Chapter 58 – Calming down
After their successful confession, Maya had kissed Sophia. This flipped some sort of switch inside her. Falling in love with her even more and not getting enough of her lips, Sophia kept asking for more. Later initiating her own ones, as well, the two got so absorbed in it that they forgot about anything except the girl in front of them. Exchanging kiss after kiss, exploring the mouth and face of the other, nothing else mattered anymore.
"Haa... Haa~" Panting for air, Maya finally parted from her and sunk down on the grass because her knees gave in.
"Haa..." Sophia sat down as well. "T-That was-,"
"A-Amazing." The cat-girl finished her sentence.
"Yeah, intense..."
"W-Where did that even come from?"
"I-I have no idea." Both their faces were red. "It's probably your fault, Maya."
"H-How?! In the first place... while I was the one who initiated it, you're definitely the one who kept wanting more! N-Not that I'm complaining."
"How could I not want more after such a beautiful girl kissed me? Not to mention it was the girl I l-love..."
"Oh, that's why I got so into it as well!" Maya found no flaw in her argumentation.
"Ehehe."
"Ehehe~." The two shared a bashful giggle. "Still... while I enjoyed every moment," The cat-girl touched her lips and savored the lingering feeling for a moment. "We might've overdone it a tiny bit. It's not like we have to rush anything."
"Hrmn..." She gave a slight nod.
"Then again... It was the result of our feelings for each other, something we both wanted, so-" She pondered over it for a moment. "Okay, I regret nothing!"
"No, we definitely overdid it." Sophia disagreed with her change of mind.
"E-Eh?!"
"N-No, don't get me wrong, I want to do it again, but, uhh, my lips are all tingly and feel a bit chapped, you know?" She was talking about the physical problem.
"A-Ah, you have a point there." Her lips had taken some damage as well from being overused by something they weren't accustomed to yet.
"Thank goodness your tongue isn't the same as a cat... I think that would've hurt quite a bit." Sophia was happy that this part of Maya was like a human, not rough at all. "It was nice and smooth."
"Y-You idiot..." She got embarrassed.
"Hehe, oh, but my body recovers really fast, so my lips are good to go in a bit again~."
"Uuh-" Maya wasn't as high-spec. "I-I think we have to wait a little longer for that."
"Ah!" It seemed like she had an idea. Sophia touched the cat-girl's lips with her finger, and a blue light suddenly shone from it. "How is it now?" The light quickly disappeared again while she removed her tiger.
"E-Eh...? What? My lips, they're fine again. Huh?" The cat-girl was confused.
"I learned healing magic just for that!"
"Y-You learned a sacred technique just so you can keep kissing your girlfriend?"
"Shut up, Maya."
"Ahaha! Anyway, thank you very much. Still... let's take a break, regardless." She rolled over to Sophia, who was sitting on the grass and placed her head on her lap. "I think this is nice, too."
"Yeah, I'm not complaining."
"Please pet me~." With a sweet voice, Maya demanded to be spoiled. "M-My ears, please."
"I-I can?!" She sounded excited. "The last time felt kinda awkward after all... Then again, I think I earlier did it unconsciously?"
"You, and only you are allowed to touch them. I was a little awkward because I was so bold and let you touch them the other day..."
"Bold?" Sophia tilted her head.
"Y-You see, our ears are really important for the beast folk... Especially for us of the cat-tribe, only the person chosen as our partner is allowed to touch them."
"R-Really? Heh, that's kinda embarrassing to hear now, in retrospect."
"It was even more so for me during that time. But as for now, please pet me, p-partner."
"I-I won't survive this day, will I?" She took a lot of damage from the sweet display of affection. Not to mention anything that happened before. "Anyway, gladly." Sophia placed her hand on the cat-girl's head in her lap and gently ruffled her hair.
"Mhmm~." Maya immediately responded with a comfortable purr-like hum while she rubbed her head against the girl's thighs again.
"F-For the-, I don't know how many times... M-My legs are ticklish, Maya!"
"I know~." She only increased her wiggling.
"H-Hey!" Sophia used her hand to press Maya's head into her lap, stopping her from moving. "Why are you doing this in the first place? If I didn't know better, I would think you're trying to mark me, being a part cat and all."
"..." No answer came.
"H-Huh? Wait, that's actually what's going on?!" Sophia didn't see that one coming.
"S-Sorry..." She sounded embarrassed.
"Well, it worked... I am y-yours, so please stop that wiggling! It almost feels like those boosts made me more ticklish as well..."
"Ohh?"
"D-Don't ohh me now! That was not an invitation!"
"Aww..."
"Anyway, no more marking!"
"I can't promise that. It mostly happens on instinct. I have to do it from time to time before it wears off. Moreover, I don't want to!" Maya had no plans to change her behavior.
"Haa..." Sophia gave up with a sigh for the time being and continued to pet the cat-girl. While taking great care of her ears, the two relaxed for a good bit.
----------------
"Mhmm~." She was feeling good but eventually shifted around a bit and looked up at Sophia.
"Hmm?"
"I sure was lucky."
"No, that's my line!" Sophia was feeling the same. "I was unable to find anyone in my old world, but here I actually found a girl that's into other girls as well. Not to mention a perfect girl. Even ignoring how my idiot personality was at fault there, how high were the chances for that?"
"Not that low, actually."
"Eh?"
"You said that being interested in the same sex is rare in your old world, right?" Maya remembered that bit from when she learned about the girl's past.
"Yeah... I don't know the exact numbers, but it was roughly around 5% of the population who weren't interested in the opposite gender, or in some cases, not exclusively, at least."
"W-Wow, I really was super lucky, then!"
"What do you mean?" Sophia was confused.
"If the numbers were higher, someone from your world would've definitely taken you already! Even this world's humans couldn't be that blind!" Though biased, she was sure Sophia wouldn't have been single otherwise. "It's also a little different here..."
"Hmm?"
"Well, you see, it's not rare at all here. I think it's roughly a third each? People being into the same sex, the opposite, or not having a preference, that is. Well, there are some more types, but those big three are the majority, and no one bats an eye. So, for you to find a girl that's not, at least partially, into other girls is actually the rarer possibility."
"S-Seriously?!" That obviously was a shock for her. While she was overwhelmed by it, many questions also came up. Mostly how a race with only a third of actual straight people can survive in the long term. She then thought about actual animals and remembered how they reproduce much more frequently. The number of offsprings often is higher, too. Thinking this might be, to some degree, the case for the beastfolk as well, she didn't question it. Not to mention that it was neither time nor place to ask such questions.
"Yep." Maya smiled at her. "Oh, by the way, I'm just like you. I'm exclusively into girls. Or, to be more precise now, I'm exclusively into the girl called Sophia."
"Oh, so we aren't the same? I'm into someone called Maya after all."
"I don't think it's going to work out with us."
"Yeah, we're too different..." The two were joking with each other. "Seriously though, this world's awesome!"
"By the way, this world's humans, on the other hand-"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." Sophia interrupted her as she had a pretty good idea already. "Don't mention them when I'm happy!"
"Sorry~."
"The beastfolk definitely is a great race... To be that diverse. Coming from my world, that was quite a surprise you dropped on me here."
"Is it really? Remember our date in the café?"
"S-So it was an actual date date, after all?!"
"I won't deny that I was getting curious about you that time, but my main goal really was the cake there. That's the reason I often dragged Chiyo there, and we never were more than friends."
"I knew it sounded weird back then! I should've gotten more suspicious!"
"Ehehe."
"So, what was your point again?"
"The café's a couples-only place."
"S-Seriously?!"
"Someone told me about their cake one time, and I had to try it. Using Chiyo as an alibi girlfriend, I finally got to taste it~."
"I was wondering about the guests there, but I thought they were simply friends, exactly because there was absolutely no preference in the groupings..."
"Nope, they were all dating. Okay, most of them. I'm sure a few of them came just for the cake, like Chiyo and I did, though."
"Y-You seriously dragged me into such a place without telling me, a day or two after we met?!"
"Would you have come with me if I did tell you?"
"Fair point." Sophia would've passed out before the chance of that happening.
"I was delighted being able to go there again because you didn't know about it... Chiyo was the only close enough female friend to not misunderstand. Also, going with male friends to a date spot, even as an alibi, I wasn't a fan of that."
"Did you stop going with Chiyo? Why?"
"Dannie got jealous when she found out. Not wanting to make her feel sad, I stopped inviting her."
"Dannie...?" Sophia felt she heard that name before but couldn't associate it with anyone at the moment.
"Remember the waitress in the bar we went with the gang?"
"Oh, the dog-girl? Floppy ears and a super fluffy tail?"
"Y-Yeah..." Maya wasn't sure how she felt about how she linked the name to the picture.
"D-Don't worry, I'm totally a cat person! Fen doesn't count..." She noticed her mistake. "Wait, she got jealous? D-Do I have a rival?!"
"You have a couple, actually. Not wanting to boast, but I was pretty popular in my hometown."
"I-Is that so?"
"Yep~." She enjoyed her reaction. "Wasn't interested in any of them, though. Magic and fighting were my only love. But Dannie isn't one of your rivals."
"Huh?"
"She was jealous of me, not Chiyo. Ahaha... now that I think about it, the person I used as an alibi girlfriend is the one that turned into my rival... Wow, that's a twist I hadn't seen coming."
"Wait, what?" Sophia was still hung up on her own rivals, so she couldn't entirely follow.
"Dannie's interested in Chiyo. Chiyo's interested in you... and I-, I got you."
"What's this, a high-school drama?!" She retorted purely on instinct.
"A what?"
"F-Forget it..."
"A-Ah!" Maya suddenly covered her mouth. "If we see her again, please don't tell Chiyo about it... It was supposed to be a secret."
"Don't you think you have bigger problems with her than that the next time we meet?"
"Oh, yeah... W-Well, she only started to get curious about you and didn't know what exactly it was yet, but-"
"I didn't fully believe it back then, or rather, I couldn't... but the way she sent me off made me a bit suspicious. Ah-, she even asked me if I like you..." She rubbed Maya's head while saying so.
"What did you answer?"
"Not in that way... I wasn't-, or wasn't aware...? Uuh, that's going to be awkward."
"Yeah..." The two weren't looking forward to that reunion.
"W-What about Chiyo and Dannie? Does she not like the, uhh, dog-girl...?" Sophia thought about actual cats and dogs for a moment but decided not to bring that up.
"No, they're really good friends, actually. Chiyo just has absolutely no idea about Dannie's feelings."
"..." Both fell silent for a moment.
"Please do your best, Dannie!" The two thought that this would be the solution for everything whenever they visit Maya's home again.
"Anyway..." Sophia changed the topic. "Ahh, but now I can't punch Canir the next time I see him! I asked him to be put into a world where homosexuality isn't widely discriminated about. As usual, I got way more than I asked for, but it's completely positive this time! I feel happy but also conflicted that he did something that nice for me!"
"How about not wanting to punch a god in the first place?!" Maya couldn't believe the girl.
"Not an option. Then again, he probably did something else I have yet to discover, which will make me angry again. Yeah, no problem."
"Y-You really are something else... like, entirely."
----------------
The couple relaxed for a while longer. Maya had gotten really comfortable on Sophia's lap while she was being petted, and the girl herself was in heaven for being able to do so.
"A-Ah." Sophia suddenly stopped moving her hand.
"Ehh? What's wrong." The cat-girl looked slightly pouty over her having stopped.
"I forgot about starting time again..."
"Huh?! Oh, right!" Maya had forgotten as well when she looked around and noticed that their surroundings were still frozen. "W-Wait, you can, right?! The last time, you said you struggled so much!"
"Of course! I properly tested it before bringing you over to here." Sophia closed her eyes and concentrated on the task. A couple of moments later, the world started to turn again. The wind was moving the leaves on the trees and the grass, birds weren't frozen in the sky anymore, and various animals and other noises could be heard in the distance. "Aaaand we're back!"
"G-Good..." The cat-girl let out a relieved sigh. "Wow, I never knew how loud the world actually is..." She marveled at all the sounds she never paid attention to, not until they were gone.
"Yeah, it's bizarre."
After this slight oversight was taken care of, the two decided to relax for some more time while enjoying each other's company because neither of them felt like moving or getting yet.
Chapter 58 – Calming down
After their successful confession, Maya had kissed Sophia. This flipped some sort of switch inside her. Falling in love with her even more and not getting enough of her lips, Sophia kept asking for more. Later initiating her own ones, as well, the two got so absorbed in it that they forgot about anything except the girl in front of them. Exchanging kiss after kiss, exploring the mouth and face of the other, nothing else mattered anymore.
"Haa... Haa~" Panting for air, Maya finally parted from her and sunk down on the grass because her knees gave in.
"Haa..." Sophia sat down as well. "T-That was-,"
"A-Amazing." The cat-girl finished her sentence.
"Yeah, intense..."
"W-Where did that even come from?"
"I-I have no idea." Both their faces were red. "It's probably your fault, Maya."
"H-How?! In the first place... while I was the one who initiated it, you're definitely the one who kept wanting more! N-Not that I'm complaining."
"How could I not want more after such a beautiful girl kissed me? Not to mention it was the girl I l-love..."
"Oh, that's why I got so into it as well!" Maya found no flaw in her argumentation.
"Ehehe."
"Ehehe~." The two shared a bashful giggle. "Still... while I enjoyed every moment," The cat-girl touched her lips and savored the lingering feeling for a moment. "We might've overdone it a tiny bit. It's not like we have to rush anything."
"Hrmn..." She gave a slight nod.
"Then again... It was the result of our feelings for each other, something we both wanted, so-" She pondered over it for a moment. "Okay, I regret nothing!"
"No, we definitely overdid it." Sophia disagreed with her change of mind.
"E-Eh?!"
"N-No, don't get me wrong, I want to do it again, but, uhh, my lips are all tingly and feel a bit chapped, you know?" She was talking about the physical problem.
"A-Ah, you have a point there." Her lips had taken some damage as well from being overused by something they weren't accustomed to yet.
"Thank goodness your tongue isn't the same as a cat... I think that would've hurt quite a bit." Sophia was happy that this part of Maya was like a human, not rough at all. "It was nice and smooth."
"Y-You idiot..." She got embarrassed.
"Hehe, oh, but my body recovers really fast, so my lips are good to go in a bit again~."
"Uuh-" Maya wasn't as high-spec. "I-I think we have to wait a little longer for that."
"Ah!" It seemed like she had an idea. Sophia touched the cat-girl's lips with her finger, and a blue light suddenly shone from it. "How is it now?" The light quickly disappeared again while she removed her tiger.
"E-Eh...? What? My lips, they're fine again. Huh?" The cat-girl was confused.
"I learned healing magic just for that!"
"Y-You learned a sacred technique just so you can keep kissing your girlfriend?"
"Shut up, Maya."
"Ahaha! Anyway, thank you very much. Still... let's take a break, regardless." She rolled over to Sophia, who was sitting on the grass and placed her head on her lap. "I think this is nice, too."
"Yeah, I'm not complaining."
"Please pet me~." With a sweet voice, Maya demanded to be spoiled. "M-My ears, please."
"I-I can?!" She sounded excited. "The last time felt kinda awkward after all... Then again, I think I earlier did it unconsciously?"
"You, and only you are allowed to touch them. I was a little awkward because I was so bold and let you touch them the other day..."
"Bold?" Sophia tilted her head.
"Y-You see, our ears are really important for the beast folk... Especially for us of the cat-tribe, only the person chosen as our partner is allowed to touch them."
"R-Really? Heh, that's kinda embarrassing to hear now, in retrospect."
"It was even more so for me during that time. But as for now, please pet me, p-partner."
"I-I won't survive this day, will I?" She took a lot of damage from the sweet display of affection. Not to mention anything that happened before. "Anyway, gladly." Sophia placed her hand on the cat-girl's head in her lap and gently ruffled her hair.
"Mhmm~." Maya immediately responded with a comfortable purr-like hum while she rubbed her head against the girl's thighs again.
"F-For the-, I don't know how many times... M-My legs are ticklish, Maya!"
"I know~." She only increased her wiggling.
"H-Hey!" Sophia used her hand to press Maya's head into her lap, stopping her from moving. "Why are you doing this in the first place? If I didn't know better, I would think you're trying to mark me, being a part cat and all."
"..." No answer came.
"H-Huh? Wait, that's actually what's going on?!" Sophia didn't see that one coming.
"S-Sorry..." She sounded embarrassed.
"Well, it worked... I am y-yours, so please stop that wiggling! It almost feels like those boosts made me more ticklish as well..."
"Ohh?"
"D-Don't ohh me now! That was not an invitation!"
"Aww..."
"Anyway, no more marking!"
"I can't promise that. It mostly happens on instinct. I have to do it from time to time before it wears off. Moreover, I don't want to!" Maya had no plans to change her behavior.
"Haa..." Sophia gave up with a sigh for the time being and continued to pet the cat-girl. While taking great care of her ears, the two relaxed for a good bit.
----------------
"Mhmm~." She was feeling good but eventually shifted around a bit and looked up at Sophia.
"Hmm?"
"I sure was lucky."
"No, that's my line!" Sophia was feeling the same. "I was unable to find anyone in my old world, but here I actually found a girl that's into other girls as well. Not to mention a perfect girl. Even ignoring how my idiot personality was at fault there, how high were the chances for that?"
"Not that low, actually."
"Eh?"
"You said that being interested in the same sex is rare in your old world, right?" Maya remembered that bit from when she learned about the girl's past.
"Yeah... I don't know the exact numbers, but it was roughly around 5% of the population who weren't interested in the opposite gender, or in some cases, not exclusively, at least."
"W-Wow, I really was super lucky, then!"
"What do you mean?" Sophia was confused.
"If the numbers were higher, someone from your world would've definitely taken you already! Even this world's humans couldn't be that blind!" Though biased, she was sure Sophia wouldn't have been single otherwise. "It's also a little different here..."
"Hmm?"
"Well, you see, it's not rare at all here. I think it's roughly a third each? People being into the same sex, the opposite, or not having a preference, that is. Well, there are some more types, but those big three are the majority, and no one bats an eye. So, for you to find a girl that's not, at least partially, into other girls is actually the rarer possibility."
"S-Seriously?!" That obviously was a shock for her. While she was overwhelmed by it, many questions also came up. Mostly how a race with only a third of actual straight people can survive in the long term. She then thought about actual animals and remembered how they reproduce much more frequently. The number of offsprings often is higher, too. Thinking this might be, to some degree, the case for the beastfolk as well, she didn't question it. Not to mention that it was neither time nor place to ask such questions.
"Yep." Maya smiled at her. "Oh, by the way, I'm just like you. I'm exclusively into girls. Or, to be more precise now, I'm exclusively into the girl called Sophia."
"Oh, so we aren't the same? I'm into someone called Maya after all."
"I don't think it's going to work out with us."
"Yeah, we're too different..." The two were joking with each other. "Seriously though, this world's awesome!"
"By the way, this world's humans, on the other hand-"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." Sophia interrupted her as she had a pretty good idea already. "Don't mention them when I'm happy!"
"Sorry~."
"The beastfolk definitely is a great race... To be that diverse. Coming from my world, that was quite a surprise you dropped on me here."
"Is it really? Remember our date in the café?"
"S-So it was an actual date date, after all?!"
"I won't deny that I was getting curious about you that time, but my main goal really was the cake there. That's the reason I often dragged Chiyo there, and we never were more than friends."
"I knew it sounded weird back then! I should've gotten more suspicious!"
"Ehehe."
"So, what was your point again?"
"The café's a couples-only place."
"S-Seriously?!"
"Someone told me about their cake one time, and I had to try it. Using Chiyo as an alibi girlfriend, I finally got to taste it~."
"I was wondering about the guests there, but I thought they were simply friends, exactly because there was absolutely no preference in the groupings..."
"Nope, they were all dating. Okay, most of them. I'm sure a few of them came just for the cake, like Chiyo and I did, though."
"Y-You seriously dragged me into such a place without telling me, a day or two after we met?!"
"Would you have come with me if I did tell you?"
"Fair point." Sophia would've passed out before the chance of that happening.
"I was delighted being able to go there again because you didn't know about it... Chiyo was the only close enough female friend to not misunderstand. Also, going with male friends to a date spot, even as an alibi, I wasn't a fan of that."
"Did you stop going with Chiyo? Why?"
"Dannie got jealous when she found out. Not wanting to make her feel sad, I stopped inviting her."
"Dannie...?" Sophia felt she heard that name before but couldn't associate it with anyone at the moment.
"Remember the waitress in the bar we went with the gang?"
"Oh, the dog-girl? Floppy ears and a super fluffy tail?"
"Y-Yeah..." Maya wasn't sure how she felt about how she linked the name to the picture.
"D-Don't worry, I'm totally a cat person! Fen doesn't count..." She noticed her mistake. "Wait, she got jealous? D-Do I have a rival?!"
"You have a couple, actually. Not wanting to boast, but I was pretty popular in my hometown."
"I-Is that so?"
"Yep~." She enjoyed her reaction. "Wasn't interested in any of them, though. Magic and fighting were my only love. But Dannie isn't one of your rivals."
"Huh?"
"She was jealous of me, not Chiyo. Ahaha... now that I think about it, the person I used as an alibi girlfriend is the one that turned into my rival... Wow, that's a twist I hadn't seen coming."
"Wait, what?" Sophia was still hung up on her own rivals, so she couldn't entirely follow.
"Dannie's interested in Chiyo. Chiyo's interested in you... and I-, I got you."
"What's this, a high-school drama?!" She retorted purely on instinct.
"A what?"
"F-Forget it..."
"A-Ah!" Maya suddenly covered her mouth. "If we see her again, please don't tell Chiyo about it... It was supposed to be a secret."
"Don't you think you have bigger problems with her than that the next time we meet?"
"Oh, yeah... W-Well, she only started to get curious about you and didn't know what exactly it was yet, but-"
"I didn't fully believe it back then, or rather, I couldn't... but the way she sent me off made me a bit suspicious. Ah-, she even asked me if I like you..." She rubbed Maya's head while saying so.
"What did you answer?"
"Not in that way... I wasn't-, or wasn't aware...? Uuh, that's going to be awkward."
"Yeah..." The two weren't looking forward to that reunion.
"W-What about Chiyo and Dannie? Does she not like the, uhh, dog-girl...?" Sophia thought about actual cats and dogs for a moment but decided not to bring that up.
"No, they're really good friends, actually. Chiyo just has absolutely no idea about Dannie's feelings."
"..." Both fell silent for a moment.
"Please do your best, Dannie!" The two thought that this would be the solution for everything whenever they visit Maya's home again.
"Anyway..." Sophia changed the topic. "Ahh, but now I can't punch Canir the next time I see him! I asked him to be put into a world where homosexuality isn't widely discriminated about. As usual, I got way more than I asked for, but it's completely positive this time! I feel happy but also conflicted that he did something that nice for me!"
"How about not wanting to punch a god in the first place?!" Maya couldn't believe the girl.
"Not an option. Then again, he probably did something else I have yet to discover, which will make me angry again. Yeah, no problem."
"Y-You really are something else... like, entirely."
----------------
The couple relaxed for a while longer. Maya had gotten really comfortable on Sophia's lap while she was being petted, and the girl herself was in heaven for being able to do so.
"A-Ah." Sophia suddenly stopped moving her hand.
"Ehh? What's wrong." The cat-girl looked slightly pouty over her having stopped.
"I forgot about starting time again..."
"Huh?! Oh, right!" Maya had forgotten as well when she looked around and noticed that their surroundings were still frozen. "W-Wait, you can, right?! The last time, you said you struggled so much!"
"Of course! I properly tested it before bringing you over to here." Sophia closed her eyes and concentrated on the task. A couple of moments later, the world started to turn again. The wind was moving the leaves on the trees and the grass, birds weren't frozen in the sky anymore, and various animals and other noises could be heard in the distance. "Aaaand we're back!"
"G-Good..." The cat-girl let out a relieved sigh. "Wow, I never knew how loud the world actually is..." She marveled at all the sounds she never paid attention to, not until they were gone.
"Yeah, it's bizarre."
After this slight oversight was taken care of, the two decided to relax for some more time while enjoying each other's company because neither of them felt like moving or getting yet.
