Anna and the sisters had plundered the clothing section of the outdoorsy store, and everyone got their favorite outfit, together with some additional versions in different colors for a bit of variety. Satisfied with their haul, the trio left the store and went to eat something as a treat because they knew the other girls would take way longer than them.
“Was it really a good idea to let them go shopping on their own?” While Sophia, Steph, and the princess were looking for their clothes, Maya, Chloe, and Ari were going to a store that suited their tastes. While walking, the cat-girl was second-guessing their decision to split up, though.
“It’s fine~.” Chloe smiled at her. “They’re not babies, you know?”
“Are you sure about that?” Maya tilted her head.
“…” She paused for a moment. “Y-Yes.”
“Very convincing.”
“As much as it goes against my everything, I also think it will be fine.” Ari scratched her cheek. “Sophia will keep them in line.”
“Sophia?” The cat-girl raised an eyebrow.
“Yes.” She nodded. “Your girlfriend is surprisingly conservative when it comes to clothes, so I doubt she’d let the others go too extreme. Also, she’s the second cutest girl in the group if we speak about looks alone. She can’t beat our fox here, but she’s above the rest of us by a great margin. Steph and Anna will likely try to dress her up in something cute, which will make them forget to go all out.”
“Ehehe~.” As the fox-girl liked being called cute, she enjoyed that a lot. “I also think Sophia can handle them. Yes, when you say that out loud, it does sound weird.” She saw why Maya seemed surprised. “On top of that, Anna’s still the princess of this country. I doubt she has a dress code outside of formal events, but I would assume she knows that she, more than anyone else, should follow some basic rules of public appearances.”
“True.” Ari nodded. “There are no explicit rules, but Anna knows she could get in trouble if she overdoes it.”
“Does the name of the trouble in question start with an A?” Maya stared at the jaguar.
“It does, indeed.” She confirmed it. “The second and third letters are ri, if you're wondering."
“I figured as much~.” Maya had not been wondering about it.
“I hope Sophia doesn’t keep them in check too much, though.” Chloe sounded a little concerned. “I mean, the only good thing about summer is being able to see cute girls in more revealing clothes. If she takes that away from me, my only ray of hope, I’ll create my own winter that will be everywhere and forever.”
“We’re still talking about Sophia, so that shouldn’t be an issue.” Maya shook her head. “There’s nothing about her that is straight. She won't rob us of a good view of nicely clothed girls.”
“Also, you and Steph run around basically naked at home half of the time, and I’m being very generous with the word basically here.” Ari stared at the fox. “Sophia will probably just make sure Steph doesn’t do the same in public.”
“I guess that’s fair enough.” Chloe could follow her logic. “Wait, does that mean you two are going to stop me, too?”
“Of course.” The duo nodded in sync. "For the sole fact that Fey would kill us if we let you run around in public looking like an exhibitionist.” Maya added some extra bit of detail.
“Stupid Feyfey.” She hung her head in return.
“I like how you didn’t refute the claim of her killing us.” The cat-girl rolled her eyes.
“Well…” Chloe paused for a second. “Alright, let’s get some clothes!” She changed the subject instead.
----------------
With Ari in the lead, they walked through the shopping district for a little while longer before the jaguar eventually stopped in front of a fancy-looking boutique.
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“This is one of my favorite places!” Ari smiled at the other two. "The quality is top-notch, and everything they have is adorable! They definitely have the looks Maya and I are looking for. An adorable top and a skirt for our Chloe should be an easy task, too.”
“Let’s go!” The two liked the sound of that. Afterward, the girls entered the store and looked around.
“So many cute clothes!” Inside, Chloe’s eyes immediately started sparkling.
“Should we look for your outfit first?” Ari liked how excited she was.
“I’d love to!”
“What were you going for again?” While looking around, Maya tried to remember what look Chloe wanted to get.
“More or less just a more summery version of my current clothes.” She pointed at herself. “I like the look, so I’d like to get a similar skirt. Just without the inner lining and maybe a little shorter, as well.”
“Is there even room left to make it shorter?” The cat-girl stared at her lower half.
“Sure~.” The fox smiled at her. “I need a top that is way more airy, too. Either fully shoulder-free or a spaghetti one with a bit of cleavage to give the girls some air.” She had the same issue as Anna. "I obviously need short sleeves, or none at all, too. Some frills would also be nice. I have a fluffy image to keep, after all.”
“You could wear full plate armor and still wouldn’t be able to lose your fluffy image.” Ari didn’t think the fox had to worry about that.
“I would literally die in full plate!” She didn’t even want to imagine it. “Cooked to death!”
“I was just making an example.” The jaguar rolled her eyes.
"Though, I'd pay to see a full-plate soldier with a massive pink tail sticking out their rear.” Maya let out a small chuckle.
“Not happening!” Chloe only got louder.
“We should tell Steph about the idea.”
“We should NOT!” The fox glared at Maya.
“How about that skirt over there?” Wanting to change the topic, Ari looked around for a moment and pointed at a mannequin that was wearing a black waist-pleated skirt with a single horizontal white line at its hem. “You have to know how to move in that one, though.” She hinted at the extreme shortness of the skirt and how an incident would only be a slightly wrong bent or kneel away.
“That’s such a cute skirt!” Chloe started smiling. “I’ve been wearing skirts all my life, short ones at that, so that won't be an issue! Also, I’m short, so most wouldn't see it in the first place, thanks to their higher line of sight."
“Is that how that works?” Ari tilted her head. “Well, it’s really not hard to handle a skirt, so you’re right regardless. Sophia just likes to whine, which means her complaints in that regard are pretty much unfounded, anyway.”
“True.” The fox nodded. “Anyway, the skirt looks adorable, so I’m totally going to give it a try. I still need to find a top first, though. No use in trying it on now if I don’t know what it has to match with.”
“That’s a good point.” The other two could follow her reasoning.
“Let’s see.” Chloe walked around the store and took a look at the other mannequins for inspiration before eventually stopping at one that caught her interest. “This one looks adorable!” She pointed at a white cotton top with two thin shoulder straps, slightly revealing in the cleavage department, and an extra layer of frilly fabric over the chest area and doubling as short sleeves for its arms, as well.
“Woah, it’s great!” Ari also was a fan.
“Yes, it’s great!” Maya liked it, too. “Ah, look, they also have it in different colors.” She then pointed at the stand next to it, where the same shirt in light blue, violet, pink, green, and yellow was displayed.
“Ohh!” The fox became even more excited. “I’ll pass on the green and yellow, and I’d like to try something different than pink for contrast, but the light violet and the sky blue look interesting!”
“Well, there’s no harm in getting multiple versions, is there?” The jaguar smiled at her.
“Great idea!” Saying so, Chloe lightly clapped her hands before grabbing a few shirts in the colors she liked. Afterward, she also got the skirt from before and went into one of the changing rooms the store provided.
“Do you have any idea how we could get her into plate armor?” While the fox-girl was changing, Maya addressed the jaguar.
“You’re still on about that?” Ari rolled her eyes once more.
“Come on, as if you aren’t curious!”
“Well, the massive fluffy tail sticking out of the armor you mentioned would be a little interesting." She couldn't deny it.
“Ha!” Maya’s expression turned smug.
“I said no!” As is the norm for many changing rooms, Chloe was only behind a curtain and thus could hear everything. Once she finished scolding them, the fox finished changing and presented herself.
“Ohh!” Seeing her in the white top and black skirt from before, without the usual overknees, the duo immediately forgot about the topic once more. “You’re adorable!”
“Ehehe~.” The fox-girl was happy over their reaction. “I like it, too!” She looked at herself in the provided mirror. “Alright, let me try the violet and blue one, too!” Being satisfied with her looks so far, Chloe returned to the changing room to see how the other colors would look on her.
“Mhm, that light sky blue is an interesting one!” Ari examined the fox after she changed. “I don’t think it would work on me, but it looks great on you!”
“It’s absolutely perfect for your pastel vibe!” Maya thought so, too.
“Okay, I’ll get it, too!” The fox reacted with a happy nod. “Well, the light violet one is the same as Steph’s hair, so I don’t need to try it on. I’ll obviously get it, as well.”
“Ahaha.” The other two had to chuckle at this very Chloe-like reasoning.
Afterward, the fox-girl changed back to her regular clothes and put everything she was getting into a small basket before helping Ari and Maya find their outfits.