BXBX NOVEL Chapter 545: Back on Earth, and Glad for it.
Chapter 545: Back on Earth, and Glad for it.
Kat stared at the spot the cloaked figure had occupied just moments before. Some small part of her wanted to question things more and puzzle out what exactly was going on… a much larger part however was tired and was feeling the call of home. Despite relaxing today, which was nice, it wasn't quite as good as just going home in her mind. Sure Kamiko's family were lovely and she had a great time, but Kat felt a little wrung out after the past few days. She'd learned a lot, accepted her punishment, and made some friends.
So the last thing she really wanted to do was stick around and waste time trying to puzzle out a demon that was clearly much more powerful then her. *The simple fact that Nira didn't react meant that either she knew what was going on and was ok with it… or whoever that was is skilled enough that not even Nira noticed and if that's the case I've got no chance of dealing with her on my own terms.*
With that, Kat strolled back out of the garden, around the house and headed out to the front slowly. The temptation to up her speed and get home just a bit faster was there, but she decided that a garden such as this was no place to run about at full speed, especially not one that Nira, a Rank 5 medic, liked so much.
This time though, as she was about to leave… she couldn't help but turn her gaze once more to the front of Kamiko's house and flash through the times she'd ended up here since coming to the Hub. It was a place filled with a surprising number of fond memories and it brought a smile to her face, which was a little bit of a surprise.
*I'm not sure I've spent time in a place with so many concentrated positive feelings other than the orphanage. School was too much of a mixed bag to really count, Lily's house wasn't great because her parents are annoying. I'm a little surprised that Vivian's house doesn't have them… but I guess it goes back to what I was thinking about in the mines. We aren't really a family yet.*
Kat sighed once more before calling up the system to send her home. The fire come and she was lost in a world of colour. She'd missed this as well. *I wonder if I should mention the idea to Lillian? A little tweaking, maybe to the sensory deprivation tank and I think people would love this. Might get boring eventually but it hasn't yet. Pretty sure I've seen three colours that don't exist just in this trip alone.*
Kat felt her feet hit the floor as she voiced that last thought in her mind and breathed in a big gulp of air. Things felt… strange though. As if both a weight had been lifted and added at the same time. Swishing her arms through the air Kat couldn't find any difference though, they moved as they should and her tail 'happily' flicked in annoyance without encountering anything weird.
Kat examined the room, but it was perfectly clean. Callisto had obviously dusted recently and perhaps vacuumed the floor as well so the dirt wasn't causing the issue either. Kat pursed her lips as she tried to make sense of it but nothing was really coming to her. Letting out another long breath she walked over to the cupboard and placed the box containing her new chair in before heading for the door. She could find space for that later. Still, she could hear something going on somewhere on the ground floor and that meant people.
Heading downstairs she found Vivian watching a movie on tv with Sylvie on her lap curled up and asleep. It wasn't too late, though perhaps a bit for the young girl, being eight thirty according to the clock on the oven she could see from the stairs. Vivian seemed to be about as tired, looking as if she was contemplating the need to wake Sylvie up and go to bed as well or just sleep where she was. Based on the fact she hadn't moved, sleeping there seemed like the option she was choosing for now.
When Kat stepped on the tiled floor though, the sound of her shoes hitting them caused Vivian to turn and look, spotting Kat and causing her mouth to morph into a wide smile. She was in the process of shifting to get up when Sylvie squirmed in her lap snuggle more into Vivian's boobs that caused her to pause.
Vivian glanced down at the girl in her lap, and then back to the one near the stairs that had frozen at the sound and back a few times before pouting and deciding to make grabbing motions at Kat, beckoning her in for a hug as well. Kat smiled at this and dismissed her shoes now that she remembered she had them on and joined in.
Sylvie seemed to half recognise Kat's presence as she shifted in her sleep to press more into Kat once she joined the hug. Smiling at this Kat glanced over at Vivian with a raised eyebrow and a gesture towards the stairs. Vivian nodded slowly and Kat took that as an invitation to take Sylvie up into her arms. The little girl hardly stirred, simply gripping slightly onto Kat's clothes and burying her head into Kat's elbow.
Sylvie in hand, Kat made her journey back upstairs. It wasn't a surprise exactly, but she had expected to find the younger girl awake for some reason and hadn't intended to simply ferry her back upstairs to bed. The idea of taking Sylvie and cuddling with her was tempting but she wanted to speak with Vivian a bit before bed and decided she could always 'kidnap' Sylvie another day.
When she tried to put the girl in question down on her bed, she managed to cling more tightly to Kat's clothes as if it would prevent her from leaving. Kat simply dismissed her outfit leaving her mostly naked for a second before summoning it back after Sylvie's hands had failed to find purchase. She shuffled around on the bed a bit and found the pillow to be an acceptable substitute and curled around it before settling back down.
Vivian couldn't keep the 'naaw' from slipping out and didn't feel too bad once it had, just giving her youngest adoptive daughter a bright smile and a quick kiss on the forehead before glancing over at Kat and heading out. Kat followed and they ended up in Kat's room. Vivian wrapped her in a big hug as soon as the door closed.
"Welcome back. I know why we didn't hear from you but it was still annoying" said Vivian, "I'm very glad they let us know what was going on though. I think I might have gone a little spare if the system just hadn't said anything and I thought you were ignoring me"
"I wouldn't do that" said Kat as she returned the hug and added her tail into the mix wrapping it around the two and pressing them together, "I might be a little forgetful sometimes when it comes to replying to that sort of thing, but I certainly wouldn't do it intentionally"
"I know dear" said Vivian softly face in Kat's hair, "but I worry even still. We didn't really get a good idea of how you were going to be punished so it was easy to assume the worst. Even if the demons don't sound like barbarians I was still a little worried. Until we were informed you were basically dealing with babies first punishment. That did help things"
Kat patted Vivian on the back lightly and started making circles. It wasn't strictly necessary, Vivian wasn't a worrier by nature and she was just happy to have Kat back for the most part… but the undercurrent of worry was detectable to one with enhanced senses and the desire to pay attention. "Yeah. It really wasn't bad at all. Some parts of it were practically a vacation and I even made a good friend. Not as good as Lily but still! Actually how is she?"
Vivian rolled her eyes, thankful that Kat couldn't see them at the moment. Vivian knew full well that Lily had hardly done anything except continue to go over that list of transformations again and again. Oh sure, she had managed to find a particularly good option she'd overlooked the first time, but she'd really retreated since Kat had left. Still, Vivian had seen her just yesterday, and while she wasn't in top shape, she was at least doing something she enjoyed. "She's… the very definition of fine I suppose. Refuses to come over for lunch regularly. Doesn't want to just relax for a bit. A bit sad you aren't around of course… but for the most part she seems to be doing well. She loves having a research project and this one is important."