Echoes of the Seven Ch. 11-20

Author's Note:

Howdy-doo, readers! I may have forgotten to upload here for about four months, but that just means you get a stockpile of chapters to enjoy all at once. How fun! *Internal screaming*

Chapter 11: Train

After an hour of ceaseless pestering, it was revealed to Eris that the operators of the train didn't actually know all the ins and outs of the electroarcanic combustion engine. They just operated the thing. Still, they knew enough to provide Eris with delightful conversation, and seemed happy to show her the cab with all the dials and levers controlling the functions of the entire train. Of course, they seemed even happier to see her leave after she thoroughly exhausted them of all mechanical conversation.

Eris knew she probably looked ridiculous in the black-and-blue train conductor cap that one of the men gave her, but her smile carried her all the way back to their cabin. There was a conversation in place, but Eris couldn't hear anything coherent until she looked through the doorway.

The cabins on the train were mostly separated into two-person and four-person rooms. There were a few single-bed cabins, but not only was the Syndicate unwilling to cover the expensive costs of those rooms in particular, the three girls (plus Nima, now) genuinely didn't mind sleeping in the same room. So, that meant the quartet were stuffed into a four-person cabin.

Small and cramped, maybe ten feet wide with a thin gap in between two bunk beds built into the walls. Jaxie and Alex were sitting on the bottom bunk of one side while Nima sat on the other. The rainbow-haired girl was holding the dagger that Jaxie had packed- the one that Eris made a few months ago for Jaxie's birthday. Hovering in front of her face was a glowing blue duplicate of the knife- identical down to the pattern of antlers engraved into the base of the blade.

"Warcasters have primarily elemental spells similar to Evokers, but combine it with physical abilities. They can make walls of ice, blasts of fire or trap enemies in quicksand, pretty much anything dealing with primordial energy- though most tend to have a dedicated element. Battlemages can have an extremely wide variety of magic, but almost all of their spells serve as buffs to themselves or their allies, or debuffs to their enemies. Anything from imbuing armor with temporary stat enhancements to making allies' weapons have a lifesteal effect to heal themselves based on the damage they deal. As for Spellblades..."

The floating dagger pivoted in the air, pointing the blade back at Nima. She tapped the tip with the real dagger which made a solid-sounding 'tink'.

"Our magic is highly based around ourselves and our own armaments. It augments our martial capabilities instead of supplementing it."

"Amazing..." Alex reached forward and wrapped a few fingers around the hilt of the magic dagger. It visibly resisted the movement when she pulled it back towards herself- like she wasn't the one moving it. "You can conjure a replication of your weapon and control it to fight on two fronts?"

The conversation didn't pause when Eris entered the room. The girls nodded to acknowledge her presence, but Nima looked back at Alex and replied as Eris took the only available seat- on the bed next to Nima.

"With limited range and a lot of mental focus, but yes. I'd be more upset that it's my only spell right now if it wasn't such a good one."

"Since Conductor Eris is finally back, we can probably do a bit of round-table reveals. See if we can't form a decent party." Jaxie grinned. "So, a magic floating weapon. What other skills have you got?"

The floating dagger in Alex's hand vanished as Nima looked at Jaxie. "I've got three skills- Mana, which you all know, Arcane Assault, that spell I just showed you, and a passive called Disparity. It makes it so that my Strength, Dexterity and Mind stats are always equal, including bonuses that any of the three would receive."

Alex blinked. "That's got the potential for some impressive power."

Nima turned to Alex. "Yes. My version of a Spellblade is obviously leaning in the direction of 'quality over quantity' when it comes to my skills. I don't have much, but what I do have is very potent." She then looked back and held out the dagger towards Jaxie.

"Not bad at all," Jaxie reached forward and accepted the knife before sheathing it and placing it back into her bag. "The three of us all have four skills each, so I'll go first. I'm a Berserker. First skill is Rage. I get a Minor amount of Rage when dealing damage to, or suffering damage from hostile creatures. Next is Bloodlust. A passive that increases my Strength and Tenacity the more Rage I've built up. Bloodwhetting lets me spend Rage to heal myself, and Surge lets me spend Rage to provide a Moderate bonus to my Strength for a single attack."

"Pretty standard for a Berserker, from what I've heard." Nima turned her head to Alex. "You?"

"Knight," Alex said. "First skill is the most noteworthy- Bulwark. Passive. Whenever you would take damage, reduce the damage taken by fifty percent. Cooldown: Three seconds. Effectively, every three seconds a hit against me is half as effective."

"Impressive," Nima commented. Alex nodded.

"Retribution. Passive. When Bulwark triggers, your next attack gains a bonus to Physical Power equal to the amount of damage reduced. Stout. Passive. While wielding a shield, you gain a Minor bonus to Physical Defence and Magical Defence. Provoke. Active. Taunt one hostile creature into focusing their attacks on you for ten seconds. Cooldown: Twenty seconds."

Nima absorbed the information with an affirming nod. "You two certainly make for a potent combination." She looked between the two girls sitting side-by-side on the opposite bed. "A dedicated tank and a melee striker that can easily swap in to fill an off-tank role. Good foundation for any party."

"Seem like a good fit for you?" Jaxie asked. Nima paused.

"There are many factors when it comes to optimizing a party, but this does seem like a good start. Melee tank, melee striker/tank hybrid, and a melee/ranged striker hybrid isn't bad by any measure. If we can manage to get a ranged striker with good AoE abilities, and then someone with a half-decent ability to heal while bringing their own ranged damage, that might be as close to a 'perfect' party as we could imagine. Perhaps a Pyromancer and an Theurgist? That's the initial thought."

She turned to Eris. "They've already informed me that you're an Artisan."

"Yeah," Eris nodded. "Crafting Points, Crafter's Cunning, a passive that gives a Quality bonus, and a skill that spends CP for increased Durability. Nothing special right now."

"Even a little goes a long way. How soon do you think that I could commission some equipment from you?"

"Oh, uhh... I'm not sure? I don't know how long it'll take for me to get properly set up in Marrix. It depends on what kind of tools and materials are provided to new students, and how much of my workshop I'll have to make myself before I can get started. I would assume that they provide basic tools and equipment for free to the crafters like they do to the combatants, but I brought some of my own just in case. It's nothing special, just a hammer, a few chisels, an awl-"

"Eris, sweetie, you're rambling." Jaxie coughed into her hand. Eris's cheeks went red.

"Oh- uhh... sorry."

"It's okay," Nima paused with a neutral face before it broke into a small, delayed smile. A little odd, but Eris shook her head to clear it.

"Let's just put a pin in it for now, okay? Even if I do have everything I need to start right away, the first gear I'll be making is for Jaxie and Alex. In fact, it might actually take a bit before I start doing proper commissions."

"No worries, I completely understand."

There was a moment of awkward silence in the small room before Jaxie grinned. "Hey Eris."

"Yeah?"

"Nice hat."

The conversation moved from one place to another almost as quickly as the train did. Eris wasn't paying much attention though- she spent most of the afternoon sitting on the edge of her bottom bunk looking out the window in the cabin to see fields, trees, rivers, and no small number of villages and towns flash by. She would pop in a few times when someone said her name, but then the conversation would shift into battle techniques or different restaurants in Sunset Ridge and Eris would lose herself to the rolling horizon once more.

Even so, the extended exposure allowed Eris to pick up that Nima was just a tad... off. Sometimes when Jaxie or Alex made a joke, Nima would get a confused look on her face or simply not react, but other times she would give a small chuckle. The way she spoke was very straightforward and blunt, and Nima also had a weird habit of locking perfect, unflinching eye contact with whoever was speaking at any given time. On top of that, sometimes her expressions seemed to be delayed. In fact, it almost appeared like she had to remember to smile or frown a solid second after it would naturally occur.

Weird.

Thankfully, Nima had brought food of her own, so Eris didn't feel too bad when dinnertime rolled around and the trio began eating sandwiches. Still, she couldn't help but feel obligated to offer some of hers when Nima finished the thermos of soup. Nima politely refused.

As the outside began to darken with dusk, Eris naturally found herself wandering up and down the train more often- mostly out of restlessness. There were only so many times that she could re-read her notebook and the boredom was kicking in hard. On one of those walks, Jaxie joined her. Eris didn't think much of it- she was too busy fighting the butterflies in her stomach while the pair held hands. She also didn't quite notice that Jaxie had taken the lead until the tall girl led them both into a quiet, almost empty dining car and sat them down in a booth.

They didn't order anything- the pair simply sat in the silence, cuddling into one another and looking out the dark window. When Jaxie finally spoke, she did so in a quiet whisper that only Eris could hear- nuzzling her face into the redhead's hair as she did so.

"I think it's time."

Eris's heart started beating faster. "Really? Here?"

Jaxie shrugged. "Why not? I figured you wouldn't want to do it in front of Nima yet. I'll also say that she's a little weird, since you're too much of a goody-two-shoes to bring it up otherwise."

Eris winced. Jaxie just chuckled. "I mean, did you see the way she was staring at us when we talked? It's actually a little fuckin' creepy, to be honest."

"Jaxie..."

"Alright, alright- I'll be nice. Are we gonna make out now or what?"

Eris's would-be protests died in her throat when she tilted her head up to look at Jaxie. Her smile was so gentle and sweet that there was no hope of resisting. All she could do was part her lips while Jaxie gently lowered her face until they met. Every other time so far, their 'tests' or 'gatherings' had been full-fledged makeout sessions. Even though Eris could never admit just how fun those were, this was still better.

Cuddled up into Jaxie's side, gently pressing their lips together and dancing duets with their tongues in a low-lit train car while miles and miles of Kavala passed by outside?

It would be hard to beat that.

It was a long while before this session ended, mostly because Eris didn't want it to. Every time it felt like Jaxie was going to pull back and break the kiss (which she probably wasn't going to, but Eris was paranoid), Eris would gently tighten her grip on the front of Jaxie's shirt to send the message. Jaxie would respond by rubbing her thumb in small circles on Eris's waist. Nothing sexual, just affectionate.

The kiss had to end eventually. It wasn't intentional from either of the two girls- it happened because a fly decided that out of all the available places to land, it would squeeze between their faces and crawl up Eris's nose to get inhaled. What followed was a coughing fit that left Eris teary-eyed and Jaxie laughing.

That wasn't even the worst part. That happened when Eris finally hacked up the intruder and managed to look inwards."You gotta be kidding me." The end result led to the pair going back to the cabin. Eris wasn't quite sure how to approach the situation, but thankfully she had a six-two Berserker to do it for her.

"Ney, Nima. Eris, Alex and I need to talk about something real quick. Mind giving us a few minutes?"

"Oh, of course."

She stepped out promptly, not bothering to grab her bag from her bunk. Either she already trusted the trio not to steal anything, or didn't care much. Soon, Jaxie closed the sliding door behind them.

"Is this about the skill upgrade?" Alex asked. Eris shook her head.

"No. I mean, kinda? That's gonna be a part of it, but I haven't gotten it yet. I don't have enough Desire."

"I thought that you only needed seven more points..."

Eris awkwardly sat down beside Alex on the bed. Jaxie took a seat on the opposite bunk. "I did. We only got six points this time. I tried anyway, just to see if it was enough, but it's not."

Alex's cheeks started to go red, just like Eris's. She must have caught on to what the redhead was going to ask.

"I'm pretty sure I only need one, maaaybe two more points to level up the skill, but I can't do it with Jaxie again until tomorrow."

Tense, awkward silence followed. Naturally, Jaxie was the one to break it with a chuckle.

"What Eris is trying to ask is if you two can share a quick smooch in order to get the upgrade tonight."

"Thank you, Jaxie," Alex coughed.

"Deuces."

"Anyway," Eris could feel her face heating up. "If you wouldn't mind...?"

Ersi could only imagine Jaxie's perspective. Both girls were as red as an autumn apple, awkwardly avoiding eye contact as Alex gave a single, short nod. Eris was initially intending to hold the kiss for a number of seconds in order to get two, maybe three points and absolutely guarantee that she got enough Desire to level up the skill. Glancing between Alex and Jaxie, though?

It still felt so wrong to do this, and even worse that she wanted to. Eris wanted to kiss Alex so bad. Jaxie had even given her explicit permission yesterday, but it still felt so... icky. Even if Jaxie didn't call it cheating,- or didn't care- Eris did. The part of her trying to keep a moral and honourable high ground was fighting against the part of both her and Jaxie that wanted Eris to make out with the Knight in the pretty yellow sundress-and-pants she always wore. It didn't matter that they already had a bit of a 'session' yesterday.

All Eris could manage was a quick lunge and an even quicker peck on the lips. It was so fast that Eris almost missed- hitting right on the edge of Alex's mouth before the redhead pulled away and looked at the floor- turning her attention everywhere but the two other girls. Thankfully, even a brief smooch like that was enough to give a single, solitary point.

She wasted no time letting that point drop into the cup of energy that was the progression of Desire's Reap. Immediately, a flush of warmth went through Eris. Goosebumps rose and her hands went clammy as Eris watched the cup go right back to 'empty'. There was an innate tingling, signifying that something had changed. She turned her gaze inwards.

Desire's Reap {Passive} {Level 2}

Engage in sexual acts with others to collect Desire. Desire is collected in the following ways;

Kissing

Groping

Additional Desire is collected based on the arousal of the active participant(s). Current Desire: 0

"It's uhh, it's what we figured. Groping."

Jaxie stood and swiftly switched from the bed on the opposite side to join right next to Eris. It was a bit crowded with the trio on the one bed now, especially since they all had to lean forward so that their heads didn't knock against the upper bunk, but they made it work. Jaxie grinned.

"Do you think levelling up a skill resets the cooldown?"

"Huh-mmh?"

Eris was cut off by Jaxie when she turned her face to look at the Berserker. She couldn't complain though- even a surprise kiss from Jaxie was delightful. Eris may or may not have even shuddered a bit when one of Jaxie's hands took a quick and gentle cupping of Eris's left breast. Fortunately, that was as far as it went. Making out in front of Alex was one thing- doing it while being shamelessly fondled by her girlfriend was something else. Eris was already struggling to keep her dignity in check- something like that would be too much.

Eris was left with red cheeks when Jaxie pulled away. It took a few seconds of staring dumbly into the brunette's awaiting eyes before Eris finally pulled herself together and looked at the skill. She shook her head, still flustered.

"Uh, no. It's still at zero."

"Shame."

Alex spoke uncertainly. "I guess that means we have to wait until tomorrow to see how many points the... upgrade gives."

"No we don't."

Since Eris was in between the two girls, she could see Alex in her peripherals leaning forward so that both of them could stare with raised eyebrows at Jaxie. "Uhh, what?"

Jaxie grinned. "The cooldown's per person. We still have a bunkmate who hasn't had her turn yet."

It took a moment for Eris to piece it together. When she did, she nearly choked on her tongue. "No! We don't even know her!"

"Aww, c'mon! Doesn't Little Miss Mango wanna give the weird rainbow a squeeze?"

All Eris could do was bury her face into her hands with a loud groan.

Chapter 12: Arrival

All four girls bedded down shortly after Eris levelled up Desire's Reap, since the train would arrive at the capital city of Madaras sometime around six in the morning. They would need to be awake and ready before then, so that meant the train attendant would come by and give a quick courtesy knock at the girl's chosen time of five.

Eris and Jaxie had been sharing a bed for so long- even before they officially started dating- that the blankets felt cold. Jaxie may have been in the bunk about three feet above Eris's head, but that didn't stop the redhead from missing her girlfriend's arm wrapped around her when she slept. Or tried to, rather. The lack of a second body combined with the general restlessness of being stuck on this train with nothing to do and the anxiety of the next day being the start of the Marrix school year? All that meant Eris probably spent half the night trying not to disturb her cabinmates with her tossing and turning before sleep finally took her.

Eventually, Eris felt herself being roused with a kiss on the forehead.

"Hey sleepyhead."

"Hnngh?" Eris blinked her eyes open to meet Jaxie's who was kneeling next to the bed.

"Didn't sleep that well, huh?"

Eris shook her head while her eyes went to Alex and Nima's bunks behind her. Even in the darkened room, Eris could see they were empty. "Where are they?"

"Sitting in one of the dining cars while they have breakfast and waiting until we reach the capital. You slept right through the courtesy knock so we decided to give you a few extra minutes."

Eris sat up in the bed- or at least as far as the top bunk allowed her to. At the same time, she slid over against the wall enough to make space in the small bed. Eris didn't care if she was being needy- she lifted the corner of the blanket in a silent invitation. Jaxie smiled and slipped into the bed. She also handed Eris a jar of oatmeal and a wooden spoon.

The pair sat silently as Eris ate her room-temperature breakfast while cuddled in Jaxie's embrace. There wasn't quite a way to put it into words. Jaxie made Eris feel all warm and gooey inside- even more so now that they officially donned the label of 'girlfriends'. It was like her heart was wrapped in a warm blanket and being given soft kisses, and that was just by being near Jaxie. Having the tall girl actually holding her, kissing her, or... more...?

Eris was worried her heart would stop altogether whenever it happened.

She was giddy with excitement when the quartet finally stepped off the train at the capital city of Madaras. Just like Sunset Ridge, Eris would have loved to walk around the capital and see everything it had to offer- if for nothing more than to assuage the restlessness that had been building over the sixteen-hour train ride with nothing to do. Unfortunately, the monorail that the four girls would be taking was scheduled barely forty-five minutes after their train arrived. After walking the fifteen minutes between stations, that didn't leave much time for sightseeing. Besides, it was still dark in the early morning. All that could be seen were the shadowed buildings and a small handful of people walking the streets. The city hadn't quite woken up yet. The monorail station was a different story.

Matrix was just outside of Madaras, so the easiest way to get there was with a monorail from the capital city. Many of the new students had probably already arrived in the week-long grace period they have to get themselves situated in their new dorms. That meant this monorail ride was holding almost every single one of the 'final arrivals' headed to the school. Lots of eighteen-year-old faces filled out the seats and talked amongst each other to encompass the twenty-or-so minute monorail ride.

Eris didn't talk with any of them, because she was too busy spending most of the trip lecturing Jaxie, Alex, and Nima about the differences between the train's electroarcanic combustion engine and the monorail's thermatic arcanum motor.

"I'm sure I missed a few details, but I think that covers the gist of it." Eris finished with a long breath. As usual, Jaxie looked confused but supportive and Alex's eyes had glazed over fifteen minutes ago. Nima's face was just as emotionless as its default state seemed to be.

"Wow, that was very informative. How do you even know all of this?"

"Damian Baxter's Encyclopedia of Third Century Inventions," Eris said. Jaxie smiled and wrapped an arm over Eris's shoulders while leaning back in her seat.

"Ell checked it out so often that the library gave it to her as a present for her sixteenth birthday."

Nima nodded, then tilted her head. "I'm going to assume that you're Ell?"

Eris blinked a few times, then nodded. "Right, yeah- uhh... my last name's Kadell and one of my teachers only ever called people by their last names. Then Jaxie started doing it, and 'Kadell' ended up getting shortened to just 'Ell'. Kinda just a nickname now."

"Do you have a middle name?"

"Limeen."

"Thank you." Nima leaned forward in her seat enough to look past Eris and towards Jaxie and Alex who were on the other side of the redhead. "Just to be clear, are Jaxie and Alex nicknames as well, or are they your real names?"

Jaxie shrugged. "Nicknames, I guess? Full name is Jasmine, but I go by anything. Jaxie, Jazzy, Jay, whatever you want. Take your pick."

"Middle and last name?"

"Daisy, like the flower, and Kerrot, not like the vegetable. K-E-R-R-O-T."

"And you?" Nima looked at Alex.

"Alexandra Mena Qualley. M-E-N-A Q-U-A-L-L-E-Y, though everyone just calls me Alex. It's shorter and easier that way. Why do you ask?"

Nima lowered her shoulders. "I prefer using real names over nicknames whenever I can."

"So you never use nicknames? Like, ever?" Jaxie raised an eyebrow. Nima let out a long breath.

"People have always been difficult for me to manage for many reasons. One of them is names. Nicknames start, change and end without any warning. It's exhausting to try and keep track of all of them for any given person. It's easier for me to have a single, unchanging name that I can attach to each individual."

"Normally, I use whatever name a person introduces themselves with, unless I anticipate being in contact with them over an extended period of time. In those cases I ask for their real name and then if they would be alright with me using that. Most are. If they aren't, I ask for whichever name they would prefer me to use. Just to confirm, your full names are Eris Limeen Kadell, Jasmine Daisy Kerrot, and Alexandra Mena Qualley?"

The three girls nodded.

"And you have no problems with me referring to you as Eris, Jasmine, and Alexandra?"

A communal head shake. Nima bowed her head then brought her gaze back up before speaking.

"Thank you. That helps more than you think."

"So... you don't like people?" Jaxie asked.

Nima shook her head. "Not necessarily. I just have a difficult time understanding them."

"What do you mean?"

"My therapists described it as a complete lack of empathy," Nima said. "I've always had exceptional struggles with determining the way that others feel."

"Therapists? As in plural?" Jaxie asked. Nima nodded in response.

"Yes. I was labeled as an exceptionally rude child when I was younger because of my behaviour with others. My parents sent me to a therapist to figure out if it was a fault of their raising tendencies. I was sent to two more so that there could be multiple opinions about me, and they all came to the same conclusion. I had no detection for the emotions of others and being naturally curious led to many invasive questions and remarks that were seen as offensive."

Eris furrowed her brow. "That sucks."

"It is limiting, yes. There have been far too many injured feelings because I wasn't aware that my words or actions were causing discomfort. I try to read various books about social normalities to make up for it, but people are exceptionally complex and elusive with their feelings. I apologize in advance if I ever say or do something that would upset any of you, and also request that you please make me aware of such so that I may prevent it from happening again. I quite literally will not learn unless you tell me I'm doing something wrong."

"Will do," Alex said.

"Thank you, Alexandra." Even though they weren't trained on her, Eris could see the way that Nima's eyes were practically burning holes into Alex's. Jaxie must have noticed too, because she leaned back in her seat with a chuckle.

"Yeah, that's not gonna get weird at all."

Eris would have lightly slapped Jaxie to chastise her for the comment, but Pacifist apparently decided that wasn't allowed. Thankfully, Nima was already speaking and had her unflinching gaze turned towards the Berserker.

"I'm glad that it's not weird. I'd hate to do something that made you uncomfortable."

Even though Marrix was by all accounts a military school, it seemed downright insulting to call it that. This wasn't a school. It was a city.

A neighborhood of twenty dorm buildings, each six stories tall with ten rooms on each floor, and each room holding two students. On one side of the dorm neighbourhood was the massive Hazard Training Room for all the combatants wanting to test any number of skills in a safe environment. On the other side of the dorms was a building that Eris had only ever read about in wonder.

The Crafting and Development Facility.

Surrounding all of that in a large triangle were parks, gyms, a small handful of basic restaurants, a market square with dozens of storefronts and stalls, a library, an office building for school executives, and even a small-but-permanent carnival ground with various games to play and blow off steam when things got a bit too stressful. That alone would have been impressive, had it not been for one simple factor.

All of that was a single Sector- Sector Saez.

Each of the six Sectors, named Ohn, Tol, Teer, Fura, Feegh, and Saez, were effectively identical. All of them shaped in an isosceles triangle and fitted together to form a single, massive hexagon that made up the entirety of Marrix. Meanwhile, an intricate system of monorails just a touch smaller than the one that the group used to get to Marrix wove over the streets and buildings in raised bridges that dipped back down to ground level at each of the many stations that tied everything together. In the very center of the school-city was the single thing that the school had been purposefully built around- the mysterious Obelisk. The one magical device that allowed for such a large-scale and efficient operation of Syndicate training.

While Eris, Jaxie and Alex were all stationed in Sector Saez, Nima was apparently in Sector Fura. The rainbow-haired girl gave her goodbyes, but did provide Jaxie and Alex with a time and place that they could meet if they wished to continue discussing the possibility of teaming together. When she stepped onto a different monorail alongside all the other last-minute arrivals heading towards the fourth Sector, that left the primary trio moving with their respective crowd towards the sixth. The seventy-or-so students all walked with giddy excitement down the brickwork streets through the dormitory neighbourhood only lit by sunrise and a few magical lanterns on posts.

All of them split up into lines at the handful of stands set up with a blue sign that read "FIND YOUR DORM HERE". The trio of girls stood together, naturally. When it was their turn, the twenty-something-year-old guy operating the stand greeted them with a smile.

"Good morning, ladies! Let's start with you- may I get your name?"

"Alexandra Qualley."

"Qualley... Qualley..." He muttered while looking over a page. "Ah, Alexandra Qualley. You were expecting a combat class from your Gifting. Was that the result?"

"Yes."

"Nice, that makes things easy. You're in dorm eleven, room number twenty-two. That'll be on the third floor. Here's your key. Next?"

"Jasmine Kerrot."

The guy started looking through one of his papers. After a moment, Jaxie piped up. "K-E-R-R-O-T."

"Ah, I was looking in the 'C's. Sorry about that." He switched to a different page. "There we are- Jasmine Kerrot. Did you get a combat class like you expected?"

"Yeah."

"Wonderful." He picked out a labelled key from the box underneath the stand. "You're in dorm thirteen, room number forty-seven. That'll be on the fifth floor."

"Cool. Do we only get one key between the two of us, or do we get another?" Jaxie accepted it when the guy passed it over. He raised an eyebrow.

"Your roommate already has her key."

Eris frowned. "No I don't?"

The guy looked at Eris, then down at the paper, then over at another sheet of paper that appeared to be every room number along with the names of the individuals in them. "Looks like room 1347 has Jasmine Kerrot and Rebecca Reik, who checked in yesterday."

"Wait," Eris furrowed her brow. "We don't choose our roommates?"

He shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. People with combat classes are in dorms one through fifteen, and crafters are sixteen through twenty. Rooms and roommates past that point are randomly determined. May I get your name?"

"Uhhh... Eris? Kadell. With a K."

He clicked his tongue a few times as he switched to the 'K' page. "Ah, right near the top. Did you receive a crafting class like you expected?"

Eris nodded. He went right back to the paper to confirm a number. "Alrighty, you are in room number- oh..."

His face went slack. All three girls, including Alex who had stepped slightly to the side, perked up at the sudden change. "What's wrong?" Eris asked cautiously.

He was quiet as he grabbed the key. When passing it to Eris, he wasn't making eye contact.

"I would like to apologize in advance."

The guy- Jacob- had given Eris no indication of what she was walking into aside from his apology. That made it worse. Eris would have much preferred to at least know what waiting for her. Was it the room itself? Eris thought all of the rooms were identical. Did that mean it was her roommate?

Oh damn, it must be her roommate.

What could that mean? Someone with enough infamy to make this random guy who volunteered at the stand immediately give pause. What did that mean they were like? Was it a guy? A girl? Were they some reclusive wallflower? Wait, that wouldn't cause infamy known throughout the Sector.

A stuck-up perfectionist that ridicules everyone? Yeah, that sounds about right. Eris's new roommate was going to be some awful, pretentious brat that would make her life a nightmare here with unnecessary rules and gloating.

Whoever they were, they were waiting in room sixty of the seventeenth building. Now, Eris had to walk down the long hallway all the way to the end of the top floor. The key was held in a clammy hand. As it turns out, it wasn't needed. That was because the door didn't even have a doorknob or a lock- both had been clearly and deliberately removed to leave behind empty holes. As such, the door eased open with just a touch of pressure allowing Eris to look inside the dorm room with a confused eyebrow.

It was bigger than Eris and Jaxie's room at home, but the train cabin had almost beaten that so it wasn't saying much. Two beds spaced apart with a nightstand on each side of both, a pair of desks, a pair of dressers, and a pair of closets, all with an attached small kitchen with appliances that ran on thermatic arcanum power and a washroom off to the side. At the very least, the room didn't appear to be trashed, nor did it seem completely clean and tidy. It was sufficiently lived in. Not that Eris could figure out what that would mean, since her eyes were fixated on the girl sleeping at one of the desks.

For one, she was naked. Completely bare as the day she was born, presenting very lightly tanned skin covered in dark freckles to the world. Although Eris could tell that she was naked, she couldn't actually make out the sight of anything too indecent because of the way she was slumped onto the desk and lightly snoring atop papers. The girl had probably shifted a lot in her sleep, since her big bushy mane of blonde-and-brown hair was partially wrapped around her head like a cocoon.

Eris quickly looked back at the door- partially to avert her gaze and protect this girl's modesty, but also to double check the set of numbers on the front and silently pray she had gotten mixed up somewhere. 1760.

Nope. Eris was in the right room.

Eris wasn't quite sure how to go about this. Did she wake up the girl and introduce herself? That would be more than awkward- she was completely naked. Did Eris just drop her stuff off and leave politely? That didn't seem like a very good option either, but it was better than nothing. Maybe Eris could leave a note? That could work-

An alarm clock rang on the nightstand beside one of the beds. Eris immediately paused as the girl at the desk started to rouse with a groan. Unfortunately, that wasn't the only movement in the room.

What Eris initially thought was a lump of blankets on the far bed grunted and reached a dark, feminine hand from under the covers to blindly slap at the clock. After she missed for the fourth time, the figure mumbled a swear and threw off the blankets. Eris was met with the sight of gorgeous, supple, dark brown breasts that wobbled slightly as the girl frustratedly silenced the alarm.

"Why do you have your alarm set for seven in the morning?" She asked towards the girl at the desk, completely failing to notice that Eris was standing in the doorway. Meanwhile, the aforementioned desk-girl yawned, wiped her eyes with a hand and started to rake the hair from her face.

"Because unlike you, I got a fuckin' shop to run."

"Wait, why are you over there?"

The girl at the desk turned in her seat, giving Eris a much clearer view of her delightful, shapely, and quite large breasts. Eris could even see the outline of the girl's pussy, and now that she was turned around, the streaks of dried cum on her face. Much like the one in the bed, this girl didn't seem to notice Eris and her bright-red face either.

"You nutted twice and zonked out. I used a dildo to finish your job and then started planning out some formulae for a few commissions."

"Oh, don't start lying. I know you came."

"I never said I didn't," The blonde-brunette quipped. "I'm saying that I was about to cum again when you busted for the second time and went to sleep. I had to get myself off, so thank you for that."

"Well if you're so hung up about it, we could have another go?" The black girl grinned and pulled the blankets even further aside to show a nicely proportioned cock that was already hardening. Eris couldn't force herself to avert her gaze. "How much time do you have before you need to go to your shop?"

The blonde thought for a moment. "About fifteen minutes."

"How about it? Care for another round?"

"Sure," she grinned. We could do two rounds and I'd still have ten minutes left over to get ready."

The black girl glared. "Laugh it up, Princess. We both know who'll be moaning into the pillow."

Eris must have made some kind of squeaking noise in her throat, since the blonde looked over at her with a raised eye, then turned back to the girl in the bed. "Oh, looks like the plan's changed. Get out."

"What the fuck? Why?"

The blonde shrugged as she stood from the chair, making her sizeable breasts wobble. They looked about as large as Jaxie's were, but this girl was at least six inches shorter than the Berserker so 'modestly large and well proportioned' turned into 'heavy honkers' that swayed hypnotically with her movements. Her hair was also about as long as Jaxie's but seemed to have eight times the volume, along with a small undercut on the left side of her face where it was shaved close to the scalp. Speaking of shaved, Eris couldn't stop herself from spotting the neatly-trimmed triangular patch of fuzz just above the girl's pussy. The fur was just as brown as the highlights in her poofy hair.

"Because you've had your turn and she hasn't."

"So? She can join us if she wants some."

Both girls looked at Eris, whose face was so hot it could probably be used as a stove. She squeaked again, unable to form words at the depraved sight. The mega-haired blonde gave a sigh.

"I'll take that as a 'no' for a threesome. You grab your shit and scram, and you get your cute little butt in here. We're gonna have to make this quick."

The dark girl let out a series of extremely colourful phrases, picked a set of clothes off the floor and quickly slid them on before leaving the room. The blonde raised an eyebrow at Eris.

"What, you want me to strip you?"

Somehow, Eris found her voice. It was still weak and pathetic, but at least she could form a few words.

"Uhh- err... no! No, I'm not- I'm..."

"You're not here for a fuck?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. "I mean, I usually take alchemy commissions at my shop, but I won't say no to a potential customer." She clapped her hands together. "Alright cutie, whaddya' looking for?"

"I- I'm... roommate?"

The blonde's eyes went wide. "Oh fuck, that's today? Shit, my bad."

"Err..."

"I should probably introduce myself." She gave an exaggerated, low bow that made her mane of bed-head (or desk-head, rather) tumble forward and graze the floor. When that happened, Eris could look down the girl's freckled back and see the swells of her bare ass before she stood back up with a smile.

"Bailey Jade Geriege, eldest daughter of King Raymond the Sixth, rightful heiress to the Geriege throne, and ninth-level Alchemist- at your service and at my cervix."

Eris stiffened. "I'm, uhh..."

"Wait! Don't tell me!" Bailey held out a hand to stop Eris and thought heavily. "Fuck, they told me last week! What was it? E... something? Emily- no, Elizabe- no that's not it. It was uhh... Evangeline!"

"Eris..."

"Close enough. Welcome to the room!"

Chapter 13: CDF (18+)

Eris had wasted no time in dropping off her bag after Bailey introduced herself. Eris was already planning on leaving the room as fast as possible. That plan was accelerated when Eris asked who the girl was that had been sleeping in the bed, and Bailey responded by saying she didn't know. That girl had walked in the night prior, the two had... done business, and then went to sleep all without Bailey learning what her name even was. The plan to leave reached its conclusion when instead of a welcoming handshake Bailey opted for a hug.

A naked hug, with what was almost certainly dried cum still on her face and torso.

Eris had probably never walked so fast in her life, all the way back out to the central area between the dorms before sitting on a bench.

"So... care to inform us about the great mystery?"

Eris turned around to see Jaxie and Alex both approaching. Eris was quiet while they sat on the bench beside her before eventually finding her voice.

"It's uhh... my roommate. She's..." Eris paused. "Gah, how do I put this?"

"Would you just fuckin' spit it out already?"

Eris turned her gaze to the floor. "Do you, umm... you know King Raymond?"

Both girls raised their eyebrows. "It'd be hard not to," Alex said.

The redhead wrung her hands together. "Well, do you remember that whole debacle three years ago when the eldest daughter went behind his back and signed up for the Syndicate?"

Alex's eyes went wide. Jaxie chuckled. "No fuckin' way..."

Eris nodded. "And do you also remember all that controversy since the princess was um... you know... sleeping around?"

"Your roommate," Alex began, "is Bailey Geriege?"

"The Sovereign Slut?" Jaxie was laughing with every word. "Queen Queef? The Pussy Princess? That's your roommate?"

Eris was turning a deeper and deeper shade of red. "She uhh... is quite the free spirit."

"I need all the details, right now."

Eris and Alex were both blushing. Eventually, the Artificer managed.

"There was another person in the room. Not... doing anything, just- they were sleeping, and then that person left."

Silence. Jaxie gave a sigh. "I love you, but you are awful at serving tea. Did you or did you not see the Princess's crowned cooch?"

Several moments passed of awkward, anxious quiet. "... Yeah?"

"Ah, that's my girl!" Jaxie wrapped an arm over Eris's shoulders and pulled her in close. "You'll be sleeping your way into the royal family tree in no time."

Eris groaned. Alex turned away. Jaxie laughed.

"Something tells me it'll be real easy to get a Desire gathering partner out of her. Speaking of which..." She checked her pocketwatch. "Hmm, not quite. Maybe half an hour. Anything the three of us can do to kill some time before going somewhere private?"

Alex spoke up extremely quickly. That led to the three of us leaving the dorm neighbourhood and going to the Hazard Training Room, or as it was referred to by the students, the Gym. Even though Eris wasn't a combat class and would thus have a distant relationship with the building, she couldn't help but admire its glory.

There were testing dummies ranging from wooden posts to three-foot-wide metal beams, to moving holoarcanic targets in an indoor arena. They were spread through four distinct sections- melee combatants, ranged combatants, spellcasters, and supporters. Each of them had a myriad of different options to help condition an aspiring warrior to the harshest of battles.

There were even injury simulations, where people could subject themselves to almost any kind of effect at varying levels. Stabbed in the gut? Caught in a flame blast? Struck by lightning? All one would need to do is stand in the chamber and press a button. If Eris wasn't so offset by the premise of willingly getting impaled, she would have been interested to see how it was put together. She immediately felt bad for the people that volunteered to be test dummies for healing abilities. They've probably spilled more blood in those injury simulators than most Syndicate members do on a battlefield.

The trio weren't allowed onto the second or third floor of the training facility, but that was for fairly obvious reasons. Floor two was only allowed for people that were level four and five, and floor three was only for levels six and up. Level increases came with significant power boosts, and judging by the near-constant sounds of explosions coming from above them, Eris could only assume that a high-level student was in the process of early-morning training. Either that or they were standing in an injury simulation chamber with the 'lightning' button taped down. Who knew? Maybe it was both. High levels were no joke.

After that was when Eris really started to pay attention. That was because the trio walked over to the eight-story Crafting and Development Facility. There were no small number of people already walking in and out, but thankfully there was a stand outside just like in the dorm neighbourhood. The sign on this one read "INFORMATION AND ADMITTANCE".

"Hi, I'm Amy- Second year Leatherworker. Are you looking for general information or are you crafters looking for an open workshop?" Her face bore a friendly smile and her lightly browned hair was cut short like Eris's. Alex shook her head.

"Not us, just her."

Jaxie nudged Eris forward a little bit. The redhead shrugged. "Both? Information and a workshop."

"Oh yeah, I can do that no problem! Wanna start with the rundown of the building, and then we can get you sorted with your shop?"

"Sounds good."

"Alright! So- this is the Crafting and Development Facility, or the CDF for short. A lot of people also call it the Hub. The CDF of each Sector is kinda the beating heart of the whole thing. Every crafter has a designated workshop, and they use that to work on their progression. Most also use their workshop as their own store where they can sell the products they create and form a bit of a business at the same time. Because of that, the CDF is pretty much the primary shopping mall of each Sector. If you need anything, you can buy it here. If you can't, you can sure as heck get it commissioned."

"Now, you can also come here to get unknown gear and materials from the Obelisk Inspected, but most charge a very small fee. If you've got materials to sell, there's always a crafter here ready to buy. Just ask around a bit, or go to the market board if it's something real special you're looking to get some moons for. As for the building itself-"

She turned around and looked up at the towering monstrosity of a white-brick facility.

"There are eight floors, each one operating for one of the specializations. From the ground floor up, we've got Artisans, Culinarians, Metalsmiths, Alchemists, Stonecutters, Leatherworkers, Woodworkers, and then the Weavers on the top. Fifty shops for each floor, except for the Artisans. They're less common, and their shops require more space anyway 'cause they've gotta fit so many more tools. There's twenty-six shops for them."

Amy pondered. "Let's see... what else? There's two elevators for everyday use, along with an industrial lift in the center for excessively large creations or shipments. There's bay doors in the back of the building for those same things, and each of the shops has a rolling shutter that can be lowered and raised as you wish. The front counters of the shops can also be lowered into the floor to allow for those large projects or shipments to come in and out easily."

"Now, there are free materials always available to any crafters, located underneath the CDF. It's mostly scraps and a bunch of stuff that's been thrown away, but there's shipments of some basic materials with some ingredients for Culinarians and reagents for Alchemists. We all kinda just call it the Dump. It's a first-come first-serve sorta deal. If you find it and you want it, it's all yours."

She bit her lip and rested her hands on her hips. "Uhh, there's washrooms on each floor and each shop comes stocked with all the basic equipment you'll need. Then there's the marketboard I mentioned earlier where you can see special sale listings, then... actually I think that's pretty much it. You three get all that?"

The trio looked at each other, shrugged, turned back to Amy and then nodded. "Sweet. Onto getting you your shop. What's your class?"

"Artisan."

Amy ruffled through a few papers. "Artisan, let's see... shops number three, seven, eight, and twenty-one are open. I'll sign you down for number three. Can I get your name?"

Eris gave it to her. Amy wrote some things down, had Eris sign a few papers, then passed her a key. Unlike her dorm room key, Eris got the feeling that this one would be useful.

The Artificer was in awe as the trio walked through the entrance, and even more so when stepping into the shop itself. Concrete floors, white brick walls, and a handful of electroarcanic light fixtures in the ceiling that lit up when Eris pressed her hand against a rune carved into the wall. The room was quite packed. There were tables, workbenches, a wood stove, cabinets, cupboards, an open forge, anvil, a loom, a tanning rack, and more. Tools were laid out neatly on the tables along with multiple sets of dishes, cutlery and utensils.

To be truthful, it was less than Eris had made to outfit the distillery back home. To what was here, she already knew that she'd be making modifications before long. Small additions, here and there- just to better suit Eris's style. Making things here exactly like they were back at the distillery. Still, it was a feeling that made Eris's heart flutter. This space was hers. Her tools. Her workshop. Her door that Jaxie closed and locked.

Wait, what?

Eris blinked back to reality as Jaxie grinned. "I think this is private enough. Should we test out the skill upgrade now?"

Eris's face went as red as her hair. Alex wasn't too far behind- she coughed and turned. "Maybe I should go..."

"Hold on just a second, Ally," Jaxie turned to Eris. "I've been thinking about something else we might need to test."

"Should I be worried?" Eris asked, worriedly. Jaxie rolled her eyes with a smile.

"Can you read off Desire's Reap? The full skill, word for word."

Eris paused.

"Desire's Reap, Passive, Level Two. Engage in sexual acts with others to collect Desire. Desire is collected in the following ways; Kissing and Groping. Additional Desire is collected based on the arousal of the active participant(s). Current Desire: 0."

Jaxie nodded along. "Active participants, as in plural?"

"Well, there's brackets around the 's'..."

"So yes." Jaxie smiled. "That's what we need to test."

"Err... what exactly?" Alex asked. The way Jaxie turned to face the Knight was almost predatory.

"Plural implies multiple members. I think we should see if having more people in play gives more points."

Both Eris and Alex looked at each other with wide eyes, back at Jaxie, then gulped simultaneously. The Berserker shrugged.

"I think it's worth a test, at least. You know, since the fate of the war against the Hollow is resting on Eris's ability to get as strong as possible."

"We get it." Eris squeaked.

"Something she does by embracing the power of sex."

"I said we get it!"

The ensuing silence was so awkward and thick that Eris felt like she could jump off the floor and start swimming. Then the real kicker happened. Alex nodded.

"Sure? We can test... if you don't mind."

Jaxie raised an eyebrow with a grin. "Alright then. Let's earn some Desire."

A minute later, Eris's blush had deepened so much she was worried her head would explode. That was because she was sitting on Jaxie's lap, who was in turn sitting in a chair. Alex was standing behind Jaxie, in position for her end of this 'transaction'. Jaxie spoke with a smirk.

"So here's the deal. You two make out over my shoulder-"

"While you two... fondle each other." Alex said quietly.

"Any objections?" Jaxie asked. Eris just flicked eyes between Jaxie's confidence and Alex's... non-confidence.

"No? Alright."

Even though Eris was expecting it, it still made her jump when Jaxie's hands landed on her waist. They only lingered for a moment before sliding downward over the swells of her ass and cupping the skin through Eris's pants. Jaxie also leaned forward to kiss into the base of Eris's neck. The shorter girl shuddered in response. All she could do was hold her hands on Jaxie's shoulders while her bottom was earnestly squeezed. After several moments, Jaxie stopped kissing Eris's neck for a moment to give a chuckle.

"You can start anytime..."

Alex looked nervous as she tentatively bent over to lower her face to Eris's level and brought them closer. The Knight's brown eyes were uncertain. There was something else there, though. Was that... excitement?

Eris didn't have time to ponder that, since Alex made connection. The redhead's heart leapt into her throat. Alex's lips were soft and gentle and the sensation instantly took Eris back to two days ago. Her brain was screaming.

No! You love Jaxie! You shouldn't be with anyone else. Don't cheat on her with your best friend. Don't be some... some slut! You're a good person!

But, why shouldn't you have some fun? Jaxie's obviously okay with it. She's even being your wingwoman!

It doesn't matter. You need to be faithful to your girlfriend. Even if she says she's okay with it, it's not right.

Screw what's right. She's enjoying it. You're enjoying it. Go nuts.

Amidst the war in her head, Eris still found her hands sliding off of Jaxie's shoulders and moving to cup titflesh through the Berserker's tank top. The kissing on her neck grew bolder, and so did the kiss with Alex. Eris shivered. Jaxie's chest was so soft and plush- like two perfect fleshy pillows. She couldn't help herself from kneading away. Meanwhile, Jaxie did the exact same with her ass.

It was as awful as it was perfect. Eris didn't want to fight off Alex's hand that gently held the back of her head to pull her in. She definitely didn't want to fight Jaxie's fingers that became more energetic. In fact, Eris was distinctly reminded of two days ago, when Alex had moaned after their makeout session got a little too heated. This time, when Eris shuddered and let a little wheeze into Alex's mouth while one of Jaxie's hand wrapped back to the front of Eris's hips, there was only a smidge of hesitation. Eris didn't need to open her eyes to know that Alex was blushing. She could feel the heat coming from her face.

Regardless, Alex didn't seem to let the hesitation stop her. She didn't pull away when Jaxie started rubbing Eris's pussy through her pants. She didn't pull away when Eris instinctively sucked on Alex's lip during the pleasure. She didn't pull away when Jaxie started kissing up the length of Eris's neck and over her chin.

Eris didn't realize quite when it happened- what with the lips against hers and the gentle hand cupping her sex as well as her ass. She was distracted and Alex definitely was too. However, Eris did know when she first figured out that it happened. That was because Alex figured it out at the same time.

Both of their eyes opened in surprise when it came to their attention that theirs weren't the only tongues and lips in play. Somehow, Jaxie managed to sneak her way upwards while the pair unconsciously went down to allow it. Now, Jaxie was smiling with a wink while peppering kisses at the edges of both girl's mouths. Alex paused for many moments and Eris got worried.

Was this too much? It already had been, hadn't it? Making out with Alex while Jaxie shamelessly groped her was way too far. Now having Jaxie join into that kiss as a third party would send everything tumbling over the edge.

That was, until Alex flushed with a new shade of red, closed her eyes again, then returned to her previous movements.

Eris was shivering despite the building heat. Alex was doing the same, and she wasn't even the one with Jaxie's hand between her legs. All Eris could do was gleefully squeeze at Jaxie's chest, grind on her lap and fingers, and sink into the kiss. Everything tingled in just the right ways. That tingling only grew when the kiss shifted slightly.

It was really awkward for three people to make out at the same time- the angles didn't quite work. That usually meant two sides of the triangle were more involved and the third side was left to watch. Eris felt a heat in her chest when she eventually saw that her side of the triangle was the one delegated to spectating. The lips and tongue she had been pressing into turned to cheeks. Then, her eyes opened to see that Jaxie's head was twisted over her shoulder, facing upwards while Alex kissed down into her.

Thankfully, there was always some attention on everyone. With Jaxie and Eris's hands providing stimulation to each other at all times, there was an unspoken agreement. Alex was never the awkward third side of the triangle. Instead, the Knight's head was twisting back and forth a few degrees every few seconds as she traded lips between Eris and Jaxie.

Eris was panting. As much as the kissing was getting her hot and bothered, Jaxie's right hand had long since undid the button on the front of Eris's pants and shimmied their way inside. She wasn't sure if Alex knew exactly how far the fondling was going, but the reactions of Eris coming apart were probably pretty clear in the kissing. All Eris needed was Jaxie's light petting of her outer folds and the Berserker's other hand switching between her ass and her chest- the situation itself was more than doing the rest of the work. She was already on the edge while Jaxie idly massaged her sex and made out with Alex. Jaxie knew it- there was no doubt about that. The way she was smiling into Alex's mouth said everything.

That way, it was no surprise when Alex switched back over to kiss Eris, and that was when Jaxie rolled Eris's nipple through her shirt while finally sliding a finger inside her folds. Obviously, that sent her right over the edge.

Eris came. Hard. Groaning and shuddering into Alex's mouth while squeezing Jaxie's chest like a lifeline and grinding into her hand. Alex moaned too, and the two girls desperately tried to silence each other with their lips. Jaxie fingered Eris throughout her climax and pressed loving kisses into the necks of both girls. It kept rebounding through Eris, pulled onwards simultaneously by the administrations of Jaxie and the depravity of having it happen while making out with her best friend.

It was a long while before Eris finally let her head drop until her face was pressed into Jaxie's shoulder. She may have been the one to cum, but all three girls were panting. Jaxie's left hand had moved to gently rub Eris's back in a loving manner. Her right hand, though, was still in her pants.

Eris whimpered when Jaxie removed her digit. The tall girl shushed her and planted a few kisses to the top of her head before pulling her into a firm hug. "It's okay. You did great."

Eris tried not to make it too apparent that she was gently sobbing into Jaxie's shoulder.

Chapter 14: Another Upgrade

Thankfully, neither of the two other girls seemed particularly interested in bringing attention to the tears that Eris wiped away with a hand. She sniffled once, twice, cleared her throat, then let out a breath as she looked inwards. Her eyes went wide.

"T... thirty points."

Both Jaxie and Alex recoiled. "Wow," Jaxie said. "That's more than I expected."

"How much of it do you think was... you know?" Alex asked hesitantly with a red face. Eris coughed and stood from Jaxie's lap while quickly buttoning her pants.

"Well, the regular kissing seemed to cap out at around seven points. If we apply that for both of you, then that's fourteen. The other sixteen would then be all the... extra stuff."

"Don't forget that you get more Desire based on arousal. I'm turned on- are you turned on?" She looked towards Alex who blushed and stammered. It seemed as though the Knight had been caught attempting to adjust her pants. She gave a meek nod and turned away quickly.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'. I'm turned on, Alex is turned on, and you came. That's gotta give some points. So that sixteen is accounting for how much the fondling would have given, all that extra arousal, and then any further bonuses for having both of us at the same time."

A moment of silence followed. Jaxie ended it with a grin. "So, wanna see if you can upgrade the skill again? See what comes after fondling?"

Eris looked down. "Levelling up becomes slower and slower as a person becomes stronger. I'm willing to bet that my skills would act the same way. There's no chance that it doesn't increase the amount of points needed with each level of the skill."

"Well, we can still check."

"Yeah," Alex said. "Put a few points into it and take a guess to see how many it would take to level. Then figure out whether you want to put the rest of your points into it or something else. If your other skills only need twenty-five points to get to second level, then you could still level something up even after testing."

Eris shrugged, then pulled up her stat window. She let five points leak into Desire's Reap. It felt like a few drops in the cup. She shook her head.

"Nah. It's gonna take a lot more points to level it up again."

"How much do you think?" Alex asked.

"I dunno. Best guess? At least a hundred and fifty, and that's the low end. Might be closer to two hundred or maybe even two-fifty."

"Eh," Jaxie cocked her head. "Thirty points a session, two sessions a day. Add in the princess and we could probably smash that out in just a few days. Really double down on your gathering skill first so that levelling up everything else is easy."

Eris blushed about the comment of her roommate, then shook her head.

"As effective as that might be, I'm still going to be making equipment that people are relying on to survive. Especially yours. Crippling my strength right now to blitz through progression later is gonna put you two in danger with lackluster equipment."

Jaxie grinned. "Aww, c'mon! We'll be fine. You said yourself- you're about as strong as a normal Artisan right now. You'd be making the same power of stuff if you weren't an Artificer."

"Still. I am one, and it's up to me to make you two the best equipment I possibly can. I won't back away from that. At least let me level up Novice Artificer. Aside from Crafting Points and Resilience, it's my only other upgradable skill right now. Those other two only amount to Durability at the moment, but Novice Artificer is Quality which is a lot more important. Let me level up that one, and then I'll go back to Desire's Reap."

Silence. Then Jaxie shrugged. "Fair enough."

Eris let out a breath. She willed her intent and the points she had gathered into Novice Artificer. Thankfully, it seemed that like Desire's Reap, bringing it from first level to second required twenty-five points. A flush of warmth surged through her body and goosebumps rippled along her skin. Her fingertips felt hot. All of it only lasted a moment before everything returned to normal. Eris refocused her gaze to her stat window to see the change.

Novice Artificer {Passive} {Level 2}

You have a natural talent for crafting. Any product you craft gains a {50%} bonus to its Quality, applied after all other bonuses.

Her eyes widened. "Wow. Went from a twenty-five percent bonus to fifty percent."

"I'm guessing that's a lot?" Alex asked. Eris nodded quickly.

"Yeah, it is. Quality is pretty much the most important stat for the crafting of any item, since it's a bonus that's applied to every part of an item's stats- including Durability which I'm already increasing. A fifty percent bonus to Quality is pretty much on par with the specialists- like a full Metalsmith or Weaver. At least for first level."

"And your bonus is multiplicative since it's applied afterwards, unlike others," Jaxie added. That made Eris blink.

"Right, yeah. A fifty percent bonus that applies to every other bonus already on the item... wow. Crazy."

"Cool. That takes care of that. Wanna go check out the Obelisk?" Jaxie asked. Eris tried to deal with the whiplash of a sudden conversation change.

"Oh, uhh... sure? Alex?"

The Knight still looked quite uncomfortable. Jaxie chuckled.

"If you need a moment to go take care of yourself, go right ahead. We'll wait for you."

Alex blushed, hard. That didn't stop her from giving a quick nod and promptly leaving the shop with fast steps. When it was just Jaxie and Eris, the Berserker sighed, stood from her chair, and walked over to Eris. She didn't fight when Jaxie pulled her into a tight hug.

"Are you okay? I didn't go too far, did I?"

Eris buried her face into Jaxie's chest. "No. It's just... It feels yucky."

"Oh come on, I've seen the way you look at Alex. You both want it."

"That's the yucky part! I shouldn't want it. I want you, forever."

"This again?" Jaxie laughed and rubbed her hands over Eris's back lovingly. "Sweetie, there's absolutely nothing wrong with liking multiple people. So what if other people like to call it bad? That's not up to them to decide. If you enjoy it, and everyone who's affected by it enjoys it, then what's the harm? It also helps to make you stronger with your class, so all the better."

"Still..." Eris tried, but her voice wasn't working. Instead, she pulled from Jaxie's chest to look up at her face. Jaxie smiled with an exasperated expression, gave a wide roll of her eyes, then lowered until their lips met. Since they had been focusing on making sure Alex was never the odd one out during the Desire session, Eris was made aware that this was the first real time they kissed so far today. She all but melted into Jaxie and found herself rising up onto her tippy-toes to try and keep the kiss connected when Jaxie raised her head again. Sadly, Eris simply didn't have the height. Jaxie's blue eyes twinkled.

"What if I admitted that I think it's better to share?"

"Huh?"

"I think..." Her hands lowered to rest on Eris's waist, "... that it's really, really sweet how you want to stay faithful. However, I don't want you to stay faithful. Not like that. Not by making me the only one."

Another kiss silenced Eris before she could protest. It left her flustered when Jaxie pulled away again.

"I want you to stay faithful by being with whoever you want, whenever you want. Then, when all of that's said and done, I'll know that you love me when I'm the one that you come back to in the end."

"But it's still cheating..."

"Oh, for the love of-" Jaxie sighed through a smile. "Darling, get that filthy word out of your mouth. 'Cheating' is subjective. Some couples think that sleeping with other people is cheating. Some think that it's kissing. Some even draw the line at flirting. Me? You could fuck your way through the entirety of Marrix and I wouldn't bat a godsdamned eye."

Eris was quiet. Jaxie planted a kiss on her nose. "I'll tell you what- let's give it a good, solid test. During our Desire gathering session tonight, let's invite Alex. Then, we won't have any dumb rules or setup like just now. We'll have a proper threesome where the three of us fuck each other. That way, it'll be like a stress test. We'll see how okay you are about me with other women, and you'll see firsthand that I'm okay with you sleeping around, too. If you still feel weird about it afterwards, then we never have to do it again. We'll keep our relationship with just you and me, okay?"

Eris had a blush on her cheeks, but she still managed to squeak. "But... what about Alex? What if she says no?"

Jaxie cocked an eyebrow. "She's jerking off to the thought of kissing you while I made you cum, and you're worried she won't be down for a threesome? Darling- you're the smartest person I know but you're still pretty stupid sometimes."

It was hard to take the thought out of Eris's head. It was too exhilarating to ignore. Her, Jaxie and Alex. Nude, kissing, and groping each other. The three of them, locked in the throes of pleasure. Jaxie making out with Eris and feeling her up while Alex was positioned in between her legs...

Eris had to shake her head and try not to rub her thighs together as the trio walked. At least it became easier to think about something else when the trio approached the center of Marrix.

The ground opened up in a hexagonal pit hundreds of feet on each side. It dipped down into the earth about as deep as the CDF was tall, with long staircases on each side of the hexagon and dozens of elevators- both personal and industrial-sized. At the bottom, there were hundreds of people bustling around and going about their business at the nexus point of the entire campus. The only buildings were a few emergency medical clinics amidst dozens of pavillions and benches scattered among brick walkways and patches of well-trimmed grass. It was like a miniature park, but that wasn't the reason for all the people. They were there for the Obelisk.

Though the manmade-crater in the ground that it emerged from was over a hundred and fifty feet deep, the colossal, five-sided pillar of stone reached at least three times that amount above the trio's heads. It was the same shade and texture of polished obsidian glass, with a base probably close to sixty feet in diameter. It tapered slightly as it extended upwards before it ultimately ended with a blunted tip. Even from the edge of the crater, Eris could see that the Obelisk was damaged- massive cracks started about a third of the way up the pillar and branched off to show that the artifact was in three massive pieces but somehow held together.

About thirty feet away, Eris noticed that some kind of tour group had stopped at the edge of the stairs and an older, middle-aged man with glasses and a tweed jacket seemed to be giving an explanation. Eris motioned for Jaxie and Alex to follow as she moved right up into the crowd to hear what the man had to say.

"The Obelisk is our fastest, but also the most dangerous way of progressing your strength and earning moons. We still don't understand the full scope of the Obelisk, despite having been studying it for hundreds of years. By our best guess, it was made by Artificers under the employ of the Gereige empire in the old world as a way to provide a near-unlimited supply of resources. This was done by a spatial distortion that seems to manifest matter into any number of various forms, via environments, creatures, or otherwise, all of which could be harvested and removed from the Obelisk back into the world. Considering the complete lack of any reports at all about it, we have come to the conclusion that it was done so in secret by the empire, specifically to avoid letting any other countries know of its existence."

"We believe the Obelisk used to have a myriad of other features available as well, but sadly all we can do is speculate about what those may be. That is, of course, due to the damage that you can see. When we discovered the Obelisk shortly after the Hollow began, it was already broken into three pieces and barely functional. We provided as much repairs as we could, which brought it into the current state. Now, users can enter the Obelisk and it will send them to a random, highly hostile environment filled with monsters, traps, and even puzzles that must be solved to avoid dire consequences."

Eris didn't even realise that she found herself interlocking fingers with Jaxie until the Berserker started rubbing her thumb on the back of Eris's hand. Meanwhile, the man finished his speech.

"Through testing and time, it was surmised that the Obelisk shapes the encounters and environments it creates based on the users that enter, with the intention of creating a difficult but possible experience. For example, a group of people who are all level one will face a much easier set of encounters than a group of level fives, but the respective difficulties would be almost identical, comparatively speaking. Because the encounters inside are very much real and serve as phenomenal combat experience against a variety of potential threats, the Obelisk is by far the most effective way to further progression."

"Why couldn't the Syndicate provide better repairs to the Obelisk if it's so dangerous to use in the current state?"

A guy in the back of the group raised his hand as he spoke. The man turned his gaze over to him.

"The simple answer? Because just like I said earlier, we simply do not understand it. Every piece of information we have about the Obelisk is produced entirely through speculation and testing. Unfortunately, that is a similarity shown through many of the artifacts of the old world and is the primary reason why we believe it was made by Artificers at all. If you may all humour me for a moment, I would like you to Inspect the Obelisk."

Eris raised an eyebrow, as did most of the other people in the tour group. Even so, she focused her eyes on the Obelisk as the man started speaking.

"Now, you'll all notice that you can't. No information of any kind appears. Even more curiously, it doesn't react like an unknown material would. Aside from crafters, when you Inspect something with a purpose you don't know, the information window is lackluster and provides no real knowledge. However, that item still provides a window. The Obelisk, and many other artifacts created by the old Artificers do not. They provide no information of any kind to anyone, which makes determining their purpose and functions difficult."

"In regards to repairs, imagine this- Imagine that the Obelisk is one massive, complex machine with thousands of parts, and you found it broken on the side of the street. You know that it's broken, but you're wearing a blindfold and you have no context for what it's even supposed to be. You don't know what purpose a 'repaired' version of the machine is used for, nor what steps would need to be taken to get to that repaired state. However, there are parts of that machine that are still moving and seem to be working. In that situation, the best anyone can do is the most obvious of 'fixes' or else they risk causing more damage. Now, does anyone else have any questions? Please don't shout them out."

Many raised their hands. Eris would have too, if she had been paying any attention at all to the entire last part of that conversation. Her focus was directed inwards, to the window that appeared in her mind when she Inspected the Obelisk.

Abstract of Eternity

Durability: 17%

A monolith that serves as a gateway to distant realms. Created by Balzonest Exxinter, Ymetri Faraday, Nasha Ignes, Phrom Ladana, Rallan Oje, Ihxal Wb'bami and Vojemala Ywer. Made from white marble, the souls of the creators, and a concoction of Zhuul Somnere.

Additional effect: Collusion

Unauthorized individuals may not use the Abstract of Eternity.

Additional effect: Convergence

Authorized individuals may forcibly transport targets through realm connections.

Additional effect: Confinement

Delegated prison realms are one-way only.

Eris must have had a blank expression on her face, since Jaxie lightly squeezed her hand to bring the girl back to reality. "You okay? What's wrong?" Eris stared back at her with wide eyes, then at the people around them. They weren't paying attention, but Eris wasn't going to take any chances.

"I umm... I think the three of us should go back to my dorm."

"Why?" Alex asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Because I need to talk to you in private. Urgently. About... your preparations to go into the Ab- the Obelisk."

Eris flicked her eyes to the people around them, trying to convey that this wasn't a conversation that could be had in public. Thankfully, Alex and Jaxie's faces seemed to indicate that they got the very obvious memo. Jaxie accepted Eris's tight grip on her hand and nodded.

"Sure. Let's go talk."

Chapter 15: Orientation

Eris didn't 'put away' the information window of the Obelisk immediately. She kept it hovering in her mind while they quickly walked back to the workshop. It was definitely distracting- almost like trying to walk with a book taped to her face- but Eris didn't have a choice. She didn't want to forget it before having a chance to write it all down. Granted, there was nothing stopping her from grabbing something to write with, going back to Inspect the Obelisk again, and then having the talk with the two other girls, but this was quicker.

"So why your dorm and not the workshop? Are you gonna introduce us to your new roommate?" Jaxie waggled her eyebrows, obviously trying to lighten the tense mood that had fallen over the trio from Eris's expression. As sweet a gesture as it was, Eris didn't need that right now. She shook her head.

"I need to write something down and my notebooks are in my bag. My bag is in the dorm room. And no, she would have left for her shop already."

"Oh," Jaxie swallowed at the sternness in Eris's voice. "Okay we're in serious mode. Got it."

Jaxie and Alex did give a questioning look to each other. Eris ignored it. Thankfully, they didn't try to ask any questions while they were walking in a public area. Eris wouldn't have answered anyway- not until they were somewhere she knew was private. It didn't take long for the trio to scramble up the stairs to the sixth floor of dorm number seventeen- Eris wasn't waiting for the elevator. She walked quickly down the hall and only paused for a moment outside of the final room. The door was closed (as much as it could be without a latch holding it in place) and there was a crooked wooden sign hanging from the front.

Nobody's home! Come back later! with a heart beside it. Jaxie looked at it, then looked down at the missing fixtures, gave an experimental push on the door with one finger and watched it swing open.

"I understand letting anyone into your room for sex, but completely taking off the lock and doorknob? Does she even know the word 'privacy'?"

"I doubt it." Eris walked inside. Thankfully, there was nobody naked this time and Eris was able to reach into her bag and retrieve the notebook almost full of diagrams and details. She flipped to a clean page and scrawled a pencil across it in record speed. Jaxie and Alex stood there awkwardly. Eventually, Alex tried to break the silence.

"So, we're not talking here?"

Eris didn't need to look up. Both Jaxie and Alex took a quick glance at the door that couldn't lock or even fully close before Alex nodded. "Ah. Right. Can you at least give us a bit of context?"

"I have a... an information window pulled up in my mind from something, and I'm writing it all down before I close it and forget anything. Then, we are going to talk more at my new workshop that has more privacy than here. First, this is gonna take a minute."

Both girls nodded and started looking idly around the room. Jaxie slowly walked around the space, taking in all the details. One of those was the far closet that had been slightly ajar. She pried open the door with her foot and glanced inside.

"Wow. That is quite the collection of toys."

Eris tried not to pay attention, but a blush still rose on her face. Alex was the one who spoke. "What kind of- wait, nope. Nevermind. I don't wanna know."

When Eris was done writing, the girls left the room and 'closed' the door. To help assuage the concerns that were most certainly rising in her companions, Eris gave them the notebook so they could read it as they walked quickly to the workshop. By the time they got inside and Eris locked the door behind them, Alex's eyes were wide.

"This... you managed to Inspect the Obelisk?"

"Yep."

"And this is what it said?"

"Every word." Eris sat down on one of the stools. Jaxie glanced over Alex's shoulder at the words in the notebook.

"Alright, well there's a few obvious questions right off the bat. Who are these people that created it? Do either of you recognize any of these names from your obsessions with books?"

Eris and Alex looked at each other for a moment before ultimately shaking their heads.

"Alright, I'm also going to assume that means neither of you have any idea how the fuck to pronounce any of those names." She squinted at the paper and tried slowly pronouncing one of the names. "I mean, 'Voh-jee-maluh... Yuhwur' or something? The fuck?"

A second head shake. Jaxie sighed. "How about the fact it says it's made from white marble despite the Obelisk being solid black? Or that it's made from the souls of those people. Anything?"

Another head shake.

"Great. Now this... Zhuul Somnere? Any ideas as to what the fuck that is?"

This time, Eris shrugged. "I'm like ninety percent sure it's Ra'lan, at least. I think 'Somnere' means 'sleep'."

"Cool, so it's made from a concoction called 'Something Sleep'. Time for the juicy stuff."

"A gateway to distant realms..." Alex echoed the words of the notebook aloud. "I mean, we already know it sends people somewhere, but what does that mean?"

"Who knows?" Eris said. "It could mean other continents, but they're taken over by the Hollow so I don't think that's likely. There's always been speculation about the Obelisk- I've read that much. Some say that it shrinks people down and pulls them inside the pillar, some say that it teleports you to other planets and solar systems. Some even theorize that it connects to different versions of reality, like different dimensions and stuff."

"Well it says 'distant', so my money's on other planets. Those things are pretty fuckin' far away." Jaxie clicked her tongue. "Okay, next thing. Unauthorized individuals can't use it? Does that mean everyone is authorized, since anyone can get 'bamphed' somewhere by touching it?"

Eris shrugged. "I think it's more likely that the Obelisk is so damaged that the enchantments aren't working right. If everyone was authorized to use it, why make an enchantment like that in the first place? Furthermore, why am I the only person that can Inspect it?"

"Good point. So, the uber-powerful-teleporting-and-maybe-inter-dimensional-rock isn't just broken, it's broken. Got it."

"Authorized individuals may forcibly transport targets through realm connections and Delegated prison realms are one-way only." Alex furrowed her brow. "The Obelisk was, at least in part, meant to serve as a prison that the authorized people could force others into. That much is obvious."

"I'm gonna take a wild guess and assume that the 'authorized individuals' being mentioned were Artificers. How else could Eris Inspect it?" Jaxie asked. Eris wrung her hands.

"Maybe. Or it could be Echoes in general. There's no telling."

"Hmm..." Alex read over the notes again. "If you are an authorized individual, then supposedly you can force people into these other realms. Of course, there's nothing saying how you do that, or even if that ability would work properly since the first enchantment is obviously messing up from the damage. I'm mostly worried about that last part."

For once, it seemed like Eris was the one who failed to put the pieces together before the two combatants. Jaxie nodded.

"If the Obelisk is all screwed up and the enchantments aren't working properly, then that means the one-way connections to the prison realms might not be so one-way anymore."

A moment of silence. Eris chirped up. "The only thing that's ever come out of the Obelisk are the people that go in and what they carry back out. Even if they aren't going to the prison realms, it doesn't seem like the monsters inside are able to use the Obelisk on their end and come to us. I would think that means whatever may be locked in the prison realms is staying that way."

"I hope so," Jaxie said. "If something was so scary that the old world decided to send it to who-the-fuck-knows-where instead of putting it in a normal prison, I'd hate to see what it did if it came back."

The quiet thickened after that lovely note. Eventually, it was Alex that broke it. "Do we tell the Syndicate?"

More silence. This time, Jaxie spoke. "We'd have to tell them about you, Eris. That's the only way you even know this stuff."

Eris wrung her fingers. It was several moments before she let out a long breath.

"Not yet. The Syndicate's been doing fine for four hundred years, it can handle things a bit longer while I get everything in order. We still don't know how dangerous everything might be with me as an Echo. If word got out to the wrong people about me being an Artificer, they might try to do some terrible things." Eris stood.

"I mean, you've heard about the news. It seems like every other week there's some new feud between kingdoms and royal families and stuff. Countries went to war with each other in the old world over the Echoes. Even though the Hollow's destroying the world, I don't see a zero-percent chance that revealing myself as an Echo will cause someone to get power-hungry."

She sighed. "At the very least, I want to become strong enough that people won't be able to take me by force. The three of us have pledged our souls and dedicated the remainder of our lives to fighting the Hollow. I can't do that or help you two do that if someone steals me away- or worse, kills me so that nobody else can get me."

That hung in the air for a while. Eventually, Alex stood up straighter and took a proud step towards Eris. "Whatever happens, know that you'll never have to face anything alone."

Jaxie smiled. "Yeah. If anyone ever wants to do anything to you, they'll have to go through us first."

"Greetings, recruits! I am Variah Konderlacht, the Superintendant of Marrix, and Colonel of the Syndicate Resistance Force. You may refer to me simply as Professor Konderlacht."

The woman standing on the stage and giving the noon orientation was intimidating, but not because of her appearance. She was wearing a well-tailored suit of blue so dark it was bordering on black, with accents of silver peeking through in just a few places. Her hair was probably long enough to extend well down her back, but it was tied up in a simple, efficient bun the colour of cream that contrasted against her darker skin. The people of Garigall retreated to the mainland over two hundred years ago, but their genes were some of the most obvious. To have such rich, dark skin along with hair so pale made them stand out in a crowd. They were clear, walking reminders of the land humanity had lost to the Hollow.

"First and foremost, I would like to speak for the entire Syndicate and offer you our warmest welcome to Marrix. Each of you brave young men and women will consider this your new home for the next four years as you do your part in helping to win this war against the Hollow."

Professor Konderlacht motioned towards her left, where six other people were all standing at attention. They were all wearing similar suits to the woman, however there was no silver in the midnight-blue of their clothes.

"Allow me to introduce you to the individuals you see on stage. These are my Deputies, and are the Deans in charge of the six sectors of Marrix."

One by one, each of the people stepped forward as Professor Konderlacht called their name and rank, before silently sliding back into their previous position.

"Sector Ohn. Your Dean is Almi Resoto, Major of the Syndicate Resistance Force."

"Sector Tol. Your Dean is Desmond Greene, Lieutenant Colonel of the Syndicate Resistance Force."

"Sector Teer. Your Dean is Richard Powell, Captain of the Syndicate Specialist Reserve."

"Sector Fura. Your Dean is Hannah Maidess, Major of the Syndicate Resistance Force."

"Sector Feegh. Your Dean is Warren Peace, Captain of the Syndicate Resistance Force."

"Lasty, Sector Saez. Your Dean is Keiran Kull, Major General of the Syndicate Specialist Reserve."

As Kieran- a surprisingly young man no older than thirty with black hair and very pale skin- stepped back into the line, Professor Konderlacht spoke again.

"All operations and activities regarding each sector of Marrix will be addressed and dealt with by the respective Dean. In fact, most of you will never interact with me in any capacity. Consider each sector of Marrix its own school, and your Deans are the highest authority of each. I am the superintendent of the school board, and the figure to which each of the Deans report to. Much like myself, you will refer to your Deans as Professor Resoto, Professor Greene, Professor Powell, Professor Maidess, Professor Peace and Professor Kull, respectively."

The six-hundred or so first-years of Sector Saez in the room all looked at Professor Kull, who was the only person on the smaller stage in front of them. After all, Professor Konderlacht and all six Deans, including Professor Kull, were merely on a large holoarcanic projection above the stage in the auditorium of Sector Saez. The real Professor Kull was standing off to the side as the recording of the superintendent continued.

"I will not glaze over the truth. Becoming a member of the Syndicate is dangerous. Fighting against the Hollow is an effort of war that can and will cut many lives short. By the time that your four years are complete at this institution, twenty percent of you will most likely be dead. When your training is complete and after you are officially inducted as a member of our military, almost seventy-five percent of you will perish within ten years in defence of our world."

Way to kill the mood. Eris risked a glance beside her at Jaxie. The Berserker's expression was steeled but she did give Eris's hand a gentle squeeze.

"However, that is a sacrifice that each and every one of us makes willingly. By participating in your Gifting, you have shown that you understand and accept the risk that comes with this duty. By claiming power from the waters of the Stream, all of you have bound your souls to this world's defense. It is our duty to take this world back from the Hollow. It is our duty to fight for it. It is our duty to die for it. That is a duty that we, and the next generation, and the one after that will continue to uphold, for however long it takes. Deans, I leave the rest of the orientation to you. Limeen, Bazra, Eris."

The screen went dark. The room was silent for only a moment before Professor Kull stepped forward. His blue eyes seemed to be scanning through the crowd- taking a note of every single person.

"Limeen, Bazra, Eris." He began. His voice was just as intimidating as his military ranking. "That is the motto of the Syndicate. It means 'Light, Strength, Hope.' Our three principals in the war against the Hollow. They are words you should memorize, because it is our code. We are the world's light, we will become the world's strength, and we will give the world hope. However, not a single one of you is ready to step up to that motto."

Eris tried to ignore the fact that two-thirds of her name was shared with the school slogan. Professor Kull continued.

"No matter how strong you think you are, the Hollow is stronger. No matter how capable you may be, our enemy will tear you to pieces at the first opportunity. That is why you are here. You need to become stronger, and not just in terms of your level. You need to become better than yourself in every way if you want to survive against the Hollow. Marrix will teach you how to do that, but it is up to you on whether or not you learn. At Marrix, there is no schedule. We do not assign you to your lessons, nor are you required to attend them. Your attendance to whichever lessons you deem appropriate to your progression is entirely dependant on you. However, we would highly recommend not being a slacker in your training, because your life depends on it."

The holoarcanic projection above the stage switched back on. Eris had already been on the verge of salivating at the thought of the runework required for that sort of magical projection- it was hard for her to focus. Still, she managed to at least try and take in the information being presented. It was a calendar with two dates listed- the twenty-ninth of Esmeroka and the twenty-ninth of Kiaroka. The current date, and exactly thirty days from now.

"In a month's time, all of you will be deployed on your first mission based on a personal review by Syndicate officers. These missions are mandatory, and will be taken by every single person here. If you are not properly trained by the time your mission takes place, and are not ready to fulfil your duties, then you will die during the process. That is why we encourage you to put your studies and progression first."

The projection vanished.

"After you return from the mission, at least, those who trained hard enough to survive, then you will stay at Marrix until you are deployed exactly one month later on your next mission. This process will continue for your entire four years at this institution, and the missions you are sent on will gradually increase in potential danger over time to match your expected advancement. Therefore, if your progression begins to fall behind at any point, it is up to you to take the necessary steps and get yourself back on track. If you don't, your missions will only become more and more difficult until your inevitable death due to negligence of your studies. Do I make myself clear?"

The crowd mumbled a tentative agreement. Professor Kull scoffed. When he opened his mouth, his voice almost seemed to shake the walls of the auditorium. Eris could even feel it through the floor.

"DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"

The entire room managed to speak up in a 'Yes, sir!' that had much less hesitation than the first. Kull smiled.

"Let's get started."

Chapter 16: Preparations

After the orientation, the trio found themselves going their separate ways. Jaxie and Alex went off to get better acquainted with the various facilities for combatant training, and also to learn more about the schedule for various lessons. Eris, on the other hand, went back to her new workshop.

First, it was rearranging everything in the room that wasn't bolted down, and even some of that stuff, too. Thanks to several blocks and tackles and various pulley systems attached to the ceiling, Eris was able to shift the anvil, stove, tables, loom, cabinets, and even the forge. It had been built on a large metal plate with about two dozen eyehooks surrounding the edges, letting it be secured onto the pulleys and moved around the room despite weighing close to two thousand pounds. The only thing that Eris couldn't move right away was the sink because of the plumbing. However, it conveniently happened to be in the exact spot that she would have wanted for her reorganizing anyway. Even if it hadn't been, it wouldn't be much of an issue for long. One look underneath told Eris that everything operated on the same principles as it did back in Kelshiir, and she repaired the plumbing for an abandoned distillery. Extending some pipes to move a sink would be child's play.

She had the rolling shutter open for no particular reason other than simply letting the air flow. Moving around an entire workshop- albeit a small one- was hard work and doing it in a stuffy room certainly wouldn't help. After the first few times that non-crafter people doing their daily shopping came by and asked if she was selling anything yet, Eris fished out the chalkboard provided in the workshop and set up a sign saying that she wasn't open for business or commissions yet. That let her finish organizing the entire room without interruptions in just under two hours.

When the elevator doors opened to reveal the Dump, Eris's heart skipped several beats. It wasn't even a room, really. It was more like an underground square cavern the size of a sports stadium with sixty-foot ceilings, dozens of support pillars, and runic lanterns hanging from the ceiling to cast a surprisingly bright glow over the piles of material scattered on the floor.

It was even better than the trash piles of Kelshiir, which had been one of Eris's favourite spots. All that scrap to work with and pick from was delightful, and this was exactly the same in that feeling of joy. However, the Dump underneath the CDF was already organized in the same way that Eris spent years doing. Plus, it wasn't outside and exposed to the elements.

Eris could see a thirty-foot pile of scrap wood from broken dressers, tables, tool handles, and other things, whereas next to it was an even bigger pile of entirely metal junk. Lots of it was twisted and broken blades or weapons, but Eris could see dented bells, rusted armour, segments of cast-iron fences, and even some cracked rails that probably came right from the tracks of the monorails or even the train that brought her from one side of the continent to the other.

There were piles of porcelain, fabric, clay, leather, and even one of vegetation in varying states of rot. Meanwhile, the front of the room where Eris was standing had about a dozen large shelves lined with bags, sacks and jugs of ingredients that seemed relatively fresh. Nothing special, but at least it seemed to serve as an unlimited supply of potatoes, oats, milk, cheese, and some basic alchemy reagents.

A number of people were walking around collecting whatever they desired, and Eris noted that many of them had small wagons to help with the process. That would become one of her first projects in her long list of things she needed to make to help properly set herself up. For now, she resorted to many, many trips of taking material by hand and bringing it up to her workshop.

The hours ticked away while Eris worked- letting her hands fly free with tools and scraps as she pulled together her crafts with a speed she was still impressed by. When Jaxie and Alex eventually stopped by the shop for dinner, Eris had already made multiple chairs so that they could sit and enjoy several baked potatoes after she closed the shutter. That was after she had crafted a wagon, several new pots, pans, buckets and baskets of varying sizes, a few of the tools she wasn't able to bring from home and weren't provided for her- like an extra-large auriou rasp- and finally a simple bed with leather padding that was tucked into a corner of the room.

"Didn't the forge used to be over there?" Alex mumbled through a bite of potato and pointed with her fork. Eris nodded and swallowed her own mouthful.

"Yeah. I moved everything around a bit. I didn't like the layout it had before."

"It looks like how you had it at the distillery," Jaxie noted. Alex raised an eyebrow.

"Huh?"

"Don't you see it?" Jaxie held up her hands to point in various directions. "Imagine we're in the little lounging area beside the front door. The forge is off to the right, shelves on the left wall, with the big worktable directly across from us. There's even that little kitchen section in the corner and the tables in the center of the room beside the anvil."

"Oh, I see it now."

Eris shrugged. "It's just easier for me this way."

"I once moved the nightstand to clean underneath it and put it back an inch too far to the left by mistake." Jaxie chuckled. "Didn't stop Ell from asking me about it..."

Eris blushed. "I like it when things are consistent, okay? When stuff changes from what I'm used to, I get... itchy."

"Itchy?" Alex asked. Eris nodded.

"Yeah. Like if you have to scratch an itch on your arm, but that itch is in your head. Now you can't reach it and you have to ignore it but that doesn't stop it from being there."

"You could always stick a screwdriver up your nose and wiggle it around a little bit, see if that helps." Jaxie grinned. Eris rolled her eyes with a smile.

"Just eat your damned potatoes."

"Yes, ma'am." Jaxie chuckled into another bite. The room fell quiet for a few moments aside from the sounds of eating. Eventually, Jaxie was the one that broke the silence. Naturally, she did it in her ever-blunt hammer strike of a way.

"Alex, wanna have sex with Eris and I tonight?"

Thankfully, Eris was in between bites. That meant she didn't choke on my potatoes. Alex wasn't so lucky.

When she finally coughed up the spuds from her lungs, her eyes were as wide as plates. "Wh-" cough-"What?!"

Jaxie grinned. "First, no need to be so dramatic- I'm just asking a question."

"But you're... I mean... huh?"

Eris felt bad for Alex. At least she knew that this conversation was going to happen. Jaxie smacked Alex in the face with it. The brunette shrugged.

"All three of us know that Desire's Reap is eventually gonna include sex. If we're gonna stick together for the long run, that's where the three of us are headed, and that's if Eris doesn't get some more weird and wacky Lust skills as she levels up that make us do it even sooner."

Awkward silence. Jaxie continued.

"Why not put everything out on the table? I think you're hot, and I wanna fuck you. Eris thinks you're hot, and she wants to fuck you. I know that you think both of us are hot and you want to fuck us, and we all know that we're gonna end up fucking eventually anyway because of Eris's class. With all that said, why wait for it? If we rip the bandage off sooner instead of later, it means we won't have to tiptoe around the subject anymore."

Alex was looking with a panicked expression between Eris and Jaxie. Eris truly struggled to meet the blonde's eyes.

"Besides," Jaxie said, "it'll help to show Eris that I have no issues with her doing all sorts of lusty things with other people- whether it's for her class or just for fun."

The silence draped over all three of the girl's shoulders like heavy cloaks. Jaxie took a casual bite of her potatoes while the other two continued to blush and managed to finish the bite before anything changed. She cocked an eyebrow between both of them. "So? What's the verdict?"

"Like... really?" Alex asked with pure, raw uncertainty. "T-tonight?"

"Doing it while we're already getting Desire seems like a good time. Unless you want to go for it right now..." she grinned.

Alex squeaked. "Tonight- uh... tonight's fine. Err- so... really? What kind of... sex are you talking about?"

"Unless Eris has any objections-" Jaxie looked over to the blushing redhead. All Eris could do was turn her face to the floor, remaining as silent as she's been for the last few minutes, and gently shake her head. Jaxie chuckled.

"Aww, no need to be all shy now. To answer your question," she turned back to Alex, "I believe the clinical term is penis in vagina. You know, the classics."

Alex sputtered. Eris coughed. Jaxie laughed.

"Well, her vagina. Mine's off limits. I'll do anything and everything else, but nothing below my belt."

That seemed to get Alex's attention. She raised an eyebrow, but Eris finally managed to speak and ask a question that had been bothering her for days now.

"It's not... because of me, is it?"

Jaxie made a face with the most confused expression Eris had ever seen. "What?" Eris wrung her hands together.

"I mean, I did kinda get handsy that first time..."

The Berserker laughed, then reached across the table and held both of Eris's hands. "You think that a little surprise rub broke something designed to get pounded by something a lot bigger than fingers? Oh, sweetie."

Before Eris could say anything, Jaxie rubbed her thumbs in little circles across the backs of Eris's hands.

"No, this has nothing to do with you, or anyone. If you two really want to know, it's just because it doesn't feel like it's mine." That narrowed a total of four eyebrows. "Fuck, how do I put this?"

She thought for several moments, then let out a sigh.

"You know how when people have their Gifting, it gives them their perfect body? The purest version of themselves?"

Alex and Eris nodded.

"And you know how sometimes it also changes a person's gender entirely, because that's who they were meant to be? They don't belong in the body they have, so it gives them a new one?"

Another nod. Jaxie frowned.

"Well, when I got Gifted, it didn't change me."

"Uhh..." was all Eris managed. Jaxie let go of her hands and held them in her own lap.

"In most cases, the Gifting changes as little or as much as people need. Sometimes, it misses the ball. People who don't want to change are forced into bodies they can't deal with, and people who need to change get passed over."

Eris felt a little uncomfortable as the conversation turned to an awkward subject. "You... don't want to be a girl?"

"It's not a 'want', it's a 'need'. Plus, being a girl isn't the problem. Being a girl is great. I get to look down my shirt and see my cleavage- that shit's awesome. The problem is that I'm a futa stuck in a female's body. When I get naked and see a pussy in between my legs there isn't a single part in my brain that truly sees it as 'mine'. I was hoping that the Gifting would make the changes but it didn't and that only made it worse. My one shot at getting the change I needed and it didn't do it. Now I can't even pee in the morning without feeling sick with myself."

"Oh," was all either of the two girls could say. What else could Eris say? Oh, I'm sorry about your gender dysphoria, want to have another baked potato? Thankfully, Jaxie curled her frown back into a grin.

"So anyway, that's all off-limits for me, but there's nothing stopping you two from stuffing the turkey in the meantime." She waggled her eyebrows. "So, excited to get balls-deep in an Artificer's pussy tonight?"

Alex's face was so red Eris thought a blood vessel would burst.

Through some awkward conversation that Jaxie seemed all-too delighted by, the trio hashed out the remainder of the details about the upcoming threesome like it was a business meeting. Then, Alex and Jaxie took their leave for more combat-related stuff that Eris frankly didn't understand. That gave Eris about three and a half hours of alone time before she was supposed to come to Jaxie's dorm. Apparently, her roommate would be out for the night and had no oppositions to Jaxie bringing over a few friends for an hour or so.

Everything was set up and ready, and Eris couldn't stop her heart from pounding in her chest like a hammer on metal. However, there were a few preparations that Eris wanted to make on her end, too. The first one was simple to put together, but certainly depraved. It's for Jaxie, she kept telling herself. Even so, it felt very lewd to carve down, sand and smooth a six-inch wooden dick. That wasn't even the full extent of it. There was a small pile of leather straps resting on one of the other tables that Eris was planning on putting together for a harness- one that the dildo could hook onto and be used as a strap-on.

Sure, Jaxie wouldn't be getting any real pleasure out of it, but Eris at least wanted to try as much as she could. Jaxie may not have the body of a futa, but maybe being able to fuck Eris like one could help her enjoy the sex a little bit more and keep her from being treated as a third wheel in the upcoming threesome.

The most awkward part about putting the finishing touches on the dildo was the underlying knowledge that it was almost certainly going to end up inside of her within a number of hours. The heat in her chest never faded throughout the entire process. At least it seemed easier to sink into the crafting trance and let her hands do all the work. In fact, she could feel the magic of Novice Artificer leaking into the craft as it came together.

Wait...

Eris paused. In every other craft she had made thus far, there was the knowledge that the magic of her class was being applied, but never a sensation. The closest thing had been spending CP on Resilience, but that was energy within herself being directed into one of her own skills. Now, for some reason, Eris was acutely aware of a connection. Deep inside, on a layer other than physical, Eris could sense a string latched onto her. It was tangled around her hands in complicated knots, and was now wrapped in a complex web around the wooden dick. Eris gently dragged the polishing rag for another swipe along the surface. As she did, more of that energy was tangled across the craft.

"What the..."

Out of pure curiosity, Eris started funneling her CP into Resilience. Though no part of it was visible to the naked eye, Eris could see the strings around the dildo glow brighter and more intense. From a dying ember to a glowing candle, the sex toy was giving off an invisible light that Eris could sense in the deepest parts of her mind.

When Eris finally willed the craft to be 'finished', the sensation made her gasp. The string was ripped from her hands and cut itself free, while the rest that had been loosely wrapped around the wooden dick tightened with such tension it almost seemed to morph into the grain of the oak. It got a little bit brighter too, but more importantly, Eris saw that the toy was now giving off actual light instead of mental.

Glowing white lines wrapped around the surface of the dildo, but then shifted into a shade of pale pink that persisted for about three seconds before all of it vanished in the blink of an eye. In an instant, Eris was left holding an ordinary wooden penis with a bewildered expression plastered across her face. She cast a tentative Inspect towards the object.

Lustful Wooden Dildo

Durability: 100%

A well-crafted wooden dildo. Imbued with the essence of Lust. Created by Eris Kadell. Made from oak wood and oil polish.

Provides a Minor boost to Pleasure.

Additional effect: Sharing is Caring

If used on another person, the user receives a portion of the recipient's Pleasure.

Uhhh...

Eris stared in incredulity at the object in her grasp for a multitude of reasons.

'Imbued with the essence of Lust'? Nothing she had made previously ever had anything like that as part of the description, or that kind of sensation during the crafting process. Was that because she was an Artificer of Lust and this was something designed for sex?

Furthermore, 'Provides a Minor boost to Pleasure'? That read exactly like 'Pleasure' was a stat just like Strength or Dexterity, but she'd never heard of such a thing. Was that something exclusive to her because she was a sex-based crafter?

And lastly, but certainly not least, Sharing is Caring. If the books that Eris had read about magical crafters were true, none of them ever got any kind of skill that allowed them to put enchantments on an item before level six, and even then, they almost always required crafting the item with special materials to do so. Yet, right now, Eris managed to put an enchantment at first level without intending to and while using the most basic materials possible.

But that effect? Sharing the Pleasure of the recipient? Out of every possible effect that an unintended enchantment could have, why that? After all, Eris technically designed it to be used on herself, and then...

Eris went still as it started to make sense. At least, a tiny bit of sense. She had been making this primarily for Jaxie to use on her- and because of Jaxie's circumstances she couldn't truly enjoy sex. She couldn't feel it, because that would mean playing with genitals she despised having.

Somehow, this simple, stupid wooden dick got an enchantment that let Eris do the one thing she's been lacking so far in her relationship with Jaxie.

The ability to make her girlfriend cum.

Chapter 17: Threesome (18+)

Eris wasn't sure she'd ever been as nervous as she was now- walking through the dorm neighbourhood to the thirteenth building all under evening lamplight. Naturally, she had the... special item she crafted hidden in a cloth bag. Even though it probably ruined the inconspicuous visual she was hoping for, Eris couldn't help but hold the bag close to her chest to completely remove any chance whatsoever of anyone catching a peek at what was inside.

Everyone she passed along the way made her heart rate spike, as if they would somehow learn that she was carrying around a magical strap-on. Somehow, Eris managed to avoid cardiac arrest before reaching room number seven on the fifth floor and giving a gentle knock.

Eris heard a little bit of shuffling around on the other side before the door opened. Immediately, her eyes widened at the sight of Jaxie standing there topless. Her perfect breasts were held away from the gaze of the world by nothing more than a simple black bra, though she still had her jeans on. Her hair was also let down from its usual braid, hanging like dark chocolate curtains all the way down to her hips. Meanwhile, her smile reached from ear to ear.

"We were starting to think you chickened out on us. Glad to see you didn't. Ready to have some fun?"

Eris was guided into the room while Jaxie closed the door behind her. Sitting on the edge of one of the beds was Alex. The fact she was topless in a bra just like Jaxie made Eris's throat tighten. Of course, Eris had seen plenty of skin on Alex; either when Alex was wearing a sports bra during her exercises, or when applying bandages to wounds sustained during sparring matches between her and Jaxie. Still, in this context of what was to come, Eris couldn't help but stare.

After all, Alex may have been noticeably shorter than Jaxie (though most girls were), but she was just as muscular and toned. Defined abs were clear for Eris to admire, while biceps were fleshed out with layers of muscle hidden under smooth, feminine skin. Skin that was turning an increasingly intense shade of red. Jaxie slid right up to Eris, wrapped her arms around her in a hug from behind, and nuzzled her face into the redhead's shoulder.

"Alex and I were just making out a little bit while we waited. You know, warming up before our exercise and all that. I hope you don't mind."

Eris quickly shook her head. Jaxie laughed. "Good. What's in the bag?"

"Uhh... a surprise?"

"Ooh, colour me intrigued. Is it a surprise for right now, or after we're done with the foreplay and start getting into the juicy stuff?"

Eris reddened. "I- err, after?"

Jaxie chuckled and kissed Eris's neck. "Cool. Set it down and lie down on the bed."

Eris swallowed, but obeyed. Alex wouldn't meet her gaze, but shuffled over to make room as Eris took the position that Jaxie instructed. Jaxie sat down on the other side of her, making it so Eris now had her friends sitting on either side of her. The moment of tense, anticipatory silence didn't last long as Jaxie leaned in for a kiss. Not with Eris, though.

Lying down, Eris looked up with wide eyes as Jaxie pulled Alex into a deep, passionate kiss. It remained fairly demure for only a few seconds, until Jaxie's hands went down and started caressing Alex's torso. They rubbed along her stomach, up and down her sides, and even slid up underneath the Knight's bra to squeeze and knead at Alex's modest breasts. Alex squeaked at that movement in particular, but didn't fight against it in any way. In fact, her own hands seemed to gain the confidence needed to loosely mimic Jaxie's movements. Instead of going underneath the bra, however, Alex kept her hands overtop the fabric as she cupped Jaxie's boobs.

That didn't last long. Jaxie pulled away from the kiss entirely, removing her hands from Alex's chest. Alex looked worried, but Jaxie grinned and reached behind her back. A few seconds later, her bra dropped away and left Jaxie's beautiful breasts open for public viewing. Then, she grabbed Alex's hands and placed both of them directly overtop her doughy mounds before returning to the kiss.

Alex seemed too lost to even notice that Jaxie was reaching for the clasp of the Knight's bra and undoing it just like her own. Alex let Jaxie pull the straps down off her shoulders and tug the bra completely off. Just like that, Eris was now witnessing Alex's naked tits for the first time.

A bit on the small side, but wonderfully shaped and still more than enough to fill a hand as Jaxie so eagerly demonstrated. She used her thumbs to massage and play with Alex's perky pink nipples while her fingers took greedy squeezes. Eris could only watch with wide eyes and a rapid heartbeat as her girlfriend and her best friend made out half naked directly overtop of her.

"You don't give yourself enough credit, Alex." Jaxie grinned into the girl's mouth. "You've got a lovely body."

She whined. "Not as good as yours..."

"Oh, such a flirt. I'm not the star of this show, though."

Jaxie broke the kiss and turned her face down towards Eris, which in turn made Alex do the same. Eris could see the arousal in her friend's eyes. She could only imagine that she looked the same way.

Jaxie let go of one of Alex's breasts and laid her hand on Eris's waist instead.

"I think that we should work together to undress our toy. After all, it'll be a lot harder for you to fuck her through all these clothes."

That was exactly what they did. Alex and Jaxie coordinated wordlessly with each other- with Jaxie doing most of the leading- to remove Eris's clothes bit by bit. In record time, she went from being the most dressed of the three to the least. Jaxie and Alex at least had their pants on. Eris was left as bare as the day she was born, lying on the bed like a blushing maiden- which she was. She could see Alex staring, drinking deep of every inch unabashedly.

"Wow..."

"I know, right?" Jaxie chuckled. "Absolutely amazing, and now you get to have her. Go ahead."

Alex glanced between the two girls, gulped, then tentatively leaned down towards Eris. For the third time, Eris found herself connecting with Alex in a makeout that started slow, but quickly ramped up. Her hands went to Alex's cheeks, holding the girl in place so that their kiss couldn't be broken. Meanwhile, one of Alex's hands was clutching onto Eris's right breast, kneading it like dough while her other was braced on the bed to keep herself supported above Eris.

Eris couldn't see Jaxie, but the adjustments and shifting of Alex overtop her told her everything- while her and Alex made out, Jaxie was busy stripping off Alex's pants. Getting her naked so that they could fuck in front of her. Oh, that image sent flashes of heat through Eris.

Suddenly, Alex gasped into Eris's mouth and whipped her head downwards to look between her legs. Eris did too, and saw that Jaxie had successfully gotten Alex naked, and now had a hand reached around to Alex's front with fingers gently clasped onto her dick.

"Ooh, seems like you've got quite the lovely set, Alex."

Eris couldn't disagree. As hairless and distinctly feminine as they could come, Alex's futanari womanhood was big even in Jaxie's large hands. Wagering an initial guess, Eris could only assume that Alex was hefting close to eight inches of meat with a fairly generous girth, too. Jaxie dragged her fingers in a gentle stroke.

"That's a lot of dick for a girl like you, Eris. Don't you worry, we'll make sure it fits."

Eris could only blush at Jaxie's words- at least until Jaxie let go to push Alex back down in an obvious gesture for them to continue making out. They did just that. Without even thinking about it, Eris found her own hands reaching downwards to take Alex's impressive member in her grip. It was as hard as iron and hot to the touch under her fingertips. One hand wasn't enough to wrap fully around it, so that was a job delegated to both hands as she started idly stroking. After a few moments, Eris felt another nude body slide up on her other side, partially laying on top of her.

Jaxie, having undressed herself from everything but her panties, got herself into the perfect position to grope and caress either of the two girls, and that made the makeout session quickly devolve into a pile of lips, tongues, fingers, and ceaseless fondling of anyone involved. Eris switched from squeezing Jaxie's breasts, to stroking Alex's cock, to one hand on each, to kneading their butts, all while interchanging kisses with both of them back and forth. It was the by far the lewdest thing Eris had ever experienced, and it sent her heart racing to a risk of failure. Eventually, it was Jaxie that broke the trance with a gentle hand on the back of Eris's head. It guided her down Alex's body slowly and deliberately, aiming for an obvious goal. In a matter of seconds, Eris was propped up on her elbows overtop Alex who was lying on her back, with her stiff cock pointing upwards a mere inch away from Eris's face.

Her face couldn't be hotter, and that only grew when Jaxie rolled over on top of Eris, pressing her nipples into Eris's back and leaning over her shoulder. She was practically licking Eris's ear as she whispered seductively.

"Should we do it together? Want me to help you suck Alex's big dick?"

That made Eris shudder, and Jaxie let out a low laugh.

"Alright, let's get to it."

Jaxie took both of Eris's hands and placed them on Alex's shaft, keeping them overtop as she guided Eris into gentle stroking.

"See how hard she is? See her balls, all filled with cum? That's all because of you."

Eris could in fact see them. Alex's testicles were sagging and heavy, waiting anxiously for release from the immeasurable arousal.

"See how her tip is already drooling? It's waiting for you. Don't waste a single drop, darling."

Jaxie pulled her hands downwards slightly, enough so that the angle of Alex's cock was no longer sticking up vertically in front of their faces, but instead pointed directly at them. At the same time, Jaxie was nudging Eris forward with her cheek to guide the redhead's parted lips onto the head of Alex's cock and an inch further.

I have my best friend's dick in my mouth... Eris thought. My first time giving oral, and it's not even to my own girlfriend.

Eris closed her eyes and slid her head down further. It may have been a kind of virginity that she was giving to Alex, but the thought was so incredibly hot that she couldn't be bothered by it. Alex's dick tasted remarkably like... well, skin. It tasted like she was simply kissing the Knight on the lips, not wrapping her own around a fiercely erect penis. Still, the knowledge of what she was doing, who she was doing it to, and her girlfriend lying mostly naked on top of her and cooing in her ear was doing horribly wonderful things in her chest.

"Ooh, that's it. Keep going. That's a good girl. You don't need to take all of it, just get as much as you can."

Eris shifted her hands a little further down Alex's shaft to make space for her mouth. It wasn't much needed, since Eris felt Alex's thick head probing at the back of her mouth and the entrance to her throat. An experimental push immediately made her throat tighten at the intrusion and keep it securely out of her windpipe with a gag. Eris could only back off a quarter inch and whine. At least half of Alex was still held in her hands.

"Shh, that's okay," Jaxie said. "You're doing great. Just like that. You wanna suck out all her juicy cum, right?"

Eris, lost in a haze, could only nod with three and a half inches of meat in her mouth. Jaxie peppered a kiss on her cheek.

"Alright, follow my lead. Let's make sure Alex gives us a nice creamy finish, huh? Don't want her blowing too quickly once she starts fucking you."

Jaxie pressed her cheek more firmly into Eris's, using the friction to guide her head further off Alex's cock.

"Yeah, good girl. Suck on it, get some suction in there. Make sure you use your tongue, too. Lick it all around, as much as you can."

Eris did as Jaxie instructed, swirling her tongue around and around the fleshy rod spreading her mouth open as she was slowly guided up until only the tip remained in her mouth. She didn't need Jaxie to tell her to lick it like a damned candy- she was already doing it. Alex was making grunting noises from further up the bed, but Eris's attention wasn't focused on her- just her dick.

Then, Jaxie guided Eris back down the shaft, letting saliva-slicked inches slide back into the cavern of Eris's mouth. Then up, then down. Then up, and then down. As the pace quickened, Jaxie's hands started moving, which naturally moved Eris's since the Berserker was holding them.

"You'll want to jack her off, too. Really pump it. Spread all that spit around and really lube her up."

Eris fervently followed orders. After all, there was no chance whatsoever that she wouldn't eagerly masturbate the length of cock not being bathed by her tongue. Alex's hips twitched in response to the additional stimulation and she let out a groan. It only spurred the heat in Eris's chest like coal being shoveled into a furnace.

She focused more effort into her motions, sucking with fervor and jerking off Alex like her life depended on it. Her head was bobbing up and down without Jaxie's guidance, letting the brunette paste loving kisses all across Eris's neck and shoulderblades. Eris wasn't sure how to feel when Alex quickly tipped over the edge.

On one hand, she wanted to keep sucking her dick so badly it was an actual pain in her chest. On the other, hearing Alex let out a strained gurgle and buck her hips upwards as her cock began to spasm was ecstatic in itself. She was doing that. Eris successfully used her mouth to make Alex cum.

Speaking of cum, it spilled out in thick streams with each throb that pulsed up the length of Alex's shaft. Eris could practically feel it flowing up the Knight's dick with every rope that shot forth to paint her tonsils over in a new creamy shade. It was a tad bitter and slightly salty, but certainly not unpleasant. Of course, the knowledge that this was her best friend's dick-syrup probably made the taste lewdly desirable instead of distasteful.

"Ohh, that was quick! Good girl. Swallow it- all of it. Remember; don't waste a drop. Her big balls made all that just for you."

Eris instinctively swallowed the fluid pouring into her mouth as Alex white-knuckled the bedsheets. One swallow. Two. Three. Five.

After the seventh and final swallow of the cream ejecting from the tip of Alex's throbbing cock, the spasms ceased to yield any more results. Eris's stroking hands stilled and she eventually backed away enough to let Alex's cock slide from her parted lips with a decidedly lewd noise. It was just as erect as before. Jaxie chuckled while Eris caught her breath.

"Mmm, such a good girl, taking all that yummy cum. Look, she's still hard, too. I think it's time to put this dick where it really belongs, don't you think hun?"

Jaxie waggled Alex's shaft in front of their faces like it was a toy glistening with saliva.

"Ready to get this thing inside of you? To lose your dick virginity to your best friend?"

That somehow managed to break Eris out of her lust-trance that had been clouding her mind. Instead of an eager nod to let her friend fuck her, Eris gave a quick shake of her head.

"Not- not yet. I... I want it to be you."

When she turned her face to lock eyes with Jaxie, their noses brushed together. Jaxie's eyes narrowed in tense silence. "... That's not funny."

"It's not a joke!" Eris said quickly, scrambling out from underneath her girlfriend and towards the surprise bag. "I made something. I know it's not a perfect fix, but maybe it could help, at least? Maybe?"

Jaxie and Alex both looked onwards with varying expressions as Eris pulled the item from the bag. It took a moment of Jaxie staring at the straps of leather and the wooden penis before her stoney gaze softened slightly.

"Is that... is that a strap-on?"

Eris blushed. "You may not have the equipment of a futanari, but at least with this you could have sex like one."

Jaxie stared, unblinking. Eris stammered.

"I-I'm sorry if it's stepping a line or anything- I wanted to try and help you enjoy yourself, you know? You don't have to use it if you don't want, I just thought that maybe-"

Eris was silenced by Jaxie standing from the bed and pulling her into a deep, powerful hug. It didn't matter that it was a naked hug- Eris could feel the love in the embrace. After several seconds, Jaxie pulled away and gently lifted the sex toy from Eris's hands. She stared at it intently.

"You made this for me?"

Eris nodded. Jaxie kept her gaze on the toy for a while before her eyes turned back upwards. There was a twinkling there that made Eris's heart turn a bit gooey.

"Ell, I would be honoured to be your first dick."

Chapter 18: Threesome II (18+)

Jaxie was anxious but excited as Eris helped secure the final few straps. She could feel her heartbeat through her ears as she looked down at the wooden penis hanging in front of her pelvis. It was such a simple thing, but for some reason it made her chest warm several degrees. Eris made this for her. To try and help her through her issues that had nothing to do with Eris. It wasn't Eris's problem and she didn't need to worry about it, yet the redhead made this just for Jaxie in an attempt to ease a problem that couldn't be solved.

Tilting her gaze back up to the Artificer, Jaxie could see that Eris was staring intently on the straps to make sure they were properly adjusted. Her eyes were narrowed in that cute way she always did when she was focused on something. However, Jaxie could feel the underlying uncertainty coming from both of them. She decided to put on a little grin.

"You couldn't have made it any bigger?"

Eris blushed. "Why? You're not the one it's going inside of."

Jaxie responded by stepping beside Alex and letting both of their shafts- artificial and otherwise- extend forward. Alex's was clearly larger by several margins. "Yeah, but look at the difference. She's got a horse and I've got a pencil. I'm being outclassed."

"Just be glad you're in the classroom." Eris walked back to the bed and laid down with a blush while spreading her legs. "Now get over here."

Jaxie obeyed, letting the delicious view of Eris's flower guide her to her knees in between the legs spread before her. Now, the knowledge that it was not her tongue or fingers that would be going between the sodden lips, but instead something more substantial, made her heart flutter. Eris looked perfect lying on her back beneath Jaxie. Granted, Eris always looked perfect, but it was hard not to acknowledge it. Her tits were so perky even lying down, with a smooth, pale stomach that went right to both the only pussy, but also the most perfect one that Jaxie had ever seen. It was almost mesmerising to let her proportionately small wooden cock rest on the bare skin of Eris's pelvis and see the way it would reach six-or-so inches inside.

"Ready?" Jaxie asked.

Eris gave an adorable nod and let her hands rest on Jaxie's shoulders above her. "Go slow?"

Jaxie traced her fingers down Eris's arms and continued until one was gently holding the side of the redhead's freckled face.

"Anything for you."

Jaxie's other hand went down further, and she had to fight the sudden instinct to pull away. It's not the same. I'm reaching for the toy.

Her fingers wrapped around the smooth shaft. Even though she knew it wasn't hers, it still felt more natural than any other time she would reach down there. There was no feeling, but Jaxie could almost picture it in her head. The feeling of fingers rubbing against skin as she guided the head of her- err... the toy's cock until it nestled into the crevice of Eris's awaiting lips.

Jaxie was immediately grateful for the extra, soft padding that was put in front of the crotch on the inside of the strap-on. Hopefully, it would negate as much pressure as possible from pushing back onto her. Jaxie despised the thought. Fucking Eris, but feeling that friction and pressure against the bits. It almost made bile rise when Jaxie felt tingling down below as she ever-so-slowly pushed forward.

Dammit, Jaxie. Fucking deal with it.

Jaxie gritted her teeth as she sank millimeter after millimeter into her girlfriend. Eris keened and gasped, tightening her grip on Jaxie's shoulders with every second that passed. At the same time, Jaxie could feel her abdomen quickly warm with the sensation of the dildo being pushed back into her pelvis. Making the straps rub against the pussy between her legs and bring that disgusting feeling to the surface.

Except, it wasn't rubbing, and it wasn't pushing. It didn't even feel the same. Simply the existence of any kind of pleasurable feeling had always been detested, since that meant she was using the vagina. She treated this growing feeling the same way out of principle, and hadn't even stopped for one moment to consider that it wasn't coming from the same place.

Jaxie's eyes widened in shock at the sensation of Eris's perfect, tight pussy clamping and spreading around her cock. It wasn't a dildo strapped to a harness anymore- it was an extension of her body- one she could feel in the ways that she was denied during her Gifting. Looking down though, Jaxie could still see the leather strapped to her thighs, the wood pressing into Eris, and even the outline of her panties still on underneath the device.

"What the- what the fuck?"

Eris's eyes were almost glazed over, but that didn't stop them from locking onto Jaxie's. Her voice was breathy as she quickly stammered. "You feel it?"

"Yeah."

"Feel what?" Alex leaned in from the side, curious. It caught Jaxie by surprise- she had completely forgotten that the blonde was there. Thankfully, Eris managed to answer- all while she had four-or-so inches of Jaxie's dildo cock inside of her.

"The enchantments," Eris said. "If the dildo is used to pleasure another person, the user experiences some of it. When used with the harness, it modifies that pleasure to feel like the dildo is their own dick."

Jaxie was at a loss for words. "How... how did you-?"

"I don't know," She spat. "Probably because my sin is Lust and it's a sex toy, so my class decided to make it stronger. I don't care right now- it feels so good."

As if to make a statement, Jaxie felt Eris's legs lock around her back and tighten to pull their hips together and force the rest of the dildo inside. Eris let out a throaty breath at the same time that Jaxie did. Jaxie couldn't believe what she was feeling.

She had a dick. She was having sex with her girlfriend, feeling Eris's rippling walls wrapped around her like she were a real futa. Sure, there was an obvious numbness to it all- like if she slept on her arm and cut off the circulation, but the sensations of it all were still there. She couldn't help herself.

Jaxie started thrusting.

Short and slow at first- just pulling an inch or two out before sliding right back in. Every time she reached the hilt, Eris's grip on Jaxie's shoulders tightened and her lower lip was sucked a little bit more into her mouth. Meanwhile, the movements almost felt natural for Jaxie. She wasn't just thrusting- she was rolling her hips to ease the wood inside and out. That made it press against Eris's inner walls in ways that left the redhead keening. Jaxie could certainly feel it too. Numb and somewhat disconnected, yes, but Jaxie eagerly chased the sensation.

"Oh- oh fuck," Eris squeaked. "Harder, please harder..."

Jaxie was more than willing to obey. Her hands shifted to get a grip on Eris's chest, kneading both of the redhead's perky tits. That alone sent a slight increase to the tingles in Jaxie's fake cock. It also made clear that if Jaxie wanted to feel good, Eris needed to feel really good.

Jaxie closed her eyes, tilted her face to the ceiling, and let the sensations in her new tool guide her movements. If it gave more warmth, then that meant she was doing something right. Gentle squeezes of Eris's chest turned into full-out groping. Shallow thrusts turned into long, six-inch sawing, and a slow speed gradually grew in fervor. All the while, Jaxie could hear Eris squealing and feel the way she was squeezing around her. Jaxie could also feel the heat building in her own abdomen.

When Jaxie looked down next, her eyes widened at the sight that greeted her. She didn't even realise that Eris's hands left her shoulders until she saw Eris twisted partially onto her side. While Jaxie was rutting into Eris's pussy, Eris was gasping and moaning around the head of Alex's cock with both hands wrapped around the base. There couldn't have been much stimulation from the heavily-distracted blowjob, but Alex didn't seem to care. She was looking down and holding Eris's face gently with a lustful expression in her eyes.

The entire sight made Jaxie's heart grow several degrees warmer. The only thing Jaxie loved more than Eris was seeing Eris enjoy herself. Getting to watch Eris and Alex both forget their shyness and let loose to feel good was all the satisfaction she could have ever hoped to get. Now, she could do that while also feeling the sensations of pleasure herself.

Jaxie felt a twinge of stimulation in her fake-dick as Eris shuddered, shook, then let out a cry. Eris's legs tightened around Jaxie's back while she came, but that didn't stop Jaxie from continuing her thrusts. In fact, she sped up even more. While Eris was wheezing and whining, Jaxie leaned deeper over Eris until she was all but laying on top of the girl. Her hips continued to slap down, letting flesh clap loudly in the room as she hard-fucked the redhead through her orgasm. The noises Eris was making would probably cause anyone else to slow down, but Jaxie knew better. It wasn't too much for Eris- it was exactly what she wanted. The intangible throbbing in her wooden dick proved it. As the bed started creaking under the weight of Jaxie's thrusts and Eris's orgasm tapered off into the rapid building of a second, Jaxie could feel the pressure in herself growing like a balloon inflated to strain.

It was only about a minute and a half of Eris choking herself on Alex's cock while being brutally pounded by Jaxie in the aftermath of her first climax before Jaxie felt the redhead cum for a second time. This time, the numb sensation slowly building finally tipped over some invisible cliff and Jaxie held herself still.

Part of Jaxie understood that she herself was reaching this fabled 'orgasm', but the rest of her was still blindsided when her stomach pulsed with the need to stuff Eris full of imaginary cum. She could practically feel it. Though her cock remained stationary, Jaxie could sense in her mind the pulses and throbs that racked through her system with each rope of cum that her body tried to produce.

All she could do was rest her weight on top of Eris and let out a throaty groan.

It was a long while before their climaxes ended and Jaxie rolled off Eris to lie beside her. At the same time, Eris pulled off of Alex's cock and rested on her back. Her face turned to Jaxie's. Jaxie already knew what was going to happen. Eris was going to get all shy about what happened, and probably apologise for sucking Alex without getting explicit permission.

Before she could, Jaxie wrapped her arms around Eris and pulled her in for the tightest hug she could without risking the structural integrity of the redhead's ribs. She held Eris's face into her shoulder and gently kissed the scarlet hair just above the shorter girl's ear.

"I love you so, so much. Thank you. That was amazing."

"You liked it?"

Jaxie nodded and squeezed Eris a little bit tighter. "More than I could put into words." She flicked her eyes up to Alex who was kneeling awkwardly beside them and smiled. "There's still one more thing to do, Mango."

"Huh?" Eris's face turned upwards to try and look at Jaxie. She responded by kissing Eris on the nose.

"It's Alex's turn."

In a flash of movement and a bit of giggling, Jaxie managed to pull Eris on top of her while also spinning the redhead around. Now, Eris was sitting on Jaxie's stomach and laying with her back pressed into Jaxie's chest. That gave Jaxie a perfect view as Alex moved into the same missionary position that she just took Eris in. Jaxie could wrap her arms around Eris's stomach and peek her face over the smooth shoulder to see Alex's impressive cock hanging over Eris's pelvis. She could feel Eris shudder in anxiety atop her. Jaxie tightened her reverse hug and kissed at Eris's neck.

"Shh, it's okay. I'm right here."

"It's big..." Eris whined.

"I know, but it'll fit. Alex'll be real gentle. Plus, I got you all ready for her."

Jaxie nearly drooled at the sight. Looking past Eris's breasts and down her smooth body to see Alex lining her tip up with the entrance was delicious. Alex looked forward with a final, questioning expression. Eris hesitated, then gave a nod.

Jaxie could tell the exact moment that Alex's tip slipped inside Eris's tunnel. That was because Eris's breath caught in her throat and her fingers instinctively clamped down on Jaxie's hands over her stomach. Jaxie couldn't help but grin. Eris was gonna get fucked by their best friend, and her first action was to hold Jaxie's hands while it happened.

Jaxie let their fingers interlock as Alex slowly pushed inside. Although she didn't have to go as slow as Jaxie at the beginning, since Jaxie certainly got Eris warmed up, Alex was substantially larger than the strap-on now resting in the crack of Eris's ass. That meant as the steady and firm movement continued from Alex gradually pushing her many inches inside, Eris was shuddering atop Jaxie. The fingers clasped onto hers tightened like vices and Eris's breathing went shallow.

It was the hottest thing Jaxie had ever experienced.

"That's it, good girl. You're taking it so well."

As Jaxie had learned during the blowjob earlier, soft reassurances did wonders for Eris. Whether that was to serve as encouragement to continue her slutty actions or to remind Eris that Jaxie was more than okay with everything didn't matter. As long as it helped Eris feel better about it, Jaxie would stand in a pyre.

"Almost there," Jaxie said. "Just a little bit more. I bet it feels good, huh?"

Eris's head was tilted back over Jaxie's own shoulder, but she nodded weakly as Alex eventually let their pelvises meet. Eris let out a shaky breath and clenched tighter onto Jaxie's hands.

"There we go, just like that. You took all of her. You've got all of Alex's big, juicy dick inside of you, isn't that great?"

There wasn't even a nod this time, it was a shudder that went through Eris's entire body. Jaxie looked up at Alex and gave a small nod. Alex returned it with a blush before she slowly started moving. Jaxie was already on top of it, squeezing Eris tight and nuzzling into her neck while the redhead groaned.

Out, slowly, all the way until only the tip stayed in. Then, just as slowly, all the way back in. Out. In. Out. In. Eris was breathing hard and making all sorts of adorable noises. Alex was joining in on that business as well- taking ragged breaths as she officially lost her virginity and got to experience a girl's pussy for the first time.

Eris's pussy.

Jaxie continued holding a tight grip on Eris's hands, being the rock supporting her as she was slowly and gently fucked by their stud of a best friend. It was a delicious sight. Getting to watch Alex's many inches disappear into the lovely little cavern of Eris's pussy, only to be revealed once more with a glistening sheen of nectar. Perfection.

While Jaxie had sped up and gotten much rougher with her fucking, Alex's size meant she had to stay slow. It didn't look like her or Eris minded, since both of them were completely lost in the moment. Jaxie had no objections when Alex leaned down and gently pulled Eris in for a deep kiss. It made her heart twinge. Seeing that much love from two of the people she loved most in the world- there wasn't much of a way to get better than that. Of course, having them kiss like that while one was sawing her cock in and out of the other just so happened to be one of those ways.

It was slow, passionate, and perfect. Minute after minute, Jaxie held Eris's hands as they clutched to hers like a lifeline. That was all Jaxie needed to see Eris's love. Kissing and getting reamed out by Alex, yet the number one priority was holding her girlfriend's hands. Jaxie loved Eris more in this moment than she ever had before, and Jaxie wasn't sure how that was even possible. There weren't even words being shared between them. The only noises were gasps, moans, and some rustling bedsheets.

Jaxie was smiling every moment and held her tight as the redhead squealed into Alex's mouth after a little over a minute into the ordeal. Eris's entire body shook with yet another climax. She bucked her hips, wrapped her legs around Alex, and twitched in desperation for her lover to continue. Jaxie could only keep an ear-to-ear grin while peppering Eris's neck with kisses and feeling Alex give one final thrust into both of them before hilting herself.

Awful quick shot for a tank, Jaxie chuckled to herself.

That should have been a concern, but both Alex and Eris were too far gone to even properly realise what was going on. Eris was too busy writhing in pleasure, and Alex was too busy cumming in a tight, wet, welcoming hole. The fact that the hole was Eris's unprotected pussy was a fact only Jaxie could carry right now. Obviously, they had planned for Alex to pull out when they were talking logistics back in the workshop. That plan crumbled right in front of Jaxie's eyes and all she could do was keep kissing and suckling Eris's cheek and neck. She couldn't help it- the only thing hotter than Eris taking a dick was Eris getting pumped full of cum by one.

Jaxie could picture it in her mind- Alex's length throbbing and pulsing, spilling out ropes of cum into Eris's spasming tunnel. Jet after jet, string after string, just filling Eris to the brink. Jaxie felt her face getting warm at the thought. The fact that Eris was being stuffed with her first creampie directly on top of Jaxie was the neat little bow that wrapped everything together.

Eventually, their kiss broke and Alex's face hung down, panting. After a while of sexy, sweaty, breathy silence, Alex gently pulled her hips back. Jaxie cooed at the sight of Alex's partially-softened soldier as it eased from where it had been stationed. Furthermore, it was glistening with a mixture of creamy juices and dripping a bit onto the sheets.

"I-uhh... I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking, and..."

That seemed to get Eris's attention, snapping her out of her post-orgasm trance. She brought her head up to look at Alex. "Huh? What are you...?"

She looked down between her legs, widened her eyes, then quickly reached one hand down to feel her nethers. Her eyes flicked back up. "You didn't."

Alex nodded meekly. "... Sorry."

"We talked about this!" Eris was visibly panicking, even pulling away from Jaxie completely and sitting up to more easily examine her cum-leaking pussy. "You have to pull out!"

"I said I'm sorry, okay?! I was thinking about it and thinking about it, but then I kinda just got lost in the moment, you know? I forgot!"

"Oh, fuck. Fuck! Dammit, what are we gonna do now? This isn't good-"

Jaxie sat up beneath Eris, pulling her back into a reverse hug. Eris almost never swore- she was adorable like that- so the fact that she was letting the words spill free like that meant she was obviously on the verge of having a complete breakdown. Jaxie just rubbed her hands along Eris's stomach sweetly and nuzzled into her shoulder.

"It's okay, sweetie. Everything'll be fine."

"What? How in the fuck is this 'fine'? Alex just came in me! What if I get pregnant?" Her face turned towards Jaxie barely an inch away. She could see the panic in Eris's eyes.

"You're not going to get pregnant."

"How do you know?"

Jaxie silenced Eris with a deep, long, firm kiss. She made sure to smile when she pulled away, just so that Eris could see that she wasn't worried- hopefully that would calm her down.

"I know," Jaxie began, "because when I asked if I could have the room for a few hours, the first thing Rebecca said was to make sure to clean up any cum stains."

That made both other girls go red. Jaxie chuckled and reached over to the nightstand before reaching inside. "The second thing she said..."

When Jaxie came back, she was holding a small vial in her fingers, no larger than her thumb. It was corked and filled with a translucent liquid that had a faint shimmer of blue. She held it up.

"... was that I was free to borrow from her stash if I needed to."

Both of the other girls went silent as they obviously Inspected the potion. Jaxie had done so beforehand when Rebecca explained what it was, so she grinned and spoke aloud what she knew Alex and Eris were seeing. Well, mostly Alex. Eris was getting all that wacky extra information.

"Potion of Birth Control. A vial filled with a cheap but effective concoction designed to temporarily nullify the consumer's fertility. Works for any gender."

Eris's eyes went wide as she stared at the vial, obviously reading in her mind the name of the creator- the one who's shop Rebecca purchased an entire batch from. Jaxie grinned.

"After you chug that down, make sure to thank the princess."

Chapter 19: Roommate

Alex volunteered to replace the bedsheets while Jaxie 'helped' Eris in the shower. She probably didn't expect that help to come in the form of standing there while Eris hugged her tight and cried into Jaxie's soft, wet chest. Eris wasn't even completely sure why she was crying- she wasn't sure about a lot of things. She loved what just happened, far more than she should have. She loved Jaxie, and she loved Alex, and she loved being so naughty, but she hated that yucky feeling stuck in her chest saying that it was wrong.

Thankfully, Jaxie didn't make a big deal about it. She simply wrapped her arms around Eris's back and whispered affirmations in her ear while the redhead came to terms with what just transpired. It was a lot to take in, and Jaxie held Eris close the entire time.

Eventually, Eris regained her composure and the actual 'cleaning' began. While most of it was little more than a quick rinse to clean off the little bits of sweat that started to build towards the end of the trio's endeavours, there was no small amount of fluid dribbling down Eris's leg. Jaxie was perfectly composed as she helped scrub it away, though the nature of it left Eris flushed and panting.

As it turns out, the most effective way to remove Alex's cum was for Jaxie to hold Eris open with two fingers while a few more started scooping out the vast majority of seed. Would it get all of it? Unlikely. Would it get enough that Eris didn't have to worry about it leaking out of her and leaving a slimy mess in her underwear? Absolutely.

Of course, the natural side effect was Eris holding onto Jaxie's head with both hands to support herself as she shuddered from the sensations. Jaxie, the ever-loving girlfriend she was, happily took the hint and continued with her fingers long after Eris was 'clean'. The orgasm that followed was the perfect little ribbon to top off an emotionally confusing but very pleasurable evening.

Eris held that warm sensation in her chest, and the tingles of Jaxie's goodnight kiss, all the way to the door of her own room. It was open but not in the way that Eris expected.

Bailey was sitting on a small stool while bracing the open door between both legs to keep it pointed at her. She was clothed, thankfully, but it was definitely in a manner meant more for 'comfort' than 'conservative'. She was barefoot and wearing a thin-strapped, sleeveless, baby blue crop-top that practically made a half-mile of cleavage jump out and say Howdy! Past her completely revealed stomach were a pair of tight, stretchy white shorts that ended about a third of the way down her thighs, and her big bushy hair was tied back in a simple but exceedingly poofy ponytail to keep it out of the way. Her gaze was narrowed on the holes in the door and the small table beside her held a number of screwdrivers along with a mostly-complete set of fixtures.

"Are you... putting the doorknob back on?"

Her eyes flicked upwards, to which she gave a shrug. "Trying to. I can't remember how the fuck I took this thing off."

Eris nodded. "Yeah, they can be a bit tricky sometimes. I can do it if you want."

"Really?" Her blue eyes widened. "Oh, thanks! I was driving myself nuts here."

She stood from the stool and made space for Eris to sit down. As the redhead examined the doorknob fixture to analyze where the connecting points were, she spoke over her shoulder. "Were you trying to put it back on because of me?"

Bailey plopped herself into a cross-legged position down on the floor, and the action unintentionally caused quite the volume of titflesh to jiggle pleasantly out of the corner of Eris's eye.

"I mean, yeah. I'll live free and shit when I'm alone, but I have no intentions of making it into the 'Shit Roommate Hall of Fame'. I've fully replaced your sheets, washed the carpet, cleared out your closet and nightstand, and deep-cleaned the washroom."

"You didn't need to do all that..." Eris said. Bailey scoffed.

"Trust me," Bailey scoffed, "I did. If you knew what kinds of things have happened in this dorm, you would have scrubbed it down yourself. Anyways, how was your first day? Good orientation? Did you get your workshop yet?"

Eris blinked at the sudden conversation shift and multitude of questions. "Uh, yeah. I got my shop and sorted it all out the way I like. Things are fine, and the orientation was, too. You?"

Bailey leaned back on her hands, resting them behind her. It made her chest puff out in a way that was very distracting, but it seemed like Bailey genuinely didn't notice or care.

"Same shit, different wipe. Finished commissions, sold commissions, got more commissions, sold a few extra bits and bobs, business as usual. Commission, commission, commission... sorry." She shook her head, causing her poofy hair to flail before it settled. "Anyway, we didn't get much of a chance to talk this morning."

Eris tried not to blush. "Uh, yeah. You were pressed for time and stuff."

"Among other things," Bailey chuckled. "I don't blame you for wanting to get out of there quickly. I realised later that I may have come off a bit on the strong side."

"It definitely caught me by surprise." Eris lined up the parts of the doorknob and started screwing them into place. Bailey let out a breath.

"Well, let's get some of the immediate ones out of the way. I'm twenty-one years old and a third year here at Marrix. Yes, I was the princess of the Geriege family until my parents disowned me because I signed up for the Syndicate against their direct orders. Yes, I am also a massive whore, and I couldn't care less what other people think of me. I'm going to live my life my way, and I'll have all the fun I want doing it."

She bit her cheek in thought. "Hmm, what else? I'm a ninth level Alchemist, but I'm pretty sure I already told you that-"

"You did."

"Okay, cool. Uhh, I'm trisexual, so male, female, futa, doesn't matter. I'll hook up with literally anyone that wants to, but I have no desire for anything serious. I don't want flowers and romance and to be courted and shit. Gimme a quick fuck and a slap on the ass and I'm set for the day."

Eris paused. "Uhhh..."

"Too much? Sorry. I'll try to tone down all the sex stuff around you. What about you? You didn't say much of anything this morning."

Eris tightened the last screw and dropped her hands into her lap. "Ooh, umm... my name is Eris Limeen Kadell, which is Ra'lan for Hope, Light, Soul."

"Cool. Kinda like the school motto."

"Yeah, I noticed that. As you can guess, I'm eighteen and a first year here at Marrix as a crafter."

"What class?" Bailey asked.

"Artisan." Eris said. "First level."

Bailey smiled. "Well, if you ever have any questions about Alchemy, I'll be more than happy to help you out. Roomies gotta stick together, you know?"

"Did you have a roommate before?" Eris asked. Immediately, she saw some of the glimmer in Bailey's eyes fade. A nerve had been struck.

"Uhh... yeah." Bailey's voice took on a softer, sadder tone. Eris backpedaled.

"I- I'm sorry. I didn't-"

"It's okay," Bailey said. "It happens here. It's what we sign up for, after all."

A moment of silence before Eris tried again. "If you don't mind me asking...?"

Bailey let out a long sigh and let herself drop so that she was lying flat against the floor.

"He was a Stonecutter- Alvin Micah. We were both first years when we got bunked together. Nicest guy anyone could ever meet. The kind that became everyone's best friend. He was damned good with runes, too. The teachers called him a prodigy with a heart of gold."

Eris remained quiet.

"Anyway, it was during our second year. We were deployed on our missions like normal. I came back from mine. He didn't."

"What happened?"

Bailey laced her fingers behind her head in a hand pillow.

"During the winter, for about a month, the temperature gets so cold up north that the ocean in between Hailfire Island and Dural freezes over. There's an entire garrison set up along the coastline specifically to keep the Hollow from spreading to the mainland when that happens. Alvin was sent there for his mission. He and the other crafters weren't supposed to see combat, like usual. They were back in a development camp about a mile from the main wall and making supplies for the soldiers. Well, a few particularly nasty monsters managed to breach the defenses of the main force and went to the development camp."

"I'm sorry," Eris wrung her hands. Bailey gave a weak smile and propped herself on an elbow.

"You don't have to be. The monsters tore through the soldiers guarding the camp and would have killed everyone else if it weren't for Alvin."

"Huh?"

"While the rest of the camp was trying to evacuate, Alvin gathered all the runecrystals he had carved and connected their energy together while setting them up to self-destruct. When the monsters finally got through the soldiers and breached the camp, he was waiting for them with a really, really big bomb."

A moment of silence before Eris gave a small nod. "He's a hero."

Bailey returned the nod, then sat back up and looked around the room.

"Anyway, I haven't had a roommate for about a year and a half until you, so I apologise in advance if I've forgotten some roommate etiquette."

"Well, you are forgiven in advance."

She smiled. "You get the doorknob on?"

Eris gave a test turn. "Yep. I'm not sure where the lock is, though..."

Bailey's eyes widened. "Oh, right! I've got it over here- hold on a sec."

She stood to her feet. Instead of doing the logical thing and walking around her bed to access her nightstand, she crawled right over the top. While she fumbled around in a drawer that was audibly filled to the brim and then some, Eris averted her gaze to avoid staring at the shorts-clad ass pointed directly at her. Gods, this girl really didn't have any sense of shame whatsoever. Eventually, she managed to find the buried lock and toss it to Eris who fumbled the catch and picked it up off the ground. The redhead did pull the previously-useless key from her pocket and give a test turn to ensure the lock still worked before affixing it. Eris ignored the voices of other people walking down the hall and going to their own rooms, until some of the voices got louder.

"Heyoo, is it too late for a booty- oh. Sup?"

Two guys stepped in front of the doorframe, looked down at Eris affixing the lock, then moved their gaze back to the scantily-dressed Bailey sitting on the edge of the bed. She chuckled and stood.

"Sorry boys, not tonight. I'm getting to know my roommate."

"Oh, that's cool," one of them said. He gave an annoyed look towards Eris, obviously displeased by the fact that her mere presence was denying his ability to get laid. "We were just gonna- umm... what about tomorrow night?"

Bailey laughed and leaned against the doorframe. Eris wasn't particularly paying attention, but a blind person could see the way their eyes were locked to Bailey's cleavage. "I never plan that far ahead," she said. "Have a good night."

They stood there awkwardly for a few seconds. The other one cleared his throat. "Really? We can't come in for a half hour?"

The blonde rolled her eyes. "What exactly do you plan on doing for the other twenty-eight minutes? Good night, guys."

"Cmon, please? We came all the way over from Sector Teer for this."

Bailey gave an exasperated sigh, rolled her eyes a second time, then casually pulled the front of her shirt up over her large breasts. Eris suddenly became very interested in one of the screws she was tightening. The princess stood there for many moments with her tits bared to the world, even raising her arms above her head and bouncing on her heels a bit to make them jiggle in a way that fought to win over Eris's attention. Eventually, she dropped her arms and placed her hands on her hips.

"There, you got something. Now I'm gonna say 'Good Night' for a third time, you two are going to say it back to Eris and I, and then you're going to fuck off. If you don't, some blue balls are going to be the least of your issues, okay?"

Eris was getting overwhelmed by the still-with-her-tits-out Bailey giving threats, and they weren't even aimed at her. She could hear both of the boys nod.

"Good. Night." Bailey spoke in a way that was pushing the very boundaries of 'polite'.

"Goodnight!" The boys spoke so quickly and so strained that if Eris didn't know better, she would have thought that Bailey was already following up on her vague threat. Either way, they turned and left while Bailey sighed and rolled her shirt back down.

"Big tits are really annoying more often than not," she said, "but at least a good jiggle's enough to solve any social problem. People get so obnoxious when they think you'll bend over for them at any opportunity just because you're the school whore. On that thought..."

Bailey pivoted around Eris, bent over, and picked up a wooden sign off the floor. Eris saw the 'Nobody's Home! Come Back Later! sign with the heart right beside it. When Bailey hooked this one onto the front of the door, it read 'Unavailable! Go the Fuck Away!' with a smiley face and a middle finger. Eris blinked.

"That's... a sign."

Bailey shrugged. "If I don't put that one up, people are gonna be walking in and out of the room all night to cop a feel or get their dick wet while we're trying to sleep. Actually, they'll be knocking since there's a lock now. It'd keep you up all night and I'm not gonna let that happen."

Eris gave a slight jostle to the lock after the last bit was tightened- it didn't even budge a millimeter. Satisfied, she gave a little nudge to the door and watched it close. Then, she twisted the lock shut and turned around to Bailey who had walked back over to her bed.

"You're... really changing a lot because of me. Sorry."

Bailey dropped herself onto the blanket. "Nah, it's all good. I can still have all the slutty fun I want, I'll just keep it out of the room."

"Oh, you don't have to do that..." Eris was blushing. That made Bailey lift her head and raise an amused eyebrow.

"Really? You're okay with the 'freeuse slut' room?"

Eris stood, set the tools back down on the little table, then moved to sit in her own bed. It was a lot softer than the one she made earlier that was in the corner of her workshop. She didn't plan on sleeping in the workshop, but the distillery back home proved that late days or big projects sometimes meant the easiest option was staying the night.

"I mean- hmm..." Eris tried to figure out a way to put things into words without making her face get too red. "I don't mind you doing... you know... in the room-"

"Likewise."

That made Eris drum her fingers on her thigh awkwardly. She cleared her throat. "And I, uhh... I've been trying to open myself up more? To stuff like- like this, I mean. You know, like... sex?"

"You've been trying to 'open yourself up' to sex?" Bailey chuckled. Eris coughed out words that didn't form properly, stammered a few more, gave up, then took a sigh. It was weird to get the words out when she couldn't use the excuse of literally needing sex to become stronger.

"I get really anxious and awkward about this kind of stuff, but I don't want to be," Eris finally said.

"And you want to expose yourself to sex and stuff so you can be more casual about it?"

Eris gave a meek nod. "No lock on the door is a bit too far, but I don't mind you... having company... while I'm in the room. Just, maybe nothing too extreme?"

"Like a party coming out of the Obelisk at three in the morning and stopping by for a quick bukkake before they go back to their dorms?"

"I guess? What's a 'boo-cocky'?"

"Not important," Bailey said quickly. "So casual sex and nothing extreme. I can live with that. I'll also make sure to stay away from your bed, and we'll always clean up after ourselves."

Eris couldn't meet Bailey's gaze. "Thanks."

The room was quiet for a moment before Bailey shrugged. "What are you into?"

"Huh?"

"Male, female, futa, what stirs your fancy?"

Eris coughed. "Err- uhh... gay? I like girls, so... female and futa."

"Cool. Wanna fuck?"

Eris's eyes widened and she let out a noise that sounded like a chipmunk getting curb stomped. Bailey laughed and rested her hands in her lap.

"Hey, if you don't wanna, it's fine with me. I was just thinking that since you wanted to get more casual about sex stuff, we could have a little hookup. Help you out a little."

Eris could practically hear Jaxie in her mind, goading her forward. Do it, it's fine. Get a taste of the royal bloodline. The worst part, Eris wanted to. Bailey was hot and had everything going on in the right ways.

But, Eris's heart was still recovering from the emotional rollercoaster that was having a threesome with her best friend for over a decade. Having sex with someone she's known for less than a day right after what's already happened was a high risk for cardiac arrest.

Eris shook her head. Bailey shrugged.

"No problem. Any particular reason why? Not upset, just curious."

"I, uhh-" Eris shakily reached into her pocket and pulled free the empty vial that contained the remnant drops of the Potion of Birth Control, then passed it forward while turning a reddening gaze downwards. "I already pushed my boundaries today."

Bailey took it, looked it over, then grew a smile of recognition. "Ah, I gotcha. No hookup tonight, so casual nudity it is."

Before Eris could say anything, Bailey was already pulling her shirt up over her head and once again revealing her unfairly large breasts. Eris had been trying to not pay so much attention to them, but it was really hard. Every time she had looked at the princess, they were right there, and the overly-tight, cleavage-and-stomach-revealing shirt certainly didn't help matters. Bailey could walk into a room full of toddlers and make all of them start salivating. Now, they jiggled and swayed as Bailey dropped her shirt beside her bed and slid her thumbs under the waistband of her shorts.

"I prefer sleeping naked, anyway."

"Uhh..." was all Eris could muster as Bailey casually slid off her shorts and underwear before dropping them right beside her shirt.

"You can keep on some pajamas or something if it makes you feel better, I don't care either way. Would you mind getting the light?"

Thankfully, it was easier for Eris to tear her eyes away from Bailey's nude body when the blonde started pulling the covers up over herself with the obvious intention of going to sleep. It allowed her to stand, awkwardly shuffle over to the runic switch on the wall and turn off the glowing orb on the ceiling. Though the room was dark, she could see that Bailey was facing away from her. That gave Eris a bit of peace of mind while she quickly stripped and grabbed her sleeping clothes- a pair of pajama pants and one of Jaxie's old shirts-, but then she hesitated. She looked at the clothes, back at the outline of Bailey's nude shoulder, back at the clothes, then set them down back in her bag before crawling under the sheets as naked as the blonde in the other bed. After a few moments of silence, Eris heard Bailey give a low chuckle.

"Just so you know, my bed's always open to you if you want someone to snuggle."

Eris squeaked.

Chapter 20: Lesson One (18+)

When the seven a. m. alarm woke both girls up to start their day, Bailey stood up without a care and walked over to her closet. Eris couldn't help but stare at Bailey's nudity while using the blanket to cover up her own as she sat up. The blonde looked back over with a raised eyebrow. "What, not getting up?"

Eris swallowed, then awkwardly pulled the blanket aside and slid out of the bed. She blushed when Bailey took a clear, long look up and down Eris's figure, then gave an appreciative whistle.

"Now that is a body you should be proud about."

Eris turned an increasing shade of red, covered with her hands, and shifted over to her bag on the floor. She heard Bailey chuckle.

"Really? Being naked is nothing compared to sex. Being naked is freeing!"

"It's embarrassing!"

"Eris, Eris, Eris." Bailey let out a few tssks. "Step number one to being more comfortable about sex is being comfortable with nudity. Drop those clothes and turn around."

Eris hesitated but ultimately let go of the clothes she had hastily pulled from her bag. Then, she covered with her hands and turned around. The way all of the unreasonably-attractive Bailey was hanging free almost made Eris not notice the way Bailey rolled her eyes.

"Alright. You wanna get casual with sex, then I'm officially enrolling you in the long-term sex-ed course hosted by Yours Truly. Qualifications? I'm the Queen-Fuckin'-Bee of casual sex and hold a monopoly for sex-based alchemical products here at Marrix. Any questions?"

"Huh?" Eris's eyes widened. Bailey put her hands on her shapely hips.

"Good. First lesson is a little something I like to call 'Naked But Not Giving a Shit'. Now move your hands."

"I- uhh... what?"

"I am your teacher, and you will do as the teacher says," Bailey grinned. "Put your hands out in front of you."

Eris blushed but obeyed, extending her arms forward and awkwardly revealing her lady bits. To her surprise, Bailey gently grabbed her hands and started pulling her to the center of the room.

"What are you doing?" Eris asked warily. Bailey laughed.

"I'm not doing anything. We are gonna dance. C'mon, move those hips."

Eris was tentative at first as Bailey twisted her back and forth, bouncing from foot to foot and slowly encouraging Eris to do the same. Unfortunately- or fortunately, rather-, it was difficult to keep the embarrassed frown on her face when Bailey was intentionally making the dance as goofy and silly as possible. Her hair wasn't tied up in any way so it flopped around her face in blonde and brown curls. Of course, that also meant her chest was jiggling wildly, and only did more so when Bailey let go of Eris's hands and started dancing solo freestyle. As bright as the red in Eris's face was, she couldn't help but awkwardly shake her body.

There was no music, no rhythm, no pattern, and Bailey obviously knew how to dance just as much as Eris did (which was not at all), but Bailey didn't care one bit. She was all smiles, hair, and jiggling curves. Her mood was nothing if not infectious. Over the course of a few minutes, Eris was turned from a red-faced mess to a red-faced-but-giggling mess. She couldn't help it.

She also couldn't bring herself to care when Bailey finished their 'dance' with a laughing, grinning, naked hug.

Although Alex joined Eris and Jaxie for a Desire-gathering session in the workshop that morning, it remained strictly efficient. Kissing and fondling got heated, and hands certainly reached underneath clothes to fondle breasts or stroke Alex's dick, but it never progressed beyond that. Certainly not to the point of last night. Jaxie did get a chuckle while she was buttoning up her shirt and Eris revealed how much Desire she had stored.

"So between last night and this morning, you got sixty-nine points of Desire? Heh, nice."

Alex and Eris both looked at each other with raised eyebrows, then back to Jaxie. "Why is that funny?"

"Oh, you sweet, pure souls. I've gotta pee, so I'll be right back."

With that, she left. That caused a bit of an uncomfortable situation. Eris couldn't recall any point during the last few days where her and Alex had been alone together, and especially not after all the... stuff began. Jaxie had always been there as both the mediator and the instigator. Now, Eris sat on the stool while Alex took the one beside her, awkwardly straightening her pants.

"So, uhh..." Eris scratched the side of her face. "We haven't really had a chance to talk. You know, just you and I."

Alex gave a curt nod. "It's certainly been an odd turn of events."

"You're okay with... all this?"

"Sure." She brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. "It's a lot to take in, though."

"And you're not even the one with the sex class..."

That made Alex blush. She coughed. "Well, I wanted to apologise again. For last night."

"No, I'm the one who freaked out," Eris was turning red. "I'm sorry for that."

More awkward silence. Eris was dumbfounded. What was she supposed to say to her best-friend-turned-kinda-second-girlfriend-but-not-really? Thankfully, Alex seemed willing to take the reigns.

"I do like this, though."

"Huh?" Eris looked up with a raised eyebrow. Alex turned her gaze and spoke uncharacteristically quickly.

"I don't want you to be worried about me not being okay with all this."

"Doesn't make it less weird."

Alex clicked her tongue. "Platonic best friends since forever and now we're having sex despite the fact you and our other best friend are dating. Yeah, that's a bit weird."

Eris offered a smile. "At least it's something objectively enjoyable. It'd be a lot worse if we were doing things that we actually hated."

"True," she nodded. "It also helps that Jaxie's so... open about this."

"Open's one way of putting it," Eris chuckled. "She literally said that she wants me to have sex with as many people as possible, because then she'll know I love her when I come back to her."

"You're damned fuckin' right I will."

Jaxie's voice caused both girls to turn around towards the door. She was leaning against the frame with her arms crossed and a wide grin.

"You can love a food if it's the only thing you ever order, but you'll only know it's your favourite if you try everything on the menu."

Jaxie walked forward, leaned down, and wrapped her arms over Eris's shoulders while bringing their faces no more than an inch apart.

"And when you do that, this big ol' plate of Jaxie will know she's your favourite, too."

Like always, the butterflies in Eris's stomach roused when Jaxie brought their lips together. Eris was almost disappointed when Jaxie pulled away, but that feeling turned into a tingling excitement when the Berserker shifted a foot and a half over to press her lips against Alex's in the exact same way. Eventually, Jaxie stood back up with a smile while Alex visibly tried not to get too flushed.

"Welp, thanks for the breakfast and the morning entertainment, but I overheard that the Introduction to Dueling class is scheduled to start in half an hour."

Alex suddenly went alert. "Wait, really? I thought that was this afternoon."

"So did I, but I just double-checked the program." She held up a piece of paper with a list of lessons, classes, and locations. "The afternoon one is tomorrow. Today's lesson is in half an hour."

Eris stood with an exasperated smile. "I was about to kick you both out anyway because I've got work to do. Unless you two wanna go into the Obelisk butt naked and bare-handed next week, I need to start working on your equipment."

"I dunno, fighting monsters while wearing nothing but the blood of my enemies is kinda hot..." Jaxie murmured. Eris blushed.

"Out!"

Eris wasn't even aware of time passing while she worked. It was freeing. The forge cranking the temperature of the entire room to the point where Eris was covered in a sheen of sweat that soaked through her tank top. The ringing of hammers on metal while she worked vigorously. The burnt-but-still-surprisingly-tasty potato that Eris had for lunch after she accidentally left it on the stove while measuring material.

Eris was in bliss. The best feeling in the world was the discomfort of a productive workshop. If Eris wasn't covered in sweat, grease and sawdust by the end of a workday, she didn't work hard enough. Most of yesterday had been spent setting everything up and getting a few necessities. Today, Eris was free to completely lose herself in her work.

Most of it was turning the designs in her notebook into tangible objects, piece by piece. Even with the trance turning her speed to the maximum, it was slow work. After all, Eris wouldn't settle for anything less than her absolute best when it came to Alex and Jaxie's equipment. When the girls stopped by for a dinner conversation over a roasted potato casserole and to explain how their days went, Eris showed them the progress. Nothing finished, but most of the metal pieces had been cut and vaguely shaped. All of it was framework and preparation for the next few days.

"So, yeah. Tomorrow I'll work on heat-treating all the iron and getting the leather parts suited. I've also prepared some batches of oatmeal that I can sell for breakfast tomorrow so I can start making an income, and..."

Eris walked over to one of the workbenches where a number of books were piled. "I've checked out a couple of manuals from the library that explain different techniques that are only possible after getting a class, like carving runes. I only managed to skim through a tiny bit of some of them so far, but there's some really interesting stuff in there."

Jaxie set her finished plate down by the sink beside Alex's and nodded. "Well, tomorrow Alex and I have some combat lessons in the morning."

"After that, we're gonna go over to Sector Fura and meet up with Nima so we can talk more about party stuff." Alex twisted her torso to stretch out her back.

Eris reached into her pocket, checked her watch, then adopted a slight tinge of red on her face.

"So, uhh... I guess it's time for another session?"

Jaxie raised an eyebrow. "I mean, we could. We might want to clean up first, though."

Eris took another look between them and found an agreement. While Eris had been crafting, Alex and Jaxie were dueling other students. All three were sticky with sweat, Eris had streaks of soot plastering her skin, and the two combatants had a number of small bruises and a few splotches of blood. Having a passionate makeout session in this condition would have been less than ideal. Alex cleared her throat.

"So we'll all go back to our dorms and get cleaned up, then meet up again... where?"

"Eris's dorm?" Jaxie suggested with a grin. "It gives us a chance to meet the princess."

Eris wasn't quite sure how to feel about that, but hesitantly agreed. Upon getting back to her room, she saw a new sign hanging on the door- one that was little more than a plank of wood and some painted letters. It didn't have varnish and finish like the others, nor was the paint very well applied. Obviously, Bailey must have thrown it together sometime today.

Knock 4 Fukky

(maybe)

Eris opted to knock as she slowly opened the door. "Hey, it's me." She was expecting the door to swing open and reveal Bailey sitting on some horny guy's lap, or on her back getting railed by a futa, or on her knees in between a girl's legs and eating her out. She expected moans, and grunts, and the sights of sex.

Instead, it was the sound of a shower running and Bailey's chipper voice calling out over the noise. "Cheers! You wanting a shower?"

"Yeah, but I can wait!" Eris called back, grabbed the 'Unavailable' sign, and replaced the one currently hanging from the door before closing it. However, she paused at Bailey's next words.

"What's the problem? Come join me!"

Eris looked towards the open door of the washroom. At the same time, the closed shower curtain pulled to the side just a touch while Bailey's head poked out. "I don't mind."

"Uhh..." was all Eris could say. Bailey rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Your casual sex teacher is telling you to get in this shower, so that's what you're gonna do. Now chop chop."

Eris hesitantly nodded and tried to focus on the 'lesson' of the morning. Of course, a bit of goofy dancing was a distance from scrubbing Bailey's soapy body, but Eris couldn't deny that the thought excited her. She pulled off her dirty clothes and put them in the laundry basket before stepping into the washroom. It was steamy and humid. Bailey pulled the curtain wide open for Eris to step in before closing it behind her.

"You take the water for now- I'm still shampooing my hair."

She backed away in the small space towards the wall, leaving just enough room for Eris to step into the stream. Despite the situation, Eris couldn't deny that the water felt nice on aching muscles. She could feel the grime of the day rinsing away, and shamefully got to enjoy the sight of a naked Bailey tilting her head and working suds through a ridiculous amount of hair. Each little movement made her chest jiggle pleasantly but Eris managed to eek out a laugh.

"I have no idea how you can stand that hair."

Bailey grinned. "A pain in the ass to wash and it gets tangled in everything within a thirty-foot radius. On the other hand, it's poofy, fun, and I like it."

"It would drive me insane."

"I'm used to it."

Eris looked around. "Where's the soap?"

"Oh, the shampoo. It's an all-purpose formula I made- it can take a tar stain out of an oil spill. Here, I've got you."

Before Eris could say anything, Bailey used her still-soapy hands and started rubbing them along the redhead's skin. She probably felt the way Eris tensed at the action and rolled her eyes using her entire head.

"Oh, for the love of- chill the fuck out!"

"Sorry..." Eris ducked her head. Bailey laughed then stepped up right behind Eris. Breasts squished into Eris's back and soapy hands slid around her torso.

"Do you remember this morning? What's step number one to being more comfortable about sex?"

Eris had to think hard given the distractions of Bailey's, well... everything. "Uh, nudity?"

Bailey patted her stomach. "Good girl."

Eris tried not to let the unexpected praise show anything on her face while Bailey kept talking.

"Step one is being comfortable with nudity." She looked down over Eris's shoulder at her wet and naked body before tilting her gaze back up with a grin. "Check. Step two is being comfortable with physical contact."

Both of Bailey's hands slid upwards to cover Eris's breasts, making the shorter girl shudder. Bailey chuckled. "Check. Showering together is an excellent way to practice both of those steps. As for step three, that's the most important, but also the most difficult."

Eris was afraid to ask. "... What's step three?"

Bailey lowered her hands once more and wrapped them around Eris's stomach in a reverse hug. "Step three is being comfortable with people. None of the other steps matter if you can't relax around the people you're doing it with."

"How, uhh... how do I relax?"

Bailey didn't answer for many moments. She just kept her chin resting on Eris's shoulder with a lazy smile and gently swayed both of them back and forth. As anxiety-inducing as the situation was, Eris couldn't deny that it felt nice. Having a soft, warm body pressed up against her while hot water sprayed down her front and washed away a hard day of work? Very, very pleasing.

"By seeing people as friends instead of strangers."

"A little vague, but okay. Speaking of friends..."

Eris stumbled over her words when Bailey let go of the backwards hug, grabbed a small labelless bottle, poured out some thick, pale green liquid, and started idly spreading suds across the redhead's body.

"I-uhh... is it okay if I have a few over for a little bit?"

"Of course- it's your room as much as mine. What for?"

When Eris blushed and failed to answer immediately, Bailey giggled. "Ah, I gotcha. Did you want me to leave for a few hours?"

"No- it's fine. We weren't gonna do anything, like... too much. Just uhh- some... kissing and fondling? Plus, they actually want to meet you."

"People usually do and for a lot of different reasons." She grinned and made sure to spread a healthy portion of soap over Eris's breasts. "Well, you lot can enjoy second base all you want, I don't mind at all. Actually, doing it while I'm in the room will probably help you get more comfortable about it. Help you realise it's only as big a deal as you make it out to be, you know?"

Eris nodded quickly and stood still like a board as Bailey finished a soapy, slippery, and completely shameless scrubbing of her entire torso. When she was done, Bailey cupped both of Eris's boobs and gave a few playful bounces that managed to pull a giggle from the blushing redhead.

"Alright, let me get the water now. You can give me a good scrub while I rinse my hair and then I'll help you shampoo yours."

The bottle of super-soap was placed in Eris's hand and the pair swapped positions. Bailey hung her head forward so that her thick sheets of hair draped in front of her like a curtain as she meticulously raked her fingers through it to work out all of the cleaning agent. After a while of Eris standing there awkwardly, Bailey looked back under her arm and gave a soft wiggle that went through her entire body.

"Make sure you really wash out under my tits- the boob sweat can get pretty intense sometimes."