And love, love, love all over mine

With Rose cleaning the Master’s Suite (and actually taking her job seriously for once, rather than use it as an excuse to be seductive) Nick and Ella could actually have some time to themselves.

It was a little awkward, though. Normally Nick would have passed the time reading, but not only was that an antisocial activity, it was also kind of offensive since Ella couldn’t read.

Playing video games also wouldn’t go over well, for the same reason. Unless they played a fighting game, but since the only ones Dakota permitted on the island were ones where the characters’ clothes were blown off every time they got hit, Nick decided that would be a little too stimulating given that the furthest he’d gotten with the shy girl up until now was a kiss.

A steamy kiss, sure. But still, just a kiss.

That didn’t leave many options left. Just watching television, or a movie. Which was making Nick realize that when it came to hobbies, he didn’t have very many of them. Today was supposed to be about getting to know Ella, but he was also discovering something about himself.

“We probably don’t have time for a movie before we eat,” Nick pointed out. “But we could probably watch something short on television. Would you be up for that?”

“Eh? Oh, uh, sure,” Ella said, fidgeting on the couch. She was enjoying the brief amount of time she had it to herself before Nick would come to join her. Not that she didn’t like sitting next to him- it was the kind of thing you were supposed to do on dates, right?- but it was just so embarrassing!

She would feel so exposed like that.

Nick looked back at her, and saw how nervous she was. And the way Rose shook her ass as was cleaning probably didn’t help. At least Mary was gracious enough to heed Ella’s request and step go into the kitchen to give them some time to themselves.

Still, as easy as it was to just blame Rose for everything as usual, Nick knew that was just an excuse. If he wanted to fix the mood, he had to be proactive here and take steps of his own to make sure she was having a good time.

“Ella?”

She jumped, her eyes widening behind her bangs.

“Wh-what? Sorry, um… I-I was distracted…” Ella’s face burned with shame as she realized that she was supposed to be having a good time here. Nick was trying so hard, and she’d just been ignoring him! She felt just awful.

They were both blaming themselves. Something Rose picked up on immediately. And this just wouldn’t do at all!

While it wasn’t really in Rose’s nature to help another girl get close to Nick without getting something in return, she couldn’t help herself. She was still trying to figure out what Ella’s role in the harem would be, after all- “Sexy Maid” was pretty superficial. So even though her transformation was telling her that was Ella’s perfect place in their little arrangement, the specifics of that were a lot less obvious.

Just a sex toy? She doubted Ella would be into that. A submissive who obediently did what she was asked to do? Sure, but how to make that work?

And how did Cinder fit into the all this? The hotheaded firecracker was a confounding element in Rose’s perfect plan for her roommate- just when it seemed like she’d figured out the perfect place for Ella in the harem, Cinder would say or do something that would send her back to the drawing board.

So for now, she decided the best course of action was to watch and wait, and help out however she could.

If they wanted a cute little normal date, Rose would do whatever she could to assist, just like she’d been helping Morgana with her magic.

…Boy would Nick be in for a surprise when he ran into her tomorrow! But that was a surprise for later on…

Rose cleared her throat loudly, making Ella jump and capturing Nick’s attention. She clasped her hands together and approached with a sweet smile on her face. “If you two are discussing what to watch, then perhaps you would like my expertise on the subject?” She proudly placed her hand over her chest, pushing her breasts forward. “Nick, I’m sure you know that I-”

“No thank you,” Nick replied automatically.

Rose’s brain ground to a halt and her mouth fell open as she stared at her boy in surprise.

“What!?” She exclaimed, dropping character for a moment. “But Nick, I’m an expert when it comes to movies!”

“Rose, the stuff you watch is a little…” Nick looked over at Ella, trying to find the right phrase to use that wouldn’t insult either of them. “…High-concept,” he decided on, hoping to confuse the two girls if he couldn’t outright lie.

They both stared at him.

“Huh?” Ella scrunched up her face in confusion.

Rose leered at Nick, getting a better sense of what he was implying, and as much as it frustrated her, she had to agree.

The flustered girl in front of them was hardly a student of the high arts- which was precisely why Rose needed to show her the best she had to offer!

Still. Nick had put his foot down, and Rose wasn’t going to argue. She’d just work behind the scenes to subvert him later in order to get her way, like she always did.

“What do you want to watch?” Nick asked Ella instead, deciding that was the best way to go about it. “Do you have any shows you like watching?”

Ella stared at him in utter confusion. “I wasn’t allowed to use the TV, so…”

Rose coughed. Loudly. Nick didn’t need her to signal though, he got the message himself.

Shut up, you moron. You almost stepped in it again!

“Well, uh…” He wracked his mind for a safe choice that Ella might enjoy. Something light and fun! While Ella certainly wasn’t a child, her exposure to media was pretty low; not to call her dumb, but he should find something simple and easy to follow, something even a little kid would like.

Crap. Now that I’m thinking about it, all my stuff is “high concept” in a different way. While Nick wasn’t into the snooty arthouse movies that Rose adored (well, for the most part…) the type of shows he watched tended to be more serious, complicated fare.

Not exactly the best programming to show a girl for whom the highest form of literature was a picture book of animals.

Something simple and easy to access, preferably with cute animals to keep Ella interested…

A lightbulb went off over Nick’s head. He couldn’t believe he was so stupid. And best of all, he knew that Dakota would have this one available, unaltered.

“Ooooh!” Ella’s eyes were glued to the screen as she watched, enraptured. Nick sat beside her on the couch, paying more attention to how she was enjoying the show than he was to the program itself. After all, he’d seen this so many times since he was a kid that he knew everything by heart. And the nostalgia definitely helped him get past the childishness.

“What a dumb show,” Rose scoffed, rolling her eyes.

“You’re supposed to be cleaning,” Nick reminded her.

“I am cleaning.”

“No, you’re talking.”

“I can talk and clean at the same time. And I can also watch this while doing both. It’s not like I need to pay attention to understand what’s-”

“SHHHHH!” Ella shushed her sharply, not even sparing a look for the snooty blonde. Rose was just being annoying now.

Nick held back his amused smirk at Rose’s pouting face. It served her right. This was kid’s cartoon. While Rose wasn’t as bad as Dakota when it came to eviscerating movies and television shows, it WAS one of the few times she actually got belligerent about something.

That was another cute aspect of her personality… when it wasn’t an annoying one.

Rose sighed and shook her head. “Look, all I’m saying is that there’s no WAY a ten-year-old kid can get zapped with so much electricity his skin turns pitch black and then be totally fine.”

“It’s a cartoon, Rose.”

“How does a little yellow mouse even MAKE that much electricity in the first place? This show makes no sense!”

Nick rolled his eyes. “What part of ‘cartoon’ do you not understand?”

“You know, Ella doesn’t like you infantilizing her,” Rose cautioned him, glancing warily at the latina. “Babying her with a kid’s show like this-”

“Rose, Pokemon is the most lucrative media franchise on the planet,” Nick interrupted her, giving her a look of finality. “Even adults can like it. Why don’t you give it a chance?”

The blonde bit her lip and **** a smile to her face. She was here to lend moral support- now wasn’t the time for media criticism.

Even if it was Pokemon.

“Does Mary know you’re watching this show?” Rose couldn’t help asking. “You know how she feels about evolution…”

Nick gave her a look. “…How did you know about that?” He questioned.

Rose flinched. “H-huh?”

“Pokemon evolution isn’t mentioned for another few episodes,” Nick recalled. “How did you know about that?”

“Errr…” Rose went pale and started to sweat. “W-well, it’s Pokemon, everybody knows that!” She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “Like you said, it’s the most popular media franchise in the world! Even if I don’t like it, that doesn’t mean I’ve never heard of it! Show me someone in our generation who hasn’t!”

Nick pointed at Ella, who was watching the credits play with a big grin on her face.

“…Someone who wasn’t locked under a staircase-! …Never mind.” Rose shook her head, not wanting to fight. She should be focusing on getting the mood back in a more romantic direction, not… not bickering with Nick!

But while she was afraid that she might have upset him, the amused look on his face assured her that wasn’t the case.

…She really didn’t like that amused look, though…

“You’re a fan, aren’t you?” Nick asked gleefully. “That’s why you’re acting like this, and pretending you don’t know about Pokemon! You’re a fan!”

“No! No I’m not, that show’s for little kids!” Rose asserted.

“…Right. And you were a little kid when it was airing,” Nick reminded her. “It’s been around for like 30 years by now.”

Rose fumed at him. “So? Doesn’t mean I liked it!” She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and turning up her nose at the prospect. “My tastes are refined! And besides, they didn’t even have Pokemon in France anyway.”

“Rose they based a whole region on it.”

“So what? I was thirteen then! I was already getting acting roles at that time, I was way too old for kid’s shows!” Rose snapped.

Nick and Ella were both staring at her now. For a moment, Rose thought that she’d finally gotten Nick off this stupid notion, but then she realized what she’d just said, and she gasped.

Nick fought the urge to burst out laughing. “Since you’re not a fan, how did you know the year those games came out?” He teased.

“Sh-shut up!” Rose wailed, her face turning scarlet.

Finally, Nick deigned to show her mercy. He just gave her an amused look and slowly shook his head, the kind of look that said “I know what you are…”

Rose just trembled with impotent shame.

Not giving the blonde another thought, Nick turned to Ella. “So what did you-”

“I LOVE IT!” Ella exclaimed, her eyes so wide Nick could barely make out her pupils. She looked practically manic. “That’s what Pokemon are?! They’re so cute! I’ve never SEEN something so cute! This is, like, the best television show in the world! It’s gotta be!”

Nick laughed, relieved that his breakthrough idea had just the impact he’d been hoping for. “I thought you’d like it,” he said. “It’s just a kid’s show, but it’s really cute, right?” Knowing how much Ella seemed to like animals, he’d had a feeling that she would immediately be drawn into a world where kids went around befriending magical creatures.

He’d been a bit of a Pokemon fan himself growing up, as Dakota and Gina could attest. So having a point of commonality that he could bond over Ella with meant a lot.

“Can we watch more?” Ella asked excitedly, her glee bubbling over. “How many more episodes are there? Can we finish them all tonight?”

“Ah, uh…” Nick fumbled for an answer while Rose covered her mouth with her hand, trying not to laugh.

“…Let’s watch another one, and see how far we can get, how about that?” Nick finally said, realizing far too late how massive of an undertaking he’d just signed himself up for.

“Who was it who said you were going to be trying to spend more time giving equal attention to all of us girls?” Rose asked from the sidelines, tapping her chin in a mockingly “quizzical” expression as she smiled gleefully at him. “Oh, right, I think it was you…”

Nick gave her a look. “I’ll make time,” he mumbled, even while he knew there wasn’t nearly enough time in the world.

There was time for one more episode before dinner, though. Or at least when Ella had to get dinner started. Which, coincidentally, was also the time for Rose to finish up her job and head back to her room for the night.

For whatever reason, she seemed like she couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

Nick was quite happy to see her so embarrassed for once. He’d make it up to her later. Maybe by watching Pokemon with her. Or maybe he’d have mercy… With Rose, it was better to play things by ear and see how it went.

“W-wait, Rose!” Ella went to stop the other girl before she could leave.

Rose turned back to her, looking a little wary and exhausted. “Uh, yeah?” She scratched her cheek. “What’s up, Ella?”

Ella noticed how guarded Rose was. Cautious almost. Like she was embarrassed.

It was a familiar feeing for her.

“I just… wanted to thank you,” she said sincerely.

Rose blinked, surprised. “…Thank me?” She asked, raising her eyebrow. “I was kind of rude to you tonight. I’m the one who should be thanking you for putting up with my attitude.”

It wasn’t often that Rose admitted she made a mistake, especially when that mistake was related to her personality defects. But even she felt a little bad about her attitude. “I’m glad you had fun, Pokemon isn’t THAT bad, I guess. Not that I would know. I only just saw it tonight, after all.”

Ella was pretty sure Rose was lying, but she didn’t really care. “No, not about that, you being a bitch is nothing new.”

“…H-hey!” Rose’s jaw dropped in shock and she stared at Ella, not expecting language like that from the other girl’s mouth. “Don’t call me a-!”

“I wanted to thank you for helping me prepare for my date today!” Ella said, the sincerity in her gratitude overwhelming Rose momentarily. The blonde blinked and looked at the other girl in surprise, not sure what to say.

“O-oh, uh…”

“Nick and I, we… we had a lot of fun at the zoo,” Ella said. “And if it wasn’t for your help, we wouldn’t have gotten that far, so…”

Ella dug into her shopping bag and pulled out something to give to the blonde. Rose was caught off-guard for a second, but her inherent greediness led her to accept the gift without even thinking about it for an instant.

“O-oh, Ella…” She looked at the stuffed animal, surprised. “This… is this for me?”

“Mmhmm!” Ella nodded. “It’s a lion! I saw it in the gift shop, and I knew it would be just perfect for you.”

“Wow…” Rose looked at the regal-looking stuffed animal, clearly touched. She ran her fingers through the golden mane of the grown male, and puffed out her chest. “Well, of course it would be perfect for me!” She said cheerily. “After all, we both have such gorgeous golden hair, right?”

She primped her own curly locks for emphasis.

Ella blinked. “Oh, I guess that’s true,” she admitted. “I didn’t even think about it. I just thought it would be the perfect fit for you, since it’s lazy and makes other people do all the work while also thinking it’s the greatest thing that ever lived.”

Nick burst out laughing as Rose stared at Ella in shock.

“HEY!”

Ella held her hand over her mouth in futile attempt to hide her condescending smirk of a laugh from the fuming blonde. “What, don’t you like it? You said it was perfect for you, right?”

“Yes, I like it very much!” Rose huffed, pulling the stuffed lion as far away from the mean girl as she could get it, where he would be safe. “It’s very cute! Thank you! What I don’t like is your bad attitude and mean words!”

“Well, that makes two of us,” Ella said with a cheerful smile. “Thanks for all your help, Rose! Now get out. I don’t want you spending the night.”

Rose glared daggers at her as Ella smiled sweetly back at her. Nick watched from the sidelines, a little intrigued but more scared than intrigued. Whatever the relationship between the two of them was, it seemed to be working… for the most part?

Maybe?

…Was this friendship? Then again, when it came to Rose, the notion of friendship was a little complicated, he had to admit…

“Have fun on your date,” Rose said, turning and walking away. “And thank you for the gift! I hope you have fun! And don’t let Nick go too far! Not that he would, but you never know! And you’re welcome for the help, just ask if you need some advice next time, too!”

She was taking her sweet time to leave, considering she kept stopping every couple of steps to remind Ella of something else. Meanwhile Ella stood in the doorway and waved cheerfully at her with a shy smile on her face.

When Rose finally got on the elevator and left, Ella sighed in relief. She shut the door to the entrance hall and turned back to Nick, and for the first time he saw apprehension on her face.

“Rose… you don’t think she was mad, do you?” Ella asked, fidgeting nervously. “It was just a joke, I wasn’t trying to be mean…”

Yeah, Nick decided that any attempt he made at unpacking the bizarre relationship between those two was a futile endeavor. He just patted Ella on the shoulder.

“The important thing is that she liked her gift,” he said to the shy girl. “That’s what really matters, don’t you think?”

Ella nodded cheerfully and flashed a smile. “Yeah!” She agreed. “Thanks, Nick!”

Before he could say anything else she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. Her face turned red and sweaty and she snapped her rubber-band with a “Thwap!” before running to hide in the kitchen and get started on dinner.