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

--- Kat ---

While Bower was dithering Hunter was preparing. For what felt like the first time in a week Hunter actually said something, "I have the ropes ready. Please decide who you wish to be tied to for the day, and likely the days following." Sure Kat had heard Hunter speaking earlier… but it just felt like it had been a while. The simple statement just made that clearer.

*Should we work out who we want on our team?*

[Not sure I want to get involved in whatever this is at all… I just know I don’t want to deal with Malt. It’s too stressful keeping an eye on him… though that likely means Malt should end up with... well actually I’m not sure.] Stay tuned with empire

*Eh… Meg could see the weakness in the space and do a good job. Plus Hunter is generally more observant then us so she could probably deal with having him around as well. It’s only Kamiko that probably shouldn’t team up with them…*

Which was why it was an issue that Kat could see the workout group of four moving towards Kamiko at Pip’s insistence. The younger girl not realising how much of a pain it would be to watch over Malt. *

Shit. Do we do something about that?*

[Well what would hurt Kamiko more? The implication that we don’t trust her to look after them… or leaving her to fend for herself against Malt’s nonsense that may or may not actually be a problem.]

*Um… no I think she needs the confidence. Kamiko deserves to spend some time with Pip. They seem to have become good friends and I wouldn’t want to get in the way of that. Though… might be best if we stay near Kamiko and try to help out just in case.*

[Of course.]

Despite saying that Lily wasn’t entirely happy about things. It was going to be more stressful watching Malt when he wasn’t so easily watched. Lily could only hope that Malt didn’t mess with things outside of the mist dome too much.

*Maybe we can encourage Craunch or Corela to head along with that group to shore it up? Kamiko’s not weak of course but Malt does represent extra danger compared to the other teams. So… who do we want to grab?*

At a glance Kat could see teams were sort of forming but nobody had a proper full team yet, well Kamiko did have four people but Kat was hoping to Corela would help so… still not technically a full team. Brook and Church were heading towards Kamiko but had stopped once they saw Pip heading in that direction. Either because of concern, or because they thought Pip deserved the spot more. It did leave them uncertain as to who they should group up with now.

Shephy and Strek were together obviously, and they were eying Neoms and Chasen to be part of their group. Neoms and Chasen were watching Corela and Brella. Though Brella seemed to be watching the workout crew most closely. Most of the people from the cryo pods were just sort of awkwardly standing around without a clear plan in mind. Craunch was the exception and he would slide slightly closer to Corela every time she looked away… though how serious he was about teaming up with her was unclear. n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

[I’m not really sure. We didn’t exactly become friends with any of them so even if I have preferences they aren’t exactly strong ones. Maybe we take Church and Brook? Kamiko seemed decently close with them so we could protect them in her stead?]

*I’m quite ok with that. Should we like signal them somehow? I don’t want to just go over and grab them… but maybe it would be best? I’m really not sure what the protocol is meant to be here. Should’ve roughly planned things out beforehand.*

[Yeah I’m not sure why we waited either… I’m sure there’s a reason I’m just not as sure that it was a good one. As for grabbing Church and Brook? Well… maybe we just signal them slightly and hope they pick up on it? If not then that’s fine.]

As Lily thought this, the workout crew had already surrounded Kamiko so her team was mostly set in stone. This was further confirmed when Hunter reappeared next to them and started to tie them all to Kamiko. Said group had flinched back a bit at Hunter’s sudden appearance though they did let Hunter tie them all up.

While that was happening Kat went through with her signalling plan, catching the eye of Church and motioning slightly with her head. Church grabbed Brook by the hand and pulled him over and whispering, "What’s up?"

"Well, you seemed fairly close with Kamiko, and as her friend we decided to be the ones to offer you a spot on the team so to speak. I saw you both thinking of going over to Kamiko, and then backing out once you noticed Pip was headed that way… so… thought we’d offer a spot with us as an alternative," explained Kat.

"Hmm… so you’re friends with Kamiko?" asked Church.

"Yes, we’ve known each other for a while, long before this mission and she’s a good person. Hunter’s a decent acquaintance that… I perhaps know a lot less about then I thought. Meg is Meg of course," answered Kat.

"Yes… Meg is indeed Meg…" mumbled Church.

"Though um… don’t say too much more than that because her hearing is defiantly good enough to listen in on this conversation if she wants," added Kat.

"Joy," grumbled Brook before shaking his head a few times. "Whatever, not like we can really do anything about it. I’m fine with teaming up with you… two? Kamiko seems like a decent judge of character and I wouldn’t want to subject her to being tied to Church after what happened,"

"Hey, we both apologised and I’m not planning to do something like that again. Plus I have real clothes one this time!" insisted Church who was in fact wearing real clothes. She’d actually gone out and found good clothes even. She was wearing heavy combat boots, long thick pants and while her shirt looked fairly light and breezy she had a heavy looking jacket that provided protection for her arms. Brook was wearing much the same, though with less imposing footwear. Brook had gone for old comfort over new but sturdy.

"Alright, so with that settled is there anyone else you want for the team?" asked Kat.

"Hmm…" mumbled Church. "Honestly the workout crew is the best of us. Even with Malt’s potential issues… it’s why we were debating things, but you’re right no sense in making it harder on Kamiko. It’d probably be best if Corela joined that team, maybe Corela and Craunch together… though that might actually be worse? Depends on how many breaks we get,"

Kat shrugged, "That doesn’t really say anything about who you want with US though,"

"Ah… right um… hmm…" Church looked over to Brook and shrugged.

The boy sighed and said, "Might as well scoop up Sephy and Strek we get along better with both of them then we do Chasen and Neoms. As for the last person… whoever I guess? Stensil, Slate, Amalak… maybe not Grepnar or Craunch?"

Craunch then hopped over, moving past Corela to get to them. "I heard somebody say my name! Does that mean you want me on your little team? You shouldn’t have! My heart does yearn to be on the same side as Corela… but I suppose I can make an exception if you really want me," Craunch had a wide grin on his face, as if daring the two to correct him. It wasn’t as scary as Meg’s, especially not when Kat and Lily knew they could beat him in a fight. Probably.

Seeing this, Church sighed and moved away, the reason for this was quickly revealed when she grabbed Sephy by the arm and yanked her over, Strek following along after seeing what had happened. Sephy was wearing a similar outfit to Church though she had overalls on that came with a number of pockets. The largest ones in her overalls filled with various things. One of which was a large bit of metal piping. Not a poor choice of weapon for someone with no idea what they were doing.

Before Kat could even confirm this was going to be their team and they were going to take the extra member… Hunter had already come over and started tying everyone together. "Tail or waist?" asked Hunter.

"What do you mean?" asked Kat.

"Tying the rope to your arms would be too likely to cause issues, and your tail has similar ones. Alas, sometimes that can be a blessing. If I tie it off around the end of your tail you can yank people out of the way if there’s an issue… but might do so accidentally if there isn’t. The waist means it’s harder to do something like that, but perhaps more likely to tangle," explained Hunter.

"Um… just go with around my waist again, I already know what that’s like," answered Kat after a few moments of thinking.

"Understood," stated Hunter with a nod, tying the rope around Kat. Once that was done everyone was bound together, or at least everyone in Kat’s team was. Hunter simply vanished once the rope was in place.