Chloe and Mira had a nice and long conversation over just about everything. The pink fox had a lot of questions that needed answering, after all. The overseer gladly answered any single one of them and managed to, at least slightly, explain her reasoning behind the events that led to her mostly staying out of her daughter's life. Chloe was still pretty angry about the matter, and it would need more time for her to fully warm up to her many-tailed mother, but the duo made a step in the right direction.

While all this was happening, the group's mansion in the capital had also gotten lively.

“Oh, where is everyone?” Sophia and Fey had returned to the mansion, and the blonde noticed that only Steph was in the living room they had just entered. “Wait, I can sense everyone else at the other end of the capital…”

“Maya and the wolves couldn’t stand Ari and Anna's constant questions, and after Mira suddenly disappeared as well, they couldn't take it any longer, so Maya and Aura decided to go on a shopping tour to divert the loud couple's attention. Fen, at first, wanted to stay, but Aura decided that he had no saying in the matter.” Her little sister answered her.

“Ahh…” The blonde scratched her cheek. Our dear princess and Ari continued to be a pain after they slept over and woke up, huh? It's a good thing we left early, huh?" She then glanced at the full fox.

“Would you not consider our meeting not having been a pain?” Fey looked back at her.

"…" She paused for a moment. "Fair." There was nothing she could add. "Wait, why didn’t you go with them?” Sophia faced her sister again.

“I did not think that their idea of a diversion of attention would work out overly well, so I decided to stay behind where there’s actual peace. Fen hated me for a moment because he had the same idea but wasn’t allowed to, but I can’t say I felt overly bad about it.”

"A wise choice.” The tiger nodded a few times.

“Fen still can’t hold his ground against Aura, huh?” Fey also had something to say. “Some things really never change, do they?”

“He’s just a big softie, after all.” The blonde started smiling. “He looks grumpy and tries to be intimidating, but he’s all bark and no bite~.”

“Hmm…” The fox pondered for a moment. “I don’t disagree, but that’s only because he likes you all. If that wouldn’t be the case, our dear softie definitely does have another side. The exact opposite of that, to be exact.”

“Hehe, it’s good that we love each other~.”

“By the way, speaking of…” Steph interrupted the two. “Where is Chloe?”

“Ahh…” Sophia and Fey immediately got a little awkward.

“E-Eh?!” The dog-girl didn’t like the sound of that.

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing like that.” Her sister calmed her down. “During our meeting with the king and all that, Mira suddenly showed up, making things extra chaotic."

“Ah, that is where she went to!”

"Yeah." She nodded. "Anyway, after we were done, Chloe decided it was due time for a one-on-one mother-daughter conversation, and the two went off on their own.”

“Ohh!” She liked that a lot more. “I hope they manage alright and get over some, uhh… reservations.”

“Yeah…” Fey agreed. “We made some massive mistakes, but Mira suffered at least as much as Chloe did, if not even more, so I also hope they're able to grow closer, to a level where it should suppose to be…"

“It definitely is a difficult situation.” Sophia also nodded. “Mira seems pretty determined and earnest about the whole thing, and Chloe definitely isn’t the type who would reject her just because and all. I’m sure, with enough time, things will work out.”

“I sincerely hope so.”

“It’ll be fine~. Anyway, I’m way too hungry after having gone through all that in the castle! I’m going to ravage the kitchen!” The blonde finally couldn’t take it anymore. “Steph, you take care of Fey and keep her company!”

“E-Eh?!” The dog-girl sprang up from the sofa in shock.

“Do you not want to be alone with me in the same room?” The full fox stared right at her.

“T-That’s not what I meant!” She panicked even more.

“Have fun~.” Sophia didn’t care about any of that and disappeared towards the kitchen.

“…”

“…”

Things turned awkward pretty fast.

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

“S-So…”

“Yes?”

“Why, uhh… Why are we having a staring contest right now…?” A few minutes had passed since Sophia left, and the duo still hadn't done anything other than looking at each other.

“You are free to suggest other activities or topics to talk about.” She had not averted her eyes for even a moment while replying.

“C-Can we talk about… Chloe?”

“What about my girl?” Fey had no intention of making it easy for her.

“…” The dog paused. “Alright… How about we talk about you instead?” She suddenly got brave.

“Me?” Even she had not seen that coming. “What is it you want to know about me?”

“As much as you’re willing to share! And then 7% on top of that!” She was getting really bold. “You’re the mother of my girlfriend, so I want to get to know you better, too! I want to get along with you if possible!”

“Wow.” The fox sounded actually impressed. "I can get behind your reasoning, so I have to give you that. Many things aside, that is.”

“What do I have to do for you to tolerate me?”

“Who said that I don’t?”

"Alright… what must I do for you to like me?” Steph changed her wording.

“…” Fey went silent.

“I am 100% certain that Chloe would love it if we were to get along. I would like it a lot, too. I still think you’re nice and you seem really interesting, too! A talking fox has been like a dream of mine! It’s absolutely fascinating! You seem super caring, as well. With the way how you do your best to protect Chloe! I know this is also why we had a rough start, but I want to get past that!”

“Mrmnn…” The fox started grumbling again.

“If anything, I really think you should be impressed by me!”

“How so?” Judging by her tone, Fey didn’t seem to agree.

“Because I undoubtedly have the best taste of anyone ever having existed since existing has become a thing!" Steph looked incredibly smug. “After all, I fell for your daughter!”

“Mrrmnn…” Her grumbling got louder.

“One might even argue that I might be the most amazing person in existence, as well!” The levels of her smugness managed to increase even more. “It’s wrong because that would be Chloe, but she chose and accepted me, and that does mean I have to be super amazing, right? You know Chloe the best, right? Would she date anyone that isn’t great?”

“You really are something else, girl.”

“I know~” She smiled at her. “Can you refute my claims, though?”

“I can not…” The fox let out a small sigh. “I would be denying Chloe’s ability to judge people and her intelligence, after all.”

“Hehe~.”

“Do you think your current approach to win me over, and the way you’re acting, is the way to go, though?” Fey intensified her stare again.

“Yes!” Steph seemed quite convinced of it. “I’m quite good at reading people, the fact you’re also a fox aside, and I’m absolutely sure that you like individuals that are confident about themselves.”

“Mrmnn…” She returned to grumbling.

“Am I wrong?”

"No, you are correct again." Fey looked at her. "I have a lot of respect for confident people who know what they want. I think it signalizes strength and is a formidable character trait.”

“Hehe.”

“Hubris is not a formidable trait, though.” Her gaze changed ever so slightly.

“I’m fine, then~.” Steph kept smiling. “I might be constantly overexcited, something I never plan to change, but while I try to push my limits, I want to grow, after all, I know where and what they are and am aware of where I have to stop.” She paused for a moment. "Except for when Sophia disappeared because I completely ignored everything, and my only goal was to find her. But even there, while I know that I overdid it, the only thing I would’ve changed in retrospect would be to go even harder. She’s my sister, after all. Going harder than you ever could, not caring about any kind of pain, and ignoring any reason in order to find her was the very least I could’ve done.”

“…” The feeling around the fox changed yet again. “You know… Before I tell you more about me and we talk about Chloe, how about you tell me more about you first?” She sounded ever so slightly intrigued.

“Sure!” Naturally, the dog-girl immediately jumped at the chance to sell herself. “Is there anything specific you want to hear? My childhood was nothing out of the ordinary, though. Even when we put into account that we’re from different worlds.”

“Whatever you think is the most beneficial to tell the mother of your girlfriend.” There was a slight hint of sarcasm in Fey’s voice.

“Right! Good point!” She scratched her cheek before continuing. “I guess it’s probably best to start with when my sister became an idiot.”

“Your sister?”

“Yeah… I don’t know how much Chloe has told you about our old world from her memories, but being different there can be… difficult, to say the least. Compared to paradise, this world, that is, not exclusively liking the opposite sex, is rather rare and, in a lot of unfortunate cases, quite looked down on. To use friendly words… Downplaying it, too…" She let out a short sigh before focusing again. "Sophia hadn’t taken the revelation of being different well, as she likes girls and made many mistakes because of it. She didn’t want to be different and started distancing herself from other girls to ignore it. It ended up being so bad that she actually became afraid of them and was unable to even speak with girls. Unfortunately, she’s three years older, so the damage was already long gone before I realized what was going on. The whole concept doesn’t make much sense before you hit puberty and feelings start to happen, after all.”

"I seriously hate your world." The fox had a very clear opinion on it. "I told Chloe the same when she recalled her memories. I'm sorry if that is offensive, but that's how I feel."

“Offensive?” Steph tilted her head. “You don’t want to know what I think about that world. Sure, I can’t deny that humanity made some amazing achievements in many areas, many of which fill me with awe, but they’re the ABSOLUTE worse in many other things. Some are, at least. Why do you think I call this place paradise?”

“I see. Go on, then.”

“Where was I…?” She needed a moment to get back on track. “Right, once I had my, uhh… sexual awakening or how you want to call it, and realized that I also only like girls, it immediately became apparent to me what Sophia was suffering from. I was doing better with it because I’ve always been pretty open with everything, and I even had a friend during that time who was the same as me, and we were able to help each other out. Knowing what was going on with my sister and how sad she had become, my highest priority naturally became to help her, too."

“That’s a very honorable decision. I only have praise for that.”

“Ehehe~.” The dog liked her reaction a lot. “Well, I tried my best to help her and even asked a friend to support me to get her used to girls again, but... I think I had made it a little worse back then... Thanks to that, because of how much I love my sister, I decided to just be there for her whenever she needed me. And even more so if she said she didn't because those were the times she needed me the most. Sisters aside, we became best friends, and I really enjoyed being with her. That really formed my personality, as well, because I started to love taking care of people and helping out whenever I could. My friends used to call me the most reliable and caring person they had met, which made me really happy~. Well...” She made a short pause. “That’s until Sophia disappeared, and I later discovered she ended up in this world. I kinda disregarded everything and everyone in order to find her... I still don’t regret anything, and even ended up in paradise because of it!"

“Again, that is some amazing dedication.”

“I might be caring and all that, but I can be the most stubborn and obnoxious girl you ever meet, as well.”

“I’m not sure about that.” The fox shook her head. "I mean, Chloe's my daughter, and that's most definitely her thing."

“You better get used to two of those types in your life from now!” Steph got smug again. “And I’m much more of a handful than our favorite pink girl!”

“More like three...” She let out a small sigh. “Chloe inherited a lot of her personality from Mira... Well, she at least not inherited all of her mischievousnesses, so there's still that."

“Good news! If I’m not currently obsessed with anything, I’m basically always mischievous!”

“Great...” She didn’t sound too happy, though.

The duo kept chatting for a good while longer and actually seemed to bond reasonably well after their first slightly unfortunate meeting. As Fey had to accept that Steph was someone very dear to her daughter, she tried her best to get to know her better. It helped that she thought that the dog-girl had some genuinely interesting bits to her. In the end, she even invited her to dinner, where they could continue their conversation. Once they were gone, Sophia finally left the kitchen again. She had been very hungry, after all. It definitely was not because she didn’t want to disturb them.