Kate let out a long sigh. Moving raptor kittens off one of the lounging chairs turned out to be a major problem. Every time she put one in the grass, another had taken its place. Even Lizzy’s idea of creating a magical barrier didn’t work. Somehow the little cats managed to climb on top of the barrier and sit on that instead.

“Have you tried talking to them?”

Kate shook her head. “No…?”

“Let me try this then. Hey, little ones, uhm, if you make some space and let us lie down here, you can cuddle with us.”

That prompted mild confusion among the cats, followed by meowing. “Cuddles? Friend! Cuddles!” It took a few moments for them to reach consensus, but it seemed like they all agreed: cuddles on the demons are better than cuddles only on the chairs. And so, they made room for the two demons to get comfortable.

Lizzy chuckled as the raptor kittens began climbing back onto her. “Told you this would work.”

“Such simple little cats but capable of understanding far beyond what their minds look like.”

“Don’t doubt our little friends.”

“I won’t anymore. You’re smart ones, aren’t you. Yes, you are. You are very smart little cats.” Kate distributed chin scratches to every kitten within her reach.

It only took a few short moments for the cats to begin piling up on Kate and Lizzy. “Oh, do you want chin scratches too?”

The raptor kittens would appreciate them, but that was not why they started lying down in multiple layers now. No, they had realized that the demons did not have blankets. Normally, demons had blankets to keep warm. These two demons had no blankets, but raptor kittens were warm too. The logical conclusion, the only one possible, was to pile onto the demons to keep them warm. The higher the pile, the warmer the demons.

“I see…” Kate picked up a kitten. “But you are getting quite heavy. We will be warm, yes, but also not comfortable anymore.”

That wouldn’t do. Demons needed to be comfortable. And so, the raptor kittens got to meowing at each other again, discussing possible solutions. This went on for many very adorable minutes until they found a compromise: one layer of raptor kittens with additional kittens piled into less covered spots.

“Okay, that is a good plan, you do that.” Kate nodded in agreement.

It didn’t take long for the small cats to organize themselves and smother the demons with their warmth and love. A Properly organized raptor kitten cover was also capable of adapting to the movement of the demons and needed very little help to keep all the heat in.

“Kate?”

“Lizzy?”

“I had some thoughts about my home… future home.”

“Okay?”

“Amelia said she wanted us to inherit the house together, right? I would like to keep living there but I will have to move to Hell eventually. I wanted to ask Jorogumo if there was a way to move the house here and maybe recreate the garden with local plants. Of course, only if this is all okay with you.”

“Totally! I was worried we didn’t have anything we could do with the house once you moved out. I would love it if you moved both the house and garden here. I wouldn’t want to lose that part of my life to time.”

“It’s home. I really wasn’t sure what I wanted from a home in Hell, I have everything I want from a home and immortalizing a part of our little family besides us just feels right.”

“It does… it really does.” Kate swallowed some tears. “Fuck.”

“Oh Kate…”

“Sorry, just realizing that time is a thing. I’m so glad that you won’t simply be gone one day.”

“I dread those days… the days when we will be all that is left of our family. Until then, I will cherish every moment we have.”

“I should too… I need to come by more often.”

A concerned cat sound interrupted the conversation before Lizzy could respond. One of the raptor kittens had stood up and was looking at Kate, who was close to tears.

“It’s alright little one.” The young Nightmare ran her hand along the kitten's back. “I’ll be fine.”

The raptor kitten understood. Sometimes family and friends change or go away and there is nothing you can do. It is always sad but there are always new friends, new family to find and comfort you. These little cats might not be the smartest things in this world, but they remembered every single one of their friends, even if they only met once in their lives. They always had their friends with them in their memories. This little one didn’t know how to express that, so it just rubbed its head against Kate’s cheeks.

That was too much. The tears could not be held back any longer. “I understand, I… thank you… little one.”

The kitten started purring to comfort Kate. That was the moment the other cats noticed and joined in. They all understood why their friend was sad and wanted to help. That was why they always stop by the demons’ settlements: to make people feel better. As much as the treats and snuggles were deeply appreciated, the one thing that all intelligent life in Hell had in common was empathy, and that made the raptor kittens want to return the favour in the only way they knew how. They shared their happy lives with the demons.

Lizzy just let Kate cry out her emotions. Eventually, when the last tears had been shed, she spoke again. “You need rest. It’s all been a bit much, wasn’t it?”

Kate nodded.

“I will be here, taking care of the kitties, and you can sleep. We can figure out everything else tomorrow.”

“Okay. Thank you…”

“Always.”

 

Kate didn’t know how much time had passed since she fell asleep. When she woke up, the raptor kittens piled onto her apparently had a shift change. Only a few from the previous pile remained, while many others had taken the place of those who were now enjoying their time playing around in the grass.

“Hey.”

“Good morning.”

“How long was I asleep?”

Lizzy shrugged. She was sitting in the grass, playing with the cats now. “Ten, maybe eleven hours. Nirrti and Sarah came by just a few minutes ago to say hi and left for breakfast in Dis afterwards. I’m sure they’ll be back later.”

“Okay.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Better, but you’re right… it’s been a bit much recently.”

“I didn’t expect you to just fall apart.” Lizzy sighed. “I’m sorry, I should have waited before bringing things up.”

“It’s alright. I needed to get that all out, I just needed to cry a bit. There is so much I need to do still…”

“Later. You can do all that later. You need some food first. There is a café just around the corner here in Gehenna, Nirrti said they serve warm breakfast.”

“Sounds good. Hey, little kittens? I need to get up to eat.”

There was murmuring among the raptor kittens, but they understood. Eating was important. They rearranged themselves to let Kate get up and then moved back into place to cover the entire lounging chair.

Kate stretched. “Alright, let’s go.”

 

After a lengthy breakfast and a promise to the raptor kittens to return soon, Kate and Lizzy returned to the library to part ways. Lizzy returned home to Amelia and Michael, while Kate met with Apollyon.

“You appear exhausted, are you okay?”

Kate nodded. “I will be. How are things here?”

“Sekhmet has finished her analysis of the debris. Good news, the desk can be mostly reconstructed, but there are some details she needs to talk to you about.”

“Mostly?”

“Parts of the drawers close to the bomb were so finely dispersed that the reconstruction of the desk will be missing a near spherical indent right where the explosion hit first. I was told that it would be possible to replace the missing wood in a way that would be indistinguishable from the original. I told the team that they need to talk to you about it.”

“Thank you. I mean, it’s your desk, it would be okay if you made the decision, but still… thank you. Uhm, what would you want?”

“Many cultures in human history repaired broken pottery with molten metal as they hadn't invented glue yet. That always left a highly visible metal seam between the shards.  I would prefer replacing the missing material with something other than wood. Adamant glass would be enough.”

“The black glass stuff… yes, that would look good with the dark red wood. Let’s ask Sekhmet and her team to do that.”

“Alright.”

“Anything else I need to know?”

“No, everything else is fine. But I have a question.”

“Sure, go ahead.”

“You were quiet yesterday during our bath. I didn’t want to sour the mood, but I need to know if you were alright.”

“I was, don’t worry. It was just too cozy and I didn’t feel like talking. I just wanted to relax. I actually nearly fell asleep.”

“Good.”

“We should do that again, it was nice.”

“We should.” Apollyon nodded.