Fixing it in post

“And that’s a wrap. I really must say thank you for all of your cooperation! Most contestants are a bit more belligerent, and I really don’t want to have to feed any of you to The Cat.” Heidi is positively giddy.

Everyone is exhausted. Having your secrets ripped out of you is a draining experience, not to mention being kidnapped and dragged into an alternate dimension, then **** to sit through a PowerPoint presentation, then manhandled into formalwear by a group of dwarves. Speaking of which…

Heidi snaps her fingers and the neckbeard mafia files into the room. “Boys, please escort our guests to their rooms.”

Gluggagægir Is Bob’s escort. As he leads the Master through the wood paneled halls, Bob tries to make small talk. “So… the pay any good?”

“Look, bigjobs, I’m being paid to maintain this place, kidnap women, and do fucking laundry. I’m not being paid to be your friend.” The surly response is followed up with a giant loogie being spat on the carpet. “They’ll make me clean that shit up too. I guarantee that you’re going to get your dick wet by the end of the week, and who do you think is going to have to wash the fucking sheets afterwards?”

This vitriolic diatribe kills any thoughts of bonding with ‘the help’ for Bob, who just follows in silence to his suite.

As suites go, it’s not bad. It doesn’t hold a candle to the one he had when one of his past jobs sent him to Hawaii, but it’s definitely better than a Motel 6. The living room boasts a reclining love seat upholstered in what he can only guess is doeskin, an enormous projection TV, and a number of game consoles ranging from an Atari 2600 to a PlayStation 5. The kitchen has a gas range, a nice butcher’s block counter, and an electric oven. He spares this little attention as he makes his way into the bedroom.

An Alaskan King bed, easily big enough to fit four adults or an entire family of Koreans dominates the room, but the best feature is the large sliding glass doors leading to a balcony looking out at the north face of the mountain.

Bed. Now.

Exhaustion will not be denied.

Alicia closed the door behind her, and turned around. Their guide, a fellow in a beanie with a pair of peg legs who introduced himself as Stekkjarstaur had been quite voluble and forthcoming, revealing that his entire family had been co-opted as staff. She’d smiled and nodded in the appropriate places, all the while planning this moment. “Do not think that we are going to be friends, Miss Vincent.”

KJ, who had been exploring the room, a pair of twin beds, a small fireplace, a couple of chairs, and a modest television, turned around in shock, about to respond, but Alicia cut her off. “It took me a minute, but I remember you. Disruptive, unimaginative, and, from what I recall of Bob’s demeanor in the latter half of senior year, unnecessarily cruel. Despite your own little self revelation back there, you have a long way to go before you redeem yourself.”

“Yes, Ms. McDaniel. I understand Ms. McDaniel.”

“Very good. Do you want the shower first then?”

“So you’re Matilda Schorr’s granddaughter?”

Morgan looked over at Cassie who was in the midst of taking off her shoes. They had a pair of queen sized beds and each was sitting on one. “Yeah. So… do you mind me asking what kind of guy Bob is? I haven’t had much interaction with him beyond recognizing that he’s really cute.”

“I guess if you like that type. Bob’s a good guy. I consider him one of my best friends. But at times he can be pretty short sighted.”

“We’ll, assuming that we take all of this seriously, and we’re all going to be with him… I guess what I’m asking is, will he take care of us?”

“If he doesn’t, we’ll just have to teach him how to.”

“You’re in love with him too, aren’t you?”

“What?” Kayla nearly choked on her toothbrush at Darlene’s question.

“I saw the way you jumped into his lap. The way you kept looking at him for support. It’s ok. I’m not jealous.”

“Well, if we believe that this is real, jealousy is kind of pointless, and I suppose dishonesty is too. I dunno. I like Bob. A lot. But love? I’m not even sure I can love.”

Darlene’s response is to walk up behind the younger woman and hug her. “He cares about you.”

Kayla just looks down, trying to hide her blush. “I know. What in hell’s name am I going to do with him tomorrow?”

“You just leave that up to your Auntie Darlene, sweetheart. He’ll never know what hit him.”

Heidi snores. Loudly. If Robin didn’t know better they’d think they were sharing a room with a bear. Actually, given what had already transpired they weren’t entirely willing to rule that out.

The only thing that they could say for certain is that they were truly exhilarated. This was by far the most exciting thing that had ever happened to them. A real adventure. Even the looming threat of danger added some spice to it. So it was that they crept out of the room they shared with the Hostess and set about exploring the resort.

And that was how they’d wound up here. The arcade was… well it was kind of awesome. All the old cabinets, skee ball machines, whack-a-mole… and not a single one flashing the classic ‘INSERT COIN’. This was nerd heaven. Robin considered themself pretty nerdy. They played Dungeons & Dragons once a month with some friends from high school, and could honestly say they’d logged at least a month of real-time into Fallout 4, but this was just… beyond. They walked up to a Mortal Kombat II cabinet and hit Player One Start.

“Betcha I can beatcha off the sticks, girly.”

Robin knew that they looked pretty fem. They usually didn’t mind being misgendered, as it had often happened over the last couple of years in school. Most people didn’t mean it offensively; how the hell was anyone supposed to know what the right pronouns for someone were at first glance? But there was something just a little creepy about this.

The person who’d addressed them was… painfully thin didn’t do it justice. Emaciated came closer to being an accurate description. Wearing the neckbeard that Robin had come to recognize as basically the staff uniform and a yellow Adidas tracksuit, he only came up to their shoulder.

Most people are familiar with the fight or flight reflex, but we often forget that there’s a third option. Freeze. That’s what Robin did. “Not a girl…”

“ Þvörusleikir doesn’t care what yer got in your pants as long as there’s a hole. So we can play or we can play. Your choice. I beatcha off the sticks or I sticks it in yer.”

And flight kicked in.

Robin had run cross country in school, but there’s a difference between that and the winding halls of a hotel. Even so, their longer legs gave them a distinct advantage, and the neckbeard was left far behind by the time they slammed the door to their shared room behind them.

“Did I forget to mention that anyone roaming the halls after midnight is fair game for the staff, Dahling?” Heidi patted the far side of the king sized bed that was the only sleeping arrangement for the room. “Come to bed. I promise I won’t bite unless you want me to.”