noveldrama
Chapter 1720 A Change
Chapter 1720 A Change
--- Kat ---
After Sylvie and Vivian left Kat wasn’t really sure what to do. Lily had ducked over to see her parents, or at least, see if there were home and likely planned to stay for the rest of the day if they were. There was always practice but Kat felt like doing something a bit different. What that was? Kat hadn’t figured it out yet.
Her first attempt was putting on the television to see if there was anything good on. She also heard from Lily that her parents were both home and her Dad was sick, so she was definitely going to be sticking around them for the rest of the day.
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Flicking through the various channels Kat found herself feeling disconnected. The news wasn’t something she wanted to see. It was all these different problems that maybe she could help with, especially the wars and perhaps even the tracking of suspects. Of course it wasn’t something she wanted to involve herself in for a number of reasons… but the little niggling was there so she quickly swapped off.
Next she found an older action movie that was on. It was… kinda dull. Twenty minutes in and the plot was threadbare and the actions scenes were just awful. Now that she’d been in so many fights herself she could tell that. Well, there was also the fact that if she wanted to look at things closer and slow things down… she could see the individual pixels moving and changing. It made her focus on them instead of the whole picture.
I guess that’s why I didn’t see many TVs around when I was in the Hub. If it’s not interesting enough it’s too easy to focus on the little details of the TV itself instead of the show.
So with that clearly not working Kat continued to flick through channels passing up a number of things that just didn’t hold her interest and reminding Kat why she so rarely bothered with television. In the end she just turned the thing off and remained slumped in the seat. Unsure what to do.
Eventually Callisto decided to poke the moping demon a bit. "I see you are failing to enjoy the shallow variety of shows present on a weekday,"
"I don’t think it’s that really. I just… don’t feel like TV. Not that I really ever do," said Kat.
Callisto shrugged, "Perhaps you should simply relax. Perhaps meditate a bit? You mentioned being tired despite the fact you have slept a decent amount over the last few days. Perhaps you should try meditating and properly relax your mind if sleep has yet to do so for you,"
"Might as well try," said Kat with a shrug. Kat pushed herself up off the chair and threw a few pillows down onto the floor to lay on. It wouldn’t be perfectly comfortable but that was perhaps part of the point.
Kat sunk into her meditation and soon saw her mental pond. Nothing immediately jumped out at her as wrong, even if she’d felt a bit off in the last few days. Kat considered just meditating but then she found one rock that drew her attention. It didn’t stand out in any way Kat could see or articulate. It was perfectly fine where it was. It caused no issues at all.
Kat moved it a bit to the left and then moved on. Her focus was constantly grabbed by these little things that couldn’t even be called imperfections. Kat didn’t even feel like she was fixing anything. Things weren’t better… they were just a bit different. She smoothed out a bit of sand here, moved a few more rocks there. Kat added a few bubbles into the water, and that was actually a bit hard. Kat wasn’t sure how she did it in the end, simply that after sufficient fiddling with the riverbed and it eventually worked.
There were a few times Kat looked over at her connection to Lily… and not once did she ever feel compelled to touch that. She didn’t move any of the rocks around it, the water flow was left as it was and she certainly didn’t add any bubbles or additional features. Kat wasn’t sure what that really said about her mind, or if it said anything at all. Perhaps this was simply a way for her mind to wind down.
At least until she felt someone approaching. Kat returned to the waking world to see Callisto trying to get her attention. "Sylvie and Vivian are moments away from walking in," stated Callisto before she vacated the room. She just headed upstairs as if nothing had happened.
Kat pushed herself up off the ground and brushed out her outfit more out of habit then need. Soon Vivian came inside and waved at Kat before disappearing into her office. "Sorry Kat I’ve got some work to do. I may have been a little naughty in putting it off,"
Soon after Vivian disappeared Sylvie made her way inside and Kat waved, "Hi Sylvie! Did you have a good day at school?"
"Yeah it was alright, but I need to do my homework," answered Sylvie as she continued onwards upstairs.
Kat remained in place for a few moments not really sure how to process that. Eventually she slowly moved over to the couch and just sort of let herself slide down into it. [Are you alright Kat?]
*Um… let’s go with no but I don’t think I want to talk about it either.*
[Are you sure?]
*No not entirely but you should focus on your parents for now. I can deal with it.* Despite Kat’s desire not to talk about it she soon found a cup of hot chocolate pressed into her hands. Kat glanced down at the cup she was now holding and then up to see who had passed it to her and found Callisto taking a seat nearby. "Um…" Kat didn’t know what to say.
"I take it you are upset?" asked Callisto.
"I’ll be fine," responded Kat to avoid any lies.
"She really does have schoolwork you know," stated Calisto.
"I… well I assumed so anyway… just… I remember back when Sylvie used to ask me for help with her homework," sighed Kat.
"I imagine it has been quite some time since she needed that assistance," mused Callisto.
"Well… yes but she’d ask anyway. If I wasn’t busy with the other kids I’d sit with her and watch her do homework. Normally she’d be on my lap even and… well… it’s not like this is the first time. She hasn’t exactly asked for help much since we moved here but I guess… I was already feeling a bit off and it just sort of hit me all at once that it’s been a while," sighed Kat.
"Ah, I had not realised that was the case," stated Callisto.
"Look I get that it’s weird that I’m having these thoughts NOW instead of earlier on. I mean… it’s not like I didn’t notice Sylvie was spending less and less time with me. A lot of that is my own fault and while I don’t necessarily regret the choices that led to it I still find it a bit sad. It’s just…
"I guess it’s just strange to have it really sink in. I’m not sure I was ever rejected so… cleanly? Perhaps? Just… the casual brushing off I suppose. Not even an apology. Not that she NEEDS to apologise of course," Kat hurriedly correct. "It’s just that… even just a year ago she would’ve apologised if she wanted to seriously study without me and… maybe that’s the part that really made it sink in? Maybe it was because I was already feeling a bit off?"
"Perhaps you should take this as a sign that Sylvie is growing up and gaining in confidence. While it might not bring you much comfort, perhaps it can bring you some. Sylvie is an intelligent young girl and I… hmmm" Callisto trailed off for a moment. "Perhaps she is doing this as a bit of revenge for not spending as much time with her anymore but I do not see something like this lasting long term. I am sure she will be happy to spend time with soon," said Callisto.
Later that evening, once Lily had come around for dinner Callisto was proved correct. The smaller girl made sure to choose a seat next to Kat, and asked a myriad of questions related to her most recent adventure. Some of the details Kat considered withholding from Sylvie, but after the shake up earlier Kat was a bit more generous with her explanations. Sylvie listened intently, and was engaged throughout the meal and for some time afterwards. Smiling all the while.
Still, even with that being the case Kat couldn’t help but feel that something had changed. It was easy to accept that much at least… but the question that kept bugging Kat was when things had changed in truth… and how long she had gone without noticing.