Chapter 261: Family
The group all enjoyed Callisto's cooking. She provided a number of choices from the oven, consisting of some strangely arranged cuts of steak, and a turkey with wings carved into it to match Kat's.
Most of the food wasn't actually eaten, but when it was brought up Callisto just smiled and said that it would be eaten. While it was happening, Kat had to repeatedly promise that she would message everyone when she was away this time, that she wouldn't neglect to reply to any questions they had, and that she would tell them if she needed to drop contact for a bit.
Eventually, Kat decided if they wanted to be like that and gang up on her about keeping in contact, she was going to play the other card. When Vivian next reminded Kat to message everyone, Kat replied with "Do you wish to form a contract about it?"
That shut the repeated insistence down hard. It actually warmed Kat's heart a little that despite their insistence and requests to do exactly what the contract would hold her to, they didn't actually want that. What they wanted, or at least, what Sylvie, Lily, and Vivian wanted, was for Kat to keep in contact with them while out on adventures.
Kat felt a comfortable warm feeling rise in her chest that was unrelated to her demonic energy. *It really is nice that they want me to contact them but don't want to force the issue. It's kinda funny that despite insisting that I have no choice and I must contact them, to actually make it so I have no choice crosses the line.*
So Kat resolved herself to do just that, to keep in contact for once on adventures and ensure that she didn't up and disappear for ten days. Once that was settled, they just chatted about random things, such as Vivian's current distaste for the project she's doing.
"Look, it was interesting to start with but they keep trying to force me to make compromises in the design. I wouldn't have a problem with this normally but it's the husband who keeps insisting on changes even though the wife, the one who actually hired me thinks the first draft was by far the best
"The issue is of course, I remember her from school, and know that she certainly doesn't make the sort of money to hire me for a long-term contract so really, despite it coming from her order and her account, I suppose it isn't necessarily her money
"And like I just… I feel like I only keep making revisions because I'm getting payed per hour on this job you know? The money is great, and the initial design concept was so very interesting… but I've been working on it for… actually pretty much the entire time you've been gone Kat" said Vivian
Kat, Lily and Sylvie just smiled as Vivian complained, not really sure about how to comfort her. Callisto had some words of advice though. "Perhaps think of it as doing that old acquaintance a favour instead of a job. I know you're more than happy to go out of your way to help people when they need it."
That seemed to placate Vivian for a while, and so she changed to trying to pull Lily's research into what she was doing about her next step past high school, but it didn't really go anywhere.
It wasn't as though it was hard to get Lily to speak about it, just that there still wasn't much. The girl just didn't know what she wanted to do. A research position clearly, but it would take years to get there as far as she could find out, and limiting herself to a single topic was likely to end in boredom so she hadn't found something to commit to.
Sylvie mentioned that she was learning origami from Callisto. It was a nice distraction from the more serious topics, and when pressed, admitted to being able to do most of the simpler designs. Apparently Callisto was now trying to teach her how to do more complicated figures with multiple different pieces of paper.
They continued chatting into the evening, making it so that their late lunch sufficed for both that and dinner in one. When it started getting dark out, Lily decided she really had to return lest she get in trouble for being out all day rather than trying to find a job or apply for university.
Kat grimaced at the attitude but didn't really know what else to do about it. Sylvie popped off to have a shower, and Kat helped Callisto and Vivian pack up the food and store it. Callisto had… well… fun might not be the right word for the serious woman, but she took her time making sure to use the leftovers to make funny shapes in the food rather than rushing everything into the fridge.
Once Kat had a shower and headed back to her bedroom, she found Sylvie sitting down on her bed reading a book entitled 'Children's Necronomicon'. It was a dark black book with a strange bumpy texture and looked like it was made out of dried flesh. Which, Kat supposed was the point. Except it was contrasted with the bright pink lettering of the title and a flower stamped into each corner.
Sylvie put the book to the side when Kat came in and said. "Can I sleep with you tonight? Since you're only here a day?"
Kat sat down next to Sylvie and pulled her into her arms "Are you sure? You haven't needed to sleep with me for a long time."
Sylvie shook her head "It isn't about that anymore. It's… it's nice to be around you and I can't think of a better way to sleep than falling asleep hugging you"
Kat kissed the little girl on the forehead and Sylvie giggled in response "Well if that's what you want I'll be glad to have you"
The two started to snuggle into Kat's embrace. Once they were tucked in under the covers, nice and snug, with Kat's tail around Sylvie as well, and Sylvie's face buried into Kat's neck, Sylvie spoke. "So… can you use your dream powers on me?"
"Hmmm" murmured Kat. *That's a good question. I mean, once she goes to sleep maybe but… is that safe for her? Do I want to risk that? I don't think I do… I'd probably want to test it where there is magic first, and then maybe ask Callisto if she wanted to be a test subject?*
*Not that I'd want her to get hurt either but… I feel like she is… less potentially malleable then Sylvie in the mental department. Clearly my dream walking must let me do something with people's minds otherwise I wouldn't have been able to help Major and Minor… and I'm not sure it's worth the risk.*
*Do I have a good excuse though? Maybe…? How about… Ooh I know.* "Not this time Sylvie. We still don't know how long it all takes and I might get called to that job on a moment's notice. I need to be ready to leave sadly. You wouldn't want me getting in trouble right?" asked Kat
Kat felt it as Sylvie puffed up her cheeks while still burying her face. "If you say so Kat. I know that you're worried about me, but I'm sure I'll be fine. If you want to wait though, that's ok too. It gives me more chances to hug you like this"
Kat smiled and stroked Sylvie's soft hair. *Was I just played? Was this actually an elaborate ruse to make it so that I'd let her share my bed more often? No… Sylvie wouldn't do that? Kat thought about it for the extra three seconds required to realise. Yes, yes actually she would. And I'd say that Sylvie is more than smart enough to figure it all out and set this up.*
*This way either she gets to have me join her dream, a win, or she gets to hug me as she falls asleep. Also win. Seems the munchkin knows what she is doing.* Kat let herself close her eyes and start to drift off.
She was trying to go to sleep, but once again she ended up in her pond. As the minute's past, Kat could almost see the indistinct ripple that was Sylvie breathing next to her. The pond seemed to move around that area next to Kat, as if it was already occupied despite seeming empty. It also seemed to reach out, almost grasping at the areas where Kat herself resided. In the dream state, she didn't question if this was strange, or perfectly routine.
Instead, she was happy to relax with the knowledge that Sylvie was with her, and it was a good day. A nice relaxing time with everyone before she headed out to the next harrowing adventure. Hopefully it would be more relaxing than her last frantic trip.
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