NOVEL NEXT Chapter 336 – Fluff is serious business
As Steph continued to be curious about the fox-girl, Chloe told everyone a lot more about her old life and how she experienced going through basically two childhoods in this world as she regained the memories of her previous life while growing up. She also explained how and why she doesn't feel any older because of this, as it was limited to her childhood, and one doesn't really gain any valuable wisdom from going through that twice, especially because her lives were so different.
Afterward, as Chloe had left earth roughly 20 years ago, Steph then proceeded to explain the advancements of technology since then by using the smartphone she had brought with her. While doing that, the two also took quite a few selfies and generally had a good time together. The first five minutes aside, the two were getting along splendidly.
“By the way,” Sophia was having a great time seeing Steph having fun with Chloe, which made her feel a lot better about her sister insisting on coming with her. After all, it seemed like she was actually enjoying herself already, rather than just happy being reunited with her sister again. Still, when she noticed that the two stopped being busy with each other for a moment, the tiger decided to join the conversation. “When Maya and I were shopping in the other world, we bought a ton of this modern technology. I might've even found a way to get some sort of electricity here to power everything. Tomorrow, we could probably all play around with them together. That should be a lot of fun~."
"E-Eh?!" Maya's expression instantly changed. "Y-You want to do that together with everyone… Even your sister?! That's a little..."
“…?” The tiger needed a moment to understand why her cat got so flustered. “Idiot… I mean the stuff we got in the electronics store… Like the TV and all the movies I got.”
"A-Ah." Her face turned even redder. "T-That's fine then… I'm unsure how I would've felt about the other things…"
“What other things…?” The other duo just tilted their heads in unison.
“Don’t ask.” Sophia shook her head. “It’s better for you. Trust me.”
"I sense something perverted. Sophia, where were you with Maya before I found you in the electronics store…?" The little sister saw through her in an instant.
"Some place that, uhh… maybe sells some more primitive technology…”
"Primitive?!" Maya got loud again. "Vibraty stuff is the pinnacle of technology in your world!”
"Vibratey stuff… ahh…" Steph eventually looked like she understood. “I was right! Wait, that’s not a thing here?”
“There is nothing in this world except maybe carriages or other big moving things that vibrate!” The cat-girl sounded excited. “Especially not something this small and made for insertion! You can get stuff with the same shape here, but nothing that vibrates!”
"I see why you're so giddy now." Steph nodded a few times. "Sophia, I hope you got more things that don't just vibrate. Compared to some of the other things, that's more of the mediocre to nice tier at best."
"I-I got a lot of everything, including the really good ones." She looked a little awkward talking about that with her sister, with Chloe being present, as well.
“Good girl.”
“…” Chloe decided to stay silent on the matter. She was too young to have had any experience with those toys in her old world. Still, she had obviously heard of them already, so she understood the trio after a moment of listening. Also, Steph didn't need to know that she was just as much of a pervert as the couple.
“Anyway!” Sophia wanted to talk about her actual subject. "We also get some good cameras, tablets, two TVs, stuff to watch movies on, movies itself, a ton of series collections, and even a game console! I don't want it to become a habit because this world has more than enough fun things to offer, but we thought it could be great fun for a lazy evening or something like that. And to look at pictures we took during traveling!"
"Ohh, a movie would be fun every now and then!" The fox-girl seemed to be a fan of the idea.
“I like the picture plan! How do you plan to power all that stuff, though…?” Steph looked a little confused. “You said that there’s no electricity here, right?”
"But there's a sun here, too!" Sophia pointed at the window to their garden. "W-Well, it's night right now, but you know what I mean… We went to the camping store you took me to last year, and they sold me an, uhh… solar generator! Judging by the specs of the way too overpriced thing we got, the batteries and solar panels should be big enough to give us enough power for hours of fun on the TV even in winter. On sunnier days, it should be waaay more than we could possibly use!”
“Ohh, fancy!”
“That’s the same I said when I got the invoice!”
“I can imagine! I heard that the smaller ones are already plenty expensive! One big enough to go completely off-grid has to cost a fortune!”
“That’s very fitting, yeah. I think it was worth it, though. If it works, that is.”
“I’m fairly sure a sun should work similarly enough everywhere where life has formed, no?” The fox-girl tried to come up with an explanation.
“Good argument.”
“Wait, so we might actually be able to watch a movie together every now and then...?” Chloe tilted her head. “That sounds great!”
“I won’t promise anything, but it’s looking good!” Sophia gave a small thumbs up.
“Yay!”
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The girls kept chatting about the idea for a good bit longer. Maya also got quite excited because she was also looking forward to it. Everything at once in the other world was rather overwhelming because it was a massive sensory overload. Still, with only a single TV, it seemed like a lot of fun and a completely new experience, after all.
"By the way, does anyone wants something to drink?" After a little while, the cat-girl looked around in the group to see if anyone was thirsty. “We’ve been chatting forever already, after all.”
“I could drink something!” The sisters were in perfect sync.
“I’m also a little thirsty.” Chloe nodded along.
“Alright, I’ll prepare something for everyone, then.” Saying so, Maya got up from the sofa and started walking toward the kitchen.
“Ah, let me help you!” The fox-girl also left her place next to Steph and went with her. Soon enough, they were gone.
“Mhmm...” The shorter blonde in question didn’t seem to be a fan of this. She also had to readjust her posture because, over time, she had more and more leaned against Chloe's tail and ended up half-using it as a pillow at some point without the fox-girl seemingly having minded it. “Boo..." Instead of doing that, though, she stood up and went to Sophia instead. Steph sat down next to her, quickly hugged the tiger's arm, and cuddled against her side instead.
“Why do I feel like a replacement right now?” She naturally had noticed what was happening on the other sofa until now.
“Must be your imagination~.” To get her point across, the little sister got even closer and rubbed her head against the tiger’s shoulder a few times.
“Don’t overdo it, okay?” Saying so, Sophia moved her tail around and behind her sister and then used it to bonk her forehead.
“O-Ouch!” She rubbed the spot that got bonked in return to relieve the pain. “Your tail has some serious punching power!”
“I know~.” She showed her a little smirk. “You don’t want to make her feel uncomfortable like when you met, right?"
“Y-Yes...” Steph got a little awkward. “I’ll try to watch out for that.”
“Chloe is a good girl, so she should also be treated well. Fluff is a very intimate thing here, so I’m not really sure how much she’s just playing along because it makes others happy. Don’t even try to touch her ears! That would definitely be too much.”
“Okay.” The shorter blonde nodded a few times. “Are your animal bits really that sensitive?”
“You saw Chloe’s reaction when you jumped at her, right? You also saw me going down on my knees when you grabbed mine... Our ears are even much, MUCH more sensitive!”
“How does it feel to have it touched?”
“Unless someone grabs it with all their might, it's actually kinda pervy... Especially having your ears touched. The tail is a little bit more neutral at times. Other than you, I still only bonk Maya with my tail because I don't want to have it touched by anyone else. Still, I could probably manage someone accidentally coming in contact with it... For our ears... Well, how to explain it... There are some, uhh... things you usually do in bed that feel less intense...”
“S-Seriously?!”
“Seriously.”
“Good thing you stopped me when I met Chloe...”
“Yep.” Sophia smiled at her. “That’s why, being able to fluff someone here is some sort of display of absolute trust and also affection.”
“So... Hypothetically speaking, of course, if I’d like to use Chloe's tail as a hug pillow every night while sleeping or live out my desire to find out how soft the ball of fluff inside her ears is, I...”
“You’d have to date her. And even then, it's a definite consent thing."
“I see.”
“Anyway, what a day, huh...?" She decided to change the topic.
“Are you kidding?!” Steph immediately got loud. “That’s way too much of an understatement!”
“Sorry...”
“It sure was a day, though... I wasn’t expecting to find my idiotic runaway sister like that...”
“Sorry...” Sophia apologized another time.
“You better be! Just disappearing like that! Making me worried like nothing else! All while you were living in paradise!”
"Ahh..." Hearing her sounding so terribly envious towards the end made Sophia feel a little less horrible about the situation. “I take you like this world, then?”
"Well, I haven't seen much, if any, of it yet... We arrived in the middle of the night and haven't gone outside, either..."
“Fair point.”
"I do like my stripy tiger sister a lot, though.”
“Hehe.” Liking that answer, Sophia gave her another bonk with her tail. This time, it was much gentler, though.
"Maya also looks great. When I met her, I felt like something was missing, and those cat-ears really completed her! You made a great choice there!"
“I do agree~.”
"Though, no offense... but I think she would've been perfect with a slightly fluffier tail...”
“Ahaha...” The tiger decided against saying anything here, especially not after she made Maya try out that very idea not too long ago. “What about Chloe?”
“She’s amazing!” Her reply was instantaneous. “She’s so fluffy!”
“If she’s one thing, she’s definitely that, yeah.”
“She’s much more than that! It’s super fun to talk to her, too. It’s rare to meet anyone as nice as her. She’s so positive about everything, too! From her stories, she also seems to love exploring and traveling. I can’t wait to do that together with her! With everyone, I want to add!”
“Hehe, happy to hear that~.” Sophia started smiling in return. She was pleased that her sister was having a great time already. “We do have to make some preparations for all that first, though. You definitely need a decent amount of magic authority first and how to use it, for example.”
“I want to get some fluff on myself, too!”
“Sure~. You looking the part to blend in with the beastfolk is also part of the requirements.”
“Great!”
Afterward, the sisters kept chatting about that topic while Chloe and Maya were still preparing some drinks for everyone in the kitchen.
