Niko, in the middle of his newest painting, got a call from Karina. His stepsister.

"Hi Karina...What? Last time I saw you with him, you were complaining that he was draining your wallet...I honestly forgot about that!...So, this isn't a joke...Oh, it's good you're married, it's fantastic even, but I'm just...surprised, alright?...No, no, I shouldn't go. I always make things worse at family gatherings, intentional or not...No means, no, Karina...I talk to my dad all the time, and I'm so far away, too!...You don't need me to be there for your wedding. I'll be better if I don't show up...Goodbye."

Mallomor had heard all of this.

"Your step sister is having a wedding?"

"Yes, but I'm not going."

Mallomor's pointy ears, twitched. "Why?"

"I'll ruin it, I'm sure of it.

My dad had me stay for Karina's Sweet 16, and I ended up making the guests uncomfortable whenever they tried to talk with me."

"How old were you then?"

"18."

"And how old are you now?"

"...26."

Mallomor placed a hand on Niko's shoulder. "Certainly you've learned to not do so by now?"

Niko stared into Mallomor's, red, reptilian eyes. He felt that they were more beautiful than before.

Maybe he just thought that because he was shedim, not demon.

"There's more to it than that. I'm charismatic, but I have a knack for driving others away. And weddings aren't exactly my style-"

Mallo pulled Niko closer. "Free cake! I know for a fact that you have a sweet tooth."

"I do, but I'm so far away from where it is. I also don't have anything to wear-"

"Hush, will you? Your excuses are as weak as ever, Niko."

Niko averted his gaze for a moment, and then looked back to Mallo. "Got a plan?"

"Of course, Niko. I always do."

In time, Mallomor presented him with a dark purple tux in a bag.

"As a nonconformist, I felt you'd appreciate it."

Niko examined it. "Thanks for not making it a sparkly one. Karina wanted to make it a disco wedding, but her husband put his foot down."

"What's disco?"

"You don't want to know. Believe me."

Later, as Niko made a watercolor card to celebrate the union, Mallomor approached him.

"Hey, Niko?"

Niko was unhappy to be interrupted. "What is it?"

"We should invite Morgana."

"No, she has better things to do than attending a wedding."

Mallomor made a chair out of shadow and sat on it, next to Niko. "I talked to her. Seems like she'd like to come."

Niko sighed. "How do I introduce her to my parents? It's supposed to be Karina's one day to be normal, to forget her step-brother is a freak!"

Mallomor hugged Niko. "You're not a freak, Niko. You're a wonderful person, a lovely artist, and a good boyfriend. Please, don't be so hard on yourself."

Niko went quiet.

"C'mon, Niko." Mallomor kissed Niko to cheer him up.

Niko's mood lightened. "Alright, I will."

Morgana was more than happy to join Niko and Mallomor to the wedding.

"I love weddings! Free cake, wine, and an excuse to do a reading! Are you still with the demon, Niko?"

"The demon is a shedim now."

Morgana paused. "Huh. I honestly didn't expect that. I'll drive you there, don't worry."

"Thanks, Morgana."

"No problem, Niko."

Before they left for the wedding, Mallomor went through the things they needed to prepare. Niko always needed help with that.

"Do you have the phone?"

"Yes."

"Boxed wine?"

"Right here."

"Framed painting?"

Niko held up a framed watercolor painting of two doves on a cherry blossom branch. It was a lot softer than most of Niko's work, very fitting of a wedding present.

"I'm ready."

Mallomor shook his head, walking over to adjust Niko's tie.

"Not so tight, Mallo!"

"I don't want it to slip off! And it's black tie, surely you can handle a bit of discomfort at your stepsister's wedding."

"I don't want you to choke me with this tie, though." Niko got to loosening it, much to Mallo's dismay.

The car ride was on the longer side, and Mallomor showed up in his demon form since there was no point in trying to fool Morgana.

Morgana had an interest in Niko's and Mallo's relationship.

"I'm glad that you've found someone, Niko, especially since you haven't exactly had the best love life."

Niko was in the backseat, looking out the window. "Tell me about it. We've only known each other for barely a month, though."

Mallomor, hanging out in the backseat, piped up. "What does it matter? It's been good so far, and I'm sure it'll get even better!"

"I hope..."

Morgana picked up on Niko's worry.

"Do you not have faith in your relationship with Mallomor?"

Mallomor leaned over towards Niko. "Please, Niko, I want to stay with you."

Niko started to scratch his arms, "I do, too." After a pause, Niko asked a question he should've asked a long time ago.

"Are you OK with me working so much?"

"No, we need to spend more time together. I miss you during the day."

Niko wasn't looking forward to rescheduling his workday. "Is there anything else I can do?"

"Bring me to more places, OK?"

"What sort of places?"

"All of them. The Internet is great, but I get bored, staying at home."

Niko's response was unemotional. "We'll have to talk about this more at home."

The conversations shifted to lighter topics. Mallomor, for one, was excited to party.

Before Niko got out, Morgana pulled him aside.

"If you ever feel that your relationship is starting to fray, you can confide in me."

Niko nodded.

Niko and Mallo were greeted by an old man, the father of the groom. Niko barely remembered the name of the groom, much less his father.

"Hi...who are you?"

The old man was confused. "Are you asking for my name?"

"Yes, sorry.

My name is Niko, and I'm the half-brother of the bride. This here is my boyfriend, Mal-Marcus."

"Marcus" beamed. The old man seemed weary.

"Since we're in-laws now, call me Jeff. Karina told me you'd be early. She also told me to make sure you don't cause trouble. Did you bring your accordion?"

"It's in the car-"

"Keep it there, that music gives me a headache."

"Marcus" defended Niko's preferred instrument.

"Hey! Niko is a fantastic accordionist! You can't just insult him like that!"

Jeff wasn't moved by this statement. "Polka was a mistake."

Marcus was visibly fuming, but Niko came over to calm him down in the best way he knew how.

"Don't feel such a need to defend me, Mal-Marco. In case you didn't get the memo, not only is chivalry dead, it also doesn't apply to men."

"Niko, please.

I don't like seeing you insulted like that."

Niko reflected on this for a moment.

"Fine, but I can fight my own battles."

Niko entered the chapel, followed close behind by Marcus.

Niko whispered to Marcus. "Demons can go into churches."

"Some can, some can't, it depends. For example, I can go into churches, but not mosques."

Niko nodded, and sat in a nearby pew. Marcus sat next to him and leaned against his shoulder. He saw an opportunity to take a nap.

They sat in silence for a time, and more and more people trickled in.

In time, they were approached by a man, the groom.

"Hi, what's your relationship with the bride?"

Niko didn't feel like making eye contact with the groom, while hugging Marcus.

"I'm her step-brother. This is my boyfriend. When is the wedding starting?"

"Oh, you're the infamous Niko!

For all that I heard about you, Karina didn't say you were gay."

Niko considered his options. Truthfully, he was biromantic asexual, but that's not what he told most people. In more conservative circles, he said he was heterosexual. In more libreal circles, he said he was homosexual, asexaul, or homosexual asexual. Most of his family knew he was bi, but not asexual. The groom would join their ranks.

"Yeah, I'm bisexual."

This made Marcus wake up.

"Bisexual? You're not any sexual! Unless you were lying to me..."

Marcus's eyes burned with intensity, and Niko got nervous.

"Nobody uses 'biromantic' outside of queer spaces, Marcus!" It came out more defensive than intended.

The groom stepped in to calm.

"Relax, I won't judge."

Niko averted his eyes.

"I'm trans!" Marcus blurted out.

Niko blinked. "How come you never told me this before?"

"I didn't want to scare you off."

Niko laughed. "What's so scary about trans people?"

The groom shrugged his shoulders. "Don't ask me, I'm not a transphobe.

Did you bring your accordion?"

"Some guy called Jeff told me to keep it in the car. I'd rather not disturb the music you got planned."

"I wouldn't have invited you if I didn't want you to play accordion!"

Niko jogged out to the parking lot, noticed Morgana talking to a nature spirit, and got his accordion.

Niko played until the service began. During it, he learned that the groom's name was Aiden.

Marcus was a bit shy around the guests, but he loved the cake more than Niko. Mostly because it had marshmallow and chocolate.

In time, Niko was called on the make a speech for the bride and groom. He had nothing prepared.

"Karina, I have no idea what to say!"

"You're my brother. I'm sure you'll think of something."

Niko looked over the crowd, seeing all the strangers that Karina and her groom invited.

Only one story came to mind.

"So I went to a gay bar for over a year before I realized it was a gay bar."

Some audience members began to chuckle.

"I only went there because the beer and sandwiches were good.

I didn't realize it until a guy tried to pick me up. When I told him that I came for the food, he told me that's the last reason anyone comes here.

"I was confused. 'What sort of bar isn't there to serve food and beer?' He told me 'A gay one.'

'I distinctly saw women here.'

'Those were drag queens!'"

Some audience members began to laugh.

"So I told him 'How I was supposed to know?' He looked at me as if I had a squid on my head and said 'There's a rainbow flag flying year-around.'

'Every single fucking business in town does!

Look, you seem like a cool guy, I'm sure we can work something out. Maybe buy me a drink and see where it goes?'

'No, if I dated you, you'd drive me to drink!'"

Half the crowd was laughing, half the crowd was confused.

Niko went from the podium, apologized to Karina and her husband, and went to a less populated place.

Niko was approached by his father.

Most people said that they didn't look too much alike, save for that they had the same hair and skin tone. Well, used to. Niko's dad had shaved it all off before it could fall out. He was a lot bigger than Niko, but it was mostly because he spent more time exercising when he was younger, swimming, tennis, hiking, working on research farms.

"Did I make a fool of myself that time?"

"Yes, but I think everyone appreciates you making the wedding more interesting. Though it'd be better if it connected to your sister's...anything."

"I couldn't think of any stories about Karina when I went there. That's the only story I could think of."

"Ok, just don't repeat this story at her baby shower."

Niko titled his head. "Is Karina pregnant?"

"Not yet."

Carlos walked away, and came to see Marcus, eating even more cake.

"You're Niko's new boyfriend, right?"

"Yeah. He treats me pretty well, though he does seem a bit off at times."

Carlos nodded. "Do you want to know why?"

"Yeah, it's because he's a faery, right."

Carlos laughed. "I wished it was just that."