Chapter 49 On the highway to mall
Kat was getting ready for the day trip by fixing her hair in the mirror. Her outfit was set because nothing other then her kimono could properly allow for her wings. Fixing her hair though Kat noticed that she'd been slightly mistaken about how her horns sit around her head. Kat found that her horns start behind her ears going backward and then curving and returning to the front rather than simply started at the base of her neck like the fiery counterpart she'd seen.
*Well, this makes styling my hair a bit easier. I thought I'd have to deal with two horns splitting my hair at the back, but this is considerably more manageable. Kat played around with her hair a bit before deciding that keeping it unbound was best. I never really liked doing anything fancy with my hair anyway. Even the hair sticks were just to avoid people noticing how long it's gotten. Now that I can just leave it down and my hair is kind enough to stay straight and orderly, I can just forget about it.*
Kat found her way downstairs and ate her part of the breakfast left on the table. Callisto had apparently told Vivian she wasn't coming today but it seems she was nice enough to still prepare breakfast. While Kat was eating Sylvie joined her for the meal and the two ate in companionable silence.
"Huh, I'm not sure if I'm early or late" said Vivian as she came down the stairs. Vivian was wearing a light blue knitted turtleneck sweater with a complimentary pair of long pants.
"Well, your later than me but around the same timing as Sylvie I'd guess" said Kat glancing between Vivian's outfit and Sylvie's pyjamas.
"I suppose so. Do you know when Lily will be here? I don't think I actually gave her a time" said Vivian
"I'm sure she will be here soon. Lily likes to sleep in a bit, but she hates being late to anything. I'd say there is a good chance she arrives before you finish breakfast" said Kat
"I'll go get ready then" said Sylvie heading back upstairs for a shower.
Vivian ate quickly and then disappeared upstairs while Kat waited for Lily to arrive. It was only around a minute after Vivian left that Kat heard a knock at the door. Kat peeked through the window to double check it was Lily before opening the door to reveal Lily in a long navy-blue coat and an even longer grey dress.
"Morning Lily" said Kat
"Good morning. I hope I'm dressed alright, I haven't been to the city in ages" said Lily
"You look great Lily" said Kat ushering her inside
"Sylvie's just having a shower and I'm not quite sure what Vivian is up to, she seemed in a rush" said Kat
"That's fine I just didn't want to be late" said Lily. *Ha called it, shame Vivian ate so fast and I might have been correct on the timing as well.*
Kat and Lily spent a few minutes on the couch waiting for Sylvie and Vivian to arrive but what they saw was a shock to both of them. Walking down the stairs was Sylvie dressed in a black kimono with white flowers that looked shockingly similar to Kat's own.
"What? How did you? I have questions" fumbled Kat
"It was Vivian's idea, and I think it's great" said Sylvie smiling wide.
"Well, I can hardly take all the credit, I just suggested getting her something nice to match your kimono. After I found out that you'll be wearing it a lot I just had to see Sylvie in something that matched" said Vivian
"That's so cute, good job Sylvie" said Lily.
*I don't see what the big deal is guys. Sylvie is always cute. I don't see how she looks any better than normal. *
"Well, I'm glad you agree with me" said Vivian "Now that we're all here shall we get moving? It'll take around two hours to get into the city and I have a few places in mind to visit" said Vivian
"Where are we going?" asked Kat
"Well that's a surprise. At the very least we are heading to the mall for a few random things and some books for Lily, right?" asked Vivian
"Yeah, um" said Lily "If you don't mind, the bookstore I'm looking for is in the mall"
"No worries, I'm sure everyone can find at least something in the mall to occupy themselves" said Vivian
"And, um, are you sure Kat will be fine looking like that" said Lily "Not that there's anything wrong with how you look Kat, I mean-"
"It's fine. I understand what you mean Lily. I am somewhat noticeable it's the wings that really cause the issues. Even my horns aren't that bad if I wanted to hide them. I really have no idea what to do about my wings though, even folded they are quite noticeable" said Kat
"Oh, and how should I hold them Vivian? It was your suggestion to just act naturally but how naturally for my wings?"
"Well, how do they normally sit? I guess it depends really" said Vivian
"I can keep them folded without too much trouble but that isn't actually that comfortable. I feel the urge to stretch them out after a while. Something closer to half unfurled. It's hard to explain I'll just stand up and show you the difference" said Kat.
Standing in place Kat unfurled her wings, stretching them to their maximum length. "So this is mostly for preparing to fly, it isn't actually that comfortable to hold. I can kind of compare it to being in a runner start, your muscles are prime and ready, but you can't just sit there forever" said Kat. "Then you have this at the other end of the spectrum" Kat closed her wings all the way folding them against her back and keeping them tight.
"This I'd say is comparable to standing in place. You can do it for a while, but you feel the need to fidget and when it comes to my wings the fidgeting would be rather noticeable" Finally letting her wings relax they rested somewhere around two thirds extended with slight bends in the material. "This is totally relaxed. My wings can comfortably sit like this pretty much forever, but they will probably bounce a lot as I move which is honestly not that bad, I hardly notice it
"Well…" said Vivian dragging out the word as much as she could "I think as long as your wings aren't full extended it's fine. You will just have to commit to a pose and keep it. Assuming you had fake wings, I doubt they could move much or if they can it will look really fake. I think that will be the only point of concern, natural movement, but I bet a few little things here and there if you are careful will go unnoticed" said Vivian
"Ok, just one more question then. What about the fact that they phase through my clothes" said Kat
"Huh. Right I forgot about that. I mean obviously that's how you wear that kimono at all but I just hadn't considered what that would look like" mused Vivian "Meh, I'm sure it will be fine, just don't move around too much"
"Would it be safer to hide my tail then? It's a little expressive and it moves a bunch when I'm walking" said Kat
"But your tail is so cool" said Sylvie
"Yes, but Kat needs to be careful about these things" said Lily
"Well, I think the tail is the easiest to get away with actually, a few robotic fake tails have come out recently, and I mean, they aren't great but they are surprisingly well done, if anyone asks we can just say Kat is testing out a prototype of the newer ones and I'm sure it will be fine" said Vivian
"Why do you know so much about fake tails" said Kat
"Well, don't robot limbs seem so cool? I could get even more work done if I had four arms. I keep up with these things" said Vivian puffing out her chest.
*If it was anyone else I'd call there bluff but Vivian's certainly enthusiastic enough about everything that she might actually choose to have extra arms if she could.*
"Indeed Vivian, I wish the robotic eye replacements were a bit further along as well, they just aren't practical at all. The technology is basically non-existent, but a girl can dream" said Lily
"You as well Lily? I thought you liked your glasses" said Kat
"I spent a week on robotics about oh, three four months ago now. The theoretical technology level is shockingly high but practical stuff just isn't there yet. It's all really cool to look at though. Didn't I tell you about it?" said Lily
"I think that must have been during term 3's exams, I vaguely recall you mentioning it once. Wait is that why you got such middling grades on your modern history exam?" said Kat
"No" said Lily finding Sylvie's kimono much more interesting than she did thirty seconds ago.
"Lily, I have magic vision. I can tell you are lying" said Kat
"Wait, you can see lies? How does that work" said Lily
"It doesn't I cheated. I have magic vision, and separate to that, I can tell you were lying" said Kat. Lily pouted at this and walked towards the garage blushing.
*Why are you embarrassed? Or actually, why did you think you could get away with one of the most obvious lies ever. Vivian and Sylvie could probably tell and they don't know you that well.* Shrugging her shoulders Kat followed Lily to the garage