A reality check for a pet

Emi was hurrying down the street, her legs a little sore from the increasingly rare activity. Over the last week, she had spent almost 80% of her time on her knees. The only times she had really stood on her feet were when going out of the flat for food or to get to some appointment. Now that was coming back to bite her as she was not only late, but her legs were also fiercely complaining about the sudden change in what was expected from them.

Well, it was her own fault anyway. If she hadn't procrastinated until after Master had left before getting ready, she wouldn't need to run now. Luckily, Zoe's apartment was just around the corner, and while she was late, she wasn't that late yet.

Walking up three flights of stairs was another strain on her poor legs, but sure enough, she was only 15 minutes late when she rang the doorbell. The door soon opened to reveal a pair of raccoon ears, followed by a mop of short brown hair and the face of Zoe.

"Look who the cat dragged in." the petite woman joked before making way for Emi to enter.

"Haha." Emi replied with a roll of her eyes, but a small grin on her lips.

"Good to see you." they hugged for a few moments, then Emi went to take off her shoes.

"You're not going to strip down and crawl?" Zoe quipped as they left the hallway for the living room. "I'm not that far gone." Emi replied with a shake of her head.

"Not that far gone yet!" came an interruption from the room. Jane, the beautiful blond puppy girl, sat on a pillow next to the couch table. As per usual, she was naked except for her striking blue wedding collar. Next to her on the couch sat Ikana and Mia, the only ones in the room without ears and tails. On the other side of the couch table, Lyanna, the other cat girl in the group, was also sitting on a pillow, though unlike Jane she was wearing a skirt and oversized blouse instead of a collar.

Emi went to sit next to her, also taking a pillow on the ground, as did Zoe. While the latter was also limiting her pethood to pet dressing, there was a certain normalcy to pet girls sitting on the ground instead of on furniture.

"So, since we have all finally arrived-", Zoe nudged her playfully- "It's time for the 23rd monthly girls night!"

"Does anyone have anything new to tell?", Jane asked, and all eyes immediately wandered over to Ikana. More precisely, they all wandered to the thin, black collar fastened around her neck. The girl immediately blushed and avoided their stares.

"... I've got a boyfriend.", she muttered after a couple of moments of hesitation.

"And you let him collar you?", Mia asked with mock outrage. She was the only other non-pet-dresser in the group, and while she wasn't anti-pet as some people were, Emi couldn't imagine her ever letting herself get collared.

Ikana shrugged. "It looks cute, and it keeps other guys away. It's not like I have to start pet dressing just because I wear a collar." Everyone could agree to that. While collars were no longer as ubiquitous as they had been a few decades ago, they were still by far the most common relationship signifiers. Rings and wedding bands, an archaic tradition from before pet dressing had become acceptable for the common classes, had started becoming more popular with people who wanted absolutely nothing to do with pet girls, but they were still novelties.

"Well, I'm happy for you!" Zoe told her, her fingers playing with her own collar. She'd been collared by her girlfriend almost two years ago and seemed very happy in that relationship.

"What about you Emi? Anything new from your crazy experiment with Michael?" Ikana asked in an obvious bid to deflect attention from herself.

Emi rolled her eyes. "Not like you lot aren't updated the moment anything happens." She didn't exactly update them as much as being questioned almost every day by one of her friends. And once one of them had a new juicy detail, the rest knew soon after. That said, she didn't really mind it too much.

"How is crawling around all day?" Mia asked, and for once, there was some derision there.

"I like it." Emi simply replied, not wanting to get into an argument. They'd discussed their positions often enough, and while Emi could understand Mia's, she didn't agree.

"Have you thought about getting registered?", Jane threw in from the side. Emi rolled her eyes.

"We've talked about this. It's way too early for anything like this."

"But you would be interested in theory?", Lyanna asked, surprised. Emi hesitated a flush creeping onto her face.

"I think so? Michael doesn't seem to be keen on it, but in the long term, I'd probably like something like it.", In practice, it was the equivalent of marriage between a master and a pet after all.

"Hm, I didn't take you for the type, honestly." Ikana threw in, though unlike Mia, who looked somewhat scandalized by the idea, she just seemed surprised. Turning to Jane, she looked thoughtful.

"It did work out for you, though, right?"

The puppy girl nodded with a smile. "Sure did." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "As long as you are interested in doing more than just pet dressing, I think it's a good fit for most, since its really just formalizing your existing relationship. Obviously, if you only like the aesthetic without the subordination part, being a registered pet isn't something for you. But other than that, there really are only upsides."

They talked a little more about it before ordering some food.

"So how long till your experiment ends?" Zoe asked after they had finished the last of the pizza. Emi thought for a moment before blinking in surprise.

"A... week?" Time sure was a weird thing. She wasn't sure if it had felt like longer or shorter than that.

"I assume you will continue your thing?", Mia asked from the side. "You do seem really happy with Michael." Emi nodded happily.

"I think so. I can't imagine him thinking otherwise, either. So..."

"So little Emi has found herself her perfect Master." Ikana quipped, looking quite happy for her.

"Hopefully."

"And you are happy with your current rule set?", Jane asked from the other side of the table. Out of all of them, she had the most experience with the sort of lifestyle. Emi thought about it again before nodding.

"I honestly think so. Being a full-on pet at home is fun, and while I might want to experiment with some public outings, I like the balance. Girl boss at work, pet at home. Seems perfect to me."

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As might be obvious, we are heading towards an end for this story. Not sure how many more chapters will follow here, but I plan to end it in 1 or 2. If you want more of this universe, check out my history of pet girls, "On the origin of the pet girl":

https://chyoa.com/story/On-the-origin-of-the-pet-girl.67478

Or check out my new story "Elly has a tail":

https://chyoa.com/story/Elly-has-a-tail.71151

To get rare updates, give me feedback or ideas, and sometimes see AI slop set in this universe, check out my Discord:

https://discord.gg/kEK7rCsxXH