The dress fitting began long before anyone would have called it a fitting in the formal sense. It started with the soft, almost ceremonial opening of the island's bridal suite, a room that had been prepared the previous night with great care and yet still felt slightly unreal in the morning light. The curtains were drawn halfway back to let in the pale blue sea brightness, and the table by the window was covered in neatly stacked boxes, fabric rolls, pins, measuring tapes, and a ridiculous number of small accessory cases that all looked as though they contained treasure or trouble. Ren stood just inside the doorway for a moment and took it all in with the blank, assessing expression he used when he was trying to appear composed in front of other people. Fang, beside him, did not bother with that sort of performance at all. He simply looked mildly horrified.
"This," Fang said, after a long silence, "is excessive."
