Marigold is ambushed by a tiny person.

Minutes passed. Marigold leaned on her staff and yawned- and then a tiny person appeared between her legs.

"Greetings, friend!"

"Aaah!"

Marigold fell to the ground in a heap of limbs and wonderflex. There was a sickening crunch. Her heart would have fallen out of her chest if it hadn't been lodged in her throat. Slowly, fearfully, Marigold felt around for anything broken... and found that one of her beautifully crafted wings had snapped clean in two.

"Oh, dear," the gnome gasped. "My sincerest apologies, Doctor Ziegler."

"I-it's okay," Marigold said, though she was already holding back tears. "I'm all right."

"You most certainly are not all right," the gnome said. "Please, let me make it up to you."

Without another word, the gnome took Marigold by the hand and swept her into the shop's back room. Marigold felt tiny hands reach for the belt keeping her wings in place- and then an instant later, it came unclasped.

"E-excuse me..." Marigold whimpered, but the gnome didn't pay her any attention. He took her broken wing belt and threw it on a dirty workbench covered in circuits and gyroscopes. Sparks flew, gyros whirled, and a few minutes minute later, her wings were whole again.

"Good as new!" the gnome said proudly. He held the re-forged wings up for Marigold to inspect. "I made a few improvements. I hope you don't mind."

Marigold gaped: they were twice as beautiful as they had been before. What had once been white wonderflex was now a shining, lightweight metal. Even her foam "feathers" seemed to shimmer like real crystal.

"They're beautiful," she said, overwhelmed. "T-thank you, tiny person."

The gnome laughed as Marigold realized what she'd said and slapped a hand to her mouth.

"Call me Fizzlestick, or Fizz," he said. Marigold stared dumbly. He laughed again."It's my handle online. My real name is Frederick."

"I... see," Marigold said, feeling very weirded out by how enthusiastically Fizz took to the role.

"Now," Fizz said, "Where were we? Oh, right. You were looking absolutely lost out there. Completely fuddlestumped. Down in the discombobulator."

Marigold blinked.

"You looked sad."

"Oh," Marigold mumbled.

"So! What's on your mind, big person? I can't have you walk out of my shop with such a sad face." The gnome shook his head. "Bad for business. Plus, I just like making pretty girls smile."

"Y-you think I'm... pretty?" Marigold blushed. "I... I'm not that pretty."

"Sure you are," Fizz said. "No need to be shy. If it weren't for your friend hogging the spotlight, you'd be the star of the show out there."

Marigold twiddled her thumbs and said nothing. Sure, she'd had more than a few boys try to ask her out, but she just knew that it was just because of her one defining feature. Her two features, actually: two very big, very ample features on her chest. The ones she'd learned to keep hidden under bulky clothes and tight bras ever since high school.

"Come on, Mercy," Fizz said, whipping out a mirror. "You don't give yourself enough credit. You're just cuter than a puppy jumping through its first snowbank. Look at yourself!"

Marigold looked at her reflection. Normally, she liked to hide behind her bangs, but as Mercy, she'd done up her hair in a ponytail. Her brilliant blue eyes, dimpled cheeks, and button nose made her look, well, cute.

"You're already an angel," Fizz said. "Let me touch up your cosplay and you can really look the part."

"I..." Marigold trailed off.

"It won't take long at all," Fizz urged, "And when it's done, I promise that no one will be able to take their eyes off you, not even your friend out there."