A chance to relax

Time passed as the two of you chilled out on the couch, deciding to watch something you could both agree on which ended up being reruns of late 90’s comedy sitcoms, the best choice that you could find at this hour.

Sarah stayed cuddled up against you and after making sure there was at least some skin-to-skin contact for the KDK to work its magic, you found the time quite relaxing for a change. You’d normally prefer being up in your room on your own and while that still gave you some respite to think, being able to sit down with a subject like this in a casual setting also felt like it was charging your mental batteries.

You were sure that with Sarah’s free use effects she might not even bat an eye if you were to start openly fondling her while you lay together but given the little heart-to-heart you had earlier, it felt like you should hold off for the moment and preserve the atmosphere that had been present.

A thought quickly formed in your mind that this relaxing feeling might be a hidden effect of your own, making it so that the time you spent with your subjects would be more enjoyable but when you didn’t feel any vibration from your phone to confirm your theory, you felt safe to assume your feelings hadn’t been altered.

Still, the thought that you as the user could have a hidden effect just like your subjects was something you hadn’t considered until now and you didn’t think you would be able to tell for a while at least. Your whole world had turned upside down in this past week so if you acted unlike your usual self, there were probably going to be a few reasons to consider before jumping to it being a hidden effect.

The most likely of course was the fact that you had already altered how you think with the use of the intelligence upgrades the KDK had already provided.

Again, you found it too easier to slip into your thoughts and start thinking about your upcoming plans and theories but that had always been the case, only now you had a lot more things on the go that could distract you. While trying to focus back on the TV, a voice from the doorway made you and Sarah turn your heads.

“Sarah, dinner will be ready in a minute so if you want to stop using your brother as a cushion then you can give me a hand” Mom teased, her head poking round the doorway for the both of you to see before she returned back to the kitchen.

Sarah got up with a groan and picked up her pace as she went to follow Mom back to the kitchen. The interruption had made you lose interest in the TV so you followed suit and got up to join them in their preparations. As soon as you got to the dining room however, Mom called out to you and stopped you in your tracks.

“Max sweetie can you go and get Lucy from upstairs? We should have it all out by the time you get downstairs” Mom asked, dashing your hopes about avoiding an awkward encounter.

“Sure thing” you said regretfully, accepting your fate as you headed for the stairs.

At least you had an excuse for coming upstairs to see her this time and as you stood outside her room, you didn’t hear any noises from inside. To be on the safe side, you knocked and waited for a response, hearing the sound of footsteps get closer as you took a step back.

“Oh so you're knocking now? What is it?” Lucy greeted, her attitude now back to what it was before now that she had had time to digest what had happened.

“I’m gonna knock ninety percent of the time it's just that I heard something interesting on the other side of the door and didn’t want to interrupt the flow of the conversation” you explained back, testing to see how annoyed she actually was.

“And you thought barging in wouldn’t ‘interrupt the flow’?” she asked, doing air quotes as she mocked your words.

“Well it was less of an interruption than knocking. It certainly didn’t slow your boyfriend down right?” you shot back, getting at least one dig in.

“...What do you want?” Lucy said as she tried to hold back any sort of reaction to your comment.

“Mom told me to come and get you for dinner. Sarah’s already helping her bring in the food” you replied, getting back to the reason you came up here.

“You should have led with that… Tell her I’ll be down in a minute” Lucy replied, shutting the door before you could even answer her back.

Her reaction was better than you expected, although not positive, but you knew that was probably the best you were going to get out of Lucy. You considered waiting for her to come out just to make her walk down with you but again that would only annoy her more, something you needed to stop yourself from doing now that you were trying to get on better terms with her.

A quick walk downstairs revealed that Mom and Sarah had already set the food at everyone's places with a plate waiting for you as you were the first to sit down. You wouldn’t be able to dig in until after you said grace but with it serving as another KDK opportunity, although limited, the tradition had started to grow on you.

Lucy entered the dining room just as Mom and Sarah got comfortable in their seats, quickly joining the three of you and sitting down in her usual seat beside you. Mom hadn’t trusted anyone to lead grace since you had attempted in so she conducted it herself, holding out her hands for both you and Sarah to take.

You did as always and held Mom’s hand and offered your other to Lucy, also letting your leg brush against Sarah’s under the table to get the seconds counting up on the KDK for all three of them. Lucy took your hand and squeezed your fingers in her grip, shooting you a glance to warn you of what she was capable of.

Even with the minor pain, you acted like there was nothing wrong, shooting her a smile as Mom gave her thanks for the food you were about to eat. Given that she didn’t get the reaction she was looking for, Lucy clicked her tongue, getting a stare from Mom in response which subdued her quicker than you ever could.

“Amen” Mom said, ending her speech.

“Amen” You, Sarah and Lucy repeated, all of you letting go of your hands to dig into the food.