"Ah, before we do the next guild quest, would you mind having a chat with my apple tree?" Danika asked Shrubbery hopefully on their way back. They'd done a quick courier quest with Kit and Ryullusion, and then Kit had logged off to eat and rest.

Ryullusion chuckled and said, "That's certainly a storybook entity I haven't met in the game yet, a talking tree."

"It doesn't talk exactly," Danika said uncertainly.

"I'm not sure chatting is a good description of talking with a tree, since they don't really use words," Shrubbery replied with a long limbed shrug, "but I don't mind."

"Mine used words, kind of," Danika told her.

"Kind of?" Shrubbery asked with a puzzled frown.

Danika explained about how the tree had rustled its leaves to whisper the deactivation on the aqua stone for Hikaru. When they arrived at Shrubbery's garden, she zipped over and placed her pebble on one of the benches and said, "Dragonheart."

Shrubbery appeared beside her a moment later, and they both gazed at the little apple tree curiously. It looked just as it always did and didn't do anything unusual. After a moment Danika looked around for Hikaru.

Ryullusion appeared before the firefly did, and gazed at the tree expectantly. It still just stood there quietly.

When Danika gave up and called for the little firefly, it appeared beside the entrance. It had probably gone to visit the fireflies that Shrubbery had brought to her garden a while back. "Hikaru, can you…" Danika began.

Shrubbery interrupted her, and Danika saw that the dryad had already approached the tree and laid her hands against it, as she said, "You're right, it can speak in words, it doesn't know very many though. I think it knows the words it has heard the most?"

The words to start and stop her watering stone were probably two of the words most often repeated within her garden space, so that made sense in a way. But Danika wondered if it was lonely if it was learning how to talk, but confined with only bugs most of the time. "Is it still happy here?" she asked worriedly.

The tree leaves shivered in the intangible breeze and made their almost purring clatter, at the same time as Shrubbery replied, "I think so?"

"Should I talk to it more? If it's trying to learn more words?" Danika wondered aloud.

Ryullusion grinned and suggested, "People who say plants grow better if you talk to them would love this? Rin always says his houseplants enjoy his music."

"I don't know if they enjoy it, but plants exposed to sound vibrations are stronger," Shrubbery replied promptly, making Ryullusion chuckle. "But that question seems to be too complex for your tree ZipZing. It said something like 'talk water', but it's not baby talk or anything. Trees just communicate with a few symbols usually, it's hard to explain if you can't see my screen."

"I've seen the library of sentient plant words," Danika agreed. "Maybe it only figured out how to talk in order to get water?"

Hikaru blinked its light at her and circled the little apple tree, as though the firefly agreed, while Shrubbery agreed, "Maybe."

Danika rubbed her nose and said, "I should have asked my assistant if it could water for me even if I was too busy. I might have had to replant all over again if Hikaru hadn't taken charge."

Shrubbery shrugged. "Plants in the game are mostly pretty sturdy and can survive more neglect than real ones in general. They also show quicker results from good care, so I think you'd have been okay. Hikaru is more like I imagined a familiar would be for you than your actual familiar was."

"Aishin was a really good familiar," Danika objected automatically.

Both Shrubbery and Ryullusion laughed while Danika looked at her pet. She had to acknowledge that they were right, the firefly had learned a lot from her, and had always tried to help her to the best of its abilities. Actually, more than a familiar, it reminded her of her assistant dragon.

She pulled up her menus and sent a message to Magna Silvam while she was thinking about it: "Do pets have the same kind of AI as assistant dragons? My firefly has learned to water my garden for me."

--

When they exited the stone space, Nao1 and Tundo were arguing beside the guild hall tree. Danika zipped forward, but before she reached them, they both started laughing.

"I know right?" Tundo said enthusiastically. "What's the point in having a live performance when they just repeat the same handful of songs every time!?"

"Seriously!" Nao1 agreed. "But Shin's songs are still the best, even if they are all happy and sugar coated lately! It's just a phase! He'll get over it pretty soon."

"Oh? Will he?" Danika asked sweetly as she landed on one of the small balcony style entrances near the top of the guild hall. The tree was big enough that this put her out of easy reach.

Nao1 looked up at her and the grin on the character's cute feminine face looked a little too sharp and rather unnervingly sly. "He will," she stated confidently.

"I'm sure he will," Tundo agreed authoritatively. "I'm not sure that will help though, since it won't make the guy less inclined to repeating the same thing in different words for all of the verses. He should take lessons from some of the great bards in this game!"

"I don't know," Nao1 replied, with another sharp smile for ZipZing, "that Little Dragon's song is awfully repetitive."

"Well, yeah, but that's a drinking song. If it's not repetitive a drunk can't sing along," Tundo excused it.

"Hah!" Nao1 exclaimed, and she laughed like it was the funniest thing she'd heard in years. Tundo grinned at her, but his expression said that he was confused about why she found it so amusing.

Nao1 was still laughing when ShinZing logged on. He glanced at Nao1 and Tundo, waved to Shrubbery and Ryullusion who stood beside the gate to Shrubbery's garden, and then zipped upward to where ZipZing perched. "What's up?" he asked.

Nao1 pointed at the pixie and gasped, "Shin writes the best drinking songs! Haha!"

Tundo clarified, "We were talking about Aichi Shinichi of Underneath."

ShinZing protested mildly, "You said it was the worst drinking song you'd ever heard?"

Danika asked in a whisper, "Have I heard it yet?"

At the same time Nao1 actually cackled, "Oh gods, that really was the worst song ever! You should never write while drinking! Haha, no, all of your songs! Oh man Shin, Tundo's analysis style is awesome! He's really accurate too!"

"What's Tundo analyzing so accurately?" Saaki asked, as he logged in just in time to catch the last couple of sentences.

SilentSky and Edwardian appeared one after the other, and greeted Ryullusion and Shrubbery politely before joining the group clustered around the guild hall tree.

"Underneath!" Nao1 shouted.

Danika peered down at Tundo. She was just thinking that it was impossible that he hadn't figured it out yet, and was startled when ShinZing landed against her side, and flung an arm over her shoulders, just above her harness. Tundo looked up and met her eyes, and then looked at ShinZing, and she could almost see the realization finally click in his head.

"What about us?" SilentSky asked a little sharply.

Tundo's mouth opened, and then closed again. He turned to Nao1 and stared at her. She was giggling as she tried to answer SilentSky.

"Tundo spotted every single flaw in Underneath! He's awesome! And he really hates us!" Naoki explained with glee.

"Poor guy," ShinZing murmured against ZipZing's ear.

Tundo finally asked in a scandalized tone, "You're actually a guy?"