The couple went with Ari and Anna to the royal castle after school was over. There, the girls had a lively chat together. After a while, Sophia had agreed to equip the rooms of the duo and that of Ellie with the same heated floors as the mansion. While Ari guided the blonde to the materials needed, Maya and the princess stayed behind in her room and continued to chat.

“Alright, have we calmed down a bit?” The two were currently sitting on sofas facing each other when the cat-girl had eventually addressed Anna again.

“Y-Yes…” She nodded a few times.

“Great!” Maya smiled at her. “Seriously though, get together with her already.”

“Again… Stop making it sound so easy when it’s not.”

“At this point, it really is, though.”

“Why?”

“What are the two of you doing together by now?” The cat-girl stared at her for a while. “You sleep in the same bed while clinging to each other. She’s basically your hug-pillow at this point, and Ari doesn’t seem to mind it even a bit. I’m not even talking about the whole shoving your breasts into her face thing.”

“Urgh…”

“How often have you stole glances at her during bathing time even though I said watch out about that? How often have you had the feeling she does the same?”

“…”

“You cling to her whenever I see the two of you together, and I’ve never seen her not smiling while you did so. Then there are the times where you told me she initiated things herself.”

“T-Those were just…”

“No, those were no mistakes.” The cat-girl shook her head. “It is so clear that Ari’s seeking for your contact.”

“T-That’s…”

“I was watching the two of you the entire time when we went to and back from the academy, you know?”

“A-Ah…” Anna’s face gradually turned more and more red.

“I saw how you reached for her hand, and I also saw how bright Ari’s smile became immediately afterward while she glanced at your joined hands.”

“I-Is that so…?”

“Haven’t you noticed that yourself?”

“I-I was busy dealing with my own face not lighting on fire…”

“Like it does right now?” Maya flashed her a cheeky grin.

“S-Shut up!”

“Ehehe.” She liked her reaction. “I also noticed what Ari then tried while you were walking hand in hand.”

“E-Eh?”

“Have you noticed how her tail brushed against yours every now and then?”

“O-Of course, I have! How could I not?!” Anna got loud. “I-It feels great, but that was just an accident! Something like that can happen when you walk next to each other… My tail’s super long and all over the place, after all. Ari’s quite thick and bushy, as well.”

“Nope.” The cat-girl shook her head.

“W-What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It definitely happened on purpose.”

“W-What?!”

“Her tail wasn’t just swaying around while she was walking. You could really see how hard she was trying to match the movement of your tail with hers to get in contact with it at the right time. Every now and then, it even looked like she was trying to curl hers around yours for a brief moment.”

“T-There’s just no-”

“No, it definitely did happen.” Maya didn’t let Anna finish her sentence.

“N-No way…” The princess then paused for a moment. “I, uhh… I did feel coming in contact with her t-tail quite often, though… Now that you mentioned it… While we sleep, they often end up in a t-tangled mess... Well, that might be just as much my fault because I’m all over the place when I’m sleeping. Even so, when we relaxed, it happened more than once, w-way more, that her tail kinda curled around me… I was busy being embarrassed and happy that I couldn’t give it much thought, but…”

“See?!” Maya raised her voice. “I hope you did the same, at least!”

“I, uhh… I-I did…” The princess was turning more and more into a mess. “Y-You said that I should copy the behavior she does because it wouldn’t make me s-suspicious… I almost died from it, but I occasionally wrap my tail around her, too. Mostly her legs, that is.”

“Squishy thighs?”

“N-No comment.” She turned her head away.

“Hehe.” Maya tried her best to not look too smug right now. “Well, good job, girl.”

“T-Thanks…”

“So, how did it feel?”

“Her t-thighs?”

“Ari touching you with her tail.”

“A-Ah…” Anna immediately covered her face with her hand to hide her embarrassment.

“…” Maya needed a moment to wipe the incredibly smug grin from her face before being able to continue.

“I-It was great… Incredibly soft, squishy, and fluffy! It made me feel t-tingly all over, too...”

“Wait…” She tilted her head while also scratching her temple. “Are we talking about her thighs now?”

“W-We aren’t!” Anna got loud again. “They could be described with the same words, but that’s not what I meant!”

“Is that so?” The smug grin was back already.

“A-Ah!”

“Anyway…” Once Maya had enough of looking at the adorable princess, which took a while, she eventually got back on track. “I’m sorry, but that’s not something friends do. It’s not like having our ears touched by others, far from it, but when being kids aside, we don’t easily let others touch our tails so readily, after all.”

“Y-Yes…” The princess nodded a couple of times. “I think I could excuse maybe you or Sophia accidentally touching my tail, but that’s about it. Someone going for it on purpose, I would hate it… and probably tell my father to send the army on them, which he would happily do. I would also never use my tail to touch someone with it or touch those of others.”

“Unless it’s Ari.”

“Y-Yes…”

“And it’s the same for her. It’s the same for all cats, after all.”

“I-It is, isn’t it…?”

“Yep.”

“W-What now…?” Anna tried to find some words. “I still can’t fully believe it, but if… if it’s r-really mutual… T-That Ari also l-loves me… What should I do now…?”

“Kiss her.” Maya didn’t hesitate for a second with her answer.

“W-Why do you always jump from one e-extreme to another?!” The princess raised her voice. “I can’t k-kiss her!”

“Why not?” She tilted her head again. “You’re all over each other to a point where even your tails are involved already. What else is left there? The sexual side aside, your options to go further right now are a kiss, touching her ears, or outright confessing your love.”

“Urgh… Are there no other options…?” Anna was convinced of any of them.

“For example?” The cat-girl stared right into her eyes. “What is more intimate than playing with each other’s tails but less than a kiss?”

“…” She had no answer.

“That’s why, go get her, tiger~.”

“Uuh…” The princess seemed about to light on fire any moment now. “W-What kind of k-kiss…?”

“You know what kind.”

“Y-You’re such a bully…”

“Well, it has to be on the lips, you know? No better way to get your feelings across.”

“T-That’s way too much… D-Did you do that, too…?”

“Well… I did kiss Sophia’s back while we took a bath if I remember right… But our actual first kiss happened after I confessed to her. So, that would be your other option.”

“A-Are there really no options that are more… beginner-friendly…?”

“A beginner in this topic is teaching you right now. Sophia’s my first experience, too, after all. I’m trying for her to be my last, too, so…”

“Uuh…” The princess was running out of alternatives. “H-How am I supposed to k-kiss her, anyway? I-I can just go ‘Hey Ari, l let me k-kiss you,’ can I…?”

“Well, you can… A little more finesse might be appropriate, though.”

“I’m not good at that!”

“I know.” Maya was well aware that the princess was more on the clumsy side. “No tiger is, after all.”

“S-So…?” Anna didn’t even try to complain.

“She seems to be pretty light, so just pick her up and go for it~. Picking her up in a princess carry as a princess sounds pretty great. Once she’s in your arms, for the lips you go~.”

“…” The blush wasn’t limited to just her face anymore at this point.

“Too much?”

“Y-Yes…” Anna needed a moment. “W-Way too much!”

“I see… Understandable.”

“If it is, then don’t suggest it!”

“I gave you a nice picture for your imagination, though, did I not?”

“T-That doesn’t matter!” She got loud again. “A-Also, yes… thank you very much!”

“You’re welcome.”

“D-Do you also have any actual tips for me?”

“Don’t want to try something by yourself?”

“If I’d be able to do that, I wouldn’t have given you that many headaches already!”

“Despite being as dense as a rock, tigers really are pretty self-aware, aren’t they?”

“S-Shut up!”

“It’s hard to force a kiss, especially if you aren’t together yet… I also doubt you want your first kiss to happen like this.”

“Definitely!”

“It’s all a question of getting a good mood going.”

“Do I look like I’m able to do something like that? I’m good at destroying good moods, but creating them…? No.”

“Shut up, Sophia.” Maya felt reminded of someone else right now.

“She has no talent for it, either?”

“Hmm… Actually, she’s quite good at it. When she wants to, at least” The cat-girl reconsidered her claim after thinking about it. “Especially when she’s horny.”

“I-I don’t need this kind of information…”

“It could be helpful for later, though~.”

I-I don’t need this kind of information… y-yet.”

“Fair enough. One thing after another.”

“Uuh…” Anna was sustaining a lot of damage in this conversation.

“It’s tough to give tips for that, okay?” The cat-girl paused for a moment. “When you sleep together, I take that also some cuddling is happening beforehand, yes?”

“It depends a little on how tired we are, but… Less often than I w-want to, but it happens, yes.”

“Let me guess, the amount you want it to happen is every day, right?”

“If you know the answer, why do you even ask?!”

“Ehehe.” Maya liked the honest princess a lot. “It’s a great way to see your motivation.”

“Ugh…” Anna only reacted with a groan. “Doing our homework, or studying… or just lazing around also ends up with c-cuddling a lot lately…”

“Again, why aren’t the two of you not dating yet?!”

“L-Leave me be…”

“Okay.”

“Don’t!”

“Girl, decide!”

“Help me!” The princess was slightly all over the place.

“You really are lucky that I have experience with jumpy girls…”

“Thank you very much, Sophia!” She was glad that her fellow tiger was so similar to herself in that regard.

“Haa… Okay, back to creating a good mood.” Maya had enough of getting sidetracked. “If you’re cuddling with her, try to go for a position where your faces are close to each other. Once she’s all relaxed and cozy, try your luck. Bring your face close and give her a little kiss.”

“T-That sounds way too easy…”

“Well, if you think so, I expect good news the next time we meet~.”

“T-That wasn’t my intention!”

“Too late now.”

“Uuh…”

The two kept chatting a little longer while Maya gave her some more suggestions on how to kiss the jaguar. Still, the princess didn’t hold out much longer before her brain was entirely fried from this overly embarrassing conversation. Once she managed to calm down again, the duo decided to clean up Anna’s room to get it ready for the heated floors once Sophia came back.