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

--- Lily --- (Afternoon of Day 4)

Things had been going well. Kat had finished the hut, a few really uncomfortable chairs and a smaller hut of Lily's own. It was just done up quickly and was basically just a box on its side, but the lack of effort was because Lily had been worried about accidentally destroying it. Kat even had a few spares prepared already.

It hadn't just been crafting and practice though. Meg had been right about the potential for attacks. A large amount of those tree snakes had appeared and tried to get at the rock for some reason.

They had been easy to fight off, and the follow up attack of the squirrels wasn't a concern either… but the fact that both of those attacks had happened during the night just passed was cause for some concern. On the other hand, the day itself had been quiet and as the afternoon wore on it was accepted that nothing was likely to happen until nightfall.

"YEESS!" screamed Lily as she transformed back into her human form. Sure she could've just let Kat know mentally but this was HUGE and needed to be announced. Kat dropped what she was working on, carving various flowers for a fake garden, and sprinted over.

"What's going on? I mean you sound happy but yelling like that has me worried," said Kat.

"I finally managed to feel the space!" cheered Lily.

"Feel the space?" asked Kat, confused for a moment before her eyes lit up with understanding. "Wait really? What was the issue? How did you manage to figure it out in the end?"

"Yes! Exactly… and it's a bit of a pain. Honestly I'm going to need to practice a lot to get a hang of it. Space… it… I don't know any way to explain it other than saying it's… on a different layer? Sort of? We can't see space.

We know it's there, but seeing the… I guess we can call it the fabric of space? Seeing the fabric of space is impossible for us. I mean, there might be like a spell or something to change that but… for now you can't really see it.

"But you can… sort of just barely feel it? I was half dozing when I managed to sense it… but it's… oh it's so hard to explain. I don't know if we have the words in English… it's… yeah it's weird. I can't sense space all the time but the moment I touched it… well I imagine it's a lot like what learning to see for the first time feels like.

I just… I had a sense of this whole new dimension of stuff…" explained Lily.

"You can just send me the memory Lily," said Kat with a grin.

"Oh… um right…" mumbled Lily with a good deal of embarrassment. Lily pushed the memory towards Kat and watched as her girlfriend staggered a bit.

"Ok… that… that is so weird. You're right we don't really have the words to explain it. I can hardly parse the information. I mean, it's probably because I don't have that sense the same way you seem to do, but maybe I can develop it? It's… it's so weird to see space acting like that.

I imagine the mist is making it so much worse like… staring into the sun but very much not like that at the same time…" said Kat.

"Right?!" agreed Lily. "That's the closest comparison but it feels so wrong. I also thought about explaining it like being on a rollercoaster ride and your surroundings are all blurry but that's more wrong then the sun example,"

"Yes…" agreed Kat with a nod. "Now that you've figured out this much what's your plan?"

"Eh… I don't know. I think… maybe it is easier to pick up on it in the forest here with all the space mist. At the same time? I'm pretty sure that now I have the basic senses down practicing with the mist around would be bad. I think. It's more of a gut feeling that it would dull my senses.

It's why the 'starring at the sun' example is so apt. There is an overwhelming amount of miniscule space fluctuation here as well as the rather large pocket dimensions. I'd miss more subtle things like my ring, even knowing it's there," explained Lily.

"That's fair enough," said Kat. "What's your plan now? Practicing more shadow and paper magic?"

Lily thought for a moment before stepping into Kat and giving her a big hug. Kat immediately returned the gesture, wrapping her tail around Lily and pulling her in tightly. "I think… can we just spend some time together? I think that'd be really nice. I've been a bit distracted these past few days and so have you.

Neither of us really made use of the fact we were alone," mumbled Lily into Kat's shoulder.

"Oh um sorry…" started Kat.

Only for Lily to cut her off "No don't be sorry. I had my own projects and I wanted to do them. You found something to occupy yourself with but that's hardly your fault and I'm not going to blame you for it. If I was feeling lonely before I could've just poked you mentally and I know you would've dropped everything.

"Heck, I understand that you were getting a lot more out of your carving then it seemed. It has been excellent for training your control and I'm sure that you could spend a lot more time on it without getting bored. Even just coming over now was indulging me so I don't want you to think I've been pining away for your attention. It's lovely and I enjoy it, but we both had projects, as I said,"

Kat giggled, "You seemed to get a bit lost with your words there. While I agree the training has been useful ion gaining control… there hasn't been all that much NEED for said control. I don't regret gaining it but I can't think of all that many times it would've been useful,"

As Kat was speaking she summoned a beanbag from her storage ring and then pulled Lily down into it. Lily didn't struggle at all and simply fell with Kat, trusting her to know what she was doing. Kat kept laughing as she hit the beanbag. "Regardless of how useful it is though? Moments like these are worth treasuring.

You're right we haven't been spending that much time together, and perhaps I don't need to apologise for it, that's more of YOUR thing… but I still think I should. It's nice to just relax together,"

With that all said the pair were content to lay together in silence enjoying each other's presence. They did sneak in a few kisses occasionally but never let it escalate. It was a time for relaxation, not for trying to test Lily's resolve.

Kat did keep one eye out for any approaching monsters just in case, but it seemed the absence of the morning held true and they were able to just sit quietly for around an hour before Lily spoke up. "Kat… how much thinking have you done about the future?"

"Not all that much I suppose? We've got money for everything we might need and a place to stay with Vivian and Callisto, at least until Sylvie grows up. I guess now that I'm saying that out loud I wonder how long it'll remain true. I mean, I'd help provide like… rent or whatever so Vivian and Callisto aren't too put out but from my understanding they're quite well off and enjoy our company.

"At the same time… we're not around as much as I might like. Which I guess is actually an argument for remaining with them. We can feel more like visitors…" Kat sighed. "Nevermind. What sort of thing did you mean when you asked?"

"Um… sort of that?" said Lily. "I mean, it was one of the things I was thinking about… but more so the fact that you're Rank 4 now. That's… a lot faster then I think either of us thought it would be and I'm not sure we can stay on Earth once you're Rank 5, at least not permanently. So… I was wondering what you thought we'd do after that?"

"I… I guess it depends on if we get regular enough missions to prevent it from being an issue… but I imagine we'd stay with Kamiko or Sue for a bit… probably Kamiko if that's fine with them. From there we'd look for a place to stay. I'm not really sure what sort of place that would be, it's not like I know the prices for stuff all that well.

From there… well I guess we'd just have to see?" answered Kat.

Lily sighed, "Yeah I was thinking mostly the same thing. I don't LOVE that we seem to be heading in that direction… but I can't think of anything else we could do. Maybe there's some expensive warding we could buy to let us stay on Earth but… well it's probably expensive and I'm not sure how simple it would be. Guess… guess it's something we'll need to keep in mind,"

"Heh, I'm sure Hunter's clan would take us," chuckled Kat.

"What? No they wouldn't!" retorted Lily. Kat just kept laughing in response.

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