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

— Kamiko — (Day 13, AKA one day later)

Looking through the floor took quite some time, long into the night actually though being inside made it hard to tell for sure. Everyone called it quits once Kamiko herself started yawning and they checked for the time. Food was pretty basic, just stuff from their rings and Meg cleared a space near the elevator for everyone to sleep.

The next morning, just before everyone left to search a bit more Meg said, “I can say now that there’s no maintenance exit on this floor,”

Hunter turned a glare over to Meg. “You knew that as soon as we got down here didn’t you?”

Meg nodded her head with a smile, “My little Sis knows me so well! I’m honoured!”

Hunter hissed for a few moments. “Dammit. You can see weaknesses, weakness that can easily indicate where the hatch would be. You let us search this entire floor to waste time didn’t you?”

“Of course not! I got to catch you up on all of my recent adventures so it wasn’t a waste at all!” said Meg with what looked like a genuine smile.

Kamiko for her part was just somewhat tired. She’d stressed herself out worrying over Meg but this? This was the sort of silly thing she could see her sisters doing. Sure it was because Meg wanted to drag this out and spend more time with Hunter, but Kamiko could see it as nothing more or less then a silly prank. It wasn’t, not entirely, but it just made Kamiko smile.

“See she gets it!” said Meg who was trying to pretend to be at least a little bit sorry in the face of Hunter’s glare.

Hunter turned her gaze to Kamiko and it turned questioning. “Oh… um… I mean… it just seemed very Meg? Like… Meg in a very silly way? It makes me feel… better about being around her,”

“Some offence when I say this lass… she’s just wasted a day of time that we might need when the world is at stake,” offered Bower.

“Right but… that’s NOT the case. We went over this. It’s not going to be a problem for at least a century and while I am quite sure Meg would be willing to risk it if things were different… not only would that upset Hunter but it might mean failing the mission so she wouldn’t do that.

This… I get that it was probably annoying for you all but I had a lot on my mind so I barely noticed the time passing. If it wasn’t for my stomach I’m not sure I’d have stopped work at all…” answered Kamiko.

Bower sighed, “Guess the stress is getting to me. I forgot about that part… probably because we haven’t had time to rest much after forcing our way through the mist and barely sleeping. Less recovered from that stunt then I thought…”

“We can rest before we leave… now Meg, what is your plan?” asked Hunter.

“Plan? Now why would I have a plan?” asked Meg without admitting to anything.

“Aside from the fact you pride yourself on being the smartest person on the room or at least competing for it?” asked Hunter.

“Of course, that part goes without saying,” answered Meg.

“Because I’m quite sure you’re trying to ring another favour out of me for this and I will likely feel some amount of regret once I know the answer. There isn’t some obvious maintenance area in the floor below us correct?” asked Hunter.

“Not directly below us no. I mean, there might be a way into the elevator from that floor but without going there myself I can’t really say. What I CAN say is that the chance I can unlock the door for you in the food storage area connected to the greenhouses is pretty high. I mean, without seeing the door I can’t be certain of course but I’d give it quite good odds myself,” answered Meg.

“Alright let’s head off then,” said Meg with a nod.

“Upapapapa,” said Meg as she reached over to grab Hunter’s shoulder and was allowed to do so. “I do believe we just established I’m looking for compensation and you haven’t even provided what you offered for this first job…” started Meg.

“I suppose it matters not that you knew it was a useless endeavour?” asked Hunter.

Meg shook her head, “How would I ever force you to know me better if I simply allowed you to get away with ignorance? This way I get more rewards AND the lesson sinks in a bit. I’m willing to wait of course, not many reasons to push here. I do recognise we all want this done so waiting is fine… but I do want something else,” answered Meg.

Hunter sighed, “Can we head in the direction at least while I consider what’s on offer?”

“Sounds good!” said Meg with a bounce as she headed off to the side of the elevator, waiting for the others to go up. Kamiko didn’t waste any time and simply got to work climbing the ladder at the back of the elevator shaft. Bower followed behind her, with Hunter next and Meg at the back.

It didn’t take long for them to get to the right floor, and even just based on Hunter’s description it was easy to know where to go. The robots weren’t moving around and ‘the back of the floor’ was simple. So Kamiko just kept walking- CRUNCH. Kamiko whipped her head around to see Meg… biting into one of the nearby… Kamiko wanted to guess fruit? “Um… that was a bit loud…” said Kamiko.

“Yeah probably because this isn’t ripe and it’s hard shelled, like a coconut,” agreed Meg.

Kamiko opened her mouth to respond but quickly decided it was better off just to close it. Kamiko turned around to keep moving, and she did… for a few moments until Hunter asked, “Meg aren’t you coming?”

“Hmm… well we didn’t really discuss that payment. We’ve been heading in the right direction sure but no words so… thought I’d have a snack break. Might give you a chance to actually offer something,” said Meg.

Hunter rolled her eyes, “What do you want?”

Meg shrugged as she grabbed another ‘fruit’ biting into the hard shell and making Kamiko’s teeth hurt just thinking about it. Sure she’d never broken a tooth on anything but her family really preferred jelly. Even with stronger teeth and Rank 3 jaw strength the idea of biting into something like that was not a pleasant one. Just the thought alone sent pain through her teeth.

“Lil Sis… you should know I want quite a few things. I’m sure I could ask for something, and you’d either say no, or you’d say yes… but we could haggle and while I would of course come out on top… it’d take a while and I’d probably get you mad at me. But if you offer? That makes it your idea!

That way even if I don’t get quite as much, or the discussion takes a bit, your opinion of me doesn’t sink as much!

“Um… should you just be announcing that?” asked Kamiko.

“Nope. See, with a lot of people, and definitely Lils Sis, it works EVEN BETTER if I announce my intentions beforehand. She can’t be made I tricked her because I was entirely upfront and open with my intentions and even if she isn’t entirely pleased with them, Lils Sis here likely believes them to be fair. So… what are you offering me?” said Meg as she took another fruit.

Kamiko shivered again as she wondered if this was just some kind of tactic to put everyone off balance. A quick glance around revealed that she was the only one visible weirded out by the food thing. Granted Meg could almost certainly eat rocks and likely did so her teeth would be fine. Didn’t feel good to imagine, but Meg would be fine. Kamiko shivered again. Just had to keep that in mind.

Hunter grumbled, folding her arms under her breasts as she considered the issue. “I do not like how this is progressing,”

“I DO like how this is progressing,” returned Meg.

“I… am willing to offer…” Hunter paused as she flicked through a number of things Meg might want and just how far she was willing to go here. It had to be bigger than head pats, and while a hug was the obvious answer Hunter wasn’t willing to go for that. Not only was it a bigger deal, as Meg would insist on a ‘proper hug’ from her instead of just arms. That meant… what?

“I am willing to offer you a friendly marksmanship competition with weapons of your choice that you may claim at any time once we return to the Hub,” Your next journey awaits at empire

“Oh? And you would give me your number to confirm the time?” asked Meg.

Hunter realised in that very moment, that tiny instant that existed right after the sentence was finished. Hunter had realised that she’d made a mistake.