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.”