Come together in the morning, I can understand your mind

The last time Nick and Ella had spent the night together in the Master’s Suite, Nick had experienced a strange bit of surprise; when his bedmate woke up, she appeared to be in a delirium- if you had asked him whether it was Cinder or Ella who greeted him that morning, he honestly would not have been able to answer you.

This morning was different. Because this time, it was Nick who was waking up late, and he did so to an empty bed.

“Huh… Ella?” Nick sat up, rubbing his eyes, and looked at the askew sheets beside him. His initial assumption was that Ella had scurried off right after waking up, a fairly reasonable explanation given her earlier behavior. That was a bit of a pity; but at least Mary was cooking breakfast, so he had that to look forward to. He could smell the delicious eggs cooking in the kitchen.

Then, as he was getting up to start the morning, he realized that Mary was still sleeping in the bed beside his, having a late start herself. She’d kept a low profile to give Ella plenty of time with him tonight, but had made it back to her bed when the lights went down.

She was still there. And since Holly had stayed in another room last night, that meant the person who was cooking breakfast was…

Nick tiptoed across the room and peeked into the kitchen, and saw Ella standing there, apron wrapped around her pajamas, humming cheerfully to herself over a couple of frying pans.

A smile slowly spread across Nick’s lips and he stepped back, gingerly closing the door so as not to alert her to his presence. He was happy just seeing her in such a good mood.

It looks like our date really was a success, he thought, and went to go take a shower and get changed.

Mary was already awake by the time Nick came out of the shower. She looked a little uneasy, which surprised him. Normally she was more comfortable hanging around here, after having lived with him for a couple rounds at this point. But right now, she just looked antsy.

“Hey Mary,” he greeted her with a wave. “How are you doing?”

She jumped in surprise, then relaxed and smiled. “Sorry, you startled me,” she apologized, playing with one of her pigtails.

Nick winced. Sorry about that, I didn’t mean to-

“No, it’s fine!” She interrupted him, shaking her head. “I don’t really mind… I just, well…”

She blushed and batted her eyelashes at him.

“…Normally I’m the one who’s supposed to be making you breakfast,” she pointed out with an awkward little laugh. “I think Ella… I think she wanted to give me a chance to sleep in, so she…”

Mary glanced enviously at the kitchen door, as if she was upset that Ella had gotten the drop on her. Nick found her focus on her job rather adorable, if he had to admit it- but at the same time, he wondered…

“Maybe Ella’s just being nice,” he said, walking over and joining her on the couch.

Mary blinked. “Because she’s cooking you breakfast? Yes, that’s a very nice thing for her to do,” she nodded in agreement and smiled. “I’m glad you realize it!”

She playfully punched him in the arm, and he laughed, and shook his head.

“No, that’s not what I meant, I meant that she’s being nice to you,” he clarified. “You’re always rushing around in the mornings, making breakfast for everybody; maybe she thought it would be a sweet thing to make breakfast for you, for once!”

He was mostly just making that up out of nowhere; while it definitely felt like an Ella thing to do, making breakfast for Mary’s sake so she could relax, he wasn’t sure if that was her motivation or not. There was a lot about the anxious girl that he was still in the dark about. But he chose to ascribe the most positive interpretation of her actions as he could to her, feeling that was the safest bet.

And besides- Ella was a sweet girl. Whether she intended to do so or not, she really had made things easier on Mary, and he wanted to acknowledge that.

Mary nodded slowly, coming around to Nick’s way of looking at things. “I guess you’re right,” she conceded thoughtfully. “I’ve spent so much time cooking and cleaning that having someone around who’s eager to do that for me… I guess I never thought about how much I could appreciate that,” she said with a small giggle.

Nick laughed. “Don’t catch Rose hearing you say that,” he warned. “Or she’ll try and convert Ella into being our maid 24/7.”

“She was the maid last time though,” Mary pointed out, reminding him of last night. “Even though she didn’t need to be…”

Nick nodded. “That’s right… didn’t she say something about borrowing Ella’s maid transformation so she wouldn’t have to do the job?”

Now that he thought about it, the wording of Ella’s maid transformation actually suggested that she didn’t have to do that at all.

• Putting the “Sweet” in Suite: Cinder and Ella are the master’s new maids. Every day, in preparation for the master’s night with another contestant, they must arrive one hour in advance to clean the Master’s Suite, wearing a maid costume. They may not remove this outfit until the housekeeping is completed. While cleaning, the master has the right to sexually harass them at his leisure. [NOTE: Only actions that have already been done consensually with one of the personas are permitted.] (Maid)

“Another” contestant kind of insinuated that when it was Ella’s own night with Nick, that she didn’t have to pretend to be his maid. But that didn’t stop Rose from going through with it anyway. Was there something she knew that they didn’t?

…That was unlikely.

“More likely, Rose was just looking for an excuse to slip in here,” Mary muttered under her breath. “I’m surprised she hasn’t done that more often.”

Nick looked at Mary with a worried expression. He knew that Rose could be a little bitchy towards his wife, but he hoped that attitude wasn’t going to be reciprocated! The last thing he needed was his wife and one of his lovers in a passive-aggressive struggle for dominance.

…Okay, well, when he thought about it like that, maybe he kind of had it coming.

“Knowing Rose, she’d probably accuse me of not doing a good enough job,” Mary added, recalling Rose’s insinuation that Mary’s “role” in the harem should be as Nick’s domestic servant while Rose reaped the rewards of all the “fun” parts of being with Nick.

Mary hadn’t exactly been thrilled by that perspective either, for obvious reasons. And Nick found himself stuck in a bit of a difficult place, not sure how to appease either of them.

“…I don’t think we should be spending this time talking about Rose,” he said, choosing to change the subject in order to spare himself from what he imagined would be a very difficult and frustrating conversation.

Mary blinked, a little surprised. “…Okay,” she agreed, nodding slowly. “Then what do you want to talk about?”

Now that he’d said it, they were both realizing that it had been quite some time since they’d had a legitimate conversation with one another. Nick and Mary both loved each other quite a lot; but between Nick’s obligation to the other girls in his life and Mary’s focus on her domestic duties and helping the other girls get better at cooking, the two of them had ended up kind of just living parallel lives with one another.

They said “I love you” all the time, and went to bed side by side. And had sex when they could. But when was the last time they just sat down and just talked? Or read together? Or did something else together that they could both enjoy?

As they looked into each other’s eyes, they came to the same realization- it had been way too long since they had a quiet moment in peace like this.

At the same time, as if they both realized the same exact thing, Nick and Mary swung their heads around and turned to look at the kitchen door. This would have been the exact moment they both expected Ella to come out with breakfast, prematurely ending the moment the second they became aware that they were sharing it.

Nope. No movement at all from the kitchen. So their eyes slowly returned to meet each other’s gaze, and Mary blushed while Nick smiled sheepishly.

“I guess… it has been a while,” he admitted.

Mary pinched her lips tightly together and shook her head, letting him off the hook. “It’s not a big deal,” she said gently. “You’re always so busy. You’ve got twelve other women to care for, after all. And Holly. …Though I guess if we take Dani off that list since you guys are just friends…”

“And Amelia,” Nick added. “We shouldn’t include her, either, since… you know.”

Mary shook her head. “I wasn’t,” she clarified. “I was talking about Marley, actually.”

Nick blinked. “Oh, right, yeah… Marley.” When it came to the curvy plant-lover, sometimes Nick found himself forgetting just how complicated their relationship was. Technically she was no longer part of his harem, so he was no longer “obligated” to be with her. But that had never stopped him before. He cared about Marley, harem or not, and his treatment of her didn’t change even now that he didn’t have the same responsibility.

At least, he tried not to let it affect his treatment of her. But the fact remained that he wasn’t as close to her as he could have been.

“And then there’s the fact that our date nights together are the punctuation of a really long and stressful challenge day,” Mary pointed out as well, swiftly changing the subject when she sensed the awkwardness from her partner. “We don’t really have time to enjoy a date or anything like that, do we?”

There was an undercurrent of sadness in her voice that Nick couldn’t miss. And he couldn’t blame her for feeling that way; he felt the same.

Nick loved Mary, he really did. And he tried to make sure they had a happy time together. After all, Mary was the woman he loved. He wanted to be with her, and he wanted to make her happy, just like all the other women he was bonded to as a result of this show. But Mary was right- even if she did get a night with him just like the other girls, it wasn’t the same.

“You think this is Dakota trying to make a point?” Mary huffed with just a tiny bit of venom in her voice.

Nick looked at her, surprised. “A point? What do you mean by that?”

Mary sighed. “Something like ‘Now that you’re married, there’s no time for dating. You’re just his wife. He’s already got you, your obligation is finished’ or something like that. You know?”

Nick didn’t like the way that sounded. But at the same time, it definitely sounded like Dakota’s kind of logic. He sighed and shook his head. “Well… you’re not wrong that we tend to have a really packed day, thanks to the challenge. But I don’t think that means we have to give up.”

He reached out and placed his hand over hers. They gazed into each other’s eyes and just savored the moment. When was the last time he had just held her hand? When had they last just shared the space together, enjoying each other’s company?

Nick didn’t know the answer to that question. But he knew that it was way too long. He loved Mary, and he wanted her to be with him like this again. For as long as she could.

“You know, Nick, I don’t like to blame other people,” Mary said quietly.

“What? No, you blame other people all the time!” Nick couldn’t help but say.

She looked at him and huffed. He was right, but… “…But I don’t like it!” Mary crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. “Other people just do things that are not okay, and that means I have to step up and say something, you know?”

Nick nodded slowly. He understood where she was coming from, but he still felt like maybe Mary was laying it on a little too thick. This was her more judgmental side rearing its ugly head; he appreciated how opinionated and strong-willed his wife was- especially since those qualities of hers manifested themselves so rarely now that they were married- but this was one of the occasions where he wished she could take things a little bit easier.

But Mary was Mary, and when she firmly believed something, it was hard to get her to change her mind. He knew that from many years of experience dealing with the strong-willed woman.

“My point is that you need to take charge and assert yourself more,” Mary insisted firmly. “I know how much you care about the others, Nick, it’s one of your sweetest qualities, and it’s why you’re the man I love…”

A wistful expression crossed her face as she gazed at him dreamily for a couple of seconds. “…What was I saying again?” She asked after a moment, blinking quickly as she came back down to earth.

Nick couldn’t help but laugh. “You were talking about how I need to take charge more,” he reminded her. It was an opinion that was quickly becoming commonplace among the women in his harem. “And yeah, I get it. I’ve heard that feedback once or twice.”

Mary looked surprised to hear this. “Well… good, I’m glad,” she said after a moment’s pause, nodding to him. “It’s just the right thing to do. Nick… you’re a sweet guy. The sweetest, really.” She pressed her fingertips together and blushed. “But because you’re so sweet… you’re always trying to accommodate everyone’s needs. And that’s not a bad thing! But… there’s only one of you to go around, and I’d rather you not wear yourself out. So even though it’s a great thing, trying to please everyone… sometimes you can’t. And there’s nothing wrong with that. You need to focus on yourself sometimes, too.”

Of all the people Nick expected to hear that from, he wouldn’t have thought it would be Mary.

“…And what about you, then?” He asked.

Mary blinked, and scrunched up her face in confusion. “What about… me? What do you mean?” She asked, tilting her head to the side.

Nick shrugged. “Well, it’s just… look, Mary, you’re a great girl, no denying that! But you’re not one to talk when it comes to pleasing people! You bend over backwards to accommodate anyone you can, because you’re such a nice person yourself!”

It seemed a little hypocritical for Mary to tell him that he shouldn’t be going to such lengths to please the women in his life when she was perfectly content to do the exact same thing.

Mary made a little huffy noise and crossed her arms over her chest. “That is completely different!” She replied, turning up her nose at him.

“How?!”

“Because… it just is!” She puffed up her cheeks in an even bigger pout.

Nick shook his head, unable to hold back his laughter. “No no no no, you can’t just say that,” he chuckled. “You don’t get to tell me I can’t be nice and accommodating while you’re here giving up all your time to help everyone get better at cooking. You’re way more of a pushover than I am when it comes to pleasing people!”

“It’s different!” Mary said again, while still stubbornly refusing to clarify just how it was different.

Nick stared evenly at her, not budging on this topic, while at the same time painfully aware that Mary was just as stubborn in that regard.

It seemed like neither of them were willing to give in here.

After a few seconds of the impromptu staring contest, the two of them burst into peals of laughter and shook their heads.

“Okay… maybe… maybe you have a point,” Mary conceded, wiping the hysterical tears from her eyes with a smile. “I guess we both can focus a little too much on other people, and not enough on ourselves, huh?”

Nick smiled back at her. “Maybe that’s why we go together so well,” he pointed out. “Because we care so much about other people… including each other.”

Mary gave him a smile with a trace of sadness in it that he couldn’t ignore.

“…You’re right, you know,” she agreed after a momentary pause. “The reason I’m so concerned about all this, Nick… it’s because I really care about you. And I want you to be happy.”

“I know you do,” Nick replied.

“Do you?” The pain in Mary’s expression deepened.

Nick nodded. “Yeah, I do,” he said. “I see it every time our eyes meet. Mary, you’re one of the most honest people I’ve ever met.”

What was intended as a compliment almost seemed to be taken as an insult. Mary’s face morphed into an aghast expression and her eyes bulged.

“Only one of?” She demanded, as if her husband had just said that she was in the top three women he loved most. (Which, to be fair, she was…)

“Well, I’m including Holly in that list,” Nick clarified.

“…Oh. Yeah…” Mary calmed down immediately when she heard his rationale, and nodded. Mary may have been overflowing with honesty, but Holly was about as direct and honest about how she felt (about EVERYTHING) as you could get.

Now, anyway. That hadn’t always been the case.

“Well… I love you, Nick,” Mary said, the words slipping out of her as easily as always. That was one of the benefits of being a woman like her who wore her heart on her sleeve. It was no trouble at all to tell him that now.

But just like with Holly, that hadn’t always been the case.

It was remarkable how much she’d changed in such a short period of time. Love really was a transformative thing.

“And because I love you,” she continued, “I need to make myself clear. It’s not fair to put the burden of running the harem on you, Nick… it’s a lot of stress. Believe me, I get it.”

She made a hard face. “But… someone has to do it. Otherwise, the others are going to walk all over you, and try to get as much of you as they can.”

Rose’s face was one that immediately came to mind for her.

Nick wished he could argue with her, but he couldn’t. He’d come to that same conclusion already several times this round.

If he just did nothing, then more direct and forthright girls like Rose would slowly eat up more and more of his time. And as much as he enjoyed seeing the actress work so hard, it wasn’t fair to the other girls who were less proactive.

Mary was right- someone needed to take charge and balance things out, and it really should be him. That would be fair for everyone.

But as true as Mary’s conclusion may have been, neither one of them realized just where this was stemming from.

Specifically, one of Mary’s own transformations. The more she thought about Nick taking charge and running things “properly” the more she came to the conclusion that, yes, this was exactly how it was supposed to go!

• Absolute Power: …Corrupts absolutely. Mary has no illusions about her position at Nick’s side, and the influence being his wife gives her. With that in mind, she will begin taking the reins in their relationship and serve as the sexy little devil in his ear, urging him to be less hesitant and more commanding in how he deals with the women in his life. She will become aroused whenever she sees Nick take charge, and whenever she sees another member of his harem behave submissively towards him. (Corruption)

Mary was certain that everybody would be happy if Nick took a more commanding role in the harem- with her right there beside him to make sure everybody was content.