"Welcome to the guild hall," Song Solvin said as she walked up behind the little flying pig. "I am Endless Song's representative, and I can see that you carry a lot of luck, you must be tired."
Thimblepot spun in place to stare up at the taller sittamin. The little half bird girl fluttered her wings and smiled at him. "Ye, yes!" the pig agreed. It turned back and assured MatchlessMinion quickly, "But I can still go on a short quest! I will work hard!"
"I forgot what a long day you must have had already with ZipZing, we can go tomorrow," MatchlessMinion assured the flying pig kindly. He added to ZipZing and ShinZing, "My schedule is pretty free this week since there's a lot of time set aside to study for the next set of finals."
"You don't need to study?" ShinZing asked before Danika could.
The chinchillamin's expression was sly as he declared, "I could ace them tomorrow, this place is easy." He scampered forward and bounced up and down the steps, creating a little melody that faded into the same chord that the pig's entrance had.
Danika laughed and dropped to the ground. She shifted into her housecat form and pounced toward the entrance herself. ShinZing landing on her back gave her a start, and she craned her head around to give him a worried glance as the pixie wriggled himself down into her fur.
He chuckled and murmured, "So cuddly and warm, I imagine this is what laying on the back of a tiger is like."
"I hope you feel like I'm less inclined to decide to eat you than a tiger," Danika huffed back.
"Ha," he gave a soft laugh and hugged her without answering.
She hopped up onto the steps and blinked as the step quivered faintly beneath her sensitive paws, while the bush it was rooted to sang out. MatchlessMinion jumped down to the same step making it sound again. A moment later Thimblepot bounced down the steps to join them.
With three small animals hopping randomly up and down them the steps twanged in a disordered cacophony, but the same chord hummed in the air beneath it with a softening effect, and Danika asked laughingly, "Is this how it sounded before?"
"Pretty close," Matchless Minion agreed laughingly.
"Excuse me, I'd like to enter," said an elegant elf with sungold hair and leaf green eyes.
Thimblepot gasped and retreated into the tree to hide behind Song Solvin, who had been watching them with a cheerful expression, but without joining in. Danika was startled too, but she just stepped aside. She wondered why ShinZing heaved a sigh deep enough to tickle the fur at the back of her ears without sitting up.
MatchlessMinion jumped all the way to the ground and swept her a bow, while saying laughingly, "Of course! A bard should definitely have the right of way on these stairs now."
"Thank you," Almafila replied, and walked straight up the steps with only a glance at the cat with the pixie on its back.
Her steps were perfectly timed to let the five notes sing clearly as the arpeggio hung in the air for a moment.
Song Solvin greeted the elf cheerfully, and added, "Endless Song has gained a new member, Thimblepot, a young flying pig who has yet to choose a path."
"Seriously? Oh, you are actually an NPC though?" Almafila asked.
"Yes?" Thimblepot replied nervously, while peeking up at the elf from around Song's ankles.
Danika was startled when the elegant elven bard suddenly knelt and pulled a berry out of her inventory, and held her hand out toward the little pig. She had been a member of Endless Song for awhile now, but they hadn't interacted much, and Danika's impression of her was a little cool, composed, and distant.
Thimblepot glanced at ZipZing and she shrugged. After a moment the little pig fluttered its wings nervously, but stepped forward to take the offered berry.
"There you go," Almafila said encouragingly. "I see that you're a half bird like Song, can you sing?"
"I, I don't know," Thimblepot admitted nervously.
"He only just learned to talk," Danika explained. "In the common tongue at least."
Almafila blinked and turned to look at her with surprise. She reached up and touched her nearly invisible menu screens and then blushed and said quickly, "Oh, the Captain and the Conductor! I didn't realize that the winged cat was the two of you together. I thought it was just Match and his pets playing on the stairs."
"What do you think of the steps?" MatchlessMinion asked enthusiastically.
At the same time Danika replied quickly, "It's okay Almafila. MatchlessMinion, you have pets?"
There was a brief silence and then Almafila smiled and said, "The steps are okay. It seems like a fitting enchantment?"
MatchlessMinion held up one hand and then looked like he had just changed what he was going to say as he replied, "An enchantment would have been simpler wouldn't it? I don't have any pets, but I did steal a summon contract for a ferret that has six uses left."
"Okay…" Danika replied uncertainly. She kind of wanted to know more, but she didn't want to at the same time.
ShinZing sighed again and sat up. "Time for me to go," he announced.
"I'll meet up with you earlier tomorrow," Danika replied a little contritely.
He reached out and rubbed her ears with both hands. "Don't worry about it," he instructed.
She was reluctant to remove her ears from his reach, but she wanted to see his face, so she craned her head around to eye him.
He grinned at her and said firmly, "I mean it."
"You seem really tired?" she asked.
"Want to give me some extra energy?" he asked lightly.
"Yes," she replied promptly.
"Tell me that you're going to marry me!" he demanded with a grin that crinkled the corners of his eyes.
"I will," she agreed promptly.
A system notification popped up and Shinichi groaned and flopped forward so that his face was buried in her fur. "Well, that's a mood killer," he grumbled.
"Um, do you two need a few minutes alone?" MatchlessMinion asked uncertainly.
Danika laughed, and looked at the confused faces of their small audience. "It's okay," she assured them all. "We just triggered the system notification that reminded us that we can only hold one contract together."
"The marriage system in this game is archaic," Almafila said sympathetically.
Danika gasped as she was lifted into the air, and MatchlessMinion gave a thumbs up gesture toward her, or rather, toward ShinZing, who cuddled her cat form in his human arms and petted her as he said, "But having you as my familiar is good too. I can use ALL of your skills."
Danika stared up at him as he grinned again and kissed her on the nose, before setting her down and logging off. She was really glad that she was currently a cat, because her wings would have been flaming.
MatchlessMinion said thoughtfully, "It is kind of weird isn't it?"
"He must have woven his own belt," Danika muttered without meeting anyone's eyes.
"What? No, I mean, you could both marry someone else, but not each other, right?" the chinchillamin asked.
Danika blinked and looked up at him in surprise. "Yeah, I guess so? It never occurred to me."
"But I guess it's good for Kit though, since the Jade Emperor can't have his traditional concubines at the same time either," MatchlessMinion added cheerfully.
"What is traditional concubines?" Thimblepot asked curiously.
MatchlessMinion's round ears went pink inside, as he glanced up at the little pig who now hovered curiously beside the tall elf, whose brilliant green eyes were narrowed in amusement.