The group had breakfast together, and Sophia had a small chat with Alex. After they finished eating, the blonde got the keys to the elven treehouse right next to Chloe's home she had won in the drinking competition with the fox-man. Being in an excellent mood, Sophia, together with Maya and Chloe, decided to check it out right away.

“And here we are!” Chloe gestured at the treehouse next to hers while smiling at the tiger. “Just along the main road and then a left at the end to reach it.”

“…” Sophia was still pouting after she had gotten lost on a straight road. “S-Shut up.” She wasn’t compatible with anything that was straight, after all.

“Is she alright?” The fox-girl then glanced at Maya. “I admit that my sense of direction is basically non-existent, as well… but repeatedly getting lost in such a small village is a little… concerning.”

“Are you alright?” Maya looked at her blonde. Her expression was anything but concerned, though.

“I think my treehouse is going to become a single home…" Her pouting got even stronger.

“Chloe, your guest room is still free, right?” The cat-girl wasn’t the slightest bit faced by her threat.

“Well, yes, but…” She wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

"Actually, I'll just return to the capital and enjoy the warm mansion while sleeping in our comfy bed.” Maya had a better idea.

"A-Ah.” Sophia’s ears twitched. “I’ll bring the bed over to here!”

“No, you won’t.”

“Grr…” She growled at her cat-girl for a moment. “Anyway, I AM alright!”

“Really?”

“YES!” The tiger raised her voice. “Being directionally challenged is nothing serious!”

“Dire…?”

“Pfft!” Chloe immediately put her hands on her mouth to stifle her laugh.

“Hey!” She got loud. “I have other qualities that make up for getting lost one or two… or fifteen times a day!”

“No, fifteen times is definitely too much.” The fox-girl shook her head.

“Yes.” Maya agreed with her.

“…” Sophia had nothing to say in her defense. “Anyway, let’s take a look at the treehouse!” The topic was over for her.

“Sure.” The two just smiled at her.

“Urgh…” Pouting once again, the tiger then climbed up the spiral staircase that led up to the new place they had gotten while the other two girls followed after her.

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

“My, it’s quite nice.” After the girls had entered the treehouse and looked around for a bit, Chloe was the first to react. The place had a relatively open floorplan with a large living and dining room that included a kitchen. In the back, there were two bedrooms with a bathroom in between. Nothing of the furniture was overly fancy, but everything was well-maintained and looked very cozy.

“Yep.” Sophia nodded. “Kinda reminds me of the ap- err, place I stayed in for a while a long time ago.”

“Hmm?” The fox-girl tilted her head.

“Ah, it’s nothing.” The blonde wasn’t sure if the word apartment would’ve raised any questions, so she had decided to go for a more general description.

“Okay?” She seemed a little confused but didn't seem to have the motivation to ask any other questions. "It’s a bit bigger than my place, and the layout’s a bit different, but it’s just as cozy! Those elven treehouses are amazing!”

“Absolutely!” Sophia shared her opinion.

“It’s no mansion, but I do like it a lot.” Maya, too, was warming up to the place. “It’s REALLY cold in here, though.” Not literally warming up, though.

“YES!” The tiger had a strong reaction to it

“It’s the best, isn’t it?”

“NO!” The cats got a little loud after hearing Chloe’s comment. “It’s awful!”

“You two are way too sensitive to the cold.”

"Says the one who couldn't stop complaining about the heat just yesterday during her stories!" The couple was in perfect sync.

“…” A slight blush appeared on the pink-haired girl’s cheeks while she turned her head away in embarrassment. “Y-You two win this round…”

“Heh.” They looked a little smug.

“I-I’m good with the hot springs here in the village, though… So, I’m not a completely lost cause…”

“Ehh…?" Sophia looked confused. "Why are we so similar, yet the complete opposite in some cases…? I’m horrible with hot water… Then again, most of the time, it was Maya’s fault that I faint so often…”

“Hey!” The cat-girl raised her voice. “Well, you’re not wrong…” She reconsidered her complaint.

“Wait, this village has a hot spring?” The tiger only now registered Chloe’s words.

“Yup.” She nodded while walking over to one of the windows of the treehouse. “Do you see that big wooden building that kinda reaches past the tree line into the forest? The hot springs are right behind it.”

“Ohh!” The blonde’s ears perked up while she looked at the building in interest. “Now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve ever been to an actual hot spring before. Only the ones I dug out and filled with water on my own for make-shift baths.”

“Those were quite nice, too, though.” Maya liked their bathing sessions during their travels, after all.

“You two sure are something else…”

“Ehehe~.” They took it as a compliment.

“I’m totally borrowing that idea when I travel with Feyfey again, though. I only used water magic to shower myself… Why hadn't I thought about digging out a bath before…?" She sounded a little disappointed in herself.

“If you’re interested in traveling with us in spring, you can use the baths I make. I’ve gotten really proficient with them~.” As Sophia had already taken a liking to her, she’d enjoy the fox-girl being around with them during their travels. "From what I've understood, you can ride on your Feyfey, so your speed isn't an issue!"

“That definitely sounds enticing!” She started smiling. “I don’t even know when she’ll be back, so I’m in no hurry, either! Also, while I like the cold, traveling through the enormous amounts of snow is not overly fun…"

“Brr…” Just thinking about it made the tiger shiver. “And now I feel cold and want to hit the hot springs! Let’s go!”

“They’re currently closed.” Chloe hung her head. “They’re getting renovated and all that. It’ll take a month or two before they reopen again.”

“What a tease!” She started pouting. "I have no idea how to renovate a hot spring either, so I can't see how I could speed things up…"

“Yeah…” The fox-girl nodded. “I can’t wait for them to open again, too.”

“Still…” Sophia then stared at Chloe with a very serious expression. “Hot springs are a group activity, aren’t they…? You go in with a group of people, right?” Her gaze intensified even more.

“Uhh…” The pink-haired girl looked a little awkward.

“Hey!” Maya got loud instead. “Try to hide your motives a little, pervert!” She glared at her. “Okay, I admit that I’m really curious about just how big she is under her sweater because it seems like she could rival Anna, but don’t make it too obvious!”

“Uuh…” Chloe only covered her chest with her arms while a blush appeared on her cheeks.

“Eh?” Sophia looked confused instead. “I was just wondering if I could see her sad tail. I’m super curious about how it will look when it gets wet!"

"A-Ah…” The cat-girl’s cheeks also turned red now. “I-I’m sorry, Chloe…”

“You’re not going to see that!” She ignored her, though, and started pouting while looking at Sophia. “I’m going to invent a magic that keeps my tail dry before the hot springs open again!”

“Aww…” The blonde sounded genuinely sad. "Well, if that's the case, I'll also go with Maya's plan. Now that she mentioned it, I’m warming up to the alternative.” She focused her gaze on Chloe’s chest this time.

“W-Why are you two such perverts…?”

“I blame Maya for that."

“H-Hey!” The cat-girl in question raised her voice again. She didn’t say anything to defend herself, though.

“Also,” Sophia looked Chloe right into her eyes. “After the tail thingy earlier, there’s absolutely zero room for you to blame others in that regard.” She smirked at her. “Pervert.”

“…” She decided to stay silent.

“Anyway,” Maya was the one who decided to get back on track. "Everything aside, visiting a hot spring does sound really nice. If it’s currently closed, that’s unfortunate, but maybe we could bring along Anna and Ari once it opens. It sounds like it’s a fun group activity.”

"The more, the merrier!" The blonde loved the idea. "Though, is there a reason you mentioned Anna first?”

“Nope.” She shook her head.

“Really?”

“Yep.” This time, the cat-girl nodded. “There are two reasons.”

“Wow.” Sophia rolled her eyes. “Why are you the one who keeps getting jealous, again?”

“I-I’m sorry, okay…?” Maya hung her head. “I’ve gotten better, though…”

“That’s true.” The tiger nodded. “It’s impossible to blame you for the Anna topic, either. Who wouldn't want to steal a glance there, right?" She then looked at Chloe. "You saw the princess before, right? What's your opinion on the matter?"

“…”

"That answer is enough for me~." Seeing her cheeks turn even redder was all the blonde needed as a reaction to come to her conclusion.

“W-While definitely curious about the princess in that regard…” She eventually started speaking, after all. “I think the jaguar or maybe Sophia are of more interest to me… I-I mean, I'm pretty big myself, so… I think I’m more into the medium-sized type instead for contrast…”

“Hrmm…" Maya focused on the fox-girl for a while. “Not too much staring, okay?” As she admitted wanting to look at her already, it wasn’t like she could forbid her to steal a glance at Sophia now. “Focus on Ari, okay?”

“Err… sure…?” She had no idea what to reply to that.

“Yes, because Anna’s the personification of never being jealous of anyone…” Sophia rolled her eyes at the cat-girl’s plan.

“The difference here is that I don’t care about that.” She almost sounded smug.

“That’s fair.” The tiger had to give it to her. “Jealous Anna is also kinda cute, soo…”

“I don’t know why exactly, but I’m super envious of the type of relationship the two of you have…” Chloe looked a bit lonely. “The way you bicker is amazing.”

“Ehehe~.” The couple liked her observation.

“I’ll do my best in helping to find someone for yourself to bicker with!” Sophia’s eyes started sparkling again.

“T-Thank you…”

Afterward, the group chatted a little more while getting back to the topic of the nearby hot springs while also trying to make some more definite plans before eventually taking a better look at Sophia’s new treehouse again.