Some of them are making their best effort at being his 'pets' in the sense that they follow him around for food and what probably constitutes snuggles. Estinien keeps those moments to himself, though.

"Not alone. Himeka remained with me," he says. The place he was staying isn't far from here - just one of the hollows in the main tree. "I had... concerns about what these changes could mean for me. For other people." He looks downward. "I've seen the like before, and for most of history, 'twas a death sentence."