<h4>Chapter 429: That’s… a Thing… I guess…</h4>


    "Well that was an interesting story" said Kamiko. At some point she''d moved onto the couch with the triplets. It was actually a little funny because the three would rotate who was on the end closest to Kamiko. Kat never saw the switches, she wasn''t watching for them, but unless they were changing out the numbering on their patches it was something they were doing. "but that doesn''t really tell us what your friendship with Lily is like. How do you interact normally?"


    Kat raised an eyebrow, letting a breath of air fill her lungs as she considered what that question meant. *Honestly though I don''t get what it means…* Kat let her thoughts speed up so she wasn''t standing around like an idiot. *Really though how are you supposed to answer that? I interact with her… normally? I mean, the same as everyone else? I don''t do anything special as far as I know. We just chat a lot? Is that the answer?*


    "I''m not really sure what your asking" is what Kat finally settled on. She wasn''t confident enough to go with her guess.


    Kamiko frowned, shoulders lowering just slightly as her eyes met Kat''s and the confusion was noticed upon Kat''s face. Kamiko rolled her eyes towards the triplets, asking them to step in. Merra went first, "Well, my for me, hanging out with my best friend always gets me pumped up.


    "We''re eternal rivals before we are best friends. She shares my passion for sports and I''m constantly trying to one up her in anything we end up ying. I tend to start off a little worse but I get better more quickly then she does. She isn''t a fan of always switching things up, but she does it for me. I do think that''s a little weird though because if she wanted to win more she''d be better changing much quicker."


    After this, Erra hopped in, shifting forward on the couch so that most of her weight was actually supported by her own legs rather then the construct behind her. "My best friend is nice and quiet, and she helps me enter the zone. It''s nice reading in my room sure but reading back to back with her is a great experience and somehow just… much nicer. Though, on the other hand we get into the most heated arguments throwing opinions back and forth. We don''t actually agree on all that much, but we both think that makes it more fun…"


    Merra and Kerra dragged Erra back into the couch so they could speak. Because apparently they couldn''t just talk in ce, no they had to be the frontmost triplet or triplets when they did that. "And we think those two should get over themselves and date already. They''ve been pining after each other for like three decades, and were friends before that!"


    Erra lifted her two sisters up by the back''s of their clothes swapping ces with them. *No seriously what''s with theedy routine guys? Clearly it isn''t a matter of power…* "I keep telling you guys it isn''t like that…"


    Before she could continue to argue much though the other two swapped ces with her again, but this time they went out of their way to wrap their legs around each other''s making it a tangled mess and much harder for Erra to escape. "You don''t look at each other like friends. If you had that weird mutation that makes your eyes turn into hearts when you look at the person you love it would be less obvious."


    Erra growled and stood up, forcing her two sisters along for the ride, though they stayed in a seated position. Once up, Erra simply grabbed both by the arms and lifted until they were ''forced'' to let go of her legs. Once done Erra ced them back down on the couch and then raised an arm.


    Thousands of pieces of paper streamed forth from Erra''s raised hand and wrapped both Merra and Kerra up in a cocoon. When Erra started her retort, her back was to Kat. That however didn''t stop the demon in question noticing that Erra''s cheeks were starting to brighten with a fine dusting of red. "It''s not like that, I''m telling you!"


    Kat carefully slinked over to Kamiko using just a bit of speed, before whispering, though without that much hope of avoiding being overhead. "How can they both say opposite things without either of them being caught lying?" asked Kat


    Kamiko lowered her voice even further, knowing Kat had better hearing then she did. "Notice Erra didn''t say she wasn''t in love with her best friend, AND that she didn''t deny things outright. She just said ''it isn''t like that'' which, she can say easily by meaning it isn''t exactly as the other two describe. There can easily be extra details left out. Maybe they''ve kissed, maybe they''re actually already dating. Maybe there''s something else involved. It''s pretty easy to escape answering things like this"


    *Maybe I need to step up my game.* Thought Kat as she moved back into position. The fact that the triplets hadn''t said anything while Kamiko and Kat chatted further reinforced the idea in Kat''s mind that the triplets did hear everything was that Erra didn''t continue to speak until Kat had stopped. "Well, what about your best friend huh Kerra? That pretty painter boy you always hang out with?"


    "Errrraaa~ it''s not like that. He''s very gay, and has two boyfriends. Even if I was interested, which I''m not, I''m not going toe between him and the people he already loves. Plus I don''t want a poly rtionship. I want someone all time myself… and if he cheats on me I''ll skin him alive and dump his body in front of Mum so she can heal him, and I can start again…" replied Kerra in a nice cutesy voice as if she was talking about her favourite kind of flower back when she was a child.


    *Woah holly shit. Kerra is… hardcore. I… I really didn''t expect that to take such a dark turn. Is that… is that normal? I mean I will admit I''ve gotten much more used to pain then anyone really should be… but I have regeneration and I don''t LIKE the pain. Is… is skinning people really a thing that''smon.*


    "No it isn''tmon" said Merra from her paper cocoon.


    "Did I say that out loud?" asked Kat


    Merra shook her head carefully, making sure to limit her movements so she didn''t identally fall over while her arms were pinned to the side and her bnce was a little precarious. "No but I could see it on your face. Kerra is… I''d like to say she''s in a ss of her own but it''s not that umon…


    "Demons can be… more than a little vindictive when ites to love lives. Parting amicably is one thing but… we do not take cheating lightly and some… probably to many in my opinion… take the whole thing VERY seriously."


    Kerra sighed, before flexing her muscles and just eviscerating the paper bindings around her. Lose strips of paper fluttered around her as she brought her hands together as if in prayer. "Look, I know it''s not exactly healthy, but I''m mature enough to know I''d do it. Lust is more than happy to provide… sexual services and I''m not going toin too much if my partner needs to… pay a visit.


    "However, doing so without telling me… that''s grounds for some serious trouble. There are plenty of Subi who are very… open with their rtionships. If that''s what they want, it isn''t hard to find. I want to find someone for me, and only me, just as I would never go for anyone else once I''d found someone. I''d be VERY clear about it, as well as the consequences, so I don''t think it''s wrong."


    *Um… is that wrong? Well… I''m not actually sure now that I think about it. The whole thing seems a bit extreme… but there''s no permanent… physical… damage done the person and while it might be mentally scaring, finding out your partner cheated on you is as well. Plus demons get into fights on the regr because of summoning so some pain and violence is to be expected…*


    *Skinning someone alive just seems a little on the extreme end… or a lot on the extreme end really. But… wait, didn''t Merra say it isn''t that umon? So… this happens? Wait…* "Hey Merra… how… legal is that sort of thing?" asked Kat not sure she wanted the answer.


    "Well, Kat," said Kerra answering instead. "I''d make sure they signed a contract, with at least one witness, maybe with D.E.M.O.N.S backing. You can do a lot of people agree with a clearly written contract…"


    *You know what. I don''t think I want to know. I don''t want to know at all. I mean, it makes sense, demons are clearly a very Contract base society. And it''s not like they can lie about it, so if Kerra asked she''d find out… they also would HAVE to have signed up for it. Plus knowing that, they might be able to feel it mentally. Demons can''t forget a contract…*