Complaining inwardly about his own sloth, Shade carefully released Luvia from his embrace. Even so, getting out of bed woke the Girl with Purple Eyes. Luvia, Dorothy, and Leisha all knew that Shade had a habit of rising on time, so none of them were surprised that he was awake already.
"Luvia, pick a few."
Shade sat up, casually took the wooden box from the bedside table, opened it, and handed it to Luvia. Still drowsy and unwilling to leave the warmth of the blankets, she had Shade place the box on her pillow instead:
"Honestly, the moment you wake up beside a girl, you immediately give her beautiful gems and jewelry. Detective, where did you learn such a bad habit?"
Despite saying that, she lay on her side and selected a purple gemstone. Its color was very similar to her eyes.
Shade did not respond to Luvia's teasing. He looked around, only to realize that Little Mia was nowhere in sight. He could not remember where the Cat had been last night; he only remembered that Luvia's new nightgown had been very pretty.
"Mia?"
After getting dressed and leaving the bedroom, he finally saw the Cat looking at him pitifully from midair. It was in the air because Shade had not put away the palm-sized stone slab with silver corner fittings last night. The Cat was currently sprawled atop the slab as it floated horizontally in the air.
Luvia staying overnight at Saint Derain Square was not unprecedented. Therefore, she had stored some of her clothes in the astrology room specially reserved for her on the third floor. She did not need to hurry home to change this morning, so she had breakfast with Shade before heading to work on Silver Cross Avenue.
Saint Derain Square was even closer