". . . For us, it's not the case that any given person is either a boss or an employee. I mean, some people aren't bosses in that they don't have any employees, and some people aren't employees in that they don't work for anybody except themselves, but socially, it's more that - in any given two-person relationship, one person will be the boss in that relationship and the other will be the employee, unless they're moirails or strangers.

Actually I'm perverting those words, 'boss' and 'employee' only really apply to work relationships, the more generally applicable words are 'sir' and 'apprentice'." 

That makes no sense.

"How can you be neither a boss nor an employee. How does that work."

"We almost always are either the boss or employee, in any interaction, like I said. But to us - without any biomarkers to judge by - it would be presumptuous to think you were the boss of somebody you didn't even know, and moirails are basically an equal relationship."

Finally, Damin is indignant. It's weird that they're both apparently around the same intelligence level, but what about Damin isn't weird.

"...so for us, it's totally possible to have boss-boss and employee-employee interactions? Someone in my world would classify this as a boss-boss interaction. My two workers talking to each other would have an employee-employee interaction."

Well, that's just wrong.

What would be the point? Naxi guesses he can see the point of Damin's employees talking to each other, if they're anything like worker ants, but what would two bosses talk about? Cult stuff, he guesses, just like two Bywayeans not at work. Their ancestors had to find mates, after all.

"Humans would, I think, classify it as a mentalchild-mentalchild interaction, when you're both just trying to be creative and make friends and you aren't worried about whose boss is whose."