After being scolded for ten minutes about hiding a more intriguing time with Viviane than told, Daniel smiles weakly in front of his puffy-faced slime mother.
"Look, mom. I just think there's not much point to it. I only need one of you."
Anne rolls her eyes before scoffing. "Don't try to be sweet with me, mister! Just think of all the multitasking that could be done. Mama can help with your backlog faster and take care of you better!"
Daniel swallows slowly with crooked lips, unable to decide whether to feel horrified or happy over her increasing hold on his business and life. Regardless, he can't protest under such a firm gaze.
"It's easier said than done," Viviane warns. "Our bodies naturally want to remain whole, so you'll have to resist that urge on top of maintaining control across splits."
She glances at her palm for a moment before adding, "At least, that's if you're anything similar to me."
"I'm willing to try! Teach me, elder sister!" Anne requests, clapping her hands together with sparkling eyes.
Viviane relaxes and tilts her chin. "Yes, that's much better! Very well, sweet sister, come with me!"
And thus, the two slime girls' relationship begins over the sharing of knowledge. Nothing could be more appropriate for Anne, who shares Amy's drive for discovery.
As Anne leaves Daniel's side for Viviane, Mary takes her place with a titter. "It looks like Mama warmed up easily."
"Too easily," Daniel agrees, sighing as he watches the two slime girls move closer to the lake. He twists his lips. "While I'm happy that these two can meet, I wonder if I made a mistake."
"Come now, love. At some point, she'd have figured it out herself, then more."
"I'm certain as well, but in any case, the cat's out of the bag. By the way, how are you feeling in this place?"
Mary looks up at the blue sky and inhales the fresh air. "It's surprisingly relaxing and weirdly real. Can this really be called a dream world?"
Daniel snorts. "Your guess is as good as mine. All I know is that our bodies are cocooned in some way by Anne in the real world while we sleep."
The female artist hums for a moment before looking down. "Speaking of, we're also naked. Is that because we passed out like that?"
"You know, maybe that's the reason," Daniel hums. "I actually don't recall ever *not* being naked when mom enveloped me."
"Well, with nothing to hide, I suppose we can be even more honest, huh?" Mary notes, specifically eyeing her boyfriend's erect cock.
Daniel clears his throat as he tilts away. "*Well*, it doesn't help that I have an imaginative beauty next to me."
"Aw, love! It's okay to call Mummy weird instead, you know?"
Mary leans forward to kiss Daniel's cheek, causing him to stiffen further. He coughs, trying his best not to shy away. "N-not that I mind, but how long do you plan to refer to yourself like that?"
"Until it's not appropriate anymore."
"That's not specific at all."
"Not supposed to be. In any case, you don't mind when Anne calls herself mama, so what's different about me?"
"It just hits...differently when you say it like that. I'm unused to it, that's all."
"Oh? Differently, you say?"
"I shouldn't have said anything."
Mary's eyes slyly narrow, but before she can press further, Viviane's voice attracts their attention.
"Now, with that explanation out of the way, watch carefully!" the silver beauty begins, clearly boosted by her new sister's eager gaze.
Lifting one arm out, she allows her hand to lose form, essentially becoming an outlet to allow her mass to flow out.
*Splorp!*
As her shiny metallic goo falls to the grass below, it accumulates and twitches. It doesn't take long for a head to form, and to the chills of the audience watching, a groan.
"Oooooah~"
The clone of Viviane slowly pulls itself together as more slime is fed from above. It takes to stretching out all parts of its limbs as it solidifies, building out a skin layer with the same paleness as the original.
Eventually, Viviane's hand reshapes and splits off with a swipe. She takes a step back, allowing her molded duplicate to rise next to her with a similar smile.
The clone scans the stunned faces before wrapping a hand around the original's shoulder. "As you can see, I am now double!"
Having already experienced two of them, Daniel is the first to break out of his wonder. "Hold on, when you did it for me, it was totally out of the blue!"
The original grins, straightening proudly. "Child, I can split much faster. I only slowed the reformation process like this so that Anne could see."
The intended learner inhales with shimmering eyes. "This is so cool! So then, I just have to do the same, right?"
Without waiting for an answer, she extends her arm out just like Viviane did and allows the skin on her hand to dissolve. Her mass is pushed like a faucet, so like her counterpart, her blue, semi-transparent goo spills onto the ground. Just as Viviane can shapeshift, Anne slowly molds the muddied clone and has it stretch out; however, the real test comes when she attempts to remove herself.
*Splick!*
"Huh?"
As soon as Anne tries to reduce her flow, the melting body below extends out faster than she could react, reattaching itself to the original's legs. Binding, it trails from the ground up, lining her body and dissipating through her skin layer.
Anne blinks a few times with her hand in half-goo form before she grabs her head.
"Huh?!"
"Mom, are you okay?" Daniel calls out.
"Mama is fine!" Anne answers before lowering her brows. "But it's like, as soon as I tried to separate myself, that part of me just freaked out and reattached. I couldn't even force control of it!"
With closed eyes, Viviane crosses her arms and nods repeatedly. "That's to be expected. It's clear that our cells like to remain together. Right when you intend to restrict the junction, it'll be out for you like a magnet."
Nonetheless, Anne isn't disappointed at all. She huffs, raising her arms together. "Then, let's try putting some distance! That way, I don't have time to reattach!"
Viviane smiles a little. "Well, let's try, shall we?"
Anne pauses for a bit before narrowing her eyes. "You know something."
The elder sister giggles and winks. "There's nothing better than experience to learn, right? Shoot for the moon, as we say."
"Ugh. Hearing that somehow feels irksome. I know that's one of Amy's phrases, but you don't have to tell me!"
Regardless, Anne follows through. Given Viviane's reaction, she lowers her expectations for herself, assuming it's harder than she imagines.
And her cells do resist hard...
*Splick!*
"Damn!"
*Splish!*
"Just let me disconnect already!"
Like a noodle, Anne extends her arm a few times, but even with the distance, the gooey mound she builds up manages to reattach. Since it couldn't reach her main body, it simply focused on reaching her stretch limb, even slowing its flow to prevent Anne from thinning any part to a certain threshold.
By this point, Mary and Daniel had relaxed on the ground to watch. It was oddly entertaining to see the slime mother fighting against herself with a noodle arm.
But then, a bulb lights up in Mary. "Hey, love! Instead of doing it yourself, why not have someone else try severing the mass?"
Viviane raises an eyebrow but shakes her head. "It's a good idea, child, but even if I did try severing her, she'd reattach immediately."
To prove it, she lifts her arm, which flattens into a metallic blade. Anne widens her eyes in response and pulls back.
"W-wait-"
But it's too late.
*Swip!*
The blade-arm definitely slices through Anne's noodle arm, but...nothing. It manages to attach as if it were simply phased through.
"Ah?"
At the moment, Anne forgot that she wouldn't feel anything. Still, she growls. "Y-you could've given me some warning!"
Viviane shrugs, returning her arm to normal. "You're fine, aren't you? The only way this is going to succeed is if you work on your control."
"Ugh. Just how long did this process of control take you?"
The silver slime tilts her head as she thinks. "I can't remember. Time blurred, and I've lost plenty of memories, but it's definitely more than a few years, I'm sure."
"Aw..."
"However, it might be quicker for you to grasp if we're able to share our experiences."
"Through merging, you mean?" Anne asks, opening her eyes more.
"Hold on!"
Daniel joins them closer, burying his slight amusement. Along with Mary, he stares at Viviane with a creasing forehead.
"Vivi-"
"None of that!" the slime cuts, raising a finger at him with a pout. "If you don't want to call me mommy, at least call me mother, child."
Daniel is taken aback, but seeing her firm gaze, he doesn't object. "Then, m-mother...um, this merge won't be permanent, right?"
Viviane relaxes and closes her eyes happily. "No clue!"
The artist's shoulder briefly slumps with disbelief. Annoyed, he presses against his nose bridge and groans.
"Then absolutely not. If you two end up combining permanently, I...I don't want that."
"Daniel..."
Anne feels touched by her son's concern, but she's still unsure how to feel about merging. If it's anything like becoming Marianne, then she's not afraid of losing herself; rather, she'd just feel newer, just as Mary would.
Except that was bonding with a human. There's no telling whether it's the same bonding with a slime, especially one that she may have already been a part of before.
"Would anything really happen, though?" Mary asks. "I mean, even if they combine, Anne is still covering us in the real world, and Viviane doesn't exist there."
Viviane hums. "It's true that nothing may happen; yet, in a way, it was the same for my sister here coming to this land. Now we know she can exist here after bonding fully with you. The way I see it, you *carried* her to this world, Mary."
The female artist widens her eyes. "So it's not simply merging. You want to see if Anne can carry you back!"
The silver slime nods but glances at her uncertain sister with a dry smile. "Still, we won't know if we don't try. I understand if you'd rather not, Anne. Daniel cherishes you, so I also don't want us to be permanently bonded if it makes him sad."
Anne closes her eyes, trying to sort out her feelings. After taking a moment, she lifts her lips a little. "Then, why don't we try small? You can split a tiny part of yourself, and I can see if we can even mix!"
Daniel inhales. "Mom, hold on! This is still too risky! Nobody has an idea what will happen here, much less with you two being similar!"
"What then?" Anne presses, thinning her lips. "In the worst case, Mama and Vivi-mama will become one, but we'll still love you! We'll still be your mothers!"
"I...but that's... you'll be different. You might not even be *Anne*."
The slime mother's eyes soften before lifting a hand to her son's cheek. "Mama will *always* be here. I get that the unknown is scary, but we must explore it to broaden our horizons. Haven't I taught you that?"
Daniel shuts his eyes tightly and squeezes her hand on his cheek. "Mom..."
Anne continues with a more positive tone. "In the best case, we might exist separately too, just like Mary and I! Either way, we won't know until we try, and this may be the only chance to free my unexpected but lovely sister!"
Daniel bites his lips, unable to feel optimistic; however, seeing how Anne is determined just as Amy would be, he knows she won't budge.
Forcing himself to relax, he drops his hands and sighs. "Just a small part of Viviane, then."
The silver slime's eyes soften equally towards her shared son. "It'll be okay, my child. Trust us as your mothers, will you?"
Daniel reluctantly nods. With no further objections, Viviane cups her hands and draws them out, filling them with silver slime until it's the size of a baseball.
"Give me your hand, sister."
Not without some hesitation, Anne opens up to receive the silver mass. It disconnects easily from her sister and wobbles in her hand. Staring at it with her reflection on its surface, she takes a deep breath.
In one go, the silver mass recedes into her hand.