Maya and Sophia were still in Chloe's home, and things had gotten even more awkward. After the fox-girl had cheered up the tiger by having her touch her fluffy tail, the cat-girl got a little jealous. Deciding to make things even, Chloe had allowed her to touch her tail, as well. The couple had enjoyed being able to touch such a fluffy tail, but they also felt a little guilty about it. It's supposed to be an intimate gesture, so the cats hadn't enjoyed seeing their partners doing it even though Chloe herself was okay with it.

“Alright!” After everyone had reset, Sophia tried to get the conversation going again. “Wait, where were we again?” Unfortunately, she wasn’t the best for those things.

"Well, first, I want to clarify again that I’m not a little sister type!” Chloe didn’t want to let go of the topic just yet.

“Why not? I think it’s cute, and it’s definitely a compliment in my eyes because your personality is lovely.”

“I’m happy that you feel that way… but I just don’t like being treated as younger than I actually am…”

“Hmm… I see.” Sophia tilted her head. “Well, gentle and caring older sister…? Wait, in the first place, Maya and I are older than you…”

“T-That doesn’t matter!” The fox-girl had no comeback for that at first. “Why any type of sister in the first place…?”

“No idea.” The tiger only shrugged her shoulder. “It definitely has nothing to do with my actual sister not being with me anymore, if you’re concerned about that… I’m not looking for anyone to fill that gap.”

“I-I see.”

“In other words, she’s just an idiot.” Maya tried to explain it to her in an easy way.

“Yep.” The blonde simply nodded.

“Okay… As I don’t have any plans to become your sister or be anything related to her either, how do you think about a gentle and caring friend-type instead?" She smiled at Sophia. "W-Wow… Saying that about myself feels really weird and embarrassing…”

“I like that!” Sophia gave her a cheerful reply. “I really like that!” She always gets happy when she gains a new friend.

“Ehehe.” Chloe enjoyed her reaction. “You, too, Maya. I’d like to be your friend, as well.”

“Of course!” She naturally had nothing against it. “Well, after both of us played with your tail, that’s probably the least we can be.”

“Ahaha…” The fox-girl let out an awkward laugh while scratching her cheek. “How about we all forget that ever happened?”

“That’s a good idea.” The cat-girl agreed with the suggestion.

“I still call dibs on sitting right next to you and your tail with a mind on its own~. Purely for the fluff alone, without any of me actually going for it.” Sophia couldn’t let go fully of it yet.

“You really are an honest one, huh?”

“Yep.”

"Anyway," Maya decided that it was finally time to end this topic. "You wanted to know about our travels, didn't you?"

“Right!” Chloe clapped her hands once before looking at Sophia again. “I traveled a lot with Feyfey and saw many interesting places, so I’m really interested in what you saw so far!”

“Let’s see…” The tiger tilted her head and thought about her journey so far. “I’ve stayed in the monster country with Fennyfen for a while, but… it was quite boring.”

“Yes!” The fox-girl nodded. “The food there is the worst, too!”

“Absolutely! All meat all day gets tiring too fast!”

“That’s sooo true! I love meat, I guess we all do here, but just meat all day every day…? No, thank you!" She seemed quite passionate about it.

“Finally! Someone that understands me!” Sophia liked her reaction a lot.

“D-Don’t tell me there’s two of them now…” Maya, on the other hand, had a bad feeling about their interaction.

“Hmm?” The tiger suddenly stopped and looked at Chloe with a questioning expression. “Did you actually go to the monster country?”

“Yep.” She nodded. “It’s been a couple of years, though.”

“Really…?” Sophia stared at her a little longer. “Are you actually strong enough for that place…? Okay, the magic I feel from you is a little higher than the other foxes, but it’s nothing out of the norm.”

"I am much stronger than I look!" Chloe tried to look smug while making this claim, but she somehow only felt even more adorable. “Also, Feyfey was with me.”

“Ahh… The fox who’s about as strong as Fennyfenfen, I see.” That part sounded a lot more believable to her. “So, you didn’t find anything interesting there, either?”

“Let me think…” The fox-girl tilted her head. “Well, the plant life there was pretty cool and rather funny-looking… Other than that, hmm... Honestly, it was waaaay too warm there, so I didn’t want to stay there for too long…”

“I liked the temperature there. It was especially great for camping during the night.”

“Okay, that’s a point.” Chloe nodded a few times. “Camping there under the night sky with a comfy campfire was really nice.”

“Absolutely!” Sophia looked slightly nostalgic. “I did that with Fenfenny every night there, and it was the best! Also, yes, the nature there’s very interesting. I’ll never forget those trees that grew sideways. They were so weird.”

"A-Ah.” The fluffy girl’s expression suddenly turned awkward. “I remember those trees… and the spiky fruits that grow on them… I have never seen Feyfey panic that much…"

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“You tried to eat one, didn’t you?” For some reason, it wasn’t a hard guess for the tiger because she felt a strong sense of déjà vu right now. "It's good that she stopped you because those fruits are extremely poisonous."

“I found out about that afterward, too. They looked so delicious, though!”

“Just because they look delicious, it doesn’t mean they’re edible.” Sophia tried to play the reasonable one for a rare change.

“I know…” Chloe hung her head.

“Come on, shut up.” Maya had other plans, though. “I remember you telling me about your encounter with them and how you really wanted to try those fruits, as well.”

"A-Ah.” She only turned her head away in response.

"Okay… That aside," The fox-girl wanted to change the topic. For both of their sake, that is. "I like the gryphons there, though.”

“Seriously?!” The couple had the same reaction.

“Yes! I wanted to ride or maybe fly on the back of one, but that didn’t work out…”

“S-Seriously?!” The two looked even more shocked.

"This girl might have even less common sense than you have…" The cat-girl faced Sophia. “I didn’t think that was possible.”

“Sounds like a great idea, though. Why hadn't I thought about that?” The blonde wasn't ready to let go of her position just yet. "Visually speaking, those gryphons were amazing. That lion and bird mix really was something else.”

“Right?!” Chloe was happy she wasn’t alone with her opinion. “Unfortunately, they’re quite aggressive…”

“Tell me about it…” Sophia scratched her cheek. “I killed two of them… Okay, while the first one was my own fault because it surprised me, the second one attacked us, and it was purely self-defense.”

“Feyfey also killed the one I tried to ride because it wouldn’t stop following and pestering us…”

"They sure are a resentful bunch that understands no fun."

“Yepyep!”

“Oh no…” Maya hated everything about their exchange. “There really are two of them now…”

“So, I guess we both didn't like the place that much, huh?” Sophia ignored the cat-girl.

“Yes.” She nodded. “It was rather pretty there, but also very boring… and suuuuper warm.” The fox-girl just had to complain about it again.

“Yep, that was the best part~.” The tiger didn't share her sentiment. "We also visited a couple of beautiful lakes, but…" As Sophia's experiences with lakes were a little peculiar, she wasn't sure how to finish her sentence.

“Oh, lakes are my favorite place to camp, as well!”

“There sure are a lot of them, huh? Lakes, that is.”

“I had the same feeling!” Chloe made a similar observation as the blonde.

“What else did we explore…?” Sophia tried to remember her journey so far. "Oh, there were those stupid ruins and the even worse dungeon we explored.

“You explored a dungeon?!” The fox-girl suddenly got excited. “Feyfey never allowed me to enter one…”

“No need for those sparkly eyes… It was pretty boring. There were no rewards, and… it was full of huge, insect-like monsters!" Cold sweat ran down her spine, just remembering the spiders half her size.

“R-Really…?” Chloe’s expression changed in an instant. “H-Huge… insects…?”

“It was horrible!”

“I can imagine!” The duo shuddered together.

“Seriously… What’s so wrong with insects?” Maya rolled her eyes.

“EVERYTHING!” The two had many issues with them.

“Also, didn’t we go over that a few times already, my dear?” Sophia looked at her cat-girl. “Do I need to remember you about the ghosts we encountered in that dungeon?”

“F-Forget I said anything!”

“Hehe.”

“Ghosts are a thing…?” The fox-girl tilted her head. “As in, they actually exist…?”

“Yep.” The blonde nodded. “I saw a couple of semi-translucent things wafting through the air and many wisp-like balls of blue fire floating around.”

“Brrr…” Maya didn’t want to remember it.

“S-So cool!” Chloe only sounded more excited.

“I know, right?!”

“I want to see them!” She got a little bouncy. "Is that dungeon far? Maybe we can go visit it really quick before Feyfey's back!"

“Err…” The tiger awkwardly scratched her cheek. “That dungeon’s… gone. I got a little, uhh… upset and blew it up. All of it, that is…”

“Aww…” She hung her head.

“Sorry about that.” Sophia wasn’t sure what to say. "There was another dungeon we explored. It doesn't have any monsters, though."

“Really?”

“It’s more like an underground labyrinth you have to navigate through. There’s even an actual maze inside of it. That was a ton of fun, right?” She looked at her cat-girl.

“Absolutely!” She nodded. “That one’s great!”

“That really sounds like fun!” Chloe sounded excited again. “Is this dungeon still… accessible…?”

“Err… It’s a little complicated to enter, but… Yes, it’s still in one piece.” For the lack of a better story, she went with this explanation.

“How complicated?” The fox stared at her with big eyes. “I reeeeally want to see it.”

“Hmm…” Sophia wasn’t sure about the idea.

“Please!”

“I don’t know if I want you to find out about how we get to that place…"

“You can blindfold me if that helps!” She really wanted to explore a dungeon.

“You sure trust other people easily.” Maya stared at her. “She could bring you wherever while you can’t see.”

“Why would she need to blindfold me, though?” Chloe tilted her head. “Both of you are so much stronger than I am that you could do whatever you want to me. If that’s your plan, you already would’ve done something.”

“Well, the only one who did, or at least started something, is you…" The cat-girl was still looking at her.

"A-Ah…” The pink-haired girl awkwardly looked away. “Well, you two just really don’t feel like you’d ever do anything shady to anyone. Also…" She paused for a second. "While Sophia feels much stronger, I’m fairly sure that even for her, it would be a big mistake to make Feyfey furious.”

“She’s quite the overprotective parent, huh?”

“Yes!” Chloe sounded really happy about it.

“I can’t wait to meet her~.” Sophia started smiling. “That future is still far, but my destiny is to become the most overprotective mother in history! I bet I can learn a thing or two from her!”

“I’m still not sure if I love or hate this future…” The cat-girl looked a little tired.

“Are you the other half of that future?”

“Hard to say yet, but I do hope so.” Her tired voice became much warmer in an instant.

“Hmm…” Chloe looked at the two for a moment. “Wow, your kid is going to be adorable!”

“Ehehe~.” The tiger liked her reaction a lot.

“T-Thank you…” Maya got a little bashful instead.

“Alright!” Sophia raised her voice. “For that, I’ll find a way to get you into that dungeon!”

“Really?! Yay!”

“Ah, how do you feel about looking at the place together with the first princess of the beastfolk kingdom, Anna? I kinda promised to show her the dungeon, as well.”

“Uhh…” The fox-girl needed a moment. “That’s a tiger for you, huh? You have some serious connections. Anna, the first princess… That’s the super tall orange tiger with the long hair, right? I saw her walking around in the capital a few times.”

“Yep.” The blonde nodded. “She looks a little loud and difficult to get along with, but she’s actually super sweet once you get to know her. I bet you get along just great.”

"A tomboy with a sweet core? That sounds great!”

“I couldn’t have said it better myself!” Sophia supported her assessment.

“Well, I am a little interested now. Also, one rarely gets the chance to befriend a princess, right? Ah, is her girlfriend coming, as well?”

“Girlfriend?”

“I can’t remember the name, but it’s the black-haired jaguar-maid who’s always next to her while looking super in love, right? Those two were always together whenever I saw the princess. There's just no way there's not going on more between them from how they're behaving and treating each other. I am 100% sure that they are dating. It's just too obvious!"

“…” The couple needed a moment before coming up with a reply. “Wow, how are those two the only ones that haven’t noticed…”

“Hmm?” The fox tilted her head again.

"Nah, it's nothing," Sophia answered her. "The relationship of those two is a little complicated… Well, they are girlfriends but are still on the finishing line of noticing it…"

“Oh, a little dense, I take it?”

“You have no idea…” The two let out a sigh.

“I see.” Chloe decided to not ask any further questions. “Well, I always wanted to see the jaguar up close because I’m a real fan of her hair!”

“Sure…” The tiger remembered how Ari was worried about her unique hair and then sighed again. "I'll bring her along, too."

“Yay!”

Afterward, the couple looked rather tired because everything that got addressed in the last couple of minutes had taken a toll on them.