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

--- Kat ---

While Lily had been having a 'minor' panic attack Kat had instead been learning that rubble was not a good building material. The main reason for this, is that if you want to make a chair out of it, you needed to find a chunk large enough to turn it into a chair, or connect them together… but hollowing out pieces of rubble even more to allow for those connections would often cause the debris to fall apart further. Meaning… you really did need to pick your pieces carefully. Though with that in mind, about two hours later Kat felt like she was doing well. She could vaguely still feel Lily's panic on the other end of the link but Kat herself was unconcerned.

She was keeping an ear out for anyone getting ready to attack. She wasn't unprepared… but she wasn't tense or worried. Besides, she now had a nice set of tables and chairs. The table had been a bit of a pain. Unlike the chairs which had all been one or two blocks at most the table was made up of six. One for each of the four legs and two for the slab on top. They didn't exactly slide together perfectly, and Kat had gone through more than one slab trying to fit the legs in but eventually she got there.

It also helped that a few of the guards were laughing whenever she pouted exaggeratedly at the broken pieces of rock. Now that she was finished there was actually quite a few cheers that went up before their compatriots slapped them over the head for being idiots. Still, it helped Kat remember that they were all people just doing a job. No reason to destroy them because their commander was an idiot.

Though… it seemed that someone was coming over. She didn't react, pretending as if everything was normal as she put the finishing touches on the stone table. Smoothing it out so that it was completely flat and could be made use of if someone really wanted to. The dining chairs were all spread around, and while a bit blocky and overly squared, fit with the table at least.

The guard approaching stopped a few metres away from Kat. Just sort of… waiting to be acknowledged or something. So… Kat did. She wasn't worried and just glanced over with a raised eyebrow. That was apparently permission to get closer or something but Kat let it happen without worry as the guard sat down in the chair across from her at the table. It felt a bit large now she was separated from them by the whole thing, but whatever it was fine.

The man across from her was old. For a moment she thought it was the first old looking elf… but more careful examination revealed he was actually human. His outfit was the standard guard uniform with a few splashes of colour that seemed to be splashes of paint. The fact they weren't scuffed or faded in any way implied they were meant to be there, or at least had been intentionally kept.

After the silence continued to stretch for a few seconds the guard asked, "So… is there much we can do to convince you to leave?"

"Why?" asked Kat. She thought about making the question more specific… but she was just killing time for the moment. Lily hadn't given her the 'all clear' yet… though that might just be because she forgot to mention it. Still, Kat wasn't going to poke her overly worried girlfriend until she finally got some sleep and it seemed like she might be close to that point if her feelings through the link were any indication.

"Because the higher ups are currently arguing about what to do with you. At least, that's our best guess. Nobody has come and rescinded our orders to guard the area. I won't deny there's a reason for you to be watched but it's not like you need quite so many of us. I myself am technically retired and just in the reserves but I was pulled back onto the field for this nonsense," explained the guard.

"Well… I guess why should I care? At the moment I'm providing a great distraction even just sitting here. You guys can't waste much, if any, manpower looking for my friends if you're stuck here watching me," retorted Kat. Not unkindly, but firmer then usual. These guys had been a large part of the problems, and even if she was able to see them more as people then as annoying guards that doesn't mean they weren't still causing issues.

"I don't suppose that saying 'it's the right thing to do' will be enough?" asked the guard.

"Perhaps if I hadn't been stabbed in the brain," offered Kat in return with a careless shrug that made the guard wince. "Though… I am wondering why it's YOU that's speaking to me. You don't seem powerful or important, and most of the guards I've seen are elves. Is this a racism thing?"

The guard let out a long puff of air. "Well, you can call me Henry and… no but also yes. I am an old man that never got passed Rank 1. I'm pushing a full century and my kids have all moved on, and most of my grandkids have as well. My wife's dead and well… I'm arguably the most expandable,"

"That doesn't exactly endear me to listening to you guys," stated Kat.

"And I'm not sure it should. I don't mind being volen-told to go and do this for them. I accept that they have their reasons and they are logical. The main reason I'm not holding a grudge is that I don't feel like you're suddenly going to snap and kill me… but I do admit to being a tad bitter about it," offered Heny.

"So… with that being said why should I bother listening to people like that?" asked Kat.

"Well… perhaps so that people like me can go home? This isn't exactly my favourite way to spend the day. Even if I do admit to being a bit bored recently it's not like the hot sun is good for an old man like me," offered Henry.

Kat tapped a finger against her chin to make it seem like she was considering his words… and she sort of was. *I just don't know what to do here. I don't have anything against just leaving in principle but the whole point of sticking around was to act as a visible deterrent against looking into the rest of the group. Gareth needs to rest, Green will rest. Nixilei probably should rest…

Buying time for them like this has been incredibly easy and I'm a big 'fuck you guys' sort of sign that requires someone to actually DO something to sort this out. Either by waging another big attack or putting on their big-girl pants and apologising for the harassment and murder attempt…s? Not sure if there have been multiple but I wouldn't be overly surprised at this point.

Sure I'm probably going to head off anyway come night time but I think I'd like a concrete guarantee that my friends aren't going to be attacked so that they can all rest safely. Even Nixilei and hopefully Lily will feel calm enough to do so as well… but the problem is I can't trust anything these guys say. Not even because I think they might lie to me but because they're sending out some random retired guy to request terms just in case I kill him…

And probably because he has no real authority. If we agree to something they don't like they can just say he was a random guard with no real authority to speak on behalf of the city or something like that. I may not be too deep into politics but even I can work something of that level out.

So… what's the play then? I can't trust them to do anything but what they think they can get away with and I have no idea how scared of me they are at this point. I keep bringing up the brain thing and the 'murder attempt' so is that scaring them because I keep mentioning it casually? Or the fact I do recognise it as a 'murder attempt' instead makes it seem like they were close to killing me and an argument to try again.

So what's the ideal? I just keep chatting with this guy until someone with authority buts in? Until night comes and I decide I need to head off somewhere to sleep? I'm pretty well rested so if push comes to shove I can just put off sleep until the tournament starts even if I'd rather get at least a bit of rest… it can defiantly wait. There will probably a spot to rest between rounds. Thyme always seems to have those… hmm… hmm… I just don't know. Which I guess means that when in doubt I should buy more time. With the rest of the group not at risk of immediate danger burning time is probably just a good thing.*