A in (Hot)Spring

Lajoi entered the small, private room. Many of the rooms in the hotspring had sliding doors with paper-thin walls, however they were made private by the seclusion of each room. Raithe’s own little corner of the Hot Springs run by Sona, one of her direct children, was tucked far inside of the rocky cliff-side where a little home was built into the stone walls with semi-traditional architecture. As the fox closed the sliding door she turned to see her grandmother working on something.

The two did not have a close relationship. The Grandfather was far more present, but also fairly reclusive. Appearances depended on whims more than anything, but Raithe could typically be found if she was needed, in contrast. She looked up and smiled.

“Joi.” she greeted. The leader was dressed for war, not relaxation. Her usual attire, a coat adorned with symbols of her status and her form.

“You wanted to speak with me in private? I was surprised… I’m not exactly-”

“That’s why. Your clearance is very low. You ran an entertainment branch and never showed any complaints or any interest in rising further.”

“Yeah, I like it.” Lajoi shrugged, sitting down in front of the very low desk that Raithe was seated in front of. The only seating in the room were cushions on the ground. Joi tried her best to make due.

“Honestly wanna get back to it soon. We’re losing a lot of momentum… If you stop broadcasting in this industry you might as well be dead.” She stared across at Raithe curiously.

“Soo…”

“I need you, who’s never shown a hunt of greater ambition or complaint to hear me out and keep your own eye on things outside without letting on that it is what you are doing.”

“Is it about Garland and Shedu? I don’t think-”

“No no.” Raithe waved a hand dismissively.

“Nothing about them is wrong. For the most part… But they do need to be watched and protected. That side of things is my own job, so don’t worry. What I need you to do is keep an eye on each of my children.”

“Huh? Mama and my uncles?”

“That’s right.” Raithe smiled.

“Can you do it?”

“I can, yeah, but why?”

“We’ve been suffering intense breaches across all of our holdings. It’s a multi-pronged attack. But, such a thing, in the way and manner it is happening, could only be carried out with the help of someone who has very high clearance. Someone like…” She waited.

“Mama, or my uncles…”

“Correct. Unfortunately, I believe one of my children has decided to side against us… Any ideas?”

“Uhm…” Lajoi looked up in thought.

“Mama seems unlikely. Not just because of her personality, but because she is detached from almost everything to do with the operational side. The only thing she does is produce music and run this place we’re in.”

“Hmm. Right.” Raithe nodded.

“Uncle Forte is a bit suspicious. I don’t know him very well but he has a weird vibe. At the same time, he and I are pretty similar. We like similar things, and maybe I’m just a bit bitter that he was hitting on my Husband during our wedding.”

Raithe smiled cluelessly. “Weren’t there quite a few men hitting on you during that same wedding?” Lajoi blushed deeply.

“I-It’s different! He’s into it, I’m not. He’s all mine.”

“Noted. Forte is someone I considered, but he is very simple-minded.”

“Yeah. About Uncle Fionn. He’s in charge of a lot of sensitive stuff, right? Teuta is the Chief of security and technically she de facto reports to him, but she’s his mentor so the relationship is a bit skewed, right?” She was thinking out loud. Raithe nodded along.

“On that note, Teuta is missing and Vura is gravely wounded. Our security corps have been cut down significantly so we’ll need the ‘nanny’ to come act in her original role.”

“Makes sense.”

“In regards to Fionn being the culprit, this is a prospect I don’t want to consider, but I rate it high in likelihood… Of all my children he’s the most like me in terms of personality; driven and capable. But, what about Korr?”

“Korr is about as old as Garland and Shedu.”

“So we’ll be discounting him. Besides… I like Korr. He is also like me in terms of-”

“No… I think Korr is probably the most suspicious. Anyone that hasn’t spent a lot of time with you, or within the company is more easily influenced, right? He doesn’t really have anything to call his own, yet, and he hasn’t exactly proven himself as one of your children. He’s the youngest, so he might have a lot to prove. His skillset and intelligence are high. I think if they were using someone, Korr would be the most capable at getting it all done and covering his tracks. So we should be-” Lajoi stopped as she heard clapping from somewhere in the room. The fox’s ears swivelled and she realised it was coming from under the desk on Raithe’s side. After a bit of struggling, a pair of slightly rounded, bigger than everage fox ears popped up, then the cute round face of Korr Vara.

“Ah… I can see- Urk.” He began, struggling to pull himself from the tight space.

“Take your time.” Raithe said as she helped Korr into her lap the moment his butt popped free. He sat with a confident smirk, one leg crossing over the other as he sat comfortably in Raithe’s lap. Raithe, happy as can be, was preening his hair and ears. Lajoi was confused.

“Uhm…”

“Seems Mother’s intuition is right. But I know what you’re thinking.” He stared intently into Lajoi’s eyes, then looked like he got something.

“Heh. You’re thinking about your husband.”

“What? Really?” Raithe lifted her white brows.

“D-don’t judge me! What’s one of the suspects doing in here!?” Lajoi pointed out.

“Simple. I’m the one that was able to discern that we had a traitor among my siblings, and I was the one that advised Mother to call this meeting. Not just with you, but with many of the people in the hotspring. So far, everyone’s answered as expected. You’ve exceeded expectations by suspecting me, since I’m the least likely on the surface, but the most likely in reality.”

Lajoi became bashful. “I got an eye for people… It’s part of the job.”

“But-” He pointed dramatically, making a sign over one eye with his other hand as he posed in Raithe’s lap..

“-you have your blindspots, Niece!”

Lajoi gasped, getting sucked into the drama. “Really!?”

“Sona has a side that very few people care to talk about here. She actually fits in best, personality-wise, with the coven foxes. The eldest and only one to make a child naturally. Isn’t it interesting? She withdrew from any responsibility due to her whimsical personality, but didn’t Sona protest most when it came time to talk about expanding Fennek’s harvesting operations?”

“So it’s… There’s no way it’s Mama.” Lajoi argued weakly.

“Not for sure… These are just things you missed because you don’t have access to all the information I do. You see, there is more.” His eyes glimmered, changing pose.

“Forte actually has a nasty habit that’s been kept under wraps. He has many, many children that he made through the Cult Method.”

“So Mama is suspected because she had a natural child and he’s suspected because he ‘foxed’ them? T-”

“That’s nonsensical.” Korr finished and predicted her nex line. She gasped.

“How?”

“You know the actual reason. I don’t need to patronise you, do I?” He chuckled.

Lajoi sighed, looking down in thought. “It’s the attitudes of each…”

“Hoh.” Korr’s eyes brightened. He threw his arms up, prompting Raithe to hug him around his chest like a stuffed animal.

“Exactly!” She rested her chin idly on the top of his head, between his big ears.

“Sona’s attitudes and Forte’s attitudes both seem to align with the Cult. That is my judgement, at least.”

“What about Fionn?”

“There’s strong evidence that it is Brother Fionn.” Korr said gravely.

“S-seriously? So is it already solved?”

“Let me finish.” He lifted a flat disk.

“It is because evidence was planted which subtly pointed to him, but I already traced the source of that data to this hotspring. Someone here planted the fact that Fionn’s security clearance was used. But I’ve already cleared Brother Fionn and now know that his clearance was stolen.”

“How?” Lajoi gulped.

Korr grinned. “Because he’s stupid.”

“Oh.” Lajoi felt deflated by that.

“But, that doesn’t stop us from treating him as our prime suspect to throw the actual culprit off. My dear little niece joi-”

“I’m older than you.” She said flatly.

“Keep an invisible eye on Sona and Forte for me.”

“Uhm, sure, Uncle.”

“Such a good boy~” Raithe cooed, petting him.

“Do you want a piece of candy?”

“Yes please~ Ahhhh~” He tilted his head back as Raithe pulled a red, round candy from somewhere and popped it into his mouth while humming to herself.

“How can you get lost?” Garland asked, his reflection trudging along beside Shedu as she wandered along the various clear springs above ground.

“Just ask for help.”

“No! Besides, I’m not lost, I'm actually, for your information, exploring!”

“Ah… so you went out for a snack and now you’re exploring. I guess we’ve given up on eating.”

“Tch. Hungry, much?”

“Yeah!” Garland exclaimed.

“I’m hungry when you are! Also, for the record-” His reflection blushed.

“I feel it as well when you touch yourself.”

“Waddaya want, for me to never touch myself? Are you stupid.”

“N-no, just warn me first. It’s common courtesy before you use OUR body like that!”

“Nah, nah.” Shedu shook her head. She knelt down by the reflective, warm pool and stared into it at her brother.

“Doesn’t work like that. This is mine and when I decide you can come out, or when I’m bored, it’s yours. We’re not ‘sharing’ , we're two different people!”

“Oh, so when you’re fucking around with all the setttings on my-”

Shedu reached into the water and made splashes to interrupt the reflection. “Lalala!” She turned him out as Garland’s shrill voice faded. She looked up, jumping as she saw a figure in the mist.

“Ah!” She screamed.

“Whozzat?” She squinted. The mist cleared. A small, feminine fox with dark hair and red eyes came into view. He looked like Fin, Garland’s ‘Gay Gay’ but just a bit sharper and… a bit more ‘intentional’ in the way he looked. Shedu got hints of Garland in him, so she suspected the figure was a sissy.

“How long you been sitting there?” She asked.

“23 years…” He commented with a slight drawl.

“That’s a long time to be doing fuck-all.”

“Those are some vulgar words for a girl that wandered into the men’s bath.”

“Everything here belongs to us anyway, so who cares?”

“My thoughts exactly…” Shedu could see him grin through the mist as he relaxed on the edge of the pool, just his feet dipped.

“It all belongs to us, doesn’t it? That’s a good thing to learn early on, my dear~”

As more mist cleared Shedu could make out an ecstatic pair of twin foxes kissing and licking at his feet. Shedu blushed.

“Don’t mind them.” Forte waved.

“They’re just excited is all. Bath time is a ‘special time’ I always say.”

“I thought it was just family…”

“Oh of course, my dear. Close family. I made these two boys myself, very, very carefully.” He tapped his lip, taking a long drag of the humid, misty air while tilting his head back.

“You’re that girl that was in the Cult for a while?”

“I mean… ‘In the Cult’ is a bit of a stretch, right? They used me.”

“You know there’s a long tradition about twins for our kind. Know why?”

“Why?” She lifted a brow.

“Twins have Souls that are one. Well… it’s more like they have the same Soul in two bodies. Some cultures think it’s taboo, since one or the other would get more of a share.” He winked at her knowingly.

“Well… that sometimes happens but usually, without any interference both souls are complete~ So, that means that when we get twins we gain access to a greater, ‘collective being’ that can either be combined to become even more powerful down the line.”

Shedu stared harshly at Forte. “You mean to say that in the case of twins, it was always intended for one to consume the other?”

“Inevitable… it’s in our makeup.” He levelled a coy, giddy gaze on Shedu.

“Or so I thought~” There was a long silence where it was just the sound of water moving, and hungry mouths licking and kissing at Forte’s dainty feet. Then, Shedu jumped again as she felt two hands on her shoulder.

“Gah!!!!” She screamed. Son hugged Shedu protectively.

“Grand-daughter, calm down.” Sona begged, looking up. The girl was shorter. The mood shifted with Forte looking away as Sona came into the picture.

“Honestly… brother, you shouldn’t tease my Grandchildren with your freaky obsessions.”

“My freaky obsessions, dear sister, exist in a circle around me.” He exhaled sharply, chuckling.

“If someone enters, they’re going to be treated to them one way or another. So advise my dear grand-neice to not wander into my space, if you are so troubled by the thought of me having any-” He licked his plump lips.

“-influence on them.”

Sona pulled Shedu away, shielding her from Forte with her own body as she pushed her out insistently.

“Listen, you gotta stay away from that guy. He’s a bit strange.”

“Yeah, I can tell…” Shedu commented.

“But what’s up? Were you trying to find me?”

“Yes~ I wanted to have a chat with you two in private.”

“Ah, mind if I join?” Lajoi asked, suddenly appearing from the side. Sona seemed a bit surprised and faintly hindered.

“We’ll only be a little bit.” She claimed.

“Same. I honestly just want to take a few pictures of both my children to make a new album. They were cute before, but now they’re basically models.” She said brightly.

Sona chuckled. “Is that what it is? Well, I still think they’re both mostly just cute, hehe.”

“Is it something you can’t talk about with me in the room, Mama?”

Sona tapped her cheek, looking up in thought. “Weeeeell… I think it would be fine to have the talk with you, there, but now that you mention it I wanna see all the pretty pictures!”

Lajoi giggled. “Mama, you have an eye for what looks good. You can help me out.”

Shedu and Garland felt like things were a bit off as Lajoi and Sona took them into a room lit specifically for pictures. Lajoi corralled them into a backdrop, holding her wrist up like a camera. Comm’s all had excellent cameras.

“Would you two mind swapping back and forth?”

“I guess not, but we still don’t know how…”

“You’ve done it before, though, right?” Lajoi asked.

“Yeah… just when I’m bored or don’t wanna be somewhere.”

“Channel that.” Sona advised.

“Those are subjective feelings, so just use them and it should work, right?”

“Huh…” Shedu tried it and instantly the body shifted over to Garland’s body. It wasn’t just a personality change. Shedu’s admittedly small breasts shrunk to be completely flat, but the figure barely changed, except for Garland’s ass which was brought in a bit to become more perky and toned. The hair shifted over fully to silver with teal fringes, and teal tips on both tails and ears. This was in contrast to Shedu who had silver tips and silver fringes for her hair.

“It worked.” Garland offered, looking down at his body, turning to and fro.

“It did! Pose, honey!” Lajoi called out. Garland did as she asked and she snapped a few pictures.

“You both have such long, pretty hair, now~”

“Hah? She wont let me cut it. What am I supposed to do, Mom. Can you tell her off?” As Lajoi swapped filters Shedu changed back in the time it took, shouting into the air.

“Short hair!? Are you kidding me? I love having long, luxurious hair~”

“Agreed, but you both look cute either way.” Sona chimed in, kicking her legs up and down happily in the seat she took.

Lajoi took a few of Shedu before she swapped back. “I think you should maybe let your brother cut his hair and see if it sticks for both of you. If it doesn’t it’ll grow back, right?”

“That’s why I was saying!” Garland exclaimed, tussling his hair for the camera while doing a catwalk strut.

“I also want my piercing back…”

“Piercings and tattoos might be complicated, sweetie. Your clothes don’t change, so those probably won't as well. It wouldn’t be good to stick your sister with something she’s uncomfortable with. Remember, this kind of relates back to what we talked about during the orgie?”

Garland’s face went deep red. “Y-you remembered that?” It quickly became too much and Shedu took over due to him wanting to get away.

“Seriously, what a wimp.”

“I remember you getting emotional at our highrise meeting, as well~” Lajoi teased.

“S-so?” Shedu acted like it was nothing.

“Any other big disagreements? Clashing heads must be intense when you both have the same head.”

“Hehe. Good one, Joi.” Sona complimented.

“Thanks, Mama~”

Shedu decided to lie. “We don’t have any really, really big disagreements.” Of course there was one. It was huge. It was extremely important. Who was best for Mithra? But, with her not being around it was considered a bit of a moot conversation until they could figure that part out. It was also a conversation that they both wanted to put off, so it worked out well. All of the arguments and claims could only be said ‘in theory.’