NOVEL NEXT Chapter 358 – Comfy cuddly evening
Everyone was still busy exploring all the weird tech Sophia and Maya had bought in the other world, and the TV especially gathered a lot of interest. Chloe was amazed at just how much they had changed in the 20 years since she had left, and Aura got very excited about the sample picture of their old world that was taken from space. She got even more excited after discovering that the humans from there managed to visit space, and she wanted to do the same. The tiger had some very mixed feelings about this and managed to talk her into watching a sci-fi movie instead for the time being. That was basically the same, after all.
“Oh, are DVDs still a thing?” While the sisters were setting up everything, Chloe started looking at the movies Sophia had placed on the table. “I somewhat remember it just becoming the new thing, but it’s impressive it held up so long.”
"Not quite," Steph answered her. “While DVDs are still around, I think, that’s the successor called Blu-Ray. It can hold way more data, but that’s also basically dead. Nowadays, because the internet has gotten so fast and everything is connected to it, everyone watches movies and stuff over that.”
"Not very useful in places without internet, though." The blonde joined the conversation. “In other worlds, for example. “We also got a ton of DVDs, by the way. Many series still come on those for some reason.”
“Ohh!”
“The internet was great for that!” The dog-girl nodded a few times. “It was possible to watch basically every movie ever made without even having to stand up from the sofa!"
“So lazy! I love it!” Chloe liked that idea a lot.
“Hehe.” Sophia let out a small chuckle. “Anyway, everything is hooked up and good to go!”
“What does that mean?” Aura was still rather confused about the whole thing.
“It's fine. You'll understand soon enough~." The tiger just smiled at her. “For now, just choose a movie for us to watch together.” She then pointed at the table.
“Eh? But I know nothing about this?”
“Don’t worry about that. They’re not that different from each other at the end of the day. Just choose the one with the cover art you like the most~.”
“Okay?” Not being any less confused, the female wolf then took a better look at the ten movie cases the tiger had laid out. “This one looks interesting.” She gestured at a cover showing a massive spaceship with a planet in the background.
“Sure, let’s watch that one~.” Saying so, Sophia grabbed the case, pulled out the disk, and put it into the player. "Time to get comfy!"
Once a movie was decided again, the group cleaned up a little again by stuffing all the trash, packaging materials, and other things in the corner of the room and out of view before placing the sheepskin rug in front of the TV, which they had put on a short table. After all, the wolves should have a good view from their favorite spot in the mansion.
Afterward, the girls got also comfortable on the sofas behind the rug. Sophia got cozy against Maya's side while hugging her arm, and Steph seemed to be in heaven as she sunk into her very own personal pillow. Chloe’s tail, that is. The owner of said tail started blushing for a moment or two, but it didn’t last overly long, and it didn’t seem like the fox-girl had anything against it, either. In fact, her comfortable-looking smile suggested the exact opposite. The duo also huddled close enough together that their shoulders ended up touching.
“…” The actual couple thought about saying something while glancing at the duo and how they were acting already, but they decided against it. Sophia then pressed the play button on the remote instead to start the movie.
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“W-Whoa!” It didn’t take long for the wolves to get loud again. "T-This is..." Aura was especially invested in the movie as she couldn't peel her eyes away from the TV while her tail was wagging the entire time. “Your humans actually accomplished all that?!” She got even more excited when she saw a scene with a massive spaceship orbiting a planet.
“Ahh...” Sophia awkwardly scratched her cheek. “Steph, please explain it to her.” She didn’t want to deal with that.
“Ehh...?” She didn’t seem to be a fan of the idea.
“I want to know, too!” Maya, who had also attentively followed the events on the TV, was curious about the same thing before looking at Sophia. “You showed me those big things flying in the sky that supposedly transport people, but they can even go to space? They looked nothing like those things, though!” She pointed at the TV again.
“It’s made up.” The dog-girl answered her. “Fiction books are a thing in this world, right? Someone just having a good time with coming up with a fun story that doesn’t line up with the real world.”
“Sure.” The cat-girl nodded a few times.
“Most movies, including this one here, are based on the same principle. "It looks like the real thing, but almost nothing you're seeing right now actually happened."
“Eh?” Maya and the wolves had the same reaction.
“The humans are real, but the scenery, the spaceship, and all that are not. They're either partly replicated and made look real by the camera only showing the needed part, like the wall behind them, or it's made on a computer, and everything else, like the people, are added later...” She paused for a moment after looking at their confused expression. “Computers are somewhat similar to the tablets we showed you before, just MUCH more powerful. Those can be used to create fake environments and other things for entertainment. It's similar to how an artist can draw whatever comes to their mind. Only that it’s moving pictures in this case. Yeah, imagine it like actors moving in front of a crafted and moving picture. Something like that, at least...” Steph naturally was having a hard time putting it in a way they’d understand it.
“I see!” Aura pretended to have understood her. “In short, it’s some obscure magic your weird world has come up to keep yourself entertained?”
“...” The sisters exchanged a few glances. “Sure...” They went for the easy way out.
“Amazing!”
“Sure...”
Once this topic, more or less, was dealt with, the group continued to focus on the movie again for the next hour and a half.
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“That was amazing!” Aura seemed to have enjoyed it very much.
“Yes, it was very entertaining.” Fen had a similar opinion. “Even though it was very alien and weird... Not to mention they were many things I didn't understand. And most of them being humans...”
“Yeah!” Maya agreed with him.
“Wait a moment... Speaking of... I also didn’t understand very many things, but I understood it...” The female wolf sounded a little cryptic. “Didn't Canir give you a gift to make you understand the language of this world? Including your cute mispronunciations in the beginning?”
“T-There was no need to mention that!” The tiger got a little embarrassed. “Anyway, yes… He gave it to me because the language I spoke in my previous world is completely different to the one we speak here…”
"Then why did Fen and I understand this play we just watched?!" She gestured at the TV.
“Well, for the most part…” The male wolf slightly corrected her.
“Actually, when we called Canir to give Steph magic and the same language boost, he briefly mentioned something about giving it to you, too. He had the feeling that even if Steph speaks the same language as we do, you would still be confused a lot because some… or a lot of things don't translate well as the concept's completely different."
“Woah, how unexpectedly thoughtful of him!”
“That guy can be reliable if he wants to, huh?” The wolves' opinion of Canir wasn't the absolute best.
“Ahaha.” Sophia liked their reaction. “He seems to have his moments.”
“By the way,” Aura then faced the tiger again. “I now want to visit space more than ever!”
“Ah.”
“We should’ve watched something where their spaceship gets destroyed and ends in a big ball of fire, huh?” Steph noticed the issue.
“Do you have a movie like that?!” It had the opposite effect on her. “Big explosions are the best, after all!”
“Ah.” The little sister had the same reaction afterward.
“How about we watch a movie of a different genre next?” Chloe decided to save them. “It’s okay from time to time, but I never was the biggest fan of sci-fi stuff back then... That being said, WOW!" She paused for a moment. "How and why do movies look so amazing now? It looked better than real life?!"
"Ahaha..." The sisters only chuckled in return. "It's something, huh?"
"Yes!" She nodded a few times. "So, do you have any funny movies, as well?”
“Absolutely!” Sophia jumped at the chance to change the topic and pulled a wide selection of comedy movies out of her storage. “Choose anything you want~.”
“Hmm...” The fox-girl looked at the collection the blonde had put on the table before them. “Wait a moment, I think I remember this one... I’m pretty sure I’ve watched it in the past. I liked it, too!”
“It does look like an older movie, but I don’t think I know it...” The tiger slightly tilted her head while also looking at it.
“I got this one!” Maya spoke up. “I liked the picture. It looks very funny, so I added it to the others I picked up!"
“Let’s watch it!" Steph also got curious about it. "The cover really does look fun, and I want to know which movies Chloe used to watch!"
“Eh? Are you sure?”
“Of course!” Everyone smiled at the fox.
Once they agreed on the next movie to watch, Sophia put it into the player, and everyone got comfortable again. Afterward, they watched another random movie before everyone eventually fell asleep in the living room. The wolves had huddled up on the sheepskin rug. Maya and Sophia cuddled against each other's sides, and Steph and Chloe had gotten just as comfy, with the dog-girl having sunken even deeper into the fox-girl's tail while also resting their shoulders against each other.
