"Aren't they just? My favorite is this one with all the lace and the mint green accents - they got divorced six months later, it was tragic, but still some of my best work, you can't expect the wedding planner to do everything - and this is the best cake I ever did over here -"

He ooohs and aaaahs and - "have you met the winged people?"

"I've met a bunch of winged people, here if you flip to item seventeen there's a woman who'd had angel wings installed because she wanted to fly and I had to do her dress around them - you mean recently? The ones in the seal skins? I don't think they were even cut to fit, let alone flatter."

"Yeah, I meant those. They haven't invented walls yet, I think they're a ways away from wedding planning."

"They let me talk but I couldn't pronounce anything, anyway."

"We were trying to get their attention to tell them something important and we ended up having to plead with one fairy who got a literate one to write a note so we could wave it at them."

"There are literate ones? Well, good for them, you have to start somewhere."

"There's exactly one literate one. I guess humans started out that way too, right?"

"Did they? I always imagined it was sort of gradual. I wouldn't know, I suppose."

He flips through the portfolio and has more compliments and - "I'll send everybody copies - well, not Beach, we've told them they really shouldn't be summoning demons -"

"If they can't read, yes, better they skip it."

"Can't read and they hatch from eggs and don't think the new hatchlings would do well without adults of their own species around. Most demons'll be understanding but of course some people'd do it anyway, and the poor babies..."

Nod, nod.

"So we're just keeping it quiet, you know, there're so many worlds, no need for word to get around about that one. Once they've invented the wheel and so on we can revisit it, maybe they won't want to miss out on spectacular weddings."

Giggle.

"You don't mind helping us with that?"

"Oh, I don't mind." Pause. "But if you get married you'll let me do your wedding, won't you?"

"I would be delighted but I'm eighteen, it would be terribly irresponsible to get married soon no matter how fantastic the wedding planner."

"I'm immortal," she chirps.

"I promise to look you up."

"Marvelous," she beams.

And home. He goes to find Cam for more circles. "Anyone written anything -"

"Not in the clear. I had to read a surprising amount of weird fanfiction to be sure, though."

"A significant share of the output of your civilization seems to be weird fanfiction. These two wanted bribes but were at least trustworthily bribeable."

"Yeah, fanfiction just sort of gets weirder and higher context the longer someone keeps the hobby and some people have been doing it a long time. What'd you have to bribe 'em with?"