Evren was reluctant to leave. There were things left unsaid between him and Marshal Yulia. He had cast spells with her and pumped her pool full with his mana. Supporting a girl in this way left an impression on one's body. It’s what support casters called ‘forming a bond,’ and Evren felt it harder than most.
When he supported a woman, he opened his heart to her… stayed with her… grew addicted to her.
But Yulia had turned away, deep in thought while she gazed into the crackling inferno that lit up the room. She was still holding her robe tight, which naturally drew his attention to her amazing rear end.
Evren remembered the feeling of her full, round derriere, so soft and resilient, against his cheek. He hesitated, not wanting to leave.
“Thank you, Marshal Yulia,” he called once more, longing for her to turn and face him, but she didn’t seem to hear.
“Come on, Evren,” Warden Hugo said primly. “The Marshal needs her space. I'll show you to your new dorm room.”
Evren nodded, allowing the Warden to take his hand and lead him out of the hall, back into the bright morning light. Hugo had dark well-trimmed hair, and was dressed in standard caster robes, plain and beige, though on him they looked sophisticated. He didn’t speak yet, and as they walked in silence, Evren struggled with how to break the ice between them.
His hand was already sweaty, and the moisture forming between his palm and Hugo's was uncomfortable.
“I’m not used to this,” he finally said, gesturing.
“Used to what? Holding hands?”
“Yeah.”
Hugo scoffed. Then he spoke softly, but his words contained an edge that told Evren that he was sharing important advice.
“If you can’t even hold hands with a boy, then how to you expect to partner with a girl? Caster girls judge you on how you react to their touch. Word will get out… boys that can’t even touch girls are labelled as ‘touch-averse,’ and then the best partners in your class won’t even look at you.”
An incredulous feeling hit him. A moment where he thought about girls reaching for him. “Are you saying that girls are going to be grabbing me? Many different girls and I should just be okay with it?”
“Ugh, well of course when you say it like that, it sounds terrible. Just be ready to make arm and hand contact… your casting points. You don’t have to like it, but don’t shy away from their hands. And don't worry about sweaty palms. Most girls don't mind boys who sweat, though you should avoid girls who enjoy it too much."
Hugo lowered his voice and whispered into his ear, "There are a few perverts every year."
Continuing on, Hugo sounded like a Magister launching into a lecture.
"If a girl tries to touch your face or legs, that’s not something you have to put up with. Give her a warning and step away.
If she pursues it further or if she ever reaches under your robes, shout for help and find someone you trust fast. Usually that's your support partner, but if you need a man, there’s always a male caster on duty at the Brigade office in Zone A1. Go there if you need to report any inappropriate contact. Even if it is concerning a supporting partner. The Academy takes these claims very seriously.”
“Oh, okay…” Evren responded.
He lapsed into deep thought, as the two of them climbed the long set of stairs towards the level of the dorms. The steps the Warden had listed sounded eerily like instructions given to girls to avoid being assaulted by a boy. There wasn't a hint of satire or lightness in his voice. Warden Hugo was being 100% serious about reporting girls. It was as though the roles of boys and girls had been flipped. But just how far did this gender flip extend?
He thought back to his days as a freshman, and how one of the boys in his class had been expelled due to lewd conduct with his partner. Though caster girls outnumbered the boys, there had been many girls who refused boys’ partner requests, and this boy had ended up forcing a kiss on the girl while he touched her body. Wait, did that also mean…?
“Warden Hugo, what would happen if I kissed my partner?”
Hugo stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes grew serious, and he said stiffly, “I knew the moment I saw your excessive skin-to-skin with the Marshal that I needed to talk with you… boy-to-boy.”
“Right, boy-to-boy,” Evren nodded, then confusedly asked, “Is it about kissing?”
“Yes, it's about kissing. Don't kiss your partner! Consider the kind of message that may be sending to a girl you live with and who might want more than just partnership.”
“Okay, no kissing. By the way, I do know how to live with girls. I have lived with lots of girls, so I’m not clueless about that. I have sisters…”
“Hmm… Sisters. Okay.” Hugo replied.
He was walking again, and once again he’d slipped his arm into Evren’s, like they were best friends. He appeared to be weighing his words, before he spoke again.
“Sisters aren’t quite the same as a partner relationship, but it’s a start. Think about this. In the next few hours, you’re going to meet a girl who you will be sharing a room, spending all your time with, and upon whom your success at the Academy will depend. So, tell me… What do you think is the first thing you should do when you meet her?”
Evren’s mind went blank. He already knew what to do during the first meeting. He’d been assigned four partners so far in his student career, but that was before the world got all mixed up. By now, Hugo must think he was an idiot, giving clueless responses to basic questions, but the truth was that he didn't know what to do with girls in these new circumstances. He just knew not to kiss them!
There was a long silence, while Evren decided how best to respond to the question.
“I would try to spend time with her, get to know her, and learn about her interests to… y’know… grow closer to her.”
Hugo patted him on the shoulder, waiting for him to continue, but when it was clear that Evren was done talking, he replied tactfully.
“That’s very nice, Evren, and any girl would be thrilled if you did that, but showing interest and asking questions on the first day… that’s sending the wrong message.”
“What?”
“Mmm hmm… In fact, it’s better not to ask any personal questions, instead of too many. If you, the boy, show too much interest, you may be giving her the wrong impression, and she might think that you want to be her boyfriend…”
Evren couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Not only did Hugo make it sound like girls would be eager to have him as a boyfriend, but he made it sound like getting a girlfriend would be a bad thing.
“Ohh…” Evren said, trying to process this change in logic. “So, dating my partner is a bad idea? But what if I really like her?”
“Well, there are many strong partnerships that evolve into dating relatinships, but starting to date BEFORE you've developed a partner relationship. That could cause problems. What would you do if you started dating a girl and a few months later, you discover her Casting Rank is bottom half? Your rank is dragged down too, and then she's dismissed! When you return in your junior year and she's not around, it's YOU who has to start over from the beginning.”
All the time, Hugo was speaking slowly, trying to break the issue down for Evren, really sounding it out for him. The thought occurred to Evren that Hugo couldn't possibly believe that he'd completed his freshman year, when he was clueless in these partnership matters. Despite that, the Warden's voice was filled with patience, as he lectured him.
“No, it’s better not to appear overly-friendly. In fact, the only thing you should really need to do is set clear boundaries for the girl right from the start.”
“Boundaries? Like a line on the floor?”
“I wouldn’t go that far. Just like with the hand-holding, you don't want to appear touch-averse. No, by boundaries, I mean you need a set of rules for your cohabitation to work for both of you; tell her what she can or can’t do. And make sure she knows that if she breaks a rule, there will be consequences.”
Evren’s mind was clouding over again. He could not even think of one thing in the past he'd told his females partners not to do. There were plenty of things Lyra had told him not to do...
Oooohh! The roles were reversed now.
“Could you give me an example of a boundary… maybe something that you set with your partner?”
“Well, my situation is a little different from most,” Hugo smiled, immediately warming up to the question. “Because my partner, ever since freshman year, has been my twin sister.”
“Oh, do you mean Warden Tilo? Is she your sister?”
“Yes, she and I joined together, graduated as Top Casters together, and climbed the ranks of the Brigade hand-in-hand. So I never had to get to know any new partners or share my bed with a complete stranger.”
“Will I have to share my bed?” Evren asked, his deep voice rose an octave in surprise.
“Well, yes. But most freshmen don’t do that until a mutual trust is established. If you can’t trust the girl or you’re not comfortable, don’t share your bed. Speaking of boundaries, my sister used to interrupt my writing with the most ridiculous questions. Well, I told her on the first day, if she was interrupting my studies for no good reason, she’d be sleeping on the floor.”
They had just reached a familiar turn in Zone E3, and Evren was caught off-guard by the direction they were headed. But Hugo was speaking so fast and freely, that he didn’t want to jump in.
“Well, at first Tilo didn't take my rule seriously, bothering me whenever she felt like it. But she learned! In our first week together, she slept on the floor 5 times, and after that she never interrupted me when I’m studying.”
“I see… Warden Hugo, are you by any chance escorting me to room E305?”
“Yes, that’s right. Here it is, your new dorm room.”
The two of them stopped right in front of his old room. By all accounts, it looked exactly as it had when he’d left it to go to the Junior Dance. The stones were all well-polished, and the rosebush was blooming, but there were subtle differences, too, and he knew that things had changed since he’d left it less than a day before.
“Now Evren, these are your living quarters, and you should make them your own. Sure, you’ll be sharing them with a girl right away, but remember that if things don’t work out, then that girl will be leaving and someone else will move in, but this will always be your living quarters.”
“I see…”
Evren’s mind raced with questions about shared beds and consequences. He wanted to sit down and ask him about a million other things, but he could see that the Warden was in a rush to get back to the Crystal Field. Still, something big was bothering him.
Evren looked Hugo in the eye and asked him the question that was on his mind.
“How will I know if the partnership is not working out?”
Hugo touched a hand to his face and smiled at him reassuringly.
“Silly boy, how could you possibly claim to be a junior caster and not know that… You’re a boy, and a boy always knows if it's working out or not. Listen to your heart and think with your head.”
With that, Hugo turned and strode confidently away, leaving Evren with a new understanding. He felt a great weight lifted off his chest. It was no longer the girls who chose their support partner. The support partners, it was up to the boys to decide now.