Chapter 117 – Fluff and fluff
Almost everyone except Chloe met Fey after she changed into her humanoid form, and the group was looking forward to seeing how the pink fox-girl would react to her changed mother. While they were waiting for her, Sophia also told everyone about her adventures with the red-haired girl, much to the dismay of Steph, who would’ve loved to be in her shoes.
“Eh…?” Roughly half an hour after everyone met the red-haired girl, Chloe finally returned home and immediately froze in place. “F-Feyfey?” While in shock, she naturally had no difficulties identifying the girl in front of her.
“S-Surprise.” She wasn’t sure what to say to her. “You said you wanted to see this form of mine, so I,-OOF!” Fey wasn’t able to finish her sentence because her daughter had already run up to her and almost made her topple over from the aggressive hug the pink fox-girl gave her without warning. She could do nothing else but to simply return the hug for the time being.
“Aww!” Everyone had the same reaction.
“I prefer the original Fey.” Almost everyone. Fen, who had arrived behind Chloe, wasn’t a fan of the change he was seeing.
“I agree, but shush!” Aura stared at him while shaking her head.
“You are so cute!” Once the pink fox let go of her, she immediately circled around the red-haired girl a couple of times. “Your tail has gotten even fluffier! How is that even possible?!”
“It just happened?” Fey scratched her cheek.
“That’s where I got my tail from, huh?” Chloe was still staring at her. “I mean, I already saw the similarities in your full form, but it’s even more obvious now. It’s exactly the same as mine, just even bigger!”
“That is indeed the case.” She nodded.
“You’ve got my ears, though.” Mira pointed at the ones on top of her head while smiling at her daughter.
“True!” The pink fox smiled back at her before focusing on Fey again. "Well, now I also know why I'm so small!”
“Short.” The red-haired girl corrected. “I’m small and short. You are just short.”
“Yep, the big part came from me.” The overseer gave her a thumbs up.
“Hmm?” Chloe was confused for a moment, but after looking down on herself and seeing nothing but her own chest before glancing at Fey, who could easily see her own feet when looking down, she understood what was meant. “Ahh.”
“Genetics are a wonderful thing." Steph was pleased about how she turned out.
“Why do you look like this, though?” Chloe tilted her head while looking at her short mother once more. “I mean, it makes sense because my features that aren’t from Mira had to come from somewhere, and your full form is also adorable, but it isn’t exactly what I had pictured in my mind. I especially thought you would’ve been taller!”
“You can thank your mother for that.”
“Hmm?” The pink fox looked confused.
“This mother.” Mira pointed at herself. “When I was teaching her how to transform, I shamelessly took the chance to talk her into transforming into my ideal type of woman.”
"As I wasn't interested in my looks, I had no trouble granting her wish.”
“Fair enough.” Chloe had nothing else to say. “WAIT! Is that why you like Steph so much?!” She suddenly got loud. “They’re a very similar type! Speaking about their bodies here!”
“If Steph was a couple thousand years older, then maybe.” The overseer shrugged while looking at the dog-girl. “Just like you, she’s just a baby in my eyes. I like her because she has such a bubbly personality and gets along with you so well.”
“I see!” She was relieved to hear it. “Hmm, does that mean I inherited my taste from Mira, as well?” Her gaze wandered between Steph and the overseer.
“Thank you very much!” The dog-girl gave the teal fox a thumbs up.
“I’m not sure if something like that is hereditary, but you’re welcome~.”
Everyone kept chatting for a while longer, but as Chloe also wanted to have some alone time with Fey, she eventually decided to do just that.
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"Thank you so much for showing me this form." The two went to Mira's hut in her domain, and Chloe happily smiled at the red-haired girl.
“I’m glad to hear it.” Fey nodded once. “I was worried about how you’d take it, so I’m happy about your reaction.”
“There’s just no way I ever would've reacted negatively, no matter how you ended up looking. I don't care about that. I only care about that you showed me yourself at all!”
“Well, can you blame me for being nervous after having raised you in my other form for the past almost 20 years and then suddenly switching to someone else entirely?”
"I guess that's fair." Chloe could see how it may be tricky. “The only thing I’m upset about is that you haven’t shown me earlier, though.”
“I’m sorry.”
“That being said, I’m not sure how I feel about my mother looking younger than I do.”
“I do not look younger than you!” Fey didn’t like that. “It’s not by much, but I’m still taller than you, too.”
“Yes, that’s not wrong, but at least a certain part of my body is a lot more developed than yours, which does make me look more mature.”
"A big chest isn’t necessarily a sign of maturity.”
“It literally is, though?” Chloe tilted her head. “Exceptions like early bloomers aside, of course. In any case, it’s way more of a maturity sign than one’s height!”
“…” Fey hadn't expected such a comeback. “You still have a baby face, though.”
“Wow.” The pink fox rolled her eyes. “Again, very mature. By the way, my face is a lot more similar to yours than it is to Mira.”
“Grr, I don’t like being sassed by my own daughter.” Fey furrowed her brows.
“Grr, right back at you!” Chloe returned the growl. “In the first place, it’s not a bad thing even if you look younger.”
“It absolutely is!” The red-haired fox disagreed.
“Why? You’re so cute!”
“That’s not always a compliment, you know?”
“It absolutely is!” She disagreed with her. “Being cute is most important, after all.”
“Not for everyone.”
“Easy to say as the cutest individual around!”
“Can we stop that topic already?” Fey had enough of it.
“Fine.” The expression of the pink fox changed into a slight pout.
“Thank you.”
“There is a technical question I have about the transformation, though.” Chloe sounded a lot more serious again.
“Yes?”
“Is it just a visible change, or are you actually a regular hybrid right now?”
“I’m the same as you, Sophia, and all your other friends.”
"So, it's the same magic Sophia and Steph used to change themselves from humans to their current forms?”
“Yes and no.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” The pink fox tilted her head.
“The transformation itself is the same as them, but what Mira and I are doing comes with some extra steps beforehand. The sisters threw away their humanity and can never fully turn back because the beast features have become an inseparable part of them.”
"That was why Steph had some trouble with controlling her tail and all that in the beginning, right?"
“Exactly.” Fey nodded.
“So, what’s different with your transformation, then?”
“It’s complicated to explain.” The red-haired girl scratched her cheek. “Inside of me, there are two different versions responsible for each body, more or less. When I decide to change, my full form goes on break while my hybrid body takes over. They are fully separated from each other in terms of bodily functions, so they can’t influence each other. That way, I won’t be affected by extra body parts or organs working differently when switching from one species to another.”
“Sooo… You’re a 2-in-1?”
“More or less.”
“O…kay?” She was still a little confused.
“That’s why it’s so hard and took me so long.” Fey smiled at her. “If I accidentally mess up and my two forms mix with each other, I’ll be in a WHOLE lot of problems.”
“I see!” Chloe nodded a few times. “Hmm, does that mean that if the sister will ever learn that magic, they could return to being normal humans? Not that they would ever want to. Not those two.”
“Not quite.” She shook her head. “While their bodies would function the same as regular humans, they would still have their beast sides sleeping inside of them. Not exactly normal in my eyes.”
“Fair enough.” The pink fox understood the reasoning. “Wait, Mira is originally a full, too, right?”
“Yes.”
“And both of you had your full side sleeping inside of you when you made me. Does that mean I’m secretly quite a bit closer to being a full than I thought?”
“You shouldn’t be.” Fey shook her head. “Right now, my full form is still inside of me, but it's not active and also not influencing my current body. That should’ve made it near impossible for you to inherit anything from it, too.”
“That makes sense!”
“Mira might be the better person to ask, though. She’s a lot more knowledgeable about it.”
“Okay!” She nodded. “Well, my outside appearance is that of a regular hybrid, so even if I had more hidden full parts, it wouldn’t really matter.”
“That is true.” The red-haired girl agreed with her.
“Anyway, thank you so much for showing me this form after so long!” Chloe smiled at her mother. “I feel even closer to you now, mom!”
“I have the most adorable daughter in existence.” She had nothing else to say.
“Ehehe~.”
“Thank you, that’s all I wanted to hear.”
"Are you going to stay as a hybrid form for a while now, or was it a once-and-done situation?"
“Turning back into a full is even harder, so it might take a while before I’m able to do so.” Fey also just smiled at her.
"I don't even care that it sounded like a lie~." Chloe was happy that her mother was going to stay like that for a longer time.
The duo chatted for a bit longer before eventually heading back to the others in the cottage to spend some more time together with everyone.