"Yes?? I think I would have noticed if I weren't by now??"

"Would you have? How do you know?"

"You... have cool psychic powers and a healing factor and had as I understand it an extremely accelerated childhood. I have had none of those things."

"The plants have learned better."

Word words words words suck.

"... What?"

"Humans hate us. Zash and me.

"They don't hate you."

"Are you... you think I'm some kind of extremely stealthy plant hybrid. That. Is your explanation for why you like me."

"Obviously."

"That. Is. Very much not the obvious explanation to liking a human???"

"In hindsight."

"I really feel like you're just looking for a way to write off the rest of humanity and fit with your established worldview over following grounded evidence."

Fine. Fine, if he needs words to communicate he will. Make an attempt.

"You are like me. And you are like Zash. In... temperament. Tesla... didn't work. We didn't work. You grew up with humans, they listen to you. You care about plants like you do humans. You care about the Beast like you do humans. The plants said so. If the plants wanted to help, and be helped, and be heard—they made us. And it's been a hundred and fifty years, they know more about humans—here. On this planet."

She considers this.

"... Okay, I see the logic. It would be a very clever way to get what they wanted. I think I still ultimately disagree with you, but I've had more ability to personally interact with humans where they're not... so desperate and scared and, and incentivized to be vicious. I also think you're majorly handicapped in your ability to perceive tone and body language and use these annoying words things. So I do not feel at all like an outlier, but I can understand how you would. Um. I'd say do you want to meet some humans, but I think that'd go terribly, actually. Really what I want to do is shove you at Zash and try to get him to explain why some humans are great, but."

And there's that familiar longing for Zash again.

"That is the point. He needs to explain. You need to explain. I don't need to explain you. You are you, desperate and scared."

"... Right. I.... think I understand. You want humans who are good under all circumstances. Because we're, er, other humans who are not me because I've been purposefully predictable, are like a black box that sometimes outputs awful things and sometimes outputs good things. And you can't predict it at all, and that inability is terrifying when there are lives on the line. Which there are, and the people you do understand are dying to the people you don't. Does that sound correct?"

"Because plants are good under all circumstances. Zash is good under all circumstances. They are just good. You are just good. If I," and he runs a frustrated hand through his hair. "If I never let you leave. You will help the plants. If I do, you will help the plants. And the humans. And even the Beast. That is not how humans are."

“I mean, I think I have been less than perfectly good in some circumstances. I did kill a guy.” And because of his self hatred and how he’s part human, he is not an available example, because he believes he needs to be the bad guy to save them all. “Otherwise… that makes sense. Mm. And you just want there to… never be any bad intentions or actions, ever?”

"You killed him because he was evil." His frustration is continually increasing. Why can't they just share a mind. He does not know what constraints his sisters were operating under but not giving their new independent any means to properly talk is very bad. "It's not about what I want. It's about what is."

She’s also very frustrated, because man she is not good at undefined vague variables like ‘good’ and ‘evil.’ Can she please go back to her equations, everything makes sense there. Probably this is exactly what he’s feeling, too. Damn it. Apparently, she should have gone into philosophy instead of plant engineering, because that would be a better vector to save the world. Convincing this one guy that humans can be worth the trouble.

“…. This is a very hard conversation for both of us, I think, and we might both just be getting frustrated without really going anywhere. Would it help to break it into chunks?? God I wish I could just. Psychic at you.”

"Me too. It would be faster and more.

"Break it into chunks how?"

“Yes it would be,” she agrees, a little wryly. “Um, well for one, have a series of shorter philosophical discussions with breaks where we both heal plants or something in between, but also. …. This feels like instead of just one problem of humans being bad, it’s. Many. Plants are easy to take advantage of. Humans are hard to predict and understand, and some of them will be massive dicks. They absolutely require assistance to survive in their current state. Your current window into humanity is tiny, and mostly focused on a guy you despise and all of the humans he’s traumatized over the years. I think instead of trying to tackle the whole big problem, we. Split it up. Does that make sense?”

"Yes. Fine. That works.

"Let's get back to helping plants."

She lets out a little laugh.

“You’re too frustrated too, huh? Yeah. Sounds good.”

Well they're right by the console so he gestures at it and then floats next to her.

Uh. Perhaps a bit closer than he usually does. Perhaps right next to her. Perhaps close enough that she can once again feel just how warm he is.

It is very tempting to just lean on him, especially since he’s perfectly Zash sized and warm and she has become accustomed to Zash sourced cuddles. She misses cuddles. She still has trouble falling asleep alone. It is very hard to ignore the delicious treat of physical affection, when it is right here, being wafted in front of her goddamned nose. This is pretty good evidence against Nai’s hypothesis that she’s a super secret plant hybrid, because she’s pretty sure a plant would not be an awful and terrible person in this way. C’mon woman, this is his brother, have literally any class and loyalty!!

But since she has an awful lot of practice by now also ignoring what is right in front of her nose: work!

Without cuddles. :(