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

The three Succubi continued to chat for a short time, before Kamiko suggested that they all go and take a bath. This was partly to escape her mother's arms, and partly because she was starting to feel tired. The stress of the day was getting to her, and even though Kat had assured her the attacks to test the various items were fine, it still weighed on her.

When she suggested as much though, her mother said. "Ugh, the way you said that means Kat has frost flames. I guess I'll have to just put up with the cold if I want to join you guys"

"Indeed" said Kat "It was a very nice experience that I don't really get, and I can see why Kamiko enjoys taking the chance when she can. I take it you have hot flames?"

Nira nodded. "Yeah I do. It's probably the only thing about my abilities I'm a little disappointed in. Demonic flame is one of the things that doesn't really care about your feelings, you just get what you're given. If you hate it too bad.

"I wanted pretty much anything except normal fire. I would have loved a lot of the more exotic ones of course, but I'd have been happy with anything. I'm glad one of my daughter's managed to snag ice but it does make bathing together a little annoying. I didn't consider that at the time."

With that, Nira stood up but kept Kamiko in her arms as she headed for the drop. Kat followed behind with a wry smirk. It was a quick trip back to the bathroom where Nira turned on the cold water with a sigh before throwing off her coat that disappeared when it left her body.

"Wait was that your Demonic Attire?" asked Kat

"Yes but not how you're thinking Kat" said Nira "Once you get to Rank 5 you can have a few of them at once, and with a little bit of effort you can change them around into a better form. I have an armoured set of robes that I use for my combat medic attire. It's lined with metal plates.

"What I can do is remove those plates, fluff the robes up a bit, and then use it as you just saw for lounging around the house. It's actually one of the more creative uses I came up for that outfit and I'm very happy with it."

"Oh, yeah I remember Kamiko doing some minor changes to her outfit when we were completing out Wrath punishment" said Kat

"No need to dress it up dear" said Nira "You were beating the shit out of each other weren't you?"

Kat shook her head. "No no no… other people. We were beating the shit out of other people." Finished Kat with a grin.

Nira gave an acknowledging nod. "So, what was your first Contract Kat?"

"Oh, Kamiko and I were sharing those stories the other day. My first contract was a bit weird. It went like this…

"… and that's where it ended and why I thought it was a dream for a bit." Explained Kat.

Nira giggled and the explanation, sounding more like a teen than a mother of… some later age before saying. "Ah that is amusing to hear. I never get good summoning stories like that. Though, Kamiko's second one was pretty good as well"

Kamiko rolled her eyes and said. "It wasn't that crazy Mum. I just got summoned to be a model for some clothes."

"Ok I really feel like I need some further explanations" said Kat.

Kamiko shook her head and said. "You don't really need much more to understand it Kat. See, the people who summoned me really wanted a Succubus to show off their new line of clothes. They even used some very specific runes to dictate what I looked like instead of what abilities I had. Of course, it didn't work out perfectly, because they didn't specify what colour hair they wanted me to have, and a lot of the outfits clashed"

Nira snorted. "A lot is an understatement. Try, basically all of them."

"The black suit wasn't too bad…" said Kamiko

Nira rolled her eyes and said. "Yeah not too bad except for the fact that it was too tight around your waist because of your wings and they couldn't fit you into it without cutting holes for them, but the main designer on it refused because your wings were the same colour as the outfit and it would have caused a bunch of other issues."

"Well, it wasn't my fault that they made the centrepiece of the show a long pink dress that's just slightly off colour from my hair. It drove them crazy seeing the slight colour shift. I know I saw one of the designers crying about it in a corner." Replied Kamiko

Nira shot back with. "It was their own fault really. Sure, they pretty much all had blonde hair on that world for some reason, but some people dyed it. I'm not sure why they expected you'd also have blonde hair. It isn't exactly a common colour for Succubi."

"It isn't?" asked Kat "What colour is normal?"

Nira shrugged and said. "I don't really think there is a normal colour, just that blonde is slightly rarer. Normally our hair trends towards… it's hard to describe? I can't say pastel colours, because black is also fairly common but… full? No that's not really right either.

"Perhaps I can just give you an example. It would be far more likely for a Succubus to have either white or yellow hair then blonde. Blonde is… more of a half measure to us? So it gets left by the wayside. Golden blonde, the rich deep kind that borders on yellow is probably the most common type, but Succubus hair doesn't exactly exist on a spectrum.

"Kamiko has the exact same shade of pink as her father, just as Aslena and I share the exact same kind of blueish green hair. I know elves for example can be a combination of parents or slightly different shades but we don't have that. It's what makes blonde hard to find. You don't really get it as a mix, and it doesn't spread well through the population unless they have a non-demon parent.

*Huh. I guess I've been thinking of demons as having strange hair colours but… maybe it's more strange that humans are limited to what… four? Red, Brown, Blonde, Black. And one could argue that brown is a red and black combination somewhat. Eh maybe you can't, but still it seems so limiting when I consider it that way. Even my hair was weird before, a much brighter red than it really had any right to be without dye. Now of course, I imagine it's nothing strange at all. Should I ask?*

Once she thought of the question, Kat couldn't help but find it to be rather intriguing to her. It seemed kind of pointless, but the burning desire for the answer won out in the end. "How common would you say my hair colour is amongst demons? Or at least Succubi?"

"Well amongst demons" said Nira "Pretty rare. A shocking number of demons don't have hair, or have something that isn't really hair. So as a whole, yeah it's pretty rare." Nira stuck her tongue out at Kat knowing she hadn't answered the question at all.

"Still, amongst Succubi… it's probably about average rarity? I mean I wouldn't call it common, because we don't really have a common hair colour. It's as common as mine or Kamiko's, though obviously you're outnumbered in our household."

"Yeah I saw that on Kamiko's family picture" said Kat.

"Ah, a lovely piece of artwork" said Nira "I do wish Kerra would be more willing to allow copies to be made of her art. She seems to think that it's better to sell only the originals and to put a special anti-copy measure onto it instead of making copies to sell or in case one of us wants to have a copy of one of them."

"I dunno mum" said Kamiko as she floated across the water. "I'm honestly quite happy to know that my painting is MINE. Sure you have similar family pictures in your room, but that one is all mine and nobody else gets a copy"

Nira let out a deep breath. "Sure I guess. Still I'd love a copy of that one, and what happens if it gets damage?"

"Well to quote Kerra" said Kamiko " 'It is the knowledge that you hold the original in its pure form that grants it the most sentimentality. Couple this with the knowledge that improper care can lead to you losing that treasured scene, and you will find yourself taking much better care of it' "

Nira sighed. "I'd take great care of any of my lovely daughter's paintings copies or not. Still, I guess I do understand, as much as I wish she had her paintings widely known"