Convenient, because said lovely girl is feeling pretty smug about having her as well. 

"Mmmmhmm," she replies, smirking.

"Anything else you want to do before bed tonight? I can't think of anything more immediately. I kind of want to read some solid hentai, but it'd be kind of immersion-breaking..."

"Nothing really comes to mind. I was considering maybe checking the cash store for anything that looks like a particularly useful purchase from my savings given that we're writing off the outside, but that's not urgent. I'm happy to just snuggle you while you read, if you want."

"Oh yeah, I'd forgotten the cash store. I wonder what there is to buy there... If there's, like, housing options or something like that, or maybe a warp spell that's not too expensive...?"

CORA's cash store contains a variety of purchasables, from whale-tier pay-to-win options, "Cauldron Pass" seasonal purchases that let you get bonus gear for grinding experience, all the way to "newb trap" items. Some options include:

• Cauldron Pass — $100 — Unlocks a seasonal sequence of materials, equipment, and other loot that you can grind by earning experience and achieving various other goals
• Elite Cauldron Pass — $200 — An even more expensive version of the seasonal pass
• Noble Rank — $500–$2000 — Minor noble titles in a small handful of countries, including one closely-tied vassal of Pagutum
• Weightlessness Coupon — $50 — Allows you to ignore the carry weight of the item the coupon is attached to
• In-game Currency — $10–$1000 — Exactly what it says on the tin
• Material/Resource Packs — $20–$200 — Bundles of in-game resources in case you're really in a hurry for a limited-time quest
• Extra Ability Trees — $200 — Unlock access to additional ability trees to further diversify your build
• Enhanced Tent — $100–$400 — A minor pocket dimension crammed in a reinforced enchanted tent, anywhere from a one-room cabin to a six-bedroom house with running water, a kitchen, a living room, and a respawn shrine
• Ships — $200–$800 — Sea-faring vessels for trade or battle
• Loot packs — $5–$200 — Gachapon
• Legacy Quests — $50–$500 — Relive quests and events that changed the face of the Cauldron as though you were the clever player that managed to drive the narrative that time
• Pets and Mounts — $50–$500 — NPC creatures to raise as companions, and in some cases ride across the land or sky

"I am tempted to swipe for the enhanced tent, just because it'd be hugely immersion-boosting compared to hopping off the server to exist privately. Terms and conditions though — can it be lost on death? And extra ability trees sounds interesting, if a bit pay-to-win..."

She frowns. "I feel like if you don't earn more nodes, extra ability trees aren't that good. It's kind of a workaround for poorly thinking out your starter build IMO." 

She tilts her head. "Though in the extremely long term it could allow you girls to reach a place you're comfortable with in your main build and then start new ones for your individual selves."

She taps her fingers against Sable's thigh. "In-game currency can be earned with questing or work, so I'm not super interested in that. Gacha and material packs are a sucker's game. Cauldron pass is potentially a decent deal given that we're expecting to be nolifing this. I don't particularly want a ship or a noble rank, and I'd rather make my own legend than relive someone else's. So that leaves the weightlessness tag, which is kind of specialized but I can definitely see uses for."

Sable flips through a few things, then nods. "Big gear, like house-tents, can't be lost or stolen if you purchase it with cash. It does have weight, but that looks like a use case for the weightlessness coupon."

She nestles into Hibiscus with a warm sigh. "And yeah, that's the use case we're seeing for the ability trees, getting individual builds for us after we've got most of the early- to mid-game grinding done."

Hyacinth pops out. 

"Um... I would never want to have to take care of a real-life pet, too much mess and trouble... but..."

She looks away. "It could be nice to get something low-maintenance for us two to look after together..."

"Awwww. That's a sweet idea. I wouldn't mind, I think. Digital pets are a lot easier to take care of, since they don't notice the passing of time when they're in the special inventory CORA has for them, and they don't develop a lot of health issues biological pets do, and since we can just spam healing spells to deal with anything else."

Hyacinth peruses the ingame pet shop and sends a list of her top five pets to Sable.

Silvervane Raven 
An uncommonly smart raven with its feather vanes shot through with silver. Attracted to shiny objects, especially those found on battlefields.
Diet: Shiny objects (coins, pretty stones, etc)
Traits:

• Has an uncommon eye for treasure.
• At level 100, small chance of retrieving items lost or destroyed on death near you.

Spectral Cat 
The lingering ghost of a stray cat. Spiritually sensitive, though only somewhat loyal to its "owner."
Diet: Mana and burnt offerings, ideally of incense. 

• Sensitive to the presence of death. Can sense recent deaths in the area and even produce afterimages of how the death occurred.
• At level 100, passes on, having found the love it lacked in life. Leaves behind a permanent blessing of spiritual sensitivity and warmth.

Flame Salamander
A living serpent of crackling coals. Capable of regulating its flame to not burn what it touches.
Diet: Wood and other burnable materials.

• Strengthens the effect of magic that incorporates flame.
• At level 100, can be used to produce ever-burning coals, useful for many mundane and magical applications.

Mirrormite 
A fae creature that lives in mirrors. Seems to find attending to individuals' appearances soothing.
Diet: Cosmetics & Perfumes

• Can perform minor cosmetic alterations by transforming your reflection, though they last an hour at most.
• At level 100, the mirrormite establishes a position in a fae court and no longer is your personal stylist. They still have a fealty relationship to you as you have "fed" them.

Kitsune Kit
A young kitsune, not yet fully aware of their nature as a kami. Acts somewhere between an uncommonly smart fox and a trickster spirit. 
Diet: Berries, fruit, and meat.

• Their trickster spirit enhances the abilities of rogue-class adventurers. 
• At level 100, becomes an adult kitsune, no longer the player's pet but instead a minor kami capable of granting automatic passive blessing and occasional divine-level favors. 

"I think I want the flame salamander or the Mirrormite? The silvervane raven seems interesting too, and the spectral cat feeds on mana which is something that I would find convenient... I wouldn't say no if you wanted to get a kitsune kit though."

"Hmm. If I had to pick, I think I'd pick the kitsune kit or the flame salamander or the silvervane raven. Those are the most interesting ones to me. Probably kitsune, raven, salamander from most to least. Wouldn't mind any of them, though."

"The Kitsune Kit is the most 'traditional' pet of all these options, and I've kind of always wanted a fox, but I'd be sad to let it go in the long term..."

... it going on to become an actual kami in the game world at level 100, though, is... 

Hibi hops in. "Hyacinth is having such a blushy thought right now."

She grins curiously. "Oh? Do tell," she teases.

"I, um..."

She ducks her head. 

"I was just... thinking that the kitsune kit was... more than a little like... raising an actual child... and I'm sorry for having that thought because I know it's way way way too early but I can't help thinking it... "

Sable rapidly flits through a whirlwind of expressions, before settling on a blush.

"Um," Sable replies. "Um. Um um um. I. Feel complicated about that idea, but I feel like... if it was here, and if it was with you, I actually wouldn't mind that."

"Yeah, I don't... I... In real life I decided against that, when I started on HRT. It's way, way, way too big a responsibility for... someone like me who doesn't even have her own life sorted out, who doesn't even like the world much. But... there's a lot here that's different. We... could have the good parts with less of the hard parts. I didn't — I had the thought, before the kitsune kit made me really — ask the question, but. I wasn't planning on this. It just..."

She looks away. 

"Sort of happened."

She steadies her breathing and very gently hugs Sable. 

"You don't have to agree for my sake. I — I mean. It's — even here it's a responsibility. It's... not something to do by accident."

Hyacinth nestles in. 

"... but if it's you, and here, then... Maybe."

A soft, vulnerable expression crosses Sable's face, and she squeezes Hyacinth tenderly, holding her close. "Yeah. All of that. All of that is why."

"Yeah," says Hyacinth softly. "It's like that."

She holds Sable gently, and is held in turn.