Well, that geology teacher stands out as a a potential danger. Also a potentially valuable target, once she's figured him out a bit, although maybe one to be avoided if her telepathy won’t work on him. The two are regrettably closely correlated.

If she’s going to be undertaking nefarious deeds here, it’s probably wise for her other body not to be in a location easily traced back to. At the moment, if someone notices something odd Aire’s current fallback location is the obvious source. She sends her secondary body off from her cave to create distance between anywhere Christa has ever been and its location.

Does Annabelle recall Christa’s chosen course of study? Are they studying the same things, going to classes together? That would be ideal; she'd have a relatively Christa-informed source of knowledge with her at all times.

Annabelle actually recalls Christa liking the geologist. It has been a small, quiet source of tension on occasion.

Christa, though interested in not all the same things as Annabelle, is also on track to be a state alchemist. They do in fact do a lot of scholarship together. Their similar schedules were a large factor in how they became roommates.

Hmm, what time of night is it now? She’s finally had the satisfaction of having Christa after years of desire, she wants to break another toy. Annabelle would have to be left mostly intact, and so would be much less satisfying, but while a bite is not as satisfying as a full meal it is still better than nothing.

It is a few hours after sunset, but Annabelle did go to be a little earlier than is her usual habit.

It was a long day.

Also, they're both signed up to catalog their herbs with an herblore witch at Library Gemini first thing in the morning.

Oh, that early morning activity really is too bad. Aire will wait, then. She doesn’t want to, she wants to corrupt Annabelle, but she should ensure every bit of information she's heard sticks. After all, she doesn’t know what Christa does, and needs to ensure she absorbs all of the information she really should know for her chosen role.

She heads off to her own bed, slipping a tentacle out to fill herself with for comfort, and goes over everything thought she remembers. By morning, the apartment should be filled with enough pheromones to make Annabelle's attraction to 'Christa' come back into full force, even without use of her lust aura. She'll have a "supportive conversation" with Annabelle in the morning before they head off to encourage that, she thinks.

Their morning routine is brief. They both have all the standard hygiene mutations, so a quick splash of water, a few seconds of hair-brushing, and a clean copy of their uniform is most of it.

Annabelle and Christa usually walk from their flat to Library Gemini along a wide main-street lined with multiple restaurants, and usually get their breakfast to-go along the way.

Well, she guesses her talk with Annabelle will have to wait for later.

On their way to what Annabelle is thinking of as their usual spot, they pass a very expensive looking place with a scent wafting out from it that Aire finds vaguely familiar until-

Christa is floating along in a warm haze, deliciously snuggled, when-

Ooh! Nice smell! Tasty!

-she realizes that’s Christa’s familiarity she’s feeling. There’s still enough of Christa left for her to root around in her associations and realize that this place most likely sells her favourite food. Regrettably, she gets the sense its too expensive for her to go in and have a try; she's picked up the concept of money, at this point, and a vague feeling from Annabelle suggesting how much of it they have.

How long is it before they’re at Library Gemini?

It's about a five minute walk from the street of food before they reach a large archway where tall gleaming buildings give way to a well-kept park.

The pair of castle-complexes that make up Library Gemini sit in the middle of the well-tended park, straddling a small brooke that winds between them. The complex for feminine learning is gleaming white stone and red rooftiles, while the complex for masculine learning is shiny silver-gray with aquamarine rooftiles.

The well-trodden stone pathway through the park to their destination is another few minutes of walking by itself.

Well, the implications of having separate buildings for each body-shape because they’re supposed to learn different things is rather large. Aire’s felt these people’s minds, there isn’t, actually, some sort of innate thing where women or men can only learn certain things; anything that different in mental structure she would have felt.

Oh, this walkway looks private enough to have her talk without it appearing out of character for Christa.

She adds telepathic emphasis to certain parts of what she’s saying, making them echo in Annabelle’s mind as true. From the weakness of Christa’s telepathy its clear Christa never practiced at this. Fortunately, her own skill with mind magic translates again, or else she’d be unable to do this at all.

So, she says, “Um, Annabelle? I just thought I’d let you know that, um, I don’t mind. The stuff. I think you were right when you thought you got something corrupted on you. You never thought that way about me before. So, um, it’s not your fault. And it’s just thoughts, you know. So, it doesn’t matter if it’s too hard to stop it. You felt really guilty, and I don’t want you to feel that way. You shouldn't feel guilty!”

From what Aire knows, this is very nearly exactly what Christa would have said. She’d have said it without the vague implication that Annabelle should feel free to fantasize more, but the general tenor would be the same. Even the bit where it all comes out in a rush fast enough that Annabelle doesn't have time to get a word in edgewise.

Annabelle glances around to make sure no one is overhearing and then blushes and buries her face in her hands.

"Thanks, Christa," she squeaks embarrassedly into her palms.

Annabelle knows Christa is a too-trusting sweetheart, so really, she isn't surprised that Christa would be nice about this. But Annabelle is still wishing the other girl hadn't brought it up out loud. Annabelle had mostly managed to stop thinking about it, and now she's thinking about it again and she knows Christa knows she's thinking about it, and...

"You're right though, and you're a really good person, so, thanks for saying it."

Aire pats Annabelle comfortingly on the arm. “If you want, I could listen to you less? It wouldn’t be too hard, I think.”

"Would it make a difference?" Annabelle asks curiously, shaking off her embarrassment. "It might be more, distracting, to wonder if you're listening, all the time. Besides, you told me, you don't get that much detail anyway, don't you?"

"It would make a difference, I think! Part of not getting too much detail is, like, me already trying not to on purpose? And I think I could do that more, if you wanted? And I could let you know if I messed up. I've been getting better at using it over time, even if it is slow!"

Come on girl, take the bait, don't you want the opportunity to fantasize to your heart's content?

Annabelle is friends with Christa and it should not be surprising that she has traits in common with Christa.

"I wouldn't want to make you feel like you had to! You're really good at, um, not saying anything. Usually. I do trust you not to use my thoughts against me, Christa. It's just embarrassing sometimes, but I don't really mind, if it's you."

She giggles and hugs Annabelle faux-impulsively.

“You wouldn’t be making me feel like I had to do anything! A favour for a friend doesn’t count! And anyway, I actually think it might be good practice!”

Annabelle giggles and hugs back.

"Okay."

Shortly, they reach the base of the castle of feminine learning and begin to ascend the steps toward the entrance hall.

Aire, of course, doesn’t actually stop listening to Annabelle’s mind. Whyever would she do that?

She continues her general practice of just enough sway and bounce for it to be noticeable without it looking like she’s doing it on purpose. The stairs put rather a higher ceiling on that. Hopefully Annabelle will feel free enough to pay a bit more attention, now. Even if only out of the corner of her eye.

Not on purpose. Not consciously. But Annabelle's mood is shading a bit more horny than her usual baseline.

The herbalists gather in a solarium that overlooks the brooke, where Miss Oliva the herblore witch is set up with various equipment to demonstrate how to examine various herbs for their potency levels and other properties, for those who don't already know, and then allow the various participating Sisters to do so with their own herbs and label everything for later use.

She carefully memorizes everything she can. This might be important information later, and at the very least she should already be familiar with some of it as Christa.

And if, while she’s grabbing some of her herbs to measure their various properties, she happens to bend over at the waist in front of Annabelle a couple of times, well, surely that must be a coincidence.

It genuinely doesn't occur to Annabelle that Christa would do that on purpose. There aren't even any boys around!

The herblore witch, a Miss Julos, meanders around and helps anyone who's having trouble discerning fine grades of distinction in herb properties, and giving occasional advice on notation schemes.

She’s careful not to be too over the top in public like this. Somebody is bound to be less confused than Annabelle about how this all works eventually. Best not to get into bad habits.

How easy is it to read Julos’ mind? Is she thinking any interesting thoughts?

Julos is thinking about the controversial new covert-action training being sold by a woman who strikes Julos as a 'frigid bitch'. Julos is thinking about how after this session they'll likely bump into each other in the preparatory office in the north wing, and wondering if she should try making friends again; maybe it'll go better if she doesn't gush about her husband?

Any more thoughts about that covert-action training? That seems like the kind of place she might meet interesting people. Alas, it’s rather outside of Christa’s established character to look into. Or, wait, ‘Christa’ did just have an encounter with a bear. Perhaps an emphasis on the danger of looking for herbs out in the wilderness without any recourse for self-protection?

She can sound that out after she’s corrupted Annabelle a little more, she thinks.

Beyond that, she spends most of her time soaking in as much information about herblore as she can; she has rather a lot of catching up to do.