“Focus, Biyu. You need to concentrate.” Mitzi wiped the sweat from her brow as she watched her apprentice sitting on the ground next to a small metal bowl of water. Biyu was sweating far more than Mitzi, her fur noticeably damp as the sun beat down on her. However she didn’t let it get to her, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes as her body relaxed. Biyu extended her hand towards the bowl, spreading her palm wide. She began to chant, and for a moment there was a weak pulse of blue light.

“Did I do it?” Biyu asked excitedly, opening her eyes and gazing hopefully at the water. She was dismayed when she saw that only a paper-thin coating of ice was covering the surface of the water, already melting in the sun. Standing up, Biyu growled in frustration. “Rrrgh, why can’t I do it?!”

Mitzi sighed and stood up as well. “At least you made ice this time, so you are making progress.” While it was true that Biyu was getting better with ice spells, there was no denying it was the school of magic she was the weakest with by far. When it came to arcane magic Biyu was actually quite skilled, she could summon portals, teleport and cast all sorts of arcane damaging spells to defend herself. She was less proficient with fire magic, but at least she could use them effectively. However with frost magic she had always been particularly bad. Ever since coming back from Suramar they had spent their spare time trying to help Biyu get over her problem, but so far there hadn’t really been any noticeable results. “I really wish I could offer you more advice, but I honestly don’t know what to tell you other than ‘keep trying’. You’re doing better now than you were a week ago, you’ll get the hang of it.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Biyu kicked the metal bowl angrily and turned away, stomping off. With a frown Mitzi picked the bowl up and followed after.

Catching up, Mitzi looked disapprovingly at Biyu’s face. “Was that necessary? I’m only trying to help you. If I was a less amazingly kind and beautiful teacher I’d have you meditate through dinner for that.” Mitzi was pleased when Biyu’s mouth twitched a bit, though she remained frowning.

“I’m sorry. It’s just… it didn’t take me nearly this long to get the hang of any other kind of magic. Why is this so hard? I feel like I’ve been beating my head against a brick wall for weeks now, I’m just so…” Biyu growled again, baring her teeth. “I’m just so fucking frustrated.”

Not knowing exactly what to say, Mitzi just followed along in silence as they left the park and entered Dalaran proper. The truth was that Mitzi never had much of a problem learning most spells. She was a little slow in learning teleportation magic early on and it used to make her quite sick, but besides that there had been very few issues. Of course this wasn’t exactly uncommon, lots of mages struggled with one or sometimes two schools of magic. There really wasn’t anything much to do besides power through it. Not that Biyu would appreciate being told that again.

Thinking hard, Mitzi finally came up with an idea when their residence was in sight. She blinked in front of Biyu and held up her arms. “Wait! Just a second. I was just thinking… why don’t we go somewhere tonight?”

Biyu sighed and rubbed her temples. “I wouldn’t mind a drink, but I just don’t feel like going to any of the bars here. I guess we could just go back to my room…”

“No, nowhere around here.” Mitzi smiled triumphantly. “How about we go drink somewhere else? You’ve always wanted to go to some of the other Alliance cities, right?”

For a moment Mitzi thought that the idea wasn’t going to land, but Biyu’s hand dropped to her side as she grinned. “Really? That sounds great! Oh I can’t wait! Let me go take a bath and change, I’ll meet you downstairs in an hour!” Biyu hugged Mitzi tightly, making her uncomfortably aware of how sweaty her Pandaren friend was. Biyu dropped Mitzi and ran off, waving. “I’m sorry by the way, I know I’m gross right now!”

Wiping her face, Mitzi couldn’t be too mad as she headed to her own apartment. Seeing Biyu excited made her smile, and maybe a night of relaxation would help to focus the mind. She just had to remember to drink plenty of water and watch out, alcohol tended to sneak up on her with Biyu around.

-

It was later on that night while sitting in the Darnassus inn that Mitzi wished she had followed her own advice from earlier. The two of them were on their third bottle of moonberry wine now, and Mitzi was having some trouble sitting up straight. Biyu had ordered quite a spread of food including fresh fruit, rice, venison dumplings, kimchi, and a whole grilled fish. Though Mitzi thought it was going to be far too much, by the time the food hit her lips her stomach had demanded more. It wasn’t long before Mitzi was stuffed, leaning back and enjoying her wine as Biyu finished off the fresh fruit.

“Ah, what a wonderful meal!” Biyu finished off her wine glass in one go, smacking her lips gratefully and pouring herself another. She sloshed the bottle around, noticing that it was getting near the bottom. “Well that’s not good. Excuse me, waitress?!” Biyu raised an arm and flagged down the rather exasperated looking Night Elf waitress, who started their way with a resigned look on her face. Mitzi noticed that the other mostly Night Elf patrons (who were being much quieter and well-behaved than Biyu) were mumbling to each other as they watched Biyu lick her fingers happily.

“Can I help you?” the waitress asked, wiping her hands on a towel hanging off her belt. She motioned to the mostly empty moonberry wine with a nod.  “I suppose you want another bottle of wine?” Her tone was noticeably disapproving.

“No, I think we’re done on wine for the night. Do you have any spiced beer or something like that? I could really go for something a little lighter, so two of those if you have any. Oh, and I saw you bring out a bowl of what looked like grilled peaches with honey to that table over there. Can we get some of those too?” Biyu smiled as she looked to Mitzi. “Anything for you?”

Shaking her head, Mitzi smiled a bit apologetically to the waitress. “That should be it, thank you.”

“Yes, right away.” The Night Elf turned away looking a bit annoyed, but stopped when Biyu grabbed her wrist.

“I almost forgot to tell you. Please give my compliments to the chef. Everything was fantastic. And here, since you’ve been very patient with us tonight.” Biyu took out a few gold coins and placed them in the waitress’ palm.

“Oh, well thank you. My brother is actually the chef here. I’m sure he would be very glad to hear that. Let me get you those drinks.” The waitress still looked a bit tired of being at work, but she smiled at them wider than she had done before as she pocketed the gold coins and bustled off.

Watching her leave, Mitzi sipped at her wine again. “You know she was being kind of a jerk to you at first” she said conversationally.

Shrugging, Biyu took another long sip of her wine and sat back. “Look, I used to work in my uncle’s restaurant every now and then when he needed the help. I know very well how easy it is to get pissed off at a couple of people for being too loud. You don’t really care how tough of a day they’ve had, you’ve also had a rough day so you just can’t help but get upset.” Smiling, she tipped her glass back and placed it on the table, empty. “Plus, I meant what I said. The food was excellent. Especially those dumplings. That sauce was delicious!”

Mitzi was grateful that Biyu was finally acting like her old self again, and smiled back as she finished her own glass. “Well, you should take your own advice too. You can’t let yourself get down because of today. You’re doing better and better all the time, I know you’re going to master frost magic soon.”

The smile on Biyu’s face didn’t fade, but it did sober up a bit. She looked down at the table and sighed. “I’m sorry. I... wish I could focus harder than I am right now. I know it’s no excuse, but I’ve had some things on my mind recently. Sometimes it’s just hard to concentrate properly. I’m really sorry. I know that I’m not much good as an apprentice.” Biyu still had that smile on her face, but her eyes looked overly bright as she wiped them with one hand.

“Biyu” Mitzi said soothingly, reaching out and taking Biyu’s hand across the table. “If you were having problems why didn’t you tell me sooner? What’s wrong? Talk to me about it, ok?”

“But it’s just something stupid. Nothing to do with magic.” Seeing Mitzi’s encouraging look, Biyu took a deep breath. “It’s just… do you remember that guy I’ve been dating?”

“I know OF him.” That statement was pretty much on the money. Mitzi knew that Biyu had been seeing some guy but she hadn’t ever met him personally, only seen him once from a distance. She knew that he was a pandaren, and that he wore metal armor. That was about it. “What about him?”

“Well, we’ve sort of been dating since Dalaran was moved to the Broken Shore. We met when I was out drinking one night and we really hit it off. I liked how big and strong he was, and he said he liked how spontaneous I was. I thought things were going really good.” Biyu poured the rest of the wine evenly between both of their glasses and took a sip from hers. “That started to change after I got back from Suramar. He started to get more and more distant, which just made me so frustrated. We had never actually fucked, just made out and fooled around a bit, so I thought he was avoiding me because he was shy or something.” Biyu laughed without mirth and pounded back the glass of wine, glaring at Mitzi intensely. “But guess what, it wasn’t that! Turns out that prick was already married! And guess what else? When I confronted him, you know what he told me? That he was ‘really attracted to me but not in love with me’ and that he was dating me during a ‘rough patch in their relationship’. So you know what, I punched him in his fat fucking face! AND I told his wife! Sure we never fucked but I can assure you he DEFINITELY cheated on her!”

“Ma’am.” Biyu stopped and glared at the waitress, who calmly put two mugs of spiced beer down on the table, followed by a bowl of grilled peaches and a small bowl of nuts. “I’m very sorry, but can you please keep it down just a bit?”

Biyu looked around, and Mitzi was painfully aware of everyone staring at them. Biyu cleared her throat and nodded, her anger mollified. “Yes. Yes, sorry. Thank you.”

“It’s no problem.” the waitress hesitated, holding the tray against her chest. “But, one thing. I am glad you punched that asshole in the face. That sort of behavior is completely unacceptable.”

“Thank you!” Biyu picked up her drink and pointed it at the Night Elf, grinning. “You know my pain, don’t you?”

Looking away, the waitress gripped her tray a little tighter as she narrowed her eyes. “You could say that.” Brightening up, she smiled back at them before gathering up most of the empty. “Anyhow, please enjoy!”

As the waitress wandered off, Biyu turned to Mitzi and gave a quick cheers with their mugs. After a quick sip of spiced beer, Biyu picked up a fork and tasted one of the peach slices. She sighed, contented. “I just love peaches. Mitzi, please! Eat some of these.” Biyu pushed the bowl towards Mitzi encouragingly.

At first she was going to decline, but looking at the fruit with perfectly charred grill marks, glistening with honey Mitzi couldn’t help but pick up her own fork and try some. Mitzi couldn’t help but sigh happily as well, they were absolutely delicious. “Wow. Amazing. I would never have ordered these. This is why I love going out to eat with you, Biyu.” Mitzi speared another piece of peach, savoring the flavor.

“It’d be better with a little ice cream, but they are great” Biyu agreed, and the two fell silent as they finished the dessert. “So, where’s the boyfriend tonight by the way? Normally by this time you’re already gone to hang out with him.”

Taking a long sip of her beer to wash down the food, Mitzi was reminded of Edwin for the first time in a couple of hours. She sighed. “Tonight is his night off. I’m going to see him tomorrow.”

“Night off?” Biyu laughed out loud and took a sip of her drink. “You make it sound like you’re a job.”

“No, it’s not like that.” Mitzi was blushing as she tried to explain herself. “We just worked out a system, that’s all. These last few weeks have been… interesting, but we’re starting to find out what works. We decided that every fortnight we should have some personal days set aside. Edwin gets one night to himself, I get two nights with him alone, and both Reni and Sabine get a night with him alone respectively.” It was true, these last few weeks had been a learning experience as the four of them had slowly started understanding how to make this work. Things  actually settled down and become ‘normal’ quicker than Mitzi had imagined, but they were still tweaking the formula. This agreement to set aside days for example had been a recent development, one that Mitzi was looking forward to come tomorrow.

“Sounds like a lot of scheduling for that sort of thing.” Biyu sipped her beer thoughtfully as she looked at Mitzi. “So, why do you get two nights and they get one?”

“Well, I am the wife.” Mitzi thoughts her response was a little needlessly defensive, and she cleared her throat as she continued a bit more evenly, “Also, they both go out on missions with him more than I do. So that kind of makes up for it.” Mitzi frowned when she thought about that. Sabine had practically become the sixth member of Edwin’s group. Though there were times when she was left behind, mostly due to her armor not being the most stealthy, when Edwin’s group was going into a dangerous situation they would usually bring Sabine along. Not only was she a quite capable warrior that could even utilize a few basic spells to enhance her abilities, but she was quite valuable due to her knowledge of Suramar’s workings and by simply being a Nightborne Elf. Just days prior Sabine had distinguished herself on a mission by simply removing her armor and strolling into a building that Edwin’s group had been planning to infiltrate wearing plain clothes. She had retrieved the info they were after just by pretending to deliver a message from Lord Duskmere and by bribing a guard with a mana gem. Of course Mitzi had to hear about how great Sabine was as everyone drank at the bar later that night.

“That makes sense. So… answer me this. How is the whole situation anyhow? Are you guys all getting along?”

Mitzi hardly even had to think of her answer. “Yes. Sometimes I’m surprised at how regular everything seems. I was really skeptical at first, but… things just kind of seem to work.” There was certainly something strange about their relationship, but Mitzi couldn’t deny that every day it was a bit more comfortable to be around. Sabine would make dinner in the evenings, and Mitzi would usually have some girl talk with Reni or just have a bit of alone time with Edwin before everyone got ready for bed. It was a routine that felt very natural.

“Hmm.” Biyu sipped at her beer thoughtfully as she looked out the front doors, wide open to Darnassus. A light breeze was coming in from outside, bringing in the sweet smell of nature. “I’m really jealous, you know. You guys have it pretty good.”

“Well it’s not as great as it sounds. We have our problems too. That’s why we’re doing this whole fortnight business in the first place. Do you know how annoying a 4-person sleeping arrangement can be?” Mitzi frowned as she thought of some issues that had been cropping up. The most major issue was frankly the sex. There had been multiple occasions where various members of their group were woken up either late at night or early in the morning by the sexual escapades of others. Even Mitzi had technically been guilty of that, she had woken early a few days ago and convinced Edwin to go for a quick morning session that woke the other two fairly soon. There were other more minor issues such as Reni’s messy living habits and Sabine walking around in her underwear all the time, but those were more annoyances than anything. Mitzi had roommates before, back when she was an apprentice. She could live with stuff like that for the most part.

“I can’t really say I do.” Biyu looked amused as she pulled the small bowl of nuts near. She popped a couple into her mouth and crunched happily on them. “But tell me, the sex has been pretty good, right? You’ve look pretty satisfied these past few weeks, that’s for sure.”

Feeling a blush rise to her cheeks, Mitzi turned away from Biyu and coughed awkwardly. “Yes. It’s been pretty good.” As much as sex had become a problem at times, it was also undeniably one of the better things about their new situation. Edwin was like an absolute machine some nights, often making love to all three of them one after the other, or sometimes in pairs or all at once. While Edwin had continued to treat Mitzi gently during their sexual encounters, he treated the other two differently in their own right. He was much rougher with Reni, often flipping her over or changing her position forcefully without a word, and with Sabine he was the same as ever as he treated her like a sadistic pet owner. “Edwin is very passionate.”

“Yeah, I guess so! You looked like you zoned out there just thinking about it!” Biyu laughed again as Mitzi scowled at her. “Like I said, I’m jealous. Does Edwin think it’s weird? The fact that all of you… you know, aren’t human?”

Shaking her head, Mitzi almost laughed. “No. Not at all.” Mitzi remembered how energetically Edwin had made love to them last time and shivered. “Sometimes I think he likes it that way in fact. I think he just sees us as women, not as nonhumans.”

“Hmmm.” Biyu drank thoughtfully at her beer as she pushed the bowl of nuts over to Mitzi. “I see.”

-

It was later on that night, and Mitzi was relaxing on one of the chairs in Biyu’s room as she drank at a glass of water. They had portaled back to Dalaran, a bit shakily, and now both were coming here to sober up a bit before bed.

Biyu plopped down in the chair across from Mitzi and pured herself a glass of ice water, happily adding in a bit of rum and a generous squeeze of lemon. She began sipping her drink as she sat back with a contented sigh. “I can’t believe I never had rum until coming here.”

“I thought we were coming here to sober up” Mitzi said with a frown, feeling a little sick just watching Biyu slurp down the concoction.

“This is mostly water” Biyu retorted with a pout as she reached out and picked up a pack of cards. “Nevermind that, how about a few hands of poker? I’m feeling lucky tonight.”

Seeing the smug look on Biyu’s face made Mitzi sit up straight. “Oh? You suddenly think you can beat your teacher at cards do you? I admire your confidence. Deal the cards.”

Over the next half hour or so, the two began to play increasingly tense games of poker. Mitzi was clearly winning overall, but slowly over time Biyu was getting into the groove of things, her poker face becoming better each time. Soon the two of them were nearly matched, Mitzi one win ahead.

“One more match.” Mitzi had a good feeling as she watched Biyu shuffle the cards. “I got you this time.”

Smiling back, Biyu placed the cards in front of her and cut the deck a few times. Then, she placed the whole shuffled deck in the middle of the table and put her hands together. “I was just thinking… why don’t we make this next hand more interesting? It can be the last one, if I win we tie and if you win you’re still undisputed master of cards.”

Narrowing her eyes, Mitzi did not trust her apprentice for a second. “We’re played to make things interesting before. I seem to remember you making me go downstairs naked to get a glass of water for you.”

Giggling madly, Biyu nodded. “That was… that was priceless! The look on everyone’s faces!” Seeing Mitzi’s unamused expression, Biyu quickly calmed herself down. “Ahem. Look, how about this: if I win, I get to ask for one favor. You can veto the favor if you don’t like what I ask.”

“And what about if I win?” Mitzi didn’t exactly like this, but the fact that she could turn down the request made her at last intrigued.

“How about a cask of my father’s famous honey ale?” Biyu smiled triumphantly when she noticed how Mitzi perked up. “That’s right. Only a certain number of barrels brewed every year to maintain top quality. I’m his daughter and I only get four a year myself, AND I’m his favorite.”

“You… you hardly even drink it.” Mitzi had tried a couple glasses of the stuff in question. It was divine stuff, sweet and smooth with just the right amount of body. Served chilled it was one of the best things she had drunk. “Hmm…” Mitzi was severely tempted. On one hand if she lost then she was going to have to do something really embarrassing. Even if she turned down something she really didn’t want to do she would eventually feel obligated to do something that would like be humiliating. On the other hand, she imagined herself sharing a cask of honey ale tomorrow. Edwin smiling at her and telling her it was the best thing he ever had, then both of them getting drunk enough that they would start getting physical… “Ok then. Fine! Deal the cards.” Mitzi was hoping it wasn’t the alcohol talking. It probably was.

Her face slackening into her poker face, Biyu passed the cards out and picked hers up without a word. Mitzi picked her hand up, feeling a bit elated already when she noticed the Jack and Queen. She also had an 8, a 9 and a 2. Licking her lips, Mitzi quickly extracted the 2. She considered the 8 and 9 for a long moment but decided against it. She would have to try this gamble. “One card please.”

Biyu took two cards out herself and dealt the three cards, once again silently. Mitzi felt a little smug smile on her face when Biyu’s eyes looked slightly worried. Mitzi picked up her card slowly… and smiled widely. One of the two jokers was in her hand, which meant she had a straight. Not waiting for Biyu, Mitzi slapped the cards down on the table. “Straight. You?”

With a long sigh, Biyu took three of her cards and slapped them down. “Just three of a kind.” Three 4 cards sat there on the table.

“Well, good game Biyu. I guess I’ll just come by with Edwin and pick up-”

“Oh. Wait.” Biyu smiled slowly as she dropped her other two cards. “Also two of a kind.” Two 6 cards lay there on the table, clear as day. “You know… now that I think about it, that makes a full house, doesn’t it?” Laughing madly, Biyu grabbed her drink and finished it off in one go. “Yes!”

The irritation Mitzi felt drained away when she saw how elated Biyu was. She stood up, stretching her body as she groaned. “Ok, ok. You win. Are you happy? We tied in poker.” Relaxing herself, she reached out and finished her water. “So. What kind of favor are you thinking of? Something silly I bet. Prank one of the other girls? Maybe swim naked in the Dalaran fountain?”

“No, no… nothing like that. I know you don’t like that stuff much.” Biyu was acting a little nervous now, avoiding eye contact with Mitzi as she put the cards away carefully. “I was thinking of something… a little different.”

“Sure.” Mitzi waited as Biyu seemed to struggle for something to say. “Do you need help moving something from Pandaria?” Mitzi remembered the hassle of getting some of this furniture all the way to Dalaran, even with portals.

“No! I…” Biyu took a deep breath and finally went for it. “I was wondering if I could have sex with Edwin. With you there too, of course.”

Mitzi just stared back at Biyu, unbelieving. Now she struggled for something to say. “What? Why?”

“Well I figured you’d want to be there too… it would be kinda weird if it was just me going off and fucking him” Biyu responded casually. She summoned herself a glass of water and began sipping at it idly.

“That is NOT what I was talking about and you know it!” Mitzi felt conflicting feelings of confusion and annoyance battling within her as she sat back down. “Why do you want to have sex with Edwin?”

Taking another few sips of her water, Biyu took a few moments to answer. Finally she put down her glass and shifted nervously in her seat. “I told you earlier. I never actually did it with that guy I was dating. Not only that, but it’s been awhile since I had sex. That’s one of the big reasons I’ve been so frustrated over the whole frost magic thing. I was just thinking… that maybe we could have a good time and I could let off some of this stress.” Looking up, Biyu didn’t quite meet Mitzi’s eyes. “Remember, you can veto the idea if it’s too weird.”

“It’s not that, it’s just…” Mitzi frowned. “I don’t exactly like the idea of giving out my boyfriend like that.”

“Oh, come on.” Biyu frowned and sat back. “It’s not like I’m demanding him to come and fuck me. If he doesn’t want it then we can veto the idea. You said he doesn’t really see you as nonhumans, just women so I just thought… anyhow, what about Reni?”

Crossing her arms, Mitzi met Biyu with a firm gaze. “She and Edwin were in a relationship when they thought I was dead. Even though Edwin chose me I didn’t want for her to lose everything she held dear. It’s not like I was just lending him out to her.”

“Ok. That makes sense.” Biyu nodded in agreement. “What about Sabine?”

“Uh…” Mitzi hesitated. Sabine was much harder to justify but not impossible. “Well we did ask her to turn traitor to her people. It would have been rather cold to just turn her out onto the street.”

“And the fact that Edwin ties her up and spanks her doesn’t factor into that at all.” Biyu’s voice was flat and sarcastic.

Feeling irritation creeping into her voice, Mitzi tried to calmly explain. “YES Edwin has some tendencies and YES maybe that plays a factor, but-” Mitzi didn’t have a chance to finish her thought. A knock on the door silenced both of them and Nadia, another girl living in the building, poked her head in. She did not look amused at all.

“Excuse me. I am trying to go to sleep. Please, both of you do the same. Ok? Good night.” Nadia frowned at both of them, and shut the door with a loud snap.

Mitzi looked at Biyu, and the two just stared awkwardly at each other across the table for a minute. Then Biu brightened up, her smile a bit forced. “Well. Um, you don’t have to decide right now. And remember, if you don’t want to it’s ok. Just think about it, or talk to Edwin.”

There was a long lingering pause where Mitzi felt torn. A large part of her wanted to just tell her no, ask her for another favor tomorrow. However another part had to admit there would be nothing especially wrong with talking to Edwin. After all, it was possible that he would just tell her he didn’t find Biyu attractive. Problem solved. Finally, Mitzi sighed and nodded. “Fine. I’ll think about it. Ok? Not, ‘yes, I agree’, I’ll just think about it.”

Smiling widely, Biyu stood up and hugged Mitzi. “Oh, thank you! Don’t worry. Even if you veto the idea I’m just glad you considered it.”

After a few more minutes of goodbyes, Mitzi was finally able to slip out of Biyu’s room and head to her own. She tried not to think about Biyu’s proposition too much, but it ended up being the only thing on her mind as she got ready for bed.