Chapter 81: Playing Nice
Aegis lay sprawled on her bed like someone had dropped her from a great height and she’d just stayed that way.
Sophie’s head rested on her abs, that similar silver hair fanned out across Aegis’s stomach. Every time Aegis breathed, Sophie’s head rose and fell. It should have been a peaceful scene.
But it wasn’t.
"You keep sighing," Sophie said with an amused smile. "It’s making my head bounce."
"Sorry."
"You’re not sorry." Sophie tilted her head back to look at Aegis upside down. "What’s wrong?"
Aegis stared at the enchanted ceiling. Lune had really gone all the way with the interior painting this time. Tonight, the ceiling she painted showed storm clouds.
"I saw the catgirl twins making out."
"So?"
"What do you mean ’so’?" Aegis sat up so fast Sophie nearly rolled off the bed. "T-They’re sisters. Siblings. Related by blood."
"Yeah?" Sophie pushed herself up on her elbows. "We’re sisters and we make out all the time."
"No we don’t."
Sophie’s response was to crawl up Aegis’s body, grab Aegis’s face, and shove her tongue down her throat.
[What the—]
Sophie kissed her like she was trying to lick Aegis’s tonsils. Her tongue explored every corner of Aegis’s mouth with the dedication of a cartographer mapping new territory. She tasted like the strawberry tarts they’d had for dessert.
From across the room, Lune’s voice drifted over, calm as a lake at midnight despite the ongoing face-sucking.
"You know, instead of being shocked about the twins, you could try making friends with them."
Aegis would have responded to the suggestion but she literally couldn’t. Sophie’s tongue was still in Aegis’s mouth, currently doing something around Aegis’s own tongue that made Aegis’s brain short-circuit.
"Show them your good side," Lune continued, brush never stopping on her canvas. "Get them to like you. Then they won’t want to kill you."
Sophie pulled back. Their lips separated with a wet pop that echoed in the quiet room.
Aegis blinked up at the ceiling. A string of saliva connected her mouth with Sophie’s for a second before breaking.
"That’s actually good advice."
"I have my moments." Lune added another brushstroke. "Also, Sophie, your tongue technique needs work. From what I know, you’re supposed to tease, not excavate."
"Excuse you, I know what I’m doing. Aegis literally taught me to kiss like this!" Sophie said, then immediately proved herself right by kissing Aegis again, this time slower, deeper, her tongue sliding against Aegis’s in a way that made her dick twitch in her pants.
[Fine. Fuck it. Guess we’re doing this now.]
Aegis closed her eyes and threw a leg over Sophie, pulling her sister fully onto the bed. Sophie made a pleased sound into her mouth, hands tangling in Aegis’s hair.
"Should I leave?" Lune asked.
"Mrph," Aegis said, which Sophie was preventing from being actual words.
"I’ll take that as a no."
They made out for another five minutes before Sophie finally pulled away, lips swollen and red.
"Feel better?"
"I feel confused."
"I’d say that counts." Sophie flopped back onto Aegis’s stomach. "So you’ll make friends with the murder-y cats?"
"I’ll try."
"Good." Sophie yawned. "Wake me up when you’re getting dressed tomorrow. I wanna watch."
"I am not going to let you spectate that."
"Come oooon!" Sophie pouted.
[This world is insane.]
---
Combat Fundamentals the next morning started like every other day, with Scarlett trying to beat the shit out of training dummies while Aegis tried not to die.
"Your footwork’s getting better," Scarlett said, circling Aegis with her practice sword. "Still garbage, but better garbage."
"Thanks. That’s exactly what every girl wants to hear."
"You want me to lie?"
"I want you to—"
The door leading to the training grounds slammed open.
Serilla strutted in like she owned the place, which was becoming her signature move. She’d modified her combat uniform the same way she’d modified everything else—tighter, shorter, and probably designed to make everyone stare at her tits when she moved.
It did work, to be fair.
[God, those things are massive.]
"Sorry I’m late, Commander," she purred at Korvo, who looked like he’d rather be anywhere else. "I got lost."
"The training grounds haven’t moved in thirty years," Korvo said flatly.
"Has it been that long?" Serilla’s blue eyes found Aegis. "Time flies when you’re having fun."
She picked up a practice sword and immediately started showing off. The blade moved like water in her hands, each strike precise and powerful. She demolished three training dummies in under a minute, wood chips flying everywhere.
Half the class stopped to watch. The other half pretended not to while watching anyway.
"Impressive," Scarlett muttered.
"She’s just showing off."
"Still impressive."
Serilla finished with a flourish, pink hair barely mussed. She caught Aegis looking and winked.
[I’m going to throw her off the damn Sky Piercer.]
"Focus, Country Mouse," Scarlett said with a smirk, poking Aegis with her sword. "You’re supposed to be watching me, not the pink nightmare over there."
"I wasn’t—"
"You were drooling."
"I was not drooling!" Aegis whisper-yelled.
"Ladies," Korvo barked. "Less talking, more hitting things."
They went back to sparring. Aegis tried to concentrate, but her mind kept drifting to Lune’s advice. Make friends with the twins. Show them her good side.
[Do I have a good side?]
After class, she found them lounging under a tree, tails intertwined. They looked up as she approached, identical expressions of mild annoyance on their faces.
"Hi," Aegis said.
"No," Kai’Lin said.
"I didn’t ask anything yet."
"The answer is still no, nya."
"Look, I know we got off on the wrong foot—"
"You mean when we said we’d kill you?" Mei’Lin examined her nails. "That wasn’t the wrong foot. That was the plan."
"About that." Aegis sat down uninvited. Both twins tensed. "Why exactly do you want to kill me?"
"You cost our guild a contract," Kai’Lin said.
"The Lady Roseheart job."
"Bingo, nya."
"That wasn’t personal. I didn’t even know about the contract."
"Doesn’t matter." Mei’Lin’s tail flicked. "Guild rules. Someone interferes with a job, they pay."
Kai’Lin hissed while dragging her index finger across her neck.
[Subtly.]
"With their life?"
"Or their virginity." Kai’Lin joked with a grin, showing sharp canines. "But something tells me that ship has sailed, nya."
[Several times over.]
Aegis thought fast. The twins were mercenaries at heart. She figured that at the very least, they understood leverage.
"You know who my friends are, right?" She kept her voice casual. "Professor Nazraya. Commander Korvo. Lady Roseheart. Headmistress Valdris herself seems to like me."
"So?" Kai’Lin’s tail twitched.
"So if anything happens to me, you won’t make it out of this academy. Nazraya alone would hunt you down before you reached the gates."
The twins looked at each other. Then back at Aegis. Then they laughed again.
"We don’t care, nya," Mei’Lin said cheerfully.
"Death before dishonor!" Kai’Lin pumped her fist in the air.
"It’s about honor, nya!" Mei’Lin added. "The guild’s reputation matters more than our lives."
[Are they serious right now?]
"You’d die for a contract that’s already failed?"
"Failed because of you." Kai’Lin pointed at her. "That’s the problem, nya."
"The guild has rules," Mei’Lin explained patiently, like she was talking to a child. "Someone interferes with a job, they pay. Otherwise everyone would interfere all the time."
"But—"
"No buts!" Kai’Lin stood up. "Only death! Or..."
"Or?"
"Actually, just death, nya."
Mei’Lin nodded solemnly.
"Just death. Yours, specifically, nya."
Aegis looked between them. They were completely serious. These psychotic catgirls would rather die in a blaze of honor than back down.
[This is going nowhere.]
"Fine," Aegis said, standing up. "We’re at a stalemate then."
"Not a stalemate," Kai’Lin corrected. "A temporary pause in murder attempts."
"Because we’re in class, nya," Mei’Lin added helpfully.
"Right. That."
She walked away before they could clarify exactly when the murder attempts would resume. Behind her, she heard them discussing tactical options in their own language, occasionally throwing in a "nya" for emphasis.
Not exactly friendship. Not even close.
Her HUD pinged:
Faction Reputation: Crimson Blade Mercenaries +0 (Hostile)
[Well, shit. Got a long way to go there.]
---
Back in her dorm, Sophie was going through Aegis’s clothes with the dedication of someone planning a heist.
"These are all boring," she announced.
"They’re school uniforms."
"Boring school uniforms." Sophie held up a skirt. "This doesn’t even show your butt."
"It’s not supposed to."
"Then what’s the point!?"
[... She’s such a pervert.]
Lune looked up from her newest painting—something that might have been Aegis making friends with two cats, or might have been an abstract representation of bad decisions.
"The twins didn’t kill you," she observed.
"They postponed."
"Progress."
Sophie dropped the skirt and bounced onto Aegis’s bed with a grin.
"You know, I was listening at the door during your Political Intrigue class yesterday. Did you know Mirabel moans when she’s embarrassed?"
[I need a different family.]
"We should celebrate," Sophie declared. "You not dying and all."
"It’s temporary not dying."
"Still counts." Sophie grabbed Aegis’s face again. "Celebration kisses!"
"Sophie, we can’t just—mmph!"
Sophie’s tongue was already back in her mouth, and honestly, there were worse ways to end a morning.