Once the queen and Ellie had left the couple to visit the beauty and care store, Maya and Sophia got comfortable in their living room again. The two wolves also eventually joined them after having come back from their underground maze.

“What’s up, you two?” Sophia looked at the wolves relaxing on their sheepskin rug in front of the fireplace. “Anything interesting to tell?” She wanted to know what they were doing lately.

“Aura and I were quite productive.” Fen answered her. “We invented a new type of illusion magic. The new part of the maze will mess with your head to a degree you didn’t know was possible. It’s that confusing.”

“Oho.” The blonde liked the sound of that. “How much are we talking exactly?”

“The headaches you give the king are nothing in comparison.”

“W-Wow…” Maya’s voice was full of admiration. “That’s possible!?”

“Hey!” The blonde got loud. “Also, seriously?!” Despite her complaining, she couldn’t believe it, either.

“It’s suuuper fun~.” Aura sounded quite proud of herself. “Fenny and I also explored the lands around the capital a bit.”

“Really?” The tiger tilted her head. “How far did the two of you go?”

“A couple hundreds of kilometers around it.”

“Nice. Did you find anything of interest?”

“We ran into an elven village by chance.”

“Seriously?!” Both girls got loud.

“No elves, though.” Aura shook her head.

“Aww…” The blonde looked down. “Was it abandoned, then?”

“No. A group of the fox beastfolk started living there. They’re a ton of fun.”

“Foxes, huh?” Maya sounded interested. “They’re also on the rarer side because they like to live on their own.”

“They were quite sociable in my eyes, though.” Fen didn’t share her opinion.

“You got drunk with them, didn’t you?” The cat-girl saw through him in an instant.

“They have amazing alcohol!”

“Ahaha…” She could only laugh.

“Okay, back to those foxes.” The blonde suddenly sounded serious. “This is extremely important… The girls there, how fluffy are their tails?”

“Sophia.” Maya looked at her with a disapproving expression.

“What?” She tilted her head. “What lesbian would I be if I am not interested in the fluffy tails of fox beastgirls? Heck, scratch that, even if I’d be straight, this is a very important topic to all fluff lovers.”

“Is that so?” The cat-girl increased her stare. “What about the fluffy tails of the mal-?”

“Couldn’t care less.” She didn’t even let her finish her sentence.

“Is that so?” Maya’s voice got a little colder as she repeated herself.

“Again, what?” Sophia didn’t feel guilty. “How interested are you in the tails of the male beastfolk?”

“Zero.”

“And the females?” She smirked at her. “Bushy tails of fluffy foxes attached to cute girls.”

“…” The cat-girl chose not to answer. It was definitely more than zero.

“Case closed.” The blonde looked quite smug. “So, Aura, on a scale from 1 to 10, how fluffy are their tails? Yours is a very respectable 8 to 9. It’s not pure fluff, but also silky-smooth, and the fur itself is a bit straight, after all.”

“You sure know your tails.” Aura seemed almost impressed. “If mine’s a 9…” She ignored the mentioning of an 8. “The fox-girls would be a 13 out of 10.”

“W-Wow…” Sophia needed a moment. “Maya, how about a little trip?”

“Shut up.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“…” She made a short pause. “Only looking, no touching, okay?”

“Of course!” She nodded. “That was the plan from the get-go! I was only interested in their aesthetics!”

“Ah, I-I see…”

“Oh…?” It was Sophia’s time to stare at her cat now.

"A-Aura, have these foxes met the elves that lived in the village before?”

“Ehehe.” The blonde’s smugness increased even more.

“Unfortunately, they were already gone when the foxes found the place.”

“That’s too bad…” Sophia had hoped for a different answer. “Would’ve been too easy otherwise, though, huh?”

“Are we still looking for an elf to join our group?” Aura wanted to know if that was still the plan.

“Hmm…” The tiger tilted her head. “I’m still pondering if we should somehow try to get Ari to accompany us. Together with Anna, too, by portaling them in when needed, or something like that… Still, I kinda want to meet some elves. Coming from a world with only humans, all those other races are super interesting to me.”

“Interesting enough to even change races, eh?” The female wolf looked at her.

“Absolutely~.”

“How many of the fox beastfolk live in that village?” Maya also was a little curious.

“Quite a few, actually.” Fen answered her. “Most of them were a little older, though. Maybe around the king and the queen in age, I’d say.”

“Ehh… What about the cute and fluffy fox-girls, then…?” Sophia didn’t like the sound of that.

“Kira would kill you if she’d heard that just now.” The cat-girl rolled her eyes.

"A-Ah… Well, Kira still looks awesome, so… Alright, I’m fine with a mature fox-girl!” The blonde started to like the idea.

“You sure are something else… Though, the queen does look great…” Maya agreed with the tiger. “Anna’s future looks bright.”

“Ahaha.”

“Fenny said most of them, right?” Aura interrupted them. “There still were some kids and a few of your age or slightly older, too. One of the girls your age, maybe a little older visually speaking, was even a 15 on the fluffy scale.”

“Ohhh!” Even though Sophia was a little into the mature fox-girls now, extra fluffy girls her age were still a bit more interesting. “I want to meet some foxes and also see how an elven village looks like~.”

“That does sound interesting, yes.” The cat-girl, too, looked forward to it. “I’ve never seen a village of them.”

“It’s pretty cool.” Fen apparently liked it. “The village’s in the middle of a vast and dense forest. Most buildings are made from wood, and some are even built in, or on the trees. It’s very cozy there in a way.”

“That sounds fun! Maya, let’s get a treehouse in an elven village!” Her eyes started sparkling.

“Err…” The cat-girl first looked around before gesturing in every direction. “We already have a house? Not to mention that it is a noble mansion in the capital…”

“So?” Sophia tilted her head. “Aren’t summer homes a thing in this world?”

“Sure, but… it’s fall? It’s getting quite cold, too.”

“Maya?”

“Yes?”

“Shut up.”

“Ehehe.” She had to chuckle at the tiger’s reaction. “Are you serious, though?”

“Why not?” The blonde didn’t see an issue with her plan. “This place here’s more like a winter home in the first place, anyway.”

“But isn’t that because we’re going to travel and be away from here when it’s warm?” Aura also needed to make a comment.

“Why is everyone in this group so sassy?!” Sophia started pouting. “Just let me have my fun!”

“Ahaha.” The trio had a good laugh.

“Alright, I’ll get a really cool treehouse just for me alone! No one else allowed there!”

“Not even the fox beastfolk that lives there?” Fen, too, wanted to tease a bit.

“I’ll think about it if they’re cute and female!”

“Hey!” Maya raised her voice.

“What? If you don’t want to live with me there, I have to find someone else for company, right?”

“Why do you even want to live there…?”

“I don’t! I just want to be able to say that I own an elven treehouse in the middle of nowhere!” As usual, Sophia’s priorities were very peculiar.

“Understandable.” Fen nodded in agreement.

“Is it?” Maya and Aura were only confused.

“Yes.” The duo was convinced of it.

“Well, whatever…” Maya gave up. “It does sound a little cool if you put it that way.”

“Hehe.”

“Alright, let’s have a look once we visit that village. No living together with cute fox-girls, though!”

“Okay~.” Sophia’s voice turned cheery.

“Good…” She looked relieved. “Wait a moment! Did you come up with all that just so that I agree to it after making some compromises?!”

“I would never~.” Her voice turned even more cheery. “I already have a cute cat-girl, after all. What would I need a fox-girl for~?”

“Good answer.” Maya liked her reply. “Wait, you’re still just smooth-talking me, aren’t you?!”

“I wouldn’t dare to do that~.” She still looked cheeky. “Ah, but I wouldn’t mind an actual, or full fox as a pet or something like that… Something fluffy you can pet while it’s sleeping on your lap.”

“Am I not good enough for that anymore?” The cat-girl started pouting now.

"A-Ah…” Sophia hadn’t thought about that being Maya’s job already. “Y-You know what I mean…”

“I do, but I still won’t leave that place to someone else without a fight!”

“I see…”

“Oh, how about I keep the fluffy one on my lap while I’m on yours?” Maya already had a new plan ready.

“That’s not a bad- Hey, I wanted a pet, not you!” The tiger didn’t seem to like the idea.

“Ehehe~.” The cat-girl showed her a smug expression. “You can have it when we change positions.”

“Hrmnn…” She looked conflicted.

“Girls,” Aura looked at them. “Foxes aren’t the biggest fans of being pets in the first place.”

“So?” The couple only tilted their heads.

“Whatever…” The wolf quickly decided that she didn’t want to get involved in it, after all.

The group kept chatting for a little longer and made some more concrete plans for the elven village with the foxes. The wolves seemed to have liked it there, and the couple, especially the tiger, was really interested in seeing the place. As Maya’s birthday was right around the corner, and how the couple planned to visit Anna’s and Ari’s school soon, they didn’t decide on a time yet, though. For just having fun and playing around, they were pretty busy.