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

When Kamiko opened the bathroom, Kat wasn’t sure what she was expecting. Hearing it was for the whole family, she thought of multiple shower stalls, or one wall filled with shower heads. Now, as someone who grew up in an orphanage, these are both understandable mistakes. Having seen the communal showers at the local pool area, and heard Gramps say it would be a good idea if it wasn’t so expensive a few times, that was her idea going in.

Instead, Kat found a large ’bathtub’ that was the size of a small swimming pool and a room consisting of a white marble like substance that seemed to grip onto her feet when she walked in. It was strange, and not something she knew how to react to properly so she just gazed at the rest of it with her mouth opened wide.

If it wasn’t for the inordinately white colour that everything in the room was, Kat was sure she could be convinced that she was outside in the garden. In fact, she wasn’t entirely sure she couldn’t be convinced of that fact anyway. The slight touches of colour on the various details that littered the walls floor and bath helped give it a strange sort of natural calm.

The walls looked to be made up of rosebushes, with the leaves tinted a slight green and the roses a soft pink. They almost seemed to surround the room as if they were preventing someone from peeking in from outside. The rosebushes made their way up slightly more than two thirds of the wall, and changed into a soft blue that covered the upper parts of the walls as well as the ceiling.

The blue had dots of pure white fluffy clouds. Unlike the bushes that seemed to come out of the wall, the clouds were all carved down which gave them a strange three-dimensional effect that even the slightly raised sections of the rosebushes didn’t actually manage. The sky, and by extension the room, was lit predominantly by a bright light that sat in the far upper right hand corner, acting as a sun for the mural and a light source for the room.

Kat thought it was a little weird, as there wasn’t actually any shadows in the room despite the clear positioning of a light source. Sure the details of the room all APPEARED to have shadows originating from that light source, but when Kat looked closely at a particularly nicely carved rosebush, Kat noticed that the shadow was part of the design and not natural lighting.

The centrepiece of the room, was of course the tub. At the moment it was empty but that didn’t change the sheer size of the thing. The walls were lined with various flowers, most of which Kat didn’t recognise, with six particularly noticeable ones that were spaced evenly but swapped between each of the two sides of the bath.

These flowers were much larger than the rest, about the size of Kat’s head, and looked like nothing she’d ever seen.  They were a strange mix of a roses intricate petal designs while also coming in a rainbow of colours and with a large opening in the centre that she guessed the water would come from.

Kamiko interrupted Kat before she got completely lost in the details of the room and said, ”Hey Kat… um, I didn’t really think of this but do you mind if I keep the water chilled? I can’t really do that with the rest of my family. I mean, they keep it only a little warm for me when we are together but, well, it’s not exactly the most comfortable for me… actually never mind we can just-”

Kat cut Kamiko off. ”No, it’s fine, make it as cold as you like. That’s one bad thing about my particular resistance is… I just sort of don’t feel the heat or cold of things. Lukewarm water feels much the same as freezing or boiling water to me. The temperature difference isn’t enough for it to matter at all, so I’m perfectly happy to go with whatever temperature you like.”

Kamiko’s eyes started spinning and her smile grew. Kat was starting to actually notice that Kamiko’s eyes would betray her happiness like that and smiled a bit herself in return. ”Oh that’s great! I hardly ever get a chance to use the coldest settings. It’s really comfortable for me. I think it’s… um I’m not sure if you did this but you keep the temperature just on the edge of being too hot when showering for the best effect right?

”Well, for me it’s kind of the same in the other direction. I like it cold, so cold it’s almost a problem, but that’s way too much for the rest of my family. Mum and Dad can deal with it because of their high rank. ’Normal’ cold water isn’t exactly an issue, er well, not that we actually use water once it gets that cold but… anyway, it’s not comfortable for them the same way it is for me. So I’m actually quite glad to hear that you’re ok with whatever. Maybe it will be good for you as well! It should still be calming… but that’s for other reasons. If it works I’ll tell you.”

Kat nodded, and Kamiko walked to the side of the room Kat hadn’t inspected. The one closest to the door that she currently had her back to. Turning to look at it, Kat saw four large red valves. Unlike the rest of the room which was mostly slight shifts from white these were all very solid colours. The valves themselves were shaped slightly like flowers, with the spokes being petals with thin vines that connected the spokes together.

The left two were bright red, with the one on the edge a slightly darker red with stripes of orange that ran throughout it. The middle two valves, were just one solid colour, with the one of the right side being a dark blue instead of red. The final valve on the edge was blue with white stripes.

Kamiko walked straight over to the valve with white stripes and gave it a hard spin so that it spun around completely twice before she took a step back. Kat, jumped in place when she heard the sudden rush of ’water’. Turning around after she landed surprisingly gracefully, and chalking it up to the special flooring, Kat saw water pouring out of the six largest flowers in the pool. It was filling up much faster than Kat thought it should have, as the water level rose quickly and visibly despite the size of the tub.

It only took two minutes for the whole thing to be filled, and at that point Kat was sure something strange was going on. Even a normal bathtub didn’t fill up that fast and those were much smaller than the one beside her. When full, it started to give off a cloudy mist that seeped into the edges of the room, giving the room a whole new look.

The ’sun’ caught the mist in interesting ways, giving off the impression of a garden in the light of the dawning sun just before the light misting of the night can fully escape. Kamiko instantly dismissed her clothes and hopped into the bath, not thinking anything of Kat’s presence.

Kat of course, did the same. She may have been in the habit of getting up early to avoid fighting over showers, but more than once she’d had to shower with the younger kids to make sure they cleaned themselves, or with other older ones when they were all pressed for time. Kat got in easily, and was shocked to feel her muscles loosening and tension draining from her whole body.

*I didn’t even realise I was still tense at all? I had a perfectly pleasant conversation with Kamiko and I don’t think I was that tense after the fighting? Shouldn’t my regen take care of things like this?*

Kat was further confused because like she’d told Kamiko, the ’water’ wasn’t exactly cold. It was slightly chilled and comfortable certainly, but it was only just noticeable for her, like putting your hand in a glass that’s been left outside in the sun for a bit during Autumn. Hardly worth mentioning the temperature difference even if it was noticeable.

*Still. I think I needed this.* Kat let herself spread out, and another surprise was inbound as she started to float in place, her wings stretching out to cover… a small corner of the bathtub as she stretched all her limbs out completely, with her tail swishing happily in an uncontrolled manner.

”Whatever you were talking about,” said Kat with slurred words from relaxation, ”definitely works on me. The water isn’t that cold but it’s so nice”

Kat could hear the cheer in her friend’s voice as she replied with. ”I’m so glad to hear that. Mum said it’s something special in the stone. I didn’t want to get your hopes up because it doesn’t seem to work on everyone. I personally think it only works on Succubi, but Mum won’t tell me. Apparently, it’s special stuff they use at the hospital so they aren’t allowed.”

Kat didn’t think that made too much sense. If it was so special who would make a bathtub out of it. Then Kat gave it two extra seconds of thought, or well, maybe it was a few more than that, the calm was pervasive, even releasing a pressure on her mind she’d been unaware. *This is probably worth all the candles.*