“Please wake up.”

Evelyn woke up for the third time, feeling even more groggy than before. She recognized the swirling fabric above her when she opened her eyes, and wondered why she'd, for a moment, expected to see something else. She shook off the blurry remnants of her dream as she rubbed her eyes, feeling pleased at how easy the motion was.

I feel like I'm already getting the hang of moving normally... weird, since I've just been sleeping all this time.

“Eve, please wake up.” She recognized the deep voice as Az's, and rolled over to glare at him.

She felt like it should probably have taken her much longer to absorb and accept her new reality. Instead of fear or awe or confusion, however, she merely felt irritation towards the tall demon repeating the command.

“I'm awake, already. What the hell, were you just saying that over and over?”

“I was not going to touch you,” Az said with what might have been a hint of disgust at the thought—something she was used to from nurses rolling her over to clean her or check for bedsores. She flinched slightly at the memory. “Surely that is your preference?”

“Ugh. How long were you chanting at me?” She pushed her hair behind her shoulder—a delightful sensation—and wrinkled her nose as she looked up at him.

Az elegantly flicked his wrist and pushed up his sleeve to look at—surprisingly—a wristwatch. He'd struck her as the pocket watch kind, especially with the waistcoat he was wearing. The outfit today was similar to the previous one, but had stunning electric blue accents. “Thirty four seconds precisely.”

“J-just... just throw a pillow or something next time instead, okay? That gives me goosebumps, thinking of you standing there repeating yourself. Gah.” Evelyn shivered.

“I will keep that in mind,” he said dryly, bringing a hand to his forehead and rubbing it. She wasn't sure if it was confusion or irritation making him look as though he was severely exhausted, but as he hadn't seemed to express much else, either guess seemed likely.

She pushed a hand through her hair again, feeling another bit of glee at the sensation. “So, why did you wake me up, anyways? Aren't pets allowed to sleep whenever they want?”

Az hesitated for a moment. “You have... class.”

“'Class'?” Evelyn tried to figure out if he was paying her a very random compliment, or talking about schooling. She settled on the latter then immediately grew more irritated as she recalled her status. “What, like obedience school?”

His eyes narrowed slightly and the corner of his mouth turned down just a fraction. “Hardly. You will be meeting with my old teacher. Her name is C, and her life-bound partner will be picking you up shortly. Her name is Susu.”

He looked down at her, pausing a moment before continuing with, “I am afraid this may be a rather... unusual experience for you.”

Evelyn wasn't sure what he meant by 'unusual', but decided to pick at the first thing he'd said instead. “'Afraid'? That's an emotion, you know.”

Az turned away from her and stepped behind the curtains, outside of her vision. “It is merely a figure of speech. Please follow me.”

She carefully stood up, surprised again that she was balancing on her own—then tried only one foot. It was a little wobbly on the soft bedding, but unlike the previous day, she didn't fall.

No dizziness, no muscle spasms... I really am cured. It’s really hard to believe. I mean, out of all the sick people in the hospital... why me?

It wasn't worth thinking about it right now. She walked out from the curtains, gazing around the room as she did. As she'd seen earlier, it was gorgeous, with creamy marble floors that felt a little cold under her feet, and tall, dark shelves filled with elegantly bound books and lit sconces casting an improbable amount of light hanging between them. The ceiling was about three times her height and covered in matching espresso-colored wood with embossed tile designs. There was no furniture in the room other than a large, elegantly carved desk with a strange contraption beside it and a chair behind it, and a large cream-colored velvet armchair next to the tented bed area.

It took her a moment to understand what was giving her such an unsettled feeling as she peered around—there were no doors or windows in any of the walls, unless they were hidden on the other side of the tent.

She tried to shake it off, resisting the urge to hold her arms. “Well, I should get ready, I guess, but... I don't really feel the need to eat or anything.”

“You do not need to. Bodily functions are unnecessary Below, with some irrelevant exceptions.” Az was standing in front of the desk. He had picked up a floppy book from it and was turning through the pages, frowning at some, marking others by sticking a long finger under them. His tail was waving back and forth rhythmically, giving a contemplative air.

“Convenient,” Evelyn replied, casting her eyes around the room again to be sure she hadn't missed anything. “So I don't need to shower or anything?”

“You do not,” he replied without looking up.

Darn, I was really hoping to see how that would feel. But being clean naturally is way better than having bags strapped to me and tubes inside me, and bored, underpaid nurses dragging cold wet wipes over my naked body, that's for sure.

Now that he wasn't paying attention to her, she took a few steps to see on the other side of the tent. The room still didn't appear to have an entrance or exit, but perhaps it was hidden behind one of the shelves and would pop out if she pulled the right book, like in a mystery movie she'd seen.

Even if he doesn't need a bathroom, he's gotta have a bedroom at least.... otherwise, where would he sleep? In that armchair, sitting straight up? That would make sense with the horns, but I feel like that wouldn't be really restful.

Az still seemed distracted, so she took a few steps closer to the desk and the thing beside it. She was pleased to recognize it as a piece of furniture she'd seen on 'dark academia' aesthetic posts on Pushbore and Rollr. It was like a large wheel with wide, flat shelves inside it. Open books rested on each shelf, and she realized that it could be turned to lift each book up to reading height. She looked at even more books and papers spread over the desk, written and filled with notations in a language she couldn't recognize. There were definitely more pages than the previous day. She glanced back at Az.

Was he up all night studying? Maybe he doesn't sleep at all.

Az was shaking his head. He'd put the first floppy book down, and she could see now that he was leafing through magazines. The books on his desk blocked the cover of the one he'd set down from the angle she was standing, and she couldn't see the other clearly with the way he was holding it.

“Um, Az?” she asked, waving her hand to try and grab his attention. “Didn't you say I had to get ready?”

“Another moment, please,” he replied, sounding a little cross as he continued to examine the magazine without looking back at her. He made another irritated face as he flipped three more pages in quick succession.

Ugh, if you were going to ignore me, you could've just let me sleep in.

She sighed, rubbing her eyes again. “Well, is there something I should do with my hair, or to get changed into— waahh!!??”