Ch 2.48: Dry


    <span style="font-weight:400">“So,” ina said, once againying naked on the rock just outside the water, “we probably could’ve nned this part better.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Yeah…” Carly was on the other side of the rock, their backs to each other. Carly was also naked, and though they’d long since decided bathing time was over, there was still the small issue of drying off. “The same thing happened with Flora the other day and I meant to bring towels this time but I just sort of got caught up in the moment and, well, forgot.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">ina chuckled as she looked over her shoulder, only seeing the top of Carly’s wet hair. She wanted to get up, take in more of Carly’s body, but she was trying to be respectful, for the time being at least. Carly of all people couldn’t me her if she happened to identally get a look at her while they were getting dressed, right? But no, ina would avoid that too, reluctantly. She’d explicitly given Carly permission to do those things, and she’d wait until Carly was ready for that step too.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“At least it’s getting warmer,” ina said as she sat up, bringing her knees to her chest.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Maybe next time you have to use the ‘it’s so hot’ excuse to take your clothes off’ it’ll actually make sense.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Shut up!” ina said with augh. She was a little surprised at thating from Carly, but happy she was opening up a little at least. “I doubt our hair is gonnapletely dry, so we can probably go soon.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Alright.” ina heard footsteps as Carly stepped off her side of the rock, and despite her earlier resolve to be respectful, ina’s eyes did wander in the direction of the sound, seeing Carly walk back over to her bag and pull a fresh set of underwear out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She really didn’t mean to stare, but Carly didn’t make any attempt to hide herself as she got dressed, barely even seemed to register ina was there until after she’d pulled up her panties and was pulling her bra up. “You going to get dressed too?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Uh-huh,” ina said as she crept off the rock, finally braking her gaze and going back to her own bag. She did manage to keep some semnce of control over her eyes once she had a goal to focus on, dressing herself side by side with Carly until they were finally both decent and started off back towards school.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“ss again tomorrow,” Carly eventually said as they were approaching the school entrance. “I have to go do some homework for Medicine in the library. I had a deferment if we were gone the whole weekend, but I don’t think it’ll count since we came in so early today.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Okay, I think I’ll head back up to the room.” It was all she really knew to do at school with Flora and Tira both gone.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Carly stopped as they entered the hallway, ina stopping with her. “I guess I’ll see youter then. I, uhm, had a good time.” She leaned forward taking ina into a deep hug.


    <span style="font-weight:400">ina’s initially reaction to the embrace was to freeze, look around to see if people were there. And people were there of course, but they were just walking along, talking amongst their groups, or otherwise engaged in minding their own business. No one even seemed to notice the two girls stopped off to the side of the hall, so ina returned the hug, relishing in the touch before releasing, beaming with a smile.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Maybe you should hang out in themon room,” Carly said as she pulled away.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Oh, uhm, I don’t know,” ina said. “People still don’t like me after the whole… the whole orientation thing.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Carly frowned, shaking her head. “I think you’re too worried about that. Maybe just give it a shot. I’ll talk to youter though!”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Carly was gone before ina could protest anymore. She guessed she didn’t really have to do it, but would Carly feel bad if she didn’t? She had to go through themon room anyway, so maybe a few minutes wouldn’t be that bad.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Resolved to at least humor Carly, ina took a breath as she entered lounge area below their dorm room. It wasn’t as popted as it normally was, just one group of three students she didn’t recognize over by the firece. Still, she’d told herself she’d try it, so she sat down on one of the single chairs, decided she’d stay ten minutes, and then head back up.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Except she felt awkward immediately. There were only three people there, and she wasn’t talking to them, so why even bother staying? She could just tell Carly there wasn’t really anyone to talk to, right? Yeah, that would be the truth, no need to stay at all really.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Hey, Weaver, right?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Huh?” Her had snapped as her worst fear was realized, that someone actually wanted to talk to her. For a moment she thought the two boys walking through the doorway and headed towards her were Waine and his crony-friend Ivis, but she sighed a breath of relief when she realized it wasn’t them. They did look vaguely familiar though.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I’m Leen Sturgess. We have Engineering together now,” the lead boy said as he sat on the couch across from her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Oh, you’re the one that makes swords.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Ah, well, weapons in general,” the boy said with a blush. “But mostly swords, yeah. And this here is—”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Brink,” ina blurted, the nameing out of her mouth as soon as she recognized him, the first person she’d had a proper sword duel with, not counting the aspected duel with Waine.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Oh, you know each other?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Hmm. Fencing,” Brink said as he walked off.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Cool! Well, nice to meet you officially,” Sturgess said as he leaned back and kicked his feet up on the table in front of him, surprising ina with his brazenness. “I wanted to introduce myself to you a couple times, but you always seemed to be in a rush whenever you came through here.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I, uhm, was probably busy…” ina said with a flush. Maybe Carly was right after all about the actual damage to her reputation orientation had done.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Yeah, I get it,” Sturgess said as Brink returned with three sses of water, setting them down on the table and taking a seat next to his friend. “Brink here doesn’t have much homework, but us with technical aspects sure get the brunt of it,” Sturgess continued as he ced his arm around Brink. “Anyway, we just got back from a quick trip to Castletown. What’ve you been up to?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I was actually just there too,” ina said as she took a drink of water from the ss she assumed was for her. “My party, err, my practicum team had an assignment out that way.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“No shit? Well, your weekend might have actually had more excitement than ours then. I wanted to go to Mirage yesterday, but Brink here got cold feet at thest minute.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“S’expensive. Addicting.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Mirage?” ina asked. She’d heard the word before, but she was pretty sure it was something to do with the desert, which she didn’t think they were anywhere near.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Oh, right, you’re amoner,” Sturgess said as he took a swig of his water. “Forgot not everyone grows up hearing stories of Castletown nightlife. It’s a game house. Poker, dice, stuff like that. And we’re <i><span style="font-weight:400">definitely </i><span style="font-weight:400">going next weekend.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Hmm,” Brink grunted in agreement. “Special event. Only need to pay entry fee.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Special event?” ina asked. She’d grasped they were talking about gambling at least, but she wasn’t sure how a special event for that would work.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Dunno. The whole thing’s kinda hush hush, just got announcedst night. But it’s a poker event with points instead of money, and there’s some big grand prize.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“That’s sounds kind cool actually,” ina said. “What’s the prize?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“That’s the thing,” Sturgess said with a snap, “no one knows! Some people think it’s a person, but I know that even Mirage isn’t going to go that far.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">A person? “Why in the stars would people think that?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Well, they aren’t saying exactly what the prize is, but they did give it a name. They’re calling it a ‘Temmie.’”