for how long should we be expecting to stay?"

"She's worried about keeping the dreamshard secure; you, ah, shouldn't try to leave before she's satisfied with that. After that, I'm not sure; it's been a long time since she's been around strangers. She is trying to be polite, though, that's a good sign."

"We are worried about keeping the dreamshard secure, if it hadn't demonstrated the capability to move between universes we would've considered throwing it at a black hole or something. Would avoiding her in general be for the best?"

"I'm not sure how she'd interpret that."

"Huh. I will not make a special effort in either direction."

Nod. "I can keep you up to date as I figure it out. Mm, other things you should know - she keeps odd hours; she's usually awake from noon to shortly before sunrise. She tends not to be home at night; sometimes I go with her. She shouldn't be bothered during sunset, or when she's meditating or practicing with her lightsaber; don't even approach her when she's got her saber lit, it's dangerous. Stay off the roof, she'll take that as a provocation. And, I usually go to town every month, on the first weekend; you'll want to think about whether you'd like to stay here or come with me - that'll be in a week and a half, if our plans don't change it."

Nod nod. "Am I free to go visit the town on my own or do I need to ask permission or something?"