Chapter 814

Once again there was silence. It was happening a lot this conversation. It might have been very understandable but that didn’t make it any less noticeable. There were a few questions Lily and Kat could ask, the story had not caught up to the present day after all. That being said... plenty had already been discussed and many more things were easy to puzzle out. Belle broke down for a while, then she started to collect evidence, what little there was.

*Well. Do you think we did the right thing?*

[I’m not really sure there is a ‘right thing’ to have done here. Belle... it’s probably best Belle had a chance to really talk about it. She doesn’t seem to have much family and there’s only so much that her employees can do. They work for her after all. Maybe this will be for the best? I mean... I don’t feel like we did the WRONG thing at least...]

A soft laugh came from Belle, “Already back to leaving me out huh?”

“Sorry,” said Kat quickly, “it didn’t feel right to disturb the silence... but... well I don’t know about Lily but I felt the need to fill it with something. The compromise was speaking just between us,”

Belle gave a firm nod, “I appreciate the thought. I’m a little surprised you were able to say it Kat. The truth... it’s nice to know I’m not being lied to. I have experience in that sort of thing, it’s my job... but at the same time... it takes so much effort sometimes. Effort I don’t really feel like using more and more often these days. I find myself having to lean a little too hard on my old reputation to make sure I still get decent deals,”

Belle let out another long sigh, “What will you both be doing now?”

.....

Kat and Lily shared a look and then glanced at Belle who said, “Yes, I won’t call you out for talking amongst yourselves this time. I think you deserve that much at this point,” Belle’s thoughtful words sounded nice, but were quite quickly undercut by the fact she reached into her drawer and poured herself another glass of ‘water’ to drink.

Kat rolled her eyes and sighed. [Yeah... that can’t be good for her Kat. I almost feel like we should say something but I mean... what do we say? You have a drinking problem?]

*Probably best to just leave it. What do you think we should do though? Where are we heading after this? Hard to tell how much time has passed but I imagine the sun will be going down soon. Do you want to go find a park? Apep’s? There was also that hideout in the aqueduct?*

[I think... maybe the aqueduct? I don’t really know. I feel like it might be time to get Apep and Jara involved... probably Jara first. We still need to meet Marem, she even came up again in Belle’s story so we have to make sure we get on that at some point... but I wonder if this has gotten large enough that we should bring Zuhra in a bit? Maybe just ask her? Or ask Jara to sound her out?]n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

*Should we ask Belle for advice? She probably knows Zuhra well. We can ask what she suggests. She didn’t seem immediately hostile to the idea of Zuhra finding someone else. In fact, she seemed pretty reasonable about it, even slightly encouraging.*

[True. She does seem willing to help. She clearly knows Zuhra well enough to wish for her happiness... or, more likely... at least I think so... she doesn’t want to see Zuhra become her in the future.]

*What do you mean?*

[A forty year old alcoholic with nothing to live for. Or however old Belle actually is.]

*You think she looks forty?*

[Kat. Just based on the fact she had Gaston means she’s at least twenty. Then add on a few more years as reasonable because she didn’t have Gaston when she was born. So I’d easily add at least fifteen years, probably another few after that because while she said she was a bit wild, she didn’t immediately have Gaston till a bit later on. So I suspect she was around twenty. She might not be forty, could be thirty-eight or forty-two or something. Forty is just a nice number that seems close enough]

*Ok yeah that makes sense. I do wonder how long people here tend to live. The magic seems... well I don’t know if you can call an infinite water source weak, but certainly less integrated into the average person. In the world we go to for Tournaments everyone seemed at least a little magical. I’m sure that effects aging. With everyone being a human though... hard to say. Especially if they eat magically grown food all their life. Is that a positive thing or a negative?*

“You two haven’t gotten distracted haven’t you?” asked Belle suddenly. Kat and Lily jumped at the question before nodding, knowing they were very much caught. “Did you at least figure out what your current plan is?”

Kat shrugged, “We’ll probably want to find somewhere to sleep for the night. Either by visiting Apep and hiding out in his room after we chat with him or maybe go camp in that hidden spot in the aqueduct. It’s a bit of a toss up really. We aren’t supposed to involve Zuhra too much... but we feel like we need to visit Marem and get her thoughts as well... but we don’t know where she lives. So if Jara can’t tell us...” Kat shrugged again when she finished speaking.

“While I can’t help you with Marem’s address... do you not have anywhere to stay?” asked Belle.

“Um... no?” said Kat carefully.

Belle let out a long sigh, “I can’t believe you don’t have any money for accommodation or a place to say. Isn’t that the most basics of hiring?”

Kat glanced over at Lily and couldn’t help shrugging again, “I don’t know... It’s never really been an issue before. It didn’t really bother me either. The idea of just camping out... well until Lily started getting dragged along with me. It’s been... fine for now,”

Belle’s gaze narrowed, “And why did you think that was anywhere near acceptable as an idea?”

Kat wilted slightly and said, “Well I can regenerate from nearly any injury, the fact I survived being stabbed in the heart helps support that fact... I also don’t get effected by the changes in temperature. I was lucky enough to be immune to basically all heat and cold. I haven’t gotten sick yet but I have a completely different biology to a human so must diseases shouldn’t be transferrable and because I’m a Succubus dirt doesn’t really stick to me... so I thought it’d be fine...”

“Young people I swear...” grumbled Belle. “If you don’t have any better ideas, I’ll allow you to stay here. I can provide you with food water and a roof over your heads. There’s no spare bed but the chairs or the floor are available to you whichever is more comfortable,”

“Lily?” asked Kat.

“Why is it up to me? I can transform into a cat and I’m quite comfortable using you as a place to sleep. You’re the one that has to sit on whatever it is we chose. It’s up to you,” said Lily.

Kat frowned, “I can sleep anywhere Lily. I’m just making sure we can stay where you are most comfortable.”

“Kat. I already said it, I’m comfortable wherever. You are comfortable. I’m quite happy, nay, ecstatic to use the fact we have no beds as an excuse to curl up on top of you. So please pick wherever you’ll feel best,” retorted Lily.

Kat opened her mouth to refute Lily’s points when Belle slammed her hand on the table, palm down so that there was no cracks this time just a loud noise. “You pair are hopeless. I can’t believe I was worried the demon and her companion. You’re just kids aren’t you?”

Kat and Lily share a glance. Kat goes to answer, winces slightly before accepting it as the best comparison, “From the sounds of things... Gaston was older than us...”

Belle threw her hands up into the air, “I don’t get paid enough for this...”

“Belle... you aren’t being paid for this. At all. You are the one offering us a place to stay...” pointed out Lily.

Belle just nodded, “See. Not getting paid enough. Come on then. Let’s get down to the storeroom and pick up some food. I can show you the employee quick shower if you want as well. No hot water but we’ve got plenty of it cold. So take as long as you can stand,”

Belle pulled herself to her feet without issue before grabbing the empty glass and heading for the door. Kat and Lily let her walk passed before falling in line. *You know. When we came here... never did I think we’d end up getting invited to stay the night.*