NOVEL NEXT Chapter 334 – Getting to know each other better
Sophia and Maya had finally shown their true feline form to Steph, and she was a big fan of both. She especially liked the tail of her tiger sister, and she, again, got the urge to pounce on the fluff. Sophia's tail is much more sensitive than Chloe's, though, as there's less volume of fur protecting the base. Because of that, it resulted in yet another scolding from the now only slightly taller blonde once she had recovered from her tail being squeezed.
The group also told the little sister about this world’s humans. Their best suggestion for Steph was to use magic to make her look like a member of the beastfolk, basically a reverse of what Sophia and Maya had done in the sisters’ old world. Unfortunately, Steph didn't have any access to magic yet, though. Still, Sophia was sure she'd find a way around it before long.
“By the way,” Steph looked across the coffee table at Sophia. “In the old world, you told me how you got tangled up with royalty because they think you’re part of them because of something or another… You were pretty vague about that for some reason." She intensified her stare. "In the end, it was because you had turned into a tiger, and every tiger is per default part of the royal family or adjacent to it because of their standing… am I understanding that correctly…?”
“Pretty much, yeah…” Her sister nodded. “It was rather messy when I first found out about that, and the royal family actually started hunting me down… It’s not like I could tell them that I haven’t always been a tiger, let alone that I came from a different world…”
“That’s fair, I guess.”
"Only Maya and two of my other friends know about that part of me. Well, and Chloe now, too, because she's in a similar situation… It’s also not like it’s wrong… I actually became a full member of the tiger race. Ears, tail, stripes, and some other details, just that I stayed blonde instead of orange."
“If anything, you’re blonder than ever!”
“Ahaha, that’s another tiger feature, actually. During summer, my color was similar to earlier, but with a hint of orange rather than brown. Tiger hair and fur apparently turn lighter during the colder months, and I ended up like this… I love it, though! I like this color a lot!" Sophia started playing with a strand of her hair while saying so.”
“It definitely is great!” Her sister agreed with her. “Is the wavy fluffiness also a tiger thing? Something like a winter coat…?”
“Something along the lines of that… It’s a massive pain, though… It’s almost untamable…”
"Ah, is that so…?" Her voice dripping with sarcasm, Steph then held up a strand of her own hair. The color aside, hers was more of a darker dirty blonde, the consistency seemed similar. If anything, the hair of the little sister seemed to be even more unruly. “Welcome to the club of suffering~.”
“Sorry, that wasn’t my intention…”
"Well, I was thinking about cutting it short anyway. What's a better time for a style change than a new start in a different world~?"
“Ehh…?" Sophia stared at her sister's hair, which went just below her shoulder blades. “The length’s great, though.”
“It’s too much of a pain, though! You know how much work I have to put into it every time it gets wet or the humidity’s too high!”
“Tell me about it…” Chloe seemed to sympathize a lot with her. “My hair’s the same. Other than me, I’m sure you’d look great with short hair, though! I bet something between chin and shoulder length would fit you perfectly!”
"I like this girl more and more with each passing moment!" Steph gestured at Chloe while looking at her sister.
"She is a good one." She also could see her appeal.
“Ehehe~.” The fox-girl enjoyed the praise.
"Speaking of!" Steph then looked at Chloe next to her again. “I want to know more about you!”
“E-Eh?!” Hearing that, her cheeks quickly turned red. “Me…?”
“Yes!” She nodded a few times. “Sophia ending here was already plenty weird, but she simply continued her life here. Though, there were some changes… You, on the other hand, started from scratch but also regained your memories over time…? How was your old life? How is the new one? Wasn’t it super confusing to have two types of memories or whatever…? What about your family back then? Now?”
“Hmm…” The fox-girl tilted her head. “My old life wasn’t anything too exciting, I would say… I was always a little frail, so I was more of an indoors kid… I did have some friends, though, that was nice. My health started declining a lot once I turned 12 and… well… it was over not too long after my 14th birthday…”
"A-Ah! I’m sorry that I made you remember it again…” The shorter blonde noticed that she sounded a little sad at the end.
"Don't worry about it. It's not exactly a bad memory of mine. It’s a part of my past and definitely a valuable experience. Because of that, I cherish being healthy and my love for traveling and exploring much more! It has a way bigger worth to me now!”
“That’s a nice way of thinking! You should always look for the positive in life! Right, sis?”
“Absolutely!” Sophia gave her a big nod.
“…?” Steph looked pretty confused. “You, of all people, agree with that…?”
“Very!”
“Even though you always went out of the way to find the negative side of something no matter how stupidly low the chance of that was…?”
“Sophia…?” Chloe tilted her head. “She’s about the most positive person I ever met."
“Eh?”
“Hehe.” The tiger smirked at her sister. “I told you that I changed~.”
"When you get depressed, you do get depressed, though…” Maya had to dampen her smugness a little.
“S-Shut up…”
“I really have to get used to my depressed crybaby of a big sister finally having come out of her shell…" Steph shed a small tear. “I’m all for it, though! It’s the best possible outcome! The how is more than just a little weird, but that’s just another plus!”
“S-Shush!” Sophia only got more embarrassed.
“The people that like to tease our tiger just has increased, huh?” Listening to their exchange, Chloe let out a small chuckle.
“Urgh… What she said! Steph, focus your teasing on Chloe! She’s into that! I already have my hands full with enough people in that regard! My cat here is worth 17 people already!”
“17? Please~.” Maya didn’t like that number. “Looks like I have to step up my game!”
“See?!”
“You enjoy being teased?” Steph ignored the couple and looked at the fox-girl while tilting her head.
“It depends, I guess…?” She also tilted her head in response. “Maybe not so much teasing, after all, because I’m not the biggest fan of deliberately teasing others, but I’m terribly envious of the bantering those two have! It seems like soo much fun!”
“Ahh!” The shorter blonde looked like she understood. “Basically, you want someone to flirt with?”
“YES!”
“I see… I can’t say I have that much experience with serious flirting, but I used to have a lot of female friends I was pretty close with. I’m sure I can try~.”
“Eh? Y-You don’t have to!”
“Why not? Sounds fun! Also, not trying to flirt with a girl as cute as you would be the bigger crime! Wait, you’re probably straight, right? You meant Sophia’s and Maya’s flirting more as an example, huh? Makes sense.”
“Ah, no, I am into… girls, but…”
“You are?!” She looked honestly surprised. "Well, I've only known you for an hour or two, so it's hard to make a guess… Still, what a small world this is.”
“Err…” Sophia glanced at her sister. “There’s another thing that I forgot to tell you… It’s pretty common in this world… Not only can same-sex couples have their own kids here, but straight, homosexual and bi people also are equally distributed here… there are basically no preferences more normal than the other. Obviously, there's also more on the spectrum here, but it's actually harder to meet a girl that is not into girls to at least some degree...”
“S-SERIOUSLY?!”
“Seriously.”
“Is this world the paradise?!”
“Pretty much, yeah.” The taller blonde had nothing to add.
“I hate you so much for keeping this world away from me for so long now!"
"I'm sorry…" Sophia was unable to look Steph in the eyes while apologizing.
"You better be! Also, how are kids between same-sex couples supposed to work…?"
“Long story short, your magic in this world is something like your DNA. When you share that with others in a special and protected way, you can create a new life with your partner. This union, conception aside, is pretty much the same as a regular pregnancy and gives you a perfectly normal and healthy child.”
"Wow…" Steph was too overwhelmed by that. "Amazing!"
“I had the same reaction…” Both sisters felt the same about it. “I can tell you more about it later. A friend of ours is the result of such an union, and she's amazing, so it definitely works! I had one of her mothers tell me all about it!”
“I look forward to that!”
“So… are you also into girls… or just happy that there’s no discrimination?” Chloe tried to interpret her reaction.
“Into girls and happy about that!” Steph smiled at her. "That's why I would totally be fine about flirting with a cute girl!"
“I-I see.”
“Your sister’s smooth.”
“Mh-hmm.” The couple came to the same conclusion.
“Before that, I still want to know more about you!” The shorter blonde just kept going. “Please continue from earlier!”
“O-Okay…” Chloe needed a moment before she got back on track. “More about my second try in life, I guess…?"
“Yes!”
“Let’s see... My life here definitely was a lot more eventful and a ton of fun for every single day since I can remember! Feyfey showed me all kinds of interesting places all over the continent while growing up! She also taught me how to use magic, making things even more fun!”
“Feyfey?” Steph tilted her head.
“My mother!”
“Ahh! Oh, does she also have a fluffy tail and ears? Is that how it works here?” She came right to the most important question.
“She’s actually a full fox, only with her original length being about 3 meters, but she can adjust her size however she wants.”
"A full...? Wait, so she’s actually just like a normal fox, just in varying sizes?!”
“Not quite.” Sophia took over. "A full looks the same as the animal, but they're actually fully sapient and intelligent. They can speak normally, as well. The full part refers to the look. Most of the beastfolk are hybrids, like Maya, Chloe, and I. Those also come in varying degrees, though. Like having full body fur, for example. Fulls are just the closest to the corresponding animal.”
“Ohh! You sure know your stuff, sis.” The shorter blonde seemed impressed.
“Well, I haven’t met Feyfey yet, but we have two full wolves in our group. Not sure where they are right now, though...”
“When I panicked after your disappearance, Fenfen told me to stay put as this happens quite often, and then he and Aura went to my hometown to go drinking without answering any more questions I had!" Chloe sounded slightly pouty while explaining what happened.
"Ahaha..." Sophia just awkwardly scratched her cheek. "Sorry about that... Well, if they're drinking, we won't see them today... You can meet them tomorrow or something like that, Steph."
“Okay...?” She looked more confused than before. “Wait... if your mother looks like a full fox, bigger or not, and you are mostly humanoid with some great improvements... HOW?" She gestured all over Chloe.
“I’m not exactly certain if Feyfey is my real mom... only that she’s the one who raised me and has been with me since the very beginning. She always gets a little evasive when I start asking, but to me, she is my mom!”
“I see!”
“It is possible, though.” Sophia joined in again. She had had the exact question before, after all. “If two partners are too far apart biologically speaking, they can use the same magic as a same-sex couple would do. Their child would become something random in between then."
“That’s amazing! No one gets left out!”
“Exactly!” The taller blonde felt the same. “I mean, it’s not for me personally, a few animal add-ons are great, and an absolute improvement, but too much animal would be a bit much...”
“Agree!” Steph nodded a few times. “Getting a girlfriend with the fluffiest tail possible is my new goal, though! Same with the ears! Other than that, I'm probably good, though!"
“Excellent taste!” Sophia gave her a thumbs up. “Dexterous tails are quite nice, too, though~.”
“...” Maya stayed silent on that part. Instead, she decided to look at Chloe while trying to figure out whether she had just moved her tail closer to Steph or if that was just her imagination.
“Anyway...” Steph shortly looked to her side and also noticed the big ball of fluff right beside her, shamelessly brushed the side of her head against it, and then continued talking with a big smile on her face. “If Feyfey is like a full fox on the outside... only like a massive one at times... How fluffy is she?”
“Even fluffier than I am! All over her body, too!” Chloe smiled at her.
"WOW! How does she feel about being petted?"
“She loves being groomed with a brush or magic by me when she's in her full size. She also enjoys being pet by me while she’s sleeping on my lap in her mini form.”
“D-Do you think I could-.”
“Get in line, sis!” Sophia didn’t even let her finish the sentence before she interrupted her. “I asked her about that a long time ago already!”
“Aww...”
“No one will ever doubt they are sisters, huh?” Chloe faced Maya with a wry smile while the two were quarreling over the fluff of someone they had never met before.
"Yeah, impossible."
Afterward, everyone, first and foremost the sisters, kept talking about Feyfey’s fluffiness and how to get to it. Once they calmed down again, Steph wanted to find out more about Chloe herself again and continued to ask her questions.
