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

”Thanks for that, but we probably should get to testing these socks. You can tell me more later” said Kat.

”Oh right. Of course… do you want to put them on then?” said Kamiko looking a little guilty. *Don’t look like that Kamiko, it was my fault I even asked the questions, you aren’t in the wrong here. Still, I really should be the one to put the socks on just in case… but hopefully she won’t think this means I’m blaming her. I don’t want to make it into a big deal though… we shouldn’t be talking too much.* 

”Sure thing. I’d rather you didn’t get hurt so just in case” responded Kat, hoping that little bit of comfort would offset her previous comments. It had… mixed results. Kamiko handed over the sock without looking quite as guilty but she was certainly pouting now.

Kat sat down, and threw off her shoes, making sure to keep watch on Kamiko out of the corner of her eye as she was doing so. Putting the socks on, Kat instantly noticed the difference. Her feet certainly weren’t cold before, but she was experiencing a pleasant warmness, as if she had a good pair of socks on during a cold winter day. Not too hot, not too cold, nice and fluffy in appearance, even if the colouring left something to be desired.

As Kat was relaxing though, something occurred to her. *Wait a minute… how hot must these socks be? No really. If I of all people can actually feel the heat then these things must be toasty.* Taking a quick glance at the amulet, Kat didn’t see any of the gems lighting up. *Hmmm. I have a plan. I’m not sure if it’s a good one, but it is something I think we want to test… just it might be a little deadly.*

”Kamiko” said Kat in a serious voice, which caused the demon in question to turn to face her sharply. ”It seems these socks keep my feet at a comfortably warm temperature. I somewhat want to see if it’s the same for you, but it might be dangerous to try”

”What do you mean?” asked Kamiko.

”Have you forgotten?” asked Kat with a raised eyebrow. ”Remember unlike you, I’m immune to both heat and cold. It makes it very hard to find anything warm. A warm bath is really just a lukewarm one to me. So that means if these socks are comfortable for me, they must be a couple hundred degrees Celsius maybe more.”

”Oh right” said Kamiko, face flush with embarrassment. ”Sorry, I really should have remembered. It’s just, not that normal. It’s normally one or the other, and I remembered that bath I was actually able to have with you at a nice temperature for once… sorry. Um… do you think we need to test them though?”

Kat shrugged. ”I’m not sure. I think it would be worthwhile information. See if they work for anyone even demons that don’t like the heat, but if it’s a specific temperature then maybe not. These could actually be a trap, and my resistance to fire is the only thing keeping it from being as much.”

Kamiko looked at the garish woollen socks and tilted her head. ”Honestly… I think they could make better looking socks if they wanted to trick someone with them. This is…well they certainly feel more like a bad family Christmas gift.”

*Wait these guys have Christmas?* Kat examined the words again and found that to be incorrect. *It’s actually more like… ’end of year gift giving holiday’ when I think about what Kamiko said. I suppose it translated it to Christmas for me because really it does fit the description, and it’s the one I celebrate.* 

”Well, just be careful. I don’t think I want to offer you the amulet for this one because I don’t want you getting hurt without noticing. I can regen you cannot” said Kat.

”My mum’s a healer. She could patch me up… Sure she’d probably break my legs at least once during treatment just to ensure I knew not to get myself injured stupidly in the future but… you know.” Said Kamiko.

”Wait… are you… are you exaggerating? I know we can’t lie but can we exaggerate?” asked Kat.

Kamiko shrugged. ”Sort of? I mean it really depends on what you are saying. I could say that because there was one time my Dad got his legs melted together. She needed to break them both a few times to get the healing right. Magical lava you see, so it was a bit harder to deal with. It was not a fun time. Mum though… she was yelling at him during the whole thing, and even made everyone who was at home at the time watch.

”She said it was good for us. Firstly to see something horrific now so we could move and deal with it next time. Secondly because if we ever did something, and I’m quoting here ’as reckless and stupid as your ol’ father here, I’ll make sure to break your legs a couple extra time so that the message and the healing sinks in’

”So, I can sort of… use that as an example when I want? Even if it isn’t quite as stupid as how Dad ended up like that, oh um please don’t ask I was told not to say. Trust me it was silly though. Um, yeah even if it isn’t quite as bad, I can say Mum will break my legs healing me for it because she’s threatened it. That make sense?”

*Well, it makes sense but I’m not sure I want to meet your mother now. She sounded so nice and now she sounds honestly terrifying. Then again… if that’s what she does for a living maybe it gets routine? I’ve heard anything can become routine if you do it enough and while Kamiko seems to avoid talking about it… she could be a few hundred years old easily.* 

”It does make sense thank you, and here are the socks” said Kat, passing them over to Kamiko who had taken a seat next to her. Kamiko took off her own socks and shoes before putting on the testing socks, and let out a strange hum, starting high and then going low.

”Ohh? Interesting. I was somewhat concerned for a brief moment, but it seems to have fixed itself. So, what happened was my feet were on fire for like… half a second maybe? Less? Anyway, it was really hot, probably whatever temperature they were for your feet or maybe it had time to cool down…

”Anyway, after that happened my feet cooled right down past a comfortable temperature for me, probably making sure to leach the heat from my skin before it became red, and then settled into a nice cozy temperature for me. Now my feet feel nice and cool. Just about the right temperature to relax with” said Kamiko.

”So they do work for probably everyone.” Said Kat.

”Well, normally I’d have said no. Working for high rank people is a big deal, especially with how hot they probably need to get. Another thing is that they clearly don’t let that heat or cool escape. Put your hand on the outside of the sock” said Kamiko.

Kat did as she was told and found them to not really feel like anything, neither hot nor cold. Reaching a finger down past the sock and into it properly Kat felt the finger in question cool down slightly and pulled it out afterwards. ”See?” said Kamiko ”The outside is completely normal. That must be why they are so expensive. They work for everyone and are safe to have around.”

”Why is the safety important?” asked Kat.

Kamiko scoffed and said. ”Well, safety might be the wrong word… not complete wrong, but perhaps comfort of others is more correct. Think of it this way Kat, I can’t take a bath properly with my family. Sure we have enough resistances just being demons that it’s possible. It isn’t going to kill anyone or injure them much, if at all, but it’s not comfortable for the whole family.

”These socks ignore that. They are as warm or cold as the wearer needs them to be and makes sure that it doesn’t affect the environment. I’ll bet these work for people at least to Rank 5, and likely higher. They’re certainly the most expensive thing we’ve tested so far, even if they aren’t something too many people would pay for.”

*Well, I guess that’s an interesting way of looking at it.* ”Are they expensive because they’d be hard to make, or because the only people who would buy them have plenty of money?” asked Kat.

Kamiko shrugged a bit and said. ”A bit of one, bit of the other. They aren’t easy to make, and while they probably wouldn’t be as hard as whatever price tag they have suggests.. The only people who’d buy them would make so much money compared to us that the cost is still quite low.”