Filler Arc

It was another day, and the Stone Cottage was up early.

“You’re sure? I know you wanted to have more time together this round. If you want, all four of us could spend the day together.” Aubrey tried to offer.

Helena shook her head. “I’ll be busy with my stepbrother for the ‘date.’” She made clear what she thought of the word.

“You could bring him too, I’m sure Maeve wouldn’t mind!”

The billionaire was ready to deflect. “I’ve monopolized all week with you. You wanted to see her, this way you have a chance to talk and coordinate before everything switches again after the challenge.”

“I-” Aubrey leaned forward for a hug. “Thank you. You’re always so nice.”

Hel tried to mask the pang of guilt mixing with the warmth of Good Girl’s undue reward. “You deserve it.”

They lingered there for a moment. Helena waited for the younger woman to be satisfied and pull away. But they continued, longer than expected. As the blonde let out a deep sigh, Hel realized that Aubrey may end up going back to sleep in her arms before ending the hug of her own volition. She gently pushed the two of them apart, trying to maintain her smile.

“Is there anything else I can help with before we leave, Ma’am?” Hazel asked as she stepped out of the hallway. As she’d been listening she got the sense that her partner may need help recovering her momentum.

“If you can just get the leash?”

“I already have it here.”

Helena nodded to direct her girlfriend, and turned back to Aubrey for a moment as her collar was clipped to the lead in Hazel’s hand. “I hope you have fun today. We need to go take care of something together, but we’ll see you tomorrow.” She rose, finally prepared to leave.

“Good luck!”

The two of them left the Stone Cottage, taking inventory as they began away from the plaza.

“Everything you hoped for, Ma’am?”

“Yes, I think so.” Helena tried to go through her list of goals. “We’ll have one more day before Aubrey blows up at anyone. There’ll be time without Maeve to find out from Richard if anything happened between them and make him understand what's wrong with that if something did. Aubrey gets what she’s wanted for a while, so that’s evening the scale at least.”

“Sounds like you’re off to a good start. Hopefully we can get everything we need at the tower.”

***

“Ok!” Ata chirped. “You’ve got the cabana and the lounge chairs on your first BP upgrade. Then you spent two more BP on food and sunscreen. Is there anything else you want added to the beach today?”

Helena shared a look with her lieutenant. “I’ve been told that I need to be less controlling. Would it be possible to get someone to keep an eye on everyone there for me, so it doesn’t look like I’m doing it?”

“You want someone to keep an eye on the beach for you?” Ata asked.

“Yes, I suppose.”

“Like a lifeguard?”

“That’s… technically what I asked for, but I’m not sure you fully understood.” How much does she even get? Does she know what a lifeguard is?

“Ata,” Hazel said, the shopkeeper’s attention snapping to her. “If we’re looking for a lifeguard that could be subtle and manage things as needed, do you have someone in mind?”

“Totally!” Ata giggled. “She’s a lot like you guys. I’ve known her for ages, I know she’d be great at it. She works on the beach of another Host’s set, I think they’re on hiatus.”

“You think they’re on hiatus?” The billionaire questioned.

“Yep! Pretty sure!”

“What if they’re not on hiatus, and you suddenly take her from another host?” She pressed.

“Then she’d just say no.” Ata gently chided. “She’s a real person, so she’d only come if she accepted the job. If not, I’d just try to make someone like her.”

“Does she get along with Genet?” While she wasn’t fighting with the Host anymore, she didn’t want to intentionally give her another tool.

“Genet likes her.” Ata nodded.

“And does she like Genet?” That’s more important.

“Everyone loves Genet.” Ata answered, in an even higher tone than usual for her.

“That’s-”

“Ma’am, respectfully at this point I feel like we shouldn’t press the issue.” Her bodyguard warned. “I’m getting the same sense as when you took me to the arcade.”

Helena nodded, pausing for a moment before speaking again. “Ata, does she get along with Genet’s boss?”

“Oh, yeah no. So should I ask her to do it? It’ll only be one more BP.”

“Go ahead. Before you do, can we see Hazel’s mentor shop section?”

“Sure!” The blonde shopkeeper flounced over to one of the shelves and pulled a thin binder out. Flipping through, she removed one page and slid it across the table to them.

From Mark, the Soldier:

The Armory, 8 BP: A soldier must be outfitted with the necessary weapons to survive any conflict. The contestant will receive a magical armoire full of sexual implements of sexual dominance. Each time it is opened, it will offer a single item the Mentor believes would be best used in the situation.

Battlelust, 3 BP: Victory goes to those with a fire that never goes out. The contestant will be filled with the stamina, boldness, and drive to be the last woman standing in any sexual encounter, no matter how long or how many partners are involved.

Clash of the Titans, 6 BP: The courageous will not shy away from directly challenging their rivals. Purchasing this initiates a one on one Challenge against another contestant, the winner being able to issue one command to the loser that must be obeyed. Commands cannot have a duration exceeding the round they were issued in.

***

Richard woke up alone. Maeve was nowhere to be found as he got out of bed and began getting ready. He hoped that it meant that he’d avoided the handsy issue from last time, though he felt a little disappointed that he wouldn’t have a chance to talk to her after last night. He’d wanted to find out if she was still as daunted as she’d been. She deserved an answer.

After his shower he tried to choose an outfit. He went with something semi-casual like he’d worn with Stella again, trying not to look like he wanted to appeal to his stepsister but also wanting to meet her standards in case she got snarky about her menswear opinions like she did sometimes when she was in a good mood.

He left the Master’s Cottage and made the short trip past the swan fountain into the dining hall. Maeve wasn’t here either. I hope she’s not avoiding me. Did I fuck up yesterday? Aubrey wasn’t here either, which was… hopefully a good sign, if it meant Maeve wasn’t alone.

But almost everyone was here. Luna was there,with Felicia and Hazel. Hel was sitting at the table closest to the kitchen holding one of Stella’s hands with both of hers as the chef looked bashfully down. Even Ava was here, though she clearly looked tired as she sat in front of what looked to be her third helping of pancakes and her second glass of juice. But the athlete grinned as she realized he’d come in, and he gave a wave back. What’s happening to get her up so early?

He considered getting something to eat and sitting with Luna, but he was still curious and this felt like something that Hel would do, though he didn’t know why. So he turned away from the tables with his friends to approach the table by the kitchen.

“I don’t know,” he heard Stella murmur. “Would he even want to see me in something like that? Would anyone? I’m not as thin as Felicia or as muscular as Ava to be able to show off like that.”

“Trust me. I don’t think there’s anyone in the world who would complain. And if Richard ever did, you can tell me and I’ll set him straight.”

“What are you setting me straight on this time?” He interrupted.

Stella turned scarlet, surprised by his appearance even though she’d been the one facing the door.

His stepsister, on the other hand, was unperturbed at him coming from behind her. “Oh, I’m glad you’re finally here. Please tell me you haven’t done anything to make Stella feel like she’s not gorgeous?"

“Of course not. What were the two of you discussing? And have you seen Aubrey or Maeve?”

His stepsister nodded. “They left together a while ago. Aubrey wanted to spend the day with her, I’m not entirely sure what she was planning.

“As for your other question, she’d worried about being seen in a bathing suit. Not even a bikini, there’s so many other styles she could pick from.”

“You don’t need to do what she says if you don’t want to, I’ll support you no matter whatever you decide Stell.” He tried to offer her a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

In response, the pinkette squealed. She threw her hands in front of her face to cover her reaction as color flooded her hair.

“Sir.”

“Dude!”

Luna and Hazel called out at the same time, recognizing what was happening. Richard remembered as well and had already started pulling away.

“I’m so sorry!”

“It’s alright…” Stella said softly.

After a moment people’s attention slowly shifted back to what they were doing, not noticingStella slip his hand back to her sweater.

“So why were you discussing swimsuits, anyway?” He asked.

The businesswoman answered like she’d practiced. “Because we’re spending out ‘date’ today at the beach. And everyone’s coming with us.”

***

While her contestants were busy planning their day at the beach, Genet was working on her own plans in her office. The camera panned across the room, zooming in to focus on Genet sitting at her desk with her chair turned around to face out. It continued to zoom until all that was on screen was Genet’s cleavage.

“Guys, can we zoom out a little?”

The camera panned out to a more reasonable view.

“Thank you. I wanted to say a few things for the audience now that the challenge is approaching.

“First, I don’t plan on accepting any mail for the contestants this round. It’s barely been a week, and I want to give them a break from mail. To make up for it, I’ll be hosting a Q&A session where all of us here on the island will address any questions you submit, subject to Jay and I’s approval of course."

https://forms.gle/Kr1hdD5vTAd51PTQ8

"I’m hoping that everyone enjoys the transformations that’ll be up for consideration.” The Host held up a piece of paper. “There’s one for Aubrey I know that quite a few of you will be excited about. I saw a comment that was talking about how sweet she was and-”

There was a sudden pounding at the door to her hallway, as if someone was trying to break it down with a battering ram.

“Hello?” Genet called out. “I don’t think I had any more crossovers planned this round.” The pounding continued, ignoring her protests over the schedule. She put down her list of possible transformations, stood up, and slowly walked across the room. “I hope it’s not Azure…” She opened the door.

It wasn’t Azure. Instead, a diminutive blue ghost in a red coat and a matching top hat was waiting on the other side with a mail bag hanging over her phantom shoulder.

“Lyn?”

“Mail time!” The assistant said as she floated past Genet into her office.

“Wait, stop. Sweetie, I was just saying I wasn’t giving them any mail.”

“For you!” The ghost was waiting back at the desk with a letter she'd pulled from somewhere.

“Oh. That’s alright then.” Genet sat back down and accepted the letter sent by her Ghost Host friend. She started to read:

Dear Genet, it was positively delightful to receive your letter. Far too many hosts think it fit to lecture me just because I’m a newbie, you seem quite easy-going yourself and I’d love to answer many of your questions, maybe over a drink sometime?
I did extend a similar offer to Lucian, so maybe we could make it a group thing?
Regards
-Jocelyn

“Should I write something back? No, we already have each other’s phone numbers.” Genet mused to herself. She down at Lynn. “Can you pass along a message?”

“Lyn recites!”

“Thank you, Kiddo. Tell her I think she’s off to a great start and that I like her idea for Lucy and I. I think something may have happened to his phone because he wasn’t able to reply to any of my texts. If she can figure out a better way to keep in contact with him I’d appreciate it. Does that all make sense, Lyn?”

“And Dollars!”

“Thank you, Dear. Is there anything else?”

“Election Year!” There was movement that Genet had trouble following as the blue blur flew out of the room.

The Host was stunned for a moment, but found a way to recover her monologue from before she was interrupted. “Right. It’s important to vote in every election you can. And that includes the transformation vote at the end of our upcoming challenge.” She’d been fumbling for her list. It was right here… “I‘ll offer a teaser on a few more in addition to Aubrey in just a moment…” If I can find it.

Genet turned away from the camera to search more intently. The desk had Jocelyn’s letter on it, her computer, and the acquisition forms she’d needed to fill out for her Challenge materials. The transformation list was gone.

Oh, Lyn.

Genet turned around to face the camera again. “I’ve got good news and bad news everyone.

“Bad news, I may need to rewrite my list. I think I remember at least a few, but we’re going to find out which ones I remember well enough to rewrite.

“Good news, at least for those in the audience that may want to participate more, is that I may need some assistance filling in holes for the transformations I can’t remember. If any of you want to help me, I’d encourage you to send something to Jay or I while I’m working on this.”

Note from the author: If anyone wants to submit ideas, the preferred way to do it is either over my dedicated thread on Discord or through a private message on either platform. But if you're not on discord or you want some level of privacy as you submit anything you have in mind, I'll add a form to do so and a link to the wiki if you need to check paths.

https://forms.gle/CokvEdyKWpfL4Kbh8

https://hhnetwork.miraheze.org/wiki/Harem_Hotel:_Domestic_Affairs_Edition