"It's not okay," she said, making no move to, well, move. "Why wouldn't I understand? Because you don't want them to not like you? I get that."

She'd, like, die if Lady Teresa and Lord Shin had no more use for her. And that wasn't nearly as dramatic or metaphorical as it was usually. After a moment's hesitation, she figured, what the hell, maybe it would help him to know that.

"If I died," which, well, that was a cheerful way to start things off, "only you and Vette would miss me for me. That's it. That's all. Like, Sidon, yeah, he'd miss me, but I'm pretty sure he'd miss almost anyone he's talked to once or twice too. Maybe that's a disservice to him, but the point is, you and Vette? Are it."

So, that was a start.

"But, like, when it comes to work... when it comes to home, it's all about what I can do for Lady Teresa and Lord Shin. I'm useful to them, so they keep me around, they praise me, they need me. Do they actually care about me for me? I don't know. I, like, hope so, but I don't know and I'll probably never know. But... I don't know," she took a step back from him, clasping her hands behind her back, "like, if you're going to call someone your friend, shouldn't they... be that?"