<h4>Chapter 487: Four is not a Crowd</h4>


    Kat and Nira both had there tails wrapped around each other in a full hug. Nira had finished with the tears, but her face was still a little bit wet, Kat on the other hand had only a very slight moistening around her eyes that gave any indication of the severity of the emotions that had washed through them both.


    After a while, Kat noticed the tail factor and made a note to ask about it but didn''t break the hug. Nira started to hum a little at this point as well and shifted very slightly from side to side, taking Kat with her. Despite the gentle way she did it, Kat could feel the force behind it somehow and knew even at her strongest she''d fail to find off this caring touch. A few more minutes and Nira looked over her shoulder back towards the house and said, "It seems my daughters are cooling down. Perhaps we should grab them and hop in the bath together".


    "Sounds good" said Kat breaking the hug, "Hey um… unrted note, I noticed you hugged me with your tail there. I do that sort of automatically but I noticed Kamiko doesn''t really use her tail for it when she''s hugged me. What sort of… I guess… cultural context is around that? Like… what do you use it for?"


    "Ah yes… that''s actually something you should know" said Nira as she started to head towards the house. Kat kept pace with her and walked in step with the older demon. "So, it depends on the species. For some it''s actually an erogenous zone, but not for most Subi. Oh, quite a few of them will y it up, and some actually like their tail being tugged. They''re normally the same demons that like getting their hair pulled, but on the whole, it''s more like an arm or a leg then anything else. The only thing to note is that obviously the base of it is a little close to your butt, so… if that''s a thing…" Nira shrugged "Not to my taste but I know all kinds really.


    "Still, that wasn''t what you asked. Um… so, Subi and Incubi are fairly physical people. We like to hug and hold hands even if we aren''t necessarily friends. Greeting co-workers you like with a hug is considered perfectly normal once you''ve known them for like a week or so. It''s not a first meeting thing unless you really hit it off, but it''s nothing serious if that makes sense.


    "Hugging Subi, tail included, is the next step up. It''s done with family and close friends. Once again, not sexual unless you want to make it sexual. I didn''t really mean to hug you like that, but it happens. It''s an instinct thing. When you''re sharing a major emotional moment with someone and you hug, normally that''ll include your tail as well because… well, now that I think about it… that''s not something I''ve ever heard of being researched… hmm… I wonder… I might need to check the archives and do some testing myself if they are empty.


    "Never mind. What was I saying? Right, instinct and stepping up. It''s verymon amongst family members, simr to like… a kiss on the forehead, or the cheek. The next step up from that is obviously kissing people on the lips, and that''s for potential romantic partners only. Thing is though, while kissing is the next step up, it''s a big step. Hugging with tail, is like… thest bastion of tonic closeness if that makes sense. Sure kissing might not seem that more intimate, but it crosses the line.


    "Now. With that being said… a couple other demons are not like that. If they hug you with their tail, that IS crossing the line. I know Lamia''s can be weird about it. While they''ll happily crush someone with their snake body, someone running their hand gently along the end of their tail is a BIG no unless, once again, you''re in a rtionship. There are others, but for quite a few of them it''s more amunity based thing then a whole race thing like Subi. We''re a surprisingly homogenous lot when ites to weird things like that. Wings for instance. They''re perfectly safe as well. Batting someone on the wing is like humans hitting someone on the shoulder, though we do that as well. It''s a little more intimate when you have small things like me, and Kamiko, but for demons with big wings like yourself it''s not normally something they''ll care about.


    "Rule of them for that, the bigger the wings, the less sensitive and intimate it is UNLESS they have feathers. If they have feathers, it gets all wonky again. Sorry if I''m confusing you. I know you just asked about the tails but this is actually pretty important stuff you really should know. Wouldn''t want to identally do something wildly inappropriate. Still,mon sense deals with most of the issues. Hands and feet are always fine unless that person has a specific fetish for those things. Still normally isn''t an issue because well… it''d be hard to function if it was."


    "Thanks!" said Kat cheerily as she stepped inside. *That''s actually really useful information and I''m d to hear that it''s mostlymon sense stuff. Boy I''d hate to have identally don''t something really bad without meaning to. I mean, it seems like it''s fine, and I haven''t done anything weird, but who knows. Like… like say that Gluttony demon''s chef hat. That was weird. Would that be something I should be careful about?*


    Nira headed downstairs first and Kat followed. The older demon was the one to knock on the door to Aslena''s room. Kat noted that she couldn''t hear anything at all, so they were probably soundproof. *Now the question is. Can Nira''s ears ovee the soundproofing or is it enchanted and she''s keyed to hear past it. Or, did she just scry them to find out what was going on? These are all valid options and while I want to know the answer, it feels rude to ask.*


    While Kat was having those thoughts, Aslena made it to the door and opened it slightly. She had tears streak all the way down her face, and most of her neck as well. Kat was surprised to note, her nose wasn''t running though. *Must be a Subus thing.* Kamiko was standing behind, a fairly simr state but likely less tears overall, though not by much. "Oh… um… hi Mom…" said Aslena while trying to sound cheery.


    "Come, we''re all having a bath" said Nira happily as if it was a suggestion. The sisters knew better though, and quickly followed their mother as she headed for the bathroom area. They didn''t talk on the walk or while they were removing their clothes. However, as soon as they''d all hit the water Aslena asked, "Mom… am I a bad person?"


    Nira blew out a lot of air at that, enough to cause small waves to start up in the pool. "That''s a hard question to answer Aslena. Know that you''re my daughter and I love you no matter what. That being said…are you a bad person… well… I''d say it''splicated. It really depends on what you''re measuring yourself against.


    "I wouldn''t say you''re a good person. I''m sorry, but, I think you wanted and expected to hear that. I''m still sorry to say it, but… well… you''ve been a bit… callous with the unintended consequences of your actions more than a few times. Nothing that''s caused me problems personally but others…" Nira finished what she was saying by darting her eyes really quickly over to Kamiko.


    "I…" Aslena struggled with the words for a moment, letting herself lean against the edge of the water. "I suppose I d-did figure that out. Why… why didn''t you ever tell me?"


    Nira sighed. "Well, quite a few reasons though I''m not sure you''ll like many of them. A big one is I''m not sure you''d have cared before. Maybe a week ago it might have worked, but certainly not much further back then that. On top of that… well… you knew what you wanted to do with your life, and that''s what was causing a lot of your unintended issues.


    "I didn''t really know how to exin that what you were doing was a bad thing. I mean… I can tell it was… but… I never thought you were doing those things because you enjoyed causing pain or liked doing bad things. It was all just… unintended consequences and if you couldn''t understand why those things were bad, or that you shouldn''t be doing them, well… why would you ever stop?" asked Nira with a mncholy note to her voice.


    "Why did it have to be like that?" asked Aslena. "Why couldn''t I have just… just realised? I-I mean… how did I not? Sis and I have been talking a bit… and… I mean that helped but… how was I so blind?"