“Vur, it’s time to get up.”

Vur’s eyes creaked open, and he let out a yawn as he stretched his arms over his head. Then, he sat up and arched his back while smacking his lips a few times. He glanced to the side, where Tafel was sitting with some clothes folded in her lap. She was wearing a purple dress and translucent light purple gloves that went past her elbows. Vur blinked, and Tafel let out a small smile upon seeing his reaction.

Vur nodded. “You smell nice,” he said and leaned in close before taking a sniff.

Tafel blinked and tilted her head. Wasn’t Vur supposed to comment on her appearance? “Is smell the first thing you notice about a person?”

Vur pulled back and rubbed his chin while lowering his head. He hummed. After a bit, he looked Tafel in the eye and shook his head. “No,” he said. “When I see something, I usually think about how it would taste first.”

“Even people?” Tafel asked, raising an eyebrow.

Vur nodded.

“That explains a lot,” Tafel said. No wonder why Vur kept his distance from strangers; he assumed all humans tasted bad. Unless someone looked like they tasted good, Vur would have a negative first impression of them. Tafel’s brow furrowed. What would a good-tasting person look like? It probably had something to do with the way they smelled as well. Tafel’s lips slipped into a frown, and she looked at Vur. “Do I look tasty?”

“Don’t answer that, Vur,” Stella said, popping her head out of Vur’s chest. “It’s a trap. No matter how you respond, you lose!”

Vur looked down at the fairy queen. Then, he looked at Tafel. He shrugged and grabbed the clothes off of the demon’s lap. He raised them up with his arms, letting the suit drop down to fully display itself. It was dark-blue, almost black, and golden threads were embroidered on the material, resembling dragon scales. In the right light, the dark-blue color took on the same hue as the sky. Vur touched the fabric with his fingers and frowned. “Was this always in my closet?”

“No,” Tafel said. “I got it from Ed Edward. He gave it to you for free, but he had a request. He wants you to pose for a painting while wearing the suit, and I told him you’d agree as long as you could sleep while the painter did his work. He agreed and said it was easy enough for a good painter to draw your eyes as if they were open.”

Vur rubbed the fabric and nodded. “I guess I could sleep in these for a bit.” He stood up on the bed and got dressed, pulling his clothes on within a few seconds.

Tafel stared at him as he did so. When he was done, she let out a sigh. “If only it were that easy for me to get ready.” She had spent three hours doing her hair, donning her clothes, and putting on her makeup. “Don’t forget to brush your teeth.”

Vur held up his palm, and a gust of wind swirled around, creating a miniature cyclone in his hand. Vur held up his other palm, and a ball of water appeared. He cupped his hands together and engulfed the resulting twister with his mouth. His cheeks and lips occasionally bubbled, and after a bit, he spat the water out. Before it could land on the bedsheet, flames appeared around the spray of water, turning it into steam. “Done.”

Tafel stared at Vur. “Are the elementals inside your body fine with you using their powers like that?”

“Of course,” Vur said. “They’re fine with everything I do. It’s part of the contract Stella had them make. As long as I want to do it, they have to be okay with it.”

“Or else,” Stella added, raising one finger. At some point, she had crawled out of the tattoo on Vur’s chest and up through the collar of his shirt. Now, she was sitting on his shoulder. She hummed to herself and kicked her feet back and forth.

“Are you excited for the wedding?” Tafel asked the obviously cheerful fairy.

“Weddings aren’t really catered towards fairies,” Stella said and made a face. “The food portions are totally off, and there isn’t a section devoted to how awesome we are.” The fairy queen snorted and rolled her eyes. “Who are we even supposed to dance with?”

“Well, when you get married, you can design a wedding that’s unfriendly for humans,” Tafel said. “If you’re not excited for the wedding, what are you so … bouncy … for?”

“Mervin’s going to sprout soon,” Sheryl said, but her voice came out muffled due to the layers of cloth blocking the runes on Vur’s shoulder. “The armadillo is really helping Mervin grow, but I do feel sorry for it sometimes. Even if weren’t a fire elemental, I wouldn’t be too happy if I had to drink as much water as it does every day.”

“Mervin has nothing to do with why I’m happy,” Stella said and wrinkled her nose in Sheryl’s general direction. “The world is beautiful. Life is great. Bees smell like flowers. I don’t need a reason to be cheerful. Can’t a fairy queen appreciate the world without having her motives questioned? You guys act like I don’t know how to enjoy the world or something; it isn’t like I tried to destroy it before.”

“Right,” Tafel said with a straight face. She looked at Vur. “We have to portal over to Gloria and Ramon to take them to the wedding venue. I’ll need your help with supplying the mana to transport the whole family of dragons over.”

Vur nodded. “Are we going now?”

“Hang on,” Tafel said and grabbed at the tie around Vur’s neck. She fiddled with it for a bit before letting go. “It was a little crooked. You ready?”

“Yep.”

Tafel’s horns glowed silver, and a portal appeared on the bed beside the two of them. The demon gestured for Vur to go through. “After you.”