This is first interaction between the narrator and R, who later becomes one of the novel’s central characters, and it seems serious but not particularly intimate. Their relationship, at this point, is that of writer and editor. It’s noteworthy that they talk about safe houses, though, because this shows that there is an established element of trust already between them—safe houses are not a casual topic of conversation, since it’s too risky to discuss such matters. R mentioning safe house is also one of the novel’s earliest allusions to the Holocaust and to The Diary of Anne Frank (a huge influence on the story), since Frank had to hide with her family in the annex of a safe house during WWII.