Yes, her reaction to him dying was entirely for her benefit -- sometimes she uses physical affection as a tool to make people feel better, but with that it was definitely just. SUDDEN CLINGINESS oh no.

I have absolutely no faith in my ability to play the new skill and don't know what to change, but THAT ISSUE ASIDE, I think it will be interesting! She'll definitely become more deliberate about gauging people's reactions when she wants to make them feel better so that she can come up with working strategies about how to do it. I don't think she'll become more manipulative, though -- although she won't hesitate to read people and see what works best with them, she's pretty up front about her motivations. As for the sex side of it, she still isn't interested in anyone in Aather like that, and certainly isn't going to try to seduce someone JUST TO SEE IF IT WORKS, so... at the moment it's unfortunately kind of irrelevant.

As for the counseling part of the skill, it will probably just make her less hesitant and more confident when she suggests things to people when they're upset, and make her feel less like she doesn't know what to say.

Are there any skills you're really looking forward to Neji getting back?