6.52 – Standby

6.52 – Standby

As they had discussed beforehand, Zoey returned to Delta's room after her chats with Sabina and Adrienne had concluded.

A "come in" ushered her through the door. Inside, she was met with a bizarre sight: the foxgirl facing her shadow-clone, the two of them going through poses, some slow and languid, some quick, with the shadow doing her best to mimic Delta. Or rather, Delta doing her best to make it mimic her, since it was remotely piloted.

"Just practicing," Delta told her, not glancing over. "Don't mind me." Keeping her attention on the clone, she crouched, and so did the shadow. Both jumped, the shadow offset from the original. The movements were just close enough to be disorienting.

"I can't imagine having to fight in two bodies at once," Zoey mused as she walked over and plopped onto Delta's bed. "Can barely deal with one. Don't envy having to deal with that as a skill."

"Better than magical bullshit, honestly," Delta said, her focus unbroken as she went through her motions. "This is mostly intuitive, at least. Just gotta drill it in."

"Magic's mostly the same, I think," Zoey said. "At least, it's not a pure science. It's as much about practice as how to design spells and whatnot."

Delta grunted in what might have been agreement. "Guess it's easier when you can afford the necessary spellbooks." She straightened out, turned, and faced Zoey, putting her hands on her hips. Her shadow-clone did the same, mirroring her. "So," she said. "Blondie's gonna be back soon. She sent a servant to come and tell me."

"What's she doing?"

"Talking with her dad."

"About?"

"Didn't ask."

"Are her sisters back yet?"

"Not that I heard." Delta paused. Her lips quirked up. "Her sisters," she said. "What do you think they'll be like, anyway?"

Zoey tilted her head, trying to remember what Rosalie had said about each of them. "Elodie's a bit of a wild card, I think. And Charlotte is more like her?"

"Like her?"

"You know. Serious. Intense. Driven. A proper royal. But Rosie never talked about either of them much, so who knows?" Rosalie's hesitance to discuss her family made more sense now that Zoey knew who she was. She wondered whether she would been more open now that the secret had been revealed.

"You think they're off limits?"

"Off limits?"

"Don't play dumb."

"Huh?"

"Off limits. To you, or us. You know. In that way."

"Weird? Since when do you care about weird?"

Delta laughed. "I don't. I just mean, it is weird, right? Not that I care, I'm just wondering. Because it's not like looking into a mirror gets me going. But this?" Zoey glanced sideways to see that Delta's eyes were locked onto her clone's breasts as raptly as Zoey's had been. When the clone bent over to slide her pants down, her breath caught. "This does something for me."

"Maybe it's because it only mostly looks like you?" Zoey suggested. "It's a shadow. It's got your shape and features, but your brain doesn't filter it out as you. So you're attracted to it?"

"Maybe," Delta murmured, distracted as the show progressed. Her pants came off, then her panties, which dangled in her grip as she bounced them up and down. She threw the fabric forward. The shadowy undergarment hit Zoey's face, and she blinked as she grabbed them off—cheeks flaming, her arousal surging, but also intrigued by the magic on display. She tugged at the fabric; the black shadowy panties felt completely real.

Zoey opened her mouth to ask a question, but that was when Rosalie barged in.

"Delta?" she was saying even before she'd walked past the doorway. "Is Zoey—yes, she is, that's perfect—"

She froze at the sight: Delta cuddled up into her side, with a shadow clone starkly naked, having also frozen in surprise, arms up, chest thrust forward, stuck in her last sensual pose.

Maddy also walked in, eyes widening at what she saw.

"No," Rosalie growled, only faltering for a second. "Get rid of that thing. You can have your weird self-threesome later. We have things to do."

"Weird?" Delta asked, placing a hand on her chest in mock offense. "There's nothing unhealthy about masturbation."

"Sex with a physical copy of yourself isn't masturbation," Rosalie said flatly. "Don't delude yourself. Pervert. Let me guess, you've already fucked her?" She blinked. "Wait. You have? Already? I was joking! When did you even have the opportunity? We were together all last night."

Even Delta seemed abashed, heat crawling onto her cheeks. She coughed into a hand. "I don't know what you're talking about. Of course I haven't."

Zoey raised her eyebrows at Delta. That was ... a lie? About sex? From her?

And, really, when had she had the opportunity? It wasn't like they'd been lounging about yesterday.

"I don't care," Rosalie said, raising a hand to interrupt the conversation before it spiraled out of control. "I really don't. Put that thing away. Unsummon it. Or at least get it dressed." She faced Zoey. "And you. Get rid of that erection. We have places to be."

"Well," Zoey said. "Easier said than done." She looked over at Maddy. The blue-haired mage stood at Rosalie's side, almost hiding behind her as her face turned redder by the second. "Hi, Maddy," she said, acknowledging the girl.

"H-Hi," she squeaked. "Sorry, we should've knocked. Not just barged in."

"I thought Delta could control herself for ten minutes," Rosalie growled. "That we wouldn't be barging into anything. Though only the heavens know why I deluded myself into believing that. Up. Up! We have places to be. You two are ready to leave? No more business inside the manor?"

Zoey stood, awkwardly stuffing down her erection. Fortunately, things hadn't gotten too heated; it was already settling.

"Sure," she said. "Took care of everything with Sabina and Adrienne. Where to? What's the rush?"

"No rush. Not really. But there's no point in dawdling. We're going to the training facility." She sighed. "Seeing how that place is crawling with nobility and some of the best wayfarers in the world, and will be my first public introduction to Mantle, much less yours, there's some things I need to fill you two in on." She glared at the nude shadow. "Like how to behave. No shenanigans, you hear me? I'm serious. Control yourselves. I have a reputation to maintain, as do my allies, which you two are now considered." She turned and waved for them to catch up. "Come. We can walk and talk."