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

"Err… I mean… yes I knew that" said Kat slightly uncomfortable with the fact Nira picked out so easily that she'd thought nobody else was around. "So what are you doing here?"

Nira raised an eyebrow that asked 'did you really just say that' and when Kat cringed before giving a slight nod, Nira decided to answer, "I'm just taking care of my plants of course. While you can get hardy varieties in the demon world, not all plants are so robust. The ones I've picked out for my garden are all based on looks so not all of them can survive without a bit of personal care"

"That's cool actually. Um… how long would you say you spend on the garden in a week?" asked Kat

Nira tapped her finger on her cheek as she calculated the time it would take her "Well, I suppose it depends on the season really, and what you count as spending on my garden. I use practically all of me free time on it, but that's overkill really. I don't have to keep things so thoroughly pruned or watered in such specific amounts but I do chose to most of the time.

"I let my family decide in some ways. If they aren't interesting in spending time with me I'll go do some work in the garden because it helps me relax. Sometimes I do some gardening instead of sleeping because when you get to my Rank sleep is more of a cool thing you do occasionally rather then a necessity.

"Still, if I had to give you an answer, I'd say it's something close to forty hours? Really depends on how much sleep I give up. Sleep might not be that interesting but 'enjoying' the night with my husband is a quite fun. Not a frequent activity, but it's nice when we get around it"

Kat looked away somewhat awkwardly and scratched her cheek. *I didn't really need to know that right? That's gotta be weird right? I certainly don't ask Lily about what her parents are doing and I didn't want to know this. Why would anyone just say that?* Kat of course, was oblivious to the enjoyment radiating from Nira's eyes because she was pointedly not looking at them.

"Aren't you a precious child. Not quite as flustered as I'd have expected but at least you're somewhat embarrassed. Too many of my friends just nod a me or offer congratulations… or one up me…" said Nira with a pout on her lips. That did wonders for how old she looks. Her facial structure was reminiscent of Kamiko's and because she was a demon and didn't really age, the change in look took way too many years off in Kat's opinion.

"Right… um… it just doesn't feel like my place to know? I mean I grew up being told that was sort of a private thing… so… yeah? It's like handing out your passwords to friends. You trust them not abuse it of course, but that's private information, you just don't hand it out to people…" said Kat

"Password?" said Nira tasting the word on her tongue. "Huh, that's an interesting concept. Most things here are tied to either some biological feature or just our demonic energy signature. It's basically impossible to fake those. Much easier to just… break the lock? Would be how you'd say that I believe." When she spoke about the lock, Kat could hear the words distorting, as if Nira was saying something else. Kat got the feeling though, that what she wanted heard got across instead.

"Right well… um… yeah? I guess that makes sense. I know Lily did a bunch of research about physical locking mechanisms and worked out that most of them aren't actually worth anything. Anyone with lockpicking skill can open them and anyone desperate otherwise can punch through the window. It's more about letting people know someone was there who wasn't supposed to be," said Kat

"Fascinating," said Nira, because it was. Physical locks were something she didn't really pay attention to because the Hub didn't have them and they were never a real consideration on Contracts. "Ah, where are my manners. I've completely forgotten to say, but thank you so much Kat."

"You're welcome? For what though?" asked Kat confused

"Oh, for helping my daughters finally reconcile." Said Nira happily

"How did you know that?" asked Kat confused

Nira grinned "Kat, I'm tier five. I can hear everything. I can hear them crying in each other's arms right now. Oh it makes me so happy to know they've finally solved everything. I've been wondering what to do about that whole thing for years!" said Nira cheerfully.

Kat nodded for a second with a slight smile on her face before pausing. *Wait… what did she say?* Kat replayed the words and Nira could see the instant Kat's whole demeanour shifted. It had started out as somewhat pleased but reluctant acceptance. As Kat thought on the words though, it quickly morphed into anger with her aura spiking hard, pushing against Nira who simply allowed it for a few moments, before Kat's posture shifted again. Her eyes narrowed and her hands unclenched but they were now completely straight. "If you knew about that why didn't you do anything?" asked Kat, the question heavy in the air.

Nira tapped her cheek some more, clearly thinking about something. She let herself spin in place for a second, hair spreading out as she did. After a few rotations Nira hit the floor with enough force to stop in place and sighed. "Honestly Kat that's complicated. I'm going to share a bit with you that I want you to promise me you'll keep a secret from my daughters if I explain ok?"

Kat bit her lip. *Hmmm… I want to know. No, I think I NEED to know. I… I kinda liked Nira but to hear she just… just let this go on. And for years! The way she said it even sort of implies she's known the whole time. I really don't like that… I hope she has a good reason. Dammit I'm going to have to promise not to tell Kamiko… at least it's all the sisters. I guess it doesn't just affect Kamiko?*

"Fine" said Kat letting the word spill lazily from her tongue. She wasn't happy to voice it, but knew there wasn't really a choice. She wasn't resentful, but she was slightly displeased.

"Properly please" said Nira sadly. She didn't really want to force this, but it was necessary in her mind.

Kat sighed. *Fine.* "I, Kat, accept your condition to not inform any of your daughters of what you are about to tell me intentionally, in any way, unless it is a direct danger to their health"

Nira actually had the audacity to cackle at the end of Kat's promise. "Oh that's rich. I… hehehe… Kat you don't understand… oh this is so funny. Ok… ok… um…" Nira bent over with the laughter chuckling to herself finding the wording Kat used hilarious.

"Ok, so, Kat, the big secret is that one of my abilities let me scry people I've healed. It's specialised and lets me monitor their general condition. Later on it evolved and allowed me to look in on them and see how they were doing. Of course, I've healed my daughters before and scanned them. They are considered my patients. I constantly get updates about there wellbeing every hour, of every day."

Kat's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "Um… what? I… I mean… ok… holy… everything? I… I mean… damn. Ok… why let things go on so long then?" asked Kat

Nira sighed. "Weeeeeelll… I have a good friend now, who used to be my mentor. They had a similar ability to me. It's kinda rare but if you have a bunch of healing stuff you tend to get it. So, rare in general, but based on what skills I had at the time I was likely to get it ya know? Anyway, my mentor, lovely guy at the time, used that skill to watch their kids and… it didn't go so well.

"Their kids felt horrible. Trapped, like they were being watched twenty four seven. The fact that they actually were made it even worse. They felt like they could never do anything their parents would disapprove of because their mother would come down on them like a sack of bricks when he found out."

Kat noticed the odd pronoun usage there. "Wait… mother and he? Are they are male or female demon?" asked Kat jumping in

Nira waved Kat off "They are a shapeshifter so they've been both. Their husband can't shapeshift so my mentor, who likes to be called Copper, stayed in a female body they were fond of for the duration. They've been fond of their male one for the most part when I've known them, so I still refer to them as a 'he'.

"Anyway, off topic. Copper would make sure to always devote part of his mind to watching the kids. No matter where they were. They got so paranoid, eventually two of them just snapped and attacked him. Screaming and shouting. Oh it was horrible. I mean, they had no chance, only Rank 1's at the time, but Copper wasn't going to fight back against them. Mentally it was very painful though.

"So… I learnt from that example to not exactly advertise the fact I'm always keeping tabs on them, and try to let them get away with things. It's a little more complicated then that but that's why I let it go on so long" said Nira