BXBX NOVEL Chapter 843
Eventually Kat was able to turn the talk towards the goings on at the orphanage. Kat hadn’t missed anything major except for a record number of adoptions. For once Gramps actually had a few open beds. It all started after Vivian’s visit so perhaps she was a good luck charm.
Aside from that there were only minor issues. Gramps had to give regular reminders to the three kids responsible for waking everyone up and helping around, the youngest kids and recent adoptions were still having some issues with crying but that was quite normal. Grief was something very few children could handle well, and they shouldn’t be expected to.
Kat’s disappearance had been mostly felt by the kids around the longest besides her. It wasn’t so much that Kat was needed for jobs, but some of the children, while not living at the orphanage for over a decade, had been there for three or four, and in one case five years. Kat had been one of the major constants for those kids and it was simply jarring for her to be gone.
Part of Kat wanted to go and reassure those kids she was still around and hadn’t even left town. Another part though, wanted to point out she didn’t exactly look human at the moment... and that in more normal circumstances it still might be best for Kat not to return. They needed to understand Kat wouldn’t be around forever. She’d only left a year earlier than the maximum length of her stay. So when you added the fact she looked like a demon on top of that... it didn’t seem worth the risk.
It was likely at least one of the kids would have an extremely negative reaction to finding out they’d lived with a demon. There was also the opposite issue as well. That they’d decide if Kat was a demon, perhaps they should try and become one as well. Gaining twisted ideas in the process or simply causing a bunch of trouble.
What really decided it was that while Kat did know them all, none of them were that close with her. It wasn’t like her relationship with Sylvie where she took on a more obvious older sibling roll. She’d just been a constant presence in the background and now she was gone it was causing issues. A lot more like replacing an old pillow. The new one, no matter how much better all the advertising insisted it was... rarely felt more comfortable then the pillow you’d been using for a decade or more.
.....
Once the meal was over, and the dishes were checked one final time, Kat decided to leave before anyone else arrived. Better for everyone that way. So with a quick hug from Gramps, Kat picked up the bento box and her jacket before she headed for the door. She could actually hear a few kids walking around. *Not a moment to soon. I shall depart mysteriously like the wind. Nobody shall no I was there except for Gramps!*
Kat chuckled at her over the top thoughts as she started running down the driveway. It was a good way to keep her mind off the uncomfortable position of her wings once again. So this time while Kat ran she turned her full attention, or well, most of it, towards trying to sprint as quietly as possible. Silencing her footsteps wasn’t even that hard.
A little application of demonic energy and she could take the shock of landing internally, dampening the sound a good deal. It wasn’t completely silent but she just had basic shoes on. A bit of work there and she would be silent. Her next focus was on her arms and the bento box. She needed to adjust the bounce so that the upwards motion silenced any sound the shifting of the wooden box gave out. There wasn’t many, but if she wasn’t careful the layers clacked together somewhat. Part of her wanted to fix that by tying the box tighter but that felt like cheating.
Once that was done Kat focused on her wings. A mistake, but one she didn’t really have any way to avoid. To others her wings were basically silent. To Kat they were constantly ruffling her jacket and the noise was quiet noticeable when she was focusing on it. Sadly she didn’t find a good way to prevent it before she reached home. At least it kept her mind occupied for a time.
When Kat arrived at the front door she could smell Callisto cooking. Despite that... she felt somewhat mentally exhausted. So with a ‘thanks for the food’ Kat pulled off her jacket, handed the box and went upstairs to sleep a little more. Her excuse, if anyone were to ask was to say that Lily’s need for extra sleep was bleeding over. It wasn’t true of course, but it was a good excuse. Kat was simply tired. The mental fatigue catching up to her after what was really only a short nap overnight. When she got upstairs, Kat simply flopped down and let sleep take her.
—
Kat woke up around lunch time and had a small bite to eat. Vivian was out at work and Sylvie apparently had something she wanted to finish up first. So after eating a quick meal Kat found herself in the backyard practicing again. This time, she was focused on moving around on her hands. Perhaps not the most useful skill but it improved her acrobatic capabilities.
It did let her learn something useful almost immediately in fact. Something she should have picked up earlier perhaps... but it wasn’t overly clear unless you were thinking about it. Despite being upside down for ten minutes already Kat didn’t feel dizzy. There was no blood rushing to her head, and barely any disorientation... and most of that could be chalked up to simply not being used to walking on her hands.
*Hmm. I wonder if my blood is mostly responsible for this or something else. I imagine my inner ear isn’t on a hair trigger either... though I do wonder where the difference comes in.*
[What are even doing?] Came Lily’s confused voice over the link.
*Ah. Sorry if I disturbed you. I’m practicing walking around on my hands.*
[Right... well... you can probably ask Nira... but good luck with that. I’m still stuck here with my mum. She’s forcing me to watch television with her. Which would be fine... except she’s been taping this show and we started halfway in at least. I have no idea who most of the characters are!]
*Good luck with that!*
There was some more grumbling from Lily but nothing important. Evaline seemed to notice when Lily wasn’t paying attention properly. Even if she didn’t know why Lily was zoning out it was easy to notice when she was paying attention to it.
Kat continued her practice and found it wasn’t too bad. Perhaps a little harsh on the wrists, but that was more of a problem for other people. The real issue was getting up to speed. Elbows just didn’t bend the same way knees did. This meant you needed to... less take steps and more throw one half of yourself forward and then follow up with the other side. It just wasn’t that fast.
Kat suspected that if her fingers were stronger using them might be better. The problem was... she couldn’t really balance on them properly. They were a bit too small and jamming them into the dirt and pulling them out constantly in rapid succession when she tried to use them to walk was needlessly destructive and slow.
Sylvie eventually came out to watch and spend time with Kat, but was eventually recruited into the training effort. Kat and Sylvie stole half a reem of paper and proceeded to draw a number of poses and positions for Kat. It took a bit to draw them all out, but they were just basic stick figures. It didn’t need to be pretty. No time to flex any artistic talent.
Once that was done, Sylvie would hold up one of the many sheets of paper and it would be Kat’s job to mimic the pose as quickly as possible and then hold it until another pose appeared. It went quite well... with only a few mix ups. See, they’d forgotten to draw in the ground and occasionally the papers ended up upside down.
After Kat was ‘told’ to do a pose that wasn’t really possible upside down unless she wanted to balance on her horns and hope for the best, they quickly added in a line for the ground and got back to practice. For Kat, it was an interesting exercise in swift and efficient movement. For Sylvie it was amusing to spend time with Kat and watch her curl up into different shapes.