COMPASS OF TRUE LOVE - CHAPTER 38

Chapter 38: Pets and Pats

-Marion-

I was starting to regain some control over my limbs, but my mind was still trying to wrap itself around the bunny-girl appearance. Did we turn the bunny into a real person? Or was the bunny a real person before and we turned them back?

“ROSIE?! EXPLAIN!” Liana’s voice shrilled through the room.

Lorelei coughed. “Yes please, I would like an explanation as well. How did… this happen?” She waved her hand towards Rosie’s bunny-esque form.

“Well, fuck, that’s like, ancient history. Wait! DID YOU KNOW THERE IS A GODDAMNED DRAGON LIVING IN YOUR BASEMENT???” the bunny-girl squealed.

“No! What? In my basement?” Liana asked incredulously.

“Not exactly your basement, but like, underneath the academy and the palace there’s this huge vault I broke into and then there was a DRAGON! She was super scary and angry at me and all that so she turned me into a bunny!”

“Why would you break into a vault in the palace district in the first place?” Lorelei posed.

I coughed. “People have all sorts of reasons…” I mumbled quietly.

Both Lorelei and Rosie glared at me. Wait how did they hear? Oh. Right. Elf ears, bunny ears.

“YOU also broke into the vault?!” Rosie squealed. “Why didn’t the dragon bunnify you?”

“I, uhhh. I made a deal? And I think she was into me…”

“Of course she was…” Lorelei muttered. “Is that how you… you know?”

“Oh. Um, yeah…” I scratched the back of my head. I didn’t really enjoy thinking back to how I was before all that.

“This is so fucking unfair! I get turned into a pet bunny and you just get a pat on the back?! That dragon is mean!”

Liana cut through the conversation. “Why did you break into the vault, Rosie?”

“Well… I was just a dumb street kid and all that, it’s not easy to get by fuck-all by yourself, so I joined a gang. They fed me, gave me a room over my head, all that shit. Then they told me they have a special job for me. There was a visitor day at the academy. A bunch of stupid rich people would send their spoiled brats into the academy to get a feel for the place. Since I was about the right age, they dressed me up nicely and had me sneak in with them. I should steal as much as I could from the parents and then fuck off quietly. Except I found this staircase downwards and I felt so drawn to it. How could I have known there would be a fucking DRAGON down there.”

She pouted at the end of her rant, though for the first time since de-bunnifying, she looked vulnerable. She was trying to hide it behind all those swears, but the vulnerability was still glaringly obvious to me.

I walked over to her and wrapped her in a soft hug. “I’m sorry you went through that, Rosie. Actually, is that even your name, or was that just your pet-name?”

She hesitated before accepting my hug. Even then she was careful, as if I was about to do something bad to her any moment. This kid really went through so much shit.

“Rosie’s fine. Not my birth name, but I like it more,” she mumbled.

I got that, more than anyone else here, I supposed. I gently patted her head and she relaxed slightly. Her fluffy white hair was so soft, no wonder Liana always clung to her so much.

Lorelei knelt down next to us; she’d unhooked her long black cloak and wrapped it around Rosie. I’d just now processed she wasn’t wearing anything before.

By now Liana had also made her way over and I let go of the bunny-girl to make space for the young princess.

“Is that… really you Rosie? You didn’t… take her place or anything, right?” Her lip was quivering slightly.

“Nope. Same Rosie as before. I got handed off to your dad only a few days after I got turned.”

Liana’s expression steeled. “Prove it.”

“What? How?” Rosie’s eyes darted around to us helplessly.

“How long have I had you?”

“Oh. Shit, that’s easy! I was eight years old when I got turned, so… just about six years now, since your birthday was two weeks ago.” Rosie grinned smugly.

Liana’s expression softened and she promptly tackled Rosie to the floor. “It’s really you! I was so worried!” She sat back up on the bunny-girls lap. “Are you okay though? You were in so much pain before, I was scared you were going to die or- “

Rosie cut her off with a hug. “I’m fine, Liana. Better than fine, actually, ‘cause I can finally talk again. I missed talking so much! Still weird I wasn’t completely de-bunnified. Elf-lady is the curse really completely gone?”

“It’s Lorelei,” the older princess stated, before pulling the girl into the magic room and placing her hand to Rosie’s head. “I can’t sense any remnants of the curse. Maybe you spent so much time as a rabbit, that the transformation started to seep into your soul? Or maybe you simply felt more bunny-like, so you accepted it as part of yourself.”

“Well, I don’t really mind. As long as I get to be humanoid again, I’m happy!” She began twirling her arms and hopping from one leg to the other one. “Still feels weird, though.”

Liana gave her best friend a lopsided smile before yawning.

“It’s pretty late. Maybe we should go and find someplace to sleep? There ought to be some bedrooms somewhere upstairs,” I  suggested, grinning at the young princess next to me, who was trying her best to stifle her yawn.

“That sounds good,” she agreed.

*****

-Liana-

It didn’t take us long to find a suitable bedroom. Most of them had way to small beds, but eventually we came across one that was most likely reserved for diplomats. It was a suite with two large beds on opposite ends and a comfortable lounge in between them. Naturally, there was dust everywhere and Marion used her wind magic to clean the place – and the bedsheets – up properly until we all settled down.

Lorelei fished some rations out of her bag and we ate together in the lounge area, before she and Marion retreated to one of the beds. There were no walls separating the space, just a veiled canopy around each bed that provided the tiniest bit of privacy.

There was definitely something going on between them. The past week their bedrolls skooched closer and closer to one another each passing night and now they even shared a bed. Love was always something I viewed as ‘other’. Yes, each birthday I had to dance with a bunch of boys from other noble houses and some of them even confessed to me, but I never felt that kind of affection.

Well except for Rosie. I loved Rosie deeply; she was my bestie after all. And she was my pet. At least until a couple of hours ago. Now she was… a person. Which made things a lot more complicated in my head.

“It feels so magical to eat regular food again!” Rosie exclaimed, munching down on her third piece of elven bread. “Carrots are nice, don’t get me wrong! But this is so goooood!” she moaned.

I giggled and my face flushed a little red. Why did it do that? That was weird. “It feels so magical that you are… a person now. Or… always were a person.”

“I mean… you didn’t treat me just like any pet, though. I was actually your best friend, even if I was a bunny. I still am…” she trailed off, “If you… If you still want me to be.”

I threw myself at her and hugged her tightly. “Of course you’re still my best friend! I honestly don’t know what I’d ever do without you!”

She hesitated a moment, then wrapped her arms around me and we remained there for a while, cuddled up together like we used to. Just… slightly different now. She couldn’t wrap herself around me back then, it was always just me wrapping her in my arms and she nuzzling into me. But now we were properly intertwined. She was warm and soft, just like before, even though instead of fur she now had smooth skin.

I sighed deeply as we clung to one another and I had to stifle yet another yawn.

Rosie giggled softly. She sounded so cute when she did that. I’d never heard her giggle before and I decided I wanted to hear that sound over and over again. My heart jumped a little at the thought.

“Maybe we should go sleep as well?” Rosie finally suggested, unwrapping herself from me. “Even the adults are already in bed!”

I nodded gently. “Yeah. Let’s.”

She smirked at me and then lifted me up! I squealed loudly, then promptly clasped my hands over my mouth. I didn’t want to wake Lorelei and Marion. Rosie giggled again and then continued princess-carrying me over and onto the other bed. She laid down next to me and began draping the covers over us.

I reached out to her and pressed her close to me, the way I always did when we slept together. Her cute bunny ears wiggled as she let out another one of those angelic giggles.

“Maybe I’m still your pet,” she whispered.

“No. You were always my bestie,” I whispered back, squeezing her softly.

We fell asleep like that. Cuddled up like always. Just slightly different.

My heart was beating like crazy.

*****

-Marion-

Lorelei and I retreated to bed early. We wanted to let the girls reconnect with one another and to be honest, we were totally exhausted.

There were still a bunch of butterflies in my stomach though, as the elven princess led me to the bed. It was our first time sharing a bed, after all. Not that anything would happen. Why would it? I mean I liked her a lot. My eyes trailed down her body once more. A lot! But I didn’t know if she saw me the same way.

Lorelei was always very complicated to understand. Our relationship changed by the day. Sometimes it felt like we were total strangers, then the next day we were like old friends and then like an old married couple.

Liana even joked a few times how I was like a caring mother and Lorelei like a no-good father. A thought that made a giggly in many ways. The euphoria from being considered motherly made me incredibly happy and the closeness to Lorelei felt so exciting at the same time.

“Are you coming?” Lorelei’s voice dragged me back to reality. She was sitting on the rim of the bed. Her armour already discarded off to the side, as well as her overclothes. I swallowed heavily as I took in the sight of Lorelei in just her underwear. Violet silk, with beautiful embroidery along the rim of both her bra as well as her panties. Her long silver-white hair hung down her form messily.

My mind went to the sight of Sephie whenever she had sex hair. How would Lorelei with sex hair look like? I shook the thought away before it could corrupt me any further.

“Y- yea. Coming.” I quickly stripped off my shoes and pants, then crawled into the bed. I’d considered taking my top off, too, but I wasn’t wearing a bra underneath and I wasn’t that confident just yet.

Lorelei pulled the covers up and over us, before turning towards me. Her violet eyes scanned me, slowly. They looked so much gentler whenever they fell on me, I’d noticed. Every time she looked at a stranger they were intimidating, glowering. But right now? They were so soft, almost vulnerable.

“You know… you’re really amazing, Marion,” she muttered.

My heart jumped. “A-amazing, why? I didn’t do anything!” I protested.

“You’re so good with kids. I’m a total deadbeat when it comes to them. You calmed Liana down so quickly back then; that’s something no-one in the entire palace ever managed to do. But to you it came naturally. You’re a great mom.”

Another jump. “T-thanks. I never thought I’d ever be considered a ‘great mom.’” I looked away from her for a moment. “Or a mom in general,” I muttered.

She placed a hand on my cheek and our eyes met again. “You’re lovely, Marion,” she whispered.

I gulped and slowly placed my own hand on top of hers on my cheek.

“Maybe…” Lorelei continued, “I should have waited for you back then.”

I looked at her confusedly. “What do you mean?”

“You would have made a much better mom than Lilyfay. Or me, for that matter.” She brushed a thumb over my bottom lip and it felt like my heart stopped completely. “And you’re pretty to boot. I really like you, Marion, I hope you know that.” Her hand left my cheek and brushed through my hair.

I inhaled sharply. “I- I like you, too, Lolo.” She grinned and then broke into a wide smile when she heard the nickname again.

“Good,” she whispered. Then she leaned forward and pressed her lips against mine.

Warmth flushed through my entire body and I leaned into the kiss, tasting her lips. I could feel her smile against mine. One of my hands wandered to her waist for stability. The kiss stayed chaste, but we both savoured it nonetheless and when we broke, I missed her warmth immediately.

I let out a shaky breath. “That was… good.”

She grinned at me. “Yeah… it was. Shame the kids are around… I’d have shown you something even better.” She winked, then rolled back on her back.

“Goodnight Marion.”

“Night Lolo.”

Needless to say, I barely slept that night.