Chapter 838

The next morning Kat found herself jogging down the road towards the orphanage though... perhaps we should back up a bit. Lily had informed Kat via their link late last night that she wouldn’t be free of her parents for at least another day, probably two. There also might be another conversation but that part remained to be seen. With Lily unavailable Kat decided it was a good chance to visit Gramps.

Vivian had looked a little frazzled when she got home after work, so Kat was going to follow up on that as well. Callisto and Sylvie were fine. Especially Callisto. When Kat informed the ‘maid’ about her intentions Callisto just nodded and told Kat to see her in the morning. When Kat got up out of bed at 2:30am Callisto was still up and handed Kat a bento box.

Kat’s first question was how Callisto knew Gramps’ wife had been Japanese. Callisto just glared pointedly at the sleeve of Kat’s kimono peeking out over the baggy jumper she was wearing. That answer the question and reminded Kat of just how uncomfortable she currently was.

Kat had folded her wings up against herself as best she could and then put a jumper on over the top. Moving her arms was horribly awkward and her wings were bent at unnatural angles. Where her bones weaker, a sharp jostle would have them snapping like dried twigs. Her tail was also wrapped around her stomach and while still inconvenient compared to her wings it was practically heaven.

“Thanks for this Callisto. I’m sure Gramps will love it... just... why do you have a fancy bento box around. I only know what it even IS because Gramps still has a few around in his cupboards and I asked about it one day. This one looks particularly nice actually...” asked Kat.

Callisto grinned and said, “I like variety in plating options, and sometimes I like to make Vivian something really fancy for lunch while she is out at work. The reason it’s so high quality is that I got Chekov to work on it. It was a pain in the ass to get him to agree to it though so I only have the one set of four.”

“Well, thanks for this,” said Kat as she turned and left the house. It was early morning and the sun wasn’t up at all... but the occasional splashes of light on top of the moon and stars were more than enough for Kat’s eyes to let her see perfectly. She restrained herself in the jog though, trying to remain at what she thought were reasonable human speeds. And they were... over shorter distances.

.....

Kat was still running at that same speed an hour or so later when the orphanage came into view. Kat’s running was only barely within human limits. The best marathon runners were the only ones who could compare... but Kat had none of the training, she was carrying a bento box in her hands preventing her from using proper running technique... and as she reached the orphanage grounds she wasn’t sweating or panting hard despite an hour of running while wearing a large jumper.

That was the real issue. The whole run Kat had to fight with her wings to just spread out and shred their way through the fabric. They kept twitching and straining against the fabric. It was a constant struggle not to just give in. With that on top of the uncomfortable feeling of folding her wings like this made the whole run rather unpleasant. It was like someone had pulled her hand back and over her shoulder before taping it there. The pull wasn’t quite painful but over an extended period of time it got close. Her regeneration was surely a major factor towards making it bearable.

Kat hadn’t done anything about her horns. She didn’t have any hats that could cover them properly so she decided if anyone asked she’d just say it was a headband. When she got to the orphanage it was sometime after 3:30am, Kat didn’t have a watch to check and felt reluctant to ask D.E.M.O.N.S something so trivial. A few lights were on. Kat was pretty sure they were the kitchen lights, and perhaps a few nightlights for the younger children.

Kat tried to open the front door only to find it locked. A slight grin found its way onto her face as she moved to bush nearby. Reaching her hand in she found the slightly loose piece of bark and pushed it to the side, letting it swing open. Stuck to the underside of the bark was a spare key she quickly liberated and used on the door before returning the key to its hiding place. Stepping inside breathed in deeply, smelling the familiar scent of the old wooden flooring, the slight sent of harsher chemicals for some reason, and cooking food.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Kat snuck her way down to the kitchen making sure not to make too much noise. When she reached the canteen Gramps was standing over the counter and rapidly chopping up ingredients. Considering the oven was being preheated, Kat was guessing he was making a casserole of some sort. Kat was able to make it all the way to Gramps side without anyone noticing. Kat waited for Gramps to finish the chopping before saying, “Hi Gramps,”

Gramps clearly startled at the words, but held in his reactions. He was used to working with children and the default reaction of turning combatively towards the target was not an acceptable one when you worked in an orphanage. Especially not with knife in hands. The almost lazy way he turned to face Kat wouldn’t have betrayed his surprise. The fact he jumped half a metre off the ground did that. Well, until he saw who it was.

Gramps let the knife clatter out of his hands before he stepped forward and wrapped Kat up in a big hug. Kat winced as her wings were pushed further out of their comfort zone straining against the muscles and ligaments in her back for more give. Only Gramps lack of desire for Kat’s pain and his human strength prevented Kat’s regeneration from needing to fix up major damage. Kat just grit her teeth and accepted the hug in good faith, before berating herself for keeping the damned jumper on after she got inside.

When the hug ended, something Kat still let Gramps dictate, she quickly chucked the jumper away as if she’d been burned before letting her wings snap outward to their full length. Most of her mind wanted to let them return to resting position afterwards but the rest rebelled against the command. Kat let a few moments tick away before just giving into the smaller more rabid part of her mind. It was a minor concession really. Even if she was taking up a fair bit of the kitchen.

Gramps winced as he realised what the issue was immediately but didn’t apologise. He’d known Kat long enough to know it wasn’t needed especially with it written all over his face. “What are you doing here Kat?” asked Gramps with a smile once he’d recovered.

“Can’t I just come for a visit?” asked Kat cheerfully.

“Ah, but it’s been so long since I’ve seen you Kat. An old man might think he’s been forgotten,” said Gramps with a chuckle.

Kat winced despite the light hearted nature of the critique. “Sorry... I didn’t quite realise how long it’d been... and I don’t normally need to visit you. I used to see you all the time so... yeah... I only recently noticed just how long it had been. Heck even the author didn’t quite realise how long time passed in story. We haven’t had a fourth wall break in actual years,”

“The what?” asked Gramps confused.

“The time. It’s been months Gramps. I didn’t notice,” reiterated Kat.

“Right...” said Gramps as things got back on track in the background. Then Gramps noticed the bento box Kat had on hand and his eyes went wide again. “Did... did you bring me something to remind me of my wife?”

Kat smiled awkwardly and gave a tentative nod, “I think so? I mean... Callisto prepared it, she’s Vivian’s roommate. Um... it was intended that way by her though... but um... it did make me realise you never really served much foreign food to the kids at the orphanage so... I was also wondering about that,”

“I’ve got to feed a whole building of picky kids Kat, it’s just easier to pick something they might at least vaguely remember and only branch out occasionally or when we haven’t had a new arrival for a while. Still, if it’s good you can thank Callisto for me. Though... is she Vivian’s roommate or Vivian’s roommate”

“I... I don’t get it?” said Kat confused.

Gramps scratched the side of his head, “Am I just being old fashioned? I feel like the implications in that statement transcend generations... hmm...” Gramps took a second look at Kat’s confused face before a number of memories got jogged. “Oh. Oh right. Don’t worry about it Kat, it’s not something that’s too important though... where does Callisto sleep?”

“Huh?” blurted out Kat confused, “Callisto doesn’t sleep.”

Gramps coughed to cover up the laughter Kat’s innocent seeming sentence conjured up. “Um... right. Right...”