X. Proximity Hall

The Academy's student living quarters rose before them, tall, and full of life, narrow windows dotting its face in irregular patterns. Cassia tilted her head back, taking in the full height of the building, five stories, each balcony crammed impossibly close to the next. It reminded her of the insulae in Maidenhead's Seaside Slums, where shored sailors, and dockworker families stacked themselves like scrolls on a shelf.

"Charming," Antonia said, her tone suggesting anything but. She adjusted the strap of her satchel and squinted upward. "I'd heard the Academy believed in spartan living conditions, but this..."

"Builds character?" Cassia offered, though even she wasn't convinced.

They pushed through the heavy oak doors into a narrow corridor. The air inside was warm and close, carrying a complicated bouquet of scents.

They followed the corridor deeper into the building, their sandals clicking against worn stone floors. The hallways were narrow, barely wide enough for two people to walk abreast. Numeralled doors punctuated the walls at regular intervals.

A young futa bumped into Cassie wrapped in nothing but a thin linen towel. Her hair was wet, plastered to her neck and shoulders, her towel clinging to her generous bust.

“Oops. Sorry!” Cassie began but was cut off.

“No problem gorgeous.” She nodded at them both with casual familiarity, as if walking half-naked through common hallways was the most natural thing in the world.

"New arrivals?" she asked welcomingly.

"Yeah, it’s our first day." Cassia managed, trying not to glance down at the pretty futa’s prominent bulge.

The futa’s gaze swept over them appraisingly, like one would a cut of meat at the butcher house. "I’m Elara. Nice to meet you both. I hope you’re heavy sleepers. Our academy sisters are rarely quiet. My room's 119 if you ever want a proper welcoming.” She winked flirtatiously, and continued past them, leaving a trail of water and scented soap.

Antonia watched her go with undisguised interest. "I think I’m starting to warm to this place."

A door opened further down the hall, and two more students emerged, similarly wrapped in towels. They were mid-conversation, laughing about something, and paid Cassia and Antonia no mind as they passed. One of them, a tall futa with broad shoulders and a confident stride, had her towel tied scandalously around her hips, brazenly exposing her breasts to the entire corridor.

Cassia swallowed.

They do look nice...

They walked deeper into the building, and the sounds became harder to ignore. From behind one closed door came the rhythmic creak of bed slats, punctuated by muffled gasps. From another, a low moan that spiraled up into something **** and pleading. Antonia's eyebrows climbed higher with each step.

"Heavens," Antonia murmured, "are they all-"

Another unmistakably orgasmic cry cut through the air. Cassia felt her cock twitch in response, pressing against the inside of her tunic. She adjusted her stance, hoping no one would notice.

"Apparently so," Cassia said, trying to keep her voice steady.

They turned a corner and nearly collided with a young faculty member, a woman perhaps twenty-five, with sharp features and the kind of tired expression that came from herding newly hormonal futas for a living. She clutched a stack of parchment to her chest and regarded them with the resigned patience of someone who had explained the same thing a hundred times.

"First-years," she said. It wasn't a question.

"Yeah," Cassia said, straightening. "Cassia Longwood and Antonia Laeta. We were told we could find our new rooms here."

The woman, her nameplate identified her as Valeria, flipped through her parchments until she found the correct page. "Laeta, and Longwood. Yes, I have you both. Welcome to Proximity Hall. Before I give you your assignments, I should explain the rules."

"We can share, can't we?" Antonia said. "My mother mentioned something about paired quarters."

Valeria nodded. "Every student shares a two-bedroom living quarters. Given the... competitiveness of the academy, we find it beneficial for students to have a roommate. Your first test, you may say." Her lips quirked slightly.

Cassia glanced at Antonia, who was already grinning.

"Perfect," Antonia said, grabbing Cassia's arm. "Cassie and I have known each other since we were children. We'll room together, obviously." She squeezed Cassia's bicep, and Cassia felt her friend's warmth press against her side. "Won't that be awesome?"

Cassia's mind immediately supplied a series of images she had no business entertaining. Antonia in just a towel, and then… not, sensuously dropping it at her feet. Antonia’s bed just a few feet away from her own. The sounds they'd heard in the hallway, played now between friends.

She thought of Antonia's dark curls spread across a pillow. Of those green eyes, sleepy and warm in the morning. Of those lips, goddess, those lips, parted in pleasure, moaning Cassia's name.

Stop it! she told herself firmly. She's your friend. Your best friend.

But her body wasn't listening and she was suddenly acutely aware of every place where Antonia's body touched hers.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible," Valeria said.

The words landed like a bucket of cold water. Both Cassia and Antonia turned to stare at her.

"What? Why!?" Antonia demanded.

"Room assignments are determined by the faculty based on a variety of factors." Valeria scanned her parchment. "Cassia, you are assigned to Room 317, with... let me see... a Mira Massey." She looked up. "Antonia, you are in Room 412, with Velia Drusus."

"But- but…" Antonia said, her voice rising.

Valeria sighed. "Just think of it as a valuable learning experience. Now, if you'll both sign here, I can direct you to your rooms."

Antonia snatched the quill from Valeria's hand and scrawled her name with more **** than strictly necessary. Cassia signed more carefully, her earlier fantasies evaporating into disappointed resignation.

Sharing with Antonia would have been... she wasn't sure what it would have been. Fun? Sure. Safe? Cassia didn’t know anymore.

But now she'd be sharing with a stranger. Some girl named Mira, who might be kind, or cruel, or indifferent. Who might snore or steal or-

Cassia realized she was catastrophizing and **** herself to stop.

"The stairwell will take you to the upper floors," Valeria was saying. "Third floor for you. Fourth for you. The bathhouse is down the end of the block, past the laundry."

"I'll come find you later," Antonia said, turning to Cassia. Her frustrations softening. “We can explore the rest of the campus together."

"Of course," Cassia said.

Antonia hesitated, then stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Cassia in a quick, fierce hug. When she pulled back, her eyes held an expression Cassia couldn't quite read.

"This isn't how I imagined our first night," Antonia said quietly.

Cassia's throat went dry. "How did you imagine it?"

Antonia just blushed and smiled, that crooked, knowing smile, and turned away. "See you soon, Cass. Don't have too much fun without me."

She disappeared up the stairwell, her dark curls bouncing with each step. Cassia watched her go, her heart doing something complicated in her chest.

The stairs were narrow and worn, centuries of footsteps having smoothed the stone into gentle curves. Cassia climbed slowly, her mind churning.

The third floor was quieter than the first, but only marginally. Cassia walked down the corridor, counting doors until she reached the right one.

Cassia stopped outside the door.

Behind this door was a room she would share with a stranger. A bed where she would sleep, a space where she would study, walls that would contain her for the next three years of her life.

And somewhere above her, Antonia was finding her own room. Her own bed. Her own stranger.

Cassia's hand hovered over the door handle before gripping it and pulling it open.