Chapter 278 – Preventing a war

The girls were still busy preparing everything for their dinner together. Sophia and Chloe were really into the idea of making pizza on their own, and the two managed to talk everyone into it. After Ari and the blonde had gotten all the ingredients, the girls split up into two groups to prepare everything at the same time.

“Alright, I think the dough’s fine the way it is. It’s currently resting in the slightly warm oven for the yeast to do its job.” Maya and Anna joined the other group while the cat-girl was updating them on the situation.

“How is it going here?” The princess also was curious.

“Good job.” Ari greeted them. “The answer for that would be a strong hmm.” Saying so, she gestured at Sophia and Chloe, who were concentrating on the pot with the sauce. "The base is done, but those two are kinda fighting over the spices a little…”

“Is something like that really worth fighting over…?” Anna also glanced at them.

“IT IS!” Even so, the duo was getting along well.

“I see…”

“Maya!” The blonde addressed her cat. “Please tell Chloe that it’s enough oregano!”

"No, tell her that it needs a lot more!"

“Do I want to be caught in the middle of this…?” She felt like it would be better to stay out of their squabble.

"I tried and sided with Sophia… It didn't end well…" The jaguar only let out a sigh.

“Because you don’t know how a pizza has to taste because you never tried one!” The reason for why it went badly, the fox-girl, loudly complained about it.

“See…?”

“With Maya, you can’t complain, though!” Sophia raised her voice again. “She had it before, so her opinion will be based on that!”

"She's also your girlfriend, though! Her decision will be biased!" Chloe already was complaining before the cat-girl had the chance to taste it.

“Maya wouldn’t do that! She can be very objective if it’s important!”

“Actually, if anything…” The cat-girl in question developed a slight smirk. “Siding with Chloe just to tease my tiger seems like fun, too.”

"A-Ah." Sophia had forgotten about this side of her for a moment.

“I suddenly like my chances a lot more here!”

"Let's get over with it…" Slightly rolling her eyes, Maya then got closer to the pot with the sauce, snatched the spoon Sophia was holding, and gave it a try. "Hmm…"

“So?!” The blonde seemed eager to get her opinion.

“It’s definitely not enough oregano, isn’t it?!” So was Chloe. “It needs much more!”

"If it's a simple yes or no question, I would actually side with our dear fox. Yes, it needs more, but…"

“My win!”

“BUT!” Maya wasn’t done yet. “While it could use a little more, it’s definitely not MUCH more. Some shakes from the container your bought is all it needs.”

"Not your win!" Sophia looked even smugger than the fox just now.

“You were both off, idiots.”

"A-Ah.” They just turned their heads away in response.

----------------

Once Maya had finished seasoning the sauce, and the squabbling duo made up, everyone got together again to deal with one of the most important topics when it came to pizza, the toppings.

“By the way, what have you gotten for on top of the pizza?” Chloe eyed the shopping bags standing on the corner of the kitchen counter.

"A little bit of everything," Sophia answered her. "A ton of cheese, different kinds, too. Salami, pepperoni, ham, bacon. We also got some mushrooms if you’re into it.”

“Ham, huh…?” The fox-girl’s expression got a little awkward. “Did you get pineapple, as well…?” It was impossible to tell whether she wanted it or was appalled by the idea.

“So, you can put fruits on pizza?” Ari got interested in the topic again.

“Uhh…” Sophia had the same expression as Chloe. “We decided to keep it easy this time… And uncomplicated.”

“Good.” The pink-haired girl looked relieved. “I was worried that a war would break out anytime soon.”

“Yeah, that was also a part of the reason to keep it easy…” She nodded a few times.

“Good thinking.”

"A war…?” The other three girls couldn’t follow their conversation.

“Well…” Both scratched their cheeks before the blonde continued. “Pineapple on pizza is a very delicate topic among pizza enthusiasts. Some love it, while others loathe it…”

“Isn’t that just a matter of whether you like it or not… Just like with every other type of food?” Anna didn’t see the issue here.

“If only…” The two shook their heads while Chloe answered her. “They get very enthusiastic about it…”

“I see…” The princess didn’t even try to act like she understood, though. “So, as it seems like the two of you are quite familiar with pizza, on which side of the war are you?”

“No comment.” They immediately answered at the same time before looking at each other. “I like her too much to end this friendship now.”

“Ehh…? But you were just fighting over this oregano thingy.”

“That’s different!”

“I see…” Once again, Anna didn’t look like she understood them in the slightest.

“You two sure are weird…” Ari spoke out what everyone was thinking.

“It’s not us that started it!” They had to protest.

“Sure.” Maya just rolled her eyes before continuing. “So, back to the toppings we have. Is it just mix and match or are there rules?”

“That depends a lot on who you’re asking.”

“Yep…” Their expression got a little complicated again.

“Why is this stupid pizza such an emotional topic?!”

“No idea!”

“All I know is that it is delicious!”

“Exactly!” Sophia and Chloe were on the same page here.

“Okay… Well, I tried the pizzas the restaurant in Talaga offered, so I have a rough understanding. Still, when it comes to the two of you, pretty much anything goes, right?"

“Yup!” The duo just nodded.

“You can never go wrong with a simple cheese, but one with tuna and red onions is amazing, too. Too bad we weren’t able to get any tuna…” The blonde looked ever so slightly disappointed.

“I’m more of a pepperoni fan myself. Though, I wouldn’t say no to either of those!” The fox-girl didn’t seem to be picky with her pizza. “Happy you got some!”

“Well, it’s a classic.” Sophia nodded a few times. “I also like it a lot.”

“I’m pretty interested in the bacon option!” Anna raised her voice a little. “You bought it, so I won’t upset the pizza gods, right?”

“Screw them!” Sophia also got louder. “It won’t upset me, so it’s totally viable!”

“Yup!” Chloe also agreed. “In fact, it’s a great choice!”

“Personally, I think I’d like to try a version with ham on it.”

“I was thinking the same thing!” Ari liked the cat-girl’s suggestion. “Although, I maybe would like to try it together with a few mushrooms. I think that could work well.”

“Ohh! That sounds like a great idea.” The two seemed to be on the same page.

“Not my favorite, but I not not like it.”

“Yup.” Once again, Sophia and the fox-girl agreed with their choice of toppings.

"Should we make all three variants?" The blonde tilted her head. "One with bacon for Anna, ham, and mushrooms for Maya and Ari, and then one with a lot of pepperonis for Chloe and I.”

“I like how you mentioned a lot of pepperonis for us.” The pink-haired girl seemed to like the idea.

“Hehe.” She let out a chuckle in return. “As we’re going to form the pizzas ourselves, we can adjust their sizes so that everyone gets their fill without having too much or too little.”

“Sounds good!” Everyone agreed with her plan.

“How much longer does the sauce need to cook?” Maya then looked at the group responsible for it.

"Hmm…" Chloe and Sophia looked inside the pot after stirring it for a moment.

“Maybe 5 or 10 minutes until the consistency is perfect.”

“10 to be sure, yes.” The fox-girl nodded in response. “It’s still a tiny bit too watery, but it shouldn't be long anymore."

"Now I wonder if you could use magic to extract the excess liquid from food…" The blonde suddenly tilted her head.

"That would be amazing!" Chloe's eyes started sparkling. "That would make preserving food so much easier, too!"

"Okay!" The tiger looked motivated. "I don't want to risk ruining the sauce now, but we definitely have to try that idea soon!”

“I’m in!”

Afterward, once the duo had calmed down over their newest idea, they decided to heat up the oven with wood, as that would taste better. While that was happening, the group also started preparing the dough. Putting some extra flour on the kitchen counter, Sophia then pulled two rolling pins out of her storage she had in there for quite a while already for some reason.

Once the dough was properly rolled out and formed under the guidance of the two resident pizza experts, they got to the sauce and the toppings. In the end, they decided to make three large pizzas, though. One with pepperoni, one with bacon, and one with ham and mushrooms. Sophia and Chloe had decided that they wanted to try a bit of everything, so the duo decided that every pizza should be a large one. They put a bit of the sauce to cover the dough, followed by cheese in varying amounts and then topped with the meats and some mushrooms in one case before putting one after another into the hot oven.

Teanam

A big thank you to

- Deniz -

for supporting the story on Patreon to make more art possible! Enjoy the extra stuff there!