<h4>Chapter 317: On The Road Again</h4>
Not much else happened that day. Kat went to bed, and Sylvie followed behind. Kat didn''t really sleep that night. She wasn''t tired and had way too much to think about. She sunk into a very slight meditative state while sitting up and hugging Sylvie who was more than happy to use Kat as a pillow instead, and Kat was able to abuse her demonic muscles to remain in ce without twitching or feeling ufortable.
Her mind focused around the more immediate problems. Putting the question of what she was willing to die for on the back burner in favour of focusing on the question of if she wanted or even should tell Sylvie, and could never find a better solution then just asking the girl herself.
Kat decided, that while it was all well and good for herself and Callisto to argue over what was best for Sylvie, it was undeniable that the girl was smart to an absurd degree. And so, Kat could find no better solution than to trust in that intelligence and allow the person who knew the little girl the best to provide the answer. This was of course Sylvie herself.
There was some consideration, to go and ask Gramps for advice. She hadn''t spoken to him in a long time. But Kat could already picture his response in her head, which would be to simply shrug his shoulders and repeat questions back at Kat until she answered them herself. She decided it might still be worth visiting when she had time, however, she wouldn''t waste her visit asking questions she could answer herself.
In the morning, once everyone had woken up, and Kat had avoided bathing with Sylvie by insisting on a shower instead, which Sylvie had joined anyway, Kat was eating breakfast when Vivian spoke up. "So, I was meaning to tell you all yesterday that Chekov has finished those desks for Lily and Sylvie. I was thinking of grabbing a trailer from a friend''s house and picking them up. I''m not sure if we can take both in one trip, depends on what he''s done, but we should get around to it soon. Either today while I''m off work or sometime soon"
Kat shrugged. "I''m good to go whenever. I''ll just go and get my phone and text… my phone won''t be charged will it?"
Sylvie shrugged from nearby. "Sorry Kat, I should have charged it for you"
Vivianughed as Kat frowned and said "It''s not your responsibility Sylvie it''s mine. Don''t worry about it, I guess… Vivian can you ask her?"
Vivian smiled "Sure thing."
Reaching into her pocket, Vivian pulled out a phone and sent a message off to Lily before putting it away. "Good that means she is getting some sleep"
Kat grimaced knowing what Vivian meant. The only reason Lily would be awake as early as their group would be if she hadn''t gone to sleep at all. The fact Lily wasn''t jumping to answer straight away likely meant that she had taken the advice from yesterday and gotten some sleep.
"Do you think she will say yes?" asked Kat taking a bite of whatever the square yellow thing she was eating was. It tasted of eggs and spices but she didn''t recognise it. Still, it tasting quite nice like Callisto''s other cooking so she wasn''t concerned.
Vivian nodded "Well, I think so? Hers has been done for a while and I mentioned that once you get back, we should get around to it. She may have forgotten after getting lost in researching what race she wants to be, but yeah, hers has been ready since that time you went to help out Minor, it was… I think it was the day after you left? Or maybe the day after that"
"Oh" said Kat looking down at her te. *She''s been waiting for me for quite a while to pick it up. So long that Chekov was able to make a whole second desk… woops… I guess I have been busy straight from one thing to another, I finished up with the Tournament, then I was only back for a few days before the emergency beacon and then straight into Xiang''s summons after that… Oh plus however long I was in the hospital for…*
"Do we need to do anything else while we are in the city? Or are we just going to head to Chekov''s ce and then head back?" asked Kat
Vivian shrugged. "I''m not sure. I mean, I don''t need to do anything, and I don''t think Sylvie does…" Vivian nced at the youngest of the group who shook her head in response. "but if Lily does have anything else, she might want to pick up we can do that as well."
"Are you noting Callisto?" asked Kat looking over, and seeing that Callisto was already cleaning up.
"I''m afraid not Kat. For once it is actually I that is somewhat behind on work. I was helping out with some design improvements for a kitchen appliance and they rejected my first draft. I had assumed that they would just ept it as is, and was very surprised they asked for revisions… then I was rather annoyed when they asked for the second draft to be done on the same deadline, which is tomorrow.
"I will not be working with thispany again if I can help it, but they are offering a lot of money for the work, and the fee for pulling out of the contract is higher than I feelfortable paying. I could afford it yes, but, while I mightin on principal, it is not beyond my abilities" said Callisto
Kat stared open mouthed at Callisto. "You have a job?"
"Yes?" said Callisto while tilting her head "Of course I have a job"
"What… what do you do exactly?" asked Kat
"Oh, this and that really. A design refinement is my main source of ie, alongside writing technical manuals for moreplex machinery. I also dabble in writing my own short stories and a few other projects. I like to keep myself busy. Arguably, I invent as well, but nothing I''ve made has ever generated a profit in that area" said Callisto.
Kat just noddedmely and took another bite of her breakfast, still trying to process the fact that Callisto does actually do things other than simply clean Vivian''s house and be mysterious all the time.
It was another two hours before they heard back from Lily, who apologised for getting back to us sote. Vivian had already left around an hour ago to grab the trailer for the journey, after deciding that the chance Lily said no to the trip was rather low, and was willing to deal with asking for it again if needs be.
They all piled into the car once Lily arrived, sitting in the standard arrangement, Sylvie on Kat''sp in the backseat with Lily and Vivian in the front. Once they made it out onto the highway, and everyone was settled in, Kat decided to finally broach the topic she''d been holding back.
"So… I don''t know if you guys noticed, but I was avoiding talking about some of the stuff that happened while I was summoned" said Kat. Lily hid herughter behind her hand, knowing well ahead of time this was the case. Vivian''s reaction was hidden, but the slight shaking of her shoulders made it seem like it was a simr reaction to Lily''s. Sylvie just sighed quietly.
Kat of course, even with her hearing dulled from being on Earth, could hear everyone''s reactions well enough. With a long sigh she continued "Right, of course, I should have known better. I mean, I guess I''m not surprised but I did put some effort into hiding it…
"Anyway, I… well I talked to Callisto about it" Kat saw the others wince slightly at that "and while we agreed on some things and not others it got me to think more about what I should do. In the end, I decided… mostly for Sylvie''s sake, that it would be just best to ask you all if you wanted to hear it.
"It… it isn''t pretty, and honestly it''s… well I won''t be going into graphic descriptions or anything but it''s still quite… impactful? Gruesome? I''m not sure really but… while I don''t think I did anything bad per se, you might all think less of me because of what ended up happening. So, I just thought… I''d trust in your own judgement when ites to if you want to hear the full story or not" said Kat.
"Of course," said the other three, almost in perfect sync. In the case of Sylvie and Vivian it actually WAS in perfect sync, and even with Kat''s advanced hearing she couldn''t tell if they started apart at all. It was almost as if they practiced… and now that she realised they all knew she was avoiding the topic, there was a chance that they did in fact practice, or at least, Sylvie and Vivian probably did.