Steph was already feeling right at home in the new world and kept learning new things that made her love it even more. For example, she was a big fan of there being absolutely no discrimination when it came to one’s sexuality, as there was no main preference more popular than the other. Same-sex couples being able to have children together was the icing on the cake for her. She liked everything so much that she even got angry at Sophia for having kept this world a secret for so long.
Just as much she was interested in the world, Steph was also curious about the pink-haired fox-girl she already was getting along with great, even after their somewhat embarrassing start where the shorter blonde couldn’t hold back her curiosity about the other’s tail. As she wanted to know more about her, Steph just kept asking question after question about her.
“I’m still curious about you having lived or are living two lives, though...” The shorter blonde was still busy with the fox-girl. "Does that mean you're actually much older than you look, or how does that work...?”
“Hmm... It maybe depends on how you define age? Personally, I definitely see myself as 19 years old. A far from mature 19-year-old, I want to add!"
“You’re 19 right now?!” Steph looked surprised. “You look a bit younger! Only a year younger than me, that’s great!”
“Uhh, Steph... you’re also 19 again now.” Sophia interrupted her.
“I turned 20 a little while ago, though?” She tilted her head. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“The year in this world has 380 days, so 15 days more than our old one. If we convert our age, I’m actually 22 again, while you would be 19.”
“Ohh!” She liked the sound of that. “Even better, that means we're the same age, then?" Her smile got even brighter. "If the old world life doesn't count? You still look younger, though!”
"I can't say I see much of an age difference between you two..." Maya tilted her head while looking at the duo.
“Yeah,” Sophia nodded a few times. “Steph, you always looked younger than you actually are.”
“I’ve heard that more than once, yeah... I guess that’s fair. Feels weird to hear that from someone who actually got a few years younger, turned into half a tiger, and changed basically all of her measurements, though.” Steph stared at a very specific part of Sophia’s body. “Sis, I don’t vividly remember the younger you, but I do remember that you had your growth spurt pretty late in life. I remember because I was hoping for the same, but I only got half of one! At best...” She stared down at herself in the end.
“Eh? You look great, though?” Chloe jumped in on that. “You are definitely in no need of growing more.”
“Hmm...?” The shorter blonde then mustered the fox-girl. “You might not be the ideal advocate when it comes talking about growth spurts...”
“H-Hey!” She followed her line of sight, which ended on her chest, and got loud. "Yes, I had a big growth in that place, but I'm still super short! Also, medium chests are great!”
“Oh, I see.” Steph seemed surprisingly alright with that reply. "So, sis, what's up with your growth? Is that also a tiger thing?”
"S-Sure..." Sophia's eyes immediately started swimming while she couldn't look at her. "T-Tiger thing, yeah... Yep."
“...” Chloe stared at her, as well. "So, it is possible to adjust your body with magic, after all?! I mean, it was obvious after you two turned to humans, but that’s it, isn’t it?” It wasn't hard to interpret that reply and reaction.
"A-A definite maybe...”
“What a sly girl!” Steph looked a little envious. “Maya, did you know that she adjusted her body?!”
“It was her idea in the first place!” The taller blonde got loud. “Maya wanted more to play with every now and then, and eventually, I made some slight permanent changes to my chest..."
"A-Ahaha...” The cat-girl just awkwardly rubbed the back of her head with one hand. She obviously regretted nothing.
"..." Steph and Chloe first glanced at each other before staring at the couple. "You two really are made for each other..."
"Ehehe~." It was a compliment to them.
“Well, it’s good to know who to ask when it’s time for me to get animal features! Seems like we have an expert when it comes to adjusting your body!”
“S-Sure...” Sophia had nothing to say here.
“Do you want to change your actual body, too...?” Chloe faced Steph again.
“Nah, not really. Okay, maybe my hair, but I like being slightly shorter, and my sizes work plenty well! I'm sure she can teach me all those other things, though!"
“Great!” The fox-girl sounded a lot happier again.
“Hehe.” Somehow, Steph seemed to like her reaction. “Anyway, back to before, why do you feel like you're still 19, regardless of having lived for more years in one way or another?”
“Let’s see... First, do I act or look like I’m 30+?”
“Not at all!”
“Thank you very much!” Chloe was happy with that reply. “In my old world, my life ended with 14. I'm already 5 years older, and I feel 14+ is much more important than everything below.”
“I can see that, yeah.”
“Also, I didn’t have the memories of my old world the moment I reincarnated here. I wasn’t a super intelligent baby that could already speak, do math, or have memories of the future or, rather, past me... While growing up, I learned bits of my old self when it happened in the past. For example, when I was two, I started to remember a few fairy tales, and once I told Feyfey, I had her tell me them all the time~. Something like that was an actual plus. Other memories were completely useless. For example, before, I was already frail as a baby, so I got the memories of learning how to walk after I already could do that here... Not to mention that it was just bits as the memory of a baby is... well, exactly that...”
“Oh, that must’ve been weird...”
“Not as weird as reliving the memories of old me dying.”
"A-Ah...” Steph wasn’t sure what to reply to that.
"Don't worry. I’m long over that already.” Chloe just smiled at her before continuing with her story. "My two lives were so different from each other, so it never felt like I lived the same life twice. Before, I was a frail girl who barely left the house; here, I am the very picture of health. I’m overflowing with energy, am super adventurous, and am always on the move while exploring one interesting place after another! If anything, it was more like watching a long-running series inside my head. The main character just happened to be the same as the current me... Well, it was pretty weird at times, but that’s my take on it. Mentally, I feel no older than I am right now. I never was, after all... It’s not like two ten-year-olds make one 20-year one, right? Not even with a long trenchcoat~.”
“Ahaha, that’s a good point!” The shorter blonde let out a chuckle at this very fitting description of the situation. “That’s good to hear! You being much older somehow would’ve been quite weird...”
“True! You don’t have to worry about that, though. I behave just like I look!”
“How does one behave adorable?” Steph tilted her head.
“You’ll see soon enough.” Maya and Sophia had the same reaction to her question.
"T-That's not what I meant!" The fox-girl got a little flustered.
“Ahh, I get it!” The shorter blonde just started smiling in return.
“Urgh...”
“That still means you left earth around 20 years ago, right? So much has happened since then!”
“Yeah, it’s good that she left before, huh?” The tiger had her own interpretation of her words.
“...” Steph paused for a moment. “T-True... but... but, that’s not what I meant! Technology, for example, made quite a leap since then, did it not?”
“Oh, that’s true!” The older sister nodded a few times. “I think most was already invented 20 years ago, but a lot of things have changed shape drastically since then. Even smartphones only became a thing when we grew up, after all.”
“Smartphones...?” Chloe looked confused. “Why would phones need to be smart...? You're supposed to call others with them, right?"
“...” The sisters paused for a moment. “Right... You can also use them to call others...”
“Ehh...?”
“Here!” Saying so, Steph grabbed into the big pocket of her hoodie and pulled out her smartphone. “That’s how mobile phones look nowadays.”
“How is that a phone? That’s just a shiny black brick...?”
“Ahaha...” The shorter blonde let out a chuckle before she turned on the display. “Better now? Ah, no service around here...”
“Well, duh...” Sophia rolled her eyes in response.
“Fair point...”
"Huh?!" Her eyes grew wide. "It's all a display?! How? So colorful, too! The displays I remember on phones were super small and also black-and-white. Also, where are the buttons...?"
“Well, you really left earth 20 years ago.” Saying so, Steph swiped around on the screen a few times before opening the phone app. “Any better now?”
“Eh? Now it looks like a phone… kinda? It changed when you touched it?”
“Yep, it’s a touchscreen, after all. Stuff with many buttons has become rare because everything is now basically the same thing with a big screen of varying sizes."
“That’s sooo cool!”
“You can even take photos or play games with your phone.”
“Why would you need to do that with a phone…?”
“Because why not…?”
“Good argument!” That was all Chloe needed.
“Nowadays, the actual ability to use your phone for calls has become the least important for many."
“I see…?”
“Taking pictures or videos of absolutely everything is much more important, for example!” Steph opened the camera app and took a quick picture of the couple cuddling on the sofa across the duo. “See?”
“Woah, so quick! It looks amazing, too! I never would’ve expected such a small device to take such great pictures!” The fox girl got a little closer to get a better look.
“The phone also has a camera at the front to take pictures of yourself or together with friends while being able to look at the display.”
“Really?”
“Yup!” Nodding once, the shorter blonde switched cameras. Afterward, she shuffled around a bit, got closer to the fox-girl, and lightly pressed the side of her face against the other girl's. "Now, look as cute as possible! Not that that would be hard for you~.”
“Eh, ah… sure!” Changing her expression to a gentle smile while she also moved her face a little closer to Steph, Chloe tried to look as cute as she could as she mustered the screen.
“Perfect!” Immediately after, she matched her expression and took a nice picture of the duo. “It turned out great!” Steph directly opened the gallery afterward.
“Y-Yes, it did!” Chloe felt the same.
“Now, you can even play around with it!” Sounding quite excited, the little sister made some slight edits to the picture, like adding some stars and heart stickers in the corners.
“Phones are amazing!”
“I know, right?!” She nodded a few times. “You can even set it as your phone background and be able to look at it from anywhere." Saying so, she did just that and then shortly locked the phone. After she activated the screen again, the phone now showed Steph and Chloe having their cheeks pressed together while also lightly leaning against each other on the sofa. The rest of the picture behind them was covered by the fox-girl's tail, and a few small pink hearts could be seen in the corners. “It’s super cute, isn’t it?!”
“Y-Yes!”
While still sitting as close as possible together, Steph then continued to explain to Chloe how a smartphone worked while also taking a few more pictures of them together. Afterward, she also gave her a brief update on how much things like computers or the internet have changed since the time the fox-girl had left earth.
Steph was already feeling right at home in the new world and kept learning new things that made her love it even more. For example, she was a big fan of there being absolutely no discrimination when it came to one’s sexuality, as there was no main preference more popular than the other. Same-sex couples being able to have children together was the icing on the cake for her. She liked everything so much that she even got angry at Sophia for having kept this world a secret for so long.
Just as much she was interested in the world, Steph was also curious about the pink-haired fox-girl she already was getting along with great, even after their somewhat embarrassing start where the shorter blonde couldn’t hold back her curiosity about the other’s tail. As she wanted to know more about her, Steph just kept asking question after question about her.
“I’m still curious about you having lived or are living two lives, though...” The shorter blonde was still busy with the fox-girl. "Does that mean you're actually much older than you look, or how does that work...?”
“Hmm... It maybe depends on how you define age? Personally, I definitely see myself as 19 years old. A far from mature 19-year-old, I want to add!"
“You’re 19 right now?!” Steph looked surprised. “You look a bit younger! Only a year younger than me, that’s great!”
“Uhh, Steph... you’re also 19 again now.” Sophia interrupted her.
“I turned 20 a little while ago, though?” She tilted her head. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“The year in this world has 380 days, so 15 days more than our old one. If we convert our age, I’m actually 22 again, while you would be 19.”
“Ohh!” She liked the sound of that. “Even better, that means we're the same age, then?" Her smile got even brighter. "If the old world life doesn't count? You still look younger, though!”
"I can't say I see much of an age difference between you two..." Maya tilted her head while looking at the duo.
“Yeah,” Sophia nodded a few times. “Steph, you always looked younger than you actually are.”
“I’ve heard that more than once, yeah... I guess that’s fair. Feels weird to hear that from someone who actually got a few years younger, turned into half a tiger, and changed basically all of her measurements, though.” Steph stared at a very specific part of Sophia’s body. “Sis, I don’t vividly remember the younger you, but I do remember that you had your growth spurt pretty late in life. I remember because I was hoping for the same, but I only got half of one! At best...” She stared down at herself in the end.
“Eh? You look great, though?” Chloe jumped in on that. “You are definitely in no need of growing more.”
“Hmm...?” The shorter blonde then mustered the fox-girl. “You might not be the ideal advocate when it comes talking about growth spurts...”
“H-Hey!” She followed her line of sight, which ended on her chest, and got loud. "Yes, I had a big growth in that place, but I'm still super short! Also, medium chests are great!”
“Oh, I see.” Steph seemed surprisingly alright with that reply. "So, sis, what's up with your growth? Is that also a tiger thing?”
"S-Sure..." Sophia's eyes immediately started swimming while she couldn't look at her. "T-Tiger thing, yeah... Yep."
“...” Chloe stared at her, as well. "So, it is possible to adjust your body with magic, after all?! I mean, it was obvious after you two turned to humans, but that’s it, isn’t it?” It wasn't hard to interpret that reply and reaction.
"A-A definite maybe...”
“What a sly girl!” Steph looked a little envious. “Maya, did you know that she adjusted her body?!”
“It was her idea in the first place!” The taller blonde got loud. “Maya wanted more to play with every now and then, and eventually, I made some slight permanent changes to my chest..."
"A-Ahaha...” The cat-girl just awkwardly rubbed the back of her head with one hand. She obviously regretted nothing.
"..." Steph and Chloe first glanced at each other before staring at the couple. "You two really are made for each other..."
"Ehehe~." It was a compliment to them.
“Well, it’s good to know who to ask when it’s time for me to get animal features! Seems like we have an expert when it comes to adjusting your body!”
“S-Sure...” Sophia had nothing to say here.
“Do you want to change your actual body, too...?” Chloe faced Steph again.
“Nah, not really. Okay, maybe my hair, but I like being slightly shorter, and my sizes work plenty well! I'm sure she can teach me all those other things, though!"
“Great!” The fox-girl sounded a lot happier again.
“Hehe.” Somehow, Steph seemed to like her reaction. “Anyway, back to before, why do you feel like you're still 19, regardless of having lived for more years in one way or another?”
“Let’s see... First, do I act or look like I’m 30+?”
“Not at all!”
“Thank you very much!” Chloe was happy with that reply. “In my old world, my life ended with 14. I'm already 5 years older, and I feel 14+ is much more important than everything below.”
“I can see that, yeah.”
“Also, I didn’t have the memories of my old world the moment I reincarnated here. I wasn’t a super intelligent baby that could already speak, do math, or have memories of the future or, rather, past me... While growing up, I learned bits of my old self when it happened in the past. For example, when I was two, I started to remember a few fairy tales, and once I told Feyfey, I had her tell me them all the time~. Something like that was an actual plus. Other memories were completely useless. For example, before, I was already frail as a baby, so I got the memories of learning how to walk after I already could do that here... Not to mention that it was just bits as the memory of a baby is... well, exactly that...”
“Oh, that must’ve been weird...”
“Not as weird as reliving the memories of old me dying.”
"A-Ah...” Steph wasn’t sure what to reply to that.
"Don't worry. I’m long over that already.” Chloe just smiled at her before continuing with her story. "My two lives were so different from each other, so it never felt like I lived the same life twice. Before, I was a frail girl who barely left the house; here, I am the very picture of health. I’m overflowing with energy, am super adventurous, and am always on the move while exploring one interesting place after another! If anything, it was more like watching a long-running series inside my head. The main character just happened to be the same as the current me... Well, it was pretty weird at times, but that’s my take on it. Mentally, I feel no older than I am right now. I never was, after all... It’s not like two ten-year-olds make one 20-year one, right? Not even with a long trenchcoat~.”
“Ahaha, that’s a good point!” The shorter blonde let out a chuckle at this very fitting description of the situation. “That’s good to hear! You being much older somehow would’ve been quite weird...”
“True! You don’t have to worry about that, though. I behave just like I look!”
“How does one behave adorable?” Steph tilted her head.
“You’ll see soon enough.” Maya and Sophia had the same reaction to her question.
"T-That's not what I meant!" The fox-girl got a little flustered.
“Ahh, I get it!” The shorter blonde just started smiling in return.
“Urgh...”
“That still means you left earth around 20 years ago, right? So much has happened since then!”
“Yeah, it’s good that she left before, huh?” The tiger had her own interpretation of her words.
“...” Steph paused for a moment. “T-True... but... but, that’s not what I meant! Technology, for example, made quite a leap since then, did it not?”
“Oh, that’s true!” The older sister nodded a few times. “I think most was already invented 20 years ago, but a lot of things have changed shape drastically since then. Even smartphones only became a thing when we grew up, after all.”
“Smartphones...?” Chloe looked confused. “Why would phones need to be smart...? You're supposed to call others with them, right?"
“...” The sisters paused for a moment. “Right... You can also use them to call others...”
“Ehh...?”
“Here!” Saying so, Steph grabbed into the big pocket of her hoodie and pulled out her smartphone. “That’s how mobile phones look nowadays.”
“How is that a phone? That’s just a shiny black brick...?”
“Ahaha...” The shorter blonde let out a chuckle before she turned on the display. “Better now? Ah, no service around here...”
“Well, duh...” Sophia rolled her eyes in response.
“Fair point...”
"Huh?!" Her eyes grew wide. "It's all a display?! How? So colorful, too! The displays I remember on phones were super small and also black-and-white. Also, where are the buttons...?"
“Well, you really left earth 20 years ago.” Saying so, Steph swiped around on the screen a few times before opening the phone app. “Any better now?”
“Eh? Now it looks like a phone… kinda? It changed when you touched it?”
“Yep, it’s a touchscreen, after all. Stuff with many buttons has become rare because everything is now basically the same thing with a big screen of varying sizes."
“That’s sooo cool!”
“You can even take photos or play games with your phone.”
“Why would you need to do that with a phone…?”
“Because why not…?”
“Good argument!” That was all Chloe needed.
“Nowadays, the actual ability to use your phone for calls has become the least important for many."
“I see…?”
“Taking pictures or videos of absolutely everything is much more important, for example!” Steph opened the camera app and took a quick picture of the couple cuddling on the sofa across the duo. “See?”
“Woah, so quick! It looks amazing, too! I never would’ve expected such a small device to take such great pictures!” The fox girl got a little closer to get a better look.
“The phone also has a camera at the front to take pictures of yourself or together with friends while being able to look at the display.”
“Really?”
“Yup!” Nodding once, the shorter blonde switched cameras. Afterward, she shuffled around a bit, got closer to the fox-girl, and lightly pressed the side of her face against the other girl's. "Now, look as cute as possible! Not that that would be hard for you~.”
“Eh, ah… sure!” Changing her expression to a gentle smile while she also moved her face a little closer to Steph, Chloe tried to look as cute as she could as she mustered the screen.
“Perfect!” Immediately after, she matched her expression and took a nice picture of the duo. “It turned out great!” Steph directly opened the gallery afterward.
“Y-Yes, it did!” Chloe felt the same.
“Now, you can even play around with it!” Sounding quite excited, the little sister made some slight edits to the picture, like adding some stars and heart stickers in the corners.
“Phones are amazing!”
“I know, right?!” She nodded a few times. “You can even set it as your phone background and be able to look at it from anywhere." Saying so, she did just that and then shortly locked the phone. After she activated the screen again, the phone now showed Steph and Chloe having their cheeks pressed together while also lightly leaning against each other on the sofa. The rest of the picture behind them was covered by the fox-girl's tail, and a few small pink hearts could be seen in the corners. “It’s super cute, isn’t it?!”
“Y-Yes!”
While still sitting as close as possible together, Steph then continued to explain to Chloe how a smartphone worked while also taking a few more pictures of them together. Afterward, she also gave her a brief update on how much things like computers or the internet have changed since the time the fox-girl had left earth.
