Divine Dreamer

Chapter 7 - Cuddles & Collars

After parking in the parking lot we headed into her apartment which uhm, wasn't the cleanest home. Not like my parents liked to keep theirs. Not that it was bad, just not meticulously cleaned by my step mom who refused to let messes exist. So uh, yea stuff lightly pile dup in the kitchen, bookcases stocked with figurines and other stuff, posters on the walls and uh yea there was a big main living area and a hallway back to some other doors, the living room kitchen, and dining table all basically one room.

I cut my brain off of the privileged take it started on and reminded myself most folks don't live in houses they live in apartments. This was normal. I was just privileged. Heck I turned out to be a literal goddess so like privileged++.

"I know it's not much, but it's mine, well ours, well actually the landlord's (the bitch). Come on." She walked towards the couch and then paused. Pivoting on her heel she quickly said, "Hold on, let me get something real quick."

Heading down the hall they ducked into a room while I stood, nervous in an unfamiliar place unattended. Obviously I stood as far away from everything as possible so I wouldn't accidently touch or disrupt anything because that might make Nora angry, or maybe her roommates.

A moment later she returned holding something in her hand and walking up to me with unbridled confidence, like she owned the world. Her voice registered lower in a husky sultry tone that wormed its way into my brain. "Now puppy, or should I say kit? You're a little fox, hmn?"

Meekly I nodded.

"Well my little foxlet, we can go sit on the couch and cuddle and talk, or—" Opening her hand she held up a very bright pink dog collar. Dangling it right next to her dangerous grin. "You can be a good girl and beg to be collared, and then I can wrap this cute little band around your neck claiming you as my little pet… and then we can cuddle up on the couch and talk."

Gah?!?!?!!? My tail thrashed about as I felt a warmth blooming between my legs. I, She, A collar?! The collar was real and she wanted to put it on me? Wait, she wanted me to-to beg! I couldn't beg, that'd be embarrassing and goddesses shouldn't be collared. I was a goddess and that implied that I was too important to be collared like a pet…

Like, I couldn't just say please.

… I couldn't.

Wanting to be collared was bad, and not okay, and wanting to curl up collared on the couch as her little pet being scritched like how Zaria scritched my little fox form was-was… Not okay?

Little whimpers escaped my lips as I stood there stuck. I couldn't ask for it. I wasn't allowed to. Yet the obvious thing would be to just do the opposite and go do normal couch cuddles. That's what I was supposed to want.

Snap. The sudden loud noise pulled me out of my head and I looked up to find that Nora just snapped.

"Good, I thought you zoned out again." The stress rolled off her shoulders, quickly replaced by that same confidence. "So foxlet, what'll it be?" Nora waved the collar back and forth. "Cuddles or collared cuddles?"

I wiggled on my feet, unsure of what to say. My breathing tightened as I realized I was making her wait and I didn't know what to do or what to say. I was being bad.

She lowered the collar and spoke in her normal voice. "Are you alright? You can say no, it's cool. Maybe I should have led with the talk on boundaries and consent. Sorry."

I held up my phone again and made it display [sorry].

"Goddess, girl you are just, you don't need to apologize for everything. How about instead of an apology you explain why you started shaking and couldn't reply?" Nora's eyes drifted over to the couch and back. "Want to talk this out while cuddling? I still… I could use the reassurance I'm not fucking this all up."

Immediately my phone shifted to display. [You're not fucking this up!]

She let out a held breath. "Alright cool, but I need to hear what's going on with you because I can't read minds." Then wandering over, she sat in the corner of the L-shaped couch and patted the spot next to her.

Scurrying over I sat next to her but in my weird sorta-angled-to-accommodate-my-tail sit. Then I held up my phone and uh started magically mind typing. [so uhm] Her arms wrapped around me and pulled me into a hug which felt nice and I shifted a little to get comfortable and curled my tail around to invisibly rest in our combined lap. [uhm… the collar and the asking]

"Should I not have asked?" whispered the now vulnerable woman holding me.

[asking okay! I just couldn't answer.]

"Why?"

[because. Because people aren't supposed to be collared and I'm not allowed to ask for that because it's not okay.]

Staring at my phone that I held up to her, Nora took a bit to read and reread that. She shifted a bit. A tension formed in her muscles that I leaned on. "You're trans and gay, right?"

I almost put no to the gay part but then remembered that yes I was a girl who liked girls and thus gay. [Yes] I nodded which basically ended up being me nuzzling her neck.

"What do you know about bdsm?"

It took me a second and then I remembered like uh fetish stuff and like it had to do with latex and whips or something? [that's like a fetish thing right?]

She sharply exhaled. "Okay, I see the problem. Fuck right, you're a baby queer who magically transitioned last week. Right, cool, now I've got to explain all this stuff." removing a hand from holding me she ran it back through her hair. "So question, if it was magically okay for you to wear a collar and ask to wear one, would you?"

My face went red. I-I… maybe? Yes? Oh stars the answer was yes. My body tensed up at the thought. Like I wanted it but I wasn't supposed to want it but she was asking in the hypothetical and Nora was really cool, I could like… be honest maybe. [hypothetically yes]

"Cool, because it absolutely is okay wear a collar and ask to wear a collar and anyone who tells you otherwise is a kink shaming piece of shit." That last bit she practically spat out with a seething rage. "You're allowed to want it."

[I am?]

"Yes. Absolutely 100%."

[So you won't hate me if I, uh, wanted it…]

Nora broke out giggling. "Melanie, are you forgetting the part where I offered to collar you?"

That wasn't right. I pouted and held up my phone words. [you said I needed to beg!]

"Yea because its hot when I have a cute girl begging me to collar her and turn her into my cute little pet. I think it's hot, you think it's hot, we're both consenting adults. We can do whatever we want as long as we're both into it."

[but what if we're not both into it? what if I'm being weird and gross and not okay?] I wasn't supposed to like things, and be weird and that's why I hit all the weird stuff in my brain that turned out to be the temple, or was in private browsing windows where I deleted my search history.

Their strong arms squeezed me tight. "You're not worried about me being 'gross and weird'? I've got a lot of kinks, a lot a lot, and some of them are things folks would give me a lot of shit over even when its stuff I wouldn't actually do. Look I'm what the right calls a filthy degenerate sex pervert."

I pulled back out of the tight hug and uh wiggled staring at the woman on the couch sitting next to me. I turned my phone around as I thought over my next message, because I wanted to not be weird and rude.

"Are you okay with that?" She asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

Biting my lip, my fang pressed into my skin enough to draw blood. My eyes looked anywhere but at her. Nora acted nice and kind the whole time even about the magic stuff and she seemed cool and she liked me? Yet, I was hesitating. My tail wrapped around in front of me, its invisible floof shielding me.

My eyes looked to my phone, my thoughts half typing out before erasing over and over. Like I knew that uh, folks like my parents were wrong about everything, I figured that out years ago, but like…

Slowly the words composed themselves on the phone and I turned it to show her. [I uhm, I'm okay with that for you. I know my uncomfortableness with things is cause of my parents listening to not nice things and repeating them. I'm worried that liking things like that would make me bad and get me in trouble.]

Blood trickled down my chin as Nora read all of that. Then after a minute she looked up towards me as I stared down at my lap barely holding my emotions together. "Melanie, I get it. I really get it, shit takes a while to unlearn, but damn am I proud that you can admit this stuff." Pulling me back in she hugged me tight sandwiching my invisible floof between us. "You don't have to hide this shit with me. Not the tail, not being a girl, not being probably kinky as fuck, not the magic goddess such. You're a good girl, but your tail fluff is in my mouth."

My tears stained my invisible tail fluff between us and I watched as she pulled back a hand to try and get it all out of her mouth. It only took a moment for me to move my tail. A heart beat later she squished me up against her chest hugging me tight. I sniffled a little.

She… she said she was proud of me?

[but I'm bad] I never even looked at the phone this time, I just held it up knowing it'd saw what I wanted it to say.

"Girl you're the goodest good girl to ever step foot in this apartment. You're not bad." They rubbed my back gently holding me in their clutches. And then with a sultry whisper they added, "Good girl."

Caught between tears and blushing it took me a second to figure out how to respond to that. [you're just too nice]

"Nah, I'm just not a judgmental asshole. Speaking of which, my roommates are gonna message me before they get back so you can drop the illusions till then."

A moment later I dismissed them revealing my claws and barefootedness and my big black and silver fox tail. Then I shivered as a hand ran down my tails floof. Their hand. I burrowed deeper into their hold feeling them stroking my tail. A little rumble in my throat started up just like when Zaria petted me.

Of course a moment after that started, Nora paused her petting. "Are you purring? Goddess you're so fucking adorable." She chuckled. "Yea, and you're a cute little goddess too."

A small flustered yip escaped my mouth and then she started petting me more and I sort of maybe melted into her lap. I felt safe and comfortable and petted and she was really nice and safe. My purrs rumbled louder as I sank into it, a distinctly inhuman change to my vocal tract that'd come with my transformation.

She murmured praise that made me feel flushed and blushy while continuing her pettings. Her little fox. So cute. Adorable. Sweet. And a dozen other compliments entered my ears.

Then she pulled her hands back and stopped petting me to the sounds of my needy whimpers. Looking up I found her with a sly grin on her face. "Well if you want to be my cute little fox who gets cute little pets, you just need to beg cutie."

The collar dangled right in front of me. Nora held onto it the whole time and now she held that bright pink dog collar in front of me, goading and tempting me.

That hint of shame crashed into the knowledge that Nora was safe. Safe to maybe be a cute little fox around? I was one around Zaria too…

My words failed me and my phone was somewhere on the couch where I'd lost track of it. So without words I resorted to my foxy instincts. I reached out with my fangs and tried to bite the collar.

"Nope." They pulled it back out of my reach. "No biting, beg."

Nestled in her lap I rolled onto my back and curled my hands like paws in a begging gesture staring up at her. I'd done so in Zaria's lap all the time and it felt pretty natural, especially when I wanted tummy rubs. A few whimpers escaped my lips as I tried to look as pleady as possible.

"Does the little fox want her collar?" Nora spoke down to me words laced with condescension.

My face flushed and I-I managed to nod a little.

Their finger came down under my chin and pulled more purrs out with doting scritches. "Was that a nod for yes?"

The moment her finger left I nodded again harder.

"So you do want the collar?"

Nod nod nod.

"And you want to be my cute little pet?"

I nuzzled into her tummy and looked up at her curling my tail. Once more I nodded, with a whimper.

Her empty hand came down and brushed the side of my neck moving my hair aside. "Then I suppose I should put a collar on my cute little fox, lest she forget who owns her." The other hand joined it as my face turned beat red and my fangs drew more blood from my lips. Pulling tight around my neck her hands fastened the collar in place.

Then as her hands withdrew one flicked a little tag on the front causing it to jingle and fall against my throat.

That possessive tone she used to say she owned me struck a chord so deep in my heart. Some deep seated neglected desire to belong suddenly nourished by her claim. She-she owned me? Like a pet. As a pet. Her little pet.

For a moment the high of that feeling of all the little pets and doting and teasing and the collar and her constant increasing possessiveness switched my brain off like a light and I got to be her little precious fox. I nuzzled into her more and hugged her and her arms responded by holding me back.

We cuddled for a long while and the high of the praise and pets wore off but she held me tight regardless. The collar sat heavy on my neck.

"You're okay right?" Nora whispered into my ear as she held me. "I shouldn't have rushed things, I'm sorry. I should have walked you through power exchanges and negotiations and I know I'm being bad at kink and—"

"It's okay." I whispered back. "I-I liked it. It's okay for me to like it right?"

"Absolutely! Yes, it's okay I just. I should have gotten verbal consent and stuff. I know that, and you couldn't talk, and we didn't even establish safe words even if we never went far." Their breathing picked up and I could feel them starting to freak out over messing up.

My arms squeezed her tighter, my claws careful not to pierce her skin. "I'm okay! I-It made me really happy and I don't think you did anything bad. T-Thank you for uhm, collaring me?"

"Really?"

I nodded and pulled my tail floof in so it could press up against them too. "You're really nice and kind and respectful and-and I enjoyed hanging out with you, and I really like cuddling on the couch and getting pet and stuff and I like you a lot."

Nora placed a kiss on my forehead. "I like you a lot too. Sorry I'm a mess, uh, dom drop hits me really hard and I feel fragile right now, so uh shit see I should have talked about all of this before."

My whole body curled around them protectively. "Anything I can do to help?"

"Just hold me and tell me if I messed up."

"You didn't mess up." I said with more confidence than I'd said anything ever. "You did good."

"You're not gonna turn around tomorrow and start calling me a bitch and telling everyone I—" The words refused to come out of her throat.

"No. That'd be mean and your nice and kind and you took me out on my first date, and the ice cream was nice and the shopping even if I could probably magic up the clothes later. Thank you for taking me out on a date I really liked it even if it wasn't perfect."

"Thank you." She whispered back. "I really don't deserve you, you're a literal goddess and I don't deserve you, you're sweet, and soft and small and kind and actually magic."

Each of those words stung because the compliments weren't true. I didn't earn being a goddess. I wasn't sweet and soft, and magic made me small, and I wasn't kind even if Zaria kept insisting I was. "I can't even take care of myself, I-I'm not worthy to be a goddess, and I'm and and not nice like you are. I don't deserve you. You're like the coolest person I've ever met."

"I think that says more about the people you've met than it does me." Their hand landed on my head, patting me. "But also thanks, it means a lot to hear that. And uh, want to switch to a lighter topic?"

My tail gently swished. "Sure."

"Alright, I never did get to ask about magic. You transformed yourself?"

And with that prompt I started explaining my transformation which meant explaining that I'd always been a sort of weird fox girl in my head that wasn't actually my head but also still sorta. Which meant explaining the temple, and my abilities there and from there spiraled out into explaining everything because everything required context and thus I added on more and more context and unlike with Zaria, Nora understood stuff about this world and I could talk about school and classes, and stuff at home while sounding normalish.

About half way through Nora got up and got us drinks, an energy drank for her and some water for me. Before walking back over and joining back into the cuddles.

She took a sip as I finished explaining the mural. "So how do prayers work? Like do they have to be out loud, and you hear them?"

I stroked my own tail fluff. "Its like any thought directed towards me. It helps if they use my goddess name as that draws my attention but like it can be out loud or in your head. And also if it’s a request it lodges itself in my mind so I can uh grant it or discard it if I want. It also helps with my magic."

A moment later Nora prayed to me in her brain, without using my goddess name but very much directed towards me. A request to delete all memory of her deadname from her head. And like always her intent shown through, thankfully not the name itself but the distaste for it. The pain it caused. All the little nuances of the request filled me with a kind of relatable pain of wanting to never associate with a gender neither of us were.

A quick ping to my divinity to make sure I wouldn't hurt myself by fulfilling it proved that mental alterations must be pretty low effort which seemed disturbing on some level. Still Nora wholeheartedly wanted to forget about her deadname, and I could grant it. The consent magically laid bare in my brain to where I'd have no doubt she wanted it. Not to mention the prayer opened herself up to helping me channel a smidge of my power into the world to make it happen.

"Prayer granted." I whispered, peeking up to see her face to make sure she uh, didn't have a bad reaction to her request.

"You…" She blinked and stared off into space as her expression widened into mild shock. "Holy shit, you just actually. I can't remember it. Yes. Fuck you, Mom. You can't use it to hurt me again. Goddess, thank you." And that last little bit, for the first time was directed at me, and I could feel it.

"You're welcome." I mumbled blushing, staring back down to my lap.

Her hand landed on my head and patted. "I'll see if I can't remember to pray to you more. Also question, you never mentioned teleporting when testing you magic. Can you teleport?"

"Uh…" Divinity could I teleport?!!? Yes. How much would it take? More than moving, less than creating, distance doesn't matter. "Sounds like a yes, but its higher cost than just like moving, but like it doesn't matter how far? So probably actually less than magically moving things for long distances."

"Awesome. Sounds like it'd be nicer on your boobs than a car ride." Nora added before suddenly gasping. "Shit we forgot to get you a bra."

Oh yea I uh was supposed to get one at the mall maybe. "It's okay, I haven't needed one so far."

"You said you can resize things, yea?" Nora let go and stood up from the couch stretching.

"Uh… yes." It took me a second but I figured out what she was up to.

And she walked off down the hall. Less than a minute later she came out with a pair of bras. A push up bra and a sports one. "Copy them, resize them, keep them. It's painful to see you going around with tits that big without support."

I looked down, my chest wasn't that big… were they? Maybe anime skewed my understanding of bust sizes. Maybe. "My boobs aren't that big, right?"

She glared. "Foxlet, bra, now."

"Eep!" I grabbed the sports bra form her hands and then uh realized, "Uhm, but I uh"

"We're both girls, or girl adjacent, but you can try the bathroom if you're uncomfortable." A thumb pointed towards the hallway.

As much as I kinda sorta wanted Nora to see me topless, I stood up and scampered over to the bathroom. With the door shut I uh magicked my dress so it could come off, realizing I should probably just figure out how to make it removable without magic. Then I uh took the sports bra and slipped it on. It wasn't rocket science, heck even normal bras weren't hard… which uh considering I used to try on my mom's bras in secret I sorta learned early in puberty.

Anyway the bra happened to be super big so once I got it on I then magically shrank it until it fit nice and snug but not too snug. I ended up resizing it a little for my bust because I was starting to think they weren't normal sized like I thought.

Zaria's weren't much smaller and hers were normal sized, and Nora's barely smaller than that.

Thinking of my friend, I peeked into my temple and watched her reading through more books. Same as usual. She also had a lot of notes, and I noticed her ink fountain for her pen appeared low so I sneakily added more before putting my dress back on.

I scurried back out as I felt a small prayer of thanks from Zaria hit my noggin as she noticed the inkwell was refilled. A little smile decorated my face as I found Nora on the couch looking at her phone.

Oh course she noticed me immediately. "How's it feel?"

"Good. Uhm they feel all snug." I sort of groped my own boobs and sorta tried wiggling them and they stayed firmly put. Then I sort of poked them. They were boobs, attached to my body. My boobs. Gosh being a girl was nice.

A giggling filled the air as Nora watched me poke my chest and admire them. "That's good, you've got great tits by the way."

"Thank you…" My face flushed and my tail wagged. My eyes peeked up for a moment. "You too."

"Heck yea I do. Grew them myself." And at that we both broke down giggling and I scampered over for more couch cuddles. It took her a minute to calm down. "Alright, well feel free to touch mine. Also my roomies said they're tired and they're heading home."

Taking the invitation I leaned my head on her chest and she uh let me? "So does that mean I have to go home? I like cuddling on the couch."

"You don't have to, but they're kinda loud and we'll have zero privacy. Also you'll need your tail and claw illusions up." Her fingers danced through my scalp.

I purred a little and nuzzled into her. "I uhm… I don't want to go but I don't uh, strangers are scary."

"Sorry cutie, they live here, and they were already doing me a favor. So, home now or later?"

"Later, wanna cuddle."

And so we cuddled, and not just sitting but Nora laid down and I laid on top of her sorta. She petted me and I nuzzled her and then she reminded me to put up the illusions a few minutes before the roommates walked in.

The shorter androgynous, took one look at me and shrieked, "Yes! I told you she'd have her collared!"

The weight of the bright pink collar around my neck immediately thrust itself to the forefront of my mind—and I reflexively turned invisible.