Evacuating the Tower (L,R)

He met Luna where they’d been at the dining hall, where Genet was serving the kung pao tofu from the Chinese place down the street from their office. The host set down their food for an early lunch. The food was still steaming as they got it, tofu mixed with spicy peppers and little sides of white rice. Luna’s plate had a ramekin of the red sauce added for her to dip the tofu in.

“So last night went well?” Luna asked between bites.

“Yeah, we had a nice time.”

”I’d say so. Aubrey fell right back to sleep after I got her back to our room.” There was a pause as they were both eating. “Y’know, I really expected to be in the show’s first threesome.”

He nearly choked. Sputtering, he managed to get out a “What?”

“Uncomfortable discussing that?” She asked. He’d reacted well when she’d asked about Hazel, but they were still somewhat new to talking about something like this. It was like they were discussing work since they were on the island, but it also wasn’t. Either way, she’d figured that their old agreement to keep out of each other’s sex lives was useless at this point.

“No. Maybe? There wasn’t a threesome, it was just Aubrey and I having some alone time.”

“You can totally stop me if I’m overstepping here, but what did you and Maeve do for her points?”

“We didn’t do anything.” He protested. Shit. “She didn’t do anything. I accidentally touched her chest in our sleep. I didn’t mean to. I was able to get my hand away from her before she woke up, so I don’t think she noticed.”

“Were you squeezing at all?”

What kind of question is that? “I think I might’ve been.”

“Then she’d know.”

“She was still asleep though.” He protested. “Which sounds bad, but I was asleep too.”

“If you were squeezing at all, then she’d know from the points she gained. Felicia and I were reading the scorebook Genet gave me and we get points for the first time you squeeze either our chest, butt, or thighs.”

“So if she sees the scoreboard she’ll know?” I don’t think that she’ll do that until you guys have your challenge, so I’ll warn her and apologize before that.”

“We have an extra part of our phones that you don’t have to track points, remember? Here, I’ll show you what I mean. Kiss me.” She set her phone down in between them and leaned over the table.

“Are you sure?”

“It’s just a kiss, I’m not asking you to marry me.”

“But what about our deal?”

“I didn’t want to mix my sex life with my real life. But we’re not getting home unless we all compromise a little. If you can agree it doesn’t mean anything, then just kiss me.”

She’d been the one saying that he needed to be open to when the others propositioned him. He leaned forward and she pulled him in closer.

He’d kissed before. He kissed Hazel a few days ago, and he’d kissed Aubrey a million times. But this felt different as she pulled him in. He smelled the lavender of her perfume as she gripped his neck. As he felt the softness of her lips, his own tingled from the spice left on her.

After hearing a ding she let him go and they both sat down. She showed him the notification.

Luna Lopez, +3 VP (Kiss)

Luna Lopez, +1 BP (Explanation, Wingwoman style)

“I wasn’t expecting that second one, but I think I proved my point. She already knows, she just didn’t bring it up.”

“Why not?”

“She told Aubrey and I she has trouble bringing attention to herself. There’s no guarantee that she’d be willing to talk about it with me, but I can check in with her when I’m trying my thing.”

“What’s your thing?”

“I wanted to see if she’s into women.”

“Really?”

“Dick, I’m feeling it every time you get turned on. I’m not mad that you’re getting off, but I’m on my own. Maeve’s hot, and I already know that everyone else other than your sister is straight. If she’s into women, then we can spend time together when you’re busy and Touch Base is active. Unless you want me asking Helena?”

It was strange to imagine either way. Either she’d be with Maeve (possibly before or instead of him), or she’d be with Helena of all people. But the more he thought about it being Hel, the more it made sense. They were both incredibly focused on their work, practical and straightforward. Between their interactions when he was in school and their coordination together on his campaign, they were already used to each other. Genet said that Helena was safer the more the audience was interested in her.

“If you’re interested I can check in with her. It might be good for her too since she won’t be with me during the show.”

She seemed surprised at that, but she nodded. “Thanks for that then. Can I get some of your peppers?”

He slid the peppers to one side of his plate so she could take them. His version was already hotter than he’d like, if she wanted all of his peppers she could take them. They finished their meal, although she ended up giving him some of her share of the rice to help cut the spice of the tofu. After she finished eating a few minutes before him, she started the conversation again.”Can I ask about how your date with Felicia went? She told me, but I wanted to get your-”.

Just then, Hazel and Felicia walked in together. “On second thought, maybe we should talk about this on our way to the shop.”

***

An hour later, they were almost to the tower. “I honestly thought I had things figured out with her. The beach day was a record for us in how long we’ve been able to go without fighting. It went fucking fantastic, why did she feel the need to lie about it?”

“If my hunch is right, she’s trying to farm that reaction. Ava made a joke yesterday about her sounding like a tsundere, and I think she had a point,”

“Tsunderes are that thing from Doki Doki Geometry Club, right?”

“How is that your frame of reference before like… all of anime?”

He shrugged. “Felicia got me the game for my birthday a few months after we joined the group.”

“I see. Call her out on it, I think she wants you to catch her lying.”

If you say so. By this time they’d come close enough that the tower was in shouting distance. “I thinkI was trying to forget that the shop was so high up.” If not for the small door at the bottom of the tower, it would’ve looked like it was pulled out of one of Aubrey’s favorite disney movies, ready for Rapunzel to let her hair down.

Luna led him inside and while the outside was reminiscent of a fairy tale, the inside felt more rustic. He’d call it medieval, but as he climbed up he realized that it reminded him more of the pictures Helena had brought back from a business trip to Athens she and Hazel had gone on. Thankfully the staircase was tight enough that despite their climb, his anxiety around heights hadn’t kicked in yet.

“When we get up there, don’t look at the balcony. Just focus on the shopkeeper, she’ll be behind the counter.” She advised him. They’d been hanging around together long enough that she understood his fear better than anyone. “I’m going to be standing next to the wall opposite the stairs where we’ll come out. Ata, the shopkeeper, will be behind the counter and there should be a book next to her. Look at me, look at Ata, or look at the book.”

They got up to the top and he did his best to avert his eyes. Just as he’d been told, a brunette in a cream colored toga was there. She was sitting on the counter. The woman was humming something he didn’t recognize, but as he listened trying to orient himself to the height it sounded march-like.

“Hello?” He asked out loud. She didn’t respond.

“You need to say her name.” His best friend explained. “Ata?”

The brunette got to her feet. She was suddenly peppy, like a cheerleader. “Hello there, I see you brought your master!”

They both cringed at that. “He’s the season’s master, he’s my partner.”

“That’s very romantic of you. Were you looking to get his input on a purchase?”

This is getting worse. “Can you get my list so I can show him?” After the shopkeep brought her version of the transformation shopping page over, she turned it towards Richard. “These are the spare transformations that any of us can buy. Do you want to look at these while I look for an outfit or two in the book?”

He read through the descriptions on the page. Several of them were easy to match to the friend they’d originally been assigned to. He saw the sociology pun that Maeve had been worried about. Fated Reunion was obviously Aubrey’s, he wouldn’t be surprised if she bought that the next time she could afford it. He wouldn’t even mind that much as long as she asked first. It’d just be tracking him, not his friends like Hel had done. There was already Genet and who-knows-how many other people watching him.

Anything You Can Do and Stuck felt like the worst of the bunch. The first would’ve made Felicia annoyingly competitive, and the second would’ve required him or Luna to follow Helena around all day.

“Are there any you liked more?” Luna asked.

“Yeah. Promise not to judge?”

“I might judge, but as long as you’re not about to tell me you’re imagining me stuck in the laundry, I’ll try not to be too harsh.” She gave him a teasing smile.

“No, def not that. It’s this first one here. Ready for the Cameras?”

She gave him a curious look. “Really? I’m not sure what I was expecting, but that one kind of seemed boring.”

“I like taller women.” He said matter-of-factly.

Felicia would be thrilled to hear that. She thought to herself further. Other than the doctor, everyone was at least a few inches taller than average. Hazel was his height and Ava’s just barely taller. He’d certainly gotten lucky there, if he was going to be assigned love interests.

“Hey Ata, are you able to give any further details on any of the transformations on the buylist?”

The thin woman behind the counter nodded. “I sometimes can! Which one were you interested in?”

“Describe Ready for the Cameras, please.”

“Sure! This enhances one's legs, thickening the muscles below the recipient’s knee. If you like wearing heels or aren’t allowed to wear normal shoes, that can be surprisingly helpful. As a secondary side effect, it provides two to four inches of extra height, so it’s like you’re wearing heels all the time!” Ata explained cheerfully.

“Imagine if Ava got the full effect of that, she might have trouble fitting through doors.” Luna mused out loud as Ata’s attention drifted away from them again. She was slightly curious if she’d feel any drift from Dick imagining that, given the preference he’d just admitted. “Now that I’ve found it, would you mind looking at an outfit Maeve and I found in the book earlier this week?”

As she was pointing the book towards him, she felt a stirring warmth in her nethers. Fuck. That’d hit her faster than she’d expected. She had to brace herself against the counter after how much her arousal had built up over the past couple days. She snapped a quick picture of the page to show him later. “Nevermind, we should go.”

“Already? It took us forty minutes to get here.”

“We can come back later if you want if we have time before curfew.”

“I don't but where are we going?”

“To your place. I didn’t get any time to myself while you were with Aubrey or anything that’s happened since, so unless you want me to take care of myself right here I need your help.”