Chapter 828: The Finer Points


    Safely back under the bed, it didn’t take long for the sound of the door opening to fill the room. It seemed Apep was right in his worry that Parem would be back soon. After waiting a few moments though... she didn’t hear it open a second time. Lily strained her ears until she could hear the sound of two people breathing in the room and felt like clicking her tongue. Something she only narrowly resisted the urge to do.


    [Seems like Apep is getting watched really closely. Even though he’s eating the butler is still watching in the corner. We might have a chance to talk when the butler leaves with the dirty dishes... but honestly chances are that he turns up again. We’ll probably have to wait a while...]


    “Well, it is what it is. Do you think you’ll be find with me hiding inside our connection?” asked Kat.


    [Well we needed to test this out anyway. I think I’ll be fine... but I might also fall asleep. I’m not sure if that’s something we want or not though. It could be good for testing purposes... even if this isn’t really the best ce to test things like that.]


    “I think it’s best to let whatever happens happen. If you fall asleep that’s fine. We’ll deal with any issues that arise because of it. I don’t think it’ll be a problem. I mean, that is how this ability is supposed to work,” said Kat.


    Lily couldn’t think of any argument against Kat’s points so she decided to curl up and rx. With Kat’s eptance of the situation and the likelihood of Parem the butler sticking around Lily quickly found herself drifting off to sleep. The transition to sleep was smooth and clean for Lily. Not so much for Kat.


    The entire room shuddered, as if there was a minor earthquake going on. Kat wasying on the bed at the time and wouldn’t have fallen even if she was standing... but it was certainly unnerving. The shudders continued for a few minutes before dying down... only for Kat to feel like she was zapped with electricity. Her body shuddering under the sensations before the world seemed to skip to beats. Everything froze where it was. Even Kat and her outfit. The slight swishing of her sleevespletely halted despite what gravity would normally force.


    .....


    Then all of a sudden Kat was back in the room. The only thing was that now she was under the covers and Lily had wrapped herself around Kat as best she could. *Well. This is odd.* A few moments passed. *Hang on... is that rude to think? I mean... maybe? It was an odd urrence though. Lily just sort of... beside me now. I wasn’t under the covers either. Wait. Is Lily sleeping inside her dream? I feel like that’s not allowed or something.*


    “Hey Lily?” asked Kat.


    “Yes?” answered Lily without moving.


    “Can you let go of me?” asked Kat.


    “Nope. Don’t want to. This is my dream and I think it’s very rude for you to ask. It’s actually a little surprising...” mumbled Lily.


    *Oh dear. Does... does she think this is a real dream?* “Lily... do you think this is a normal dream?” asked Kat.


    “Huh? What sort of a silly question is that? I’m not dreaming!” responded Lily.


    *The tant contradiction worries me a bit... ‘This is my dream and you’re behaving strange’ to ‘This isn’t a dream don’t be silly’. So... what should I do?* “Lily. I used my dream powers. I’m the real Kat,” said Kat clearly.


    Lily just shuffled herself further into Kat’s side. “Of course. You’re also realfy,”


    Kat let out a puff of air and wrapped her tail around Lily before pulling them both up off the bed. “Mrhgmhff” mumbled Lily as she tried not to resist.


    “Lily focus please,” said Kat.


    “Don’t wanna,” whined Lily, “You isfy”


    Kat thought about it for a few seconds before deciding... Lily was right. She flopped back down onto the bed and wrapped Lily up with her arms. “Yeah. Yeah it isfy,” mumbled Kat as she pulled Lily up so that her head rested on Lily’s ears.


    —


    It was muchter when Lily awoke with a start to someone calling her name. It took a few seconds to focus and remember what was going on before she pulled herself out from underneath the bed. The sun had already gone down and all the light wasing from various fixtures on the walls. [Kat time to go again]


    Kat let out a groan inside Lily’s mind as she sat up in the bed. The act of Lily waking had not woken her... and there were quite a few questions she wanted to ask. Mostly ‘How much do you remember’ and ‘Was I influenced by your dreams’ but now wasn’t the time. Kat let herself coalesce beside Lily once again and nced over at Apep in pyjamas.


    She almost wished she didn’t. He wasn’t wearing a shirt this time and his pants were only just to the knees. Then again, Kat was mostly thankful that they weren’t so thin as to be see-through. Apep actually had a better figure than first thought. He had the slightest hint of muscle and a tiny bundle of hair on his chest. Still awkward to look at though.


    “Right...” said Kat. “What did you want to ask?”


    “You... um... rushed a bit before... I mean... can you give me the full story?” asked Apep.


    Kat sighed and nodded, “So... this is how things went down after we left...” Kat went on to detail the adventures had by herself and Lily. Apep keeping silent throughout. When the tale was done Apep stayed silent for about a minute afterwards.


    “I... I can see how everything happened but... but... hmmm” Apep struggled with an answer. Kat had even ryed the entire conversation with Jara and Zuhra so he’d heard what was said. He didn’t have the visual feedback to go with it... but he’d still heard Zuhra’s multiple ims of not being interested with a great deal of context. “Do... do you both think I have a chance?”


    Kat and Lily looked to each other. “I think I’ll have a different answer to Kat... so she can go first,” said Lily.


    Kat raised an eyebrow but nodded, “Right... I guess if I’m going first... I’ll say that you have no chance right now. Perhaps not for a few more months at least. Even if Zuhra did start to think positively of you and gained a crush... I feel like she’d be too stubborn to admit it, both to herself and to you. So I think pressing the issue wouldn’t be a great idea.


    “After that all... I can’t really say. I think it’s likely she will be able to fall in love again. Despite everything she’s young and she can recover. I just don’t know if YOU would be able to reach her. I don’t know enough about romance to say honestly. I wouldn’t rmend getting your hopes up,”


    Apep winced but didn’t say anything, he just turned to Lily. “I on the other hand think you have a pretty good chance. The fact that you’ve made your intentions known already is a big step in the right direction, at least I think so. I agree that now isn’t the time but unlike Kat I think... I think you should start to do little things.


    “Try and get yourself to befortable around her. Make little offerings. Small things that are arguably not romantic but with context of your crush certainly are. I said it before. Bringing her some sweets she likes, maybe helping her clean... if that would be considered a positive. Double check that one actually. Talk to her more. Just... get herfortable around you but unless she brings it up I’d say don’t mention getting together. At least for a while. If... if you’re willing I’d say give it a full year,”


    “That’s... that’s quite a while...” said Apep.


    Lily nodded, “Yeah it’ll be slow. What I’m hoping is that your little gestures of affection can slowly bring her out of her depression. If you can manage just acting normally around her that’ll be a big step for you. For her... I’m hoping that she’ll befortable enough that you can keep getting closer. Don’t aim for like a big kiss or anything...


    “But little things. Maybe a few hugs. Sit together more often. Start to share your hobbies... but I think you should also, in secret, write a song for her that you can sing. I want that to be either confirmation of your feelings or the final nail in the coffin,”


    “borate please?” asked Apep excitedly.


    “I think after enough time, once Zuhra has recovered herself you should give her a few chances to make a move on you, but the song is for dumb questions like ‘are you still interested in me’. You break out into song after that. Really hammer it home that you are in fact very much still interested. Otherwise, if things move a bit better than that and you get like a peck on the cheek or something...


    “Then I think you use that song as a big moment. Perhaps the ending to your first proper date or maybe for her birthday. That’s what I’d do. Well... no it isn’t I’m a bit of a coward but it’s what I’d WANT to do,” finished Lily.