Yvonne was a champion. She made it out of the impromptu grooming session with minimal groping. And, it wasn't even inappropriate groping either! She managed to corral almost all of the ribbons onto her arms, and the only one that strayed ended up curled around the top half of her face.
At least I hadn't turned myself into a hentai monster.
Small blessings, yeah?
It took about half an hour, what with how much Yvonne had to fight the ribbons to actually brush me. However, it paid off, and I was eternally thankful to her. I left with sensation of my own in the ribbons and I was able to keep them from grabbing onto other people, as well as not clinging so tightly to myself.
After that, we walked a little way before finding a nice spot in the grassy field to make camp. With our dinner cooked, they dug in. As for me? I readied myself. It was time to reap the benefits of my genius! It was only then that I noticed the evening's meal would not be best held in a ribbon appendage, as it looked like cauliflower covered in some kind of sauce and fried. It would just make a mess of my fur, so, I contented my delayed reward by just stuffing my muzzle into the bowl like Sylvie.
It still tasted good… but not as good as what I was sure feeding myself like a civilized person once again would be.
I expected the sleeping arrangements would've changed with mine and Sylvie's increased size, but they didn't. Yvonne and Sylvie were apparently like an old married couple who were set in their ways, the only difference being that I couldn't see Yvonne's head at all with Sylvie curled around it. As for me? Apparently I was just a bigger hug pillow, and, with my ribbons brushing against her, I could tell Yvonne loved every minute of the weird setup.
However, I hadn't even noticed I had fallen asleep, until I woke. Where did the snoring go? As if to answer my question, Yvonne ripped off a thunderous inhale. Yep, I had been pretty sure that wouldn't clear itself up in one night. I must've fallen asleep before them, and it showed in how much energy I felt that I had.
The day was already looking good. I wiggled out from the tangled mess of limbs that Yvonne called a comfortable sleeping position, and left the tent to have a look around. Just up the hill from our campsite was an overlook that gave a view of a stately mansion on a large lake that sparkled like crystals in the morning light.
It looked like there was even someone standing by an easel near the shores, painting a landscape of the whole place. I could see why they were, and I wouldn't mind a look at what they had on the canvas.
However, the lake's shoreline was pretty far down the hill and across a small field. There was no way to know when Sylvie and Yvonne would wake up, either. I sighed. Yeah, that was a bad idea. I wouldn't want to worry them again.
The tent was still in sight, though, so I stayed at the hilltop and enjoyed the view for a while.
My brilliant forethought paid off when I heard some shouting from the campsite. It was Yvonne. "Fireball! Fireball, where did you go?" Yeah, I could totally be responsible and think ahead.
"Up here!" Knowing Yvonne would start breakfast soon, I headed back down to her because I had assistance I could lend. My cooking experience mainly extended to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, instant noodles, and microwavable frozen foods, but I could always just pick things up and give them to her.
The view was nice, but I hadn't been completely idle up on the hill. I was pretty sure I had the hang of wrapping my ribbons around something. On purpose.
"Oh, hey. Did something catch your interest and lead you out of camp?"
I shook my head and decided not to try telling Yvonne about the view. It was the only other way to go from the cave, and I thought it would be a nice surprise. The same went for Sylvie when she showed her face a few minutes later. She still looked half asleep as she drug her paws to the campfire and laid herself down.
"Sylvie, if you would be a dear?" Yvonne motioned to the dead fire pit from the previous night. For a moment, I thought Sylvie was asleep again, but she yawned and seemed to take great effort into opening her eyes a crack. A second breath was drawn in, but this one's exhale came with a few embers.
If I was a flareon and took that much build up to puff a little bit of flame, I think I would want to rest for a week. Just to be sure I wasn't about to keel over from exhaustion. The only problem with that explanation was that, the day before, Sylvie was fine after about half an hour of being awake.
Yvonne was busy working up a squeal. "My flareon's first lighting of our campfire! I'm a real eeveelution trainer, now!"
Ah. Well, if she loved that, then she was sure to appreciate what I had in mind, too. While she was daydreaming, I went to her bag and nosed the flap open. There was… a lot of things in that little messenger pack. General first aid supplies, a picnic blanket, trainer essentials like pokéballs and potions, a grooming kit, the list went on. Yvonne must've been the daughter of a time/space-magician and a Tetris grandmaster to fit all the things I saw into such a tiny bag!
I eventually spotted the food containers and a frying pan, and hefted the metal cookware. It took some significant ribbon strength to lift it. Sure, I could've bit the handle and offered it to Yvonne, but that would've defeated the purpose!
She either chose that time to return to the here and now, or she heard my straining. "I know. You're ready for breakfast, but it'll be a few minutes. What do you want for breakfast, though?"
I hummed. That wasn't a joke she was going to do every day, was it? Instead of answering verbally, I slipped a ribbon into the bag again and picked up a random container to offer her.
"Pan-gougeres? I loved these as a kid." She turned the container over, and creased her brow. "I guess I forgot these were even in there."
I grinned widely in an effort to show her I was on board with cooking. Her and Sylvie may have had years of communication experience together, but I knew how humans thought. I ignored the fact that they weren't my world's humans.
It got me a neck scratch, and Yvonne moved her bag closer to herself. "I'll get to work on this right away." She got the head shakes and nods, but, apparently, there was no shortcut to her understanding everything I tried to tell her. I grabbed at her arm, and her slight confusion was clear. "I can practically taste the ch- huh?"
I bit the bag and pulled it away from her about a foot. Digging through the food section again, I made a show of picking up a different container and offering it with a grin. "Let's make something together."
"You changed your mind and want fries now?" My smile dropped with an annoyed exhale. Sylvie didn't just make it look easy, I could do it too.
So, what was I working with? My ribbons held a container of potatoes, there was other food, and some cooking utensils in the bag. To make fries out of that, she'd need a knife. Spotting one, I wrapped the sheath in a ribbon and presented it to her.
"Be careful! That's sharp, and-" That was about when I had moved it to her. "-And, yes, it would probably be best if I held onto that."
Really, Yvonne? I wanted to say that she couldn't have misinterpreted my look of frustration, but I decided not to chance it. It was time for drastic measures.
Yes, I felt I had to break out the charades.
"I!" Closing one eyelid, I pointed all of my ribbons at my open one. "Want!" Sitting down and letting my ribbons sink out of the way, I hit her with my best Baby-Doll Eyes. "To help!" Then, wrapped her wrists and moved her hands in vague vegetable chopping motions. She was both confused and amused by me. "You!" I stepped backwards, and, that time, I pointed at her with a foreleg and a couple ribbons followed suit. "Cook!" By then, my annoyance had built to where I swung my ribbons at the frying pan, and I ended with a hard stare at the piece of steel.
-Author's Note
I don't actually know if you can cook gougeres properly in a frying pan, but Yvonne's parents were able to do it well enough that it stuck with mini-Yvonne.