It had taken hours for the two to finally get everything done. Forms upon forms, multiple meetings, ridiculous amounts of waiting (which admittedly did give them time to get to know one another better) and even a medical exam filled up the entire day. Maria had questioned why a medical exam was even necessary, but still, she went with it. The only thing of note was that she had to come back every three months for a year in order to report any changes she might have undergone. 

Finally free of all bureaucratic responsibility, Maria was an official citizen and legal wife to Edith. The two stepped back out onto the streets only to find the suns had already set. The streetlamps that lined the roads flooded the city with a warm orange glow. Maria was surprised at how bright the areas outside of the lamps were. It didn’t seem normal, but maybe that was just how light in this world worked? She then remembered that her eyes were no longer human and it all came together.

“Is it always like this?”

“Like what?” Edith asked puzzled.

“Being able to see in the dark.”

“Oh, yeah I would say so. Though admittedly I’ve never known anything different so who's to say,” She shrugged. “Gods I’m hungry. Completely forgot about lunch while we were in there.”

“Yeah me too.” As if on cue Maria’s stomach growled.

Edith wrapped her arm around Maria’s waist as they made their way to a trolley stop. Apparently the trolleys run twenty-four/seven, which is nice. “Well we have a lot of food at home, so I could put something together. But…”

“But?” Maria asked.

“As much as I would love to get you home and into bed as fast as I can,” Maria blushed at Edith’s blatancy, “we are already out and I know of a really good Fey restaurant nearby.”

“Oh. I— I don’t know if I’m really dressed for going out…”

“What are you talking about? You look beautiful,” Edith said before kissing the top of her head and pulling her down the street. “Trust me. It will be fun. You could also think of it as our first date.”

Maria couldn’t help but snort through her nose. “Wow, I guess we’re the kind of couple who had sex before the first date.”

“And there is nothing wrong with that,” Edith chimed in.

“Yeah, I know. I suppose it’s like that for most nuptiae couples.”

“Actually…”

Maria looked up at her demon who was not meeting her gaze. “What?”

“From what I’ve heard most couples in our situation take around a month to get to know one another before sealing the deal.”

“Are you serious?!” Maria playfully hit Edith on the arm.

“Hey, what was that for?”

“For being a horndog and making it so I woke up naked with you in bed after having only talked to you for like half an hour.”

Edith let out a full belly laugh as they rounded a corner. “What can I say? I told you I found you irresistible when I first saw you. There was no way I could help myself around you.” Edith stopped and turned to face Maria. Her warm hand reached up to cup her human’s face. “And I know for a fact that you feel the exact same way.” The trademarked smirk made itself known just before Edith leaned down to kiss Maria. 

She was right, of course. Maria couldn’t help herself around Edith either. She smiled into the kiss and felt her lover smile back. Reluctantly pulling away, Maria looked up at Edith with a playful pout. “You don’t have to be right all the time, you know?”

“Oh, where would the fun in that be?” Edith chuckled, before continuing their journey.

It didn’t take much longer before they stood outside of the Fey restaurant. It was a nice little hole in the wall place. Most of the seating was outside, which on a night like tonight was lovely. There were lots of plants all over the place, magical candles lighting everything, and small round tables that could seat just about four people. Most of the tables had already been taken, but there were still a couple left. The hostess quickly helped them to a table and left them, saying that a waiter would be over shortly.

“This is a really good place. They actually have one of my favorite dis—”

“Edith? Hey Edith!” Someone called out in common. 

Maria saw Edith completely freeze up for a solid three seconds before she nervously turned around to face her caller. There were two women walking up to them. One looked like the literal definition of a Tolkien elf. Tall, long flowing silver hair, pointed ears, and an ethereal sounding voice. Her large blue eyes seemed like they could light up the world, and were a perfect match for the blue sundress she wore. The other woman was an anthropomorphic jackal, like a female version of Anubis. She had a beautiful black coat of fur, that contrasted perfectly with the gold dress shirt she was wearing. Maria’s nerdy brain had a hard time not thinking of the Amonkhet block of Magic the Gathering.

“Hey Luna,” Edith said with a slightly shaky breath. “What are you and Ahti doing out here?”

“We just got off of a late shift at work,” the elf Luna replied. “We thought we’d eat out before heading home. Mind if we join you?” 

“N— No not at all,” Edith nervously spat out, surprising both Maria and herself. Happily, the two women joined them at their small table.

As they sat down the elf put a hand to the side of her mouth, as if to block the jackal from seeing her lips. “Ahti and her ex had another fight,” she whispered not so quietly.

Ahti, the jackal, rolled her eyes at Luna. “It wasn’t another fight, it’s the same fight,” she said as if that made it any better. “But more importantly what are you doing here, Edith?” Ahti’s golden eyes locked onto Maria, seeming to see into her very soul.

“Me? I. Um. I… Well—” Edith flustered about not seeming to be able to look at either of the two women directly. Maria found it rather adorable seeing her demon all flustered.

“Are you two on a date?” Luna asked far too eagerly, seeing as they had just crashed said date.

Edith didn’t move a muscle. Was she afraid of them seeing her on a date? Wait had she not even told her friends she was doing a nuptiae? Maria, seeing the two women turn to her for an answer just nodded shyly.

“With a human,” Ahti said, sounding a little surprised. “You know witches don’t like it when you date their apprentices,” she teased Edith. “What’s your name sweetie, and which poor old witch did she steal you from?” Ahti asked Maria jokingly.

“Oh. Um, Maria and I’m not a witch’s apprentice.” Maria admitted. It was a little strange flip flopping from one new language to another, but it did come easily. “Or anyone's apprentice for that matter.” That really confused the elf and jackal. They both looked at her as if trying to solve a difficult puzzle. Before either of them could figure it out a satyr waiter came over to take their drink orders. Maria opted to go last seeing as she didn’t know what kind of drink a Fey restaurant would have, and even then she just ordered the same thing that Edith did. It will be a fun surprise to see what it is.

“So,” Edith said before the current topic could be picked back up. “How’s work going?” Was she really that scared of letting them know? It was cute, but Maria was starting to feel a little upset that Edith seemed to want to hide their relationship.

“Oh, it’s going well. Had some lady, Miss… I can’t remember her name.” 

“Miss Kingston,” Ahti offered.

“Right, she came in a few days ago and ordered a barrage of custom glamour bracelets for some masquerade party she's hosting. We’ve been working our asses off trying to fill the order in time,” Luna said with an exhausted flare.

“We’ve finished most of them, but we still have a couple dozen to go. Hopefully we can finish them tomorrow. I don’t know how much longer I can work on those damn bracelets.”

“Well at least you're going to get a good commission out of it, right?” Edith asked.

“Hells yeah we are,” Luna said excitedly. “Twenty-five percent commission on this job.”

“Almost makes it worth it,” Ahti said with a chuckle.

“Um, what are glamour bracelets?” Maria asked, curiosity finally getting the better of her. Both Ahti and Luna looked at her with confusion again, but Luna gave in and explained to them.

“They’re bracelets with the glamour enchantment on them. It’s kind of like the spell we use to visit Earth and go unnoticed. Though unlike the spell, other magical beings can’t see through it, and they require a lot more magic to hold the glamour up.”

“Oh, that’s pretty cool. I knew glamours were stuff in fantasy. I didn’t know they were actually real.”

“Haven’t been part of the bigger magical world for long have you, Maria?” Ahti asked.

“N... No. I’ve only been here two days.”

“Two days?!” Luna said before letting out a laugh. “Edith, you really jumped on her fast didn’t you?”

Edith seemed to shrink into her chair as a blush appeared on her face. As Luna continued to laugh to herself, Ahti looked between the couple, even more confused. Then her eyes went wide as she turned to stare at Edith.

“No…” Ahti said almost disbelievingly. “Did you really...”

“What?” Luna said looking between all three of them.

“Edith…”

“Alright everyone,” said a new voice, making the three in the know jump a little. They all turned to see their waiter had returned with a tray of drinks “I’ve got your drinks right here. Are you all ready to order?” they asked as they passed the drinks out.

Edith seeing another opportunity to change the subject replied, “Yes. We’re ready. I’ll have the Sphenid with the house salad. Maria?”

“Oh. I…” Maria was caught a little off guard. She hadn’t even looked at the menu yet! Not that it would matter considering it was all probably stuff she didn’t know. “I’ll have the same as her.”

“You like Sphenid?” All three of the other women at the table said in unison. They seemed a little shocked. Why? Was it something really weird?

“I don’t even know what it is…” Maria admitted a little sheepishly.

“Oh no,” Ahti suddenly butted in. “She and I will have the Menida.” She turned to Edith. “I’m not letting you taint her with that swill.” That gained a chuckle from Luna, not that it seemed hard to do that.

Luna ordered yet another thing Maria had never heard of, and the waiter eventually left leaving the four in an awkward silence. Luna, confused by this, was glancing between all three of them. Ahti was promptly staring at the demon. Edith was doing her best not to look anyone in the eyes, while Maria just sat there awkwardly. Luna was the first to break.

“Alright, will somebody tell me what’s going on?”

“Edith did a nuptiae,” Ahti said calmly, not taking her eyes off of Edith.

“What?!” Luna practically shouted it loud enough that it seemed the entire restaurant turned to look at them. The elf’s eyes darted between Edith and Maria now. Maria felt Edith’s tail wrap around her ankle as her demon continued not to look anyone in the eye. Maria was a little proud of herself that she didn’t instinctively jump at the feel of something grabbing her leg.

“Did she really do it?” Ahti asked Maria, seeing as Edith was going unresponsive. There was still a hint of disbelief in her voice. Luna eagerly looked over at Maria for the answer, too. Maria was a little nervous being put on the spot like this, but there was a part of her that realized that if Edith wasn’t going to stand up for their relationship then she would.

“Yes. Edith and I have a nuptiae bond.”

“Oh my fucking gods,” Luna said dramatically. Ahti slumped back in her chair a little and just looked at Maria, as if trying to take it all in. “Edith, why in the hells didn’t you tell us!”

“I— I was just… You know the thing about demons and relationships…” Edith finally managed to speak, albeit very quietly.

“For fuck’s sake, Edith,” Ahti said, looking back over to the demon. “We’re your friends! And I’m your best friend! Do you really think we’d judge you for wanting someone to love, regardless of your race?”

Edith was blushing heavily now, still not able to look anyone in the eyes. Maria gently reached down to her calf and rubbed her demon's tail. Edith jumped a little, but looked up and met Maria’s eyes. Maria gave her demon a gentle smile, trying to show that everything was okay.

“I don’t know. I was just… Scared and embarrassed, okay? I already got enough shit for it when I put in my time off at work.”

“Edith, we would never do that to you,” Luna said, putting a reassuring hand on Edith’s arm. “You’re our friend, wanting love doesn’t change that fact.”

“It's true,” Ahti cut in. “We love you, girl.”

“Thanks guys. That means a lot.” The demon visibly relaxed now and seemed to sit up a bit taller again.

“No problem,” said Luna. 

“Of course. You have at least told your parents though, right?” The jackal asks, half joking, half serious.

“Of course I told my parents.”

‘That’s good,’ Maria thought as she decided to take a sip of the weird ass drink in front of her.

“That reminds me, Maria, we're meeting my parents the day after tomorrow for dinner.”

Maria suddenly choked on her bubbly and sweet drink, causing herself to have a small coughing fit. Luna giggled at the sight of her while Ahti shook her head.

“You probably should have told her that sooner,” Ahti chuckled to Edith.

“Yeah, that keeps happening.”

“I’ll fucking say,” Maria managed to get out through her coughs.

“Oh yeah? What else did she forget to tell you?” Luna asked, seeming to hope for some juicy gossip.

“Well for one she didn’t tell me what we were till last night. I spent the whole day worrying I was her sex slave or something.” That caused Ahti to let out a loud laugh alongside the elf. Edith looked embarrassed for a split second before the predatory look Maria was becoming very familiar with came over her face.

“It’s not like you wouldn’t have liked it, my little Maria. After all, you seemed very aroused by the idea of calling me ’mistress.’” Now it was Maria’s turn to blush and sink into her chair.

“Oh Gods, that’s so rich,” Luna laughed out, laughing so hard it hurt.

“And despite all that you still sealed the deal,” Ahti said, very amused and pointing to Maria’s eyes.

“You’re right! I didn’t even think about that. Wow, Edith, you really do move fast.”

“Well, I can’t take all the credit considering it takes two to do the deed,” Maria’s demon said with a smirk. Edith seemed to be readily coming back to her normal sexual self, which made Maria both happy and a little flustered. Which didn’t at all help with her already blushing face.

“You better be careful there, Edith,” Ahti said. “I’m not sure she can get more red without bursting.” 

"Oh she was definitely bursting last night," Maria’s demon lover said, licking her lips. Maria tried to hide her everlasting blush behind taking another sip of her bubbly drink. She also wondered if it was alcoholic in any way.

“Give her a break, Edith,” Ahti chuckled out. “You two have plenty of time for that later. But now I want to get to know your wife a little better.”

“Oh, um, we’re just going by girlfriends right now… ‘Wife’ is still a little big and scary for me.” Maria did feel a little ashamed to admit it, but she was still getting used to all this. Edith’s tail gently squeezed her leg affectionately and she gave her demon a smile.

“Oh okay. Well still, why don’t you tell us a little about yourself?”

“You’re trans, right?” Luna asked before Maria could respond. Instantly Maria’s face and heart dropped at the fact she just got clocked. She has been doing so well recently. It had been well over two months since it had happened last, and she’d been feeling really good about herself. But apparently she didn’t pass well enough for Luna not to notice.

Ahti’s eyes went wide as she scrunched up her muzzle in annoyance. Quickly the jackal rolled her cloth napkin up, before leaning over the table and swatting Luna on the head with it.

“How many times do I have to tell you, Luna, we transgirls don’t like it when you do that!” She seemed to emphasize every few words with another gentle, but annoying swat. Maria could see Edith giving Luna a good bit of a stink eye as well. "Now apologize to Maria."

Luna had sunk into her chair and was looking rather sheepish. Her cheeks were a little red and she wasn't looking Maria in the eyes. "I'm sorry, Maria. I'm a little psychic, and I just tend to know things about people without needing to be told."

"Yes, and she has a bad habit of blurting it all out," Ahti commented, sitting back down and fixing her top. "She doesn't mean anything by it though. And trust me, Maria, you pass. I really wouldn’t have known if it wasn’t for little miss loud mouth over here.” Luna still couldn’t seem to look anyone in the eye.

That was a little bit of an emotional rollercoaster for Maria. She thought she had been clocked, well she was, but not because of her looks or voice. That at least made her feel a little better. Though apparently there’s also magical ways of telling if someone is trans regardless of how well you might pass, which didn’t really make Maria feel too good. Still, the magical world didn’t seem to be transphobic like Earth, even if being trans doesn’t happen for magical… Wait, Ahti just said she was trans as well?!

“You’re trans, too?” Maria asked the jackal.

“Yeah, I am,” Ahti replied, taking  a sip of her drink. She didn’t really seem fused by the fact at all.

“But I thought Edith said that…”

“I said being trans doesn’t really happen to demons. Our bodies will nearly always fit who we are, and if not it will change on it’s own to fit.”

“Yeah, but you also said that magical beings’ souls form the body, unlike humans whose souls are placed into bodies. So doesn’t that mean being trans shouldn’t be a thing for magical beings?”

“Not necessarily.” Ahti turned to Maria. “It really just means that, for humans, being trans can be an accident. That a soul was placed in a body that doesn’t match by chance, but there are also times that that is who you are meant to be. We magical beings, at least in many races, can be trans because that's just who we are meant to be. How we are meant to experience life as a person. The same can be said for some humans.” She let out a small sigh. “I suppose the only real difference is that outside of Earth we trans people are always accepted, or at least have been for the past few millennia. And we have access to magic to help us transition more fully than human technology can provide. Though not everybody feels the need to change their body.”

Maria sat back in her chair and just stared at Ahti, deep in thought. Could that really be true? That sometimes you’re trans, not because of the accident of your birth but because you as a soul are trans in a way? Well, Ahti being both a magical being and a transwoman did just prove all she had said. It was also maybe a little nice to think that being born a ‘boy’ wasn’t a mistake, but just part of who she was as a person. Though like Ahti implied, Earth sucks for transgender people, at least in a lot of places.

“So, being trans just means you were meant to experience life a little different than other people?”

“Pretty much, yeah. Though I have to admit, I can’t imagine how hard it must be to be trans on Earth. Some of the stuff I hear is really nasty, but I suppose you’re all the more brave for being yourself in lieu of all that,” the jackal said, giving Maria a warm smile. Maria couldn’t help but give a shy smile back. She hadn’t been called brave a lot in her life, and it felt really nice to hear it. Edith’s tail once again gave Maria’s calf a loving squeeze.

The waiter took that moment to show up with the food. Immediately Maria was grateful Ahti had saved her from ordering the Sphenid. It looked like the one time Maria saw squid cooked in its own ink, but more liquidy and mushy. Maybe also mixed with Breath of the Wild’s dubious food. Everyone at the table, including the waiter, looked at it with a hint of disgust. All but Maria's demon, who looked as happy as can be.

“Gods, I haven’t had Sphenid in a long while. I’m glad they put it back on the menu.”

“Edith, I truly have no idea how you can eat that stuff,” Luna said, averting her eyes from the swill and onto her own meal. Which really just amounted to nothing more than a large salad with what looked like rice. 

“What can I say? I guess my palette is more distinguished than yours,” the demon said with a playful tone. “Would you like to try some, Maria?” Maria just looked at Edith with wide eyes before forming an X with her arms. Luna giggled at that, while Ahti only shook her head.

“Glad I saved you from that. Menida looks a lot nicer doesn’t it?” 

“It really does.” The meal the jackal got for them looked and smelled like a salmon steak on a bed of greens. Though the color was just a little off for it to actually be salmon. All the foods in this world looked so similar to Earth’s, just always a little off. But hey, as long as it didn’t taste bad, Maria knew she could get used to it all. Though remembering all the names will probably take a while. At least there will always be Chinese takeout.