Œufs Brouillés à la Carême

Inside the Brighella Suite, the residents were each a bundle of raw nerves. Maddy watched, dressed on the bed, as Noemi tore through her closet and looked for something to wear. Yawning, Maddy gazed around the room; the Chilean woman’s excited tittering had kept up the chef as she hyped herself up for today’s date. Not that Maddy could blame Noemi for her excitement, it would be pretty hypocritical, as she was looking forward to her own date with Caleb, even if the contents of said date increasingly made her want to hyperventilate as they approached.

She looked down at her hand and saw once more her new VP total. She couldn’t help but feel guilty about it, even if Mira had agreed to it. It felt like there was something wrong with getting points for someone else’s actions and…the chef blushed, for not a small amount of points. Mira had come up with the idea herself, the way Maddy could make the most effective use of bounties to surge ahead in the competition. It was clear that it was working, which helped some of her misgivings about her date, and about what she would be doing later today…

Maddy was distracted from her thoughts by a low growl from the closet, followed by a frustrated cry. Noemi stepped out and flailed her arms before locking them at her sides, “It’s no good, nothing is good enough for today!”

Giving a sympathetic smile, Maddy got up from the bed, “I don’t think that can be true. I’m sure you have plenty of clothes that Caleb would like to see you wear.” She walked over and began picking up some of the discarded clothes from the ground.

The Chilean woman adamantly shook her head in response, “No, you don’t understand, most of my clothes were for work or lounging at home. I always meant to pick up clothes for dates, but never really got around to it.” She turned her head away, slightly ashamed, “Between work and family, I just couldn’t find the time.”

Smiling gently, Maddy began to hang things back up, “I’m sure Caleb wouldn’t mind if you showed up in anything, pretty sure he’d be happy with you in yoga pants and a tank top.” Maddy made a cursory glance over, observing Noemi’s curvy figure, honestly unable to imagine the woman not being able to make any outfit eye-catching.

“Oh, Maddy! You can say that because your clothes are so cute.” She gestured to the chef, who was currently wearing an outfit consisting of a pleated knee-length skirt, leggings, and a button-up shirt with frilly cuffs and neckline.

Maddy just blushed and averted her eyes; she wasn’t much used to wearing her casual clothes, given how often she was dressed for work or at home, too short to consider leaving her pjs. She managed a hesitant, “Thank you for saying that…but really, I don’t think what you wear is gonna make too much difference to Caleb, he doesn’t seem like the type to judge a person for that.”

Noemi clutched the shirt in her hand, “You’re right, I understand that, but…” With a huff, she thrust her arms down and let out another low sound of frustration, “I don’t want Caleb to just be ok with what I’m wearing y’know? I want him wowed! I want him to see me and go ‘Wow! There’s the future mother of my children!’ That sort of thing! Is that too much to ask?”

The blonde’s face got even redder with Noemi’s explanation, and she had to take a deep breath before responding. Sometimes, Noemi’s eagerness almost felt physical, like water lapping at your neck in an enclosed space. “You want to feel special and for him to think you’re special, I understand. Well…maybe if none of the outfits here work, maybe you could drop by the bazaar? They sell all sorts of clothing.”

“But…but if I do that, I’ll have to hold off on starting the date until I get back.” Noemi’s face looked stricken, and, despite the fact that the delay probably wouldn’t be more than an hour, Maddy could tell she was one hundred percent serious.

The blonde tried to couch her words gently, “I know it’s important to you to spend as much time as possible with Caleb today, and you also want to look a certain way. So you've got to make a decision, a little less time with him or looking how you want to look? Remember, he still has to eat breakfast and is probably going to spend time catching up with people in the cafeteria, so you might not lose any time provided you go now.”

Noemi considered this for a moment and then began to walk towards the door, a decision apparently made. She opened the door and looked to Maddy, “Can you let Caleb know that I didn’t forget and I’ll meet him in the lobby after breakfast?”

The chef nodded hurriedly, “Yeah, that’s no problem, Noemi, I can do that for you.”

“Thanks, Maddy, you’re such a good friend! Don’t worry, tomorrow when you have your date, I’ll help you out!” Noemi gave the chef a big smile, and Maddy returned it and waved goodbye.

As the door shut, Maddy quietly shook her head. While she appreciated the sentiment, she was pretty skeptical of Noemi being able to help her tomorrow. Even if the Chilean could pry herself out of Caleb’s bed, which was doubtful, the blonde didn’t think there could be much assistance with what she had planned. The chef maneuvered her way over to the full-length mirror and stretched her skirt out a bit. She wondered if Caleb would also think it was cute.

She gave a perfunctory twirl and then sighed and closed her eyes, feeling her heart beat in her chest. There was so much to do today and tomorrow, it felt like. Mira had done so much in helping her lay out her plans while being conscious of her comfort levels. There were only two things that stood in her way now: one, if she could grab Caleb’s attention on their date, and two, whether she had the wherewithal to pull this off.

She walked over to the side table and opened her purse, and pulled out a vial filled with shimmering gold liquid, verifying it was still there before tucking it back away and throwing her purse over her shoulder. She took a deep breath and walked towards the door.

Down in the breakfast hall, pretty much everyone had arrived; the only individuals absent were Noemi, who was currently shopping, Eliza, who was cooped up in her room still, Caleb, and Mira. Presumably, the latter two were still in their room, and, if the point total that was on Maddy’s had been any indication, they were probably exhausted. As the chef stepped into the breakfast hall, she saw that Lily, Amy, and Stella were eating together, with Maya at the far corner table eating by herself.

Maddy felt a pang in her chest watching as the purple-haired girl ate buttered toast alone in the corner, but her attention was grabbed by Lily waving and calling from her table, “Maddy, over here!” Maddy gave Maya one last look before tentatively smiling and walking over to the group.

As she got close enough, Stella reached over and wrapped an arm around the Chef’s shoulder, “Hey, Mads, get some nice sleep?”

Maddy gave a small yelp at the boisterous nature of the contact before settling in her seat, “Yeah, I guess. Noemi kept me up for a bit. Nerves about her date.”

“Hmmph..” Lily put her head in her hands as she let out a dismissive sound.

Stella looked over from nuzzling her cheek against Maddy’s, “Oh come on, I thought we were past this, we’re all fuck ups remember?”

“I-urgh” Lily frowned, “No, I get it. This isn’t about the competition. It’s just hard for me to deal with her acting this way. Unlike all of you, I knew about Noemi from Caleb telling me about her and what she did to him during school. So given everything, yeah, sorry I’m a little tentative to trust her with someone I care about.”

Amy had her own concerns, but didn’t want to encourage unrest and stayed quiet as Stella retracted her arm from Maddy and shrugged. “I mean, sure, I don’t know specifics outside of that she bullied the guy in middle school. He seems fine with it, though. And Noemi, well, she-” Stella snickered, “Like, the girl has made it abundantly clear she wants dicked down hard.”

Maddy’s face flushed crimson, Amy took a strategic sip of coffee, as Lily blushed and slammed her hands down on the table, “Stella!”

Stella waved a hand dismissively, “Oh come on, let’s not act like blushing virgins- no offense, Mads. Pretty sure everyone here has either been stuffed at this point or wants to get stuffed. I would have been stuffed last week, but I’ll take the spanking session I got.”

Lily shook, “Be that as it may, can’t we have a modicum of decorum? We’re not in some…some high school locker room!”

“No, there’d be more tits out and about,” Stella said, plainly leaning in to chew on the straw of her drink as Lily;s face looked about to give off light.

Amy thought now was probably as good a time as any to step in, so she cleared her throat, “Actually, I wanted to talk to you all about something this morning.” Looking around the table, Amy saw she had the girls' attentions, well, as much as could be asked for from Stella as she blew bubbles in her drink, “I want to keep exploring the island. Last week, Mira and Maya identified several locations, but I’m skeptical that it’s all this place has to offer.”

The Oni actually thought this was an understatement, given a conservative estimate of how large the island itself was and the size of the individual islets they had seen so far. Amy was pretty sure they had seen, at most, half of the island. With the discovery of the upgrade shop in the catacombs, Amy couldn’t help but wonder what else was out there and if any of it could be of use.

Seeing no one about to interject, she pressed forward, “I wanted to see who might be interested in joining me today after breakfast. It wouldn’t be as harrowing as the catacombs; we wouldn’t be doing any deep dives anywhere, just taking more inventory of the locations around us.”

The imp leaned back in her chair and put her arms behind her head, “Hmm, not like I got much better to do, and I’ll be real annoyed if you find something interesting and I wasn’t around for it. Also, with it being Noemi’s date, I don’t think I’ll be able to sneak the master away to jump his bones, so…unless someone else wants to sit on my face, I’m probably free.”

Ignoring the middle part of Stella’s statement, Maddy nodded in agreement, “It would be nice to have something else to focus on other than getting ready for my date tomorrow.”

Looking over with concern, Lily reached over and took Maddy’s hand, “If you need help planning anything, we can talk about it.”

Maddy tilted her head and smiled, thankful that Lily was able to say that now, “It’s ok, I actually have all the details pretty much ironed out. It’s just doing them that has me nervous.”

Giving Maddy’s hand a little squeeze before pulling away, the Plant girl nodded before looking at Amy, “I’m down to go too, I don’t think I have any plans-” She paused and turned as something was caught in her peripheral. Standing next to the table with her hands behind her back and looking down was Maya.

Stella reared back in surprise, “Jesus! I didn’t even notice you move! We need to put a bell on you.”

Maya looked nervously to either side and then mustered a smile, “Sorry, you were all talking and I didn’t want to interrupt, so I just decided to wait until it was my turn.”

Amy was no less caught off-guard by the purple-haired girl’s presence, but recovered quickly and kept her face even, “What can we do for you, Maya?”

The lottery winner looked around the table before her eyes settled on Lily, who bristled at the attention, “I actually wanted to ask Lily something, if that was ok?”

Amy’s eyes darted from Maya to Lily and then carefully said, “We can leave if you need to speak privately.”

Shooting the oni an irritated glance, Lily refocused on Maya, “No, it’s ok, anything you need to ask me, I’m fine with the others hearing.”

Maya seemed caught off balance by this reception, but was undeterred, “I just wanted to know if you would join me for coffee today at the cafe? There was something private I wanted to talk with you about…Alone,” She glanced nervously at the other girls at the table.

Quick to respond, Lily opened her mouth, “Sorry, I’m helping Amy out today with searching the island, so I don’t think I can.”

Maya started to look crestfallen when the Oni opened her mouth, “Lily, why don’t you join her? The three of us can handle it, no problem. It’s also not so important that it should detract from other plans.”

Lily shot an irritated look at Amy, “But you asked me first, it would be rude to-”

Amy cut her off, “I’m saying it’s ok, so it’s not rude.” The oni turned to Maya, “She’ll be there.”

Maya gave a small smile, “Oh, um, ok. I’ll meet you after breakfast, so we can catch a gondola together?”

Closing her eyes and swallowing, Lily then gave Maya a smile through gritted teeth, “Sure thing.”

This seemed to satisfy the purple-haired woman, who returned to her seat. The moment she was out of direct earshot, Lily rounded on Amy, “Thanks for that, friend.”

The oni didn’t react and took a sip of coffee, “You can’t avoid her forever, might as well see what she wants.”

Drumming her fingers against the table irritably, Lily let out a long exhale, “What if she’s trying to trap me, sabotage me, or I don’t know, has another scheme in play?”

“Then she tipped her hand by asking you out in front of all of us,” Amy responded calmly, “If you vanish, start acting strangely or otherwise out of character, we’ll know the cause.”

“You can honk like a duck as a codesign,” Stella smirked Lily’s way, “that way we’ll know something’s up even if you can’t say it.”

Maddy pressed her fingers together nervously, “I don’t think Maya is out to get anyone, anyway. At least not the way I used to. I think she…” She paused, “I think this really is just a game to her, like Monopoly.”

Lily closed her eyes and returned to her oatmeal, “Yeah, well, unlike Monopoly, people can get hurt here.”

Stella snorted, “Spoken like someone who has never played full-contact monopoly.”

Amy, unable to contain herself, asked, “What in God's name is full-contact monopoly?”

“So first off,” Stella rose in her seat, “you need a can of whipped cream, no rings, and plenty of room…”

Her description faded into the background as Maddy got up to fill her plate with breakfast, settling for a banana nut muffin and some yogurt. When she sat back down, her attention was caught by the entrance as the one masculine voice on the island called out, “Good morning, everyone.”

She had to stifle a laugh even as her face turned red. Over by the entrance, Caleb and Mira were standing next to each other, and they looked…well, while Caleb was simply dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, there were visible marks on his arm and neck. Mira’s outfit of latex and leather was in partial disarray as if she couldn’t figure out quite how to put it back together after the previous night. Both of them had recently washed hair that was fighting order as much as it could. The sight was so over the top for ‘these two have had sex’, to the point it bypassed erotic to comical.

Which then was no surprise to anyone when Stella erupted into cackling laughter and started whooping. Caleb raised his hands in a mock calm-down gesture. Despite her outfit, Mira still tried to hold herself with the same poise as normal, separating from Caleb after whispering something his way. As she passed, she gave a surreptitious nod to Maddy, who reached into the purse and anxiously felt the vial. It was almost time.