Ari and Sophia were still installing the heated floor in the jaguar’s room in the castle. They were still planning to do so, to be more precise, as the two, as usual, kept getting side-tracked by absolutely everything. The duo just came back from the tiger's storage dimension, where she had put all of Ari’s stuff from her bedroom. She also had accidentally revealed her portal room to the black-haired girl. Explaining how the blonde can place portals wherever she wants and travel from one to another was met with great interest by her friend, too.

“Alright,” The two just came back from Sophia’s storage when the blonde looked around in the jaguar’s empty room. “Any requests?”

“Make it as hot as possible, please!”

“Sure. It tends to explode if you use too much, though.”

“Is that so?”

“Yep.”

“Hmm… Please keep it 1% below the maximum then, please.”

“I really love the greedy Ari.” She let out a small chuckle. “Anything else?”

“Make sure to put enough below and right around the bed. It has to be the toastiest around there, after all!”

“Don’t worry, as toasty as possible comes as standard with the Sophia all-inclusive package.”

“I like the sound of that!”

“Yeah, it’s the customer’s favorite bestseller, too.”

“I can see why!” She played along.

----------------

Around half an hour later, Ari’s room looked like normal again, as if nothing ever happened, only that it felt a lot warmer now. Sophia also installed two switches to pour magic into to activate the underfloor heating. One was at the door, and the other one was right next to the jaguar's bed where the two were sitting on right now.

“How is it?”

“I might actually fall for you thanks to this..." Ari seemed to really like it. “If Anna wouldn’t exist, that is.”

“W-Wow…” The blonde had a few somewhat complicated feelings about this. Especially because the jaguar had made a slight pause before adding the Anna part. “B-Bless the princess for existing…”

“Absolutely.” She couldn't agree more with that.

“Seriously, though…” Sophia stared right at the jaguar. “Again, what’s up with the flirty ambiguity? I don’t mind, it’s kinda nice, but it’s so different from the you I first got to know.”

“Ahaha…” Ari awkwardly scratched her cheek. “I was able to mostly ignore Anna’s influence when it comes to being playful. Okay, more like I suppressed it on the outside. It's not like I was never playful when being alone with her… Still, with you being quite similar in that area while being even more unhinged in others… Well, we became good friends, and I didn’t see a reason to hold back anymore inside our little group.”

“Why hold back when no one else around you does, huh?”

“More or less, yes.”

"You should tell that to Anna, too."

“Huh?”

"Well, she's getting jealous about the two of us getting along a lot. Just as you said, she thinks I have a bad influence on you. You should clarify that her influence on you is just as bad."

“In those exact words?”

“Shut up. Keep your sass to Anna. I already have my own cat filled to the brim with that."

“Ehehe.”

“No, it’s just that I’d also feel bad if it feels like someone else is solely responsible for influencing my girlfriend, or hopefully soon-to-be girlfriend in this case. To a degree where her character seemed to have changed, even. For the better, sure, but it would still bother me.”

“Yes, putting it that way, it would really bother me, as well.” Ari nodded in understanding. “I guess I should make it clearer that Anna’s the main reason for me having developed such a personality, and you're just enabling me."

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

"I don't like your wording, but that's the gist of it, yeah."

“That sounds like a good idea. Teasing her is fine, but I don’t want to make Anna feel insecure or make her worry…" Ari showed her a small smile.

"I am so glad that I'm the one who became good friends with you instead of Maya being it."

"Sure, because you don't enjoy teasing people in the slightest." The jaguar just stared at her while rolling her eyes.

“T-That’s a fair argument.” The tiger had little to defend herself with here. “Still, Maya’s on a whole other level when it comes to the art of teasing people.”

“Should I be worried that Anna picks up something from her…?”

“Nah,” Sophia shook her head. “The only thing you should be worried about there is your princess liking it a bit too much.”

“Should that make me feel better…?”

“Probably not, but it shows how it can worry someone if their partner gets influenced by someone else.”

“Yes, I get it. I’ll blame Anna more often in the future for all the bad influence I’m surrounded by and how she's the worst in that regard.”

“Again, not a fan of the wording, but it’s good enough, I’d say.”

“Hehe.”

“Well, while we’re on the topic of the princess already, how about we pick up your plan about kissing her again?” While saying so, Sophia sprang up from the bed and grinned at Ari.

"A-Ah...”

“You had hoped that I forgot about that, huh?”

"A little, yes.”

“Too bad~.”

“You really have more than enough sass in yourself.”

“Not denying that.” The blonde took it as a compliment. “Well, when it comes to kissing, I do have some experience by now~. I'll gladly show you a thing or two."

“…” The jaguar stared at her for a moment. “Did you really say that just now…?”

“Hmm…? A-Ah!” Sophia needed a second to understand the alternative meaning of her words. “W-Well, I’m glad that our old roles are still a thing.”

“Sure are.” The piercing gaze of Ari turned softer again.

“No, I meant that I might be able to give you a tip or two for setting the right mood.”

“I see… It’s, uhh… It’s going to be my first kiss, though… You and Maya are much further in your relationship… I’m not sure if your mood is the right one for my situation.”

"A mood that involves less horny and more awkward…?”

“…” She didn’t answer.

“I can also be innocent, you know?!”

“I’m sorry…”

“We’ll save the other type of mood for a later date~.”

“…” She stayed silent again.

“I want an answer here~.” The blonde had other plans, though.

“L-Later, yes…” Ari gave her a weak nod while her face turned red.

“Good~.” Sophia liked her reply. "Alrighty, innocent, huh?" She tilted her head and thought about it for a moment. "Well, it's your first kiss, so I'm sure you already gave it a lot of thought, didn't you? I bet you already know how you’d like it to happen, right? It might be easier to create a mood around that. So, what’s your dream kiss?”

“W-Well…” The jaguar’s face became even redder in response.

“Oh?” She raised an eyebrow. “I thought you wanted something innocent?”

“I-I do!” Ari got loud. “It’s not like that! I-Imagining my first k-kiss with Anna is reason enough to get embarrassed, is it not?!”

“You win that round.” Sophia had more than a bit of experience with being embarrassed as well, after all. “So, what’s your fantasy with the princess?”

“Now I’m the one who doesn't like your wording!” Ari got loud. “W-Well, it will be rather hard with both of us standing…"

“True.” The blonde nodded. “I already have to put in some work with that, and the gap between Maya’s and my height’s much smaller than yours.”

“Stupidly tall Anna…”

“Ehhh… I think it’s great how tall she is! It looks awesome.”

"You're right. You are very right!" Ari agreed. "Comes with a lot of problems, though…"

“Maybe tiptoeing would work?” She tried to remember how tall the princess was in relation to the jaguar. “Could be close, though.”

“I tried to match her line of sight while standing on tiptoes before… The last time, I ended up losing my balance and dived my face into her chest…”

“I think I remember you telling me that…”

“Yeah, it was after you urged me to get into her comfort zone to see her reaction!”

“A-Ah…” Sophia scratched her cheek. “W-Well, it worked out… You got a reaction out of her, right? Among other things. Two things, to be exact."

“S-Shut up!”

“Hehe… Still, you sure are drawn to Anna’s chest… Okay, I can’t blame you for that.”

“H-Hey!” She got louder again. “A-Also, her breasts are drawn to me just as often when we sleep…”

“Great defense you have there.” Sophia only smiled at her.

“Urgh…”

“Alright, while the result, your head on her chest, sounds comfy, standing on tiptoes is not?”

“Y-Yes… Once I know what I’m doing, it shouldn't be an issue, but starting with it might be complicated…”

"What a tough customer we have here…" The blonde paused for a moment. “I love how much more confident you got about all that, though. Already planning what to do once you’re more comfortable with it~.”

“D-Don't jinx it!”

“You’re the one planning ahead here.”

“T-That doesn’t matter!”

“Sure~.” Sophia was having a lot of fun. “Alright, what else could you do… With both of you lying down when getting ready to sleep… Hmm, that could end up being awkward, as well…”

“Y-Yes…”

“Oh!” The tiger raised her voice. “How about you kiss her while she’s sitting down? Maybe on a chair or a sofa? Your line of sight might even be slightly above hers, and you can plan it really well that way."

“Oh!” Ari had the same reaction. “I like that!”

“Great!” She was happy that they got an idea. “It also shouldn’t be too hard to get her into that position. She’s just sitting down, after all.”

“Yes!”

"All that's left now is to create a good mood that involves her sitting down…"

“Y-Yes…” The jaguar sounded a bit less enthusiastic now because she had no idea how to create a good mood on purpose.

The two chatted for a while longer while trying to develop a plan. Once they thought of something that could work, and after Ari managed to get rid of her blush again, the two finally went back to Anna's room to reunite with their girls.