
Commission for lilarin by *KoltirasRip
Rip was kind enough to draw a sketch of Ulquiorra and Puff based on my specifications. Puff turned out a bit larger here than I had originally envisioned. In the first version, Rip drew him smaller, but she had overlooked that I wanted the human version of Ulquiorra and that Puff should be a Hollow :-)
Below is the first version, which only you get to see exclusively:

In Version Two above, I left it up to Rip to decide what Ulquiorra would wear, as long as it was normal clothing. When he ended up in a full suit with shirt and tie, that made me sweat a little. In Grains of Dust, Ulquiorra and Orihime don’t have much money yet, so a suit seemed rather inappropriate since it would be too expensive. I simply decided not to dwell on it and just had Ulquiorra unbutton his shirt collar in Chapter 89. That’s also where Puff gets his first mention :-) (Somewhere rustled, and he saw the speckled tail of a Hollow lizard disappear into the darkness.) Which probably went unnoticed by most readers.
Why does Ulquiorra bring Puff along? Naturally, because he wants to make amends with Orihime, and knowing she has a soft spot for adorable things, the little dragon practically offers itself as the perfect peace offering.
Why does Orihime name the dragon Puff? The inspiration came from the Peter, Paul & Mary song “Puff, The Magic Dragon.” I’m a fan of folk songs myself, and I can easily imagine this being one of Orihime’s favorites too.
