made of tease.

Smells.

...

Food smells.

...

Talking.

Alex roused before all of his senses were fully active. It was irregular for him to not come alert in a hurry with the arrival of a new presence, but for some reason it was the smell of breakfast that roused him this morning. Whatever the discussion had been previously ended the moment Alex began to move, however, and he didn't get enough of it to make any sense of it.

"Good morning, coma patient." Demon remarked.

Alex looked around and stretched as his eyes adjusted, "How late it it?"

"Earlier than we normally wake our guests," the young serving girl answered, "But mother insisted on getting to the shops as soon as they open for the best selection."

Alex studied the girl for a moment, the similarities to Vickary were unmistakable, as was the darkness of her hair a perfect match for Spike. Alex greeted her with a smile, "Good morning Nel. You've grown up so much since I last saw you that I almost don't recognize you anymore."

"Oh shush, Uncle Alex," she giggled, "It's been years and everyone says I look just like mother so I'm sure you would have figured it out without assistance."

Alex joined her at the table, "I didn't notice you enter the room."

The girl smiled, "I've always tried to sneak up on you, but this is my first success. I've been training under One-eye, it's a simple skill, but it's really hard to use."

Alex nodded, "He's the best at what he does. I'm not even exactly sure how he does it."

Nel took a seat across from Alex, having finished serving him, demon and herself.

A good meal to be sure, no doubt Nel had made it herself. "So tell me," Alex mused, "Why the chef is serving the guest?"

"Because the maid didn't get enough sleep last night."

"Marium?" Alex knit his brow.

"That would be the one." Nel looked slyly at Alex, "She was giddy and shy all yesterday, the other girls teased her about it late into the night. Even asked mom about drawing straws too see who would serve you breakfast."

Alex groaned a little, "You didn't do that to her did you?"

"Of course not," Nel feigned indignation, "Mother would never stand for it. But Marium must have had some excellent dreams last night even without you there, she was so **** to end them this morning."

Alex caught on, "So she was late again to morning meeting."

Nel smiled broadly, "She was indeed. Mother is probably scolding the dear girl now, so here I am doing her job, and she's probably in the kitchen getting the lists for this morning's excursion ready in my place."

"You don't seem too upset about that part."

Nel lightly kicked Alex under the table, "I get to spend the morning with the worlds best uncle, what's to complain about."

"Wouldn't an uncle who brings you presents once a year be better?"

Nel's face became as solemn as if carved from stone, "They didn't save my mother's life, you did."

"She finally told you about that?"

"After your last visit she and father had a terrible fight. The worst fight I'd ever seen them have. Violet, Boris and I were scared and tried to stop them. We thought they were going to start hurting each other."

Nel shook her head like she was trying to forget a bad dream, then she continued, "They were fighting about what to do about your...condition." She looked at Demon, "They never talked about why you were so important to them before that, and they didn't talk much about it after. But they told us the whole story about how they met you, and everything you've done for our family since." She looked back to Alex and smiled again, it was a smile of admiration, gratitude and sadness all in one, "I would never have been born without you. You're always going to be the world's best uncle to me, I don't want anyone else to be my uncle."

"Ooof girl," Demon piped up, "If you're going to wait for a hero to save you you're going to be an old woman before you find love."

Nel laughed, her playfulness coming back, "Mother didn't marry her White Knight, I won't be waiting for mine. But I can't respect a man who runs from my mother's lectures, so it's probably going to be the same wait."

All three of them laughed lightly, then concluded their breakfast. Nel cleaned the table while Alex suited up and Demon groomed herself. When everyone was ready they proceeded down to the guild lobby together.