Are you alright? Can you hear me?

It had been a while since Nick had felt as tired as he did in the wake of his threesome with Rose and Dawn.

Since coming to Harem Hotel, he had run the gamut in terms of sexual intercourse. He’d had sex in crazy ways, in crazy places, and in several cases, with crazy women. Some preferred tender and gentle lovemaking, some preferred the wild, untamed passionate dance that could only be called “fucking”, and most were more than happy for either, depending on what mood struck them.

Because of that, Nick knew on some level that this couldn’t have been the most exhausted he’d ever felt. But humans have a way of brushing over past experiences, looking at things with rose-colored glasses, and convincing themselves that this time was worse than all the others.

One old joke that struck him as humorously relevant was “If women could remember the pain of childbirth, everybody would be an only child.”

So yes, according to Nick’s sore groin and his aching back, and the pounding throb in his eyes and chest, this was the most intense, exhausting night he’d ever spent on the island.

Just like countless other nights.

But unlike all those other nights, there was something different about this one. And Nick didn’t know it until he woke up and found himself not wrapped in the golden sheets of the Master’s Suite, but in a comforter as dark as midnight.

“What the hell?” Nick sat up, still naked, and rubbed his throbbing forehead. His voice was all that broke the room’s oppressive silence. He couldn’t hear Rose’s loud snores, or the soft, mumbling mewls of Dawn. Instead of two exhausted women clinging tightly to him in slumbering competition, he was completely alone.

“Good evening, Nick.”

A familiar voice came from the foot of the bed. Nick raised his head to meet the glowing golden eyes of his former lover and oldest friend. She reclined on a dark leather armchair placed ahead of him, one leg crossed over the other as she leaned back with a sneer on her plump lips. Instead of eveningware she wore another dress of fancy silk in red and black, like she was preparing for an elegant ball instead of greeting him in her bedroom.

Dakota tapped her fingers on the head of her cane, and scrunched up her face in contemplation. “Or I suppose, given the time, ‘Good morning’ is technically the proper greeting, is it not?”

Nick didn’t have time for wordplay and games. If Dakota went to the trouble of spiriting him away from the Master’s Suite, there had to be a reason for it. “What do you want, Dakota?” He demanded. It came out a lot more frustrated than he’d intended, but he was tired. “Feeling lonely? Need some company? You coulda just knocked.”

A flicker of irritation warped her cool façade for a moment before she **** a porcelain smile back onto her lips. She chuckled. “Always the wit… and here I am, doing you a favor! I thought you might like a short break. Before those two devour you, I mean.”

Nick raised his eyebrow. “Really? I find that hard to believe. Given how you’re the one who set this whole thing into motion. Bring me here, give me a harem, manipulate me every step of the way into loving it, and what, now you’re getting cold feet? You’re worried about my body holding out?”

Dakota laughed off his attempt at goading her. “I have full faith in your abilities, Nick.” Her jaunty tone changed ever so slightly then, subtle enough that maybe only he would have been able to tell the difference as she continued, “But I wasn’t the one who set all this into motion.”

Nick pinched his lips into a frown. Whatever else Dakota was responsible for, she was telling the truth about that, at least. He remembered from the memories he’d been shown that she’d been strongarmed into this by the producers.

“I know this wasn’t what you wanted, Dakota,” Nick said, trying to keep his cool. There was something different about her tonight; while she remained the invincible, untouchable host who reigned above them all, in so many indescribable ways he could feel a vulnerability in her, sitting in front of him like this, that he never had a chance to see. Like she was opening up a door in her heart just a crack, and if he seized the opportunity, he might just be able to peek through.

If he was brave enough.

He had to try.

“You didn’t set this in motion,” he continued. “In fact… you didn’t want any of this. Being the host and ruling over this island, pushing me to have sex with other women… we both know that wasn’t how you wanted things to go.”

The only thing Dakota wanted was him. That had been the case before her tragic fall, and he knew that was still the case now.

“You just wanted to be with me, right?” He asked. His heart pounded in his chest, hoping for some sign from her that she could accept even that small touch of reality.

Dakota’s face was unreadable. “You’re right that I wanted to be a member of your harem,” she said slowly. Her detached tone did a very good job of convincing him that she no longer held any deeper feelings on the matter, but not a perfect job. “But even then, I still wanted you to be with the others,” she pointed out.

Nick nodded slowly. That was true at least. While Dakota had gone to great lengths to seduce and monopolize him, she had also pushed him towards the other women in his harem. If she had wanted total control and exclusivity from him, she could have well done so, but she didn’t even try.

“…So you wanted me to have a harem.”

It was just about the stupidest thing he could have said to the host of the show. “So you actually breathe oxygen” would have sounded like a less obvious statement of fact. But Nick’s heart guided his words, and for the first time he felt like he was really, honestly communicating with her.

He wanted to hear what she had to say.

“I want you to have everything you deserve,” Dakota said. She leaned her cane against the arm of her chair and spread her hands out, palms wide, as if presenting to him. “If I could give you the entire world, I would do so without hesitation.”

Her tone sent a shiver down his spine. She spoke with such unwavering conviction. It called to mind a devoted priestess presenting herself in supplication before her deity.

Madness and insanity. And yet… it was human in a way that Dakota embodied, a sanity he attributed exclusively to her.

It hurt his heart to see her like that.

“Dakota…”

“I want to make you happy, Nick. I thought I could do that as a member of your harem, but that avenue was closed to me. So now, I will make you happy as the host.” There was a tinge of sourness in her voice. A melancholic lilt that made him sit up and take notice of her change in demeanor.

What was that? Remorse? Regret? Or just bitterness? Nick couldn’t place it.

There was a time, long ago, where he could know how Dakota was feeling just by looking at her. A single glance was all it would take to know if she was in a good mood, or about to lose her temper, or burst into tears, and he would know just what to do for her in any of those circumstances.

But in all the ways she had stayed that same hurt little girl, she had changed in just as many. And at times it was as if he could only see a shadow of her former self in her heartfelt gaze.

“Nick…” Dakota pressed her lips together tightly and rose from her seat. She approached the bed and for a second he thought she was going to climb in and join him. But she didn’t. She stood at the edge of the covers, as if the fore posts of the gothic carving marked a barrier that could not be crossed.

And then she looked at him. Her eyes were wet with hungry desire.

“Dakota, I know you still care for me.” Nick scooted up slightly, shifting under the covers so he was facing her directly. If she couldn’t come any closer, he still could. “And I want you to know that I still care about you. Even after everything you’ve done, even though I know you’re going to do more… you’re a part of me. And I don’t see that ever changing.”

Maybe that was a foolish thing to say. He knew how many lines Dakota had already crossed, and he knew that it was her nature to push right up against those lines again and again. Telling her that he would care for her no matter what she did was dangerous; her feelings for him and her fear of upsetting him were one of the few checks on her power and ambition.

But right now it felt like none of that mattered. Tonight, there was nothing more important to Nick than reaching out and taking her by the hand, and letting her know that he cared about her and he always would.

Because anything else would be a lie.

Nick reached out and took her hand. It was as cold as a corpse. But she let him hold it as she looked into his eyes.

What was he hoping to see in her gaze? Regret? Sympathy? Love? Any of a hundred emotions that would reassure him that a human being with a soul, someone who cared about others, was still in there somewhere?

He didn’t see any of those things. Just hollow emptiness. And yet, it didn’t discourage him at all. As damaged as Dakota may have been, Nick knew that she was as human as he was.

And no matter what she did or how much she tarnished that soul of hers, it was there. He just had to remind her of it.

“It’s not too late,” he said quietly. “I know you said you’re doing all this for my sake, Dakota, but I’m happy now. I am. Happier than I ever thought I could be. When I lost you, I thought that my own life had come to an end. That I would never be happy again because you were gone. But now we’re here, together, all of us… it’s perfect, Dakota. Isn’t this enough?”

Her hand slackened in his.

“No,” she said faintly. He barely heard it. It was like the word hurt her to say. “It’s not enough. Not yet… not… not yet.”

“Then when?” He asked. “When does it end? 200 VP? That’s a lifetime from now. Nobody even has 100 VP yet.”

She said nothing. But she didn’t look him in the eye.

Nick had his suspicions before, but she’d basically just confirmed them. 200 VP had been an arbitrary number she’d thrown out to keep the show going. And in a dozen rounds when the girls started getting close to that, he anticipated Dakota would move the goalposts once more.

That’s always what she did when they were kids and she’d lost. She’d shake her head and say it didn’t count, and come up with some new threshold for winning.

I need to convince her somehow. We can’t keep doing this forever. But this is her game, and we’re just playing it.

Nick often made jokes about how stubborn some of his partners were. Rose, Dawn, Mary, Kim, he would tease them on occasion about their stubbornness.

None of them held a candle to their host.

Dakota raised her head. Her emotionless mask had dropped, and she was human again.

“It’s not enough. Not yet.”

“Not enough what? VP?” Nick frowned. “Dakota-”

“Happiness. You aren’t happy enough. Not yet. There’s still so much more…”

She tightened her fingers around his hand, and suddenly she was squeezing him. Her face tensed and her teeth clenched as she looked fiercely into his eyes.

Nick was at a loss momentarily.

“Dakota…”

“Don’t you see?” She said, narrowing her eyes into a glare. “You could have so much more… you could be so much happier than this! And I… I need you to be happier, Nick, I need it-! I need you… need you to-!”

Her voice cracked and a choked sob escaped her lips. For a moment, he thought she was going to cry.

Instead, she released his hand and took a step back.

“I want you to be happy,” she said, her voice seeming to echo across the room. “But it seems like you haven’t understood that there’s so much more you could have…”

The words sounded like madness to Nick’s ears. He stared incredulously at her. Was she serious right now? The way she’s talking… it’s like nothing would ever be enough.

“Why did you fight your own desires tonight, Nick?” Dakota asked.

He was so surprised by the question that he didn’t know what to say at first.

“Huh?”

“Dawn… she wanted you to cum inside of her. She wanted you to get her pregnant. And that’s what you wanted as well,” Dakota said firmly. “And Rose… she was ready for it too, you knew that, didn’t you? But she sensed your hesitation and so she didn’t use her boon. You had two women who were ready to get pregnant, but you didn’t do anything about it. You were running purely on instinct, and yet still, you denied yourself the pleasure. Why? Why deprive yourself of that happiness?”

Her voice had a strange desperation in it that Nick had never heard from her before. He barely had time to register it because he was so busy focusing on what she was saying. He tried to recall how he had been that night, wild and almost unhinged, and found any explanation he might have would come up woefully short.

But it was still there.

“It’s not that simple, Dakota,” he said finally, shaking his head.

She raised her eyebrows high and looked at him incredulously.

“Excuse me?”

Nick tightened his lips and looked firmly at her. “Those two, in the heat of the moment, yes, that’s what they wanted. And I… I wanted it, too. But we couldn’t. With Mary it was different. We… we’re married. But the others, that comes with consequences. And until they’re ready for the consequences…”

He shook his head.

“I’m not going to get anyone else pregnant until we’re both certain that’s what we want,” he said. “That’s why I didn’t.”

“But you won’t have to worry about the consequences!” Dakota protested, scratching at her hair in frustration. “Don’t you get it? That’s why I’ve done all this for you, Nick! Because I know this is what you want! If worrying about consequences is keeping you from your happiness, don’t let it! With my powers I can make sure-!”

“Dakota, you’re not listening!” Nick interrupted. He stood up, letting the comforter fall aside. At the moment, neither of them even noticed he was naked. He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her, causing her to look at him in open-mouthed shock. “I don’t want to ignore the consequences! Starting a family isn’t some hot sexual fantasy, it’s real! That’s what you don’t get! All of this… to me, it’s all real!”

Dakota stared at him for a long time.

Then she pushed him off of her with strength he didn’t expect from her. He found himself flat on the bed, looking up at her piercing glare.

“Not even the master can touch the host in that manner,” she said in a venomous tone. “You’d do well to remember that.”

Nick bristled as he looked into her eyes. “Dakota…”

She just shook her head. “How do I make you understand…?”

While she silently fumed, Nick regained his bearings. He frowned as he looked up at her.

“Dakota… I think I get it now,” he said, startling her. She looked at him in frustration.

“Excuse me?” She asked, pinching her lips together.

“You changed the rules from what they were before,” Nick said. “Sylvia explained it, right? Before, when she was the host, there was no VP for getting a woman pregnant. But you changed that when you took over as the showrunner, because you knew that’s what… turned me on.”

“That’s right,” Dakota sniffed, glaring at him.

“But I’m not going to chase mindless pleasure, and I don’t want sex devoid of consequences,” Nick pointed out. “I’m sorry, but that’s just not me.”

Dakota didn’t say anything for a long time. Then she walked over to a table by the wall, and picked up a thermos.

“Fine.” She chucked it onto the bed. “Drink that. Then I’ll send you back. It should refresh your energy.”

Nick looked at the thermos in surprise. He unscrewed the lid, and was surprised once again.

“Dakota… this…”

“Tomato soup,” she informed him, sitting back down in her chair. He saw that she had a thermos of her own. She took a sip, staining her pale skin in traces of orange-red.

Nick almost smiled. He took a sip, and the nostalgic taste filled his mouth. It was just as good as he remembered.

Dakota’s expression softened. “I’m glad you like it,” she said quietly.

“Most women would have given me an energy drink or something,” Nick said, raising his eyebrow.

The smile left her face. “Well, I’m not most women,” she coldly rebuffed him.

Nick shook his head. That was definitely true. “Still, tomato soup, that… that’s definitely you, Dakota. So even a host has a favorite food.”

“It’s not what you think.” A shadow crossed her face and she looked down at the creamy liquid filling her thermos. “It’s not like this can nourish me in any way.”

“…I know, I just meant… sorry.” Nick scratched his head and sighed. “I was just trying to lighten the mood a little.”

She scowled. “You know how much this means to me,” she said quietly. “Don’t make fun of it.”

The pain in her eyes surprised him. “Dakota… what?”

“You don’t remember?” She laughed. “Why would you…”

“I remember you always liking this when we were kids,” Nick protested. “I don’t know, I just…”

“It’s fine.” Her tone told him that was the end of it. “Like I said, you wouldn’t remember. You weren’t there, after all.”

“I wasn’t?” Nick looked at her, stunned.

She slowly shook her head. “…Our seventh birthday,” she said, her hollow voice echoing. “The only one we didn’t spend together.”

Nick winced. He’d almost forgotten. Ever since they were babies, Dakota had always celebrated their shared birthday with him. Except for one year. One year when she abruptly told him that she couldn’t this time. It had seemed odd at the time.

It felt troubling now.

“Do you… want to talk about it?” He asked lamely. As if a seven-year-old’s birthday was some grand ceremony that needed to be discussed.

She laughed. She actually laughed.

Then he saw it. The emptiness in her eyes.

“…I went to go see a movie. And we went shopping,” she said quietly. “My mom and I.”

Nick felt everything in the room freeze. Like the walls, the bed, the tables and chairs, all of it was waiting in stunned silence as her words sank in.

He hadn’t heard that tenderness in her voice in a very long time.

“My mom… she quit drinking. For a few days. Just on a whim, I suppose,” she murmured, her eyes glazing over in reminiscence. “Long enough to remember she had a daughter, anyway.” She lowered her gaze towards the carpet. “She took me out to all the places she liked to go when she was little. We walked for hours, because she didn’t have a car, but she held my hand so I wouldn’t fall behind. Even though it had just rained the day before, and there were puddles all over the ground… I got mud all over my shoes and she just laughed, and said it was okay…”

The smile on her face hurt Nick so much more than he could have imagined. He wished he could say something to her, but what? What words would get through to her right now?

“…And then it started raining again, see, and we didn’t have an umbrella. So we had to run into this small little restaurant, Southeast Grill, to wait for our clothes to dry and for the sky to clear up. Only, they wouldn’t let us stay without ordering anything, and we’d already spent most of our money, so the only thing we could afford were two bowls of soup. That’s it, that was my birthday dinner. Two bowls of tomato soup, only the bowls were made out of bread. It… it was the best thing that I’d ever eaten. The best birthday present ever. It was the best day… the most perfect day… my perfect, perfect day.”

Nick felt himself start to cry. But Dakota wasn’t. He could see it on her face as it hardened, how many tears she’d already shed over this.

“…Then she started drinking again, two days later.” Dakota shook her head. “But I’ll always have that one day. Nothing can take that away from me.”

She clutched her thermos tightly to her chest.

“Dakota…” Nick’s voice cracked. He hardened his heart and looked at the shadows across her face. “…You have a daughter too, you know.”

He felt bad for her. How could he not? He knew the horrible home she’d grown up in. But as much as he loved her, that didn’t change the world. It couldn’t change her, either.

She didn’t say a word. She just stared off into the darkness.