"Other useful things to know: the reason I may need my wings and tail off and on routinely is that this planet's culture has a serious issue with - they'd probably say 'deformities' or 'mutations' if you asked but it definitely also applies to wings. Yours too, they're not just being racist against demons. Miles, the emperor Gregor, and some other select people, such as everyone who lives in this house, are all fine to be winged in front of; people elsewhere it's not a good idea. On other planets, if we bounce around, you won't have that specific problem, but nobody will know what you are and nobody will expect you to do magic unless they've been specifically warned. Also worth noting: they have a weapon called a 'stunner' which does what it sounds like and works on daeva."

"I see," she says. "Well, I will not mind if I have to take off my wings to get around without upsetting anyone; they are just about due for a redesign anyway. I like to come up with a new set every ten years or so."

"Ha. I've kept mine for a hundred and fifty and then grew them back just the same when I did have to wire them off to go uncontested in public."

"That is an awfully long time to keep one set of wings! Well, not for most people. But I would get bored," she says.

"Different strokes. Did you design your first set or did you start with them?"

"I started with a set I did not like very much. I did not like anything I started with very much, in fact, except for my hands. But after a few remodels I settled on a face and hair and so on that I am very fond of; it is just the wings that have high turnover, because designing good wings is an interesting challenge."

"Convenient you found it comparatively easy to rearrange yourself. Hey, here's a question I don't actually know the answer to: if you take my wings off, and it's not long enough for them to actually, say, rot, can you put the same ones back on, alive and fully functional?"

"Yes! I might have to make some minor repairs, depending how long you left them off and how they were stored. But certainly I would not have to scrap them and start over - or, in your case, I suppose scrap them and let you start over."

"Cool. Recycling. Speaking of starting over, if you would ever find it convenient I can make wings for you as easy as I can for myself, as long as I have something to go on for the design."

"That sounds handy! I might take you up on that sometime, especially if my wings have to come on and off frequently anyway."

"My first semester of pilot lessons don't start for a month, right? If there's anybody else interested in a layer of topsoil I can do another batch of those. Anybody want me to do architecting? Janvia, do you know how to pilot anything that flies?"

"I can pilot many flying things!"

"Architecting, good idea. I'll look into it."

"Okay, if you can fly something in that case I can send you off to de-radiate some radioactive locations, I'm not a useful accomplice for that."

"I will de-radiate locations!"

"Good," says Miles. "I have a location I would very much like de-radiated."

"Said location is also a good place to go flying without anybody underfoot going, 'it's a bird, it's a plane, it's a mutie shoot it'," Cam adds.

"And until you have something for me to architect or places for me to do my demonic gardening I have lots of books to read."

And Cam goes and reads books, which leaves Miles quite free to do whatever else he'd like to do with his day.

"Hi, coz, what's going on?"

"I'm whining about my hopeless crush, that's what's going on," he says. "I resummoned Cam just fine, and we moved on to trying to find him an angelic assistant, and somehow the subject of Cam having his demonic way with people just happened to come up multiple times. Apparently people from his universe are going to make assumptions about how I am repaying him for all his demon-ing until told otherwise."