Ari and Sophia became friends after having cleared up their misunderstanding and got along great. Maybe a little too great if seen from an outsider's perspective. Especially when said outsiders are called Maya and Anna. They caught the duo in what looked like them being pretty flirty with each other. It took the blonde tiger and the jaguar quite a while to get on their good sides again afterward. Luckily, they managed to explain that nothing happened and how neither of them wanted to be more than friends with the other.

"Err... Am I still in trouble?" As it had gotten a little awkward, the couple decided to head home for the time being. There, the two sat down on the sofas in the living room, and Sophia wasn't sure what to do or say.

"What do you think?" Maya was on the sofa on the opposite side of the tiger and only looked at her.

"I'll go with... no." She tried her luck. "I admit that Ari and I might were a bit too playful towards the end maybe? Still, it was just pure admiration towards her hair, not the girl attached to it. She's great, too, but there's nothing regarding the jaguar that makes me feel guilty. "

"Good answer." The cat-girl's expression softened up. "Exactly what I wanted to hear."

"Phew..." Sophia looked relieved. "Y-You're scary when you're jealous..."

"I am not!"

"What? Scary or jealous?"

"Yes."

"Urgh, I hate it when you copy my stupid quirks."

"Hehe. Well, okay, I was jealous..." Maya finally admitted it. "I don't think you can blame me here, though."

"Maybe... I did get along quite well with her."

"As long as you understand."

"Then again, when Ari and I watched you train with the princess, both of you were also in a great mood while smiling and laughing a lot."

"Ahhh..." It was Maya's time to awkwardly scratch her cheek.

"Do you want to tell me something now?"

"No, I just somehow ended up befriending her, too... Even though the two of us had a pretty rough start, it's quite fun with the princess."

"Soo..." Sophia stared right at her. "Exactly the same as Ari and I?"

"M-More or less..."

"That means I can keep my new friend, right? You can also continue to play with the princess~."

"Of course." The cat-girl agreed. "If somehow possible, a little less flirty and playing with each other's hair would be great, though..."

"Y-Yes, I'll try to be more mindful. There's a high chance that I'll mess up a lot, though... I don't have, let's say, many experiences with friends, and the two of us are... in the words of Fenny, flirty idiots. I have to find the right middle ground first." Sophia hoped she would be a little lenient.

"You sure know how to get your way. How am I supposed to say anything here now?"

"T-That wasn't my intention! It's a well-known fact that I have no idea what I'm doing most of the time."

"Most of the time?"

"Shut up."

"Tehe~."

"No. If I do anything while interacting with others that makes you uncomfortable, please tell me so I can learn." Sophia had no intention to make Maya suffer from her idiocy. At least when it comes to their relationship, that is. "Ah, but only if it actually troubles or hurts you. Simple jealousy doesn't count. That's the thing you need to work on."

"Y-Yes..." The cat-girl hung her head, and even her ears lost a bit of their usual perkiness. "I started to accept the princess being around you. That's probably why I warmed up to her, too... The jaguar is still new and unknown, so I first need to get used to her. I'm pretty territorial, after all... Especially when it comes to you."

"Well, you are a cat." Sophia had a simple explanation for her behavior.

"Idiot."

"Ha, gotcha~." The tiger enjoyed her win. "I'm already starting to really enjoy Ari's company. She even already scolded me a couple of times. It would be great if you, uhh, could approve of her."

"Err..." Maya had an extremely complicated expression. "I'm... I'm not sure how I should feel or react to this."

"Huh? What do you- Ohhh!" She stopped mid-sentence. "N-No, I didn't mean it like that! Ari has that rare level-headed side to her. As usual, I talked about my magic like it was nothing and even did a little presentation. Instead of being overwhelmed, she gently started reprimanding me. She told me how I should think more before talking, be vaguer about things, or how I don't have to show off to get my point across. It would be a lot less tiring for me if I hold back a little, and she gave me many tips on how to stick out less."

"Okay, I might be able to like her." Everyone who's able to keep Sophia at bay has to be someone special in Maya's eyes.

"I knew this would work! Oh, how about you spent some time with her, as well, to see that she's safe for me. Maybe you could also teach her some magic?"

"Hrmn... My teaching method's based on bullying the princess." The cat-girl had no intention to hide it. "I feel like Anna's into that, but it doesn't seem like that would be a valid method for the black-haired one."

"That's true. Too bad, I kinda wanted Ari to learn real magic, too."

"Maybe once I'm done with Anna and think of a better teaching style."

"Fair enough. Eh? Wait a moment..." Sophia suddenly changed the topic. "Anna enjoys being bullied?!"

"It sure seems like it, at least. Didn't it also look like she always got extra motivated whenever you shot her down? Sounds like a pattern to me."

"Haa... That's-," The tiger scratched her head while having a blank expression. "Well, sure, why not? Who am I to judge? I might even kind of get it. Though, nah, the other side seems like more fun."

"Uhh... I now declare that you're to keep some distance from the princess for the time being. I don't want anything new to awaken here, and the other thing should be kept low, too." Maya didn't like the implications.

"Ehh? Why are only you allowed to bully her?"

"'Cause, it's fun."

"Ehhh?" Sophia felt unfairly treated. "Okay, I'll definitely play along with whatever kink Ari may have. 'Cause, it's fun, of course."

"Ah." There was absolutely nothing Maya could say in return.

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

The wolves also came back home eventually and joined the couple in the living room.

"Is everything alright?" Aura noticed that the girls were sitting on the sofas across the table instead of being all over each other as usual.

"Hmm..." Maya tilted her head. "Yep, all good. Sophia caused some minor misunderstandings, but all are sorted out."

"Minor, huh?" Fen looked at Sophia. "I'm glad you're improving."

"Ahaha..."

"Where did the two of you go?" The cat-girl changed the topic.

"We were scouting the capital to see where we can expand the maze."

"I like the sound of that." Sophia was happy that the maze was still being worked on.

"We also had dinner together." Aura added some more details.

"Oh, I like the sound of that~." The tiger enjoyed that bit even more.

"It was delicious." It was impossible to tell whether Fen was trying to end the topic, or it really was all he wanted to say.

"Hmm... Oh!" The blonde put away her suspicions for the time being. "Fenny, Aura, do you know of a way to let people with relatively normal magic and physical power travel faster?"

"How powerful and fast are we talking?"

"For Princess Anna and her friend to accompany us on our travels."

"Eh?!" The cat reacted first. "Where did that come from?"

"I just thought how Ari's good at taking care of my idiocy. If she's with us, you can take it easy and play around with us."

"I see... and why the princess, too?"

"For your entertainment? You two have quite the thing going on, after all." Sophia couldn't let such a chance be unused.

"..."

"Sooo... Everything's alright?" Aura repeated her earlier question.

"Haha, it's fine. I just got back on her for something. No, it could be fun to have her around, too, and Ari wouldn't want to leave her behind, either."

"Okay, fair point." Maya didn't specify which part, though.

"Anyway," Fen came back to the topic. "Our cat's a fast one even without actively using magic. Well, magic power passively increases the abilities of one's body, so, naturally, she's so quick. Normal members of the beastfolk, even with slightly above average stats like that princess, are unlikely to match her, even with a lot of training. Both physical and magical origin. I wouldn't know any tricks to let them travel with our speed. Except maybe riding on my back, but I guess that's beside the point. Aura, do you have an idea?"

"None that wouldn't deplete their magic in 30 minutes top, sorry."

"Aww... Well, I guessed as much already." The tiger wasn't surprised.

"Do these girls even need travel with us to travel with us, though?"

"Ehh...?" Sophia couldn't even pretend to understand what the female wolf wanted to say.

"Don't you... or we only need a babysitter when we explore things or visit places? When we're merely traveling from one place to another, disaster rarely happens, does it?"

"You're not wrong. I mess up the most with people around."

"Unless you blow up dungeons or start genocides." Fen couldn't stay silent.

"M-Minor details. I'm more concerned about lasting misunderstandings..."

"Yes, you're good at those." All three replied to the tiger.

"Urgh... A-Anyway, Aura, what are you trying to say? If they can't travel with us, Ari won't be there when I need babysitting."

"Oh, right... I didn't think about that... Wow, if only we had a way to almost instantly go from one place to another. Wouldn't that be something? We could travel on our own, and if those girls are needed, we could simply go and collect them here. I have some crazy ideas, don't I?"

"..." Sophia needed a moment. "Ah."

"What an idiot." All three, again, replied to the tiger.

"W-Well, I didn't plan to show off the gates or my extra space..." She tried to excuse herself. "I need to think about that idea first."

As Sophia wanted to give it some thought to find out whether this plan maybe be a viable choice, in the end, she was pretty busy with herself for the rest of the day, and not much else happened.