Data Dragon Danika

"What?" Danika asked blankly. Her head was stuffed with thoughts about the saber toothed snow leopard guardian"s AI, and G.o.ds, and legends about G.o.ds. And she wanted to know why Aishin had decided to kill all of the Envoy"s men, and how they"d killed him twice.

Aishin grinned at her and explained, "I got a point of Karma and a snow leopard kitten as a messenger, so even though you didn"t reply, I know you were successful. And I need to get VR so that you"re not the only one who feels it when I kiss you."

Danika blushed and her wings sparkled rose colors again. She turned her head and avoided his gaze. Aishin shifted his hands so that he wasn"t holding her captive and she was just sitting on his palms again.

"I"m sorry, I just thought it was funny how much you reacted to it, until I watched it again in the flashbacks after I died, and realized that to you it was like I actually kissed you," Aishin apologized quietly.

After a moment Danika replied, "But you didn"t just tap an icon last time."

"No," he agreed. "Have you never tried a full motion console?"

"No," she replied simply. After a moment she turned her head back to meet his eyes and asked, "Why?"

Aishin frowned, and then looked around. He shrugged his shoulders without moving the hands she rested upon and tried to explain, "I can interact with the game pretty well. There"s some feedback, mostly for impacts and solid surfaces, but not for little touches, and nothing on the face. If you get hit in the face and you"ve got the full system your head gets rocked back a little, but that"s it. Kissing you was just another motion, and there"s a little resistance when I lift you," he raised and lowered his hands a little, "but I can"t feel you beyond that." He gave her an odd half smile and said, "But to you, I"m actually touching you right now aren"t I?"

"Yeah," she agreed.

His expression fluctuated, not as dramatically as when he tapped a string of different emotes from his phone, but like dozens of thoughts were competing for dominance.

Danika asked warily, "Do you regret acting so, um, so close with me?"

Aishin blinked at her and then laughed. Danika stiffened, and he said quickly, "Didn"t I already tell you that you don"t have to be so careful with me?"

She gave him a puzzled look and nodded uncertainly, but then added a little regretfully, "Maybe you need to be a little more careful with me though? You"ve told other people that I"m not a toy or a pet, but I don"t know what to think."

"Even though you"re fun to tease, I"m definitely not thinking of you as a toy or a pet." He smiled affectionately at her. "I don"t regret getting close to you. I don"t really play for a few minutes of silence anymore though."

"But you"re happy with the change?" Danika questioned.

Aishin"s smile widened and he said firmly, "Yes ZipZing, I"m much happier these days." He added a bit ruefully, "I guess I shouldn"t have been so resistant to the game always trying to introduce me to people. But let"s not add Xander to the party, ok?"

"Aw, but aren"t you curious about his walrus?" Danika asked teasingly.

Aishin laughed and agreed, "Yeah, but not that curious. I have got to get Nao to play long enough to introduce them. That would be another advantage to having two systems at home, the little icon characters in the mobile version just aren"t the same."

"Do you live together?" Danika asked curiously.

Aishin shook his head. "We still practice here a lot though, because there"s a room set up for it, and my Dad doesn"t care what schedule we keep like a rented place would."

"Oh," she replied thoughtfully.

He winked at her and asked, "Still not going to ask?"

"I have so many things I want to ask!" Danika replied fervently.

Aishin shrugged and said, "I can stay up for another half hour? Start asking?"

"Why did you decide to kill the Envoy"s guards? And how could you let them kill you twice?" Danika demanded.

Aishin laughed until he was out of breath and then wheezed, "Seriously? That"s what you"re starting with?" She nodded and he replied, "They were able to kill me because they were using very expensive high level poison on their weapons, even though their skills were mediocre. I don"t use poisons in my a.s.sa.s.sinations, so I"ve only got a couple of points in resistance. I only killed the ones that were hunting you and Kit Tay."

"Why is your father"s family name different than yours?" Danika asked next.

Aishin winked at her and replied, "It isn"t."

Danika frowned. She wasn"t sure what to think. "Are you…" she wasn"t sure how to ask either.

"ZipZing," Aishin said seriously. Danika looked up into his face. "I could explain what you probably want to know, but you haven"t told me your name either and you don"t even seem comfortable asking?"

"Oh," she replied.

He gave her a wry smile and said after a long minute had pa.s.sed in silence, "I kind of expected you to argue, or tell me your name." She startled and opened her mouth, but he spoke again first, "I"ll ask you for it another time. What were you thinking? You don"t have to tell me, but your sparkles were dimming again?"

Danika looked away from him, she wasn"t sure why she hadn"t just responded with her own name, and now it seemed awkward like the other things she"d been thinking. "It would probably be like kissing a lizard wouldn"t it? VR systems are really expensive too. And I"m sorry I refused to exchange phone numbers," she said quickly.

Aishin opened his mouth and shut it again. A moment later he said, "I"ll send it to you, and then you can decide when you"re comfortable enough to send me a message, ok?"

"There"s a lot you don"t know about me either," Danika pointed out.

"True," he agreed, "but at least I know you"re not married already."

"What? Why? I could be married," she objected.

Aishin laughed and agreed, "You could, but you aren"t."

Danika frowned at him, but she couldn"t think of an argument since that was true. "What makes you so sure?" she countered finally.

His eyes crinkled more at the corners. "You"re too easy to tease," he explained.

She gave a huff and replied, "I probably wouldn"t marry someone who just teased me all the time."

"I doubt you"ll marry anyone too boring and sober either," he predicted.

"Boring guys have a lot of advantages," she pointed out.

"Oh?" Aishin inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"They have regular jobs, regular schedules, and are less inclined to suddenly move to Denmark with a graphic artist who draws plump pixies," Danika pointed out.

"What a specific example," Aishin murmured.

"It"s what my aunt"s last fiancé did right before the wedding," Danika explained.

Aishin laughed.

"Do you think AI, real AI is possible?" she asked suddenly.

"Are you thinking about Kit and the traveling merchant again?" he asked with another grin.

"No, but he kind of does it too," she replied.

"Does what?" Aishin questioned.

"a.n.a.lyzes his own data," Danika explained.

"Don"t most systems these days?" Aishin asked after a moment. "Isn"t that what anti-virus routines do?"

"I guess," she agreed after a moment. "But the mountain guardian was upset because her mate was killed by humans, but it seems to be her back story, and she said it"s not in her daily memories. And the cub said he wants to be a messenger animal to see more of the world."