Vol.4 Ch.18 – Girl Talk

Chapter 18: Girl Talk

Abigail Peterson was making music in the cafeteria again. Music was her way to deal with the world. It was something she did when she was happy, when she was sad or when she was angry. Right now, she was making music because she was frustrated.

Jeanne had called her the best supporter at Project Divinity and then she'd knocked her out in a single strike. That alone would have been frustrating enough. The fact that Elaine had still managed to win without her support, that she'd never needed the alleged best supporter at the project, that drove her up a wall. She was useless and she knew it. And the worst part was that there was a way for her to become useful. It would be quite easy, in fact. A single night with Rachel and Jeanne would make her just as strong as Elaine was. Or at least it would put her in the same weight class. All it would take would be for Abigail to betray everything she believed in.

She didn't want to use sex to get ahead. The very idea repulsed her. It had practically been expected of her back when she had just been a singer and the fact that what drove her away back then was coming back to haunt her disgusted her.

In all fairness, it wasn't the same. This wasn't some greasy old guy helping to promote her in exchange for a little favor. This was the choice to sleep with two stunning women in order to become stronger. And it wasn't just about a fast-track to fame, it was about survival. But even so she hated this. Not to mention that one of the women she would need to sleep with was the woman she had lost to, the one who was, at least in part, responsible for her most recent feelings of inferiority.

And so she sang. With her lyre she sat in the cafeteria and played one sad, melancholy ballad after another. It was a bit childish, a bit melodramatic, but her audience seemed to enjoy it. And as she let her eyes roam across that audience she noticed Rachel among them.

**

There was a knock at Mare's door.

After Elaine and Jeanne had left Mare had gone back to her room. She'd done enough memory diving yesterday to last her the whole week and she felt too awkward to just sit and talk to Aurora and so she'd gone back to her room to read in peace. It gave her time to process everything that had happened. She had a new Awakener now, an Awakener who was at least physically attracted to her, an Awakener who had seemed genuinely impressed with her fighting earlier. It was a novel experience for her.

She hadn't thought of Alejandro as neglectful but after getting even just a glimpse of how Elaine acted the man now seemed cold by comparison. Or at least cold to her. She knew he could be quite different, both to the guys he fancied and even to the girls who were extroverted enough to approach him but for Mare neither of those had applied.

But even so, Elaine was probably still busy talking to Jeanne and, even if she wasn't, she had an entire harem to care about so Mare was certain it wouldn't be her knocking at her door. Honestly, she should be annoyed at that. Before yesterday she'd never had visitors, even when diving into Alejandro's memories it had been in his room, but now she seemingly couldn't catch a quiet moment to read. It was completely irrational to be annoyed at it, however. She had gone out of her way to end her own isolation and so the last thing she should do now was to be upset at it.

The real question was who could it be. She really wanted to yell the question from the cozy safety of her bed but nobody but her would be able to open her door and so she got up and opened the door to find Aurora standing there looking bashful.

“Hi,” the little fairy princess said.

“Hey,” Mare said, her voice turning as gentle as she could make it. “Something wrong?”

“You seemed like you could use some company,” Aurora said softly.

God, how lonely did she seem if even this girl, who had been through so much, could see it? It was something Mare would stew over later, but not now. Aurora clearly wanted the company just as much as she thought Mare did and so she let her in.

“What were you doing?” Aurora asked as she entered the room.

“I was just reading,” Mare muttered, suddenly bashful. She didn't like talking about herself and reading sounded like such a dorky thing to do.

“I really should get back into reading,” Aurora said. “It's just... hard to focus on anything right now.”

“Too much on your mind?” Mare asked. She normally hated small talk but this wasn't, really.

“Yeah,” Aurora said. “Last night I just sifted through my memories until I fell asleep. How can I lose myself in other worlds if my own memories feel new to me?”

“It's not like you have to read,” Mare said. “If I had something more interesting to do I probably wouldn't, either.”

“And you aren't right now,” Aurora said, a little smug.

Mare chuckled. True enough. Talking to Aurora definitely fell under having something better to do than reading.

**

“Can you teach me about... that kind of stuff?” Alexis asked, her voice very quiet. She'd stopped Cassie after dinner and asked him if he could help her with something.

Honestly, after Cassie had caught Alexis and Elaine having sex in the infirmary he had expected her to avoid him. She seemed like the kind of person who would take a while to live down the memory of being seen riding her girlfriend's giant cock while two fingers were spreading her ass open.

But she hadn't tried to avoid him. Even more, she'd approached him to ask about butt stuff when she could instead have talked to Evelyn. He wasn't quite sure why but he was happy she had. Evidently she wasn't bothered by her girlfriend dating a boy after all. It was a real concern. Alexis was a lesbian, only okay with Elaine's something-extra because Elaine was a woman first and foremost. But now it turned out that she was comfortable enough around him to ask him about this kind of stuff.

Ordinarily he would have teased her a little, asking her to spell it out, but he was too happy about her even asking him about it.

“Wanna head to my room or yours?” he asked instead.

“Yours, if that's alright.”

**

If Abigail had been a little less professional then seeing Rachel in the crowd would have thrown her rhythm but she was a professional and so she kept playing, kept singing, all the while her mind was racing.

Had Rachel come to talk? Had she just come to listen to her music? Was she looking for someone else?

But Rachel wasn't looking for anyone else and she wasn't motioning for her to hurry up and finish. She just sat in silence, listening to Abigail's entire impromptu concert, her expressions telling Abigail that she was listening intently, that she was appreciating the music, and that she liked it.

Evidently, if Abigail wanted to talk to Rachel she'd have to be the one to approach her.

**

Mare soon found herself on her bed, being held by Aurora, practically spooning into the little pixie. She'd have preferred to be the big spoon, having a couple inches on Aurora, but the girl's wings made it impossible.

She had only realized how touch-starved she'd truly been after spending the night with Elaine but with Aurora this was all so much easier. Mare didn't have to try to appeal to and seduce Aurora, she could just be herself around the girl. And Aurora, for her part, was appreciating the quiet companionship just as much.

The two of them barely spoke. They just lay there, listening to each others' breathing. Occasionally one would say something but mostly they were just content to be quiet. It was only when Aurora's quiet breathing turned into soft snores that Mare realized the girl had fallen asleep.

**

“So, what did you want to know?” Cassie asked.

“You know...” Alexis hedged.

Cassie snorted. “I'm not Elaine. I'm not trying to get you to say something naughty. I know you want to talk about butt stuff. But it's a pretty broad topic.” He paused, then decided to be a little bit mean after all. “I mean, I already know that I won't have to tell you that it can feel great.”

Alexis blushed but she didn't look away in embarrassment.

“So, what do you want to know?” he asked again. “Have you done it already?”

“N-no,” Alexis admitted. “That's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about. Elaine told me if I want it then I should train myself for it. So I thought that...” The girl was clearly trying to find a tactful way to say that Cassie knew a thing or two about taking Elaine's giant cock up his ass and so he took pity on her.

“I can tell you how to get ready, sure. But I probably don't have to tell you that Elaine is way above average.” The girl nodded and Cassie continued: “And so you will have to do more prep work than normal.”

“Like?”

“Ever use dildos?” he asked.

She shook her head.

“Then start small,” he said, then opened up the drawer in his nightstand that held all his choice toys.

He'd actually gone on a short trip with Elaine to Albion, to find if his luggage was still there. And he'd found it, just the way he'd packed it on his way back from a con to New York City. The few toys he'd brought with him on the trip paled in comparison to the positively eclectic collection of toys he had back at his apartment but they were some of his favorites. Of course, the fact that Rachel sold sex toys from the replicator for a pittance of Credits also helped. And so he pulled out a string of anal beads from the drawer, alongside a bottle of lube. He held both out to Alexis, who hesitated.

“Oh don't be like that,” he said. “Of course they're clean.”

Only then did Alexis take them.

“That's rule number one, by the way,” he said. “Always clean your toys, and properly.”

“Y-yeah,” Alexis said.

Cassie bit his lip. “You don't have to answer this if you don't want to but... Have you used any other toys before?”

Alexis blushed furiously. “I had one of those bullet vibes back home,” she finally admitted.

Cassie chuckled as he looked at her. Oh boy, he had a lot to teach her.