Subclasses

Chapter Twenty-Four

That night, Beatrix and I rearrange her room, making more space for her bed. It takes some Tetrising, but we manage. "

My bed and mattress are queen-size,

" Beatrix Speaks. After a quick text exchange, Bea summons Gabi with her ability, and we fall to sleep in a haphazard web of limbs, warmth, and cuddles.

* * *

I wake up to Gabi's soft giggles. "Sorry, we didn't mean to wake you," Gabi whispers.

I yawn, stretch, wipe the sleep from my eyes, and roll over to face them. "That's alright," I whisper back. I glance at the clock on the wall: 9:45. "How did you two sleep?" I ask.

"Good!" Gabi whispers, entirely too chipper for this time of the morning.

"Pretty well," Beatrix whispers. "The bed is certainly an improvement."

"Why are we whispering?" I ask quietly.

"So we don't wake you up," Gabi whispers. "Obviously."

I sit up and both girls gasp. "What?"

"That's some mighty powerful bedhead," Bea says at a normal volume. She telekinetically yanks her hand mirror across the room and then passes it to me.

My hair looks like the Picaso, Salvador Dalí, and Van Gogh did battle over the same canvas then 3D printed a wig to capture the unholy union. I nod smugly. "What can I say? What I have just can't be taught.

"Ready for breakfast?" I ask.

"Like

that?

" Gabi asks incredulously.

I shrug in response; I'm hungry and my visage might stun noisy kids into silence should we come across any on our way to the VU. It's way too early for noisy kids. Why are there roving bands of noisy children on a college campus, you might ask? A most excellent mystery if ever there was one. It's way too early for most-excellent mysteries.

"Don't take this the wrong way, Love," Bea says, "but I'd rather not be seen with you."

I purse my lips, deciding whether to take offense. "Yeah, that's fair. Would you mind magicking it better so I don't rip half of it out with a brush?"

* * *

"What about

me?

" Gabi pouts, extending a petulant lip.

"Because," Beatrix says, "I don't trust you not to turn me into a bunny." Bea told us over breakfast that her parents are busy but Claire is home today, making it the perfect opportunity to see if we can reform the bond that allowed me to use her ability.

"But that would be so fun!" Gabi protests. Beatrix fixes her in a #3 dominatrix glare that would have cowed me and soaked my panties, both. Gabi, to my astonishment, glares right back.

"And because we know it works on Sarah. I'm only comfortable allowing one other person to use my ability right now. We don't know why Sarah was able to do it. It could be because she's subby. She told me that when she made me your foot slave, she felt she was able to access my ability because I had just turned

her

into your slave. Do

you

want to be my sub?"

Gabi scrunches her face in distaste. "No," she mumbles. "I want to turn you into a bunny."

"That's what I thought." Bea's voice carries a note of rebuke, but she's smiling affectionately; I'm pretty sure the latter emotion is the real one. "You about ready, Baby?" she asks, turning to me. I nod. "

We are now in my room.

" The pink walls of Beatrix's Redmond room form around us. "You here, Claire?" Bea half-shouts.

A moment later, Claire enters from the door of their shared bathroom. "Hey Sis," she says. "Hey Sis's toy," she says to me.

I wave back awkwardly. I want to be indignant at being addressed as such by someone other than Beatrix, but she sounds so similar to her sister that the emotion is smothered by my desire to obey.

No!

I reprimand myself, firming my grip on my emotions.

I will not submit to a fifteen-year-old. It's just wrong.

"Are you ready to try this?" Bea asks.

"Umm, I think I messed up. My battery is pretty much empty." Beatrix arches an eyebrow at her. "It's not my fault! I stubbed my toe this morning on the table that holds Mum's vase, then kicked it in retribution. The vase fell off and shattered, and I had to fix it."

"And that's not your fault because...?"

"Umm... because..." She searches for an excuse. "Because I'm PMSing!"

"Right," Bea says flatly. Again I'm struck by someone's ability to withstand Beatrix's gaze.

Maybe it's me. Maybe I cave too easily.

Gee, you think?

Sarah Prime butts in, unbidden.

Hush, you. I can't help that I'm an empath.

That doesn't mean you have to be a lap dog.

Hey! I like being Bea's lap dog. ... She's nice to me.

"Nice." Sure,

Prime says sardonically.

And that bruise on your ass that still hasn't fully vanished?

"Earth to Sarah." Bea's snapping fingers return me to consciousness. "Did we lose you?"

"Oh, just attending a mental counseling appointment. I'm back."

Beatrix gives me a warm smile. "Make any breakthroughs?"

"Sarah Prime thinks I lack a spine," I admit.

"But that's my favorite thing about you!" Beatrix winces. "Sorry, that came out wrong. I like that you put up with me ordering you about. I find it

irresistibly

sexy." She blushes a bit, probably realizing we're having this conversation in front of Claire.

"Sarah Prime? Who's that?" Claire asks.

"It's the name I gave to the second voice of my internal dialogue," I say.

"Riiiiiggghttt," Claire says. "Do you often hear voices?"

I sigh. "Yes. They tell me not to take lip from bratty teenagers."

Proving her maturity, Claire sticks her tongue out at me.

You're a bratty teenager,

Sarah Prime chimes in.

Hush!

Beatrix clears her throat. "Sarah, are you willing to play sub to Claire for a bit so we can experiment?"

The thought curdles my stomach. "No," I say, "that would make me intensely uncomfortable."

Bea nods. "I figured. The thought made me uncomfortable, too. Well, I guess we'll have to try this another time."

"What if...." I muse.

"What if what?" Bea asks.

"Well, could you gift her some energy from your battery?"

Bea jumps. "I have no idea. Good question." She takes a breath. "

Claire has a quarter of my battery.

"

Immediately, Claire doubles over with a short, sharp scream. I react quicker than Bea, and catch her before she can fall to the ground.

"Oh my god! Are you alright, Sis?" Her voice is the essence of panic and concern.

Claire regains her balance and stands back up and I release her. "Yes," she says panting. "I'm okay. It didn't really

hurt

. It startled me and ...

stretched

me." She pauses. "

Woah.

"

"Woah what?" Bea asks with concern.

"'Woah,' I've never had so much power. I feel like my battery tripled in size. That was just a quarter of what you hold? Just how strong

are

you?"

"I'd guess about four times stronger than you are now," I provide helpfully. Claire scowls at me, to which I return an innocent smile. "So about twelve times stronger than you were." This earns me another stuck-out tongue augmented by a pair of middle fingers. "How's your battery, Bea?"

Her eyes focus on the horizon momentarily as she looks inward. Then she blanches. "It shrank! I lost nearly a quarter of my capacity!"

I want to feel concern for my girlfriend who's clearly dealing with a considerable loss, but the scientist in me seizes control. "

Nearly

a quarter? There was a net gain?"

"No," Bea says, shaking her head. "I wasn't at full capacity when I did it, so I lost a quarter of what I had left at the time."

I nod. "Are you alright? I'm sorry; that should have been my first question."

"I will be. It just-- I feel like I lost two weeks of effort."

"Then I guess we'll have to have twice as much fun until you're restored, Mistress!" I say, playfully.

Bea's expression turns downright lusty. "Yes, we will, pet." I beam at her. "Good girl."

"Ick," Claire says. "Get a room."

"We're in my room," Beatrix points out.

"Get a different room."

I roll my eyes. "So, are you two ready to do what we came here for? Claire, do you need any more time to recover?"

"I'm fine," she says, affronted. "But how do we do this?"

"Last time, you were both using your ability at the same time, and then Beatrix commanded me to do something. So, let's try that again?"

"Okay, so like, should we make tea again?" she asks.

"I doubt that we need to replicate the exact scenario," I say, chuckling. "Imagine if the reason no one else has figured this out was because they weren't drinking tea."

"Tea is paramount to every situation," Bea says, strengthening her accent to proper Englishwoman levels.

"Indubitably," Claire agrees. "Okay, but for real, what should we do?" she asks in her regular voice.

The scientist takes over. "Last time you two were fighting each other--targeting each other. This time let's have you do something that doesn't affect each other. That will test if it has to do with the situation we were in or simple proximity." I grab two pillows from Bea's bed and hand them out. "Each of you levitate these." They Speak to do so. "Now, Bea, you--"

"

Sarah is a cat,

" she cuts me off.

Meow?

I look up at the two giant servants before me. "I'm hungry. Feed me," I meow at them.

"Woah," Claire says, her pillow dropping to the floor. "You can do that?!" All I hear is blah blah blah.

Neither makes any move to feed me.

These servants are defective. I must acquire new ones.

"

Sarah is a human.

" I grow back to normal proportions, regaining my lucidity. "So?" she asks, addressing me.

I search for that slight sense of connection I had a few weeks ago. "Huh."

"What?" Bea asks.

"I'm hungry."

Bea snorts. "Do you feel the bond?"

"Maybe? It's really faint if it's there. It could just as easily be the placebo effect."

"Yeah," she says. "I feel the same. Maybe try Speaking?"

"

Kis

s me," I command. Beatrix jumps forward slightly, then stops. "Assuming you felt compelled for half a second, either the bond is too weak for a full command, or I need practice." Beatrix nods. "The good news is it seems we've figured out the first step. That's huge. Which hypothesis do you think we should test next? Its lack of strength or my lack of practice?"

"Let's do the exact same thi--"

"

Sarah is a cat!

" Claire interrupts. When nothing happens, she scowls at me as if my withheld consent is a personal insult.

"You have no power here, Clairedalf the Gray!" I say imperiously. Bea snorts.

"I would if I had my staff," Claire mumbles under her breath.

"

This pillow is levitating,

" Bea Speaks, and Claire does likewise. "

Sarah is a cat.

"

Ugh, it's

these

servants again?

"How's your battery, Claire?"

"Hun. Gry," I insist. "I'm hungry. Feed me, dammit." Beatrix reaches down to pat my head as if that serves any purpose whatsoever.

"Barely tapped. It is

so

not fair that you're this strong. And even more unfair that you have someone to refill it for you. Recharging this much power would take me weeks!"

Beatrix nods. "Your battery will grow

very

slowly, but steadily, as you use it more as long as the effects manipulate someone around you. It's really tricky, though, 'cause we need to keep it secret, and without people's consent, we can only affect our surroundings and are limited to things that don't alter their free will. I had to get pretty creative to grow it as far as I did before meeting Sarah."

"What about Hannah?" Claire asks.

"Is Hannah food?" I meow with the proper mixture of hope and expectation appropriate to my lofty station. "Hannah had better be food."

"She helped," Bea concedes, "but she really did not enjoy it. What we did together accounts for maybe two percent of my capacity. Another ten percent or so was from small things I've made happen over the last fifteen years. The remainder was all Sarah." She gestures to me. "And Gabi a little, I suppose." She smiles.

"Where is Hannah?" I demand. "If she is not food, maybe she will feed me. She can't be a worse servant than the two of you." Beatrix picks me up with one hand and pets me with the other. "Unhand me, foolish woman!"

"You really love her, don't you?"

Bea's smile deepens. "I really do. I've never met anyone like Sarah. Not just her subitude, either. She's the most caring person I know."

"What about Gabi?"

"Gabi is great, too--don't get me wrong--but I don't know her as well. She's sexy as fuck and really fun to hang with. I'm infatuated, for certain, but I doubt I'll ever--oh, how did Sarah put it?---'intuitively understand her', like I do Sarah. I don't have to be careful around Sarah. She seems to appreciate everything about me, even the things I'm insecure about."

"

You're

insecure? Really, Sis?"

"Everyone is insecure about something."

"I'm insecure about the fullness of my stomach," I meow, "specifically the part where it is not."

"I always thought you were the exception to that rule," Claire says.

Bea smiles wryly. "Then I guess you never noticed me crying when I'd get home from being with Amy. God, she made me feel like shit sometimes."

"About what?" Claire asks, genuinely interested.

"You know how Mum and Dad and you would tease me about how my mood and attitude would flit from one tone or emotion to the next?" Claire nods. "Amy was worse. She used to berate me for it.

"Sarah, though...," Bea continues. "She

loves

that about me. She sees it as beautiful--as special--and it's helped me see it that way, too. I still worry, of course. I have no idea whether Gabi will eventually tire of it, and I doubt it'll help me keep a job. But I know Sarah will never tire of me. I can't begin to explain how freeing that certainty is. I can be myself without any reservation."

Claire nods slowly. "I'm happy for you. Jealous, but happy."

"Thanks, Sis."

"So, are you ever going to let Sarah not be a cat or...?"

Bea laughs and puts me down. "I'm testing to see if the length of the command affects how strong the bond becomes."

"Ohh, that makes sense."

"

Sa--

Claire, why don't you try to make her human?"

"You think that will work?"

"I don't know, but it's worth a shot."

Claire shrugs. "

Sarah is a human.

"

I grow back to full size. My stomach rumbles. "So, that was interesting. Did I miss anything?"

"I take it you couldn't understand us?" Claire asks.

"Not really. A word here or there. All I really remember is being angry that my defective human servants weren't feeding me."

Both girls arch an indignant eyebrow at me so identically that I burst out laughing, to which they both roll their eyes in unison, ushering forth another fit of giggles. Once I catch my breath, Bea says, "How's the bond now? It feels much stronger on my end."

I check. "Yeah, a lot stronger. Can you detect my direction this time?"

"Very faintly. Interesting. Is it as strong as it was the first time?"

"About the same, I think. Maybe a little more. It's hard to remember exactly how it was after all this time.

Kiss me.

"

Beatrix leaps at me, pressing her soft, delicious lips to my own. I close my eyes as she entwines her fingers in my hair, holding me to her. Her passion overwhelms my sense of decorum in Claire's presence, and I let go, kissing her with equal enthusiasm. My hands find the small of her back and pull her even closer. The sensations wash over me. Lips tugging at each other, then her tongue in my mouth, stroking my own. I get lost in the kiss, lost in

her

.

Eventually we need to breathe and pull back from each other. I open my eyes and wobble, lightheaded, but we hold to each other for balance.

"Warn me next time, wouldja?" Claire scolds. "You two are so sweet together it's gross." All I hear is blah blah blah.