"Oh good!"

It scoops Esme into its arms, kissing and twirling her playfully.

Delighted spinny giggles!!

It laughs as it sets her down. "You're such a delight."

And on they go into the next room.

This appears to be a reasonably fancy dining room. The table is enormous. The top is carved from a single enormous round slab of purpleheart, and finished to a warm gloss. Plush, high-backed chairs ring the edges, and an elegant silver candelabra with pink flames stands in the center.

"Dining room, in case I put on a proper dinner for several people."

"That's a big imaginary tree you made that table out of. I mean, I'm presuming it was imaginary."

It nods. "Yeah, imaginary tree. I modeled the growth process so I'd get realistic rings, but there was no actual tree cut down for this. I suppose I could make an enormous grove of these, each rivaling this tower, but there's no one else living in my realm to enjoy it yet."

"I mean, I would definitely enjoy going for a walk in that forest."

"Good point!"

She summons a notebook through a small portal, writes a note in it, and then drops it through another portal.

"That'll take some focus to get right, so it'll have to wait for later."

"You have notebook-summoning portals. Of course you do. Is 'I want my own notebook-summoning portals' a viable wish?"

"So that's complicated. Notebook portals are just a clever trick with the big portal power, and it's easy for me because I know where everything is here. You could do the same if you were very precise about where you put away your notebooks, and had the portal magic."

It rubs the back of its head and hums. "That's where the problem comes in. My powers are made of multiple thematic parts, and the different chunks are complicated in different ways. The portals draw from one of the themes that I haven't figured out the internals of as thoroughly yet, but I'm slowly working out how to distill grantable empowerments connected to each theme. Wishes for the three biggest empowerments might accelerate the process of figuring them out, though."

"That sounds like a potentially valuable wish, then!"

"It really does! It would take me a long time to grant it, but your wish would be quite the kickstart."

She leads the way to the next room while they talk, which turns out to be the biggest kitchen Esme has seen outside of some large restaurants depicted in movies. Black stone countertops ring the edges of the room, broken up by doors and various appliances. The center features an island big enough for her to lie down atop it, with a handful of cushion-topped stools scattered around the edges, and a large firepit she may recognize from a few dreams where it had a large grill over it, or a pair of Y-topped supports at either end. Currently occupying the island is an arrangement of covered plates and pitchers and glasses, curls of steam frozen mid-air above the food. Along the edges of the room, she can see a large refrigerator, an enormous oven, an air fryer, a milk frother, and so many more kitchen gadgets. The firepit appears to be covered with magically reinforced glass at the moment, making it safe to walk across.

"Gee, I wonder where I've seen that extremely specific kitchen fixture before," she says, not at all innocently.

"Oh, I can't possibly guess," it laughs. "Surely there must be several people with firepits longer than you are tall in their kitchens. I can't possibly be that unique."

It whips out a tentacle and tugs Esme into an embrace, squeezes her tightly to its chest, savoring the closeness and grinning.

"We prooobably shouldn't get too distracted here. And also probably shouldn't do certain things until you own my soul. But be it known that I am very tempted to get distracted by that firepit." She's trying not to think too hard about it so as not to create the distraction she's trying to avoid, but she has some very fond memories of those dreams and she wants to find out how much better they are in real life.

Sable crooks a finger under Esme's chin, tilts her head up to meet its own, and kisses her tenderly. "You're absolutely right. We'll save that for later. For now, there's the rest of the tour, and then the breakfast sitting over there under stasis, and more-detailed information and plans."

"Mmm." She kisses back. "Good plan."

"Plus, what kind of cozy captor would delay your enjoyment of all the notes and charts you'll doubtless make about everything."

And they continue on. The next room is a capacious bedroom with an enormous bed. The frame is ornately-carved purpleheart, the sheets are silvery silk, and the comforter is dark purple and down-filled. A door near the the headboard leads to an enormous bathroom, while a door opposite the bed opens onto a cozy balcony. A few wardrobes and cozy armchairs fill out the rest of the room.

"Aww, it looks so comfy in here!"

"It really is! I certainly enjoy it. Kind of a big bed for just one little demon, though."

"You should put five of me in it. And cuddle us," she suggests.

"A cozy idea," she giggles. "That requires having five of you, though, which remains a longer-term project. I think one of the empowerments would allow that as an option for you, once I can grant those."

"Ooh! Fun! Don't worry, I'm not in a rush to be duplicated."

"Oh good. I'd hate to disappoint." It kisses her softly again. "I certainly wouldn't mind putting one Esme in my bed, though."

"Anytime you like!" she says, grinning.