The Greatest Place on Earth

Mere inches from the delicious whip cream topped, strawberry ice cream, Zuqetta would dematerialize her gloves, reaching out slowly with a quivering smile. Sweets were an indulgence she'd been denied growing up, and had become a kryptonite as she seemed to lose her senses completely when allowed the chance to partake. Now, there being a whole mountain before her of the sweet, creamy goodness that was ice cream, and the delectable full comfort that was a hot coco river, her body shook with an uncontrollable glee. She hardly knew where to start, her eyes darted from one delicacy to the next; as she brought her fingers down towards the strawberry slope however, she'd find herself stopped as something lightly struck her leg.

"Waah!" She'd cry out, startled as she was broken from her trance; she'd glance around quickly, feeling nothing with her senses, before a tuft of red would attract her attention, "What-?"

Suddenly, she would freeze, her every sense now overwhelmed by the sight before her. Fur of pure white, eyes like big beautiful glass orbs that reflected all they saw. It's entire form fluffy and puffy, with large, little paws and the biggest of fluffy tails. Her face became a flush red as her excitement built, her eyes widening, sparkling even as she gazed upon the little animal. An open mouth smile stretched slowly across her face as her heart rate increased. Without warning, Zuqetta would let out an incomprehensible squeal of delight, before rushing forth like a predator striking from the grass, taking up the fox in her arms and hopefully not squeezing the life out of him.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHHAAAAAAAAA!!!" Zuqetta would scream in an adorably high pitched voice, "Aren't ju just the most precious thing EVER!!!" She'd exclaim, squeezing the fox tightly against her chest, nuzzling her face against its fluffy ears as one of her hands played and stroked the creatures fluffy tail, "Ooooooooohhh! Jou're so CUTE! What're you doin' here lil guy? Are you lost? Do you live here?" She'd question, not expecting a response from an animal, before suddenly gasping, "Ah!! Are you here to enjoy some ice cream?" She'd say excitedly, "Did you want that cherry way up at the peak? It certainly looks good, doesn't it!" She'd finish, giving the fox some breathing room as she pointed up towards the mountainous cherry; before getting excited once again, and continuing to nuzzle the fox.

Of all the things she could have expected from the little fox, a few yips, a bark maybe, perhaps purring? She had no idea what it was a fox actually sounded like, but still, of all things, she'd hadn't expected actual words. What does the fox say? Apparently a lot! Not only that, but said fox now revealed to go by the name of Xiaolan was incredibly self aware! This was no mere animal moving and living purely by instinct, this was no different than a person simply in animal form! Coming to this realization, Zuqetta would pause momentarily, staring blankly at the creature as he introduced himself and explained his mission. He'd snuggled up closer against her chest, making himself well at home, as if expecting to be escorted to the cherry peak despite now having revealed himself to be much more than an animal!

"You..." Zuqetta would say in a low tone, lowering her gaze as she squeezed the creature a bit more, "-are... so CUTE!!!" She'd suddenly exclaim, clearly even more excited than she was even moments ago, "Ah! I'm sorry, I hope that wasn't too tight!" Zuqetta would lessen her hold on the fox, keeping him snuggled firmly within her arms against her chest, but loosely enough that he could now jump out should he have so desired, "I can't believe it, you're an actual talking animal! And a fluffy talking fox at that!" She'd say with a squeal, "Ohhh, I wish the pups back home could speak like you! It'd be so cute!"

As she spoke, she maintained a surprising vigilance on the situation; with Xaiolan in her arms, she'd begun to hover up towards the cherry peak. Not only was it likely to be the best ingredient the fox could have used for whatever he might have been making, but the peak would surely make a great vantage point for scoping out the rest of Mount Puccino for further ingredients.

"Little fox? Oh, Xiaolan you said? Hehe, I'm Zuqetta, it's incredibly nice to meet you!" Zuqetta would introduce, happily petting the fox from his head to his tail, "I'm not here for ingredients, I just... well, heh, I just love sweets!" She'd admit, blushing a bit; it was much easier to be honest with animals than people, "When I heard there was an entire region magick'd up to literally be a dessert wonderland? I absolutely HAD to come!" She'd explain as the two neared the cherry peak, "But anyways, who are you trying to make friends with? Do they like sweets? And... how are you able to speak?" She'd ask curiously, "Don't get me wrong, I love that you can! I'm just curious as to how? Does it have something to do with that "Void" thing you mentioned? What's that?"

Zuqetta's tail twitched about with her curiosity peaked; something like the "Way of the Void" sounded incredibly dark and ominous, but this little guy seemed to be the exact opposite of such things! Still, she couldn't feel his energy; she'd thought it was because he was so small and she was so distracted before, but now that he was in her arms, she realized that he simply had no energy to feel at all. Perhaps this then, had something to do with the void he'd mentioned. Zuqetta on the other hand used magic to conceal her energy; even with her energy hidden, it was never truly gone, and many had been able to feel her out by the magic that encompassed her body. She wondered if perhaps she'd be able to feel something from the fox if she chose to sense out magic rather than energy, and so would attempt just that, honing her magical senses to see if the little fox was emanating any magic of his own.

"Ahhh, sorry!" She'd remark with a bit of embarrassment, "Heh, you were able to feel that, huh? Makes sense, you're pretty much a mass of magic." she'd say with a bit of a laugh as she ceased her attempts to feel his magical power.

Xiaolan had a lot to share, some of which was coincidental, but all of it was rather intriguing. She couldn't say she knew too much about ingredients for food besides the things that she'd read in books; but while she could reference what a book said, it didn't mean she actually understood it herself. Food was food to her, but at the very least, her taste buds worked well enough to determine good from from bad, and if Xiaolan was saying the ice cream below was lower quality, then who was she to disagree?

"Hehe, but... I don't think anyones ever called it pretty before." she'd say with a blush, glancing away from Xiaolan, "Hehe, kitsune sounds like something pretty too." She'd remark somewhat bashfully before quickly continuing to speak, "B-But anyways, what a coincidence! I'll be going to Konats pretty soon myself, my sister lives there and she wants to introduce me to the people she works with." She'd say with a laugh, unsure if it was safe to speak about the Novas; considering the many grand larceny charges and bounties Zuqetta had found on them, she decided it best to withhold such information.

"And I guess that makes sense, I couldn't very well explain how I can talk either... it just kinda, happened? Yeah?" while a small part of her wanted to correct the kitsune on what it was she meant, Zuqetta had realized it didn't truly matter. Even if there was a reason he could talk when regular animals couldn't, it wasn't like she could do anything with the information, and hearing his counter question made her wonder how it was she was even taught to talk herself, "Ah, but look, we're here!" Zuqetta would remark happily, changing the topic as she looked over the massive cherry, "So what kind of food is a bento? Is it this cherry?" she'd ask, placing a hand on the house sized cherry.

Zuqetta became more than a bit bashful at Xiaolan's continued remarks involving her name. Names such as hers were so commonplace on Plant, that in some cases they were hardly even used; to make matters worse, certain foreigners who didn't take too kindly to Saiyans would only make one feel worse about their name by receiving a negative reaction in response to it. The little fox's remarks were more than a simple breath of fresh air, Zuqetta wasn't use to receiving any form of positive reinforcement if it didn't come in the form of something like praise after a punch to the face. She did well to not be too overly swayed by the feeling however, lest she become metaphorically intoxicated by it.

As Xiaolan continued, instilling the knowledge of the kitsunes upon her, Zuqetta found herself ever more curious of it all. There were words she'd never heard before, with her only association with Xiaolans species being that of a fox. It was possible that Zerori would have been much more familiar with Xaiolan's yokai origin, which made Zuqetta regret never going out to explore the universe properly before now. As Xiaolan went on to explain his current objective in life, Zuqetta couldn't help but to laugh at the parallel.

"Hehe, yeah, I feel that!" She'd say, "I can't tell ya how long I've simply done somethin' because it's what others wanted of me." She'd explain with a sigh of relief, "Now? I only wanna do what I wanna do! I wanna make new friends, I wanna become a good ruler for my people, and right now, I wanna eat some ice cream!" She'd say cheerily, happily listening to Xiaolan's follow up explanation on bentos, "Do you think I could make a bento too?" She'd ask, tilting her head somewhat curiously before giving a laugh at a subsequent thought, "Heh, if we made bentos for each other, would that make us bento buddies?"

Xiaolan certainly seemed incredibly enthusiastic about bentos, his excitement and reactions causing Zuqetta to reactively snuggle into him once again, though with much less strength. He made a bento sound like a rather remarkable thing; even if one took it at face value to simply be a lunch, Xiaolan's portrayal of it made it seem like something to bring about universal peace. Whether it could actually do that or not, Zuqetta enjoyed his enthusiasm on it, and couldn't fault the idea of catering a dessert party for the people of Konats.

It'd been a long time since she enjoyed a casual conversation without any stressful topics or dramatic reveals, coming to Earth was certainly the best idea she'd had so far. Speaking with Xiaolan was as comforting and casual as things had felt for her in her youth, reminding her of the fun times she shared with her sister and Onnio. She hoped things could remain as such, though knew better than to fully believe they would; the universe was quite capable of being a cruel thing after all, and one could never hope to control everything that would ever happen.

"Hehe, I'd gladly accept you a the royal chef!" She'd laugh, "And though "Empress" has a pretty nice ring too it, I don't think I could get used to people calling me either of those things." she'd remark, feeling a bit flustered by the thought, "Besides, a book I read said you princes and princesses only become kings and queens after marrying, which I CERTAINLY haven't done!" she'd say with another laugh, petting the little fox's head.

Xiaolan went on to encourage Zuqetta on the art of bento making, which got her in a well motivated mood. She'd was more than ready to finally dig into the ice cream of this magical mountain, and then join in on making a friendly, friendship bento, another funny idea that would make her laugh. To her surprise however, Xiaolan had gotten rather rambunctious; Zuqetta was ready to motion for his release, wondering if perhaps he was feeling to claustrophobic in her arms, before sudden... POOF! With a puff of smoke, she'd no longer feel the little creature snuggled against her chest, but certainly hadn't felt him leap out of her arms.

"Xiaolan!?" Zuqetta would call out in a momentary panic, before quickly being alerted to the fox's presence. To her further surprise however, no longer was her little buddy the small cute fox she'd been snuggling, but instead was revealed to be a rather tall, foreignly dressed fox man. Zuqetta remained silent at first in surprise, her brain working double time to make sense of what had occurred; Xiaolan still looked rather unique, but it occurred to her that the man was now technically no different than the other animal people she'd met on Earth before. This realization, along with thinking back to the actions she'd performed in snuggling the fox up until now, caused Zuqetta's face to redden nearly as bright as the cherry the two stood near.

"X-X-X-X-Xiaolan!?" She'd exclaim, glancing up towards the towering fox, her eyes darting quickly between he and her chest, before she would quickly turn away from him. She'd bring her hand up to her chest, her heart pounding from embarrassment, before she would throw out her arms and suddenly materialize a rather puffy jacket. Quickly zipping up said jacket, she'd give a give firm slap against her cheeks in an attempt to calm herself down before turning back to the fox man. "Hahahahaha, it got rather cold suddenly, huh!? At least, I felt cold! Brrrrrrrrrr! Hahaha, wow, I know ya mentioned it, but I didn't know you could ACTUALLY transform!" She'd stammer on awkwardly, attempting to cover up her embarrassment as best as she could, "Q-Queen Zuq is a bit much, ya know? That whole thing I said and like... hehehe, y-you can just call me Zuq!" She'd say happily, steadily calming down, "So Xiaolan, actually, it's a nice name but would it be okay if I called you Xiao?" She'd ask, her glancing up at the man before just as quickly averting again and again, "So like... is this your true form maybe? Or is the little fox your true form?" she'd ask as casually as she could as she moved closer towards the gargantuan cherry, "Just curious ya know? B-But yeah, I'm totes ready! Bento time! Hehehe-!"

He'd confirmed it, this anthropomorphic form was his true self, which made the past few minutes of cuddles al the more embarrassing for Zuqetta. Yet, Xiaolan didn't seem affected in the least. Was he used to this kind of treatment? Did he received it often? Was he some kind of deviant who went around masquerading as a small, defenseless, cute animal in order to receive such affection from girls on the daily!? Or perhaps, did he truly not care? Was she not his type!? Maybe he wasn't into girls at all? Or maybe, that simply wasn't his thing, maybe known of it matter in the least and she was just overthinking everything.

Zuqetta's face was still rather flushed while her mind raced with thought after thought, but the most primary of thoughts was, why was she worrying about any of this? It was never something she worried about before, so why worry about it now? When she thought of Dark, and hugging him with the same affection she'd just been showing the little Xiaolan, her heart began to hurt a bit. She felt on the precipice of understanding why she was feeling so affected, but the more she dwelled on it the more it hurt; luckily, Xiaolan didn't seem the type at all to allow her to dwell on such things, whether he knew that's what she was doing or not.

"Wo-ah! O-Okay!" She'd say excitedly as she suddenly found herself pulled along by the kitsune. Upon the gargantuan cherry, Xiaolan acted with an incredible enthusiasm; now wasn't the time for worrying over unnecessary thoughts, now was the time for ingredient collection! "Lighter than it looks?" Zuqetta would remark as the fox lifted the massive cherry with a single paw, "Huh, long tongue." She'd say with a mellow curiosity, laughing a bit at Xiaolan's antics before watching him throw the cherry into the air. With a few well tossed capsules, three ingredients had already been procured, and Xiaolan had set his sights on the next target. "Hehe, got it!" Zuqetta would exclaim, rushing out at Xiaolans command to procure the massive waffle cone.

The waffle cone had already stood a good few feet taller than her, and being half embedded into the ice creamy ground, it was likely even larger. Still, the ice cream would prove no match for Zuqetta's superior strength... or so she thought. Wrapping her arms around the ice cream cone, she'd try to fly straight up with it, but the pressure of the surrounding ice cream wouldn't allow it to budge. not wanting to destroy the cone by wiggling it free, Zuqetta would take another approach. Gaining a small distance, Zuqetta would then summon an assortment of blades that would quickly plummet into the area around the waffle cone. With her telekinesis, she manipulate the swords into spinning around the cone at incredible speeds, digging out the it out for safe removal.

"Haha! Too easy!" Zuqetta would say excitedly as she pulled out the cone, pausing for a moment as she took notice of another treat that was hidden within the layers of ice cream. With the cone now in her possession, she'd quickly return to Xiaolan, carrying the towering thing over her shoulder. "Mere ma mo!" she say, somewhat distracted as she munched down on a large chocolate flake the size of a book, "Mmn, there was mint chocolate chip deeper in the slope!" She'd say with an incredible satisfied grin before continuing to munch down on the chocolate flake, "Monna mapsu-" she pause a moment, finishing what she was eating before continuing, "Sorry, gonna capsule this too?" she'd ask curiously, "If you're capsulin' stuff, does that mean we're preparin' the bentos elsewhere?"