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A partially-awkward half-day later.
Jacinto sighs softly as he closes the door behind himself and Rowan as they come back to Jac's home. While the trip for pizza and shopping started in a good mood, and largely stayed that way, there was this unspoken, but very felt tension of people staring, or feeling like they would stare if they so much as held hands. They settled to touching each other only when out of sight of others, those brief moments sparking the energy to continue. At the pizzeria they stayed mostly on neutral topics, not daring to bring up most of what's they've been thinking and feeling in the last week.
A veritable mountain of sweets and snacks and drinks in tow, they made their escape after doing groceries, not really feeling like staying for a coffee or anything afterwards.
"And we're back, ladies and gentlemen." He blinks, then chuckles: "...so that's us."
Rowan chuckles, his shoulders visibly relaxing as the door shuts behind them. "That is indeed us, isn't it? Gentlemen and... And ladies."
He walks towards the kitchen table with his bags full of junk food and hefts them up onto the table. "Did we go overboard? Kinda feels like we went overboard."
Jacinto gives a wry chuckle as he drops a bag on the kitchen table and starts sorting it out: "I'd rather go overboard, and anything we don't use today, I'm sure we can find an appropriate use for later. If I have to, I will sacrifice for greater good and eat donuts."
He turns to Rowan with a smile: "And yeah, we are kind of both right now... suppose that's the continuing project, besides feeding goodies for each other - figuring all of that stuff out. I have no idea where I stand with all that..."
Rowan blushes at Jac's words, nodding awkwardly. "Y-yeah. I don't really know what to even call myself right now. Is it weird that when this all started, my head was such a mess when we were our furselves... Now it feels the opposite."
Jacinto nods, leaning on the table and picking up a chocolate bar: "Myeah. It's... calling ourselves 'just' guys is not really all that accurate, but neither are we just Cindi and Akari..."
Rowan nods hesitantly, looking down at the pile of temptations, "... I'm definitely not... Well..." He pauses, then shakes his head. "I don't even know."
Jacinto nods with a small sigh. "Yeah, pretty much that." He steps closer and touches his hand to Rowan's shoulder: "We'll figure it out in time, I guess."
Rowan turns to smile at Jac', feeling buoyed by his touch, "And figuring it out together does make it a lot easier to look ahead, I admit. I couldn't do this alone."
He laughs, "I'd have shut myself into my house and called in dead to work and hid myself away never to see the light of day again."
Jacinto hums, giving a soft, lopsided smile: "...yeah, sounds about right. Living off of contactless door delivery for the rest of our lives."
Rowan sighs, but ends up reaching his hand to rest on Jac's a moment. "Thankfully we've at least avoided that fate. I just... I have no idea what fate actually does await us."
Jacinto shrugs: "Tonight? Food and more... getting a feel for where we are, probably. Maybe in-fur, maybe out of it, maybe a bit of both?"
Rowan hums, "Maybe... Maybe both, yeah. Wouldn't say no to just snuggling up like this, if you wanted."
Jacinto mm's: "Yeah... me neither, I think. I guess we'll have time to find out. Want to pop some snacks and watch something silly, for once actually watch stuff and not just glance inbetween sewing or glueing?"
Rowan chuckles, reaching out for a bag of pretzels, "Sounds good. Though, maybe we'll have to pick up some new hobby eventually."
Jacinto hums: "Mm, maybe. Probably." He picks up a bag of chips and heads towards the living room space: "But first, some couch occupation and some feelgood to watch. Your pick."
Rowan follows after, trying to think, "Uhh... shoot, Jac', you know I'm no good at choosing. Maybe something silly? Nothing too sad, umm..."
Jacinto shrugs: "We can do a silly." He puts on the tv and flops on the couch, using the tablet he has connected to it for picking a movie. "I'll pick something out of the Disney Renaissance at random that's not called Mulan cause it hits a bit too close to home right now I think."
Rowan hums, "Sounds good to me. You know my digital media library is somewhat lacking the depth of your own." His own library is mostly obscure comedies, a lot on DVD, which makes them hard to bring along anywhere.
Jacinto pats the spot next to him on the couch: "Come on. Let's watch a movie together, like we did last night."
Rowan nods with a wide grin on his face. He turns and sits down, with a little distance between him and Jac at first, but he quickly leans against Jac' in a similar fashion to how Akari leaned against Cindi the previous night. "Hmmmm Like this?"
Jacinto gives Rowan's side a bit of a squeeze, and perhaps to both of their surprise... it doesn't feel that different as a gesture now, compared to being in-fur. "Yeah... like this."
Rowan lets out a giggle, relaxing against Jac'. "A-alright... I... kinda... I like it. Feels cozy, pretty much the same as before."
Jacinto smirks: "We're a bit more bony and considerably less fluffy, but I suppose it has its' own charm, in a way." He hums, wheels once again turning even as he touches Rowan to the side: "It's more... stronger, in a way. Immediate. Right?"
Rowan hums, "Yeah, a bit. Warmer? But not as soft... I mean, we have clothes on now too, but, it still feels... right."
Jacinto nods with a smile, and leans for a kiss on Rowan's cheek. Really just channeling what Cindi would do... which in turn is really just doing what Jacinto would do. "Pretty much."
Rowan simply melts into Jacinto's side, taking a deep breath as he relaxes, his cheeks going red at the kiss. "I... am okay with that. Part of me worries that something about me is wrong in all this... I keep worrying about something going wrong... but you do make it hard to worry when you're right here besides me."
Jacinto gives a soft chuckle: "I do too worry. But... even if something goes wrong, like Rowena not finding us in time..." He looks at Rowan: "...I don't think what goes wrong is the us part of the equation, if that makes sense."
Rowan sighs, thinking, "I don't know... I mean, you're right. I... n-, no you're right." He glances up at Jac', "It's a lot of self doubts, I guess. I mean, it always has been, just, now they feel a lot more present. Maybe I'm just being more vulnerable with you..."
Jacinto squirms his hand behind Rowan's back: "...yeah, same here. Really I'm just..." He pauses, seemingly settling on words before speaking: "...I'm doing what Cindi would want to do with Akari, what... what Cindi did do with Akari last night... or, to be more blunt, what we did last night."
Rowan giggles, "I thought you wanted to watch the movie?"
She... he sighs. "But, yeah. I guess what I want and what Akari wants aren't all that different either."
Jacinto uses his fingers to poke at the middle of Rowan's back: "You know what I meant, dork." He smiles: "The way I see it now, while our furselves feel different, it's... differences in flavor and intensity, but not what we want."
Rowan nods, grinning at the poke. "It does seem that way yeah. Don't know if that's because of us, or them. But we keep thinking there's less of them in 'them' and more of us anyways. That all kinda makes some kind of sense now too... Ha..." She shifts to snuggle closer to Jac', leaning up to kiss his cheek.
Jacinto giggles at the kiss: "It does, at least on some sort of way." He sighs happily, then finally puts the Hunchback of Notre Dame on. "You know it feels almost wrong not to be crafting something while we watch a movie."
Rowan settles back down to watch the opening of the movie, "Yeah... like I said, we could always find another hobby? We do both like crafting stuff, afterall."
Jacinto nods, then seems to just listen to the intro of the movie happily for a moment. He then blinks: "O-oh. You know what we never... did, with our costumes, but we played with the idea?"
Rowan shifts to look up, some idea of what Jacinto's idea is as he grins, "Oh? Hmmm?"
Jacinto smiles, with just a bit of a blush, but also that spark of excitement he gets. "Dresses. Or really, any clothing, but... you know."
Rowan shifts up on the couch, very excited, "Yes, exactly! You know, it would actually be a lot easier to make now with them having more accurate measurements."
Jacinto nods, smirking: "So you've also been thinking about this. Then we are agreed. We try to put our not-insubstantial sewing skills to a different use." He turns back to the movie, though leans on Rowan all the same.
Rowan nods, putting an arm around Jacinto as he turns back to the movie as well, "Yeah, it was a thought. If we're not focused on the suits and making the suits better... we can always focus on accessories and outfits that make us even cuter."
Jacinto nods: "I'm pretty sure Cindi... that is, I would love to have one of those dresses that like, look like corset dresses, but are actually very comfy to wear." He blushes slightly at the notion of being excited for a dress, but it is a fleeting feeling.
Rowan chuckles, "Guess it actually matters that they properly fit and such too, since we'll actually be wearing them and need them to be comfy and not just sitting over top of the suit."
Jacinto hums: "Far as I have understood from our more feminine cosplaying colleagues, wearing anything that causes your boobs to be squished is not, in fact, fun." He lifts a hand in the air: "And quite obviously, that is now our concern even if it doesn't show to non-furs as one."
Rowan shifts back, thinking, "So... what even is our cup size like that?"
Jacinto blinks. "...good question. I know nothing about cup sizes."
Rowan shrugs as well, "I uh, guess I don't either. Things to learn that I never really imagined I would..."
Jacinto gives a soft laugh: "There's gonna be a lot of that in our near future, whether or not we aim for it." He gives Rowan's side a squeeze.
Rowan hums, squeezing Jac' in turn, "Guess so, huh? I... I'm fine with that though."
Jacinto nods: "...so am I. It's fun learning new things." He follows the movie for a few moments again. "...I never headcanoned it as such, but I wouldn't hold it impossible for Cindi to know some sewing."
Rowan thinks for a moment, "Well... don't know about Akari... but as usual, she'd be excited to learn."
Jacinto smiles: "Well, we agree on that. And it's something to research that I can poke at outside of the RFC channels..."
Rowan hums, watching the movie as one of the songs begins. As it ends, she nods, "I'm feeling it. And I mean, we're already going to be spending this time together. I like working on stuff like that with you."
Jacinto smiles: "Me too. We'd have to find something to work on together anyway, I think, we just kind of... work, that kind of way."
Rowan nods, poking Jac', "It's one of the best parts of being together... I mean, as friends, right? So why not as we grow closer, we should keep working off one another's creativity."
Jacinto smiles some more: "Well I certainly can't go denying that, can I. So yeah, why not consider putting together outfits for - well - us?"
Rowan giggles, turning back to the movie a moment. "So... something like that would be pretty cute on Cindi..." He points to Esmeralda. "We could do seperate stuff, or matching even. I can definately say that Akari would think it pretty cute to have matching outfits."
Jacinto hums: "Mmm... maaaybe. Not quite my kind of..." He pauses. "...do I have a kind of dress I like? Hmm."
Rowan responds just a touch too fast, "Maid dresses for me. Or uh, anything frilly and cute and... uh... not that I've thought on this."
Jacinto smirks at his friend and pokes him on the shoulder. "Clearly. Obviously, even."
Rowan coughs, face red, "Y-yes, well... If, for instance, Akari was dressed as a maid... you'd probably get a lot of looks in a matching one, but maybe that's not your style."
Jacinto pauses. "Mm... I don't know. Maybe?" He considers: "...never really thought about maid outfits in a way where I'd be the one wearing any, at any rate..."
Rowan shrugs, "We'll have time to do some investigating and see what fits Cindi's style. For Akari... it's definitely maybe a little ornate. And a bit... covering. Poor girl is a bit shy after all."
Jacinto hums: "Mm, funny how that works." He blinks. "Also... how the concept of nudity even works when we're in fur..."
Rowan chuckles, "Never even thought about it before, until you know... and then when we found out we actually had everything... err... do we have everything? like that?" He sits back, feeling that same strange discomfort in himself.
Jacinto blinks, blushing a bit. "You know..." He runs his mouth a couple of times, before glancing towards the stairs, where the costumes are resting in his bedroom still. He whispers after swallowing: "...I don't think we... really... looked at that."
He turns back to Rowan with an expression that kind of says volumes about the fear and curiosity fighting for dominance about this.
Rowan shakes his head, very distracted from the movie now. He swallows, words catching in his throat, "I haven't checked either, no..."
Jacinto hesitates, before voicing the thought now undoubtedly in both of of their minds: "...d-do you want to?"
Rowan slowly nods, "I'm not sure if I want to find something there or not... but the question is going to keep bothering me until we know for sure."
Jacinto nods in agreement. "... Yeah, pretty much. We didn't do anything of the sort into the costumes of course, but... I have a feeling that doesn't matter much here."
Rowan smiles awkwardly, "No... but we didn't build a lot of things into the costumes that we can do now. I mean, the boobs are real boobs..." He feels his heart quicken at the thought of all of this, out of fear or something else as he looks down at his body.
Jacinto nods again, feeling his own heart beat faster as well. "Very real... i-it feels, they feel good, and..." He glances at the movie to have something else to look at for a second. "...yeah, we got to know, don't we."
Rowan nods, "I... I do. Yeah. Guessing you're feeling the same. That deep uncertainty... but also like... this strong sense of something, like, in my heart." He sighs, managing a smile, "It's so confusing, but I do. I have to know. Sorry."
Jacinto hums, then smirks and pokes Rowan on the shoulder: "No being sorry." He starts to get up, offering his hand to his boyfriend: "C'mon. Let's go figure this out."
Rowan chuckles, taking Jac's hand to help get him up out of the couch, and using that moment to lean in and kiss Jac' bashfully, "Alright."
Jacinto blushes at the kiss, but returns it all the same. "Cheeky. Thankfully, I like it." He leads the way upstairs. "I have some idea on what to expect... I just don't know what I am supposed to think about that."
Rowan nods, following while still holding Jac's hand, "Y-yeah... same. I mean, it won't feel any different than it has already right? But somehow..."
Jacinto swallows and nods as they get up to the landing: "...yeah." He almost starts saying something else, but all thoughts seem to be overridden by their current query. Or rather what happens when they likely find what they expect to find...
Rowan glances at Jacinto expectantly, but with no further words incoming, he lets it drop for the moment, his own nerves pretty on edge. He walks to the bed, letting go of Jac's hand to pick up Akari nervously, "Ha... wh-why am I so excited and afraid about this..."
Jacinto takes a small breath as he picks up Cindi's bodysuit. "...probably because it feels pretty big, d-doesn't it." He feels the soft fur, that once again feels like fake fur before putting the suit on, but by now he knows that will not be the case. He tried to pick up a single strand of hair when he was Cindi last time, and the fur is in fact, very real.
Rowan nods, "F-feels really big... it does. I don't fully know why, but... it absolutely does." He swallows, thinking back to the saying. "One's true self..."
Jacinto swallows: "Yeah... when you put it like that. When we made these... was there any wishful thinking involved?" He starts putting the costume on instead of delving further into the answer of that question. Mostly because he knows it and is not sure what to do with said knowledge.
Rowan hums, hesitating if just to show he's not too eager to get back into the suit. But still, he slips it on with ease, "...I don't know, I never really wished to be a woman... I don't think so, anyways..."
Jacinto nods as he slips into the suit: "I... I think I know what you mean. I didn't wish any of this, not this viscerally, but..." He flexes a paw once he's in the suit properly. "...it's kinda getting impossible to deny that this feels so good..."
He swallows and glances down, and just as he very well knows, there's nothing in the costume's crotch.
Rowan nods as he finishes zipping up the back, "I guess it really is, huh? I... I mean, I... I feel... good. Even just going this far, I feel this sense washing over me that this is right. It sounds crazy but..." He shakes his head, lifting the head piece up off the bed.
Jacinto picks up Cindi's head, then nods as he looks at it. "Outside of curiosity, here we are again. And I admit... it is getting easier to just 'slip in'." He holds the head in one hand, admiring what is still largely his own handiwork, if enhanced by magic. "Maybe 'crazy' is the right term for a lot of it. Maybe... maybe I don't really care."
Rowan frowns, thinking on those words. Is it too easy? Too addictive, being Akari. Maybe he should say something... but... he slips the head piece on, closing his eyes to wait a moment and open her eyes back up. "I don't think I care either. Maybe that's the crazy part. I like being Akari."
Jacinto puts the head on, letting out a breath as he does. Moment later Cindi opens her eyes, gasping a little. "...yeah. And depending who we ask, we already went over the proverbial threshold for crazy either at cosplaying or being gay."
She gives a little stretch, then smiles and steps closer to touch her paw to Akari's cheek. "If people knew, they'd just be jealous~."
Akari grins guiltily, the expression far more obvious on the much more expressive face, "I mean, I was always kinda crazy. And uh, always at least a little gay. Maybe more bi? I... I never really figured out what I was... I would have definitely been jealous of this, though." She leans in at the touch to press her forehead against Cindi's.
Cindi smiles as she leans. "For right now, I think I am gay for you in either form, and figure the rest later." She gives a soft, anticipatory sigh. "...okay. Time to explore the ignored, I think."
Akari laughs nervously through her blush, "Guess so, huh? I... I don't even know how to go about this? Should... we get some privacy or... that's a silly thought, isn't it?"
Cindi blinks, then laughs just as nervously: "Ahh, jeez... yeah." She sits down on the bed: "I guess you're not about to see anything that... well, I wouldn't have you see anyway." Her legs stay together for the moment, though, something about this is just so intensely anxious in a way.
Akari swallows nervously, painfully aware of this moment as well, "Y-yeah... I trust you. And if there is something there..." She already knows the answers, but there is still some uncertainty, "...you're the one I'd trust with it. Or I mean, with uh... y-you know. With me."
Cindi nods, then takes a breath as she leans back against the wall on the bed, then finally spreads her legs and looks down. And pretty much as she kind of already knew, there's definitely nothing male down there anymore. Of course she knew it before, on some level, but actually agreeing on it being a thing...
She carefully lowers a paw to near her new nethers almost entirely hidden by fur, and lets out a tiny gasp when her claw touches on an edge.
"...oh boy. O-or, really, not one."
Akari blushes hotly, standing besides the bed watching Cindi, her hoof wandering down between her own legs,"Y-yeah... not one at all... s-suppose it's no surprise..."
Her hoof slips in just past the outer lips. Her eyes go wide, "B-but... It sure is there, huh?"
Cindi swallows. "No denyin' that. We're ladies all the way down when we're in-fur." She looks at Akari, and for a moment the look in her glistening eyes is the same as with her losing it almost exactly a week ago.
Akari tears up as well, though her reaction may be coming from a different direction. "Y-yeah... yeah. Oh, oh gosh, Cindi... are... are you okay?" She pulls her hand up to step closer to the bed, reaching her hoof out to take Cindi's hand.
Cindi swallows again, then gasps a bit as she's just swallowing air. Belatedly she takes Akari's hand, her own paw shaking somewhat. "No, I... y-yes. Maybe." She gasps again. "I'm... I'm a woman." Her mind is running seemingly to all directions at once, and ends nowhere as a result.
Akari feels a shiver down her spine, "Only as Cindi... you can always turn back." She feels her heart racing, as she gets herself hyped up, "I- ...I'm a woman." She giggles, squeezing Cindi's hand. "I'm a woman."
Cindi blinks her teared-up eyes as she looks at Akari. "...y-yes. We, uh... are." She's not quite certain she understands how their reactions are this different, not that her mind is exactly in a state to parse much of anything. "I..." She trails off, not having much to go towards right now.
Akari blinks, looking back down at Cindi "I- O-oh I'm sorry, Cindi! ...Jac'. I... I'm here for you. I'm sorry. It's just... it's a lot. And, I know you know that too, of course... but... I... n-no. I'm here for you. As Akari, or as Rowan."
Cindi squeezes Akari's hand: "N-no, it's... I'm... I'm fine." She takes a deep breath, closing her eyes. "When I am Cindi, I am female. This is okay. It includes things I am not familiar with. This is also fine. I am Cindi, Cindi is me, and I will deal." She says the last word of the mantra just a bit forcefully, showing her teeth.
Akari pulls Cindi up into a tight hug. "I- I don't want you to deal... I want you to be Happy."
Cindi is surprised at this, but returns the hug after a moment, swallowing. "I k-know. And..." She hesitates. "...I am. I c-can't try to claim this makes me unhappy. Just..." She looks down past Akari's shoulder, sighing: "...it's just much."
Akari squeezes, before slowly easing up the hug to look Cindi in the eyes. "This weekend has been a lot. This whole past week has been! But... it's brought us that much closer, yeah? It's all felt... wonderful. But... maybe I'm in too deep... I almost worry I'm addicted to being Akari... like... I'd rather be this than be Rowan. I'd... I'd rather be a woman..."
Cindi sniffs, and manages a small smile: "Y-yeah... I've g-gotten the feeling that you feel stronger about being Akari than I do about b-being Cindi... n-not that I hate it just..." She blinks and parses the last thing Akari mentioned: "...you would rather be... o-oh."
Akari shrinks a little, looking away out of embarrassment, "It... it's not... I uh... m-maybe I shouldn't have said anything."
Cindi looks at her friend with a mix of emotions: "...I d-don't really... understand. But..." She pauses, hesitating: "...you're not sure what to think of this, either."
Akari shakes her head, "I... I don't. It's so confusing and intense and... I really don't know. S-sorry."
Cindi nods. "We're still us when we're furselves, but... maybe t-that itself needs to be flexible." Her eyes are still moist, she's still holding onto Akari, but now her mind is running again. "We m-may need to redefine what it means to be, well, us."
Akari slowly relaxes, easing herself into Cindi's grip. "Y-yeah... guess so, huh? It's all so confused in my head. I don't know who I really am... th-that stupid recital to take these off calling it our true forms..." She sighs.
Cindi nods with a sigh. "Yeah. It's hard, but... w-well, the way I see it, I think we both can agree that we want to do more than just show up to a few cons every year as furselves..."
Akari nods her head, smiling a little anxiously, "Y-yeah, guess so, huh?"
Cindi hesitates, then gives Akari's snout a small peck, even as she can't quite stop her tears. "Yes. I love this part too much be... denied by other parts."
Akari blushes, then leans in with her snout to back, "I... I do. I love this more than I think I should admit. But... I love you more. If you think we should slow down, we will. Whatever you need. Akari... Rowan... I am here for you."
Cindi swallows and her hands drop slightly lower but still embracing Akari's sides. "I just... I don't know which parts to accept, or how fast, or what to do about it. Not that I can change a lot of things, but... some. Maybe more." She looks back up: "...I feel lost."
Akari sighs, "I'm not helping much... I was cautious, and afraid... I wanted to hate this, or at least, feel like it was something simple, a costume to get in and out of for special occassions. Just like it used to be... but now I feel like I want to rush ahead and embrace all of this. It's... very un-Akari like, to be honest." She manages a soft smile, trying to cheer Cindi up.
Cindi finds a tiny bit of smile as she looks at her boy-girlfriend. "Y-yeah. You almost gave me whiplash with that."
Akari giggles, "Sorry... and I do hate seeing you so... uncertain? Cindi is the one who knows how to handle this kind of stuff. Though... when you're lost, it is Akari who has to swallow her fears and lead on. I love you too much to let you get lost... at least, not without me."
Cindi smiles, sniffing. "I try not to. I'm usually the bold one, b-but when something like this... stuns me, it really does that." She sighs softly: "You'll just have to let me take time to... figure out stuff."
Akari pats Cindi's back as she pulls her into another hug, "That I can do... I need plenty of it myself... I know what feels good, but... I don't know what I want to be... who I want to be. None of this makes sense. None of it except... you, and me..."
Cindi smiles as she closes her eyes and leans into the hug: "T-that's like the only part that was definitely, without any doubt, a right call~." She nuzzles against Akari's cheek.
Akari hums, nuzzling her snout against Cindi's ear. "That makes me feel so, so very happy. I... I'll try to push back on these feelings... stop rushing into it and walk with you on this journey, yeah?"
Cindi giggles nervously: "N-not like we can run that well with these legs, a-anyways." She leans onto Akari, sighing happily if somewhat shakily.
Akari giggles, holding Cindi close, "Hey, I'm the one who's out of shape. I might run better like this."
Cindi giggles, her mood slowly improving. "Touché." She squeezes at Akari's waist: "Just... you know, I gotta figure out-" She stops herself. "...maybe nothing right now. I'm way overthinking, aren't I?"
Akari hums, "We probably both are, in our own ways... we don't have to spend the night like this if you'd feel better about it."
Cindi hums, loosening the hug enough to look at Akari: "That's the billion dollar question, isn't it? I want to, you know I do, but now I'm afraid if that means admitting anything I am uncertain of..."
Akari smiles, "Then... we don't. If you're uncomfortable in any fashion, then we stop.
We can change back, go watch another movie... maybe actually finish the first one... and not think too hard about any of this."
Cindi nods, smiling warmly as she moves to take Akari's hands in her paws. "... Thank you. F-for right now, I think... Donuts and movie. Movies." She feels her heart skip a beat, but continues anyway. "... In fur. A-at least, as a start."
Akari squeezes Cindi's paw, "Donuts and movies are never complicated at least... if you're sure, let's head back."
Cindi hesitates, looking down at the bed for a moment. She swallows.
"I can't start fearing something I will anyway start wanting to do. I have to be that honest to myself." She turns to look at Akari with a tired smile: "Just stop me if I start going off the deep end of overthinking. Put a donut in my mouth or something."
Akari giggles just a bit, but ultimately nods in understanding. "I can do that for you."
Cindi smiles a bit shyly: "... Thank you."
Akari pecks Cindi on the snout once again, then starts to lead her back downstairs. "What am I here for, if not to keep you sane, love."
Cindi giggles, then steps forward to nuzzle behind Akari's ear. "Being cute, maybe~"
Akari's ear flicks at the touch, but the doe-dragon merely giggles as well, "I guess I can't deny that."
Cindi gives a very purposeful blow of air at the ear, then pulls back. "You can't. Cute was a goal in construction, and we definitely achieved that~"
Akari's ear flicks again, the doe letting out a quiet 'eep!' "Ahh! W-well... thank you. You weren't the target audience, well, not entirely. But you sorta are now."
Cindi blinks, then smiles: "Suppose you are right about that. I... do want to be cute for you. Fur or no fur."
Akari smiles back, tilting her head. "Yeah, me too. Maybe there is stuff I can do to be cuter without fur..." She trails off a bit, leaving that thought sitting a moment.
Cindi hums, not really having anything to add to that one way or another. Instead as they navigate the stairs down with their considerably bigger legs. ".... It's a lot of small things, all this, isn't it. Like figuring out how to move places."
Akari nods, similarly working to get her legs to navigate the stairs, "I mean, in a fursuit, this would be impossible. We do just keep finding little quirks of how things work though..."
Cindi nods as she makes her way down. "Y-yeah. It's... Fascinating." She turns to face Akari: "I can't deny this feels like it's the greatest thing to have happened to us, even while it scares me at points."
Akari reaches the bottom of the stairs and turns back to help Cindi down if she needs it, "Y-yeah... I know what you mean. If we could go back and change things so that we had the choice to accept this or not... I would absolutely want it."
Cindi takes Akari's hands even though she doesn't need to. She hesitates at the thought, but only for a second. "Yeah. I would as well, I'm pretty sure."
Akari smiles, taking Cindi's hand and bowing her head like she's presenting a Princess. "Now I'm just imagining you coming down the stairs of a convention in a big princess dress." She giggles, putting a hoof on her cheek, "Or maybe that's what I want to wear."
Cindi blinks and blushes at the thought. "Oh uh. Maybe that's just... You..." She trails off, pointedly not denying the idea if herself wearing a big and poofy dress...
Akari nods, "Ideas for crafting, then~"
Cindi laughs softly: "Noble goals, yes." She takes Akari's hand, leading the way back to the couch, where the movie is just about to reach the happy ending. "Guess we could pretty much restart this one..."
Akari frowns, "We didn't do a very good job of 'just watching the movie' this time, huh?" She carefully settles herself onto the couch, her bigger form a little harder to make comfortable, especially with the tail.
Cindi sits down, then stretches for a more 'proper' lounging position next to her friend. "Mm, not quite."
She picks up the tablet, frowning a bit at the size of her paws... But the touch screen works just fine, to her slight surprise. "Heh. Talk about things we could never do in costume..."
Akari giggles, "I had trouble with my phone too, remember? Though it worked eventually. Just... didn't recognize the uh 'finger' print."
Cindi looks at her paw and sighs. "Yeah, makes sense. The thing would recognize a touch, but obviously our fingerprints are not the same..." She blinks. "If we even have fingerprints."
Akari blinks... now sort of curious. She reaches out to the end table where she left her phone, entering her manual pin first, "I wonder if I could add them as authorized..."
Cindi looks up: "That... Is a thought. Remind me to try later." She taps somewhat awkwardly at the tablet and gets the Hunchback re-started for them.
Akari hums, leaning against Cindi once again as she goes through the process of adding her hoof, half watching the movie as she rolls her big poofy finger over the phone awkwardly to scan. "If it works at all, I will remind you. I just... don't... Ah! It says it saved it! Or, it saved something."
Cindi glances at Akari's phone, giggling: "We'll see if it actually lets you log in with that. Amazing if it does." She blinks. "Heh. Does."
Akari giggles, turning off the phone screen, then turning it back on. As it asks for her verification, she lightly presses her hoof against the screen, surprising her with a successful check, her phone opening to the main screen. "Oh my golly! It worked!"}
Cindi blinks: "Oh. My. It did! That's... I don't know why, but that makes this all feel that much more real, somehow."
Akari hums, staring at her phone for a moment before she sets it back down, "Yeah... yeah, guess it does. Though, don't think too hard about it now, or I'll make good on my doughnut-based promise."
Cindi blinks, giggling. "... Yeah, really, fair." She sighs and just leans on Akari's shoulder as she settles to listen and watch the starting beats of the movie about belonging. And she's pretty sure she belongs right here, with her girlfriend... boyfriend... lover... Her best friend, in any and all cases.
Akari does much the same, stopping herself from any other deep thoughts or concerns to just be 'here', watching the movie alongside the one thing that does make sense right now.
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