The couple had spent most of their day in the castle with Ari and Anna respectively and decided to meet up with them again the day after. Maya first had agreed to train Eluna again before spending time with the princess, though. The jaguar, on the other hand, decided to visit Sophia in her home for a change.

“This mad cat really did it…” Sophia was still lying in her bed and complained about Maya for some reason.

“Good morning…” Ari had arrived at their mansion and was standing inside the doorframe to the bedroom. “That was easier than expected…” There was a hint of disappointment in her voice. “Maya said that I have to use force to get you out of the bed~.”

“Why does it sound like you were looking forward to that…?”

“Because I was?” She innocently tilted her head.

“You…” The tiger wasn’t sure how to react. “Sorry to disappoint, but I’m using a magic that lets me detect magic around me, and it also warns me if someone who isn’t supposed to be there comes near me.”

“My, how handy.”

“Sure is. Haa…” She let out a yawn. “Well then, good night.” The blonde turned around on the bed and closed her eyes.

“Oh? I might be able to use force, after all.”

“A-Ah…”

“I’m also pretty good at tickling, you know?” Ari sounded strangely proud of it.

“Err… You getting into my bed to tickle me all over… Sure, sounds like that couldn’t cause any misunderstanding whatsoever…”

“E-Eh…?” The jaguar looked shocked. “W-Why are you so reasonable…?”

“Still sleepy… Not working properly yet…”

“You should sleep less starting today!”

“Ahaha…” She let out a dry laugh. “Wait… how did you even get in here…?”

“Maya gave me the key.”

“Seriously…?”

“She warned me not to do anything stupid, but she also said it would be a lot of fun.”

“For whom…?”

“Maya and I?” The jaguar softly giggled.

“I don’t think I want the two of you to bond…”

“Hehe.”

“Alright, fine…” Sophia gave up. “I’ll get up… Give me ten, no 15 minutes to get ready and dressed, okay?”

“Of course.”

“You can wait in the living room downstairs while I change and wash up and all that… If you go back downstairs, it’s on the right.”

“Okay.” Ari lightly waved before leaving the room but then suddenly turned around again. “I’ll come back and use force if you fall asleep again~.”

“Y-Yes…”

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

Precisely 22 minutes later, Sophia finally arrived in the living room and sat down on the sofa opposite to the jaguar.

“Good morning.” Ari greeted her again.

“Y-Yeah… good morning.” It was the first time today the tiger was having a conversation while actually being mostly conscious. “Why the school uniform…?” She only now noticed herclothes, as well.

“Maya urged me to hurry so that I can wake you up the earliest, and I only had my uniform within reach at that time.”

“I see… She gets way too motivated about the strangest things.”

“The two of you make a good couple, after all.”

“…” There was absolutely nothing the blonde could say here.

“By the way,” Ari decided to change the topic. “Why is it so warm everywhere here?”

“It’s great, isn’t it?!” The tiger’s eyes lit up.

“It might be a bit much because it’s not that cold outside yet, but it is indeed very nice. Why is it so warm, though? The fireplace isn’t on, and I see no heater, either. The warmth also feels different… It’s coming from everywhere somehow.”

“Ehehe.” Sophia looked smug. “Take off your shoes, Ari.”

“Why…?” She naturally got a little wary.

“Just do it.” She urged her again. “You also can keep wearing your tights. They won’t really make a difference.”

“Okay, fine…” Ari reluctantly agreed and took off her shoes. Afterward, being urged by the tiger, she put her feet on the ground. “Eh?!” Her eyes grew wide. “The floor’s… warm?”

“Yes! How do you like it?”

“It’s… It’s amazing!” The jaguar seemed to enjoy the feeling. “It’s so comfortable! The warmth really spreads through your legs, and it’s great! My legs are always freezing, and I’m about to swap to thicker and lined tights, so this is basically… heaven!” She really liked it.

“Yeah… I need to change my wardrobe soon, too… My legs are getting chilly, as well.”

“No wonder…” Ari glanced at Sophia’s bare legs. “Kind of a waste, though.”

“Shut up… Maya already talked me into the shorts, so let me wear something different when it’s getting cold. I don’t want to use magic to keep me warm outside… At least not when I can go shopping for cute clothes instead!”

“Ahaha…”

“Tights, leggings, especially colorful ones, jeans, and all that look great, too, after all! I’m getting a great example of the first thing right now~.”

“T-Thanks.” The jaguar got a little bashful.

“So, anyway, I take that you like the heated floors?”

“Again, yes!” She reacted with a big nod. “I love it! I’ll be coming over a lot more in the future!” Ari, too, was a warmth-loving cat, after all. “Although…”

“Yeah?”

“What are heated floors?” She tilted her head. “I mean, besides the obvious explanation that comes with the name itself.”

“My newest invention~.” Sophia looked smug again. “It’s based on the magic heaters, but I changed it to make it fit under the floor… Roughly speaking.”

“Really?”

“Yep.”

“Wow.” Ari seemed impressed. “From now on, whenever you call yourself an idiot, I’ll properly refute it.”

“Thank you very much~. Well, I still am an idiot, so only retort if you really feel like I’m selling myself short.”

“Okay.” She replied instantaneously.

“H-Hey!” Sophia started pouting because her reply came so fast.

“You’re really susceptible to getting teased, aren’t you?”

“T-That’s… You’re just good at it because you had Anna to train on since you were little! You know how to push the buttons of tigers…”

“Am I really the first one who mentioned that to you, though?”

“I don’t want to talk to you anymore…” The tiger started pouting while turning her head away.

“I’m sorry. I went too far.”

“Earnestly apologizing only makes it worse!”

“That, too, is a tiger trait, isn’t it?”

“What is?”

“Being all over the place. Anna’s the same.”

“Urgh…”

“Okay, back to the topic.” Ari had enough of teasing the poor blonde for now. “Are there any plans to introduce the heated floors to the castle? I would also humbly offer my own room for a first test.”

“There’s nothing humble about that!” Sophia loudly retorted to her selfishness.

“It was worth a try. It’s amazing, after all. I want it! I might actually survive the winter with it this year…”

“How about you use something else to warm up during the night. Or someone.” The tiger finally had a topic where it wasn’t her who was going to get teased. “I assume it was rather warm during the last night, I suppose~?”

“…” The jaguar didn’t answer.

“Ariii~?” Sophia started right at her.

“…” She tried to power through the pressure but caved in relatively soon. “Fine, I’ll talk…”

“Great!” The blonde leaned back on the sofa while looking forward to the story.

“W-Well… Long story short, you really are a genius.”

“I like the sound of that! Especially after earlier. Could you please tell Maya the same later~?”

“While I’d like to help you out… I’d rather not tell her or anyone why you’re a genius.”

“Fair enough.” Sophia understood that much. “By the way, why am I a genius?”

“You…” Ari rolled her eyes at the blonde’s dorkiness. “Your tips with Anna!”

“Ahh… Oh, have the two of you finally started dating? Congratulations!”

“You’re not that much of a genius, idiot!” She rolled her eyes even more.

“Well, my genius lasted for almost a whole minute. I think that’s a personal best~.” Sophia looked at the bright side of it. “So?”

“N-No, we… unfortunately haven’t started d-dating y…”

“Yet?”

“T-That’s a different topic…”

“I see~.” Sophia tried to suppress the grin that was forming on her face.

"I followed some more of your tips... I messed up b-badly, but I think it helped..."

"Oh?"

"I tried to enter Anna's personal space head-on and see what happens..." Ari paused for a moment while her cheeks turned red. "I walked right up to her and... I'm not sure anymore what exactly happened because I blanked out for a moment... but... but I either tripped or misjudged the distance, and..."

"And?"

"I planted my face right into her... c-chest and, uhh... ended up resting my chin on them afterward..."

"Just how attracted is your face to her boobs or vice versa?!" Sophia got loud.

"S-Shut up!"

"No, I want an answer! I'm fascinated by this phenomenon!"

"Aren't you just fascinated by the sublime softness of Anna's breasts?!"

"Yes!" The blonde got even louder. "Wait! I never said anything in that regard!"

"A-Ah..." Ari turned her head away.

"Ehehe." Sophia liked her reaction. "Well, I guess that's answer enough."

"Uuuh..." A small tear formed in the corners of the jaguar's eyes. "It also wasn't all that happened yesterday... I really was way too bold..."

"I like the sound of that!" Sophia's eyes were sparkling. "Details! I want details!"

"Urgh..." She thought the tiger was a little too excited, but there was no turning back now anymore. "After we took our bath... We relaxed a little on a sofa and... and... I got a l-lap-pillow from her... I don't know how it led to that, and honestly... I don't really care, either..."

"Ohh!" The blonde got even more excited. "How was it? How do the legs of the princess feel?!" There was a slight hint of impureness in her voice.

"C-Can you promise me not to tease me if I'm honest?"

"I'll try to!"

"I guess that's all I could hope for..." Ari paused for a moment. "Her thighs are incredibly... INCREDIBLY soft! We also just got out of the bath, so... Her skin was still a little steamy, together with the scent of her shampoo and soap... I fell asleep after lying on her lap for three seconds, and I have no idea what happened afterward..."

"JEALOUS!" A single word was all the blonde needed for her reply.

"Ahaha..."

"Well, I do that with Maya every other day, so I'm actually perfectly fine~. It's great, isn't it?"

"Y-Yes!" She reacted with a big nod. "Wait.,, every other day?"

"Maya and I switch places after every bath we take."

"Ahh..." Ari didn't look surprised in the slightest. "The day still wasn't over, though..."

"Hmm?"

"Once I woke up again, I got super embarrassed and ran back to my room...I've spent most of the evening there, then..." She'd covered her face with her hands by now. "Then, after a couple of hours, Anna came over to my room last night, and we had another sleepover…”

“Oh! Ignoring her worked, huh?” Sophia smiled at her. "Well, in one way or another, I guess... You can't really say that you ignored the princess yesterday... Like, at all."

"Uuuh..."

"Anyway, glad my plan was a success!"

“I-I’m actually not so sure about that…” Ari tilted her head. “She already arrived at my room by the time I usually go over to hers…”

“Really? That’s great!”

“Is it?”

“Of course! It means that she couldn’t wait to see you! Especially after everything that happened before.”

“Hmm…” The jaguar thought about it for a moment. “Anna came over to my room all the time in the past, too, though…”

“Did she also stay the night during those times? Or after the two of you were annoyingly flirty all day?”

“N-No…”

“See?!”

“…” She wasn’t sure what to reply.

“Did you also go through with the rest of our plan? Hugging her, that is.”

“Y-Yes…” Her entire face was on fire by now.

“And~?” Sophia had a great time.

“I almost embarrassed myself to death because I messed up… Again.”

“Eh? How so?”

“It went exactly as you predicted… We got into the bed, and Anna, who was using the different than usual side, showed me her back, but…” Ari paused for a moment. “I-I gathered all of my courage and went for the hug, but… but… In the exact moment I tried to wrap my arms around her back, Anna… She turned around…”

“O-Oh…” The tiger started to slightly blush, just imagining the scene. “Does that mean you aborted the mission? I can’t blame you there. I would’ve had a spectacular meltdown in that situation…”

“N-No… I’ve pulled through…”

“S-Seriously?!” Sophia was shocked.

“Y-Yeah…”

“Good job!”

“It… It was more of an accident…” Ari turned her face away for a moment. “I was already starting to wrap my arms around Anna when she turned around… Before I noticed, I was tightly clinging to her side with our faces right in front of each other while I had sandwiched her arms between my breasts. I admit, there isn’t thaaat much to sandwich, but it’s still more than enough for her to get a good feeling of them!”

“Ahaha…” The tiger couldn’t do much more other than letting out an awkward chuckle.

“It was sooo embarrassing!”

“I can imagine…” Sophia was blushing heavily at this point just from listening to her.

“B-But even so, it’s not like I could’ve let go of her in that situation either, right?!”

“Yeah… Hugging her like that out of nowhere and then letting go the moment you make eye contact… I have no idea how you could explain that…”

“Exactly! I was trapped! Trapped!” She repeated herself because it was important. “To make matters worse, we were literally face to face while looking at each other…”

“Would’ve been perfect for a surprise kiss, though.”

“Shut up!” Ari got loud.

“Hehe. You could’ve disguised it as an accident while the princess was turning around~.”

“…” She turned silent. “I-I hadn’t thought about that…”

“You actually would’ve tried it?!” Sophia got loud, too.

“I shouldn’t?”

“Wow… You’re amazing, Ari.”

“W-Well, if I can play it off as an accident, there’s no harm, right?”

“Wow.” The blonde repeated herself. “Do you even need my help…?”

“O-Of course! I-I might be able to get bold when it calls for it, but there’s no way I would’ve started anything without you giving me a push!”

“I see.”

“The tips you’re giving me are also extremely helpful!”

“That’s good to hear.”

“Please continue to help me in the future!”

“Gladly.” Sophia had no reason to stop. “Though, if you’re willing to kiss her on accident, I might have to think of something more extreme.”

“A-Ah.” Ari froze up. “P-Please forget I ever mentioned that!”

“Nope.”

“Uuh…”

“Leave it to me~.”

“I-I want to retreat my earlier statement! I don’t want any more tips, after all!”

“Too late!” The tiger got motivated. “I’ll think of something really nice~.”

“N-Nothing too extreme, please… Remember that I don’t want to ruin anything with Anna…”

“Don’t worry, I won’t task you to do anything more than a kiss.”

“Uuh…” She could only squirm in response.

“Speaking of which, did you sleep hugging her like that?”

“W-We stayed like that for a while, but we eventually shifted around a bit…”

“Too bad…”

“I still h-hugged her through the entire night, though.”

“Good going!” Sophia looked incredibly proud of her. “Okay, you earned a change of topic!” She was very well aware of how embarrassing it had gotten. “Shall we head over to the kitchen? I want to try my hands on some cooking.”

“Gladly!” Ari seemed relieved and immediately jumped up, but then looked down at her feet with a complicated expression.

“Don’t worry, we have heated floors in every room here, kitchen included.”

“Amazing!” The jaguar started smiling again, and the two finally went to the kitchen together.