Chapter 74 – New clothes

The couple finished their shopping trip and left the city again to search for Fen. Using her detection magic, Sophia found out that the wolf was a good bit away. The two needed around an hour to reach him, thanks to the tiger-girl still not quite being on par with Maya's speed.

"Ah." Having covered around half the distance, Sophia suddenly stopped and glanced around.

"What's wrong? Lost the big guy?"

"N-No, he's still there... Nah, it's nothing..." She seemed evasive for some reason. "Wait!" Something else bothered her, as well. "In the end, I never got my long pants."

"Flawless victory!" Maya seemed really smug.

"Uuh, I totally forgot because I was so caught up in yours and the bunny-clerks pace..."

"Yep~."

"S-So unfair!"

"Well, she, too, said you look better in shorts, right?"

"Still..."

"And they're easier to move in. You don't want to hinder your mobility even further, do you?"

"Urgh..." Sophia didn't like being confronted with reasonable arguments.

"Maybe we should get you a skirt?" The cat-girl was having fun. "Your legs will be completely free, then."

"S-Shorts are fine! I like them!"

"Alright, if you love them that much, you can keep wearing your shorts."

"Thank you ve-, Wait!" She noticed that Maya had tricked her. Dejected, she simply kept walking until they reached Fen, only to find themselves rather overwhelmed by the sight.

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"Err," The couple found the wolf peacefully napping in a rocky wasteland. The area around him was far from peaceful, though. Aside from the signs of destruction all over, everything around him had burned down to nothingness. This wasn't the most shocking sight, though. Scattered around Fen, there were the remains of at least 30 rock-golems. Most of them had melted into something glass-like, and a few others were reduced to piles of sand, and only their jewelry eyes remained.

"Looks like we could've spent some more money during our shopping trip." Sophia remembered that one golem eye was worth around 100 gold and was enough to comfortably live for a month.

"Oh, welcome, I guess?" Noticing their arrival, the wolf lazily opened his eyes.

"So, this is what happens when you go on a walk, huh?" Sophia looked impressed.

"It was a productive walk, yes."

"I can see that."

"W-What happened here?" Maya wasn't quite as easygoing as the other two.

"I detected those guys, and I thought it would be fun. Turns out, it really was. I even tried out your wind blast magic from the dungeon back then, Maya." He gestured at the two pulverized golems. "It's really powerful."

"T-Thanks..."

"The destruction and the melted, glass-like rocks..." Sophia was looking around as well.

"Yes. Rock-golems are normally basically immune against fire. Not against your blue version, though. Seriously, to easily melt stone... That flame's so messed up! I'm so glad I was able to learn it!"

"Good for you."

"How did the shopping go? Have you gotten my spices?"

"Of course, we've gotten everything remotely usable."

"Great."

"Eh? Spices or food's more important than this mountain of dead golems?"

"Of course!" Wolf and tiger were on the same wavelength.

"Why am I even surprised?" Maya questioned why she bothered asking in the first place.

"Fen, do you mind if we collect these eyes?" Sophia pointed at the dead golems. "They're rather valuable, after all. Well, for those who can't hunt them themselves, that is."

"Sure, I don't mind."

And so, for the next 40 minutes, the group collected the eyes of all 30 golems, and Sophia stored them away. They're planning to sell them the next time the group needs money. Afterward, they left the graveyard and entered a little forest not too far away, where the wolf also collected some meat.

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"Alright, I'm looking forward to dinner, Maya!" The tiger-girl took out all the cooking equipment and looked at her with expectant eyes.

"Leave it to me!" She was fired up.

Going all out, it took Maya around an hour because she had yet to get used to the new knives and the likes. Also, because she had so many choices now, the cat-girl had way overdone it with the food. It almost ended up in an all-you-can-eat buffet. She prepared various cuts of meat with different spices, lots of vegetables, rice, pasta, even a salad with some grains, seeds, and nuts.

"Shopping was totally worth it!" Sophia was happily rubbing her stomach with a satisfied expression after they finished eating.

"Definitely." so was the wolf.

"I'm glad you like it."

"Alright, bath time?" She looked at the cat-girl, looking forward to a warm bath after a satisfying meal.

"Sure. Can you go ahead and build it? I'll clean the cooking utensils first and follow you then.

"Sounds like a plan." She was about to leave when Maya stopped her again.

"Ah, can you give me my bag with the clothes from shopping? I want to change into them later."

"Good idea, I almost forgot about that." Sophia let both bags reappear from her extra space and placed them on the ground before leaving for real this time. "Hurry up, okay?"

"I'II come in a few minutes!" She sent her off and stared at the bags with a smile. "Ehehe-."

Maya followed her around 15 minutes later, and the two had a relaxing bath together. As much as that was possible with the two of them, at least. Afterward, it became a little more hectic, though.

"Err," Sophia wanted to get dressed after drying herself, but she noticed a small problem. "Where are my clothes?" She glanced at the cat-girl behind her, who had just finished changing into her new, light-grey, fluffy, and comfortable-looking pajama from the store.

"I wanted you to change into something I bought, first. That's why I hid them, giving you no other choice."

"Ahh, I see... Wait, what?!"

"And so, here~." She fished around in her bag before handing over a white piece of clothing to Sophia.

"W-What is that...?" She had a bad feeling about this.

"A dress."

"A dress?"

"Yeah."

"Phew..." Sophia seemed relieved. "I expected whatever now, but a dress should be fine, I guess. You could've just asked."

"Eh?" The cat-girl hadn't expected such an answer. "You're fine with wearing dresses? Even though you were so fixated on long pants the entire time?"

"They're not my favorite piece of clothing, and I feel a little uncomfortable walking around in them, too breezy... But, wearing it in front of you, not that much of a deal."

"I-I'm so blessed. Wait! What did you think I would be going to make you wear?!"

"I-I don't know, something embarrassing like, uhh, l-lingerie... or something like that?"

"There was that option?!" Maya simply hadn't thought about this idea and seemed really regretful. "A-Anyway, no, I'll settle for the dress... This time!"

"I shouldn't have said anything... Huh? Maya, where's my underwear?"

"A-Ah!"

"Hey!"

"I think I hid them with your clothes..."

"Oi!"

"Don't worry, going commando with the dress is perfectly okay!"

"..." It was not. Because of that, she made Maya get her some before she changed. Bathing together naked all the time should make going commando a nonissue, but it still was. Naked in a bath and not wearing any underwear beneath clothes were two very different things for some reason. Once this was taken care of, she changed into the cat-girl's dress. It was a primarily white summery sundress with a subtle pinkish-red floral pattern together with a ruffled gaze belt and a red ribbon to keep the form around her waist. She would've preferred a completely straight neckline or maybe a style of dress that had no décolleté at all, mostly for reasons she's not going to name. It reminded her of slightly better times. Other than that, the tiger liked it, especially because it was a relatively longish dress, covering her legs almost all the way to her knees. It even had a hole for the tiger-girl's tail at the backside. Afterward, she did a short twirl to present herself to Maya.

"I-It's-, You're beautiful." She was mesmerized by the very feminine-looking tiger.

"T-Thanks... Save for maybe the neckline, it's a very nice dress. I actually like it a lot."

"It makes you look bigger, though."

"Well, my shirts a little baggy, so the dress works better with what little I have?"

"..." Maya continued to just stare at her.

"Hello...?"

"A-Ah! Uh, y-yes?"

"What's wrong?"

"No... Well, actually, they do seem bigger. I've actually been wondering about that lately, especially during our baths. Now, with the dress, it seems even more obvious. While not like your old, adult form… Sophia, you've made your chest bigger, didn't you?"

"Ah." She turned her face away.

"I knew it! There’s no way I would've missed your breasts changing! I was just too, uhh, scared to bring it up!"

“So you did notice, huh?"

"Your shirts hide a lot, after all. So… Why the change?"

"Well, I do miss them… But running around feels sooo much better! I want to find out where the happy medium is. Big enough to make me happy and-"

"And me!" Maya answered on instinct.

“Yeah, that, too. Making you happy is a nice plus. Anyway, big enough, but also don't interfere with my running around."

“A-And? Have you found it yet?"

"I think they can grow a little more."

"Yay!" She, again, blurted out the first thing that went through her head. "I-I mean, I'm glad that you're-"

“Stop trying to save yourself. It's not working." Sophia could only roll her eyes.

"S-Sorry."

"You feel yours on your shoulders after walking around, yes?"

"Considering the stakes, I really want to say no, but... Well, they're roughly the size of your old ones, so... There occasionally is a bit of pain after a long day." The cat-girl decided to tell the truth.

"Thanks for being honest."

"It was hard!"

"Well, current me's still a good bit smaller, so you might be in luck about getting something extra."

"Why not constantly use healing magic?" Maya was trying her best.

"Ehh...? Well, that could work, but it sounds incredibly wrong. Even to me..." 

"It was worth a shot. Yeah, you're right. That might be a little much. Still, shouldn't be your pain resistance be boosted?"

"When were my boosts ever consistent?"

"Fair point."

"Also, even if, they would still move around and be annoying when running."

"That's true." Maya seemed to be able to relate. "I hate it when you have reasonable arguments."

"Hehe."

"Thankfully, that's a rare occurrence."

"Urgh."

"Well, whatever." The cat-girl gave up. "I admit liking them bigger, but I love you. If I get a little extra now, I won't complain."

"S-Sure... Anyway, thanks for getting me a long dress." Sophia wanted to change the topic.

"..." The cat-girl went back to staring instead.

"Maya."

"Huh? Err, yes?"

"So hopeless... I said thanks for getting me a long dress."

"Well, personally, I would've gone for a shorter one, but that would've been the wrong choice. It's perfect. I got it because you were so going on about your long pants, buying you a too-short dress in that situation, bad idea."

"My, aren't you considerate?"

"I always am!"

"I wonder about that. I really do..."

"You should keep wearing it! It looks really good on you!"

"I would prefer not to. Especially when we're traveling or even fighting. A dress like this only gets in the way. Also, while not as much as a skirt like yours, there's the chance of places being seen I would rather not show off..."

"Panties?"

"Well, yeah..."

"But only I would see them."

"Still… Or rather, especially because of that."

"Aww... but when we're in a city and just leisurely walking around?"

"I-I'll... think about it..." Sophia gave in.

"Yay! Wait," Maya was happy, but something bugged her then. "What do you mean by not as much as a skirt like mine? I'm wearing it all the time, and it's not like I'm showing off anything."

"..." She looked away.

"Hey! Look me in the eyes!"

"S-Sorry... I, uhh, I knew after our first training session what kind of, well, underwear you prefer. AND! I wasn't trying to look!"

"S-Seriously?! N-No way..." Her face turned red. "I-I've been wearing this type of clothes forever... So EMBARRASSING! Wait!" She looked at Sophia with a pout. "W-Why didn't you say anything back then?!"

"Hello? I was happy to be able to talk to you at all! With me being how I was back then..." She would've been way too shy and embarrassed to mention something like that.

"Fair point... But why didn't you say anything later on? At least after we got together. It should've been fine then, right?"

"..." She looked away again.

"Sophia~?"

"I-, I might've... possibly, let's say, liked the, uhh, view..."

"Y-You... I'll so get you a miniskirt the next time I have the chance!"

"Urgh..." There was nothing she could say in her defense.

"I'm looking forward to that."

Afterward, Sophia showed off her dress some more to the cat-girl before she finally was allowed to change into her new pajamas as well. It was the same light-grey one Maya was already wearing.

"Ohh~, it's so fluffy and feels so nice!"

"It's great, huh?"

"Absolutely!"

"Though," Maya looked at the tiger-girls legs. "I wonder if bare thighs would've been better, especially to sleep on..."

"How about you not sleep in my lap?"

"Not an option. Besides, if I weren't the one doing it, you would definitely use mine instead."

"N-No comment..." Both feline girls had taken a liking to the other's lap, after all.

"Ehehe~." That topic being taken care of, the two finally went back to their campsite.

There, after chatting for a while with Fen, the couple got ready to sleep. As it turned out, the fluffiness of the pajamas, together with the warmth of Sophia's thighs, the cat-girl had no ways of resisting the allure. She fell asleep in under two minutes once she had gotten comfortable on her lap. Maya liked it very much. Sophia had a more complicated opinion on the matter, mostly because she was jealous, though.