"Oh, I was a fox the whole time. It was all illusion. It's a lot easier to do something that mostly conforms to reality. I could pretend to be a mouse or a bear, the bear more easily than the mouse..."

"Oh, I see... it felt so real though, even to the touch. So you wouldn't be able to squeeze into tight spots as a mouse I guess?"

"Nope! I might be able to- So, my illusions are really unusually convincing even among my sisters. As long as a person's interacting with them somewhere, myself or someone else, they can have weight and substance. It's a really broad ability that takes creativity to make maximum use of."

She snaps her fingers and reveals a white pawn as if she'd been holding it the whole time. "It's good for games!"

"Ooooh, do you play chess too? Father Franz taught me the rules, I'm not a good player but I bet he'd love to play with you."

"Chess is fun but I'm kind of terrible at it too... If he doesn't notice my little curse that could be neat. I've learned to live with it but I can never fully hide. Usually it's my eyes. Look close and you'll see that they're a bit vertical. But if I push that away, something else will show." Shrug. "Sometimes I can get away with making it a weird scar or tattoo."

"Want to play some terrible chess together then?"

"Sounds fun!"

She whips up a board and pieces with a dramatic gesture.

"I think you should make the first move. I'll play raven."

"Okay, I'm white, then..."

Fly, my pretty pawn! One space forward, her bishop yearns for freedom! She never opens up the king and queen too soon.

"Is the preference for sweets about taste or does it matter for your magic?"

Her king is also staying well hidden for now. She'll mirror Weiss's move, curious to see where she's leading her.

"So, not all kitsune work the same way, but the emotion and care put into the baking get turned almost directly to magic for me! The same way cuddles do. It's nice."

Bishop and knights creep up the sides, leaving the center still and quiet at first.

"And here I thought I had found a fellow sweet tooth, alas, you're just eating out the care I put into cooking for others."

It's like a dance, trying to understand your opponent and predict how they will react to your movements. She castles, she prefers the rook free to move and the king tucked away.

"Oh, I love sugar too, but you don't know how literal love tastes. It's amaaaazing. Like a hug in the mouth and belly."

Time for aggression aggression aggression. Keep poking constantly.

"Can't say I've ever had occasions to taste love, no. I tend to... always cook for myself."

She tries to keep up, but Weiss is a stronger player and will soon come up on top. Still, she offers some token resistance, it's more fun to overwhelm someone who is struggling at least a little.

"Hehe... I'm going to win at this rate you know?"

And here comes the queen, using her sneaky setup to become an irresistible force.

Without really thinking about it she runs her foxpaw feet over Selena's under the table, tickling slightly. 

"Check."

"Oh no, woes is me, I'm being outfoxed!"

Her pawns try their best, but her king is about to be revealed and then it's going to be impossible to protect him from the queen's advance.

"EEP!"

She startles, and knocks a couple of pieces over.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Breeeeeathe. "It's fine, I just didn't expect it and I've made a mess, let me clean this up."

She rights the fallen pieces and prepares for her inevitable demise.

"I'm sorry too. I was acting like you're one of my sisters- Fellow kitsunes. Got a bit too comfortable there." 

Ahem.

Check. Check. No immediate check after that one. Aaaaand.... Checkmate.

"I... appreciate that actually. It's not often that I feel safe around someone, but I feel like I can trust you. I'm probably being naïve - we barely know each other, but it's nice to let go of my shields." Well, some of them, anyway.

Yeah, the game has been a lost cause for a while now, but it's been fun!

"Do you have any more plans for today? I'm going to prepare for my night rituals soon. It's going to be harvest moon in a couple days, and I like to start preparing for it in advance so that I can concentrate on Her during the night and not have to think about anything else."

"Nobody's- I mean, yeah, we hardly know each other yet. That's how it goes when you meet people. But I think you're good people... It would be really interesting to watch you do magic and see if I can - make sense of it enough to help? But I'm also kind of feeling like being a fox in the forest for a while now."

"Then I encourage you to be your fluffiest self while I prepare, and if you want you can join me at dusk for the actual rite."

That's a nice look.

"See you at sunset!"

She'll explore the woods some more, look for wild food and get a feel for local herbivore populations, until then.

Oh look, it's the weird orange friend again.

Boink boink boink.

Oh look, berries! She loves berries!

Omnomnomnomnom.

Doesn't this one have any sense of self preservation? Sheesh.

...Oh, wait, fawns' fear reaction is to curl up and lie down, waiting for mama, isn't it? It's not like they'll be outrunning anything, so Evolution chose 'hide, but not very well' instead.

...Growl! Snap teeth! You're supposed to run from scary things you little idiot.