Sophia, Maya, and the wolves were still relaxing in the mansion’s living room after having talked about the possibility of either Chloe and or Feyanis having any sort of relation to a different otherworldler because evidence of that was slowly piling up. Some things that only make sense to Sophia are also known to these two, which just made no sense otherwise. As they couldn't prove any of that right now, they put the topic on hold for the time being and concentrated on other things instead.

“Maya, I want to play with your body.” Out of nowhere, Sophia suddenly announced something rather peculiar.

“Sure.” The cat-girl seemed okay with the idea, jumped off the sofa the couple was on, and grabbed the tiger's hand. "Let's head upstairs to our room. I don't exactly mind doing it here either, it wouldn't be the first time, after all, but I’m not into Fen and Aura watching us.”

“Neither are we!” The wolves had the same opinion on the matter.

“...” The blonde paused for a moment before realizing what was going on. “That’s not what I meant! Still, sure, let's do that later!" She wasn't against the idea, though.

“Okay!”

“No... You always want to play with my... features, right? Like making certain parts bigger or occasionally smaller, too... You even ask to change my hair every now and then.”

“Still sounds like the same topic, though...” Maya tilted her head. “We always do that when we’re, uhh... going to have fun.”

“Stop being a pervert for a minute!”

“You started it!”

“I did not!” Sophia got loud. “It’s just how you interpreted my...”

“Totally ambiguous wording?” The cat-girl finished her sentence.

“S-Shut up!”

“Hehe.” She was happy with the blonde’s reaction. "Anyway, yeah, what about it?”

“I want to play with you and make some temporary changes, as well!”

“You aren’t happy with what you have with me right- Ah, scratch that...”

“Kinda superficial to ask that, huh?” Sophia just stared at her.

"Yeah, I noticed the double standard towards the end myself... I’m obviously more than happy with the standard Sophia, though... what actually is the standard Sophia after you changed yourself so often...?”

"Let's not go down that rabbit hole..." She saw the issue herself. "I'm also pleased with my cat-girl, but you always seem to be having so much fun when I change, so... I want to do it, too! It’s not even sexual in my case!”

“It’s not...?” Maya raised an eyebrow in doubt.

“NO!” She got loud again. "Not this time, at least! For now!"

“I see~.” The cat-girl liked that reaction, as well. “So, what do you want?”

“Well, after we talked about Chloe so much earlier... She’s the current queen of fluffiness, after all... I'd like to play with a fluffy tail to my heart's content! Without having to hold back because you’re my partner!”

“I don’t think such a big tail would fit me that well...” Maya had her doubts about the plan.

“There are several cat breeds with fluffy tails!” Sophia didn’t accept her complaint. “It doesn’t have to be as big as Chloe’s, but Maine Coon cats have glorious tails!”

“I don’t know this main coon thing, but yes... there are fluffy cat breeds.”

“I want that! You don’t have to keep it, but I want to play with it at least once!” Her eyes started sparkling.

“Urgh...” Naturally, there was little Maya could say against the idea as she loves to play with Sophia’s sizes all the time. “F-Fen, is it really safe to change your body? No side-effects...?”

"As long as you specify with your magic that you only want to change your look and not your entire being like a certain tiger, it's perfectly fine."

“...” Said tiger decided to stay silent.

“In the first place, would it even change anything with your body?” The wolf tilted his head. “All you're doing is to make your fur longer and puffier. This is perfectly safe to do.”

“I’m not sure if that’s what I wanted to hear...”

“You can also do a reverse Sophia and get rid of your ears and tail for a human look. Nothing will happen as long as you don’t wish for them to stop being a part of your body and just hide them while using the magic."

“Ohh!” Sophia suddenly got even more excited. “Human Maya! I would love to see how you would’ve looked if we met in my old world!”

“Ehhh...?” She liked that idea even less. “Seriously...?”

"Please! Just for a moment! I already know I like the cat Maya more, but now I'm super curious!" Her eyes and even the aura around the tiger were sparkling by now.

“Just for a moment...?”

“Only a minute or two!”

“...” Maya went silent for a little while. “F-Fen, what do I have to do to not mess up there...?”

“The only really important thing is that you have to think about wanting to look like what you’re imagining. Not becoming it. If that is clear, nothing will happen. Although, even if you mess up, nothing bad besides Sophia's phantom pain will happen. Humans are below the hybrid beastfolk when it comes to their bodies. You have everything a human has, but a human is missing the animal characteristics. There's nothing you can gain from turning into a human. Just loose." The wolf made a small pause. "Dignity included." He had to include the jab at the end.

“Not what I wanted to hear, either... Couldn’t you have said that I should never try?!” Maya glared at him.

"We already went through all that with our tiger, so she knows it's possible to change without side effects when you put the necessary effort into it."

“Urgh...” The cat-girl hung her head in defeat.

“Please!” The blonde just stared at her with puppy eyes.

“...” She paused for another moment. "F-Fen, just imagining how I'd look like without my tail and human ears instead of my cat ones and pouring some magic into those thoughts...?”

“Pretty much, yes.” He nodded.

“Fine... I’m so going to regret this...” Complaining a last time, Maya then closed her eyes and concentrated on the task for a while. A few minutes later, her entire body was enveloped in a cloud of smoke. Once it was gone, Maya was still there and looking mostly the same, but her tail was gone. So were her cat ears, but at the sides of her head, mostly hidden by her hair, a hint of human ears could be seen.

"..." Sophia just stared at her in complete silence.

“Don’t like it.” Fen shook his head. “How are you feeling, though?”

“It’s kinda weird...?” Maya tilted her head. “I can still feel my cat bits, but it’s somewhat of a muffled feel?” She wasn’t sure how to describe it. Afterward, she walked to the mirror in the corner of the living room to look at herself. "..." She also went silent for a moment to take everything in. “I hate it!” She wasn’t a fan, either. “Are you happy now?” The girl then looked at her tiger.

“Uhh..." Sophia needed another moment. "You're still adorable, but... but... It’s definitely a downgrade.”

“Thank you?” She wasn’t sure how she liked her wording.

"I was kinda hoping for more...?" The blonde had problems explaining it. "I am biased, but you'd be extremely popular in my old world, but... I already forgot that humans are, uhh... boring? The animal add-ons are such an upgrade! I got used to seeing them on everyone around me, and having them myself, but... maybe because of that, I'm missing them on you already. It doesn't feel fresh at all seeing you like this... Just underwhelming..."

“Still not sure how I feel about your wording...” Maya’s expression was becoming more complicated again. “Still, it means that you like the original me the best?”

“By far!” The tiger gave her a couple of big nods. “Well, at least until I see fluffy-tailed Maya!”

“Idiot...”

“It’s interesting to see that you became a member of the beastfolk so hard that you even lost interest in human females.” Aura was fascinated by her change.

“She already fawned all over the beastfolk long before she became a tiger, though.” Fen doubted that this was the reason. “Judging by how she acted back then, human Maya always would’ve lost against the cat version.”

“Yeah...” Sophia nodded in agreement. “I preferred the animal versions the moment I found out they were real.”

“What a weird human...” The female wolf couldn’t make sense of her. “Together with how much you fit in the role of the tiger, I’m starting to believe that you ever having been a human was some sort of cosmic mistake in the first place.”

“It would explain a lot.” Fen and Maya agreed with her.

"Hey!" She raised her voice once more. "I agree!" She just wanted to be loud.

“Can I change back now? I miss my tail...” The girl had enough of looking like a human.

“Ah, give me another minute, please.” Saying so, Sophia drew some circles around her to look at every detail of transformed Maya. “Alright, I have enough. Cat, please!”

"Gladly!" She immediately closed her eyes again, and a few seconds later, she was enveloped in smoke once more. After it disappeared, the usual cat-girl with her snow-white ears and tail was back. "I missed you, tail~." Looking at it, she gave her tail a gentle pat, which then twitched in response.

“Much better!” Sophia enjoyed that look a lot more.

“I agree.” The wolves did, too.

“Well, that was an experience...” Maya’s expression was still slightly complicated. “I hope I don’t ever have to do that again...”

"Don't worry. My curiosity in that regard is satiated." The tiger gave her a thumbs up. "Other than me, there's no reason for you to do that again, either."

“Good.”

“Alright, fluffy tail!” She jumped right to the next thing on her agenda. “That should be much more satisfying!”

“Haa...” The cat-girl just let out a sigh in response. “I’ll have you do a lot tonight to make up for that...”

“Gladly!” She wasn’t against the idea. “For many reasons!”

“Okay, that was a good answer.” Maya looked impressed. “How fluffy do you want it?” It was enough to make her do it. “Don’t be unreasonable, though! Chloe levels of tail wouldn’t fit me at all.”

“The fluffiest cat tail you’ve ever seen, and then add 10%, please!"

"That's almost reasonable. I'm proud of you!"

“I don’t want to lose my tail privileges I might gain today before it even started!”

“I see...” She looked a lot less proud now. “Well, there was one girl that used to live in my town who was crazy fluffy for being a cat. Even her ears were fuzzy!"

“I like the sound of that. That ear thing, too!”

“I shouldn’t have mentioned that part...”

“Too late now!” Sophia was very excited.

“Her actual tail, according to the girl herself, wasn’t any thicker than mine, but because her fur was so long and puffy, the total volume of her tail was even slightly bigger than Ari's. The tail of our jaguar is also massive, but it seems like a lot of it is actually her real tail because her fur seems so smooth.”

“Ari is quite glorious in her tail game. If I can get even a little more than her, but it being pure fluff, you can wish for whatever tonight!”

“Everything?” Maya raised an eyebrow in interest while her ears twitched.

“EVERYTHING!”

“Fen, Aura, you’re my witnesses for that, right?”

“Uhh... Sure.” The two felt it was better to stay out of it, so they just nodded.

“I take on whatever you throw at me!” The tiger was very determined about the event.

“Alright!” Maya smiled at her. “Make sure not to regret it, though!” Afterward, she closed her eyes once more to concentrate before her body, again, was wrapped in smoke. Once it was gone, the cat-girl had changed in subtle yet very noticeable ways. The fur on her ears had gotten a little longer and fuzzier, but the most significant change happened to her tail. It still had the same length and snow-white color, but it now had much more volume. Instead of the short and smooth fur she used to have, it had turned very long and fluffy. Her tail was around the thickness of Ari, maybe a bit more, but it was basically pure fluff. Whenever Maya moved her new tail, the fur needed a moment to react because so little of it was her actual tail. It looked incredibly soft to the touch, as well.

“...” Sophia forgot about her ability to speak words. She just looked at her with her mouth agape.

“Hmm...” Maya used that time to inspect herself in the mirror again. Moving her tail a couple of times to get a better feel for it, she eventually tilted her head. “It’s pretty unfamiliar to me right now, but... I can’t say I dislike it. Actually, it looks kinda nice. Maybe a bit too much volume, though. Is it better than my smooth tail, though?" She wasn't sure how to feel about the change.

“YES!” The tiger relearned how to speak again. "A-Ah... I, uhh... I mean, it looks n-nice.”

"Good save." The wolves just rolled their eyes.

“Err...” Sophia started to panic a little. “I-I love your normal tail... but... but... YOU ALL KNOW HOW MUCH I LIKE FLUFF!” She gave up on pretending.

“Thank you for being honest.” Maya wasn’t angry. "It's not like I didn't react similarly when you made yourself bigger...”

“C-Can I be shameless and ask how much it would cost me for you to stay like that...?"

“Full-time?”

“YES!”

“How will you even explain that to the others?” The cat-girl just stared at her.

“I did some weird experiment that went horribly right, err... wrong.”

“Wow, that was a fast reply.”

“Because it’s important!”

“I like your passion, I guess.” Maya wasn’t sure what to say. “Let’s keep it private for now... It’s still my body we’re talking about here... I’m not that comfortable with announcing that I suddenly changed. Just like you aren’t in big mode all the time.”

“I guess I have to accept that... I will continue to pester you about that a lot in the future, though!”

"I would've been worried if you wouldn't do it~." Maya smiled at her.

“Well, for now, I want to touch it!” She couldn’t wait any longer and was already reaching for it.

“Well, you hold out longer than I thought you wo,- ahn~.” The cat-girl couldn't finish her sentence as her entire body jolted when the tiger came in contact with her new tail. It apparently was still just as, if not even more, sensitive.

"This level of fluff is divine!" Sophia enjoyed it a lot. "The amount is not the same as Chloe's, but it's even softer and more springy, too! THIS IS THE BEST!” Saying so, she also buried her other hand deep into Maya’s fur. “T-This is dangerous!”

“I-It… ah… it sure is…” The cat-girl was quite affected by the groping. Her expression was slightly feverish as her entire face turned red, and even her breathing had become haggard.

“…” Noticing that, Sophia froze up for a moment while her expression turned somewhat similar. Afterward, she let go of Maya's tail, picked her up in a princess carry, and immediately left the living room with her without saying another word.

“Have fun~.”

“Try not to be too loud, you idiots! Or at least stop time for all I care!” Aura and Fen had nothing else to say when they heard Sophia sprinting up the stairs. A few moments later, as it didn’t seem like Fen’s suggestion was heard, the two decided to head out to get something to eat and kill a bit of time.