[Survey] Sunbathing? No, Research!

<sorry i can't come over rn>, Eber tapped out on his slate. <i'm busy.>

<Eber. Eb. My good xero. You are literally sunbathing on your roof. I can see you.>

A burst of photographs were sent to Eber's slate, an assortment of amateur aerial photography clearly depicting the jungle xero lying prone, limbs splayed, on the rooftop awning. His stripes and bottlebrush tail--currently layered in pointed stems and small, cone-shaped flower buds--were neatly framed by the slash of sunlight through the tree cover. The slightly blurry, rapid-fire, upload had the energy of a gossip rag's clickbait cover.

<Please, do not 'bullshit' me.>

<Rhi', I already told you how this works. if i don't get these fingerworts enough good sunlight they're going to find that energy to grow some another way.>

<yes yes yes. right right right.> Eber could clearly imagine the dismissive clack of her hooves. <you've got a bunch of poisonous green parasites growing out of your butt, holding your free time hostage.>

<they aren't *parasites!*> Eber scowled, rolling over on his side to stare up at his friend's drone camera and flip it a rude gesture.
<It's a symbiosis.>

Eventually, the Korso navigated her little camera drone onto an adjacent awning. It unfolded a solar panel (for supplemental power while stationary) and, with a whirr, emitted translucent holoprojection of Rhi'kivek from the waist up. If Eber wasn't going to visit her while she was laid up, the least she was going to do was bully him on a live holocall. Motion capture showed her hands placed akimbo on her waist as she leaned towards the sunbathing xero.

"You skip lunch so you can photosynthesize, read straight through mealtime, and argue with people online about why they are wrong about soil pH. Hostage. Algae brain." She pointed in exaggerated accusation.

Eber put his slate down; Rhi's drone had a microphone as well as a camera so he could speak directly to it. "It is an extremely efficient use of my time," he countered. "And skipping sun-time absolutely craters my blood sugar. Remember when I tried growing sweetsap?"

"It was terrifying. You alternated between catatonic and stuffing your face like we'd rescued you from famine." Rhi' wasn't amused in the slightest--she'd genuinely been worried that the Xero was having a medical crisis he was refusing to seek help for.

Eber hadn't seen it that way and thought her concern had been misplaced. "Right, I basically had to eat like I was bulking up to put on muscle because sapmilk is so nutrient-dense." In the end, Eber had to conclude that jungle 'camouflage' was not an effective way to produce his own snacks.

All four of Rhi'kivek's eyes narrowed, slyly amused. "There's a joke about eating for two here. Two or three or..."

Eber coughed, unable to make any answer to that. He played off his discomfort with a long sip from his water bottle. "Not....nnnot exactly." He still wasn't sure what role he'd want to play if the ARC project decided to allow natural Xero reproduction, but not for lack of considering the issue.

Rhi'ki decided to go easy on her friend, and change the topic instead of teasing him. "So, tell me again--why fingerworts? What's with all the poisonous plants?"

"They're not poisonous--*okay, yes! they are*--"he backtracked under the withering disbelief of the holoprojected stare--"but that's not why." Eber was sitting up now, warming to one of his favorite topics, ready to gesture as he spoke. "They're *medicinal.* There are lots of powerful medicines that it's more ecosound to synthesize from whole plant material, rather than spend the energy to make a synthetic version. Fingerworts make digitialis, and that's still a go-to-heart medicine. So I grow them for the prestige."

Rhi'kivek continued to stare. She could wait her friend out.

"....and because it's cool. It's so freaky. My XNA talks to plant DNA. I love it."

She laughed. "*There we go!* You're such a nerd." Even stuck inside with a broken leg, her friends' passion--obsession?--with the weirder aspects of botany was a good distraction.