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

Kat’s eyes narrowed and her mind sped up as her shoes passed the warehouses lower roof limit. At this moment it was getting close to the point of no return. *I could maybe pull my feet back up but… I’m basically committed at this point.*

Kat started to lift the desk higher up, as far as she could, using her arms, Kat made sure that the desk was as high as she could make it. While this was happening though, Kat’s wings were still working hard at moving her forward… but another, more immediate problem was becoming apparent.

Even if the desk was now above her head, stretching her arms to their limit, her wings were still in the strike zone. Quickly gauging the distance between the edge of the warehouse, and the length of her wings, Kat realised she certainly wasn’t going to make it cleanly, and perhaps not at all.

*Shit. I forgot to take that into account. I’ll have to stop flapping my wings, because like the desk, they aren’t actually wide enough to fit in the walkway, especially not while I’m flying as well.*

Kat considered her options. *Ok, first off I can try and kick of the wall. That should be enough to keep me afloat and the desk in good condition but the wall will very likely be damaged, perhaps significantly. I don’t have time to spread a film of energy across it so that the damage is dispersed enough to be negligible.

Second option… I can throw the desk up into the air, drop down, and then catch it again. I don’t really like this idea because I’m not sure if the film will stay or not. I’m thinking not, and that would mean I can’t catch the desk without risking damage to it when I stop its fall unless I time it perfectly with the top of its arc… and I’m not sure even the coating I have on it will be enough to keep it from breaking under the strain…*

*Surely there is something else… a better idea somewhere.* Kat examined the desk, wondering how she could possibly fit something so wide between the roof. Of course, she then realised she was being an idiot.

*Or, third option Kat. Stop being an idiot and just turn the damn thing around, and carrying it lengthwise. Why the heck wasn’t I just doing that from the start? How did we all miss this?* Quickly acting on the idea once it entered her mind, Kat pushed her energy into her arms, allowing for a smooth transition.

Kat flipped the desk onto its side, and grasped firmly onto the bottom of it before she let herself drop, just narrowly avoiding clipping her wings against the edges of the warehouse. Kat fell fast, without her wings to assist, it was a heavy landing which she took in her legs as best she could.

Kat could feel those muscles protesting slightly, but, after just a moment her regeneration had repaired the extremely minor damage as it was. Sighing, Kat took just five further steps and left the warehouse. Saddened at how close she was to the end, and ashamed she didn’t think of the simpler solution to the problem.

When Kat turned around to look at the others, they all had suitably embarrassed faces except for Sylvie who looked like she’d expected this. ”We are idiots” said Kat

”Yup” said Chekov, Vivian, and Lily as they walked through the pathway. Politely ignoring the clear indent Kat had left in the concrete.

Sylvie however poked her tongue out and said. ”I can’t believe you didn’t think to turn it sideways. I was going to say something but you jumped up so quickly Kat”

Kat sighed. ”Yup… my bad. I promise I’ll do it the better way next time”

Sylvie nodded ”Good. At least you were able to recover though. Lily’s desk looks fine”

Kat nodded ”Yeah I made sure of that. It was my mistake to think I could make the short glide in the first place.”

”No, fault is mine. I proposed bad idea. Just because it was accepted did not make it less bad idea” said Chekov

”Hey, if anything I should have known this. One of my main concerns was getting my desk into my room. I thought of a few ways before I knew it all came apart, so I should have mentioned you could just turn it on its side like Sylvie, but I honestly didn’t think about it at the time” said Lily.

”Honestly I share some blame as well. I’ve walked this very path with Chekov before when Callisto and I both got desks. I should have remembered how we did it” said Vivian

”You did it with a trolley” said Chekov ”Hardly comparable”

Vivian just sighed, and kept walking to the car. Now that, that entire ordeal was over they could focus on loading everything up. Vivian put her section down in the back of the trailer and opened a box that was already there. Inside was a bunch of thick… to call them blankets would be wrong. They were old thick cotton squares that looked like they’d be more at home in a dark corner than on a bed.

Still, as Vivian was about to show, they were great for padding. Wrapping her own piece up in the thing, Vivian gestured for Lily to hand over her piece which had the same treatment. Chekov’s larger section was then split in two and piled on top, before Kat was directed to put her large piece in next. This took some slight fenagling with the not-blanket to ensure that it was covered on all sides, even the bottom, and that it wouldn’t collide with the other pieces inside the trailer or Sylvie’s desk when it joined the Lily’s in the trailer.

From that same box, which Kat could see contained at least one more not-blanket, Vivian pulled out two ratchet straps, long pieces of tough fibre with a ratchet on one end and a hook on the other, that was handed to Kat to fly over instead of just throwing. Once there they were hooked under the side of the trailer and tightened down by Vivian.

Kat could see the straps biting into the cloth just slightly, which let them all know that the desk pieces wouldn’t be going anywhere… at least once Vivian repeated the process once again for the largest piece as well to ensure they were all tied down.

”So… satisfied with my work Chekov?” asked Vivian once the second strap was in place.

”Da, I suppose so. I’d have one more probably, but I know you’ll need the rest for the other desk so it not so bad. Should be safe enough with the cover you have for it all so I can forgive that” said Chekov

Vivian beamed ”Great. I know last time you complained that we weren’t doing it properly so I’m glad I’ve finally earned your stamp of approval”

Chekov gave a barking laugh. ”Ha, you want stamp you need to do better than this. I said is acceptable, not that it was good. Need more straps, and maybe even ’nother layer to cover it before I give stamp”

Vivian just stuck her tongue out at Chekov and headed back towards the warehouse. Chekov laughed again as he saw her walk away, and followed behind. The other three shared a look of confusion. ”It seems tied down really well to me what’s the problem” asked Lily

”Hmm, I’m not sure” said Kat ”I can see that the clamps are sinking into the fabric just a bit which should keep everything in place, and the fabric prevents the desk from getting damaged so I’m just not sure”

”It looks fine now” said Sylvie in a soft voice as she gestured for Kat to pick her up. Kat complied of course, then turned so that Sylvie could face Lily once again. ”But right now, we aren’t moving and we don’t have a second desk in the trailer. It will probably be fine once that is done, but I suspect Chekov doesn’t do probably when it comes to his masterpieces”

”Ah” murmured Lily ”That actually makes a lot of sense. Thanks Sylvie. Do you really think it will be ok though?”

Sylvie shrugged and gestured for the other two to start walking. Lily and Kat started following the other two as Sylvie continued. ”Well, its hard to say without seeing how large my desk is, but I guess that a bunch of that weird rug thing will have to be used to brace it against the front and back of the trailer. Sure it won’t be moving side to side much with the clamp, but sliding just a bit forward and back might happen, and a bit of sharp movement is enough to make a dent”

Kat and Lily nodded at Sylvie’s words of wisdom.. They did somewhat wonder why Sylvie had these words to give to them, seeing as the girl likely hadn’t had anything to do with moving desks before, but they just assumed it was probably Callisto’s fault and left it at that.