"Are you almost done whispering sweet nothings to each other yet?" Saaki asked sourly. "You've hardly let us talk to her!"

Aishin stuck out his tongue and replied, "And that's a bad thing?"

Danika asked, "If you stick out your tongue at them from your console, does it send them the emote? I don't remember seeing any emotes in my mobile chat log."

SilentSky answered, "No, the character's face shows the emote expression for a moment."

SaltySiamese asked, "Why don't you already know that from playing with us? I'm on a console."

Danika shrugged and said, "Most of the time I've played on the mobile version I've been alone and just practicing skills."

Edwardian spoke the longest sentence they'd heard from him yet, "That was the shortest wedding I've ever attended, more weddings should be like that. What now?"

Danika wondered if he'd been typing it ever since she'd triggered Aishin's random teleport skill.

Aishin chuckled and told Edwardian, "I keep telling you guys, it wasn't a wedding!"

"You didn't do anything," agreed Saaki, "but your girlfriend promised to keep you for life. No idea what she's getting into."

Aishin didn't protest the girlfriend label this time, and simply replied, "Yeah, I need to be careful not to die again so she can't get rid of me."

Danika ignored him and asked SaltySiamese, "What's your next step in hunting that goblin artifact? Is there anything we can do to help? Should that be what's next?"

"I don't know," SaltySiamese complained. "We tracked it all the way to the dwarven racial capital, but then lost it, and Justin and his friends already logged out for the night."

Aishin asked with interest, "Are the guilds that have been fighting over access to the two dwarven kingdoms closest to the human kingdom still accosting players who approach the portal platforms in Nabataea?"

"I'm guessing not," MatchlessMinion spoke up before his sister. "We didn't have any trouble coming back to watch you become a Novice's familiar," he said slyly.

"She's not a Novice anymore, she's already reached Proficient like you," Shrubbery pointed out.

Everyone except for Shrubbery turned to look at ZipZing, while bringing up their menus. Danika activated her wings and turned to look at Aishin when his hands shifted. He grinned at her and whispered, "I don't care what rank you hold."

SilentSky said, "Oh, did you just advance? Congrats ZipZing."

"Thanks, I just learned a new language skill," Danika turned again and replied to SilentSky a little uncertainly. She thought his tone had sounded amused.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"Wow Zip! Your learning skill is really cool isn't it?" Kit exclaimed.

There was a brief spate of enthusiastic congratulations, and Danika said with embarrassment, "It's not like anything changed, I only gained one more skill point."

"Now you should start a guild here!" MatchlessMinion announced.

Danika looked at him with a puzzled expression and asked, "What does reaching Proficient have to do with starting a guild? There's no restriction like that, and I was thinking I'd join Shrubbery's guild."

"You should start a guild so I can join it," MatchlessMinion explained without explaining anything.

"Ignore him, and do whatever you want," SaltySiamese instructed. "We should have a party to celebrate your new familiar and your rank up though!"

"Well, we do have a banquet hall rented for another hour," Aishin said with amusement. "I could ask them to bring the tables back in."

Danika looked at where the spell circle had been and asked suddenly, "Did you pick up my pebble?"

Aishin blinked at her and replied, "No?"

MatchlessMinion held up the pebble and suggested, "Make a guild and I'll return it to you."

Danika gave him a look, and Aishin asked sweetly, "Are you trying to coerce my fairy dragon into something?"

Danika turned her look on Aishin, who grinned back at her. "Your fairy dragon?"

"It says I'm a Fairy Dragon's familiar now, would you rather I say my master?" he questioned.

"No," she admitted.

MatchlessMinion sighed and tossed her pebble into the air toward her. Danika gasped and barely managed to catch it, as he grumbled, "There's no need to be mean about it."

"Ok," Aishin agreed. "Wait here a moment and I'll have them bring the tables back in." He turned and walked out the door.

Danika hovered, looking after him while clutching the pebble that held her garden.

Shrubbery asked MatchlessMinion, "Why don't you want her to join my guild?"

MatchlessMinion rolled his eyes and said, "I already told you I don't want to join a gardening club, and besides, do you really think a gardening club suits her either?"

Shrubbery eyed ZipZing doubtfully. "Not really," she admitted.

"Hey!" Danika protested. "Why not? Haven't I spent half my time in this game on collecting plants?" She turned to MatchlessMinion again and said, "And you're already in a guild, even if I made one, you wouldn't be able to join for a whole month!"

MatchlessMinion tucked his little hands behind his furry head and replied, "But next month is the shortest month of the year, so if I'm going to switch, now is the time to do it!"

Danika protested weakly, "I don't think they mean a calendar month?"

Shrubbery giggled.

Kit announced, "If you made a guild I'd join it."

Danika stared at her blankly for a long moment. "Established guilds with lots of members would be better for gaining the most Karma," she pointed out finally.

Saaki said brightly, "Hey Zippy, if you start a guild I'll join it too. I'll even try to play every day if I need to."

Nao1 who had been quiet for a long time, suddenly asked, "ZipZing is starting a guild?"

SilentSky reached over and slapped Nao1 on the back of the head and said, "Pay attention if you're going to play."

Nao1 complained, "He made us wait here while he went to rescue her, and it was boring. I didn't close it though, hold on while I read the log." A moment later she said, "Congrats on becoming proficient in something ZipZing, what are you proficient in?"

"I'll join," Edwardian volunteered.

"Haha," Danika laughed nervously.

SaltySiamese said sharply, "She reached a cumulative level of 76!" She explained authoritatively to the newly begun characters, "Novice is the rank for up to level 75. You become Proficient at 76. At 151 you reach Master, like Aishin. There are rumors that there are several people who've already reached Genius, at 226. Justin is almost there! And when someone reaches 301 there will finally be a non NPC sage! No one knows if there are ranks after that though."

"Oh," Nao1 replied after a moment. "That guy plays this game too much."

SaltySiamese turned and glared at ZipZing. "And it's ridiculous that you've reached Proficient already, I've only barely passed it! You should be gloating!"

"Haha," Danika gave another short laugh.

Aishin rescued her by returning with a string of restaurant staff bearing tables and chairs. The big room quickly became very full feeling, and Nao1 snatched a chair and declared, "Yay food! You're buying!"

Aishin laughed and replied, "You already used up my savings, and you're just playing on your phone, so why do you care about food?"

"What did she buy?" Danika asked curiously.

"Your wedding present!" Nao1 shouted.

"Um…" Danika replied doubtfully. "I don't think…"

"It's weird hearing someone call you she," Saaki said to Nao1.

Aishin said calmly, "It's ok ZipZing, I paid for it after all, and I was kind of surprised by what SHE," he emphasised the pronoun and glanced at his bandmates with amusement, "picked out, but I think you'll actually like it."

"Of course she will!" Nao1 declared with confidence.