Volume 8 - Gratitude, Chapter 53 - Is It Really Love?

Tsuen quickly grabbed some clean clothes from her room and started toward the bathroom. Sweat and dust were caked onto her brown fur from her sunrise run up and down the dirt road, so a bath sounded absolutely divine. The magenta-maned centaur opened the door to the laundry room and stepped inside, then set her clothes down on the counter.

She peeled off her sticky damp t-shirt and sports bra and tossed them into the laundry bin, followed by her centaur-customized running shorts. She was entirely naked now, but she felt pretty comfortable. To Tsuen, the mornings were her own private time in an otherwise busy and full house. This morning felt especially calm, since she knew none of her late-sleeping housemates would be awake this early after clubbing so late into the night.

Tsuen flung open the fogged-glass door to the bathing area and confidently strode inside. Then she stopped dead.

A woman was in there. A woman Tsuen had never seen before. A woman who was beautiful, busty, and… butt-naked.

The bathing beauty, with light green hair, four orange arms, and two giant butterfly wings, turned toward Tsuen, but continued to rinse herself. She smiled and nearly cheered, "Hello!"

Tsuen froze, her entire morning rhythm thrown off. Her cyan eyes darted around, taking in this sudden guest. She tried not to stare at the woman's breasts, but then her eyes found the woman's amazing ass instead. Finally, she settled on the bright and distractingly colorful wings, happy to have something less rude to look at.

"Um, hello. Sorry for barging in. I didn't think anyone else would be up so early." Wait, why am I apologizing? She's the one who shouldn't be here! Tsuen thought. Then she asked, "Uh, who are you?"

"The name's Flare. Mara invited me over last night after the club," the beautiful butterfly said, then stood and stepped forward, revealing her entire nude form.

Tsuen was suddenly aware of her own nakedness, and she felt a little inadequate compared to the stunning beauty before her. She blushed and covered her smaller breasts with her arms.

Flare's four arms could have easily covered all her private areas, but apparently modesty wasn't her thing. She just smiled and said, "And you must be Tsuen. Mara told me a bit about you."

Tsuen nodded meekly and thought, Mara talked about me? Then she thought back to what Flare had said before that. Wait… Mara invited her here, last night.

Tsuen's mouth fell open. Did Mara sleep with this knockout?! Tsuen didn't know whether to be jealous or impressed, so she settled for a full helping of jealousy with a side of begrudging respect.

"I'm done, so it's all yours." Flare waved and maneuvered past Tsuen's large body. She left the bathing room, leaving Tsuen to her thoughts. Needless to say, her thoughts were a jumbled mess. When her and Mara had been dating, Tsuen found herself getting increasingly jealous of every little thing, but they were on a break now. I agreed to not hold anything done on break against Mara. But she's already sleeping around? It hasn't even been a week!

The night before, at the club, Flare and her friend Actia had met Mara under strange circumstances. The drunk spider, decked in full gothic lolita style, sauntered right up to the two winged-insect liminals and made one hell of a first impression.

"Hey, ladies," Mara started, then she turned to look at Flare. "First, I need to get this out: you are friggin' beautiful. Like, damn, girl, I'm happy just to have seen you. But, I'm not here for you…" Mara trailed off and turned to the meek moth girl who had her back pressed against the wall.

Mara stepped closer and looked the other tiny liminal in her red, multi-faceted eyes. "I'm here for you, lovely."

"M-me? W-why me? L-Lovely?" Actia stuttered, blushing. Her loose white t-shirt fell off one shoulder as she brought a hand to her face.

Mara grinned a goofy grin, the caffeine still making her tipsy. "Yes, you. You're cute in a way your friend here can't hold a candle to, and I'm getting a geeky vibe from you. I bet we share a ton of interests!" She leaned closer, so they were mere inches apart, and said, "I'm Mara, by the way. What's your name?"

The petite mothgirl was taken aback by Mara's extreme forwardness and didn't know what to do. She looked up at her friend for help, but Flare just smiled and gave a little 'go on' nod. Finally, she whispered, "A-Actia."

She was so quiet that Mara could barely hear it over the background noise of the club, but she'd already overheard the name earlier. "Actia…" Mara said, tasting the name on her tongue. "Sexy. I like it."

Actia flushed redder. "Th-th-thanks," she barely managed as her stutter worsened.

Flare stepped in. "My name's Flare, and I'm very appreciative of your compliments, but I'm worried you might be overwhelming poor little Actia," she said, exaggerating the last three words.

Actia took the bait. She glared up at Flare and said, "I c-can take care of myself. I was just a little surprised." With her stutter gone, she turned back to Mara and clearly stated, "Thank you, Mara. You look great yourself. I love your outfit."

After that, the three liminals spent the rest of the evening together, drinking, dancing, and then drinking some more. Flare was happy to be the one tagging along for once, supporting Actia in her attempts to find love, and she found that she enjoyed Mara's antics too. It made sense that she'd get along with her, since Mara and Actia really were a lot alike; geeky, snarky, and a little feisty. Not to mention short, adorable, and flat-chested.

When Yuisu finally found Mara and her new friends, it was clear that none of them were in any condition to drive any time soon. Flare had driven herself and Actia to the bar, and she wasn't sure how to get home safely.

Yuisu put a hand on Mara's shoulder and whispered, "Your friends can ride with us and crash at our place, if they want."

Mara grinned up at her, then turned to Actia and Flare. "Want to ride in our Hummer limo back to our huge mountain house? You can crash there for the night."

Flare grabbed Mara's hand and babbled drunkenly, "Oh, thanks so much, Mara! You're the bestest!"

Before Tsuen could even finish rinsing her hair and coat, the glass door opened and Flare darted back in. Two of her arms were drying her hair with a towel while the other two worked to tuck her breasts into an dark orange bra.

She was also wearing tiny thong panties that barely covered anything, matching the immodest and sexy vibe that radiated from Flame like an intoxicating perfume. Even Tsuen couldn't resist it and her thoughts started running a little wild.

Flare said, "Sorry to bother you again, but may I use the phone? My cell doesn't get reception up here in the mountains, and I need to ask my boyfriend to get my car from downtown before it gets towed."

Boyfriend? Tsuen blinked a couple times, then said, "Uh, sure. It's in the kitchen."

"Thanks! You're a dear, Tsuen!" Flare called as she closed the door again and darted off, barely clothed, into the hallway and the rest of the house.

Tsuen finished rinsing and washing, then soaked in the hot pool for a good fifteen minutes. Once her sore muscles had relaxed and her thoughts had settled down, Tsuen dried off, got dressed, and made her way to the kitchen.

As she pulled vegetables from the fridge to prepare a salad, her large brown ears perked up. She could hear voices from down the hall, including one she didn't recognize.

"What do you mean, you're afraid of the sky? How can you be afraid of something so beautiful?" the new voice said, soft and raspy, like dry leaves.

"It isn't beautiful," Mara responded, "It's just big and empty, like a bottomless pit." Tsuen could hear the shudder in Mara's voice as she described the focus of her phobia.

The soft voice said, "Ah, you're looking at the wrong time. The night sky is what's beautiful. The stars, twinkling in the distance like a carpet of diamonds, their constellations telling the tales of the past, and the moon shining down like a gentle mother, guiding us back home in the dark."

Tsuen poked her head around the corner to look down the hallway and she caught a glimpse of the owner of the voice, sitting on the couch. From where Tsuen was, she could only see the top of the short woman's head, including two fuzzy antennae sticking out of her white hair.

Mara said, "Huh, that actually sounds really pretty. I guess you like the moon and stars, Actia?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm a total astronomy geek. I can point out and name every constellation in the northern hemisphere, and most in the south. My favorite is the Pleiades, though I guess you call them 'subaru' here in Japan," Actia rambled, then stopped herself. "B-But that's enough about me. I want to help you. How about I bring my telescope over tomorrow night, and you can look out at the stars from inside the house?"

At that, Tsuen tuned out their conversation and refocused on her salad preparations, chopping her vegetables a bit too vigorously. She thinks she can help Mara over her phobia, after just meeting her? Mara only got to where she is now because of me, and this new girl's going to swoop in and try to finish the job? Ha! she thought more aggressively than she had expected, then slammed the knife through the last bit of carrot.

Tsuen blinked as she realized how wound up she'd gotten. She set the knife aside and stared down at the countertop. No, I should be happy for Mara. I want her to beat her phobia, and this isn't about me. It's Mara's battle, and I was just on her team, supporting her.

And maybe if this new girl can make her happy, I should support that too. A tear slid down Tsuen's face and fell onto the cutting board. Maybe I should move on, and let Mara move on too…

Her thoughts were interrupted by Mara's laughter echoing from the living room. Her beautiful, adorable voice rang through the house. The voice of the happy, hyperactive, and occasionally infuriating little arachne that Tsuen fell in love with. That she was still in love with.

Tsuen's features hardened with determination and she whispered to herself, "No. I won't move on. I'll keep supporting Mara."

Two days later, Tsuen found Mara in the kitchen, in one of the brief moments where she'd left her room for sustenance between gaming marathons.

"Hey, Mara. Can we chat for a sec?" Tsuen said, trying heroically to keep her voice level and calm. In reality, she was incredibly nervous.

Mara closed the fridge door, a carton of chocolate milk in hand. "Sure. What's up?"

"I was just curious about Actia. You two seemed to get along well."

"Oh, yeah. She's great. We're actually going to meet up again tonight," Mara replied as she poured herself a glass of chocolate milk.

Tsuen frowned as she recalled how Actia and Mara had been stargazing the night before. "Oh, another date?"

Mara stepped back. "Huh?"

"You're dating, right? Stargazing does seem like a romantic way to spend an evening," Tsuen said, trying to keep the emotion from her voice.

"No, we decided not to get romantic. We're just too much alike. It'd be like dating my sister." Mara shuddered at the the thought.

Tsuen's eyes lit up with hope. "So what're you meeting up for? Just hanging out as friends?"

"Actually, we're just gonna group up in WoW tonight. I joined her raiding guild." After she said that, Mara squinted her eyes in thought for a second. "Wait, why are you so interested in Actia all the sudden?" Mara smiled mischievously, then said, "Maybe you want to hook up with her?"

Tsuen could only stare in disbelief at Mara after that strange conclusion.

Mara looked down at her own petite body, then put her hands against the front of her t-shirt and gave her tiny breasts a squeeze for good measure. "Yep, Actia's got the same figure as me, so she's your type, Tsuen."

"You're my type, Mara," Tsuen blurted out unintentionally.

Mara raised an eyebrow. "I know. That's what I just said. You liked my petite body, so you'd like Actia too. Try to keep up, Tsuen," Mara said teasingly. She smiled and added, "It's not often I get to say that to you, with how speedy you are"

Tsuen took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then said, "No, what I'm trying to say is that I like you, Mara. I miss running together. I miss your stories about your video games, even though I don't really understand them. I miss your jokes, and even your constant lewdness. I miss you."

It was Mara's turn to be in shock. She'd thought Tsuen hated her crude jokes. And the other stuff Tsuen was confessing was pretty surprising too.

Tsuen kneeled down to look Mara in the eyes, then she said, "I still love you, Mara." Then she reached out and grabbed one of Mara's hands, enjoying the familiar feeling of Mara's firm carapace against her own soft skin. "Will you go out with me again?"

Mara raised her other hand to her chin, and made a show of being deep in thought. "Hmm… Let me think. On one hand, there's being single and lonely, with only video games and Yuisu's dirty comics to keep me company. On the other hand, there's being reunited with my best friend and lover: a beautiful, caring woman with a strong heart, kicking body, and luscious horse pussy."

Tsuen immediately flushed red and her jaw clamped shut in a mix of extreme embarrassment and familiar frustration. She tried to pull her hand back, but Mara held it tight.

"Of course I'll go out with you, Tsuen. I love you too, and I'm sorry for everything I did." Mara grinned wide and added, "Uh, including that last comment."