Well, she doesn't have any money; is there any other kind of payment Iri wants?

"I'm still deciding whether I can trust you to pay me back later if I ask you to owe me for it."

That makes sense. She would, not that she expects saying that to raise trust, but she doesn't think it's a good idea for her to promise people money right now when she doesn't have certain prospects of getting any.

"Oh, um... do you want me to stop distracting you? So you can make money doing your work."

No, it's fine, the conversation is useful and Sheridan is participating in it and could stop.

And, she's not necessarily expecting to receive any of the money as money.

"He can't keep you if you'd rather leave. You could just walk away."

She could. Not doing so seems a better bet toward her continued survival, for the moment. And she'd like to help Valanda more in return for his help to her, if it is in fact safe to do so.

"It's probably safer than going away. But you could. That might be part of why it's safe."

She's certainly keeping it in mind.

That would make sense.

She'd also like to help Iri, as noted, if possible.

Why does Iri keep being so scared around the subjects?

"Wouldn't you be scared?"

...not necessarily but she has an odd psychology, she wasn't mainly scared when she was being imprisoned and tortured by her government either. (Iri had traded for information before, and she's been asking most of the questions here, and it might be useful to have that known about her while being safer than disclosing the slavery part of her background.)

But she could be scared-or-suchlike because she thought her owner would hurt her for saying something, or because she thought the person she was talking to would hurt her with some particular provocation, or because she was generally in an unsafe and uncertain situation and unknown factors were more so, or if something was happening that to her signaled 'scary' for some reason of her past or psychology...

Is that trembling? That's a really different kind of trembling than before. Iri doesn't comment on any of what she says but that is definitely some kind of reaction.

"I could try to teach you my other native language. I'm not sure if you could hear all of it or say any of it but I could try. If you want."

Thank you, and she would certainly be interested, but she thinks she ideally needs to focus on Hari right now. Is there a reason Iri is offering?

"...Because of what you said." Birdly shrug. "I can answer Hari questions too."

If xie was - offering a vulnerability for a vulnerability, then, thank you. Sheridan recognizes it. Was that it?

(There's not really a good way to outright ask either 'or was it a diversion xie thought Sheridan would be diverted by' or 'or was it an oblique attempt to set up a secret code').

"Yeah, you could call it that."

Iotas have a word for acknowledging that kind of thing. She says that one.

And - xie could have been trying to deflect, but could have just thought the offering-in-return was more important.

So -  is Iri scared for some of the reasons Sheridan said, or some other reasons, or?

"I'm not sure what it's safe to tell you."

Of course. Sheridan apologizes.

...Iri is just going to be over here by the flowers being quiet and scared unless Sheridan talks to them again.

Speaking of safe, is it alright to ask Iri questions when Valanda is around, or should Sheridan avoid that?

"I think it's safe but I guess it makes sense not to. Since I could be wrong. It's probably safe."

Well, Iri's the one it might not be safe for, so Sheridan will do as xie prefers.

"Oh, I thought you meant for you! It's probably safe for me too."

So, is xie alright with Sheridan doing it, or should Sheridan refrain and wait till they're alone again?