The twins’ handwriting was terrible, as always.

Mei’Lin’s was loopy and dramatic, Kai’Lin’s was cramped like she was trying to fit a novel onto a receipt, and together the report read as if two people had arm-wrestled over the pen mid-sentence. Aegis had gotten used to it.

She walked through the east wing corridor with the paper held up, scanning the relevant parts. Another shadow mage identified, mainly because he had the same weird patterns as the others. Irregular class attendance, late-night movement through the lower halls, a preference for isolated seating, etc. The twins had noted his name along with a... very admirable attempt at a sketch of his face.

Aegis folded the report and tucked it into her coat.

To their credit, the twins were good at this, nyaing around campus innocently, like they weren’t cataloguing everyone’s suspicious behavior. They were doing good work.

She pushed open the door to her dorm.

[Well. This is surprising.]

Scarlett was on the couch with her boots off and her feet on the table, which was normal, for her. Kanna was sitting in the armchair across from her, back straight, hands on her knees, which was also normal, for her.

What was less normal was where they were, the looks on their faces, and Talia’s absence.

"Your wifey had some Noble Consortium thing," Scarlett said, before Aegis could ask. "Something about the formal observation terms and, like, three other big words. She’ll be back late."

"Uh huh..." Aegis nodded slowly, amused. "And you two are here because...?"

Scarlett grinned.

"We figured you could use some company. You know, help you relax a little."

Aegis turned to Kanna, one brow up.

Kanna’s ears went red.

"You’re in on this too?" Aegis asked.

"...Scarlett said," Kanna started, before Scarlett interrupted her.

"Scarlett told Kanna that it would be fun and Kanna agreed."

Kanna’s blush deepened.

"... I did."

[Okay then.]

Scarlett stood up, crossed the room, and kissed her, one hand going to the back of Aegis’s head, and that was more or less the end of the conversation.

Scarlett pulled Aegis over to the couch, her big hands grabbing Aegis’s waist and pulling her down into her lap. Aegis felt Scarlett’s cock stiffening against her thigh through her pants almost immediately.

"Get over here," Aegis said to Kanna without breaking the kiss.

A pause. Then the chair creaked, footsteps crossed the room, and Kanna’s hand touched Aegis’s shoulder, tentative. Aegis broke away from Scarlett, turned, grabbed Kanna by the front of her shirt, and pulled her into a kiss too. Soon, her hands were on Aegis’s hips and she was kissing back, slower than Scarlett.

Scarlett was already undoing Aegis’s pants from behind, her mouth on Aegis’s neck, her cock pressing hard against Aegis’s ass through the fabric.

Clothes came off fast after that. Scarlett’s uniform hit the floor first, then Kanna’s, then Aegis’s, and the three of them ended up on the bed, tangled.

"How do you want us, my lady?" Scarlett murmured against Aegis’s ear, her hand stroking Aegis’s cock lazily.

"Both. At the same time."

"Greedy."

"I am a noble now, after all."

Scarlett grinned. Kanna nodded.

They positioned themselves with Aegis in the middle. Kanna lay back against the headboard and Aegis straddled her, pushing her pussy down onto Kanna’s cock with a long, shaky exhale. Kanna’s hands gripped Aegis’s thighs, her jaw clenching, her brown eyes wide as Aegis took her all the way in.

Then Scarlett went behind her. A slicked finger pressed against Aegis’s ass, working her open, and Aegis leaned forward against Kanna’s chest to give her room. Scarlett took her time, which was uncharacteristic, one finger, then two, stretching Aegis until she was rocking back onto her hand and begging for more.

When Scarlett finally pushed her cock in alongside Kanna’s, Aegis’s vision went white for a second. Both of them inside her, filling her completely, Kanna in her pussy and Scarlett in her ass, and the pressure was overwhelming in the best way possible.

"Oh, fuck," Aegis gasped, her fingers digging into Kanna’s shoulders. "Oh, fuck, that’s—yeah, that’s—"

"You good?" Scarlett asked from behind, her voice strained with the effort of holding still.

"Move. Both of you. Now."

They did just that. Kanna thrust up from below while Scarlett drove in from behind, and they found a rhythm almost immediately, alternating strokes so that Aegis was never empty, one pulling out as the other pushed in. Aegis was caught between them, bouncing on Kanna’s cock while Scarlett pounded her ass, her own dick bobbing and leaking against Kanna’s stomach.

Kanna was quiet, focused, her hands firm on Aegis’s hips as she fucked up into her with deep, controlled thrusts. Scarlett was the opposite, grunting against Aegis’s neck, her big hands gripping Aegis’s waist hard enough to bruise, slamming into her with the kind of force that made the headboard slam against the wall.

Aegis came first, untouched, her cock pulsing against Kanna’s abs as she clenched around both of them. The orgasm ripped through her hard enough that her arms gave out and she collapsed against Kanna’s chest, shaking, and the tightening of her body dragged Kanna over the edge seconds later. Kanna came inside her with a sharp, bitten-off moan, her hips stuttering, and the feeling of being filled pushed Aegis into aftershock.

Scarlett lasted another minute, fucking Aegis through both their orgasms, before she slammed in one final time and came with a growl against the back of Aegis’s neck, her cock buried deep in Aegis’s ass.

They stayed like that for a while, panting, tangled together, cum leaking out of Aegis from both ends.

"Good relaxation technique," Aegis mumbled against Kanna’s collarbone.

"Told you," Scarlett said. "Round 2?"

Aegis rolled her eyes playfully.

But she didn’t say no.

---

Late that night, Aegis sat cross-legged on Sylceris’s dorm room floor, her back against the bed frame, a cup of tea in her hands that had gone lukewarm twenty minutes ago.

Sylceris was on the bed above her, one leg dangling off the edge, tossing a ball of shadow energy between her hands like a stress toy.

"So you’re telling me," Sylceris said, "that Commander Korvo once fought a bear with his bare hands and won?"

"I’m telling you that’s the rumor. Personally, I think the bear gave up because Korvo’s face scared it."

Sylceris snorted. Actually snorted. A real, unguarded sound that she immediately tried to cover by clearing her throat.

They’d been like this for an hour. Just talking, joking, shooting the shit about professors and classmates and stupid academy gossip. No politics, no shadow mage agenda, no Umbral Blade recruitment pitches. Just two people hanging out.

And Aegis could feel it, the wall that Sylceris kept around herself getting thinner every time they were alone together. She joked more. She relaxed more. She looked at Aegis more, and the looks lasted longer.

Like right now.

Sylceris was looking at her from the bed, the shadow ball gone from her hands, her dark eyes steady and warm. Aegis looked back, her tea forgotten.

"What?" Aegis said.

Sylceris didn’t answer. She just leaned down, took Aegis’s chin between her thumb and forefinger, tilted her face up, and kissed her.

Soft. Brief. Her lips were warm and dry and she tasted faintly like the same tea Aegis was holding.

She pulled back and looked at Aegis, searching her face for a reaction.

[+30 affection]

[Favorability: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️]

Aegis smiled up at her.

"Took you long enough."

Sylceris’s ears went dark and she looked away.

"Shut up."

After that, Aegis walked back to her quarters with her hands in her pockets and a grin on her face that could’ve lit up the whole corridor.

[Five hearts with the shadow mage. Four with the church inquisitor. Both sides of the board are mine.]

She turned a corner, humming to herself.

[Checkmate’s coming. They just don’t know it yet.]