Growing Soft 6 (Patreon)

“I don’t wanna go to the gym,” Miia whined. 

“We have to,” Mero dotted firmly. She sipped deeply at her large cup of hot chocolate as the girls made their way down the lane, bags hanging on the back of her chair. 

Miia grumbled, then bit her fangs into a large chocolate cookie, breaking off a hefty bite. Before she swallowed, she lifted her own large chocolatey drink to her lips. The scalding milk flowed into her mouth, cascading warmth around the gooey cookie before she swallowed both and they tumbled into her pudgy tummy. The sensations of warmth emanating from her belly were remarkably comforting, far more than the cursed knowledge that she was going to spend the next hour or so jostling the food inside of her in exercise.

Yet she ate on, unabated. She’d purchased three cookies from the drink stand, offering one to Mero before the mermaid could protest. She’d taken it, muttering to herself about bad influences before sighing pleasantly at the first sip of chocolate.

The gym wasn’t too far from the finance district, yet again Miia felt the strain on her tummy’s underused muscles. She reached past her stomach, massaging her softened under-belly, and puckered her lips in annoyance as they entered the facility.

Warm air cascaded from the interior, along with heavy bass music and the sound of machinery. There was also the sickly stench of body odor permeating through the air. Miia held her lips firmly shut, keeping the scent from her tongue and grateful for her naturally poor sense of smell.

Mero rolled ahead to the front desk, where a young monoeye girl with dark hair and a darker iris sat looking bored. She idly tapped on her phone, which lay on the desk before her. She didn’t notice the pair as they whirled up, tiredly swiping left with her forefinger as portrait after portrait went by.

“Ahem,” Mero coughed.

The girl looked up, her single eye spreading unnaturally wide in surprise. “Oh, hello!’ she said, flipping her phone. It clattered to the floor, and she made a distressed cry, looking down after it. Then she looked back to them. “Err, hi. Can I help you?” she asked.

Mero nodded imperiously. “Is Polt in?” she asked. “We’d like to discuss receiving memberships.”

The monoeye shook her head. “Miss Polt isn’t in today,” she told Mero. She clicked her fingers on her keyboard, before turning to look to the pair. “I can give you both a-” her eye skated over Miia and she froze midsentence and began to stammer. “A-a-I.”

“Errr,” Miia said, looking aside to Mero. She returned to the monoeye. “Hi?” she said.

“Y-y-you,” the monoeye’s breath was shaking, her cheeks turning a blazing pink and a dribble of nervous sweat shadowed her temple. Her eye looked Miia up in down, but it’d gone so out of focus that it had completely glossed over.

“Hey,” Miia said, reaching a hand onto the desk. “Are you okay?”

“Y-you’re M-M-M-M,” she continued.

“Miia?” the lamia shifted uncomfortably. 

“You’re Miia!” the girl leapt to her feet. Her voice regained, she spoke with lightning energy. “You’re Miia Kurusu you’re the first marriage you married a human Kimihito Kurusu and you’re on my magazine and you’re married and you-you,” the girl shook back and forth, her eye roving over her desk excitedly.

Miia blushed uneasily. “Uhhh,” she looked to Mero, who was watching the bizarre teenager as she begun to throw papers about her desk.

“There!” her hand clamped down, ripping a booklet from beneath a stack of papers. It was a magazine, the cover a portrait of Miia and Darling sharing their first kiss before the church’s alter.

Miia’s eyes scanned the cover, experiencing a bizarre out of body scene of the wedding, peering at herself from the crowd. “Oh, ahaha.” she awkwardly laughed. “Yeah, that’s… me.”

“Can I have your autograph?!” the girl begged, holding the magazine out.

“Wha?” Miia waved at the girl. “I-it’s just my wedding portrait!”

The girl shook the magazine. “Your wedding was the first official liminal-human marriage! It’s because of you that I can…” she lowered her gaze, looking down at her phone. “U-uhh,” she blushed. “It-it’s just…”

Mero interjected, with a firm yet kind voice. “Miia, you’re famous now.”

“I’m not famous,” Miia balked. “There’s no way that I…” she looked back to the girl, to the cover of the magazine and for the first time she began to scan the text.

Above their heads, large pink text labeled the magazine as ‘Liminal lifestyle’. A small section to the side read ‘BREAKING: Inside the official wedding of Kimihito and Miia Kurusu! The event that changed extraspecies culture forever!’ Another section, ‘Lamia and human relations bonded forever. Where do other species lay?’ Then at the bottom, ‘Human Males 101: What we learned about their carnivorous diet from meaty afterparty’.

Miia read them swiftly, her memory flickering back to that magical kiss. Quickly, she felt the pressure smothering over her. “F-f-famous?”

“Please?” the girl begged, bowing her head down low. She held out the magazine and a pen, not looking at Miia.

The lamia did her best to shift into a more controlled manner, but she was still fumbling with the idea of her published wedding. “Aha,” she took the packet and pen. “O-of course we are…” she signed her name in large curvy letters, snaking her cursive signature round each ‘I’ and dotting them with little hearts.

Mero laid a hand on her flabby hip while she returned the autographed magazine. The girl gushed over it, clutching the book to her chest. “I can’t believe that Miia Kurusu came to my gym, I’ve gotta tell Polt you stopped… OH!”

She dropped the booklet onto the table, then panicking, flipped it upward before thudding back in her chair. She bowed, putting her head to the desk.

“I’m sorry!” her voice shook. “Polt’s not in today, but you can use the facilities all access if you want and can come back again to sign up!”

The fragile exultation of freedom sprung into Miia, and her head turned to the still open doors like a bird spotting it’s opened cage. “T-that’s okay,” she said, beginning to slither backward. “We’ll just come back next week!”

She was halted by the gentle resistance of fingers tightened upon her sweater. Mero’s head hung in exasperation, tugging Miia back to the desk. She bent her eyes to Miia’s staring down the pudgy girl’s nervous laugh.

An unexpected heat came into her. “Alright, fine!” she begrudged, turning to the monoeye. “Where’s the changing rooms?”

The girl turned up from attempting to smooth out the paper. “I-it’s just up the stairs here,” she pointed behind the desk. “Just past the weight benches, Mrs. Kurusu.”

Miia gave the girl a level look. Then, tellingly, she turned to Mero. 

Mero’s polite smile didn’t reach her eyes. They waited.

All of the sudden, the monoeye noticed her folly. “Ahh!” she yelped, finding her feet. “E-elevator, yes! It’s just to the right of the stairs, and then you’ll come out right next to the girls locker and the sauna!”

“May we have a pair of locks?” Mero asked.

The girl twisted, ripping open a drawer. “Of course. He-here.” She handed them two locks with their matching keys. 

“And pool access?” the pink haired woman continued.

“On the other side of the locker, Mrs. Kurusu’s…” she paused, obviously unsettled, “Erm… maid.”

Miia sniggered, bringing her hand to her mouth.

Mero’s grin widened. Her eyes remained dark. “Come on, Mrs. Kurusu.” Her voice was threatening.

“Lead the way, maid,” Miia said brightly.

Mero’s fingers tightened, pinching Miia’s pudge with her webbed hand, redoubling Miia’s giggle.

“Awe, come on!” Miia joked, “Isn’t this the tragedy you always wanted?” Mero’s grip turned to steel, clutching Miia’s side. “Ouch, ouch, hey quit it!” the redhead squirmed.

They made their way to the elevator. It was a tight fit, and Miia had to wrap herself thrice around Mero to fit inside, but the doors closed, and she flicked the number two button with the tip of her tail.

A loud noise honked through the elevator, causing Miia to plug her ears and bend over Mero’s back. “Ow, what the hell?” she demanded while the door opened. She spun around, looking for the source of the honk, and spotted a small black camera in the back corner. She gestured at it.

“Why’d it open?” Mero asked, looking outside.

“How the heck should I know?” Miia grumbled. She thudded the close door button before smacking floor two once more. 

Again, the honk ripped through the air, and the door reopened, unmoved. It was then that both girls noticed the blinking red warning sign on the top of the console.

‘Over Max Weight Limit. Please Redistribute.’

“Oh you have got to be joking,” Miia sagged.

Mero, meanwhile, exploded into giggles. She leaned backwards in her chair, holding her waist as the laughter sprung out of her like a coiled spring.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up!” Miia said, pinching her shoulders. She twisted her body, moving over her tail and out of the elevator. Her tail thwacked Mero in the fins on the way out, yet the woman continued laughing unperturbed. She spun around and faced her, slithering the rest of her body out. “Whatever!” she shouted as the door closed. Mero’s giddy shriek continued, hollowed out through the steel doors and became a faint echo as the machine carried her up.

Miia stormed back past the front desk and to the stairs to the upper deck, swinging her arms violently. She thundered up the stairs, causing a pair of descending harpies to leap onto the handrail and perch there while she passed, which did not help her mood.

By the time she reached the top, Miia was fuming. The stench of exertion was heavier here, and there were quite a few members utilizing the machines. The music pulsed through the air with the chime of weight benches and the rhythmic beating of the cardio sections, grating on Miia like claws on a pane of glass. She felt her heat carry her through, the blaze being stoked by the unfamiliar sensations. 

She didn’t want to be here. She didn’t want to get gross and sweaty with all of these other people, and sure as hell didn’t want to listen to their cruddy music. As she moved down the aisle, the eyes of a dozen members fell upon her. She ignored them.

Mero was sitting just outside of the girls locker room, wearing a very sweet and innocent smile. Miia swished past her, briskly commenting, “That thing wouldn’t have been able to hold me even if I was skinny.”

Mero hummed from behind before merely saying, “I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about.”

The fiery redhead’s cheeks dropped a few degrees. She paused, waiting for Mero to turn about her chair, before leading the other in through the open doorway. 

The floor was tiled with miniature gray squares, which matched the matte gray of the lockers. Miia’s eyes were instantly drawn to a motivational poster on the wall as she came into the room. On it, a red scaled lamia wearing traditional black and gold was hanging upside down from a flourishing tree branch by her tail. She held both of her arms behind her head, her abs tightened through the exercise. The text on the bottom read in neat orange ‘Hang in there!’

“I hate this place,” Miia mumbled.

Mero wheeled past, entering the third cubicle down and picking out a large locker. She wasted no time in removing the bags from her chair, and briefly searched through to pull out Miia’s sports bra and one of the skin-tight skirts, setting them aside on the bench. Then, she looked to Miia and held her arms over her head. “Help?” she asked.

Miia glared. “You got it on, didn’t you? You can get it off.”

Mero shook her arms and hummed disapprovingly.

Miia grunted, leaning down to retrieve the hem of Mero’s dress. She lifted it around her pink tail, rising it to the curve of her backside. Mero lifted herself using the chair arms, and Miia pulled the dress upwards, then over Mero’s lush pink hair.

Again, she found herself appraising the mermaid, who set about fixing her undergarments, which functioned as a bikini inspired swimsuit. Even since Christmas, Mero’s body had gotten even softer, with a complete lack of muscle definition upon her stomach. Even her biceps, usually holding a well-focused power, seemed to ever so slightly jostle. 

She really must have not been swimming, Miia thought to herself uncomfortably. She began taking off her own sweater, thinking of the stresses the past few months had put upon everyone.

She nearly leapt out of her shedding skin when a hand came down upon her shoulder, startling her from her thoughts. She spun on her tail, holding her sweater defensively to see a sweat soaked Centorea wearing a friendly grin. 

“Good evening, Mistress,” Centorea said, inclining her head and raising one of her hoofed feet. Her blonde hair had been tied back into a large bun, and sweat beads ever so gently tipped the fringes.

“Oh, goddess,” Miia said, gripping her left breast. “You startled me!” she puffed out a laugh, “Hey Cerea.”

“Good evening,” Mero said from the side.

“Mero, I’d wondered where you had gone for the day,” Cerea grinned cheekily. “So, you’ve been passing me over on working out for weeks, but now you’ve decided to drag Miia here, huh?” Her ear twitched playfully.

Mero twisted. “M-Miia asked to come,” she blushed.

Miia looked at her questioningly. “Huh?” Then, catching her downward eyes, she managed, “Oh, yeah.” She turned back to Cerea. “I asked if we could come,” she grimaced. “I, uhh, needed a workout.”

Cerea raised an eyebrow, placing a hand on her own exposed belly, and Miia’s eyes were instantly drawn to the jingling charm bracelet that she wore upon her wrist, the little silver centaur tapping on her abs. While Mero had lost definition, Cerea’s waist looked sharp enough to cut through Miia’s butterball belly. She looked fitter than ever, wearing a dark blue custom sports bra to cover her massive chest. Her breasts were firm, hanging perkily in their wide container, the fat only serving to emphasize her muscular waist. Over her lower half, she wore a matching deep blue body holder. The centaur’s legs were powerhouses, with all the well-defined muscles striking out.

It was then that Miia noticed Cerea’s eyes giving her the same treatment. She let go of the sweater, awkwardly patting it around her lower body. “Ahaha,” she laughed nervously, “yeah…”

Their gaze met, with each girl’s thoughts passing into the other. After a moment, they both belted out in a jostling laugh before coming close and hugging one another in a soft sisterly hug.

Miia was startled by the intensity of her arms. “Glah, holy crap Cerea don’t squeeze me to death,” she jibbed, pulling her own arms tighter around Cerea.

“Oh?” Cerea said. “Sorry, I didn’t feel your grip, I thought your muscles might have left you.”

With the snap of a whip, Cerea’s body was completely enveloped in Miia’s. Her tail had looped through her legs and gripped tightly round her lower half, before spinning upward and tying the fattest end around her slim waist. Miia rose herself up, using Cerea for leverage. “Do you feel me now?” she asked dangerously.

Cerea’s legs had begun to quiver rapidly as she shouldered the entire bulk of Miia’s heightened weight. Her voice came out as a strained gasp, but her blue eyes were fitted with unyielding challenge. “Not particularly.”

“Girls!” Mero pleaded.

Miia laughed lightly before taking Cerea’s head and holding it to her chest, petting the side of her cheek. She was briefly overcome with the raw smell of the girl, and just how wet her hair was with exertion. Her stomach kicked but she tried not to show it as she unraveled her tail from her body, and it slapped heavily as it came to the tile below. “It’s good to see you,” Miia said sincerely.

Cerea sighed, flexing her waist as she was released. “Oof,” she grunted, putting her hand over her flank. “Well, thanks. Now I can skip the load bearing machine, I guess.”

Miia giggled warmly. 

Mero spoke up, and something in her voice stuck out to Miia. Concern. “Cerea, how long have you been here?” she asked.

Cerea shifted on her hoofs, clicking them to the ground. “I’m not really sure,” she replied offhandedly without looking to Mero. To Miia she asked, “How are things going? Is Master well?”

The newlywed brightened. “They’re fantastic,” she hummed happily before leaning against the locker and looking past Cerea. Her mind was flicking to Darling. His strong arms, his large smile. “It’s like I’m living in a fantasy, a princess saved by my heroic knight.” 

“How wonderful,” Cerea grinned. “Where is he now?”

“He’s out at the market,” the snake gushed, “probably buying us dinner.”

Cerea stuck her hand out, taking Miia’s shoulder. “It gladdens me happy to hear that, Mistress,” she went on.

Something was off about Cerea’s grip, causing Miia’s train of thought to crash into the butcher shop. The muscles in the girl’s hand were too tight, almost pulsing over Miia’s arm.

The centaur made no notice of Miia looking to her hand. “I trust he’s been cooking, then? Surely you haven’t poisoned him yet.”

Again, Miia felt something off about her friend. The tone in her joke was poorly placed, having some real bite to it. She felt herself beginning to formulate questions.

“Cerea, please…” Mero broke back in. “You can’t ignore something like this.”

Miia looked over her shoulder to Mero, then back to Cerea, whose kindly grin seemed to crack. An air of unpleasantness had suddenly flood the room. 

Mero’s expression was set into a deeply disapproving frown. The pink haired girl moved closer. “You have been since you left in the morning, haven’t you?”

Finally, Cerea looked down to her. “Not exactly,” she shrugged. “I went across the street to the market for some carrots for lunch.”

Miia interjected. “Well, that doesn’t sound so bad.”

“She left at seven in the morning,” Mero said. “You can’t just workout nonstop, Cerea.”

The centaur’s frigidness flicked into heat, and Miia saw then that her body hadn’t stopped shaking. “I know my own limits, Princess.” 

“You’re not giving your body time to heal,” Mero went on.

Cerea back hoof clapped upon the ground. A strand of hair dropped from her bun, and Miia saw that it was covered in unkempt split ends. “How would you know? You haven’t been here in months!”

Miia moved between the pair, holding up either arm between them. “Hey!” she hissed at them both. “Calm down!”

Cerea nickered and looked away from her, but Mero held her eyes past and upon the centaur. Both seemed to be inwardly fretting.

Miia’s stomach felt dry. “Cerea, what is she talking about?”

Cerea pawed at the ground with her front foot. Her shaking seemed to worsen, and her breathing was a bit too heated to simply be their conversation.

Miia went with her gut. She reached out, taking Cerea’s arm. The centaur looked to her, surprised. “Mero wait here. Me and Cerea’ll be right back.” Then she had a better idea, “You can go to the pool if you want.”

Mero steepled her fingers together. “What about you?” she asked.

Miia blew out her tongue. “I’m shedding, remember? I can’t go in the pool.”

“Oh,” Mero said softly. “I hadn’t even considered that…”

“Just go on without me,” Miia suggested.

“Okay…” she pouted but nodded her head.

“Come on, Cerea.” Miia said gently. She moved forwards, and Cerea came with her. “There’s an excellent hot chocolate stand nearby, and I want another cookie.”

Centorea followed the pudgy lamia to the stairway. It was a tad awkward getting her down while arm in arm, but Miia was afraid if she’d let go then Cerea might just bolt. She was becoming increasingly skittish as they reached the front door, but she said nothing while Miia led her through and out into the cool air.

Miia cleared her throat, despite having no idea what to say. She fixed upon something she was sure they could both come to terms over. “The hot chocolate is really, really good.” 

“Oh,” Cerea said. Nothing followed.

“A-and they’ve got these cookies,” Miia went on, sashaying her waist back and forth to keep her tail from bouncing against Cerea’s equine backside, “they’re as big as your head, freshly baked and gooey soft.”

Cerea’s blonde ear fluttered. “That… sounds good…” The center of her mouth twitched upward, ruffling the skin of her nose. Her face had the lightest touches of pink in the face of the winter cold.

“It really is,” Miia overly fawned. “You’re gonna love one.”

Cerea’s blue eyes became lidded. “I’d rather not. I’m dieting.”

Miia’s tummy jiggled in complete offense at the mere thought. “What? Why are you dieting?!” Miia demanded. She rapped upon Cerea’s middle with her arm. “I mean, look at you.”

“I have been.” Cerea’s voice was flat, as dead as her eyes were becoming.

“Err… okay. Well, uhh…” Miia sighed, leaning her head against Cerea’s arm. She felt even more muscular than Darling, which was becoming increasingly unsettling. She reeked up close, hours of exertion had soaked through her entire body, and without a single hint of any soap or her usual fragrances. Miia turned to look up at Cerea’s hair, seeing the split ends once more and she felt a pebble send ripples through her when she recognized her hair wasn’t wet with sweat. It was greasy.

Cerea’s eyes swiveled to her. They held a deep sense of unpleasantness in them, and Miia sensed the challenge the girl was exuding. Almost as if she were daring her companion to denounce her. She was looking for a fight.

Inwardly, Miia felt her own disputations bubbling. Something was quite obviously wrong, yet Cerea had built up some sort of resistant wall around the matter. She was outwardly trying to cut off all conversation before they could reach the boiling topic, yet only raising the tension between them.

Darling would know how to comfort her. He’d be able to find out what was wrong in a heartbeat simply by placing his hand on her flank and demanding to know what was wrong in his soft, easy manner that made you think it was your idea to actually speak. But Miia wasn’t Darling.

She paused for a moment, considering that. She wasn’t him, wasn’t nearly as easy to talk to and as charitable as he was. But that didn’t mean she shouldn’t try to be.

Miia righted herself from Cerea’s shoulder, looking ahead on the block. “You don’t have to tell me anything,” Miia told her softly. “It’s okay.”

A brief moment of quiet led to Cerea grunting. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, almost to herself.

Miia glanced to her, saw that her eyes had softened just a touch. She flexed her fingers on Cerea’s arm, ignoring the impulse to speak.

They continued in silence for two blocks, and Miia merely listened to the sound of her breathing. She’d begun formulating her own opinions, tried to devise facts and a plan of attack, but another part of her thankfully managed to keep her forked tongue inside of her big mouth. They arrived at the stand and retrieved a pair of hot chocolates and Miia ordered a handful of the giant cookies. 

“Do we head back to the gym now?” Cerea said, eyes falling to the four cookies in Miia’s other hand.

Miia snorted. “Are you kidding? You’re saving my life right now, I’m not going back there yet.”

Cerea looked puzzled.

Miia made an effort of patting her belly, showing it jiggle. “Do you know how much I’ve worked out since getting married? I haven’t even left the house.”

Cerea looked outraged. “What? Why not?? Do you have any idea how poor that is for your health?!”

Miia shrugged, grinning. She led the way across the street into a large park. It was empty, likely due to the chilly weather. “I’m as healthy as I’ve ever been.” She led the horse to a wooden bench and sat down. Again, Miia poked her tummy. “That’s what this is, right? Health?”

“That’s fat,” Cerea said firmly. “You’ve gained even more weight since Christmas.”

Miia raised her eyebrows in false bravado. “Have I?” she slurped at her drink, “I hadn’t even noticed. Now are you gonna sit down or what?” 

Cerea looked from her to the wooden bench. 

“Don’t be a smartass!” Miia clamored, “You know what I mean!!”

Finally, Cerea’s expression gave a slight tug at the side. She leaned back on her haunches, sliding onto her body. Her legs folded to either side of her, she let out a large breath, stretching her neck back and letting the wind blow over her. It came through her grease-soaked hair, pulling further strands loose.

“So, you’ve been going to the gym a lot?” Miia asked.

Cerea’s neck snapped back up. For a moment, she looked highly defensive, but it began to crumple until she simply looked exhausted. “Yeah,” she admitted.

“Do you enjoy it?” Miia asked.

Cerea looked to her, her expression one of surprise. “Enjoy it?”

Miia shrugged, nodding. “I mean, I know I wouldn’t. You didn’t ever really go before, though, unless it was with the rest of us.”

Cerea looked away from her, down to the sidewalk. “Things changed,” she said.

“Well, duh. Look at me,” Miia joked, again poking her stomach. “Or look at Mero, even she gained a little weight.”

Cerea drank from her hot chocolate in silence.

Miia puckered her lips before setting her drink aside. She took one of the chocolate chip cookies and unwrapped it, before breaking off a piece into her mouth.

“Those can’t be helping,” Cerea commented.

Miia chewed it carefully before swallowing. “No, they definitely are. I couldn’t gain this much without ‘em.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Cerea shook her head. “Your diet needs to change, or else you’ll keep gaining weight.”

“My diet, huh?” Miia replied. She broke off another piece of her cookie. “I dunno, I can’t just let these cookies go to waste, and if you don’t want any…”

Cerea narrowed her eyes. “That’s unfair,” she pouted.

Miia wriggled, taking the next one and holding it out. “So?”

Wordlessly, Cerea took it. She tore open the wrapper, glaring daggers at Miia’s pleasant face, and chomped down onto it.

Miia was not prepared for what followed.

Ten seconds of absolute silence passed while Cerea’s teeth were clamped over the edge of the cookie. Her eyes were shut, squinted at the edges in anger, though they gradually softened until they appeared plainly. Then, her blonde tail began to swish back and forth, raising upward for the first time since Miia had seen her today. 

Miia began to giggle. “You like th-” she began.

Cerea interrupted her as she began to voraciously chomp into the cookie. Her mouth worked like a mashing compactor, tearing the thing asunder, and sending crumbs deep into her chest. Her blue eyes were fitted with immense rage, cheeks burning with complete passion, and the cookie simply vanished down her gullet. She turned to Miia, fingers twitching.

Her mouth hanging open, Miia handed Cerea another. It disappeared even quicker than the first, the discarded plastic hardly touching the concrete before it had vanished inside of her mouth. Her tail was shaking rapidly back and forth, dancing joyfully atop her bottom.

“M-more,” Cerea said, gasping at Miia.

Miia nodded, completely befuddled. “S-sure,” she said, handing Cerea the third. The blonde centaur took her time with this one, apparently thinking it was her last one. All of her focus was upon it, pulling the wrapper free. Chocolate marked fingers gripped the soft sugary crust, bringing it to her avid hunger for sweet goodness. Her tongue skated over each delectable bite, dipping into the gooey chips and heightening her ravenous need. She managed to make the cookie last a little longer, sighing heavenly when she felt the last of it grace her lips and trundle over her tongue.

When she opened her eyes, she was avidly surprised to see Miia had disappeared. She looked around wildly to find the lamia slithering back from the stand with an excitable look and a handful of cookies. “Here you go,” she offered another.

Cerea snatched it with a devouring hand, causing Miia to blissfully sigh.

“This is so much better than that stinky gym,” she chatted merrily while unwrapping a cookie for herself.

Cerea wasn’t much for conversation, busy as she was filling her stomach with sugar and chocolate, and Miia relished in the ease of quiet and eating that she’d grown so accustomed to. The hot chocolate was the perfect companion to the freshly baked cookies, and she took the lid off her drink so the warm mist could drift over her face. She sipped at it, pleased to see Cerea’s off-kilter hunger, and happier still to indulge upon it. She recognized the pattern of stuffing she’d been putting herself through for the past month.

Quick pale fingers gripping the cookie so hard it would begin to fall apart. Jaw ferociously working up and down, dotted with crumbs and spilling others over her body. Wrappers piled up beneath as one after the other cookies disappeared into the famished girl, and slowly, Miia watched as if experiencing an out of body moment, Cerea began to slow.

Her hands begun to fumble the packaging, taking extra time with awkwardly placed pulls. Her eyes no longer focused on each, merely raising it to her waiting mouth as if on automatic. Miia glanced at the back of her own wrapper. Each cookie contained 3 servings, each of 250 calories. 12.6 grams of fat, 24.3 grams of carbs, and 19 grams of sugar. It took Miia a few moments to work out the math, during which Cerea managed another two cookies, with each bite taking longer than the last.

A single cookie contained 750 calories, and 28 grams of pure sugar. No wonder they were so delicious. Then, she tried to figure how many cookies Cerea had already eaten. She gave up when she counted more than ten wrappers littering the sidewalk, and instead used the tip of her tail to tidy them up into a pile, chuckling to herself as Cerea’s breathing became heavier, her hand uncomfortably placed over her tummy.

“Don’t overdo it,” Miia warned. “You’ll have a sugar high, and those are only fun if you’re having ice cream later.”

Cerea moaned through a mouthful of chocolate.

“You raise a good point,” Miia filled in. “We should get ice cream later.”

With her tail, she began to stroke Cerea’s back. She began softly, using only her sensitive tip, but as time passed the centaur seemed to warm to the sensation, and Miia lowered herself off of the bench to sit besides her, wrapping her tail over her twice. She sipped at her drink, using her other hand to pull Cerea’s hair from its ponytail. She combed her fingers through the greasy, icky mess, and felt the concern bubbling inside herself, wishing heavily for some sort of comb.

She stroked Cerea’s back, whispering kindly to her, until Cerea’s hands only found empty wrappers on the ground. Tears began to well in her eyes, a sob shook her throat. Miia wrapped her body around Cerea’s, pulling her into a soft embrace. “It’s okay,” she kept repeating, petting the centaur’s head. “It’s okay, Cerea.”

Cerea heaved, clutching Miia’s body as if she were a life preserver. Her tears fell honestly, finally bubbling over her withdrawn appearance until they, too, began to slowly taper out. Miia kept her hold, petting Cerea’s back. As her crying quieted, she began to softly hiccup, shaking her whole body. 

She swallowed hard. “I-hic- I hate this,” she whispered.

Miia matched her tone. “What do you hate?” She tensed her arm around Cerea, feeling the tension in her back returning.

“I hate feeling like this…” she hiccupped again. Her words came forth feeling hollow.

Miia paused. She looked back, up into the clouds of the mid-day sky. “Angry?” she guessed.

Cerea shook her head. Miia feared she’d pull away, but instead Cerea leaned into her, laying her cheek over her chest. “I feel powerless,” she muttered.

Miia felt the stab in her chest as she realized, “You feel alone.”

Cerea hesitated before nodding.

“Oh, Cerea…” Miia placed her lips on her friend’s dirty head, kissing the side of her temple. “You’re not, though.”

Cerea grabbed onto her tighter, and Miia could feel the strain it was putting on her muscles. Her posture was waning, as if she were on the point of collapse.

Miia needed to prepare herself for the next question. “Cerea, I need you to be truthful to me.” She trailed off, giving Cerea time to think too, before asking “Do you still love Kimihito?”

A long time passed, filled with only their breathing. Then, something surprising happened. “I don’t…” Cerea whispered. She pushed lightly on Miia’s side, and the lamia released her hold. Her blue eyes were overcast, darkened with misery. “Not like… not like I used to, not anymore. I just… I miss everyone.”

Miia tilted her head. She moved forward, to the front of Cerea’s vision. “Do you miss me?” she asked.

Cerea looked up sharply, beset with confusion. Her eyes brimmed again, looking into Miia’s. “Of course.” Her voice cracked. “And Master, and Mero, and- and everyone.”

Miia shook her head. “Mero? You guys still live together, don’t you?”

Cerea chuffed. “Hardly… She’s always busy, just like Rachnera, or even Papi. We don’t… we don’t do things anymore. Not like we used to, going out as a group.” She bent down, touching her hand on the stone. “All I do is go to the gym, go home. Go to the gym, go home. Every day is just…” she looked back to Miia, “it feels pointless.”

Miia breathed easily now, finding assurance. “That sounds really boring,” she admitted. “But going to the gym for hours every day isn’t helping.”

“I know that,” Cerea swished. “I just… There’s nowhere else to go.”

Miia bent an eyebrow. She lightly bobbed Cerea on the head with the tip of her tail. “What the hell does that mean, dummy? Just come to my house.”

Cerea shifted uncomfortably. “B-but you and Master-”

“Me and ‘Master’ would be pretty upset if we knew you were stressing yourself out rather than talking to us.” Miia reached out, taking Cerea by the hip. “No, you will come over more.” She bent her head, trying to impart the firmness onto Cerea, making it an order rather than an offer.

Still, Cerea shifted. “I just… I don’t know if that…”

Mero leaned onto her cheek, deep in thought. “What about a movie night?” she offered. Then, she brightened ever further. “Oh I know! We can have girls’ night!”

Cerea seemed dazed. “Girls’ night?”

“Mhmm,” Miia brightly went on. “We can get all the girls together and figure out a day every week or two where we all go out and do stuff, just like before.”

“B-but what about Master?” Cerea perplexed.

Miia waved her hand. “He’s an honorary girl, he can come too if he wants, but I think it’s good to just be together again, you know?” Then as an aside, “And then I won’t have to be watching out for everyone trying to kidnap him again.” She grinned sheepishly.

Cerea snorted, before loosing a fine laugh. She nodded with a sigh. “I think that’d be nice. Really.”

Miia twinkled. “Alright, then let’s go get Mero.” She pulled herself off of Cerea, righting her stance and spooling her tail beneath. She stretched her arm behind her neck and felt the press of her breasts tighten against her shirt. “Hopefully she’s done working out.”

Cerea didn’t move. Her cheeks had turned a brilliant pink, her blue eyes looking down at Miia’s tail.

“What’s wrong?” Miia questioned.

Her fluffy blonde ears fluttered. “I… I don’t think I can stand back up,” Cerea confessed.

******************************************************************************

By the time they’d gotten Cerea back on her feet, both girls had worked up a considerable sweat. She was a lot heavier than Miia had expected and was far more awkward to help considering her impressive muscular bulk. Her large breasts, too, kept getting in the way, causing Miia to awkwardly bop her on the forehead once she was finally upright for making her feel like she was fondling her.

They came into the gym together, and Miia directed Cerea straight towards the elevator. She then mounted the stairs and met with her companion outside the girls lockers. 

“So, where’s the pool?” she asked.

“It’s on the other side,” Cerea said, pointing through the lockers. 

Miia nodded and proceeded into the room. She slithered through at an easy pace, passing many different extra species girls, and as she passed the showers, she noticed a trio of lamia women bathing one another. She unhelpfully noticed that she stood out by far as the biggest amongst the girls in the room. A small group of butterfly fairies twinkled past when Cerea tapped her on the shoulder.

“Right around the corner here.” She led the chubby snake around a white brick outcrop. The powerful smell of chlorine swam through the doors. The pushed inward to reveal a large, tile covered room. It was well lit by the many windows, illuminating the long Olympic sized pool.

Mero stuck out of the water like a sore thumb. Her pink scales seemed to flash her location. She lay flat on her back, gasping for air, her brilliant hair spilling around her prostrate body near the edge of the pool.

“What’s wrong with her?” Cerea asked.

Miia didn’t respond, instead swishing forward rapidly. No running rules could hardly apply to her, and she came around the nearest edge as another figure surfaced near Mero.

Miia instantly recognized the deep scar and blonde hair of the shark mermaid. The girl from the coffee shop, the one who’d recognized Mero, was now swimming in circles around her, casting big waves with her tail. She was laughing.

Mero sat up, flipper ducking beneath her. Her face became as bright as her hair, flustered facing the other girl. It was obvious that she was being harassed, and as she came closer, Miia could hear them.

“Princess of Mermaid’s can’t even swim twenty laps!” the shark scorned. Her grin sharpened. “I guess royalty’s as soft as they say.”

“I-I merely have not been practicing,” Mero shot back.

“Practicing what?!” the other guffawed. “Don’t you live in the water?”

“I live in a house,” Mero turned up her nose.

“Oho, domesticated royalty.” She came close to Mero, jabbing her with her finger. “Have the humans turned you into their personal sea cow?” She roared with laughter, holding arms tight over her belly before a massive tail clapped down over her face, dunking her down into the water.

Mero spun to see Miia sitting at the edge of the pool, her sweater dipped into the water. Her face was as red as her scales, while Cerea came from behind her, eyes wide with worry.

The shark mermaid shot up from the depth. “What the hell was that?!” she spat at Miia.

The long snake tail flexed, swiping at the shark mermaid. It spun round her arms, pulling them tight to her body, and the girl released a strangled cough as it began to pull her inward. Firmly holding her, Miia brought the struggling girl within five feet of the edge.

“L-lemme go!” she panicked. “Let go of me, freak!” Her cartilage tail smacked upwards but felt nowhere near as strong as the scales.

Mero swam after her, coming close to the edge and looking to speak up. She was silenced with a glare. Miia felt a flash of memory, before baring her fangs at the shark. “Apologize,” she bore down on her, amber eyes glowing molten gold.

The girl twisted, looking from Miia to Mero. “W-what?” she spat. “Hell no, you’re just like her! You’re a-a land cooooOOOOW okay okay!” she protested as Miia flexed her tail, pulling in her muscles. “Alright, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” she cried aloud.

Miia released her and she shot down into the dark of the pool. Mero came to the edge of the pool. She struggled briefly to lift herself over the lip but ignored Miia’s hand. Then, she looked back, shame in her cheeks. “You didn’t need to do that,” she muttered.

Miia looked up. The shark mermaid was swimming down beneath the surface, staring after them. She twisted to see a few other aquatic liminal girls throughout the pool, and sitting in a lifeguard chair, the monoeye girl from the front desk gaped at them. She wore a red and white lifeguard vest, with a freely dangling white whistle. Her mouth was hung open. Her wide eye, unblinking.

Miia sighed. “I don’t have to do anything,” she said after a moment. “Come on, we’re going home.”

Cerea retrieved Mero’s chair, helping the girl get back into it. Miia made sure to watch her arms, but she was able to manage. Miia then took up the spot behind and began to push it along while the princess sat with crossed arms, scowling.

They came into the locker room, which buzzed with conversation from the others. Miia brought Mero to her locker, then turned to Cerea. “Do you’ve any other clothes?” she asked.

Cerea shook her head. “I haven’t been bringing anything.”

Mero’s voice was still heated. “Which is another thing you shouldn’t be-”

“We talked about it,” Miia interrupted.

Mero paused. “Oh,” she said simply, before her eyes went to her locker. “Yes, well, you need to have something like shampoo or… or body wash, when you go working out.”

Cerea clipped a hoof on the floor. “I’m sorry I’ve been worrying you.”

Mero whipped round, hearing the sadness in her tone. Her temper melted, and her throat bobbed in a swallow. “Oh… Oh, Centorea…”

Cerea came to the side of her chair, placing a hand on her head. Mero took it in her own and rubbed the back of it affectionately before turning to Miia. “Thank you,” she said sincerely, bowing her head.

Miia shrugged. “All I did was get her some cookies.”

Mero’s grin faltered, flipping fully to grim. “You did not,” she challenged.

Miia nodded, then moved to the centaur’s side. Cerea’s face was glowing as Miia patted her on her muscular tummy. “Only about ten,” she said with a wink.

Mero groaned, putting her face into her hands. “What am I going to do with you?” she asked the heavens before brightly chuckling.

Miia smiled. “You’re gonna have dinner with me,” she said, then turning between her and Cerea. “Both of you, tonight.” Then, she focused solely on Cerea, “And you are having a bath before you let me fix up your hair, got it?”

Cerea recoiled. “W-what’s wrong with my hair?”