Slime Slime Slime

The tailor workshop had rolls of cloth, a few tables covered with sewing supplies such as spools of thread, drawings and patterns hung on the wall, and other such trappings. In the midst of it, a bulldog in a well-made green suit with cravat sat sewing.

As Aono entered, Aiio said while pointing at a box with a price written on it, "A few re-purposed learning projects with just slimeproof enhancements to tide you over until I can make what I've got planned for you. I've placed an order for shiftcloth since you can change your body's shape, right?"

Aono answered, "Yes, I can, but is that really necessary? Doesn't stuff like that cost more? And you expected I'd come here?"

The bulldog tailor shrugged as they continued sewing away. "People with enough money buy stuff from me. No knock on the other tailor. He makes more stuff cheaper and I make better stuff. We're both fine with that. About the shiftcloth, I'll cover the extra cost and extra materials I'll need."

Aono blinked at that. "Why?"

"It'll be a good chance to try and level up. Shiftcloth's just beyond my skills, so I can push myself. And you'll want that stuff, since it changes when you changes shape." Aiio turned their project over and started working on the other side.

Aono said worriedly, "What if you don't succeed? If you don't get the level necessary to work that shiftcloth stuff?"

Aiio gestured dismissively. "Then I waste a lot of time and nearly go broke. Don't worry, you'll get your proper clothes either way, they just won't be as suitable as shiftcloth."

Aono's first impulse was to object, but she held it back as she saw Aiio's steady gaze. "I guess you know what you're doing."

"I know what I'm doing, yes. Leveling never comes without risk. And I can recover from being nearly broke, even if it'll take a while," Aiio said.

Aono sighed. "True enough. I nearly died earning my levels."

That got a nod from Aiio. "Yes, you understand. Higher level means more people'll come to me for the more expensive jobs. I'll make more money in the long run and be able to take on projects I wanted to do but didn't have the skill for."

Aono picked up the box containing her new clothes and dropped the payment for it into the slot in Aiio's payment box. "Um, can we talk at a better time later? About gender and all that?"

"Can talk now. I'll just talk while I work." Aiio shrugged and kept sewing.

Aono paused. "So... I thought I was alone, but it was nice to see not only that I wasn't alone but that I'd inspired you to speak up too."

Aiio slowly nodded. "Mhm. I feel the same. Wasn't even sure about this until I heard what you said. I didn't really have something to pin my feelings down to. Then I heard you and and it all began to make more sense. I was maybe seventy percent sure when I stepped up and made that announcement, but I'm becoming more and more sure since then."

"Yeah... it took a whole bunch of events to get me to this point... If it wasn't for Ghaan and Sardu and Tamu's support, I mightn't have gotten to the point of making that announcement. Even cranky old Ghei contributed by visibly not giving a shit about my slime form." Aono started looking through the box Aiio had given her.

Aiio ran another thread through their needle. "Something Ghaan said got me thinking. I think she noticed my situation too."

Aono couldn't help but smile. "Well, she sees everyone's deals."

"Yeah, she does. We're fortunate she uses it only for good," Aiio said.

Aono's eyes widened. "Gods, no, I wouldn't want to imagine evil Ghaan."

"Mhm. Better not to bother with hypothetical stuff like that unless they're right in your face being real." Aiio gave a big shrug.

"I guess. Anyways, it's good being ourselves, isn't it?" Aono said.

"Indeed it is," was Aiio's response.

---

This, Aono decided, was too much. Tamu by himself alone was one thing. She could handle that. She could also handle Sardu by herself alone. But both of them together?

Right now Tamu was chattering away at warprabbit speed about the play they had just watched while dodging Sardu's attempts to flick leftover popcorn kernels at him. Not only was Sardu tossing kernels, she was shooting the occasional compliment at Aono, making her blush. Tamu hadn't missed that and was doing the same now and then.

"Princess, you know, you have the cuteness of a fuzzbug fresh out of its cocoon." Sardu aimed another kernel.

As Tamu dodged that one, he said, "The beauty of the Nightborn Flower under the gentle glow of the midnight sky, as well."

Yes. Slime Folk could apparently blush, quite hard, too. It wasn't quite the same, more of a darkening of the purple shade of her slime, but the effect was about the same.

Sardu raised an eyebrow as she saw Aono's blush. "Let us know if this is too much, okay?"

Tamu shielded himself from another thrown kernel. "Yeah, I wouldn't want to trouble you more than you can take."

Aono's shade darkened even more. "No, it's alright. I appreciate it. But aren't you being a bit over the top? I know I'm cute and pretty. I think. But that much?"

"It's no exaggeration, Princess," Sardu said and Tamu just nodded.

How had she gotten into this situation? Oh, right, it was just after her stop at the tailor's workshop. Anno had headed toward the path towards Downfall, where she would buy her new shoes. That was when Sardu had joined her, saying she had something to do there, too. Not long after, Tamu had joined up as well saying it looked like a fun situation.

And now Aono was being practically complimented to death. At least the play she and her friends had watched while waiting for her shoe order to get finished had been a fun one.

That reminded her. "Sardu, didn't you say you had something to do here?"

Sardu took one look at her and shamelessly said, "Oh, yes, it was escorting an princess."

"Ha!" Tamu said triumphantly, "I didn't even bother with an excuse! And I just finished up fixing up Lim's weatherseer."

"Oh, yeah? What was wrong with it?" Aono parried a sudden kernel thrown her way.

"Busted mana gem connector. I borrowed Hamu's forge to make a new one all quick like. I'm no smith, but simple pieces like that're easy. No enhancement needed, just metal in the right shape." Tamu snapped his finger. "Oh! I had something I wanted to show you."

"What's it?" Aono winced as another kernel caught her off guard, sinking slowly into her face.

At least Sardu had the grace to look sheepish. Very slightly so. "Whoops, sorry. Need help getting that one out, Princess?"

Aono just squeezed the slime in her face, expelling the kernel right back at Sardu whose reflexes narrowly failed to save her from getting hit right in the face with a slimy kernel.

Tamu went on, "So, I have this fun trickster ability. Just want to make something clear first. Don't think I'm making fun of you, Aono, or anything. Just thought this might be fun." He began spinning.

Then suddenly there was a poof of smoke. When it cleared, in Tamu's place was... a female blue squirrel in a flowing sundress. "Ta da! A girls' day out on the town!"

Aono stared while Sardu applauded. "Wait. What? Does that mean..."

"Mean what?" the now female Tamu said with a quizzical expression."

"That you're like me?" Aono said.

Tamu shook his head. "Eh. Not really. I'm cool with being a guy, I'm just cool with being a girl, too. Honestly I thought gender was just something you went along with, you know? But turns out people can care more about it than I thought."

"Oh," Aono said. "I don't know how I feel about this. Actually... Now that I've thought about this a little I'm very okay with this." Honestly, while Tamu was handsome as a man, he was just as cute as a woman, too.

"Yeah, if you hadn't liked it, I would've just turned back. But since you're okay with it, girls' day?" A kernel hit Tamu in the face while he was distracted.

Sardu pointed right at Tamu. "You're gonna be Duchess instead of Mischief when you're like this. Princess gets the higher rank, of course."

Catching another kernel, Tamu said, "That reminds me, I need a name for when I'm like this. Let's see. Camu... oh, wait, that's taken already, by a fourth cousin. Chamu then!"

Aono blinked as a realization hit her. "Where're you getting that many kernels from, Sardu? It's been a while and you haven't run out yet."

Sardu grinned. "My Endless Armament ability. It can make more of what I'm throwing, too."

"Hey!" Chamu called, "If you're gonna cheat, I'm gonna too!" She whipped out a umbrella from nowhere.

"Alright, this popcorn battle was fun, but no escalation please," Aono said with a shake of her head and a wry grin.

"Okay." Sardu promptly gave up on throwing popcorn. "So let's do that girls' day out!"

And so they roamed market stalls, terrorized a mugger by covering her in glitter and slime, helped someone improve his puppet play with new props and better lines, helped a small child find their pet, and dined out.

The girls' day out, as fun as it was, ended a total disaster, to the point where the trio were climbing out of the underground storm drain system they had fled into. "Let's not do the spoon and candle trick again," Sardu said.

"Agreed. What it showed was pretty nasty," Chamu wiped her sundress.

Aono picked out of her head a fork an irate diner had thrown. "It would've been a fun divination party trick if it hadn't shown that. But, yeah, let's not try it again."

"Oh, hey, we came up right outside the shoe store. Told you my navigation was good!" Sardu swelled up her chest with pride.

"Anyways, I'm turning back. But don't think this's the last you've seen of Chamu!" With another poof, Tamu's time as a girl ended.

"Oh, yeah, what did you think about being a girl?" Aono asked.

Tamu gave that a brief moment of thought. "Hmm. It's alright, just like being a guy's alright for me. The novelty's worn off but I'll probably try it again. Or go with no gender next time."

"So, you're what? A flipper? A genderwhatever?" Sardu snapped her fingers. "Oh, I know! Flexsquirrel!"

"Something like the middle and last ones, I think?" Tamu said, "I'll have to think on that. You can just refer to me as a guy except when I'm being something else."

"Got it. Your handsome beauty as a guy and lovely beauty as a girl reign unequaled, however." Aono could get into that act too.

"And don't you know it!" Tamu did a swaggering stroll into the shoe store. "We're here for the shoes of the second most beautiful in all the lands here." He gestured toward Aono who had followed inside.

"Right," the shoemaker said with a deadpan face. "Here're your mimic lizard skin shoes. Should change when you change your shape, like you asked for. Also can turn into boots and other shapes. Thank you for your business. Now, honored customers, you better get out of my store before that angry looking bunch wrecks it. Hope you survive and come again."

"Shit," Aono said as she took the shoes and the trio ran.