Natalie woke up with a soft, warm body tucked into hers. pared to the idle chaos—even at the dead of night—of forty women packed into a cramped barracks, it was an immediately noticeable improvement. She sighed in satisfa, snuggling in closer. The arm Sammy set hadn’t gone off, which meant they had a few moments, maybe more, to bask.

  One jump-skip ter, apparently having fallen back asleep, a bring noise woke Natalie. Uhe vibrating glyph, Sammy had the more typical version, and the jarring noise was as terrible as she remembered. She groaned even as her bed-partner spped down on the cursed object, cutting the noise off.

  Sammy let out a long, displeased noise, which accurately reflected how Natalie felt, too. Sammy snuggled in closer, doubly reinf the point: both of them really didn’t want to get out of bed.

  Unfortunately, csses started soon, and she didn’t have a ge of clothes with her. She checked the clock.

  Natalie groaned again. Proper timing hadn’t been on her mind, st night, and apparently, her had it been on Sammy’s. She’d set her arm for a time veo her, not Natalie, who had to run back to the barracks to get dressed, rather than having everything ready to go in her room.

  “I’ve gotta get going,” Natalie relutly said, extrig herself. Sammy whi the sudden ck of heat. She propped up on one hand to watatalie as she went about the room, colleg the clothes she’d tossed off during st night’s … activities.

  “My eyes are up here,” Natalie said pointedly.

  “I’m well aware.” The focus of Sammy’s attention didn’t shift, though her lips did curl.

  Natalie snorted. “Wanna shower?”

  Sammy rolled over and stretched. “Nah. It’s cramped in there. You’ll hog the water.” She colpsed bato her bed then turned, quirking an eyebrow at Natalie. “And I have a feeling you’d make us te to css.”

  Natalie couldn’t defend herself from that accusation, not with fidence, so she ughed a for Sammy’s bathroom. A brisk -up ter, she exited, still damp. It’d been a rush shower. Beyond not wanting to take up too much time for Sammy’s own m routine, she had to make it to the barracks to get her uniform. It’d be a close call.

  “Talk again, soon?” Natalie asked.

  “Do you mean talk, or talk?”

  “Either?”

  Sammy seemed happy with that response. Maybe they’d both known what they wanted, setting off to the party st night, but Sammy didn’t want to be treated just as Natalie’s ‘potential y’. “You’re just trying to mooy room.”

  “It’s a big plus,” Natalie agreed with a grin.

  “Unfortunately, it’s not something you get away with, too much. Once or twice, here and there. Te won’t let you.”

  “And what, they’re watg?” Natalie had paused at the doorway, hand on the doorknob.

  “They are, actually. Those shitty barracks are one of the early motivators. Dunno how they keep tabs, but they do. This’ll probably be one of your freebies.”

  “And how many do I get?”

  “No clue.”

  Natalie sidered that. “I’ll keep it in mind.”

  “But we still talk,” Sammy said, winking. “Just, ’t stay the night each time.”

  “Works with me.” Though it had been nice having someone warm to wake up o, and the ck of bustle in the barracks.

  She waited another sed to see if the versation would tinue, but Sammy rolled out of bed, heading for the shower. She waved Natalie goodbye, who retur, then slipped out.

  ***

  She made it t practi time, though only by a few minutes. Jordan had already left. Had she waited? Natalie realized she hadn’t explicitly told her that she might not make it ba time to walk together. She had told her that Sammy had invited her to the party, though, and so Jordan had probably pieced things together.

  Was that a problem? Her and Sammy?

  What was Natalie talking about? Obviously not. Why would it be a problem? Beyond her and Jordan not being in a retionship—the fusing ‘css stuff’ aing physical intimacy wasn’t a ‘retionship’, however hot and heavy things got—Jordan had been the one encio find other partners. So even if she and Jordan had been in a retionship, then clearly she would be fih it.

  Not that they were in one. Natalie didn’t even know where this train of thought was ing from. oing. Why did thinking about Jordan in regards to this topic always leave her in such disarray?

  Just the weirdness of it all. That was it.

  She’d gotten another boost in her sedary resource ‘lust’ from her activities with Sammy, which meant she’d earwice as much as normal—both Sammy and Jordan. The ultimate goal would be to have as many girls as possible she was sistently earning points from. Which was weird, putting it like that. Turniionships into a sort of game, something to be ‘progressed’ through. But, Natalie could separate the strangeness out.

  Scheduling could get a bit weird, though. Impossible to manage effitly. The harvest skill reset once a day. A little below that, actually, though the exact timing she didn’t know. So assuming she had multiple ongoing partners, having fun with each of them once a day would be ridiculous.

  Jordan, she suspected, would be the only one ready to help her out sistently.

  Which was, uh, good.

  Not that Natalie was excited she had routine make-out—now groping, soon to be more—pns with her best friend. A purely, one-hundred pert ptonic retionship. Well. Maybe not ptoniow, by the definition of the word. But … just friends. Who made out and groped, sometimes. Er, every day.

  It was just the proper way to be handling things. Again, Natalie ying from behind, and needed as many opportuo be advang her css as she could get her hands on.

  Plus, even if under inappropriate circumstances, she’d urn down a ce to hang out with Jordan. While hooking up in bathroom stalls wasly a hobby she’d thought the two of them would pick up, she’d enjoy any time spent with Jordan.

  She pointedly pushed the messy thoughts away, walking through the polished halls of the training facility, headed for more lessons guided by Tess.

  Remembering that, she slowed, then almost stopped entirely, blushing. She was going to face Tess after … the event ihroom? Using an illusion of her to get herself off? She’d almost fotten about that, somehow.

  Well. It was just imagination with a few extra steps. It still had her cheeks burning, but it wasn’t like the event had been morally wrong. Maybe a bit questionable, but definitely not horrible.

  Aween w over that and the possibility she’d been caught … well, the sed ed her much more. But as she’d figured then, there wasn’t much she could do about it. If she had been, then the perpetrator would reveal themselves soon enough. Or if they didn’t, then she guessed the matter was settled. No point in stressing.

  So, magic lessons. More bashing her head into a wall. At least it’d take her mind off things.