Becoming more familiar as well is the act of being the 'passenger' in the air, rather than allowing his own wings to propel himself to their destination.

Skellig asks occasional questions (mostly about navigation; where they are in relation to the village, to other landmarks, the coastline, etc.) and they make light conversation until the sun sets, and once the stars come out he trails off for the majority and works to pick out constellations that are familiar to him. There are still only a few, and there are simply so many stars that he can see it is still tough, but he is learning.

(He never quite falls fully asleep, but he might doze a few times.)