“Hey, um, Lizzy?”

Lizzy looked up, and her face split into a radiant smile. “Oh, hi, Mary! How's it going?”

“Pretty good.” Mary tried to focus on Lizzy, and not on Lizzy's two classmates exchanging wry glances. Lizzy had just come out of ensemble, and Mary could tell she was interrupting. Mary clutched her books closer to her chest. “Listen, um, I was wondering...”

Lizzy's head tilted to the side.

Mary could feel her cheeks getting hotter. “I could use your help with something,” she squeaked.

Lizzy blinked. She glanced around them. “Right now?”

“Mm.” Mary nodded quickly. “If—if you're not busy. I mean, it can wait.”

“No! No, it's fine.” Lizzy brushed a lock of hair behind her antenna and turned to face her two friends. “Hey, guys, I gotta go help my roommate. She's hopeless at figuring out the, uh, I think the fridge is on the fritz again, so it's kinda urgent.”

“No problem,” said one of them, a pretty apisae with her jet-black hair done back in a bun.

“Yeah, we'll see you later at the cafe, though, right?” asked the other, a lampyra dressed in all-black to help make up for her natural glow.

“Yeah! For sure.” Lizzy flashed them a smile, then walked towards Mary and hooked her arm in hers. She caught Mary's eye. “Shouldn't be an hour.”

Mary nodded weakly. She felt so pathetic.

As they walked off, she heard the lampyra murmuring to the other apisae, “People always get their polar opposites as roommates. She's so patient with her. If it were me...”

They rounded the corner before Mary could hear the rest. But Mary's antennae thrummed with shame.

Fifteen minutes later, Mary was mewling through her hand, pinned against the bed and grinding her hips against Lizzy's buzzing leg, and nothing mattered except Lizzy's beautiful, honey-gold eyes.

~ ~ ~ ~

She'd asked Lizzy to 'go flying' for her four times since that first night now. She was a month into the term, and she felt like she was going insane with the craving. Even the climax at the end didn't feel like enough anymore. Some nights she just wanted to grab hold and keep going, keep climaxing until she passed out. She was hopeless.

She needed to stop. She'd told herself that multiple times. The way Lizzy smiled knowingly at her whenever she asked, the snickers from her dormmates... there was no way she'd told any of them, right?

No. Of course not. They just thought she was a clingy codependent weirdo. Whatever... this was, Lizzy would get in just as much trouble as Mary would if they were found out. Wouldn't she?

Although Mary was the one constantly pressuring Lizzy into it.

She clenched her thighs together and buried her face in her hands. She was in the dorm restroom, locked in a shower stall. Lizzy was in the bedroom right now getting ready for an early bedtime, since she had some sort of big rehearsal going on tomorrow morning. Mary definitely could not risk being in the same room with an awake Lizzy. It was… too easy to ask.

So she'd just sit here and wait. It was easier than sitting out in the common room. She hadn't made any friends in the dorms. When everyone hung out, she always just sat there mutely and watched Lizzy, never knowing how to cut in.

She'd be able to go to bed soon. She just had to wait a few minutes longer, just to be sure Lizzy would be asleep when she got back. Lizzy was a deep sleeper.

~ ~ ~ ~

“... so, you in?”

Mary watched through the window as the squirrel scurried up the tree with its little half-donut prize fished from the trash. No wonder the squirrels on campus were so cute and fat.

“Hello? Mary?”

Mary jumped, realizing abruptly that Lizzy had been talking to her. She spun, staring wide-eyed at the whole cluster of dormmates eyeing her curiously. “What?”

“The concert this Saturday.” Lizzy rolled her eyes with a giggle. “Wow, you were totally checked out, huh?”

“Mm.” Mary nodded. “Sorry. I, um, didn't sleep well last night.”

“Yeah, you came to bed late, didn't you?” Lizzy frowned. “You're staying out pretty late lately, huh?”

“Mm. Just been studying really hard.”

“Good for you,” chirped the red-haired vespinne, whose name Mary still didn't know. “You should come study out here sometime! Nessa and I do little work-ins sometimes.”

“Yeah.” Mary glanced surreptitiously at Lizzy, then ducked her head. As long as Lizzy never went, it might be a good way to pass the time. “Maybe.”

Denise, the aranea, smiled. “Lizzy, she wants to ask if you'll be there.”

Mary's cheeks went bright red. “Th-That's not—“

“Don't be a jerk,” the vespinne cut in, glassy wings irritably buzzing. The sound made Mary's nails dig into her thighs. “It's normal to want to be around the person you know best when you're new. We aren’t even halfway into her first term.”

“Right.” Denise nodded sheepishly.

“Especially since transitioning from homeschool is freaking hard! You were basically webbed to me in freshman year, remember?”

“Right, yeah, good point. Sorry, Mary.”

Mary mumbled her forgiveness. Lizzy had been totally silent throughout the interaction. Mary didn't dare look at her.

“So, anyways,” Lizzy declared, “who's going to my concert?”

“I wouldn't miss it,” the vespinne said with a smile.

“I think I'm free,” Denise added.

The culicin—another girl whose name Mary didn't know—gave a high-pitched giggle. “Should be able to!”

Lizzy turned to Mary with a bright-eyed smile. “So, how about it, Mary? Sounds like everyone else is going.”

Mary swallowed. She hadn't heard Lizzy play yet, though she knew Lizzy played the piano.

She forced herself to meet Lizzy's gaze. Lizzy was sitting right next to her on the sofa, close enough for Mary's antennae to pick up some of her scent. Lizzy had such a cute, easy smile, a smile like she was genuinely so, so happy to see whoever it was she was looking at.

Mary could picture herself sitting in the front row with the other dormmates, watching Lizzy play. She already knew Lizzy would play beautifully, like she did everything beautifully. Maybe their eyes would meet. Maybe Lizzy would smile at her. Maybe Mary could bring a flower to throw to her, or hand it to her after the concert, and then Lizzy could take her hand and they could sneak backstage and

Mary stood up abruptly. “I think I'm busy that night, actually,” she said, and retreated from her corner. “I'd better go. Paper due tomorrow.”

She nearly tripped on the vespinne's long legs in the process. She heard a startled apology, which she reciprocated, but then she was out of the common room and hurrying for their door. She managed not to fumble with the key fob, at least.

Once safely inside, Mary leaned back against the door to close it behind her. She was breathing heavily, trying to clear her lungs of Lizzy. It wasn't working.

She wondered if Lizzy would follow. Maybe Lizzy would want to check in on her.

Lizzy didn't follow. Mary sat there alone in their room. After a moment, she went over to her desk and opened her laptop. She really did need to get some work done, anyways.

Lizzy would have all her friends already attending the concert, anyways. She didn't need Mary. Mary would just be a face in the crowd, one in many. She wasn't special. She was just the most... clingy.

She reached up and gently wafted air onto her antennae, trying to clear them out a little.

It was past time to get ahold of herself.

~ ~ ~ ~

Lizzy did come back to the bedroom a couple hours later. Mary was just finishing up her theology paper, and she had her headphones in, so she only noticed Lizzy was back when the apisae appeared in her peripheral to retrieve her razor. Lizzy wasn't looking at her.

Mary felt a different kind of shame at that. Not the spiritual shame she'd been suffering all month, but a personal, social shame. Was she making Lizzy feel guilty? Ignored? That wasn't fair. Lizzy had just been trying to help. It wasn't Lizzy's fault that Mary had gotten so... so.

Mary took off her headphones, feeling her insides churning. It was that same anxiety she always felt around Lizzy nowadays, the nervous anticipation, the bracing-for-impact, and the muddled feelings of... desire.

She swallowed them down, grabbed her shower caddy, and hurried to the door.

“Mary.”

Mary nearly jumped in a full 180-degree circle. “Y-Yes?” Lord, why couldn't she steady her stupid voice around Lizzy?

Lizzy looked at her briefly with a neutral expression, then pointed up to the top bunk. “I think your nightlight is... the bulb looks like it's dying. We can leave the lights on tonight, if you want.”

“Oh.” Mary tried not to flinch at the blank expression. She'd never seen Lizzy not smile at her. It felt like a punch to the gut. “N-No, I'm... that wouldn't be fair to you.”

“I don't mind,” Lizzy said quickly.

“I don't really need it.” Mary fumbled for the doorknob behind her, turning it and backing out of the dorm room. “But thanks for offering! I'll be fine!”

~ ~ ~ ~

Mary had been breaking her own rule about lying a lot lately.

All she had on was a towel and a shower cap. She'd wanted to use one of the private bathrooms, but both of them had been occupied, forcing her into the main restroom instead. She didn't feel comfortable getting dressed in there, so she was just going to hurry straight to her dorm room and get into bed.

At first, as she stepped into the pitch-black room, she thought she might be fine. Then the door clicked shut, and darkness enveloped her.

Mary’s heart began to flutter, then thrum in her chest. She looked around reflexively, searching for even the faintest pinpricks of light, but the nightlight truly was dead. The only light was from the shuttered windows and the glow-in-the-dark stars. Not enough. Not nearly enough.

The shadows gnawed at her as she stumbled over towards the bed. She didn't dare try to fly. Flying took her off the ground, and she felt suddenly, agonizingly sure that in the brief moments her feet did not touch the ground, something terrible would snatch her up. She grasped the ladder and climbed up, rung by rung, trying to make her head stop pounding.

Lizzy's heavy breathing, at least, formed an anchor of sorts. She tried to focus on that as she climbed into bed and pulled the covers tightly over herself, shivering with fright.

She closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep.

It was only by conjuring up thoughts of Lizzy's bright golden eyes, which reflected the light so beautifully, that she was able to calm herself enough to lose consciousness.

~ ~ ~ ~

There was something descending from the ceiling.

Mary couldn't move. She couldn't speak. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't scream. She didn't dare, but also, she couldn't.

It was coming down towards her. Whatever it was, it was close to her size. It had claws, and teeth, and wings, horrible batlike wings that flapped and fluttered without a sound. There were no eyes. Only an enormous mouth, and huge ears, and long, white teeth.

She whimpered. It was the only sound she could make, but the sound made the thing descend faster, faster, until it was on the covers, she couldn't feel it but she knew it was there, it was on top of her, skittering towards her on those claw-wings, jaws slavering with hunger—

She could move again.

Panic took over. Mary kicked the blankets away from herself with a shriek, flailed wildly in the blackness, and then scrambled to the side, backed herself into the corner between her bed and the wall. She let out a wail, pulling up her knees and hugging them to her chest, staring blindly into the shadows.

“What!” came Lizzy's shout from below. “Mary, what's going—”

“There's something in here!” Mary's words came out with barely any air to drive them. “Something—something in—the l-light, light, please—”

“What?” There was a high-pitched hum from below, a blur of reflected light speeding to the light switch, and cold fluorescent light flooded the room to reveal... nothing.

“It's there,” Mary sobbed, pointing to the lump of blankets. “It's there it's there it's there—”

“Mary! It's okay!” Lizzy flew up to the top bunk in a flash and grabbed the blankets, throwing them away to the floor. There was nothing within them. “What did it look like?”

“It—it—” Mary trembled, bringing her hands up to her mouth as she stared around herself at the empty dorm room, and she slowly remembered where she was. She stared at Lizzy, her vision blurred with tears, and then hung her head. “Oh. It was a—a nightmare. I'm s-sorry.”

There was a pause.

She felt Lizzy's weight on the bed next to her. “Why are you sorry?”

“I j-just—” Mary took a deep breath. “Haven't had a night terror in a while. I’m sorry if I scared you.”

“Was it because it was dark?”

Mary's whole body felt hot. She realized she was still naked, so she pulled her knees up to her chest before meekly nodding.

“Mary, you're such a...” Lizzy bit her lip, appearing to hold the words back. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

Mary shook her head.

Then, without thinking about it, she started talking anyways. The details of the dream spilled out of her before she could stop them. Lizzy listened patiently, never quite reaching out to touch Mary, but never looking away, either. She looked stricken.

“That sounds awful. And you used to get those every night?”

“Not every night. But... yes. Until I got the nightlight.” She hesitated. “Well, the six nightlights. My whole room back home’s kind of... bright, honestly.”

“Mine would be, too, if I had dreams like yours.” Lizzy reached forward, but seemed oddly hesitant, looking into Mary's eyes as if seeking permission. Mary nodded, and Lizzy's hand settled on her knee. Mary was trying not to think about being naked. She was trying even harder not to think about the way Lizzy’s t-shirt was pushed out too far by her chest to quite cover the small of her back. “We'll leave the lights on tonight. No arguing.”

Mary shook her head. “You h-have rehearsal tomorrow.” She took in a deep breath, forcing her chest to stop shuddering. “Well, today, technically. H-Happy Wednesday.”

“You remember that?“

“Every Monday and Wednesday morning, right?”

Lizzy blinked, then nodded. “But I can go with a little less sleep for one day. I'll be fine.”

“No. I can't sleep with all the lights on, either. Fluorescent bulbs, um, hurt my eyes.” Mary bit her lip. “No point in neither of us getting any sleep. I'll just go h-hang out in the hall.”

Lizzy folded her arms and pouted. She seemed to be considering something. “Well, I'm not letting you do that. Isn't there anything else we could do? Look, I can go wake up Lucy, and maybe she could...” She trailed off.

Mary was pretty sure Lucy was the lampyra she’d seen around the hall once or twice. She quickly shook her head at that.

Lizzy hesitated. She looked down at her knees, then back at Mary. “Sorry, do you want me to... back off?”

Mary shook her head frantically.

Lizzy bit her lip. She backed up and took off from the bed, flying back down to the door. “I'm gonna try something. Close your eyes.”

“That won't work,” Mary said quietly. She'd tried the old 'pretend the lights are still on' trick before. It just made her feel all the more paralyzed.

“Just try it, okay?”

Mary closed her eyes.

She sensed the light level drop. Her hands rubbed against the blankets for purchase. She couldn’t move. Couldn’t dare open her eyes.

She heard a loud buzzing, and then she felt a soft, gentle warmth envelope her.

Mary's heart started to race for a different reason.

“Is this—”

“Yes,” Mary whispered, leaning deeper into Lizzy's embrace. “I... it's okay.”

“Okay.” Lizzy's breath tickled Mary's ear. The apisae gently guided Mary back under the covers, arms wrapped tightly around her. Mary listened to Lizzy's own heartbeat. It seemed to match her own in rhythm. “As long as you need.”

Never leave, Mary wanted to say. Forever and ever.

But she just buried her face in Lizzy's chest and didn't say anything at all.

For a long moment, Mary just let herself sink into warm, cozy, comforting darkness. Her arms wrapped around Lizzy. This felt so much better than a nightlight.

Lizzy's grip around her tightened.

Lizzy's thigh brushed against her. Soft, smooth skin against again.

Mary breathed in sweetness.

Her lips parted.

Oh, no.

Mary had read about Pavlov's dog, the dog that had been so thoroughly trained to expect food when a bell rang that it would start to drool at the sound of the bell, food or no.

This is wrong, she thought miserably to herself as she started to squirm. So, so wrong.

Lizzy's knee was almost between her legs. It was so close, she just... if she just parted her legs a little... more

Stop. Stop it. Stop doing this now.

But her legs weren't obeying her.

She wasn't obeying herself.

“Mary?” came Lizzy's soft voice, right in her ear. Mary barely held in a sigh at the voice, the sensation. “You... okay?”

“Mm.” Mary went very still. Her body felt like it was on fire, though. “I, um... um...” Lizzy's breasts were muffling her words, though. And being here wasn't helping anything.

“Mary, you...” Lizzy's hand appeared under Mary's chin and tilted it up. Mary's body responded automatically. She lifted her head to meet Lizzy's gaze. Lizzy still looked concerned, but there was a slight twist to her fulsome lips, a hint of that beautiful smile. “You can ask, you know.”

Mary couldn't breathe. She squirmed, and then from her came a voice as if from a stranger. “C-Can we...?”

Lizzy's eyes sparkled as the smile returned. “You sure? You want me to?”

“Yes.” Mary nodded, hopelessly lost in Lizzy's eyes. “Yes yes yes, I, it might—h-help me sleep, I mean...”

She felt Lizzy's knee slide between her legs. The blankets flew off both of them again as Lizzy pinned her down on the bed.

Lizzy licked her lips.

“I've been waiting for you to ask.”

Mary's eyes widened. Then Lizzy's wings started to buzz, and Mary's eyes rolled up back into her skull. It was instant and intense, overwhelming. It was as if Lizzy wanted to dazzle her, to utterly overpower her, to remind her how good this felt.

And those words and that smile echoed through halls of her mind where scripture used to dwell.

“Lizzy!” she moaned, quivering beneath the shorter beegirl, reaching up and digging her nails into Lizzy's behind. It didn't matter that Mary was naked anymore. She was so, so glad she was naked right now. Every inch of her skin needed to touch Lizzy, to be touched by Lizzy. She needed it. Every part of her needed it. “Lizzy-Lizzy-Lizzy, oh, Lizzy!”

As her nails dug in what had to be too hard—she couldn't help herself, couldn't stop—she could almost swear she heard, felt Lizzy let out a moan.

The thought should have confused her. Instead it made her lose her mind completely. She grinded and humped, moaning, whimpering, as Lizzy's whole body vibrated against hers.

“Oh, Mary,” Lizzy cooed, grinding her thigh to help Mary along, and the feeling of Lizzy's smooth, silken skin gliding against her folds was—was—

—was nothing, Mary realized, drooling as she stared up at the radiant silhouette, compared to the sound of her name on Lizzy's perfect lips.

Something inside her shattered, and she bit down on her own hand hard to hold in a squeal of pure wanton abandon as she came. The orgasm rocked her entire body, seized her and broke her against the rocks like a ship at sea, and she eagerly, desperately embraced her destruction, ground her hips, lost herself to the pleasure. She humped and grinded until she came crashing in a second time, and her whole brain felt like dripping goo, and how could it be any kind of sin when it made her feel so wonderful—

Her body fell limp and helpless, sweaty, panting. Her hand fell away. The bitemarks hurt; she wondered dimly if they were bruised. She hoped so. She wanted marks of this. She wanted it to be undeniable, to carry on to the next day, to last forever.

But as she lay there, panting, completely without energy to keep grinding, she could feel Lizzy's wings slowing down.

“N-No,” she whimpered. “M-M...”

Lizzy paused. “What was that?”

Mary swallowed. “Nevermind.”

There was a moment's silence.

Then Lizzy's voice came close to ehr, husky and soft. “Did you say,” she purred, “more?”

Mary stared up where she knew those eyes were. Lizzy's body was slick with sweat against her. The wildflowers and honey were back, but dominating all of it was the strong, intoxicating scent of... musk.

Apisae pheromones didn't affect non-apisae. She'd looked it up.

Mary was just that down bad.

She whimpered, nodded, and gave a weak little wiggle of her hips.

Lizzy's laughter melted around her, as sweet and sticky as honey, as the wings began to speed up once more. Buzzing bliss filled Lizzy's head, and time once more was liquid and soft. The third orgasm could have taken hours, or it could have taken moments. All she knew was the pleasure that took hold of her tightly, hands gently caressing her folded-back wings, and wouldn't ever, ever let her go. She sank into it willingly, eagerly, and as she lost herself to the sweet, comforting darkness, she prayed she would never be found again.

~ ~ ~ ~

Mary didn't remember falling asleep.

She didn't remember Lizzy delicately peeling herself out of her embrace and fluttering back down to the bottom bunk.

She did remember a small shard of one dream, though.

Lizzy was in it.