Sophia and Maya had a conversation over how to change their dynamic a little during their travels, so that the cat-girl becomes less of a babysitter and more part of the problem. The blonde didn’t like how her girlfriend gave up on her fun in order to keep everyone in check when they had Fey, who genuinely enjoys being the keeper of common sense. After Sophia definitely did not trick her at all, Maya agreed to her suggestion to take it easier and only intervene when the tiger steps over the line together with the promise of punishing her.

“Alright, I’m happy with this outcome!” The duo was still relaxing on a branch in a tree about ten meters over the ground when Sophia suddenly jumped up to stand on it.

"I have mixed feelings." Maya was still trying to figure out whether or not she was tricked into accepting some very unfair conditions. After all, the blonde could go wild, and the agreed punishment would be of the kinky kind. Maya also knew that she was the way hornier one, though, so she wasn't 100% sure if the punishment really was a punishment. That’s what she tried to talk herself into, at least. “I’ll still seriously mess up your domain together with Ari if I’m too unhappy with your behavior.” She needed to add that for her confused ego.

“I guess that’s fair.” As the tiger knew she'd won already, she was okay with it. “Before that, because I was a good girl today, how about you help me clean up your mess a little?”

“My mess?” The cat-girl tilted her head. “What mess?”

“This.” Sophia simply pointed all around them. “I like being surrounded by an overgrown jungle and or rainforest, but it's a little much right around the cottage, no?"

“Ah.” She could see the issue. “Quite dark, too.”

“Exactly!” Nodding a few times, the tiger jumped off the branch they were still on. “Come on, help me get some light around the cottage." She then stretched her arms and looked at Maya on the tree above her.

"Well, I guess I can offer some moral support, at least." Smiling back at her, the cat-girl also jumped off the branch and right into the blonde’s arms.

“Do some actual work!” Sophia spun her around once after safely catching her. “It’s mostly your fault, after all!”

“Ari was just as responsible for it, though.” She started complaining once she stood on her own feet again.

“I wanna spend time with just you, though!” The tiger reacted with a pout.

“Aren’t you the cutest?” Maya was a big fan of her reply.

“I am!” She was still pouting.

“Fine, I’ll help~.” The cat-girl couldn’t say no here. “What should we do to let in some light? Burn it all down?”

“Were you always this trigger-happy to play with fire?”

“Absolutely~.”

“Well, I can get behind that.” Sophia couldn’t blame her for it. “It is pretty fun.”

“So, let it burn?” Flames could already be seen in Maya’s eyes when she glanced at the jungle around them.

“Hold your horses, girl!” The blonde jumped in between her and the trees. "Yes, I want more light around here, but it should still look nice! The area covered in ash and burned tree stumps would not be cute at all!”

“You sure are hard to please.”

“I am?!” Sophia glared at her.

“Yes.” She nodded. “I’m happy with a little fire, and you over there want to make something cute and all.”

“When have I become the reasonable one?” The blonde looked quite confused.

“When you told me to let loose 30 minutes ago.”

“So it’s my fault?!”

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“It’s always your fault.” The cat-girl smirked at her again.

“…” She just looked at her for a while.

“Hehe~.” Her reaction only caused Maya to smile even more. “So, how do you want to make it look cute?”

“How am I supposed to know?” Sophia tilted her head.

“Alright, fire it is!” Saying so, the cat-girl held out her hand, and a ball of fire appeared above her palm.

“Just calm down on the arson already!” The blonde once again blocked the path between Maya and the jungle. “Could I talk you into settling for wind-based magic? Trimming the overgrowth or blasting some holes into the crowns of the trees?”

“Boo!” She didn’t seem very enthusiastic about the alternative suggestion. “Not even a little fire?”

“You’re not going to stop until something is burning, aren’t you?”

“What do you think?”

"Fine…" Sophia gave up. "Try not to overdo it, though, okay?"

“Well, well, well, look at how the turns have tabled.”

“I hate how much I love you right now.”

“Ehehe~.” Maya was rather proud of herself for that. “Okay, let’s play with fire!” Saying so, she lifted both arms and created an even bigger ball of fire on top of them. “Let there be light!” Immediately after, the cat-girl shot the fireball toward the massive crowns of the trees above the cottage. It burnt through the layers of leaves instantly and only left behind a glimmering hole with a diameter of around 50 meters. At the same time, the whole area beneath was bathed in the bright-white nothingness of Sophia’s domain.

“My eyes!” Sophia's cat eyes didn't enjoy the sudden change of lighting.

“S-Same…” Maya had a similar opinion on the matter.

“Also, not cute at all!” Once her eyes had adjusted, the blonde pointed at the massive hole that still had some burning leaves and branches falling down while turning into ash down the way.

“It’s cool, though!” The cat-girl had different priorities.

“Not wrong, but still!” She started pouting again.

“Alright, I’ll try to make it look a little nicer.” Maya smiled at her before facing the burnt hole in the trees above them again. “Let’s see,” Tilting her head for a moment, she then used some more of her magic and sent a couple of wind-based air blades upwards. She focused on the outline of the hole, removed the burn marks, and made it less round to look a bit more natural. The cat-girl also worked on the crowns of the trees in general to create some more places where the light could shine through. "Better?"

“Debatable.” Sophia had a hard time deciding whether or not she liked her work. Mainly because she couldn’t see it. Thanks to Maya using wind-based magic and cutting the crowns of the trees, it was raining leaves in an overwhelming quantity, making it impossible to see what she had actually done.

“You’re such a pain!”

“Why!?” The tiger was offended by the accusation. “I just want this place to look nice and cute! Not burning and or covered in three meters of leaves!”

“Take it easy, my dear~.” The cat-girl just smiled at her again. “There are more steps to my beautification program!”

“Are there?” Sophia was ever so slightly dubious. “So, what’s the next step?”

“You need to close your eyes for that.” She waited for the tiger to follow suit before continuing. “Okay, now think about the place where Steph and Chloe currently are.”

“Why?”

“Just do!”

“Okay?”

“Now comes the important part!” Maya raised her voice a little. “Imagine all the leaves on the ground here disappear and move to the area those two are. Out some real power into your thoughts, too!”

“You sly little…” The tiger understood the plan and started smiling while her eyes were still closed. A moment later, the entire mess Maya had created before was gone.

"Am I the best, or am I the best?"

"One of those." Sophia smiled at her. "I can't really decide on which one, though. Anyway, how did you come up with that, or rather, how did you know this would even work?"

“It was just a guess after having seen what Mira told us about your domain and what other things you already did. Combine that with wanting to mess with your sister, and here we are~.”

“Good thinking!”

“And messing with others!” That was the most important part for her.

“That, too.” The blonde had nothing against that, either. “Anyway, it really looks much better here now!” After the leaves were gone and she could look at what was happening above the cottage, she was happy with the result. “Good job! There’s finally some light again.”

“Thank you very much~.” Maya happily accepted the praise. “Yeah, it’s much brighter, but the cottage being that encased by the jungle is still a bit much, isn’t it? The trees and undergrowth have gotten way too close.”

“You don’t get to burn that, too!” Sophia immediately got a bad feeling.

“I wasn’t planning to!” She raised her arms in defense. “I just wanted to comment on it. I have no idea how to fix that. Sure, fire would work and quite fun, too, but I wasn’t going to suggest it.”

“Good!” The tiger let out a relieved sigh. "Maybe I could just send them away, as well. Like I did with the leaves a few minutes ago.”

“Being more of a menace to Steph? Let’s go!” Maya was a big fan of the plan.

“You two get along well, huh? Always wanting to mess with each other and all.”

“Absolutely~.”

“I was thinking about doing something useful with those trees, though.”

“Messing with Steph is useful!” The cat-girl couldn’t follow her.

“I don’t disagree with you on that, but let me finish. I’ll place them a few hundred kilometers away from the place where she is and let them grow from there. That way, her stupid continent of coldness will eventually be surrounded by a rainforest!”

"Playing the long game, huh?" Maya gave it some thought. "I like it!"

Having decided on that plan, the blonde immediately got to work and removed a few trees and some of the undergrowth in the immediate vicinity around the cottage. Once they were gone and placed in other places inside her domain, their home instantly looked a lot nicer now that there was some room to breathe again.