"Ravy!" A loud voice shouted across the Grand Gallery with no consideration for tranquility or decorum. Peralya Freyaling, all 130 cm of her, caught sight of me first, and had already started approaching.

"Alya! I didn't know you were going to be here."

"Yeah, well, Uncle Gammon finally started paying Gramma her cut, so we got more options now."

"It's good to see you. Anyone else around?"

"Nah, just me this term. A lot of us headed off to Leadwall. And then there are the ones working for your pops here in town. No one else at the college."

"Working for Dad? Doing what?"

"Quality weapons for fighting Hegem Unus. Can't make 'em fast enough, apparently. Bunch of uncles had to quit raiding, even. The honest work pays better. Which sucks, because my carriage got jacked on the way, and I couldn't pull on family connections. Get down here and give me a hug, giant."

I took a knee and delivered squeeze. Peralya returned it, then scrambled up my body and took a seat on my shoulders.

"Hot bitch stack! Power up them legs, girl, and let's go on boner patrol."

I stood up. One of the favorite things for the pure goblin cousins to do when the alflins were visiting was to ride us around like bipedal mounts.

"My carriage got held up, too, but I fought them off, and we got away."

"Anyone we know?"

"No goblins at all. And they were using elf guns."

"Sick. It's like nobody has any pride in their work any more."

"And then I got jumped here in the city. Bootlicker spies. They thought my status anomaly was something they could steal."

"Hot damn. If we weren't already at war, that'd be a family vendetta. I'm gonna let the boys at the factory know. You told your parents yet?"

"No. I'll just do it at the regular time on Unjer. Long distance ethercoms rates, and everything."

"You might be able to talk more often, soon. The guys are working on something that works without ether. Or rather, it's ether powered, but it uses magnets or something? Big secret, too, so goblin ears only, if they even let you near it."

"So enemy etherists can't listen in or trace it?"

"Got it in one. But also, we can use it to make free voice calls from the factory to the burrows, and even bill the army for testing it. Hey, you pop your cherry yet?"

"Yeah, both ways."

"Slut. Can I borrow the boy?"

"Ah, I sort of already got him a girlfriend. And fucked them both."

"Damnit, Ravy."

"I didn't know I needed to save you one!"

"It's fine. Just going to have to get mine on party weekend. You get your invites yet?"

"No. You?"

"Bitch, I had mine before I even got here. Gramma got me one from Underground Union. Too bad you're ineligible. Shortstacks only. I'm a' see what dwarf dick is like. Unless you want to slip me your meatpole."

"Alya!"

"Yeah, you're right. Gramma has ears everywhere. We'd totally get our asses kicked. Hold up. Boner detected! Target locked! Let me down. I'm going hunting."

I swung her down to the floor, and she took off like an etherflare in the direction of a gnome student that had apparently glanced in our direction. I didn't want to interrupt, or inadvertently cuntblock my cousin, so I decided to catch up with her again later.

I headed back to the Residency. With people moving in, there might be a little more activity there.