Birds of a feather, we should stick together

All heads turned and gasps of surprise echoed through the Banquet Hall as Vivian entered with Kim and Octavia flanking her.

“Vivian!?” Morgana’s eyes widened in surprise.

“And Kim, too,” Dawn noted, crinkling her nose.

Sylvia looked incredulous and gleeful. “What are you guys wearing!?” She asked, barely able to suppress her smile.

Kim’s face burned with embarrassment. “Ugh…”

She looked away, unable to handle the temporary transformation she’d been stuck with.

Vivian, on the other hand…

“Ciao, my lovelies!” She cooed in her posh accent, waving her gloved hand at the other girls. “Wonderful to see you all!”

To understand why Vivian was also wearing a butler outfit, one would have to go back a couple minutes to when the two girls were still in the Fashion Suite with Octavia. Kim had just finished explaining the details of her transformation to Vivian, and currently felt a strange mixture of agitation, remorse, resignation, and exasperation.

“…So you’re going to be dressed up as a butler for the rest of the day either way, and you can’t leave my side, does that about cover it?” Vivian asked. She was taking this seriously it looked like, which was a relief to Kim at least.

“Yes,” the tomboy sighed. She shook her head. “Please don’t take advantage of this, Vivian. I’m trusting you here, okay?”

She knew deep down that Vivian was a good person. She wouldn’t do anything to intentionally hurt Kim, regardless of how bad Kim’s attitude towards her had been in the past. At the same time, though, Kim knew that Vivian was plagued by poor impulse control, and often did things without fully thinking through the consequences.

Kim would rather not be on the receiving end of something like that.

“Don’t worry,” Vivian assured her. She shook her head and took Kim’s hand in hers. “I promise, I wouldn’t do something like that to you, Kim.”

The gleam in her eyes… it actually carried a lot of persuasion. Kim wasn’t sure how she should respond to that look from the other girl.

“You saw what happened if I follow your orders, right?” Kim pulled her hand away. “You have to be really careful about how you talk to me, Vivian! Okay?”

She didn’t mean to sound so snappy. It wasn’t Vivian she was upset with, it really wasn’t! Her anger was aimed at Echo, the person who deserved it.

But Kim also understood that didn’t make things better. Even if she wasn’t TRYING to be angry with Vivian, well… these things happen sometimes. And she couldn’t avoid that fact.

She let out an exasperated sigh when she saw the gleam in Vivian’s eyes change. “What are you planning?” She asked hesitantly.

Vivian giggled and shook her head. “Don’t worry!” She assured the other girl. “It’s nothing you have to be concerned about, I promise!”

Somehow, Kim wasn’t fully persuaded by the other woman’s promises. She regarded Vivian with absolute doubt and skepticism. “Right… okay…”

Vivian pouted. “I mean it! Just wait right there!”

She turned to leave but Kim grabbed her by the hand. “Wait, Vivian, that’s exactly what I’m talking about,” she warned the other woman.

“Huh?” Vivian turned to look back at her, confused. “What do you mean?”

“You just gave me an order,” Kim said.

“Huh? No, no I didn’t,” Vivian said, shaking her head.

Kim nodded. “Yes, you did. Just now. You told me to ‘wait right there’ so if I did wait right here, well, that would be following your order, wouldn’t it?”

Vivian’s mouth dropped open. “No, no way that counts!” She shook her head. “That’s ridiculously sensitive!”

Kim shrugged. Honestly, she wasn’t fully convinced herself. But she knew there was NO WAY she was going to take any chances, and the look she gave the other woman said as much. “I just think it’s better safe than sorry, that’s all. We’ve gotta be careful with this. We don’t want any nasty surprises, right, Vivian?”

The truth was, Kim wasn’t afraid of a couple orgasms. But the whole point of this transformation was (allegedly) to help her get along better with the other woman. And if Vivian was carelessly driving Kim up the wall with pleasure all day, even if she meant well, things were going to get really annoying really fast, and Kim didn’t want to deal with that crap.

Vivian bit her lip. “…Alright then, I’ll trust you,” she said, nodding. “In that case, um… look, I don’t want to ask this, but… could we maybe experiment? I want to know what extent your transformation works, if that’s okay.”

Kim looked uneasily at her. “This is kinda what I was talking about,” she said. “Vivian, I know you mean well, but recklessly testing it…”

Her voice trailed off when she saw the sincerity in the other woman’s eyes.

“Kim, whether you like it or not, you’re stuck with me, right?” Vivian asked, taking the other girl by the hand.

Kim bit her lip. She didn’t like it, but that was unfortunately the case. “…Yes, sadly,” she sighed in exasperation.

“In that case, I think the best thing to do is figure out the limits, so I don’t do anything to bother you,” Vivian explained. “You don’t want that either, right? Me making problems for you with accidental orders?”

Kim could see that Vivian was taking this seriously. And honestly? That was good enough for her.

“Yeah… thanks, Vivian,” she said, feeling a little better already. “Okay. Let’s do it. But just… be careful, okay?”

“Right.” Vivian cleared her throat and took a step back. “Okay, experiment time! …Don’t wait right there!”

Kim stared at the heiress. She really thought she was doing something with that, didn’t she.

“Uh… what?” Kim frowned.

“See, it’s brilliant!” Vivian tapped the side of her head. “Before, I gave you the order to wait here! But now I’m ordering you to not wait here! This way, if you wait there, we’ll see if the orders cancel each other out or not!”

“Oh, I get what you’re going for!” Kim nodded in approval. “That’s pretty clever. This way we’ll see if orders stack, or if it only counts the last order given. Or alternatively, if two orders are in conflict with each other, we’ll see which one takes precedence.”

That was pretty good thinking for the fashionista, to be able to come up with a plan like this on the fly. Kim could admit it- she was a little impressed.

Vivian smiled from ear to ear. “So with that said… don’t wait right there!”

She turned and scurried off towards one of the closets with Octavia in tow, leaving Kim behind. Fortunately, the compulsion Kim had to be around Vivian seemed to be down to just being in the same room as her. She didn’t have to remain within ten feet of the other woman or anything like Marley. That made things a lot easier on the tomboy, she felt.

In fact, Vivian had given her quite the easy job just now. All she had to was stay in one place and she was literally doing what she was told. Or the opposite, in this case, which was what really mattered.

…Did that make any sense at all? Whatever. Kim wasn’t going to question it.

A few minutes passed without even a spark of pleasure, and Kim decided that Vivian’s experiment was a success.

“I’m back!”

Kim turned to her so-called “boss” and nearly fell over in surprise.

“Vivian!?” She sputtered. Why was the other girl wearing a butler costume of her own? Was she mocking Kim or something?

“Lady Carrington, I warned you that this might be pushing things too far,” Octavia said, stepping aside. “When this blows up in your face, just know that I did in fact warn you.”

Vivian rolled her eyes. “Come on, Octavia, none of that’s going to happen.” She turned back to Kim and flashed the other girl an impish smile. “Well? What do you think? Does it look good on me, or what, Kim?”

Kim picked her mouth up off the floor. “…Is that an order?” She asked sardonically. “Are you ordering me to give you my opinion?”

Vivian pouted. If Kim asked her like that, she had no choice but to shut up and say nothing, the clever girl!

“…Why are you dressed like that?” Kim couldn’t help look at Vivian’s outfit. As much as she hated to admit it, the other girl really pulled it off.

“I thought it wasn’t fair that you have to go around dressed like a butler!” Vivian said sincerely. “This way, I can dress as one, too! That way, when people ask what’s going on, you won’t have all the pressure put on your shoulders! I can take some of the heat, and people will care more about me being a weirdo than your stupid transformation!”

Kim blinked. “…Vivian…”

She never expected the heiress to do something like this. It wasn’t like she was trying to grab all the attention or anything because she was self-absorbed. She seemed to be genuinely doing this for Kim’s sake.

Kim wasn’t sure how she should feel about that.

“I also considered trying to nullify your transformation with mine,” Vivian added. “You remember? My New Style transformation could let me adjust the clothing transformation you’re restricted to, right? I thought of that while I was changing actually. You want me to give that a try first, before we go get breakfast?”

Kim opened her mouth to reply but before she could, Vivian kept talking.

“Oh, and that’s not an order, by the way,” she added. “I already thought about the wording and it should be fine.”

Kim closed her mouth. She did remember Vivian’s New Style transformation and what that entailed. Maybe it would work…

• New Style: Vivian is an excellent designer with an eye for all the chic styles. Each day, she can either copy someone else’s clothing transformation for herself, or temporarily negate someone else’s clothing transformation, allowing them to wear whatever outfit she picks out, instead. She may use both effects on the same person in the same round once each, but she may not use the same effect on the same person twice in one round. [NOTE: Both these effects last for 24 hours.] (Fashionista)

And Vivian seemed to sincerely want to help.

Still…

Kim shook her head. “I don’t think it works that way,” she said with a sigh. She looked down at her clothes. “I mean, you might be able to put me in a new outfit, but I don’t think Echo’s going to let you negate the rest of the transformation. I’d still feel pleasure whenever I follow your orders, even if I don’t want to.”

“Oh… yeah, I guess you’re right,” Vivian said. She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. “So if that’s out, what do you want to do, then?”

Honestly?

Kim wasn’t sure. But she appreciated that Vivian was giving her the option.

The tomboy shrugged. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I don’t LIKE the idea of dressing up as your butler, obviously. But the clothes themselves are nice, I guess… in the abstract.”

She’d spent a bit of time checking her appearance in one of the many mirrors in the Fashion Suite while Vivian had been off changing.

And Kim could admit- this outfit wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

Again, in the abstract. In this context, she absolutely hated it. But not enough to get Vivian to change it, since she’d still get the worst aspects of the transformation shoved on her either way, regardless.

“So do you want us to just go to breakfast as a trio of butlers, then?” Vivian pulled Octavia in for a side hug, and extended her hand out to Kim with a hopeful look on her face.

Kim didn’t take her hand. She wasn’t THAT far gone.

“…Whatever,” she said, shrugging. It really wasn’t that big of a deal for her, if she was being perfectly honest. “At least we know that your experiment wasn’t a waste.”

Vivian perked up. “Oh, so it worked?”

Kim nodded. “I didn’t feel any pleasure at all from standing here,” she confirmed. “Everything was perfectly normal.”

Vivian stroked her chin thoughtfully. “So, it’s either that the orders don’t stack, or if they do, then contradicting orders cause the most recent one to take precedence… I see.”

There were more experiments they could do. But Vivian ignored that. Because either way, it didn’t matter. The only confirmation she needed was that she could nullify any order she inadvertently gave to Kim.

That was the only aspect of this transformation that would matter to either of them.

“Let’s go to breakfast, then!” Vivian cheered, punching the air.

Kim stared at her. She slowly shook her head.

“Huh?” It took Vivian a second to get it. “…Oh, damn it!” She groaned, and rolled her eyes. “That’s another order, isn’t it?”

Kim somberly nodded.

“Fine! Then I don’t want you to go to breakfast!” Vivian ordered. “And you CAN’T eat whatever food you like! Got it?”

Kim rolled her eyes. Vivian was laying it on a little thick. But she appreciated how hard the other girl was trying.

Maybe, for once, she could put some of her passion and eagerness towards solving their problems, that would be nice.

“…And now, here we are!” Vivian posed. Kim had finished explaining everything to the other girls, who were all giving her sympathetic looks.

“Ouch, that must be rough,” Morgana winced.

“So you have to follow Vivian’s orders all day?” Ella looked uneasily at the rich girl. Ever since her outburst in the maze, things between the two of them had been rather uncomfortable.

Vivian just gave her a smile.

“Actually, just the opposite!” The heiress flounced over to Ella and shook her head. “We’ve gotta make sure that she does the opposite of what I ask! That way, she won’t be affected by the transformation too badly!”

“Personally, I’d just go with it,” Sylvia said with a shrug. “I mean, what’s the big deal? It’s just a bit of pleasure. You get that all the time on this show, my girls!”

Kim sighed in exasperation.

“Look, it’s probably not going to be so bad,” Kim said. She glanced at Vivian. “Vivian can be… tricky. But she’s conscientious enough to know better than to mess with me for fun.”

“You bet I do!” Vivian gave her a thumbs-up.

“Besides, I’m only stuck as her butler for the day,” Kim pointed out. “If you want to feel bad for someone, feel bad for Octavia. She’s Vivian’s butler for life, after all.”

Octavia nodded. “Indeed. It is a great honor. …Pardon me, I misspoke. I meant to say, it is a ‘grating’ honor.”

“Octavia!” Vivian puffed out her cheeks in irritation. “You coulda just said the first part, you know, you didn’t have to-!”

“Indeed, but I believe in the value of honesty,” Octavia proudly declared. “And as your butler, it is my duty to instruct you on the proper demeanor of a young lady, including when it is proper to honestly speak your mind!”

She straightened her back and crossed her arms over her chest. “As is always the case, the proper time is when you cannot be docked pay.”

Vivian stuck out her tongue in response.

Amelia gave Octavia a sympathetic look. She knew how difficult the other woman must have it, if that was her duty.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin silently snickered. She walked over to Kim and looked her up and down. She tilted her head to the side with a curious expression.

“What is it?” Kim asked, surprised.

The assassin turned and nodded her head towards Vivian before shrugged.

It took Kim a second to realize what she was indicating. “What… you’re worried I’m not going to be able to get through this?”

She scratched her head. “Nah… don’t worry. Believe it or not, I think it actually might not be the worst thing in the world! Can you imagine?”

Kim was stuck with Vivian one way or another, so she would have to make the best of it.

“Wow, are we in the middle of a butler convention or something? And me without the proper attire!” Carly walked into the Banquet Hall wearing an outfit that everyone could swear she had worn before, but nobody could be quite sure.

She was dressed as a maid. Starched white apron, black dress, right down to a frilled bonnet atop her head, the cosplayer looked every bit the quintessential server, and the bright smile on her face showed just how much she was enjoying the opportunity.

Unlike her beleaguered sister, who just looked confused.

Dani seemed amused by the whole thing. “So Kim and Vivian are dressed as butlers, while Carly is here as a maid? That’s… something.”

She turned to Ella. Half of her wanted to make a joke about Ella going to go get dressed as a maid herself, but she held back. They weren’t close enough to make jokes like that.

And right now, Ella was already thinking it herself. Wow… Carly looks so much better dressed as a maid than I do… I’m so jealous. Nick is going to be immediately captivated when he sees her like that… no fair.

She reached up and covered her chest with her arm. Carly only made it more apparent how insufficient Ella was in that category.

“So what, we going to do a servant party or something?” Sylvia asked, playing off of Carly’s joke. The cosplayer giggled along with her.

Kim rolled her eyes. “I’m not dressed like that because I want to be, you know,” she griped. “I’m doing it because I got a punishment transformation for taking a Sick Day, that’s all.”

“And I’m dressed as a butler to show solidarity!” Vivian proudly declared. “If Kim’s going to be stuck with me all day, then the least I can do is help her out as a servant in turn! I’ll be giving it my all, since she’s the one who deserves to be pampered! It’s her day off, after all!”

She gave Kim a wink and Kim’s mouth fell open. Wait, what was THAT about? She hadn’t ever heard about that before! She shook her head warily and bit her lip. “That… I don’t know, uh…”

Clearly, Vivian had some ideas in mind that she hadn’t thought to run by Kim first. And just when Kim thought that the two of them might finally be able to get along! Hopefully the other woman didn’t ruin everything with her schemes.