Arlow Tsai has a life of regularity. Sequenced light and not-so-light periods.
Morning rituals that involve the three elLans wearing jackets or smocks. They ask the same questions every time. Where am I from? Any new personal discoveries or revelations to report?
We discuss language and communication for a while. I have made no actual progress in quite a while. The distinction of sounds to speak Lan is maybe more than my ears can support. They ask me to try again, but rarely.
They take the jackets and smocks off, and we talk about earth culture. Dating, meals, social conventions. I have a fair amount of earth fiction and story fragments to fuel discussions on a variety of scenarios.
I can be happy with a live of regular "work" followed by light talk, small snacks, and occasional hugs or sympathetic touches.
The youngest elLan, "3", no longer touches my skin. Always touching only my clothes. That is a little sad, and the others do not appear to have noticed it.
Not sad enough to cry over. Neither I nor "3" have had any cause to cry for a long time, but she used to be the first to cry with me.
They arrange curtains for privacy with me after the "work day". Talking to me and each other about things that are not a part of regular "research into the human".
Rarely, they perform the circling dance with fingers of one hand each entwined in the center. Always more beautiful than the previous time.