But you can get along if you try to be strong

Lunch in a hot air balloon had been surprisingly cozy. And yet, as nice a time as he may have had, Nick couldn’t help but feel like something was missing.

We could have had so much more fun than this, he reckoned. If only Vivian… if only she was willing to open up to me more.

In theory, snuggling up together under a blanket while drifting gently high up in the air and sharing a meal together should have been an intimate moment in a romantic date. And even if Vivian had chosen to keep things totally platonic (which she had) Nick wouldn’t have minded either.

But the whole time, he couldn’t help but feel like a wall had been built between the two of them, even as Vivian pressed her body right up against his. On the surface they were as close as could be, but on the inside, their hearts couldn’t have been further apart.

How can I bridge that gap? How can I get her to tear down her walls? Nick had come into this date determined to get to know Vivian better, to build on the connection that he’d felt with her the last time they were together. But she seemed determined to stymie his efforts for some unknown reason. Was she afraid of intimacy? Or was it something else?

How do I get to know her better?

That was the question running through Nick’s head the most as the balloon landed in a wide open field, and they dismounted.

“I bet you’re wondering how Octavia managed to steer this thing so perfectly, aren’tcha?” Vivian giggled, leaning in close as Nick stepped out of the basket. “Well, it’s science!”

“Oh?” Nick hadn’t been thinking of that at all, actually.

“It’s because of crosswinds!” Vivian explained, puffing up her chest with pride as if she were the one who’d been navigating the hot air balloon. “When the wind is blowing one direction at one point in the sky, at a different elevation it will be blowing a different direction! So by adjusting the height of the hot air balloon using the heat of the flames, Octavia can maneuver the balloon in whatever direction she chooses! Isn’t that cool?”

“Uh… yeah, that’s really cool, actually,” Nick said, surprised. Of all the women he knew, Vivian was probably one of the last ones on his list who he expected to give him a science lesson in the middle of the date. “I just assumed that it was through Dream Alley’s magic that she moved it around or something.”

Vivian laughed. “Oh, don’t be silly,” she said, shaking her head. “How would that work in real life?”

Nick shrugged. He’d honestly never given any consideration to how hot air balloons worked in the real world before.

Of course, by this point Vivian was already off on another mental tangent. She stroked her chin thoughtfully, her mind racing as she planned out the next activity to really wow Nick.

I can do whatever I want in Dream Alley, anything I remember, I can bring in… and even other people like Octavia… hey, wait. Does that mean, I could even…?

Nick wasn’t sure what to make of the new look on Vivian’s face. It was like she’d suddenly had a brilliant idea, one that completely shocked her.

Then she smiled. But it wasn’t one of her usual smiles, meant to charm and disarm, or one of her mischievous grins, either. It wasn’t even that similar to the pensive smile she’d had on her lips back at the lake, the one that had made Nick’s heart skip a beat.

This smile looked almost… ****.

“…One second,” she said, her voice tinged in apology. “I need to call Dakota really quick.”

Nick blinked. That was the last thing he expected to hear Vivian say.

“Uh, sure, okay then,” he stammered, nodding.

Vivian stepped aside and Nick let her take some space. Whatever she wanted to talk to Dakota about, it seemed like she wanted to do it in private.

“Hm? A question?” Dakota was both surprised and not surprised that Vivian had requested her presence. Not surprised, because she had intentionally thrown the heiress into the deep end without giving her any time to plan, so it was obvious she’d want some clarifications about the mechanics of Dream Alley, and surprised because she expected that Vivian would have too much pride to ask for help so directly.

And yet…

“I can bring anybody I want to Dream Alley?” Vivian asked seriously.

“That’s right,” Dakota confirmed with a nod. “Anybody you want. Even another contestant! Of course… it won’t be the real person,” she added with a sly smile. “They’ll just be a copy of them, brought to Dream Alley.”

Vivian’s smile fought against her wince to stay on her face. “I figured that much… but I can still bring them? And it would be like they’re really here?”

“…Yes,” Dakota said, sensing the seriousness in Vivian’s heart, and responding seriously in turn. “Just like Octavia over there. For all intents and purposes, she is the Octavia you know.”

Vivian sighed, a wave of relief washing over her body. “Then… one more thing. I know this is a long shot, but… could I get a bit of time for myself, please? Without Nick, I mean.”

Dakota’s expression immediately soured. All willingness to give Vivian the benefit of the doubt evaporated, and she eyed the brunette with hostility. “And why would you want to do something like that?” She growled.

Vivian winced, but held her ground. “Because I have somewhere I want to go. And… I don’t want… I don’t want Nick to be there.”

Dakota didn’t like that one bit, and her glare said as much. “Dream Alley is not your personal playground, you know,” she snapped, tapping her cane on the grassy field. “You are here to please the master with a date of your own design, not to chase your own personal fantasies.”

“So I can’t?” Vivian pressed. “Even if I imagined somewhere? Because I’m willing to try, at least,” she said, preparing to call Dakota’s bluff.

Dakota wasn’t pleased.

“You and Nick must remain in the same sections of Dream Alley at all times,” she said pointedly. “You can’t have him go off to an aquarium while you go to a riding derby. That’s not how it works, that’s not how any of it works. The same location. Always.”

“Okay, but I could take him to the aquarium, say, and hang around outside while he went in and checked it out?” Vivian asked. “I mean, we can be in different rooms. We were this morning, after all, so I know it’s possible.”

Dakota looked like she had taken a bite out of a lemon. She didn’t like that Vivian was finding loopholes to spending time with Nick, even if she was technically correct.

“I suppose, there’s nothing to prevent that,” Dakota conceded. “It isn’t as though you’re **** to be in the same room at all times.”

The audience would probably draw the line at the two of them going to the bathroom together, so Dakota had **** but to make concessions like that. Well, some deviants likely wouldn’t mind, but she didn’t cater to tastes like those.

“Perfect, so it works the way I hoped!” Vivian chirped, her bright smile returning as she let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Dakota! That’s a lot of help.”

“I’ll warn you, I don’t expect this to work out the way you’re hoping,” Dakota warned her, narrowing her golden eyes. “The audience wants the two of you to spend time together, Vivian Carrington. Not for you to run off and do your own thing while leaving Nick in the lurch.”

“Well, the audience can learn to deal with it,” Vivian replied, crossing her arms over her chest and cocking her hip to the side. “This is my day, and I’ll use it however I want.”

The audience may have been the ones to give Vivian a free date in Dream Alley, but that didn’t mean they decided what she did with it.

Seeing that there was no chance of convincing Vivian otherwise, Dakota waved her cane and disappeared. Vivian returned to Nick, and the smile on her face was even more complicated than he expected.

“Everything okay?” He asked tentatively.

“Should be soon,” she said, smiling. It was a strange, serene smile. “There’s somewhere I want to go. And… I don’t want you to come with me.”

Nick looked at her in surprise. “Excuse me? What?”

“It’s a personal thing,” Vivian said. She looked at Nick with the most serious expression he’d seen from her all day. “I talked to Dakota, and she said I could do it. …Well, to be more accurate she said that she couldn’t stop me from doing it, but that’s good enough to be a yes in my book!”

Nick wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so he just gave Vivian a shaky smile in return. “…Okay?”

Vivian waved her hand, and the sky spun around them. The empty field and the hot air balloon disappeared into the blur, and even Octavia vanished as well. When everything stopped spinning and Dream Alley reoriented itself, they were somewhere Nick never in a million years would have expected to be brought on a Dream Alley date.

Standing in front of a hospital.

“What… Vivian? A hospital? What…?” It was an elite, private hospital, Nick could tell just from the outside how high-class the clientele must have been. The sort of place a celebrity would go for a surgery they didn’t want anyone to know about.

Why had Vivian brought him here?

Nick turned to the heiress, looking for answers, but she just gave him a tight, inscrutable smile and pressed her hands together like she was begging him for a favor.

“I’ll just be a moment, okay?” She asked him. “You stay out here. I’ll be back soon!” She turned back and glanced at him one last time, and the look of longing on her face was enough to leave Nick momentarily stunned.

“Hey, Vivian wait-!” But before Nick could say anything she was already gone, vanished through the doors.

Of all the directions their date could have gone, this definitely wasn’t one he expected.

Nick considered going in after her, but he stopped himself. Clearly, Vivian didn’t want him to come inside; if she did, she wouldn’t have left him out here. And he really wasn’t the sort of guy who would just go against someone’s wishes like that.

So he just loitered around outside the hospital entrance and tried not to look like a suspicious person.

“Man, how long is she going to be?” He looked at the door expectantly, trying to see any trace of Vivian coming back in the glass. But no, all he could see were doctors and nurses shuffling around on the other side, and no trace of the heiress.

Nick was starting to get impatient.

“Psst! Hey!”

For a second, he thought someone was trying to get his attention. But no way that was possible. This was Dream Alley, after all, the only people here were himself and Vivian, and Vivian wouldn’t need to call out to him. It must have just been somebody in the background-

“Nick! Hey! Over here!”

…Nope, they were definitely talking to him. Bizarre. Nick turned towards the voice, but he couldn’t see anybody.

“No! Over here!”

He looked down. Crouched behind one of the cars was a bundle of burlap and cotton, the outline of someone in an oversized trench coat. They waved him over.

Very confused, Nick walked around the van, as the figure stood up and brushed themselves off.

“…Nola, what are you doing?” He asked in exasperation.

“Nola? Who is this Nola? I have no idea of whom it is you speak,” the woman said, her voice muffled by the mask on her face. The rest of her face was covered by an oversized pair of sunglasses, which she must have been counting on to obscure her identity. But even with a big trench coat and a wide hat, the frizzy, curly pink hair cascading down her back was an obvious giveaway.

“…You can call me Deep Throat,” the pink-haired woman said, deepening her voice.

“…Why-? …Never mind.” Nick didn’t even really care. “I’m here on a date, Nola, what do you want?”

Deep Throat ignored the case of mistaken identity. “If you’re on a date, then why are you by yourself?” She pointed out.

…It was an uncomfortably valid question, Nick had to admit. He sighed.

“…Because Vivian had some business in the hospital, that’s why. So I’m out here to let her resolve it, whatever it is.”

Deep Throat nodded. “And that’s exactly why I’m here. To get you into that hospital!”

Nick raised his eyebrow. “…Okay, two things. First off, why exactly would you be helping me? Second, I’m not going to violate Vivian’s privacy like that. She said she wanted me to stay outside, so that’s what I’m going to do.”

He had no intention of violating the very first legitimate boundary that Vivian had put up.

Deep Throat shook her head. “To answer your first question… as a result of a certain contest, I’ve found myself in the employ of an interested third party for the remainder of the round,” she said mysteriously. “This third party sent me into the dream to aide you. Apparently, she was concerned that you would be too nice, and let your date walk all over you.”

That accusation stung.

“I’m not letting her walk all over me!” Nick protested.

“Then go into the hospital and see what’s up. That’s all I can do to help you. The decision is yours,” Deep Throat said cryptically, shuffling backwards slowly. She ducked behind the van, and poked her head back out to peek.

Nick sighed and turned away. He looked back up at the hospital. Whatever was going on in there, it was clearly important to Vivian. He remembered the look on her face, right before she disappeared inside. For a second, it was almost like she wanted him to follow her, but…

She said to stay outside… so that’s what I should do, right? I should respect her boundary.

But that face…

Nick was irked by the situation he found himself in. He wanted to be respectful of Vivian’s wishes, but at the same time, she seemed to be sending him incredibly mixed signals.

Which side of her was she supposed to listen to!? Her words, or her eyes!?

Why was there never a right answer when it came to stuff like this?

“Fuck it!” He shouted, making a choice. “If that’s what you want, fine! I’ll go in!”

He wanted another glimpse at the real Vivian. He wanted to get past the walls she built up. And even if that meant violating her privacy just a little bit… …He had to take that chance.

I’ll tell her I’m sorry when I get there. But it feels like if I miss this opportunity, then I’m going to regret it for the rest of my life!

Nick picked up his pace, and just as he reached the door, it slid open, surprising him.

“Welcome!” A very familiar-looking nurse was standing in front of him. Her white uniform clung to her slender figure, and she flashed a peace sign at him. Her face was covered by a medical mask, which wasn’t unusual for a nurse, and a pair of sunglasses, which was very unusual for a nurse. But once again, her bouncy pink hair was a staggeringly obvious clue as to her identity.

Nick sighed again in spite of himself. “Nola…”

“Oh? And who could that be? Call me Nurse!”

She hadn’t even bothered with a full name this time.

“Let me guess, you’re here to help?” Nick asked.

“Yuppers!” Nurse said with a nod. “You’re looking for Vivian Carrington, is that right? I’ll take you right to her!”

“How would you know that?” Nick crossed his arms over his chest and raised his eyebrow. “I just got here, after all. We’ve never met before, right?”

“Err… lucky guess!” Nurse recovered rather quickly from that. “Us leprechauns are always lucky folk, you know!”

“So you’re a leprechaun?” Nick stared blankly at her.

The nurse gasped and stiffened up. “I’m… a nurse,” she said, shaking her head quickly.

“But you just said you were a leprechaun.”

“Right, uh… I’m both! Unlike Nola, who is just a leprechaun, to be clear,” Nurse asserted. “But the way I hear it, even if she is just a leprechaun, she’s still very sweet and definitely popular, and she is a very good assistant. One who definitely deserves her old job as a host back. So don’t look down on her or anything!”

“Yeah, okay, got it,” Nick said, rolling his eyes. “Look, are you going to take me to Vivian or not?”

“Ah! Yes, right this way!” Nurse turned on her heel and scurried inside, leading Nick into the building. The inside of the hospital was just as resplendent as the outside. But Nick wasn’t here for the ambience. He wanted to figure out what business Vivian would have here, that would lead her to make a face like that.

Nurse led Nick through several hallways and up two flights of stairs. The higher they went, the nicer the rooms seemed to be. A few minutes later, they reached a private room that seemed more like a suite. The name “Carrington” on the door gave him pause for a second.

“Wait… huh?”

It was almost enough to stop him from walking inside. So Nurse gave him an extra push for good measure and he stumbled in, stunned.

“Eh!?”

The first thing Nick noticed was Vivian, who had been sitting beside a hospital bed. She shot to her feet and looked at him with an alarmed expression on her face. For the first time, it really felt like he’d caught her by surprise.

“Nick!? I… I told you to stay outside!” She rushed over to him, a symphony of emotions dancing across her face.

To Nick’s relief, none of those emotions were anger. She almost looked relieved as she helped him to his feet.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized, shaking his head. He could feel his face burning, and knew a shameful blush must be coloring his complexion right now. “I wanted to stay away like you asked, but… I couldn’t help myself. I just needed to know. Whatever this was, it’s important to you, Vivian, and I… I’m sorry. Anything I say would sound like an excuse. This was all just my selfishness.”

If Vivian wanted to rebuke or condemn him, she had every right to do so. He was intruding on something very private, after all, even if he didn’t know exactly what it was.

But she didn’t do that. She looked a little exasperated, but not that upset.

“…I guess it was a little silly, keeping you out there, huh?” She said begrudgingly, playing with a fringe of her hair. “Maybe part of me wanted you to come barging in like that… though not falling over, of course.”

Nick winced.

“Come,” Vivian said, taking him gently by the hand. “Let me introduce you.”

She led him over to the bed, where an older woman was sitting. She was a sliver of a woman, with sunken cheekbones and pale, slightly wrinkled skin. The luster had faded from her brown hair, and Nick could see a tired look in her brown eyes. But in spite of all that, the small smile on the woman’s lips seemed to be filled with energy.

“This is… my mom.” Vivian sounded embarrassed, which was definitely a first. “Nimue Carrington.”

Nick found himself gasping at the unique name. The woman herself chuckled at that.

“Surprised?” She croaked out, her voice sounding as tired and worn as she looked. “I certainly am… to think my Vivian would actually have a suitor she didn’t run in the other direction from… yes, quite surprised… a pleasure to make your acquaintance, young man.”

She reached a trembling hand up towards Nick; whether asking for a handshake or offering her hand for him to kiss he had no idea. In the moment, he did neither, and just stared at the wisp of a woman, rooted in place by shock.