Everyone had dinner together, chatted some more, and were slowly starting to get ready for bed, but things weren't calming down quite yet. Their sleeping arrangements with the mixed-up couplings had yet to be executed, after all.
“So, what do I have to do to get this room?” Anna and Steph were together in the room they were fighting over, and the princess looked right at the dog.
“How about a magic contest?” She smiled at her.
“There’s no way I can win that!” The tiger raised her voice. “You have many times my power!”
“Exactly~.”
“What about testing the knowledge about this kingdom instead?”
“You’re the PRINCESS of this kingdom!” Steph didn’t like her idea.
“Exactly~.”
“Urgh.”
“My words exactly!” They were getting along well while not getting along.
“Seriously, though, how are we going to settle this?” Steph looked right at her. “I mean, it’s obvious that I should get it because I said I wanted it first!"
“But I found the room first! That should give me first dibs!”
“It only counts if you voice out your claim!”
“What if I already did that before you entered the room?!”
“Did you?” The dog-girl tilted her head.
“M-Maybe…” Anna couldn’t maintain eye contact.
“I take that as a no, so that means I win!” Steph’s voice and expression turned smug.
"Grrrmmn!" The princess didn’t like that.
“Do you think a cat growling at a dog would do any good?”
“I am fairly sure that a tiger would do some very unspeakable things to a dog!”
“…” She went silent for a moment. “Okay, fair enough. That point goes to you.”
“Not that Steph wouldn’t be able to do some unspeakable things to Anna, though…" Her voice turned into a mumble towards the end.
“I would never do anything to you!”
“Happy to hear!” The tiger looked relieved. “I still want this room, though.”
“So do I!”
“Time-sharing the room would be a bad idea, too, right?” Anna tilted her head.
“Like, you a week, I a week?”
“Something like this, yes.” She nodded.
“Sounds kinda bothersome.” Steph didn’t seem to be a fan.
“Yeah, I thought so, too.”
“How about... Nah, that’s also stupid.”
“What is it?” Anna wanted to hear her idea.
“Rock-Paper-Scissor.”
“Ahh,” The princess looked a little awkward. “I can see why you thought it would be a bad idea. That being said, I don’t think we’ll ever come up with something actually viable, huh?”
“It’s the only fair thing I can think of.” Steph nodded. “So?”
“Rock!”
“Paper!”
“Scissors!”
----------------
Their contest went on for almost an hour. Obviously, after the first victory, it turned into a best out of three. Afterward, it naturally became a best out of five. It didn’t stop there either, and it took many more rounds before they finally gave up.
“YES!” Anna victoriously raised her fist. “I knew justice would win! It was my room from the very beginning, after all!”
Stolen novel; please report.
“Urgh.” Steph only hung her head.
“You’re not going to contest it now, are you?”
“Of course not!” The dog-girl shook her head. “Rock, paper, scissors is absolute!”
“Even if we went all the way to the best out of-”
“Especially if we went that far!” For Steph, it only added to the importance. “I will still be slightly upset for the next two weeks, though!”
“I can live with that.” Anna let out a small chuckle.
“Hey!” She didn’t like that.
“Hehe~.” The tiger’s smile got bigger. “What are we going to do now? Sophia said we have to share the room if we can't decide, but we now did.”
“You don’t want to spend the night with me?”
“I’d rather spend the night with Ari.” The princess had a clear preference. “There are more fun things I can… or am willing to do with her.”
“Ah, right,” Steph nodded a few times. “I sometimes forget that you’re a massive pervert.”
“H-Hey!” Her face turned red.
“Am I wrong?”
“T-There’s no need to say it!” She dodged the question.
"I'm sure you'll survive one night without getting horny."
“S-Shush!”
“Unless you already are horny?” Steph tilted her head. “I’m sorry, but I’m rather partial to Chloe. I would need her to be around to entertain you or something like that? To tell me the limits. It wouldn’t be any fun without her in the first place! What would even be the point without my beloved fox?!"
“W-Would you shut up already?!”
“Sure~.” She was in a good mood. "I'm just messing around, anyway~." The dog-girl smiled at her. "How about we just have a good old regular girls’ night? I'll keep it family-friendly, too! Let’s just chat a lot!”
“That could be fun!” Anna recovered quite quickly and warmed up to the idea. “Do you have any topics in mind already?”
“Do I look like a person who plans ahead before suggesting things?”
“It’s always nice to get the occasional confirmation that you and Sophia are sisters.” The blonde tiger was the exact same, after all. Act first, think later. If thinking will be involved at all, that is.
"Oh!" Steph raised her voice a little. "I've got an idea! Might you be interested in a slightly shady deal?"
“I’m a princess! Shady deals aren’t my style!”
“Even if they’re beneficial for you?”
“Isn’t that the whole reason for shady deals to exist in the first place?" The tiger looked at her with a confused expression. "Why else should you consider them?"
“Fair… Just hear me out, though!” The dog-girl looked back at her. “You’re also excited about traveling and seeing all kinds of different places, right?”
“ABSOLUTELY!” Anna really was.
“How about we band together whenever there’s a vote for the next destination? That way, we have a MUCH higher chance for our choice to be picked!”
“But don’t we like very different places?” The princess wasn’t sure what to think about her suggestion. “I’d like to see warm and overgrown places while you are more into colder and less dense areas, right?”
“True.” She nodded. “Still, I’m sure there are some overlapping biomes we'd both enjoy!"
“I guess.”
“Also, we can also alternate between the two of us!”
“Like, you chose a place I vote for, and then I chose a place you help me with?”
“Exactly!” Steph was getting excited. “For good will, I’ll even give you the first pick!”
“Really?”
“Absolutely!”
“It, uhh… does sound quite enticing.”
“So, let’s do our shady deal!”
“Could you come up with a different name for it…?” Anna still wasn’t a fan of her wording.
“Our secret fun pact for mutual satisfaction?”
“…” The tiger just looked at her.
“Not good?”
“Not good.” She shook her head.
“You sure are hard to please!” Steph scratched her cheek. “Let’s see… A secret fun pact between friends to get the most out of their travel plans?”
“I can live with that!” Anna started smiling. “I might need a little while to decide on something if I really can go first. I mean, wasting it on a jungle is kind of useless. We already decided to go, we kind of have one outside, too, and Sophia and Ari would agree to it, anyway.”
“No need to rush~.” The dog-girl wasn’t pushing her to anything. “We first have to get away further from the capital in the first place to see something more interesting.”
“That’s true! Ah!” The princess then raised her voice. “What if the others also come up with such a pact? Won't they cancel each other out?"
"Well, on the one hand, it would mean it's more important than ever to band together to not fall behind.”
“Right!”
"And on the other hand, I also think it's pretty unlikely with the other two duos."
“Really?” Anna looked confused. “If anything, I would’ve said that it’s much more likely with them. Chloe and Sophia get along dangerously well, and Maya and Ari have much in common. The two of us actually haven’t done really much together before…”
“We definitely need to change the last part!” Steph looked right at her again. “We should do more together from now on!”
“As long as you don’t try to make me like cold biomes, which is not happening, I wouldn't mind at all!"
“I’ll try to keep it to an absolute minimum!” She wasn’t able to promise it. “Anyway, back to the other duos. Chloe and Sophia love to explore and have adventures, but the types of places and things to do between couldn’t be more opposite. Chloe is even more partial to colder places than I am, and Sophia is even more of a cat than you are. I highly doubt they can settle on a common interest or make an arrangement like we plan."
“Ah, I can see that being the case.” Anna could follow her logic.
“Ari and Maya are quite similar and have matching tastes, I guess, but I can’t see them making such a plan, either.”
“Why?”
“They’ll spend all night complaining about the rest of us being hyperactive idiots.”
“…” The princess paused for a moment. “I, uhh… I can’t argue with that.”
“And that’s why it’s our win~.”
“Hehe~.” Anna liked that. “That aside, what are we going to do with the rest of the night?” She then pointed at the bed in the room. “It’s the only one here, and as you’re the guest in my room, I can’t make you sleep on the floor, but… I really don’t want to, either!”
“Did you really have to put so much emphasis on my room?”
“Yes~.”
“Urgh,” She took some damage from that. “I don’t mind sleeping in the same bed as you. You just have to keep your horny levels relatively low. I don’t want to get in trouble with Chloe or Ari.”
“Hey!” The tiger got loud. “I’m not… not… any hornier than you are!” She wasn’t able to deny it.
“And that’s why you must keep yourself in check~.”
“There’s just no winning with you, is there?”
“Of course, there is!” The dog-girl thought otherwise.
“Really?”
"Who's the one who won the right to use this room?"
“Oh, right!”
After that topic was taken care of, the two chatted for a little while longer, but it was soon enough time to sleep as it had gotten quite late. It was a little awkward at first, but as all they did was sleep, they got over it immediately.