Chapter 823

The silence stretched on once again. With both Kat and Jara being asexual they couldn’t really contribute to the issue, and as it was one Lily caused... she didn’t have a good solution either. It’s not like she could say that it didn’t matter after explaining why and how it did. [I feel like I might have made a mistake somehow... I mean... Zuhra does not seem to be handling this well...]

Lily was right. Zuhra’s hands were twitching in place and occasionally reaching into her pockets before Zuhra would pull them back out again as if burned. After this happened a few times it was clear she was trying to resist the urge to go and clean things. *It’s not your fault Lily. You were trying to help. I didn’t expect her to take it so hard though... do you think it’s because time has dulled her memory of Gaston or that she never had a specific thing to point to in the first place?*

[I’m not sure. Part of me says that if Gaston was really as spectacular as Zuhra seems to think then there might not be something she could point to... but then another part of me points out that I’ve never seen anyone better looking then you and that I can still point to your legs being my favourite feature. I’m not sure if I’m helped by the fact that I had a crush before you or if I’m just more aware of my fetishes.]

*Well what do you think is more likely?*

[I don’t know, I’m a gay woman Kat. I can’t really understand what a straight girl finds attractive in guys. I mean sure, I’ve heard things. But some of the are contradictory. Like that time the girls nearly got into a civil war at school over Wain when he sprouted a beard over the weekend. The girls in school split themselves in half and started a war over if he looked better with or without the beard. Heck I even got dragged into it and... well I said I didn’t really care at first but I was forced to pick a side... and I went with no beard. I mean... I don’t like beards for obvious reasons but I mean... you know?]

*No I think I lost your point somewhere along the way.*

[Wait. Now that I think about it... how did you avoid getting caught up in that nonsense?]

.....

*Hmm... I think... oh who was it... I think it might have been Paige? I can’t find the specific memory without wasting a bunch of time but now you’ve brought it up... I’m pretty sure Paige asked ‘Do you think Wain looks better with or without a beard’ and my response was ‘Who’s Wain?’ and she looked at me with the most confused face ever. Then described him in detail and I responded with, ‘Right so he has a beard now?’ and Paige threw up her hands in defeat.*

[Ugh. Why didn’t I go for that route!]

*Because you kept better track of who’s who at school? I couldn’t really be bothered because I have to remember enough names back at the orphanage. I didn’t need to go to school and remember more names.*

[Hmm... I guess that’s a better excuse then I could come up with. Back to Zuhra though... I just don’t have enough experience to say how normal her attitude is. I mean... surely she’s not completely vanilla right?]

*I’m not sure if the fact she can’t point to something specific means she’s vanilla. I mean, Sue can’t really point to anything specific either and if she’s vanilla...* Lily could feel Kat’s shivers while being hugged, and joined in with the uncomfortable mental image.

[You know... speaking of Sue. I wonder if she’d have any good advice for this situation? Would it be worth sending her a message?]

*I’m not sure... I mean... maybe? I wouldn’t get a response anytime soon so it’d only be applicable if we’re still here to answer tomorrow or maybe late tonight. I’m also not certain Sue would be able to help. Her first answer would probably be ‘just get Apep to fuck her and see how that turns out’ if we’re being honest with each other... but she might have a follow up answer that’s actually useful. The problem would be getting her to send both in the same message.*

[Yeah... that does sound like something Sue would say. ‘It’s just a bit of sex. You have to make sure you’re both compatible’ or something like that. We’d probably have to exchange a few messages to get a proper answer and I’m also unsure if we’d have the time for that. How likely do you think it is that we’ll be able to stay and help with this Gaston issue?]

*I’m not sure... it really does seem like something I should be paid for even if I don’t feel the need... I think as long as we keep it within 24 hours, we’ll be completely fine... but any more than that and we might be pushing it.*

[Could we message Nira for advice? She probably has some experience with this sort of thing considering her age. Surely she’s seen at least one death of an acquaintance set to be married right?]

*I mean maybe? I’m not sure how long she went on Contracts for and considering she’s a healer it’s quite likely that she was in charge of making sure the person in question DIDN’T die. So it still might not be something she knows how to deal with. That’s not even going over the fact that she’d probably have the same joke answers as Sue.*

[Wait what?]

*Wait did I not tell you about that? Nira is a massive tease and likes to embarrass her family members. Considering we are two of Kamiko’s only two friends she’d probably treat us like part of the family and give that kind of answer.*

[I don’t like the fact that even having not met her outside of a professional setting I can still imagine her doing that. What about... Tristan? No... what was his name? Kamiko’s dad?]

*Trigrath is his name... and while he might give us answers... he probably wouldn’t give us one that we’d like. He’s obsessed with his family and I imagine he’d agree with Zuhra that being miserable for the rest of his... much longer life... would still be preferable to cheating on the spirit of his dead wife. The fact that Nira can heal basically anything would only reinforce that idea in his head. So... yeah... don’t think he’d be much help with this.*

[Your friends are weird Kat...]

Kat rolled her eyes, hidden as they were behind Lily’s ears. *Lily, most of them are your friends as well, some of them aren’t really friends so much as family of friends and finally... as my once best friend what does that say about you?*

[Kat. I had a crush on you for nearly two years before I finally said anything and instead of doing the normal thing of dating for a while I went straight for marriage essentially. I also became a magical cat-girl. I don’t think I count as normal either.]

*Hmm... what about Sylvie?*

[Kat... as adorable as she is... she’s way too smart. Pretty sure she also counts as weird. And don’t even try to argue for Vivian and Callisto! How either of them manage to look somewhat normal for extended periods of time I’ll never know. Well... actually I don’t think Callisto even tries.]

*Yeah... I don’t think Callisto bothers with it either... I think she just sort of wears it well? If that makes sense?*

[Yeah. She does manage to make that outfit feel oddly natural despite the fact it shouldn’t really be for cleaning at all. Way too much white on it. I mean look at Zuhra. The only white on her outfit is the pocket but that might be a safety thing?]

*No idea.*

[Yeah same.]

*Should we try to start up the conversation with everyone else again?*

[Maybe? I’m not really sure where we should start. I seem to have caused more issues than I solved, Zuhra is trying not to have a breakdown and start cleaning, Jara... I’m not sure what she’s doing... and you’re trying to comfort me even though I’m fine. Probably just leave restarting things up to Jara.]

Kat didn’t really care about getting found out. *I have the right to spoil you all I want as your girlfriend. You might not NEED the comfort but maybe I do? It’s not exactly nice hearing about you getting hurt you know? Even if I already heard the story once before it isn’t much easier to listen to the second time.*

[Oh. Sorry]

*Lily. What did I say about apologising when you don’t need to? You were trying to help Zuhra. It’s a wonderful reason to share that story. Even if I’m not fond of it, it’s part of your history and I’m not going to complain when you share it with people. Especially not when you have such a good reason to.*

Lily didn’t say anything else. She just snuggled further into Kat’s embrace.