After that, all that was left were his horns - which were small enough to go quickly - and his ears. Oddly, demonic ears were close to those of the fey, so they didn't require a lot of shaping. Then I began to adjust the colors. I started with his eyes, even though I couldn't see them behind his closed lids. They would be golden, like a marigold. His skin would be buttercup yellow, and his hair should have a slight green tint to it, similar to early leaves. Most of all, I had to scale him down just a bit. A nearly seven-foot-tall monster would not blend in on this world. Six and a half would be pushing it, but all of my guys were on the tall side, and I kept our height the same in relation to each other, or as close as I could.
The whole thing didn't take long. Like I said, I'd gotten good at this recently. Working with skins had been my biggest lesson since we'd left Hell, and the truth was that I enjoyed this. Sculpting a person into a new body was incredibly rewarding. Considering that I got to appreciate my own art every time I looked at the members of my legion, I was more than happy to make changes any time they wanted. Eye candy for me, right?
When I was done, I stepped around to stand in front of him and stole one last glance. Yeah, my eyes dropped to do it. Sue me. This time, Bel hadn't bothered to shield himself with a hand, and I wasn't about to miss this opportunity. Yes, that thing was exactly as big as I'd thought - and it was hanging limp!
Clearing my throat, I looked up into his face. "Ok, big guy. You're a fairy."
He opened his eyes to prove I'd gotten them just right. Then he looked down at his own arm. "Yellow? I'm like a rubber ducky?"
"I like yellow," I told him gently. "No one else wanted it, so I kinda hoped..."
"I'm pretty!" he declared, grabbing my hands and smiling big enough to show off both of those adorable dimples of his. "You made me pretty?"
"You are the prettiest fairy in Tyrnigg," I assured him. "And still completely naked."
"Yep. I know."
Behind him, his wings were rising. The tips spread, pointing in all four directions, and Ronwe giggled at the display. Not because Bel's wings weren't absolutely lovely, but because it seemed that for fairies, the wings were the part that "rose" first.
Bel quickly dropped both of his hands to his crotch. "I need pants."
I bent to grab his old ones from the ground by his feet, but that only made Ron laugh harder. "While you're down there..." he teased.
"Hush," I hissed at him before offering Bel his clothes.
The giant looked at me, at my hand, then down to his that were both rather full. "Uh..."
So I closed my eyes. Immediately, I felt him snag the pants I was holding. A second later, I heard the jingle of the button and zipper as he pulled them on. I tried to relax my eyes just a bit to peek, but it didn't work. Not unless I wanted to get caught. Besides, Ron was sitting right behind me, taking notes. I knew he would be. He had my back like that.
Just to prove me right, Ron eventually said, "He's covered, even if the pants are a little big."
And I opened my eyes to find Bel smiling down at me. "You really like yellow?"
"It's one of my favorite colors," I swore.
So were all the others, but I didn't feel the need to split hairs with him. Beelzebub was a sensitive guy, and one of the sweetest I'd ever met. Ever since we'd been locked on Tyrnigg, he'd made a habit of dashing off to Earth to get me a coffee. Granted, by the time he got back, it was usually colder than I liked, but that was due to the corridor shifts. I also never once complained. So, if my friend needed a little moral support, then I would let him believe that yellow was my favorite color in all five worlds.
Then Bel leaned a little closer and lowered his voice. "I like orange," he whispered before turning and marching that sexy bubble-butt of his back to the cottage with his pants hanging dangerously low.
As if trying to match, my mouth was hanging completely open. Clearly, Sam's flirting lessons were working, and I had no interest in complaining. Granted, I still wasn't sure if Bel just wanted to flirt with me because I was the only woman in this crazy gang of demons - and one fallen angel - or if it was simply safest to try out his new moves on me instead of with a fairy woman.
The truth was that Bel confused me. Often. Just when I was sure he was trying to let me know he liked me, he'd change things up and have me convinced he was chasing Luke again. Sometimes Ronwe. He never made it clear enough for me to be sure, and I wasn't about to make the first move. After all, I had two demons of my own. Did I really need more? Not really. Was I allowed to have them? Yes.
And that was taking a lot of work to get used to. Shaking my head, I turned back to the table and reclaimed my chair, trying to ignore the stupid little voice that kept saying I was too greedy. The one that was screaming about how I didn't deserve this or that I would screw it all up. I'd been brought into their little demonic family unit to help save the five planes from angels. Not to get stupid over a group of men who couldn't help that they were probably the sexiest things I'd ever seen in my entire life.
"So..." I said as I sat down, pausing only to look back and make sure Bel was out of hearing range. "How was the view?"
Ron sighed in appreciation. "That man is absolutely amazing. I think his phallus falls to the middle of his thigh."
"Dick," I corrected. "Phallus is a little clinical."
"Oh, I was definitely giving him a clinical inspection," Ron teased as he leaned closer and lowered his voice. "Why did Luke give that up for me?"
I grumbled, making it clear he had that all wrong. "Luke and Bel were never in love. They hooked up, had some fun, and were getting close to friends when Luke had to 'betray' Bel."
"And Bel took his nap," Ron said, showing he'd heard the story. Granted, I may have been the one to tell him.
"Right," I went on. "So there wasn't any choosing. Not really. It was more of that ending, time passing, and Luke meeting you."
"Uh-huh. So why aren't you with Bel?"
All I could do was sigh. "I already have Sam and Nick. Isn't that enough?" It was my go-to excuse.
"Is it?" he countered. "You look at him the same way I do. He looks at you the same way Nick does. What's holding you back?"
The strange thing was that talking to Ron like this always felt so easy. With Nick, Sam, or any of the others, it was nearly impossible to find the right words, but Ron always understood. Hell, half the time, he was just as confused about this stuff as I was, so maybe that was the reason. Still, I scooted over toward his side of the table, putting us shoulder to shoulder so we could watch our legion working in the distance.
"Because I can't honestly tell if he's flirting with me, or practicing to flirt with you."
Ron's brow wrinkled in thought. "Why would he want me?"
"Why would he want me?" I shot back. "I'm just a human."
"You're the Muse."
"And I have two boyfriends!"
Ron grinned. "And we're demons, Sia. Legion is family. Legion shares all. Legion is love."
I nodded, hearing his words, but this was easy enough to refute. "And I'm a girl from Southern Baptist Oklahoma. Dating two men is supposed to make me a slut. I was taught that I can't love more than one person at a time, so what am I even doing? How can I have a serious relationship if I can't even choose, let alone sacrifice for it? Things like that."