[2.47] Family Style (Part 5/5)

“Mmm.” Apparently Angelica made her request at a bad time, and her mother had a mouthful, now mumbling while chewing. She made a waving motion, charading for the documents to be handed over, so Angelica did just that. After a bit of tedium getting her old printer to work that hadn’t been turned on in years, she produced a paper copy of the Lemon Literature contract just for this occasion.

Fortunately, the document had her full legal name on it instead of her artist alias. The publisher had asked for it after she preliminarily agreed, for billing and tax purposes—pretty standard. It would only further cement her alibi of earning money as a proper artist. Any work done for them would officially be done by Angelica Hallow. Gelic would probably still be used for internal communications, but her mother would never see that part.

Corticia barely scanned the document before making another fuss. She took a heavy swallow of her food and then pointed at the paper in earnest. “Right here. It says that each stage of the art draft must be submitted within a reasonable timeframe, but makes no mention of what that timeframe is. Have them specify a concrete number for each stage, then have them add a clause that any extensions must be agreed upon in writing. Frankly, it’s not in your favor, since it removes your ability to argue, but it could save you a lot of headache if they’re bothering you about dates before the actual deadline. And it will just hold up a lot better in court since it’s ratified, not that it should ever come to that.”

Her mother scanned through it one more time and smirked before sliding the paper back over to her daughter. “Most of the rest is fine, not the verbiage I would use, but we’re in completely different sectors, so it shouldn’t be a problem. However, there is one more glaring error. See if you can find it.”

“Uhh, alright.” This was another of her mother’s bad habits, one Angelica absolutely hated growing up. But now as a wiser adult, she appreciated the method a bit more. Corticia would randomly pick things to be a teachable moment. Through these lessons, she’d learned a lot, and probably wouldn’t be as capable in many aspects of life if her mother had just solved everything for her. Though, kid Angelica definitely wished she’d been spoiled a bit more for things that felt like it’d be much easier for an adult to take care of.

Of course, some basic life lessons were never included in this, resulting in her being way more sheltered and clueless than she understood once she got out into the real world. In such cases where Angelica was actually struggling, her mom went full overcorrective sometimes, blaming others, changing systems, instead of actually teaching her daughter to deal with such issues in healthier ways. More than one teacher had been mysteriously fired after she’d gotten bad grades. Her mother would still crack down on her for it, but the wrong lessons were learned.

“Umm, the payment.” It didn’t take Angelica too long to find. She’d read through it before, but nothing had jumped out. However, now that she knew something was wrong, it felt stupidly obvious. “There’s no specific payment dates, deadlines either. Once again, it just says a reasonable timeframe.”

[Hybrid Skill: Scrutinize Lv.1 unlocked | Contracts, Pacts, and any other binding arrangements will be automatically scrutinized for deficiencies, loopholes, and other points of failure that will be brought to your attention. Most other subjects can be scrutinized as well at the cost of MP. Active Cost: MP Drain. Effectiveness of scrutiny scales with Skill Level, Competence, Lucidity, Pedant Attunement, and experience with subject matter]

[Competence, Lucidity increased]

[Pedant Attunement unlocked]

[Pedant Attunement is the measurement of societal effectiveness. As rules in a society are established, they will be upheld, broken, and exploited. The more you understand and play within these rules, utilizing them for your own defence and benefit, the more the Attunement will grow. Pedant Skills are few, rare, and cannot be purchased. To obtain them normally, you must first demonstrate the commitment, methodology, and/or unrelenting spirit of being pedantic]

Oh wow, now that was a welcome boon. It would help a ton with Demon jobs in the future, whether with her Cult or Summoners. And surprisingly again, it had been her mother of all people who had helped her obtain it, through one of her teachable moments no less. Maybe the woman was actually a savant on obtaining Demon Skills. Hell, it could be that she’d used similar methods on past Demons she’d Contracted or Bound.

“That’s my girl.” Corticia smiled at her, and damned if that spark of parental praise didn’t feel elating. Angelica quickly had to suppress the feeling, or she’d be sobbing and begging her mom for a hug in just a few seconds. “Get those two things clarified, and I’d say it’s good to go. Though, I do have one other demand. When these books with your art go to print, I better get a copy of each. Can’t say that I will read them, but the words aren’t the part I care about. And I’ll put them up in my office so that everyone can see.”

“Uhh, yeah, sure,” Angelica agreed, trying to keep her face from going red. She knew she shouldn’t be eating up her mother’s words so much, that the woman was a master at lipservice and manipulation, but ughk. If only she was always like this…

“Tch, drat.” Corticia suddenly pulled at her phone and grimaced at the screen. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to cut this reunion short.” Now that was more like the woman she knew, always running off for some obligation or another, putting her daughter on the backburner, even when she really needed her mother to be there for her. It was nice to know some things didn’t change.

“But I hope you won’t make me wait another year before I can see you again,” the woman condescended. “And since I’m now in a rush, let’s just skip the nonsense negotiation, shall we? I will ask to see you at least once a week. You’ll see that as far too unreasonable and overbearing, so you’ll counter with a month since that’s the farthest but simplest unit of measure that is still reasonable. Then we’ll both give ground, so can we just go ahead and agree to every two weeks? Three if there’s a genuine scheduling conflict?

“Nothing boring or absurdly social, since I know you’re not a fan. I won’t force you to make any public appearances with me. But a meal, maybe some shopping, perhaps even a movie or getting our hair done together like we used to. Can you agree to that?”

For a brief moment, Angelica wondered if Scrutinize would judge this agreement too. But it didn’t have any sort of punishment or reconciliation associated, so it wasn’t actually anything binding. Every two weeks, huh? That felt… doable. So far, there’d been nothing that took that long in her Demon ventures. So unless she basically got Bound and held hostage to the point that she couldn’t return, it shouldn’t be a problem. And hell, if that did happen, maybe having a powerful Summoner come looking for her if she dropped off the face of Casniem wouldn’t be a terrible thing.

So she gave an affirming nod. Her mother had totally been right too. She definitely would have jumped to a month in that negotiation. Definitely a bit annoying that the woman knew her so well.

“Very good. I’ll be in touch when we get closer so we can set a date.” Corticia took a few more bites of her food, mostly cleaning her plate. She then glanced over to her daughters’ which was about half empty. “Good enough, I guess. I won’t force you to sit here and lick it clean, Angelica, but do try to eat what you can after I leave.”

“Uhh, yeah, sure.” She nodded again. While she was honestly getting pretty full, this was good food, so she didn’t want to waste it. Maybe she’d shove it into Second Stomach for later. “Oh, but what about the rest?” She gestured to the still vast array of dishes that were covering the table, of which between them, even with Angelica’s gargantuan portion, they’d only consumed maybe twenty percent.

“Hmm.” Her mother pretended to ponder, but Angelica recognized that look. She’d already made up her mind. “Well, my schedule is fully booked for the next few days, so I won’t get to them before they go bad.”

Ding-a-bring, the chime from before repeated, but slightly tweaked. Maybe that was supposed to indicate some nuance to tell her the severity or something, but the overall point was the same: a lie.

“Why don’t you take the rest back with you? I’ll pay on the way out, of course. You don’t have to worry about it.” So that was the point, then. All this food had been ordered so Angelica could feast for a week, maybe even longer if she froze some of it, or more likely, stored some in her metaphysical stomach for emergencies or convenience. Hmm, she’d probably throw the stuff that wouldn’t reheat well in there, since it would keep its current temperature. But… She honestly wasn’t sure how to feel about the gesture. Buying food for her had likely always been on the docket, though the huge increase likely only happened after Corticia had seen how scrawny her daughter was, so this was an attempt to force her to eat more still.

“Oh, and I do have something for you.” Apparently the generosity wasn’t over with. As the woman scooted out of the booth, she grabbed a thin but wide shopping bag she’d clearly been trying to hide. “Here.” After her mother got out from the table, she stepped closer and handed it over. “Hopefully, it will work well and be useful.”

A… a laptop? How did her mother know she needed a new computer? Maybe her landlord had reported that she was still using her shabby old one. Or perhaps it was just an educated guess based on her financial situation. And it wasn’t just any old laptop, it was one specifically made for designers and artists, where the touchscreen could twist and flip to a bunch of different angles, or even detach entirely to become a dedicated tablet, complete with its own fancy stylus that popped out the side.

And the specs, holy Vissiem, the specs. “What, something like this shouldn’t be on the market for years!” she found herself muttering as she took in the details. The touchscreen on this would even be better than her current drawing tablet, with better responsiveness and far finer precision. It wasn’t too long ago that she’d been shopping for computers, looking at replacements. She’d seen plenty in this style, but they were far inferior to this one, even at the high end, and those alone had already cost thousands and thousands.

There was no branding on this one either, so perhaps a prototype? “H-how did you get this?” Did she want to know if it was through some sketchy means? Did she care?

That made Corticia smirk. “Ha, don’t forget. I am a well-respected government official. Your mother has connections.” Maybe not something she should be boasting about, but there were no lies. Maybe there wasn’t anything nefarious at play, and what mattered most was the intent behind the gift.

It was a genuinely thoughtful, practical gift. Whether she’d gotten it for free or at a ridiculous price, that didn’t matter. She had gone out of her way, done her research, and picked something well suited. It was a bribe, a bribe to get back in her daughter’s good graces after everything. One hell of a bribe at that. More than anything else, it was support, genuine support of Angelica’s dreams and aspirations, a clear show of not only acceptance for what she wanted to do, but the backing behind otherwise potentially hollow words.

Damn it! Angelica scrunched her eyes, feeling the tears coming on.

“So, will that work well for you?” Her mother had a gentler smile now, one of a loving parent.

“Mhmm.” She couldn’t say anything proper. The lump in her throat was too large, and anything else would likely come out as blubbering.

Corticia outstretched her arms. “Then can I get a hug?”

“Mhmm!” Without even really thinking about what she was doing, Angelica lunged up from her seat and dove into her mother’s embrace, wrapping her own arms around her and squeezing tight. She found her head pulled down, resting against the woman’s torso, with the back of her head being rubbed tenderly, just like when she was a child.

That was too much. It broke her. All of her emotions came flooding up at once, pouring out her eyes as she sobbed. And her mother just continued to hold her through it, gently stroking her hair. “You can reach out to me anytime. Don’t forget, even if things have been rough between us, I love you, Angelica.” She then felt a kiss on her forehead, clearly as a sign that her mother was about to depart.

Part of her desperately wanted to say the words back, but the other half kept her lips sewn shut. All the trauma, all the pain, it needed to make sure she didn’t forget and just fall back under the woman’s spell as if nothing had happened. Yet even then, when she felt her mother start to pull away, she found herself holding on tightly, even if for just a moment longer before letting go. Corticia’s lapel was now covered in wet streaks, but she made no attempt to wipe it away. Instead, she shot her daughter one more caring smile before turning and heading off.

Angelica had to return to her seat in the booth, letting her emotions settle and tears dry. The conscientious waiter returned once she was no longer a complete wreck and bagged up all the leftovers for her, but she still sat there for a while longer afterward in complete silence until she was stable enough to move again. Instead of grabbing the food and magically popping back to her apartment, she instead headed out the front door.

It was a long walk back to her apartment, much farther than would be considered rational by most, yet she trudged the whole way, step by step. Because of her Vigor, she never became tired or winded. Because of her Might, the many bags that should be quite heavy for her frail arms, the strings that should be digging into her fingers, it all felt weightless. She felt weightless.

That time was a blur. She thought about everything and nothing. Her mind raced, but none of it stuck. It was like walking through a dream, and she was back home before she knew it. A quick glance found Cherub sleeping in the kitchen sink for some reason, and she briefly thought about dragging him to cuddle, but now that she was back in her safe space, the weight of the meetup really hit her. Physically, she was fine, but emotionally, she was dead. Her bad night of sleep had caught up with her and compounded, so she found herself crawling into bed.

Yes, that was best, to sleep it all away and start fresh with a clear mind. She’d gone through a lot, and it was the hardest thing she’d done in a long time. Not fighting Malignants, not scavenging for food on the brink of starvation, not becoming a Demon. Instead, she’d faced her own personal demon and survived.

Not only that, it looked like there’d be a brighter future ahead with much to look forward to. And for the first time since she’d become a Demon, it didn’t feel like she was racing toward something. All of her immediate obligations and needs had been settled. Until she met with her mother again, and then with Pathos from the Zenmoon sect around that time as well, her schedule was clear to do with as she wished. Which meant that finally after what felt like forever, and now that she’d gotten the Skill for it that she wanted, it was time to dive deep back into art.

Spoiler

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