The lighting in the main room was dimmer now, mirroring the conditions of the fading light of day outside. The walls were a deeper shade of gray. Evren’s eyes were drawn to the small figure of his roommate. She was facing away from him, still busy adjusting her dance outfit.
Black leather on porcelain white skin. She looked amazing!
He stopped to watch her nimble fingers smoothing over the material. She sensed his eyes on her and looked up with a smile.
“Could you run these straps through the loops in the back, for me please?”
“Sure,” he croaked, closing the distance between them, he took the narrow belts that she was offering. “I’ll just… could you turn in the other direction, so I can see what I’m doing?”
“Oh, sure.” she smiled, then turned around giving him that lovely view of her pale back once again. He could see that she was tensed up. She had stopped what she was doing and was waiting for him to start.
“I wanted to mention earlier, but your story… the way you were talking about us supporting each other,” she said, then paused. “It sounded like you really liked me… I mean the girl that looked like me... Who acted nothing like me.”
“Mmmm…” he hummed.
He didn’t trust himself to give a better response. He couldn’t deny his attraction to her. She was and is an amazing girl. But he also couldn’t confess how much power she'd had over him. He had to maintain control, no matter how soft and warm her back felt on his fingers.
The leather was supple and smelled new. He threaded it through a hole that was punched in the bottom edge of her sports bra. His fingers couldn’t help but graze her skin. His old worries that she’d scold him for touching her arose once again, but she stood perfectly still and spoke gently as he worked.
“It’s not real…”
“What?” he said with a start. What was she saying?
“The leather. It’s conjured just like most of the food around here.”
“I see,” he replied as he chose a setting for the strap and fumbled the buckle shut. “I like real meat and vegetables better than conjured. My mom always cooks with real food.”
“Your mom cooks for your family?” Lyra asked, intrigued. “I’ve never heard of that dynamic before, especially in a big family like yours…”
“Mmmm…” he hummed a reply. His eyes were on her shorts now. They sat low and loose on her hips, and from this angle he could see where her two rising buttocks began and the crack that ran enticingly between them.
He ran the strap through the loop in her shorts, pulling the material up higher around her hips. He was distressed to find that, as they rose up, they drew away from her thin body. He could see deeper beneath them, an exciting peek at her butt. She didn’t seem to be wearing any underwear.
“What does your father do while your mom’s cooking?” she asked, waking him from his reverie.
“He’s a marshal in the Brigade, or he was until a few years ago. He still works, but he doesn’t really talk about his work to us. I don’t think he’s allowed to.”
He was having a hard time fastening the bottom tightly. He had given up hope that he could do this without skin contact, and was now working with both his hands. His knuckles pressed against the small of her back and two fingers slid an inch down her shorts, holding the material tight. Her body was so warm.
Lyra said nothing now. Her hands held by her sides, as though schooling herself not to move.
Finally finishing with the first strap, he started on the second. This one was easier to manage, and he felt more comfortable. The intimate contact was quick and enjoyable. He was just helping her with her outfit.
“There, done,” he proclaimed and stepped back to look her over.
“How do I look?” she asked, spinning in a slow circle, her eyes watching him.
“Great. Are you sure this outfit isn’t too risky though?”
She laughed and made a sleek, seductive pose.
“Don’t worry about me, Evren. No one’s going to care if I show some skin. Although…” her eyes twinkled as she pulled at one of the straps. “If you didn’t fasten them properly, my pants might fall down and everyone will see my slit.”
She spread her legs and gestured between with a smile.
Evren’s face turned white. He’d never heard her say anything like that before… hearing her talk about her genitals sent a shiver down his spine.
“Gods, Lyra! When did you start talking so dirty! And why aren’t you wearing underwear?”
“Relax, Evren. It feels better this way. Are you sure I can’t convince you to come with us? It’s going to be fun.”
He shook his head. “Nuh uh, that’s not my idea of fun. Just don’t get into trouble… and stay away from the bubbly drinks. I heard juniors add alcohol to them!”
“You sound like my father,” she replied, taking his hands in hers, then the lightness left her voice. She looked up at him with a raw, needy look, saying, “I’ll miss you.”
He smiled back at her.
“I’ll miss you, too.”
* * * * * * * * *
After Lyra left, the room felt empty and lifeless, but at the same time Evren felt like he could relax for the first time that day. He looked around with a satisfied nod. They had done a good job cleaning the walls and floor, but there were still a few things that needed to be done.
Walking down the short hall to the toilet felt like he was heading deeper underground. The lighting was dim and the way was narrow.
It was dusty, but not filthy. It didn’t smell at all, which meant the ‘odorless’ enchantment must still be working, but it looked like this space was unused for years. Somehow, the air in this room smelled fresher than the main room. Why was that?
Feeling his hands along the wall, Evren was surprised to find several sizable holes in the wall. They were magically concealed, and even when his hand passed into them, he couldn’t see how big or deep they were.
“What is this? Some sort of venting system?” he asked himself.
He stuck his hand into one of them and felt around. His hand passed by a foot or two of solid rock, before the space opened up and was met with cool, open air.
“Is there a space behind this wall?”
Evren resolved to look into that more later, but for now he had cleaning to do. After giving the toilet a quick dusting, and checking what supplies they had, he went back to the main room to look more into the sleeping arrangements.
The queen-sized bed was dusty as well, and the bedspread needed to be hung outside in the fresh air. He pulled the thick cottony comforter off the bed and admired the mattress. It was well-sewn and thick. Feathers stuck out here and there, giving him a small chance at being poked through the night.
He smiled and laid down for a quick moment. It was worth being poked to sleep in such cloudy-soft luxury.
The comforter overfilled his arms, but he managed to get it outside without dragging it across the floor. The sky had faded to a darker shade of blue overhead, and there were barely any students moving about on the various paths and stairways.
Evren took a moment to breath in the air and reflect on Room #E305.
It really was the best place he’d ever lived. It was quiet here, on the cusp of two zones, E3 and E2. As the end cul-de-sac, the only people that ever came here were the five pairs of students who lived in E301 to E305. And because it was a corner lot, the regular 10 foot deep terrace was swapped out for a much wider triangle of flat stone, which the neighbors used as shared space between themselves.
There was a clothesline secured to the two close walls, which ran along the long side of the triangular terrace. At seven feet off the ground, Evren was the only person he knew who could hang laundry without straining himself. He gave the comforter a couple of mighty shakes, watching with satisfaction as a cloud of dust rained off of it. Then he slung it over the line, and left it there. No cleaning spell could reproduce the lovely smell of fresh air.
He could hear the sound of girls chattering excitedly floating up from some not-so-distant location. The dance must be in full swing by now. He hoped that Lyra and her friends were having a good time.
“Excuse me.”
A small voice spoke from directly behind him. Evren’s heart skipped a beat and he spun around, nearly knocking a girl over. Where had she come from?
“You’re one of the freshman boys, aren’t you?”
She was a tiny thing, and she was standing much closer than made him feel comfortable. If he wasn’t careful, he may have crushed her.
“Huh… Yes, I’m a freshman,” he replied, stepping back.
She looked up at him with big, dark eyes and round cheeks. She was super cute, but something about her weirded him out. Her smile looked manic; a little too big and unmoving. Also, when he stepped away, she moved into that space and was instantly too close once again.
“You live right here, don’t you?” she said, pointing to E305. It was more of a statement than a question. “I live right there,” she added, pointing to a small entrance at the end of the triangle. Had that room always been there?
Evren was still moving away from her, and she kept stepping forward, leading to a little dance where it seemed the girl was slowly chasing him around in a circle.
Wait! There was something familiar about this girl. Evren stopped, and she ran nose-first right into him. Her face was buried in his chest.
“You’re Mae, aren’t you!”
“That’s right,” she said from the depths of his shirt. She wasn’t stepping back and Evren was forced to seize her with both hands and hold her at arm’s length.
“What’s your name?” she asked with another too-big smile.
She was so light and tiny in his hands, that he could lift her off the ground with ease. She was wearing a hoodie that covered half her body. Didn't this girl ever wear her uniform?
“Call me Evren. I am so glad to see you, Mae,” he exclaimed, shaking her in his excited grasp.
“You are?” she asked, bewildered. She flopped around like a ragdoll, but her smile didn’t slip. “No boy’s ever said that to me before.”
Evren suddenly realized that he was holding her way too tight, so he lowered her to the ground once more, releasing his grip on her. She wasn’t upset. To the contrary, she looked disappointed.
“Oh, uh. Sorry about that. I got over-excited. But I need to get to the Hall of Records, and you’re the only person I know who knows how to get there.”
“You know me?” she asked timidly. “Have you been watching me or something?”
“No, I haven’t been watching you. I'm not a stalker,” he laughed.
She laughed as well, nervously. “Yeah, I guess watching people when they don’t know you’re there is kinda weird.”
He gave her a serious look, and thought about what to say. How could he let her know that they’d met already, even if she didn’t remember them meeting? He swallowed his hesitation and decided just to charge ahead.
“I met you in another reality, where boys and girls are reversed. You were a senior at the time and I was a junior, though I guess that you’re a junior now…? Anyway, you were studying maps in the Hall of Records, when I got lost and I wandered in to ask you for help… Does any of this sound familiar to you?”
Mae was watching him with that strange smile painted on her face. Her left eye twitched a bit.
“I can’t believe you know who I am. I just want to say that you look so good and I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about…”
“So… you don’t know what I’m talking about?”
“Nope. Honestly, you sound pretty crazy.” Then she covered her mouth, seemingly aware, after the fact, of what she’d said. “Crazy in a good way! Cute boy crazy is the best kind of crazy!”
Evren sighed.
“Do you know of a place called the Hall of Records, somewhere near Zone 4G?”
She shook her head.
“Never heard of it. And I’ve been to so many places. Most of my time, I spend exploring the Nexus. It’s really fun.”
“Mmm… then I guess that means you just haven’t found it yet, Mae.” Evren concluded. Looking at her once again, he felt hope swelling within him. “Can I ask you a favor?”
“Sure, anything!”
“If you ever come across a place with ancient maps and protective wards on all its walls, could you tell me about it right away?”
“Okay!” she replied enthusiastically. Then she got a small sly look on her face and added, “I’ll do that for you, but doesn’t that mean you owe me a favor?”
“I guess it does…” he answered suspiciously.
“Hehe… Okay, just checking.”
Mae’s face contorted into a grin so big, and the cat ears on her hoodie, which Evren had thought were decorative, twitched. She looked like a wicked little gremlin. Chuckling to herself now, her arms vibrated in her over-sized sleeve.
“A cute boy owes me a favor…” she whispered under her breath.