And it hurts so bad

Rose dragged herself out of bed with a yawn and trudged over to the bathroom. The first thing she did, like always, was check her look in the mirror.

For a second, she forgot what she’d used her transformation on last night, and her heart skipped a beat. Her hair! It was long again!

…But no, that was because she’d borrowed Carly’s Anime Black transformation. Her hair hadn’t really grown back- she was just borrowing it from someone else. When the transformation wore off, it would return to its previous short length.

She sighed and turned away. Just looking at her face was making her sad.

I need to do something! She told herself as she stepped into the shower and began to soap herself down, doing her best to ignore the tingling sensation between her legs as she shampooed her hair. I need to earn some VP!

The question was, how could she do that? She wasn’t some blushing practically-a-virgin like Morgana. She and Nick had done a lot of things together sexually, and she’d still only barely managed to claw her way this far.

And somehow she was supposed to make it to 200 VP?

That isn’t feasible. At least not purely through sexual stuff, Rose thought. If I had to guess, she’s probably planning to do a lot of challenges. Or maybe we’ll start getting bounties that come with VP rewards soon. She really needed to have a discussion with Dawn about this. Rose might not be the most book-smart person in the world, but Dawn probably was. If anyone had any ideas about how to get that much VP, it was her.

She stepped out of the bathroom with renewed determination to get to the bottom of this mess, and figure out how to stand on top of the other women as the one closest to Nick’s heart.

The twins were still asleep. Figures. Marley, as usual, was squeezing her sister’s naked body like a sleeping pillow, and Carly was just fine with that.

Rose shrugged. If it worked for them, it worked for them. She had other things to think about right now, though.

I disregarded the Bounty Board yesterday because I was bitter. But I need to use every tool at my disposal if I want to win! Rose reasoned. She checked her own bounty sheet for possible opportunities, and while she saw a few good ones, it wouldn’t hurt to see what other options were available to her too.

Surprisingly, she was the first one to make it to the lounge. No one was around, which gave her a crack at first dibs! She hurried over to the Bounty Board, and for a moment she was disappointed that there was only a single page affixed to the corkboard.

Then, when she saw what was written on it, everything changed.

“…No way.”

For once, Dawn actually woke up on time. All that extra sleep these past few days must have been working wonders on her, because she felt fully rested and recharged. It helped that she had the whole comfy bed to herself, too, since Morgana had spent the night in the Master’s Suite.

Now, if only she could bring herself to actually get up in the morning.

“Hah… I know that this isn’t normal,” she mumbled, rolling over into the embrace of the comfy blankets. “This is the Luxury Suite for a reason… and this is definitely a luxury… I just feel so warm and comfortable…”

On some level, Dawn knew that this was probably a special factor of the room. Apparently, certain rooms already had certain benefits, like how Kim’s room let people borrow outfits and the arcade one let you earn some BP.

But even knowing that didn’t help her actually get out of bed.

The wild knock on the door sure did though.

“Yow! Whoa!” Dawn nearly sprung off the mattress when she heard the frantic sound of a fist pounding on the door. She had been tired and nearly drifted off again, but now she was wide awake and completely freaking out.

“Dawn! Dawn, are you in there!? Get out here! I need to talk to you!”

“Rose?” Dawn sat up and rubbed her eyes, struggling to stay awake. “What are you doing up this early?” She asked with a yawn.

“This early?! It’s almost breakfast! Come on, I need you to get out here, before the others wake up and see!”

Rose’s voice sounded **** through the door, and that was all the motivation Dawn needed to pick herself up out of bed and **** her way to freedom.

“Okay… so what’s this thing you have to show me?” She mumbled, rubbing her eyes. Her ears twitched impatiently and her tail swished behind her back.

When she saw the panicked look on Rose’s face, however, she was quickly roused to full alertness. “Rose?”

“Come with me.” Rose seized her by the wrist and practically dragged her out of the suite, not giving a damn if Dawn was wearing little more than a nightgown.

“Hey! Come on, what’s the big idea?” Dawn groaned as the other girl dragged her off. “I thought you wanted to talk?”

“Less talking, more showing,” Rose snapped. “Come here, take a look at this and tell me what you think! I need a smarty to make sense of this mess!”

She plopped Dawn in front of the Bounty Board, and then smacked the wall, making the paper shake.

Dawn squinted at the bleary posting.

“…Rose, I don’t even have my glasses,” she muttered. “I can’t see anything.”

“…OH, uh…”

Dawn didn’t need good vision to tell that Rose’s face was flushing with embarrassment.

“W-well, go get them, then!” She exclaimed. “It’s fine, I’ll wait.”

Dawn nodded and scurried off to go fetch her glasses, and run a comb through her hair. And also throw on some pants.

She came out about five minutes later, fully-dressed and ready to actually engage with what Rose was talking about.

When she saw the issue, she froze.

“…Oh. I see. That is something alright…”

“Yeah, you get it?” Rose grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest. “What the hell is she even thinking, putting up a post like that!?”

FORFEIT YOUR NEXT NIGHT WITH THE MASTER TO ANOTHER CONTESTANT

REWARD: 5 VP

Just as Rose had imagined, Dakota was offering VP rewards for the bounties now. This was the first one.

And it was a serious one.

“Is this for real?” Dawn’s tail flicked behind her as she mulled over the implications of this bounty. “I mean, seriously? We can give up our next night with Nick, and win 5 VP? Just like that?”

5 VP might not have seemed like a lot in the grand scheme of things, with 200 VP to win. It was only 2.5%.

But it wasn’t nothing, either. With some of the girls’ current VP scores, 5 VP could be quite a substantial bump.

“I didn’t get it either,” Rose said, shaking her head and crossing her arms over her chest. “I mean, isn’t the whole motivation for Dakota to get us to spend more time with Nick, not less? Why would she offer a VP reward to someone who was actively going against the whole point of the show? That just doesn’t make sense.”

Dawn had to admit that for once, Rose made a good point. She didn’t exactly understand what Dakota was aiming for either with this little tactic.

“You’re not wrong,” she agreed. “I definitely would have taken an offer like this in the first few rounds of the show.”

Not having to spend time with Nick, AND one step closer to victory? It seemed like the perfect offer for her past self. She enjoyed her time with Nick a lot more now, but even considering that, she still felt somewhat tempted.

On that note, Rose studied her suspiciously.

“Oh? You’re not going to take it now, then?” She asked, narrowing her eyes.

“Eh… I’m considering it,” Dawn admitted, casting a glance at the paper. “I mean, it’s 5 VP. And that’s not nothing.”

Rose could agree on that front.

It feels like this is specifically targeted at me, she thought bitterly, remembering her conversation with Carly the night before, when she’d been so adamant about not wanting to give up her night of exclusivity with Nick in order to potentially gain a small amount of VP. Now here was Dakota, conveniently offering that same chunk of VP to anyone who would give up their night with him?

It felt targeted- suspiciously so.

Rose didn’t want to think about the implications there.

“So what did you want me for?” Dawn asked, turning to Rose curiously.

“I wanted your opinion on it,” Rose replied. “You’re the smartest person I know, after all. I thought you might be able to give me some insight into what Dakota’s thinking.”

Dawn nodded thoughtfully. “It’s definitely a curious decision,” she agreed. “Although we’d have to ask Dakota herself. I don’t suppose anyone else would know what she’s after…”

“I do!”

Both women turned to see a cheerful smile and cluster of bouncing pink hair clad in green pop up in front of them.

“Nola? I almost forgot you were here,” Rose said with a smirk.

Nola turned to Rose and puffed up her cheeks in frustration. She put her hands on her hips and let out a “Hmph!”

Her bad attitude lasted about a second, and then she was all smiles again.

“If you guys want to know why Dakota put this bounty up here, I’ll be happy to share it with you!” The leprechaun said with a smile.

“You know?” Dawn raised her eyebrow curiously and her tail stood on end. She couldn’t believe their good fortune- if there was one thing Nola liked doing, it was talking. And while most people couldn’t fully follow her long stream of consciousness rants, Dawn wasn’t most people. Thanks to her perfect memory, she could take her time and parse out all the relevant words at her own pace.

She just had to hope that Nola knew what she was talking about, and that it wasn’t-

“So anyway, this is just a guess on my part, let me tell you, but in my opinion…”

…Just Nola’s speculation.

Dawn sighed and slumped over, wishing she was back in bed.

Nola clearly didn’t notice that her audience had lost its enthusiasm, or if she did, she didn’t really care. She was more than happy to talk and talk and talk like usual.

“Okay, so first off, it’s not that big of a deal,” she assured the girls with a cheerful smile. “I think Dakota’s just trying to have some funny-fun! Yup, that sure doesn’t sound like her, I know, but you know how she can be! Really sadistic when she wants to! This is an example of that. You see, she’s definitely aiming to pit you girls against each other, and make you argue about who gets the VP! After all, a few of you probably would want to take the deal, right?”

Dawn nodded. “Well, it is the pragmatic choice-”

“Exactly!” Nola cut her off before Dawn could finish her thought. “So effing praggy, am I right? And then there are the girls who don’t want to sleep with him anyway, but would want to win! Then there are the girls who feel like they’re missing out, because they want to sleep with him, but also want the money, right?” She slid her green eyes over to Rose, who flinched and looked away.

“W-well…”

“If there’s one thing the boss likes, it’s causing these moral dilemmas, you see! Do you follow your heart? Or your brain? Do you let someone get the drop on you by claiming the bounty first? Who can say? That’s what makes this so much fun!”

She paused, actually shutting up on her own accord for once, and flashed a toothy grin to the girls.

Dawn sighed. “…Well, there you go,” she said, looking to Rose. “So what do you want to do? These are first come, first served, so if you want to take it…”

Rose glanced hesitantly at the Bounty Board and bit her lip. “…So it’s really that easy for you, huh? To give up spending a night with him?”

Dawn shrugged. “I mean… it’s a logical decision to make,” she replied. “We have to get to 200 VP. You’re aware of that, correct? And in spite of all your sexual interactions with Nick, you’re still only at 67 VP. That’s barely a third of the way there.”

Rose winced and covered the number on her hand. She knew Dawn was right about that, at least. She did have a long way to go.

Dawn could see Rose’s hesitation, and pressed on with her reasoning. “Look, Rose, it’s a difficult solution no matter how you slice it. I get it, okay? You like Nick, and you want to spend time with him. But again- 200 VP! That’s a lot. More than you have a chance of getting through sexual acts. No, with a goal like that, there’s gotta be more to the situation. This is going to rely a lot on how well we perform in the challenges, that’s my guess. Not just having sex with Nick.”

Rose scowled. She had wanted to talk to Dawn this morning about exactly this topic, and it seemed like she was getting her wish.

So why didn’t she appreciate that?

“You’re right,” she admitted. “Winning the VP… getting ahead… this stuff matters. But I only have so much time with him… to make him fall for me…”

She glanced wistfully over at the sheet again, and remembered her early days on the show, where she’d determined that winning was what mattered most. The old her would have taken that option in a heartbeat no doubt, securing even a meager advantage for the sake of winning.

Rose had been more practical then, more pragmatic. Now she was head over heels, and all she could do was think about all the lost opportunities with Nick that would arise if she were to give up her night with him for this reward.

It’s not fair! She screamed internally. I just want to be with the guy I like! Why do you have to torment me like this, Dakota?!

First, Dakota had made her night with Nick the last one of the round, and that was after making the rounds even longer than before, with all the new women added to the harem.

Now, Rose was being asked to give up even that? When would her next chance with Nick even come? What if Dakota made her night the last night with him NEXT round, too?

Could she really risk it?

If only I knew how he felt… what he wanted from me… this would be so much easier! Rose fought back her tears of indecision and bit down hard on her lip. She wanted to make Nick happy, but she wanted to make herself happy too, damn it!

Dawn could see the hesitation and doubt play off across the blonde’s face. Then she noticed something she hadn’t picked up on, something she really should have noticed earlier given how perceptive she usually was.

“Hey, Rose… your hair!” She gasped, her eyes widening.

“Eh? Oh!” Rose’s hand shot to her hair for a moment. “Oh, yeah. That’s right.”

“What happened to it? Did you get a ton of BP or something from your bounty sheet? Or doing some bounties from the board?” Dawn inquired.

The blonde shook her head, momentarily distracted. “No, this… this was me copying Carly’s Anime Black transformation, that’s all… my hair’s still…”

Her voice caught in her throat.

That’s right, I already resolved that I would do whatever it takes to win Nick over! Rose had nearly forgotten about that part.

With her motivation renewed, Rose considered the choice seriously again.

Which was about the time for Nola to beat a hasty retreat.

Not that Dawn would allow that.

“Where do you think you’re going?” She snapped, grabbing the leprechaun by the collar and yanking her back.

“Wh-what? I have other responsibilities, you know!” Nola pouted, thrashing against the cat girl’s grip. “I can’t just hang out and be friends, even though I’d really like to be friends. Do you want to be friends? I know it’s a little unorthodox, but seeing as how Sylvia’s a contestant now, it’s definitely not out of the realm of possibility! If I’m being honest, I could really use some friends myself. It’s so lonely, and Serenity doesn’t even talk to me, and Dakota’s so mean, and I’ve got to sort through a bunch of hate mail from Nymeera due to Dakota running her mouth, and-”

Dawn clamped her hand over the leprechaun’s mouth to shut her up.

“We can talk about all that stuff later,” she replied. “Right now, I need you to answer another question. Okay?”

Nola nodded and mumbled something into Dawn’s palm. Dawn removed her hand and let the other girl breathe.

“…How may I be of assistance?” Nola asked with a professional curtsy.

“On that flyer, you said that the forfeit would be to another contestant, is that right?” Dawn inquired. “So does that mean if I claimed that bounty, I could choose someone else to take my night with Nick? I could give it to Rose, for example?”

“Hey!” Rose huffed. “I appreciate the sentiment, Dawn, but I thought you said it was my choice whether or not I would take the bounty? Another night with Nick would be nice, but I really want that 5 VP, so I don’t think-”

Dawn raised her hand, and then moved her fingers into a closed mouth pointed at the blonde to signal that she should shut up.

Rose did shut up, but she did it with a glare.

“I’m just asking the question so we know what we’re working with,” the shorter girl explained. “Is that how it works, Nola?”

“Um… no, not really,” Nola said, shaking her head. “Dakota’s going to be the one to determine who gets to spend the night with Nick… you can’t just forfeit that to whoever you choose.”

“Agh, so much for that plan!” Rose groaned. As much as she hated the idea of losing time with Nick, she’d considered forfeiting her night to Dani, because she knew the tomboy wouldn’t do anything with him like the other girls would. And then she’d have 5 VP. It was the best option.

“It’s a little frustrating, but I sort of figured that would be the case,” Dawn nodded. “It makes sense Dakota wouldn’t want any collusion.”

“Collusion?” Rose blinked, confused. “What do you mean by collusion?”

“I mean, if we wanted to, you could take the bounty,” Dawn explained, “and then give your next night to me. And in exchange, I could let you have my next night. That way, we’d both still get a night with Nick, and we’d get the VP.”

“Eh!? I didn’t even think of that!” Nola’s jaw dropped in shock.

“…Wow, you’re kind of a diabolical schemer, huh?” Rose was impressed.

“Why are you looking at me like I’m some evil villain?” Dawn asked, a little ticked off. “I’m just proposing the best solution here. VP, and we both still get to spend time with Nick. …Not that we can do that now, obviously.”

“Aww… but you’d really do that for me?” Rose was touched. “You’re so sweet, Dawn?”

“…Well, I wouldn’t have agreed for free,” Dawn admitted. “I would have proposed you give me 4 VP for that deal.”

Rose’s jaw dropped. All the good will Dawn’s wonderful idea had built evaporated in an instant. “…But that would just leave me with a net gain of 1 VP!” She screeched.

“Yes, but then you’d get to be with Nick several days earlier than you would now,” Dawn pointed out, not apologetic in the least. Her tail flicked behind her. “I think that makes it a fair offer.”

“No! No it does not!” Rose fumed, stomping her foot in frustration.

They weren’t getting anywhere this way. And since that deal was off the table in the first place… they really needed to think about how to approach this new game-changing bounty, and work out a plan for any future ones Dakota might throw their way.