D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

Everyone took the time they needed to recover from the impromptu crying session. Lots of hugs were given and the mood was significantly improved. Callisto headed off first. She held things together the best of the group on the surface but truthfully, she was likely closer to Sylvie then Vivian was… and in recent weeks perhaps even closer then Kat herself. Callisto wasn't crying like the others but she was perhaps the least fine. Kat had the benefit or hearing a lot of this story once before and could prepare herself. Callisto did not.

After that Lily gave Kat a glance as well. Part of her wanted to stick around with her girlfriend but she recognised that Sylvie probably needed a bit more space. Lily ended up heading off with Vivian to do something on Vivian's computer. Kat wasn't sure what that was, and she was trying to ignore the emotions coming from Lily at the moment. It wasn't exactly working but she was trying. Sharing emotions was great when the happiness reinforced itself. When it was a less pleasant emotion neither were really fighting… it really wasn't a good feeling at all.

Finally it was just Kat and Sylvie left on the couch. Kat went to unhook her hands from Sylvie and give her as much space as she wanted only for the little girl to grab hold of Kat's sleeve. "Go with me." The words were shaky but there was conviction there. Kat stopped in place and turned to look over Sylvie slowly before picking her up and heading for the stairs. Now Kat wasn't exactly sure where they were supposed to go but her best guess was Sylvie's room.

So that's where Kat headed. When Sylvie didn't say anything at the top of the stairs Kat kept going. When she stopped outside of Sylvie's room and received no further instructions she opened the door. When she did… well. A lot had changed. Sylvie had things in her room now. The first and most obvious was the large desk that Chekov had made for Sylvie. It sat next to the door and took up most of the back wall. The closet was on the right side of the room and there was a large bookshelf on the left. The walls had been redone at some point to a soft green. The bed was in the centre of the back wall, but the size of the room meant there was plenty of space between it and the desk despite that.

The covers had a fairy forest on them, much like the desk. There was mostly trees but the occasional splash of colours and wings added a bit of extra fantasy to the ensemble. It didn't seem like it came with pillowcases though because they were both white with a basic set of stripes running through them. The bed frame itself was nothing remarkable either. It was just a basic wooden frame with a thick backboard attached to it.

Kat ignored the chair at the desk, as well as what looked to be a new laptop as well and headed for the bed. She shifted aside the pillows with her tail and set herself leaning against the headboard, pulling Sylvie into her lap properly. Sylvie didn't say anything and Kat started to run her nails through Sylvie's hair. Taking it as slowly as she could, carefully working out the non-existent curls with so much attention to detail it was only possible with her unhuman senses. Every single strand was checked and while Kat brushed out larger clumps she had her eyes on every hair at least once.

Sylvie eventually decided Kat had played around with her hair enough and started snuggling into Kat's body. Kat let it happen and wrapped the little girl up with her tail as she stared at the desk mostly just because it was there. Kat didn't take in any of the details, it was simply the direction she moved her gaze to give Sylvie yet more time to get herself together. It wasn't common for Sylvie to break down like this.

Even when she first moved into the orphanage. Sylvie was always a mature little girl. The nine year old liked to act more like she was ninety most of the time. Logical arguments, calm demeanour, a room so clean you'd think nobody lived there. Kat felt a flash of happiness at the fact Sylvie could still feel things so strongly before a wave of guilt smothered that. Kat let out a light sigh, not able to stop the act but limiting the noise she made so as to make it impossible for Sylvie to actually hear her exhale. Sylvie still felt the odd movement of Kat's chest though, as it was had its rhythm disrupted.

For a moment, Sylvie considered using that as her chance to start talking… but she didn't want to speak. She was safe in Kat's arms. The rest of the world could wait. Her other feelings could wait. This was a good thing and she wanted to keep it that way for as long as she could. So she did.

With Kat's demonic physique she was able to remain mostly still for the next hour without trouble. Even when a human would need to shift, Kat simply didn't. Her body was limber and her body was strong enough to keep pumping her black blood around despite Sylvie's weight. Sylvie did move positions a few time but not often and only to get slightly more comfortable. The second hour passed much the same way. Sometime during the third Sylvie drifted off to sleep.

It was a bit after the fourth hour was up that Sylvie opened her eyes again and regained her bearings. There were a few moments of confusion before she shuddered. Realising what had already happened. Sylvie tried for a few minutes to just go back to sleep but she wasn't tired anymore just drained. That didn't mean she couldn't be stubborn about it. Sylvie took another ten minutes to say anything. "Hey Kat?"

"Yes Sylvie?" responded Kat, voice still perfectly crisp and clear, no trace of any exhaustion.

"Thanks Kat,"

"Anytime Sylvie," answered Kat happily as she brough her hand up to Sylvie's shoulder to rub gentle circles. Sylvie leaned into the touch and sighed.

"I do not like that I broke down so much this morning. I should not be crying about it," said Sylvie firmly with all the surety of an eleven year old that thought they were an adult now they were in their team years. Kat had to give Sylvie props for starting that phase of her life early.

Still, at least this was familiar enough territory for Kat. "Sylvie, there is nothing wrong with crying. Everyone else was crying as well, in fact the person crying the most was Vivian and I think she's the oldest of us. Or maybe Callisto? I don't actually know which of the two is older and they're born in the same year so the point is pretty much irrelevant."

"But that's Vivian, it doesn't count," said Sylvie firmly.

"Why not?" asked Kat. Sylvie gave a pout in response, so Kat continued, "No I am genuinely asking. I am not trying to press you into accepting it's ok to cry just yet… but I do want you to think for a moment. Vivian is an adult in terms of age. She has a university degree… I think… I KNOW she has a high paying job. She's given her friend a place to live and offered it basically for free because she makes that much money,

"Vivian loves her job and was able to adopt two kids essentially on a whim without the financials taking a noticeable hit, and you KNOW Callisto would have said something if it was actually an issue. You've got a brand new computer and everyone, including Lily got personalised desks from a master crafter. Vivian, is by almost all definitions a highly successful adult. This morning, that same adult was bawling her eyes out, and I bet she has no problems with it. So why do you?"

Sylvie let out a long sigh as if she was suffering under the weight of the world's idiocy and flopped back into Kat. Sylvie wanted to point out Callisto didn't cry but that would be a lie. Callisto didn't make noise but she was very much crying as well. On top of that, as much as Sylvie looked up to Callisto as the type of person she wanted to be in the future…

She also couldn't do that without knowing that Callisto held Vivian up on a pedestal. Callisto was self aware enough to know she gave Vivian an exceptional amount of credit for many things, likely too much. Callisto just didn't care. To Callisto Vivian was the most important person. So even if she wanted to point out the fact Callisto didn't cry, she knew the cleaning obsessed woman would say the fact she didn't cry properly but Vivian did was a failing of hers and not Vivian's.

So Sylvie just sighed again and leaned into Kat.