“…S-so is he handsome?” Lucy asked.

“…Who??” Dreadli asked back.

“Jack. He s-sounds like he’s probably handsome~. Is he??”

“Well…he’s tall? And he has curly hair…”

“Ooh, I do like c-curly hair…but how tall is he? Is he n-normal-tall, or is he weirdly humongously tall, like a tree, or, o-or a tower??”

“Why would he be tall like that…?”

“Well, he’s like a god, isn’t he? He doesn’t have to be sized like us mortals; h-he can be as tall as he wants.”

Dreadlilocks, Lucid Fright, Pitch Black, Azor, and Uriel were gathered around the fountain in front of the mansion. Dreadli had just finished re-explaining her position, and the three recently-written members of the group had no shortage of comments on the matter.

“Why in the world are you asking whether or not some strange man is attractive??” said Pitch. “Dreadlilocks has been through a life-changing experience, and that’s what you choose to focus on…?”

“I’m not focusing; I j-just wanna know!”

“…It all sounds so exciting,” Lucy went on. “Bringing the light of hope to some t-tall, dark, handsome gentleman, and being rewarded with an en-normous magical power…power that can recreate the world! That’s the kind of adventure I wanted to have…” She frowned. “And in the end, all I did was die…”

“I still can’t believe that happened, myself,” said Uriel. “Dozens of times I met with the Odsplut, and the old thing never saw fit to unwrite me ‘till I went with the lot of you…just goes to show how special you are, I s’pose~.”

“I certainly feel special…” Azor muttered.

“I imagine you’ve been under quite a strain,” Pitch said, putting a hand on Dreadli’s shoulder. “You know, you don’t have to…have us here with you, if you don’t want to.”

“…But…I do want you to be here,” Dreadli replied, feeling uncomfortable all of a sudden. “I…I’m not scared. I can handle it…”

She brandished her scissors and stood up. “…I know: I’ll write something for you!” she announced. “We can go to a new place. Anywhere you want to be.”

“Ooh, I know, I know!!” Lucy exclaimed. “Let’s all go to a f-fancy ball, and we can all dress up in exquisite c-clothes, and eat fruits and sweetmeats and d-drink wine all night long!”

“…Don’t you do that every other month…?” asked Pitch.

“Yes, but n-never with friends!” She looked at Dreadli with shining eyes. “It would be s-so much more fun with all of you…”

Dreadlilocks felt conflicted. On the one hand, she had never really seen a ‘fancy ball’ before, let alone taken part in one…she wasn’t even sure what ‘sweetmeats’ were.

But on the other hand, she was the one who offered to take her friends to any setting. And she had said she could handle it.

So she decided to try.

She smiled back at Lucy, putting on her strong and self-assured face again. “…Okay. A fancy ball,” she said. “It’ll just take a moment.”