Chapter 736

Kat stood frozen on the stairs in shock, her mouth wide open at the sight before her. Kat could also feel through the link Lily was in a similar state of complete and utter disbelief. In front of them stood Callisto up on a ladder, bucket of water on one side, herself on the other. She was using a wet rag to clean off the fan... and frankly neither girl new how to deal with this.

[You know. Despite the maid outfit this is so weird... I mean... I’ve never seen her actually cleaning anything have you?]

*Not unless you count the dishes she usually refuses help with. I... I can’t believe it either. I mean she’s said she’s responsible for the cleaning multiple times, and I new that intellectually... but yeah no. This is the first time I’ve ever caught her in the act so to speak. I’m just... not really sure what we’re supposed to do now.*

Callisto was humming under her breath a song that both could hear thanks to enhanced senses, but didn’t sound familiar to either of them at all. The older woman was completely absorbed into her work. Or so they assumed. It took thirty seconds of staring for Callisto to smile and say, “I hardly think it is appropriate for you girls to be staring so much. You are both in a relationship no? Unless... is this what you both enjoy doing together? Certainly an odd hobby for someone asexual like Kat to partake in,”

Kat just returned a confused look at Callisto as Lily worked out where the woman’s train of thought was hinting towards. Embarrassment flooded Lily as she tried to come up with some response. Kat saw her girlfriend floundering and decided to make use of her ignorance for a change. “I don’t really know what you’re implying but we were both just surprised to see you cleaning. We’ve not actually seen you in the middle of it... ever.”

“That is a bit of a surprise. Not a large one, for I do tend to clean in the night, especially when it does not require making excessive amounts of noise. I find it is better for my concentration. I do not need to provide meals for anyone else, I know where everyone is, I can open the windows to help things dry out without worrying about noise or the neighbours doing something silly like burning a mattress. Yes that did happen. The only cleaning I really do during the day is in personal rooms. I do your room when you are away, as that is a frequent enough event. Vivian’s while she is at work, and Sylvie cleans her room with me after I did it by myself and she complained,” explained Callisto.

*Yeah. I can see Sylvie doing that. She kept things quite clean in her room at the orphanage, even picking up after the others in her room to make sure it was spotless when it came time to clean. Truth be told, I imagine she asked to help Callisto with far more then just her own room. Callisto probably denied the request though. I wonder if it’s because of the chemicals? Or some other reason.*

.....

[What I feel like asking is when she washes her clothes. Callisto apparently doesn’t sleep so like... when does she shower? She wears what looks like the same maid outfit all the time but it’s spotless every time we see her. I don’t know that we’ve ever heard the washing machines, which for you is odd, considering your advanced hearing. I’ll keep an ear out now that I have it as well but I wish to know]

“What about washing your clothes? Lily brought up an interesting point that we’ve never seen you wear anything else... and since you don’t really sleep there’s no natural time to swap clothes,” asked Kat.

“I am not sure I wish to hear such a question from the person who has not worn anything other then that kimono in all the time I have known you. Still, to answer your question I made some minor modifications to our washing machine to make it run almost completely silently. That mostly revolved around building box to insulate sound. A few other little details so it does not overheat or build up excessive amounts of fluff on the foam and now you do not really hear it.

“As for my outfit. I tend to replace it once every twelve hours. It does not always work out exactly like that, but it works out closely enough. I tend to take a shower just before everyone gets up for breakfast, something I have not yet done this morning. Then I will take a second shower after everyone has eaten dinner. Something else of note is that I tend to eat during the night as well. As I do not sleep and continue my work, whatever that may be at the time, I require additional caloric intake. Something that was not always apparent to me,” explained Callisto.

“How did you figure that out?” asked ‘Lily’

Callisto finished the last of the cleaning on the fan and started dismounting the ladder with a sigh. “The truth Lily? I did not. I found myself with the shakes quite regularly and I was losing weight. Despite my hatred for my parents, the only thing they did well was make sure I was fed. Granted, I was the one doing the cooking, but I was taught only how to make adult portions and not to waste food. So what food I didn’t eat at the time was put off to the side and needed to be finished before the next day.

“The extra food from that arrangement made me overlook how much extra I was eating once I was freed from the duty. Well, that and the fact I had aged and required more food from that as well. I could not figure out where my weakness was coming from. I perhaps thought it was some sickness I did not properly have diagnosed in my earlier years. It is another thing I appreciate Vivian for. I was certain I had no choice but to waste away before I turned thirty.

“As I was routinely overfull from trying to finish as much of my plate as possible while it was still at a good temperature, because of course my parents would not allow me to store food in the fridge and reheat it, I simply got used to it involving some sort of pain. The pain of hunger towards the mornings, the pain of being overly full during the days. The gnawing pain in my stomach I was getting after I moved out didn’t really register as hunger. Vivian had to point it out,”

Kat frowned. “I know your parents are bad... but that sounds pretty horrible... and you said that was the least bad thing they did to you?”

Callisto made a ‘so-so’ gesture and explained, “I was more indicating the fact they forced me to cook all the meals from a young age. It was my favourite of the chores. In fact, I never considered it a chore at all. I enjoyed cooking and it was my escape from the rest of my duties. While I have now made cleaning my own thing, something that is mine to give, not my parents to enforce, I hated it with a passion when I was younger.

“Now I cannot stand the idea of leaving anything dirty. I used to spite my parents by skipping over certain areas and things as I was cleaning. Nothing too noticeable. Perhaps I wouldn’t clean out a favoured mug properly, or I would simply fold the sheets instead of washing them if I thought I could get away with it while they were out. An alternative was also to wash them and then fold them before they could fully dry. Hmm... what else did I do. I believe I made a point not to clean my mother’s favourite chair for a year once. I cannot believe I got away with that particular misdeed,”

“Oh...” said Kat unsure of what to say really. Lily, knowing a little more about psychology instead prompted Kat to ask, “Should you really be cleaning all the time then?” with Kat adding on, “I’m happy to help out with it,”

Callisto shook her head firmly, “No girls. I do not need assistance with this. Before I laboured for people I hated. I despised the role they forced on me. Now I clean for Vivian. She is, as I have said before, the best thing to happen to me. She got me away from my parents. Provides me a place to live, refuses to let me pay for the groceries most of the time...

“And now I happily clean for her. What might be hard for some to grasp is that I am GOOD at cleaning. Especially with lacklustre materials on hand. It was not irregular for me to be tasked with the removal of a stain or a beating despite not having the products on hand to deal with such a thing in most cases. I am now past that point in my life. I am content.”