I would love some dark glasses. But why do you have shiny trees. Why are the trees shiny. Why are your shiny things trees.

The Valar tried lighting the world with lamps, first, but the Enemy knocked them over. Trees are hard to knock over.

The who?

The Valar are the powers who are going to help you return home if you so desire. The Enemy was one of them who'd turned to evil.

The Enemy was the one who hadn't been mentioned before. Seems like an inconvenient problem to have if they're as generally powerful as they sound.

The war between them nearly crumbled a continent, and lasted for a hundred years - though I don't know if our years are the same as yours, come to think of it.

I don't see how they could be, ours are based on the sun. They're three hundred ten days and a day is twenty four hours and an hour is sixty minutes and a minute is sixty seconds and a second is about how long it takes to say my full name.

At a guess our years are longer than yours. I am not sure how much longer.

For that matter, how long are your weeks?

Six days, and days are not subdivided beyond 'Mingling, morning, midday, evening, Mingling, late evening, night, early morning, Mingling'.

Our weeks are ten days and we have reasonably precise timekeeping within there. What's Mingling?

There are two Trees. When they're both active that's the Mingling; they cycle.

Ah. Of course. What natural behavior this is for trees. How could I not have guessed.

They're not natural, the Valar built them.

That would be why I couldn't guess, then.

I take it the creators of the world are not active where you're from.

To the point where there is substantial disagreement on all of their traits up to and including reality.

We manage substantial disagreement with them standing right in front of us, he says, so that does not surprise me. Want to try running down the hallway while I sing?

I may out of habit start with a brisk walk but yes.

He starts singing. He has a rather stunning voice, and it carries, and the hallway's well-designed for it.

He can briskly walk! Were he an Elda he could be racing through the treetops.

He laughs, and speeds up, and finally breaks into a jog and then a run.

Magic songs are great, aren't they? You should hear someone with a talent for it.

...What, you don't have one? I revise my estimate of the exceptionality of my voice.