Harem Hotel: Therapy Edition

Merida decided to vacate the Playhouse Kennel, not wanting to interrupt Laura’s planning for tomorrow. I wish she'd understaun that juist 'cause I can be bent like a doll noo, an' am far mair supple, dinnae mean I want tae hear aboot a' the different ways that could mak' sex mair fun. I hope she gets this oot o' her system in the morn. Merida was carrying some bento boxes towards the other rooms, hoping that the others would actually want to eat them. “I am real close tae havin' 4000 BP. I juist need a wee bit mair tae buy that thing frae the store. I wish I'd seen it afore oor BP wis cut in hauf. I'd hae bocht it straightawa'.”

Merida knocked on the boudoir’s door. A moment later, Chloe answered, “Hey Merida, what’s with the boxes?”

“I've made up some lunches, or if ye've already eaten, ye can keep it for yer tea. They're bento boxes.”

“I mean, we’re appreciative…” Chloe gave Merida an appraising glance, not taking the offered food. “But why…” Merida’s expression turned confused, not really understanding the question. “Merida, I mean, why did you make us food? I can’t accept it without knowing. Remember, I have to be concerned with other people doing me favors; I already feel indebted to you and Laura. Laura, more so since she has cooked almost all week, which apparently counts as doing me a favor. So, why?”

“Och, sorry, I didnae even think o' that. Honestly, I'd consider it a favour if ye'd tak' it. I'm tryin' tae get enough BP tae get somethin' frae the store afore the end o' the roond.”

“In that case, I’ll accept it gladly. If you want to make us dinner as well, maybe something fancy for a date… We would appreciate that too. I mean, in case you were trying to max out your BP every day.”

“Aye, I am. I'm actually tryin' tae figure oot hoo tae earn a wee bit mair, 'cause even by daein' that, I'll be a wee bit short.”

“Well, you could always ask Cassandra for a way to earn some. Might save you some effort on the cooking front, too. She did say there were bonus activities you could do to earn BP. Maybe she was just talking about the room amenities, but you could ask.”

“Cheers, I’ll dae that. Ony requests for tea? I’m no' a great cook mind ye.”

“Can you do steaks with a couple of sides, and maybe wine?”

“Aye, I can manage that. Drap by aboot sax then?”

“Thank you, Merida. I hope you are able to get the BP you need. What is it you want to purchase anyway?”

“Umm. It's kind o' personal.”

“Okay, I won’t pry. Have a good day.”

Merida went to the tower next. Knocking, she got no response. She tried opening the door and found it wasn’t locked. She put down two boxes for Sam and Talia, with a note on top explaining that the boxes would keep the food fresh, so enjoy at their own convenience. She then left to go to the Sugar Garden and found that it was empty too. Where is everyone? She put down Allie’s and Flora’s boxes as well, leaving the same note as before. Whatever, maybe they are just out for lunch or something. It is that time of day. Merida then got out her phone.

Merida: Hey, Cassandra, I was wondering if you would be willing to point me towards a way to earn some more BP?

~Pop~

“Merida, you have just become my second favorite contestant, right after my sweet, dear godchild Chloe. So you want to earn some BP? There are a few ways to do that. You could also just tell me what you want to buy, and we can make a deal for it.”

“Naw, dinnae want tae bargain. I juist want an honest way tae mak' some BP.”

“Okay, I can respect that. I see you are already trying to hit the daily cap from cooking for people. So the only options are in town. Well, I have a few thoughts, but I don’t think you will like most of them.”

“Go ahead an' tell me, it micht be worthwhile.”

“Okay, well, the first one is that you can become a display model at one of the stores. For the next couple of days.”

“Sae ye want me tae model some claes?”

“No, you misunderstand, you would be put in the display window, dressed up and posed however the attendant at the store wants.”

“Ye want me tae essentially be a bloody mannequin!?”

“That would be an apt description, yes. Remember, I did say I didn’t think you would like most of them.”

“Can ye tell me some options ye reckon I'd actually fancy?”

“Well, you could go to the casino. That’s always an option.”

“Naw, I wis tellt dinnae gamble wi' somethin' ye cannae afford tae lose. I dinnae hae spare BP.”

“Oh, you don’t bet BP at the Casino, you can win it though.”

“Then whit dae ye buy?”

“Well, correction, you can bet BP, in fact, you can bet pretty much anything you possess. You’ll be given a value for that thing, and then you can bet it and will get the appropriate odds based upon what you bet.”

“I dinnae really hae onythin' valuable tae bet, tho'.”

“Don’t you? Perhaps I’m not explaining well enough. See, you could bet VP, bet that you would serve as a store mannequin for a day, that I can give you a temporary TF of my choosing, maybe change a word about you like Mark has done with Talia, you could also bet your virginity. So Merida, my dear, don't sell yourself short; you have plenty of worth. Now, while some things are technically yours, there are things that you require Mark’s permission to wager, since you are a member of his Harem.”

Merida was a little weirded out by that. “Can ye win onythin' besides BP?”

“Technically, yes… But doing so is risky, also you can’t earn VP there, no matter what. Maybe you could make an outing out of it. Sam, Flora, Talia, and Allie are all in town having lunch together at the tavern. See if they might want to go.”

“Are there ony ither choices tae earn BP?”

“Well, you were concerned with possibly losing BP, so most of those are out… I also assume, anything that causes a permanent change in you is out, right?”

“Aye.”

“Then not really.”

“Hoo much does the modelin' pay?”

“Depends, exact terms must be worked out with the clerk at the store, the duration, the store, what additional things you allow, or don’t allow, all factors into it. But it could be as little as 50 BP, could be a lot more. But I doubt you would get more than 1000 BP out of it.”

“Awe richt, thanks, Cassandra. I’ll think on it ower nicht.”

“Well then, goodbye Merida.”

~Pop~

“Aye, no' gaun tae gang gamblin', that's for sure. Maybe if I'm ****, I'll tak' the modelin' thing juist tae get me ower the hump. It isnae like I need too much, sae it shouldnae be awfy bad. Maybe Mark'll hae some ideas, I'll speak wi' him in the morn. Richt, suppose I should get tae makin', Aubrey an' Chloe that tea.”

“Hey, Aubrey, Merida stopped by with lunch. Hungry?” Chloe said with a raised voice.

“What?!” Aubrey shouted, but was barely audible from inside the Enchanted Wardrobe.

Chloe walked over to the wardrobe’s entrance and shouted into the room. “Merida brought lunch!”

“Be there in a second!”

Aubrey came to meet Chloe, not quite running but still rushing. “Oh, thank goodness, I was getting hungry, but got so lost in looking at clothes. Oh, she made bento boxes!”

“Yeah, apparently she wants to earn some BP for something, wouldn’t say what.”

“Okay, sure, let’s dig in. I sort of want to go back into the wardrobe and look at more clothes.”

“You know the items in there change based upon who is in the room. Because half of the room was not pink when Merida was my roommate.”

“Really, that’s… interesting. I wonder if it’s just style differences or if there are any unique magical effects.” The two ate in silence, just enjoying the food for a few minutes.

“So, Aubrey?” Aubrey looked up curiously at Chloe’s tone. “Well… When Merida was here, I kind of asked her to cook a nice dinner for us, so we could have a proper romantic dinner date. I sort of have an idea that I’d like to do. If you’re up for it.”

Aubrey squealed in delight. “Yes, yes, yes. Absolutely yes.” Aubrey was bouncing with excitement, “OHHHH. We should totally dress up.”

“I mean, I would be okay with that, though my fancy dress has changed a bit.”

“Chloe, I love your new style, you have been far more comfortable wearing it than I have seen you in everyday clothes for a while. I won’t hear a word against it. Plus, you look awesome. But I was actually thinking we could use the Enchanted Wardrobe to add some magic to the evening.”

“I’m not against it exactly, but I wouldn’t really call anything in there a romantic outfit.”

“Well… What… what if I was up for… more than romance?” Aubrey got really nervous.

“Wait, what? Yesterday, I thought you didn’t want to do physical stuff with me.”

“It’s… It’s complicated. I’m not saying we have sex or anything. But I liked kissing you. Making out and fondling one another. I’m kind of annoyed that I don’t like the idea of that right now. Like, if you tried to do that right now, I would stop you because it isn’t for me. But I do care about you, and I want to want those things. When I was looking through the outfits in there, I found a few things that would make a person bisexual while wearing them. I set them aside, hoping to surprise you. So… if you are okay with it, I’d like to do that. But I need you to promise me something if I do this for you, Chloe.”

“Aubrey, that could be dangerous, with my TF.”

“That is why I’m asking for the promise, actually. We don’t do anything sexual below the waist, agreed? I’m not ready for that.”

“Oh, that, I can agree to.”

“Good, now here’s what we are going to do. We are both going to go in there and pick out what we think the other person would look good in, okay?”

“Sure, I’ll do that.”

“Perfect, now could I ask for a tiny favor?”

“Sure, Aubrey, anything.” Chloe’s face had a small smile on it. Crap, why did I say that I meant to ask what it was? Do I feel like I owe her? Yeah, I do… she’s doing a lot to make this work.

“Well, I want it to be a surprise, so… I’ll tell you later, okay?”

“Sure.” But that isn’t how relationships function. They aren’t transactional, STUPID SHITTY TF. The little voice inside the back of Chloe’s head said, Though you still feel like you owe her, like the scales aren’t balanced. “Aubrey… is there anything I can do for you. I want to make you happy.”

“Chloe, you already have, I’m really excited that you want to take me to dinner, and are dressing up with me for it.”

Chloe bit her lips, “Aubrey, I don’t want this to seem…”

“Seem what?”

“Okay, I’m just going to say what the problem is, please don’t get mad.”

“Chloe… People say that typically right before they intend to say something that they know will make the other person mad.”

“I… I don’t know how else to explain it, though. It has to do with a TF.”

“I’m listening.”

“I feel like I owe you for giving us a shot. I know relationships aren’t transactional, that isn’t why I asked Merida to make the dinner for us. But when you asked for the favor, my response was because I felt like I owed you.”

“So you felt like you had to say yes? Or were you **** to say yes?”

“I’m not sure it’s hard to explain. The best thing I can think of is to imagine a set of scales; the more lopsided they are, the more indebted I feel. I hate this because I get a sense of what I owe other people for, and when I feel like they owe me for something. But it also makes me want to balance each of the scales. I can’t help thinking like that now. But you aren’t a transaction to me, Aubrey. I meant it when I said I’m in love with you. I just can’t help it, this—”

Aubrey pulled her close and kissed her. Chloe closed her eyes as Aubrey kissed her, and Aubrey pushed her down gently on the bed. Then Chloe felt something wet splash onto her cheeks and opened her eyes. Aubrey had tears down her face, but was still kissing her vigorously. Chloe pushed Aubrey off of her. “Aubrey, what’s wrong?”

“You thinking you owe me anything, and not the other way round. That’s what’s wrong.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Chloe, you are, without contest, my best friend in the world. I told you yesterday I do have romantic feelings for you.” Aubrey sniffled, trying to regain some composure. “Before the show, if anyone had asked, I would have said you were like a sister to me… Well, a sister to me that I actually like, not just love. But you’ve done so much for me. You’re right, in healthy relationships, you don’t keep score. I don’t. But if you asked me to think about how the scales are tilted. It isn’t close, from my view. So if you’re worried about debts because of your stupid transformations. Then I’m going to make sure that you know, I owe you for being such a wonderful person in my life. I won’t let you ever think I’m not in your debt, understand.”

“Aubrey, it doesn't work that way. Even if you say that it doesn’t change how I feel indebted to you. It doesn’t just cancel it out.”

Aubrey was hyperventilating with tears running silently down her cheeks. She opened her mouth multiple times but couldn’t get the words out.

Chloe placed a hand on Aubrey’s shoulder. “Aubrey, I wanted to tell you this because I want to be honest. I don’t want you to think that everything I do is transactional with you. That I’m only doing it to repay a debt I feel to you.”

“Chloe… you said you realized you’ve been in love with me for something like five years the other day. Right?” Aubrey's breathing was still fast.

“Yeah… I have been.” Chloe’s heart ached to see Aubrey like this.

“And you say we’re family, right? Because I do.”

“Yes.”

“Then I want to give you something. But it’s sort of scary offering it even.”

“Aubrey, you don’t have to do anything. Plus, wouldn’t that make the problem worse? If it is something that has you this worked up. This scared, to give it to me. I’ll feel like I owe you more, not less.”

“I know…” Aubrey let out a small cry, “That’s kind of what I’m hoping will happen.” She kept trying to stifle her cries.

“Excuse me?”

“It’ll make more sense if you know what I want to offer you. Because I don’t know how this will work. Chloe, you know I said I didn’t think the scales were balanced? I want you to tell me that I owe you.”

“But you don’t.”

“Really? You know why I’m studying what I’m studying in grad school. You remember what happened and what you did for me.”

“Carol… yeah…”

“Do you remember how bad things were for me, then? After she died.”

“Aubrey, I was just being a good friend; you don’t owe me for that.”

“I know Chloe, I know. That isn’t how friendships work. It isn’t how partners work. But tell me, how do things done out of genuine friendship and love for another person create a debt for you, but it doesn’t create one for me? Because isn’t that what you’re saying right now? You owe me because I'm giving our relationship a chance? Because I’m willing to consider changing my sexuality for you? Those were my choices, Chloe, because I care about you. Because I want something.”

“Aubrey… it isn’t like that.”

“Isn’t it? Isn’t that what you were just saying? That your transformation made you want to repay me. To agree to do me a favor?”

“Yes. I guess it is.”

“So, Chloe, we need to be equals to work as a couple. I don’t want to keep score, but you don’t have a choice, and if that’s the case, I want the score to be truly equal. So let’s make a binding agreement where we agree to do our best to pay each other back for whatever the other has done for them. Let the magic decide the scales. Let’s balance them and move forward together.”

Chloe thought it over for a moment, then sighed. “Okay, Aubrey, if you’re sure.”

“I am, I know that no matter how this turns out, we can trust each other.”

“Okay then. Aubrey—”

~BOOM!~

Cassandra teleported in deliberately as loudly as possible to stop them. “Okay, that’s enough of that.” She waved her hand at Chloe to make it so she couldn’t speak. “Immediate danger dealt with, good. Look, I’m glad you two want to work things out, become a couple. I’m hopeful you’ll end up as Mark’s first threesome. Makes for great TV. Really awesome. What you were planning on doing is monumentally stupid. Stupid enough, I had to intervene. And I mean that literally. I had to. Now, honestly, this is my fault to some extent for not noticing it sooner. I blame my producer, though, for the poor wording on your TFs and their interactions.”

“What do you mean, Cassandra? And can you let Chloe speak, please?”

“Chloe, if I stop silencing you, will you promise not to try to use your debt TFs until I leave, nod if you agree.” Chloe nodded and could speak again. “Okay, so Chloe, tell me, do you feel like you would have been indebted to Aubrey for what she just offered?”

“I sort of feel indebted to her because she even offered.”

“Right, and Aubrey would have felt indebted to you for doing this, creating a whole feedback loop. The problem with the TFs is that they are meant to operate in a vacuum, and these need to be fixed so they can work together. Now I’m going to offer you a choice, Chloe. Right now, your two TFs need a bit of tweaking. That is going to happen. You don’t get a say there. What I will offer you is the ability to spend some BP to influence how it is fixed. Now I know you finished the reports on the two candies you have tested. So I could give you the BP for those if you handed them to me. Or you could just use what you have. I’m going to be generous and give you a bit of a discount too, since I have to go mucking about anyway.”

“Well, I definitely want to fix this. I’d throw everything I got at this to make the problem go away.” Chloe grabbed both reports from her desk and handed them to Cassandra.

“Well, I’m afraid that your definition of go away probably won’t be achievable with what you have, but tell me what you think the biggest problems are right now.”

“Not being able to be released from debt, and mutually agreeing to end deals, is the biggest thing. Like, I know I shouldn’t owe Aubrey for the things she’s done, but still feel like I do, so if we could make it not feelings of debt and instead recognition of debt or something.”

“I can work with that.” Cassandra took a minute and then shared the result with Chloe, “How about this?”

Balanced Scales: Chloe will now want to balance the scales with others. Anytime a promise is made to or by Chloe, people will want to do their best to keep it unless the other party releases them from it. This will also apply to any favors done for or by Chloe that are recognized by the recipient of that favor. They will try to repay the favor in a manner of their choosing, but the other party may clear the debt at any time. It is not possible for both parties to be indebted to one another.

“I think that takes care of everything, but it does make it so anytime I do something for someone else, I have to clear the debt. Right?” Chloe wanted to confirm

“Yes, as long as they recognize that what you did should put them in your debt. But you don’t have to verbally clear it or anything; you can just think when doing it that you don’t want a debt incurred. Oh, I should mention that this won’t get rid of any natural feelings of indebtedness from either party. So if you save someone from elimination or something similar, they might very well feel like they owe you even if you clear the debt.”

“Okay, I actually think that’s a good thing; otherwise, clearing a debt is also manipulating them. How much is this going to cost?” Chloe had to know the price.

“You have a little over 2000 BP, and with the reports… You’ll have 500 BP left.”

“Okay, Cassandra, do it.” Cassandra waved her hand over Chloe. “I don’t feel any different.”

“Well, of course not, I didn’t clear any debts you owed, or were owed.”

Aubrey immediately said, “Chloe, you don’t owe me anything.” And like that, Chloe didn’t feel like she had to pay Aubrey back for stuff; she still wanted to for some things, though, but that push to do it was gone.

“Same, Aubrey, we’re square, always will be.” Chloe then truly surprised Cassandra by hugging her. “Thank you.”

Cassandra had a slight smile, “You’re welcome. Now I’ll leave you to freshen up and have a nice dinner. I even went ahead and used your subconsciousness to grab three different outfits for each of you based on your adventurousness to save you some time. Feel free to ignore the suggestions, of course, but I did it because I interrupted your touching moment. Also, Chloe, I’ve set up the venue for you, so if you don’t want to ruin the surprise…” Chloe just smiled as Cassandra disappeared.

~Pop~

“Okay, so look at clothes, shower, makeup, eat?” Aubrey asked.

“Why do you think all of that will take five hours?”

“Why do you think it won’t?” Aubrey chuckled.

Sam, Flora, Talia, and Allie were all at the tavern in town having lunch.

“So, Talia…” Sam began between bites of food. “How’s the change to being a rich, genius, eighteen year old treating you?”

“A little odd, though I am overall happier for it. Most of that is actually from the change you didn’t mention, which reminds me. I need to apologize to all three of you. Laura as well, but I will make sure to do that, as soon as I wouldn’t be interrupting her planning. I treated you poorly before the change and said and thought about some things I shouldn’t have because of your sexuality. So, I’m sorry.”

“Thanks, Talia.” Allie said, “But I have a more important topic to discuss. Why don’t you want to marry Mark? I would have assumed you were still planning on that.”

“I mean, sure, I’m fine with that.” Talia said, a little confused.

“Talia, you might be a genius, but apparently that can make you blind to some things. Like, the fact whether or not you want to marry Mark isn’t something you can lie to me about. “ Allie said grumpily.

“I’m not lying, I don’t intend to have premarital sex still, but yes, marrying Mark is the inevitable conclusion.”

“Right… So, Talia, want me to use my Walkthrough for you? Maybe solve a problem for you?”

“Actually, yeah, that—”

“Shove it. See, that’s my point. If Sam here asked, I would happily do it; she wants to take that step. You don't. Look, I’m not trying to be hostile or anything, I like you fine. I just don’t want to see you lying to yourself.”

“Allie, I don’t know what to tell you.” Talia said, shaking her head.

“I do. You’re both idiots.” Flora was rather annoyed with the two just bickering like this, as they had been since breakfast, about random things. “Honestly, I’m surprised that Sam, or any of us, actually triggered that part of your I Just Can’t Wait. Tell me, Allie, did it trigger for anyone else yet? Ellen? Aubrey? Those would be my top two guesses.”

“Maybe… Why?”

“Because it’s not if they decide they are willing to take that step, it’s if they decide they want to take that step. Sam mentioned that it was flickering for her at one point. I bet you were willing to marry him eventually, Sam. But you were hesitating on whether that was what you actually wanted. So stop getting so annoyed about this, Allie. Accepting that as an outcome and wanting it are going to take far different amounts of time. Out of all of us, Sam makes the most sense to have crossed that threshold first, because of her TFs.”

“Flora, that doesn’t seem right.” Sam interjected. “I don’t feel like my stance has changed since earlier this week. Yes, I’m going to marry Mark, that is going to happen, but it isn’t like I’m in love with him right now.”

“I didn’t say you were. But Sam, do you want to get married? To have the type of relationship. Because I think that maybe Talia doesn’t.” Flora took another bite of her burger.

“Why wouldn’t I want to get married to the guy I'm with?” Talia’s brows were furrowed.

“I don’t know. That is a question for yourself. What I can tell you is that I would like that type of relationship eventually, but I’m not there with wanting it with Mark. Again, I don’t know exactly what all the requirements to trigger your TF are, Allie, but it is likely more nuanced than you think. So please stop bothering Talia about it. And Talia, please take time to think about what you actually want instead of what you think you should want. It seems that part of you didn’t change, at least in my opinion.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Talia could tell that Flora intended that as an insult.

Flora sighed. “Okay, let’s see if I can lead a horse to water and make it drink. Talia, do you like the idea of kissing Mark? Please just answer my questions.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Okay, and do you want to do that right now, like if he were here?”

“A little bit sure.”

“What about having sex with him?”

“No, I’m waiting until marriage.”

“Sure, that’s what you are going to do, but I want to know if you like the idea of having sex with him, or having sex in general.”

“I mean, I guess? Yes.”

“Right, so you want to have sex, but you know you aren't supposed to have sex until marriage, at least according to your beliefs. Now, Talia, you got a lot of VP on your date night with Mark. I don’t need details, but did you want to do those things?”

“Sure, Mark didn’t **** me or anything.”

“Okay, you say that you still have your previous memories. Did you ever think about wanting to do something like whatever you did before Mark changed you, not that you would have done it, but did you want to? Because you said that you were always rather horny during two truths and a lie.”

Talia thought about it. “Okay, yeah, I guess I did. Not that I would have ever done that before.”

“That’s my point, Talia, you often denied your wants because that’s what you were supposed to do. You want to have sex. To have sex, you are supposed to get married. You are denying what you want until you’ve done what you are supposed to do. It’s like finishing all your vegetables before being allowed to have dessert. You want the dessert, not the vegetables.”

“That actually makes a lot of sense.” Allie said, “Talia, look, I talked with Mark about the things he wanted when we dealt with our problems in the past. It took him a while to accept that he wants some of the things he wants. But he is happier for having accepted that he wants them, but that doesn’t mean he is going to act on those wants. Like, I know he wants to just spend his BP on upgrades to our TFs, change us more. He’s explained that to you all somewhat. But not only does he know he shouldn’t do that because it’s wrong, but he also wants to treat us with respect.”

“Allie, can I butt in for a sec?” Sam asked, and got a nod of agreement. “Talia, you have five PhDs now, right?”

“Yeah. Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Biomedical Engineering, and Music Theory.”

“Okay, why Physics? Actually, why any of those?”

“Well, Physics is because… well, my dad teaches Physics.” Talia trailed off in thought for a moment.

“So would it be fair to say that maybe you didn’t get into physics because you were really passionate about physics, but because you wanted something else? Maybe your dad’s approval, or just a connection with him? Because I get that, I get that reason a lot.”

“That wouldn’t be completely inaccurate.”

“So what about the others? I can take a guess, but I want you to explain.” Sam pressed.

“Well… I wanted to help people. I thought about the ways I could do that after getting my physics degree. So I looked into prosthetics and material sciences, which led me into Chemistry, and then biocompatibility of materials, which led to Biology and Bio-med Engineering. I branched out from prosthetics, but that is what led me into those things.”

“That is essentially what I assumed. Your reason for entering those fields wasn’t because you were really into them; you wanted to help people, that was the reason, the desire. Which is perfectly fine, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. But don’t let yourself get tied to something because you think it’s what you want when it was actually just a means to an end. Now explain why Music Theory?”

“I was… bored, okay. I wanted something to unwind. I really like music, okay.” Talia got a little frustrated that Sam was asking her to justify her choice, and got a little heated. “Why do I have to have a justification for it? Can’t I just have… wanted to… oh.”

Sam nodded, “Of course, you can go learn about music theory because it fascinates you. That’s our point, you are apparently not great at recognizing what you actually want versus what is expected of you or is a means to get what you want. I know plenty of people like that. They follow a path that someone else said, here is the path to success, or to make you happy. They followed it without questioning if it was the correct path. Some ended up being happy, with only minor deviations from the path; others ended up miserable because they couldn’t leave the path.”

Sam continued. “My dad was really adamant that I not join the military simply to follow in his footsteps. He said he would be proud of me if I did join, but he would also be proud of me if I pursued something else. But I needed to want it for myself. That I had something to motivate me beyond an external factor, or I would regret it. So he had me come up with the reasons why I thought it would be a good fit. And shot down everything I came up with, until I finally exploded and just yelled at him and went on a tirade.”

Sam started to laugh and found it hard to stop for a minute, and some tears rolled down her face. The others just stared at her in confusion as she wiped her cheeks. “Sorry, I was just remembering that conversation and how earlier this week I did something similar to Mark.”

Sam just shook her head. “I went on a tirade about the things I wanted and why and how joining the Navy was the right choice, for what I wanted. During that conversation, I didn’t really look at him or notice anyone else. I was too caught up in my rant. But apparently, my yelling attracted my entire family's attention. Since then, I’ve heard repeatedly about how, as I yelled and ranted and justified everything, my dad’s grin just kept getting wider and wider until he was actually laughing, which is what snapped me out of my tirade. I was mad for a moment, but I quickly realized he wasn’t laughing at me or my reasons; he was laughing with joy. He wanted to make sure I would be okay with the path I’d chosen. That I understood what that would require and that I had what it would take not to be consumed by it. I’m really glad he did too, because knowing those reasons, understanding them, kept me sane when things got tough. Look, I'm a fighter pilot. I’ve flown missions. I’ve killed people. Those were my orders. After the first time I had to do that, my dad pretty much **** me to go to counseling about it. Which I’ll tell you was not an easy thing to get me to do after my previous bad experiences with counseling. But it was so much easier to deal with because I knew why, really why I had chosen the path that I did. So, Talia, take some time, think about what you want, and why you want those things. It’s fine if something is a means to an end, but understand that too.”

Talia thought about that for a moment, finished chewing then spoke. “So, let me just make sure I get your point here. Essentially, you three think I don’t really understand the motivation behind my actions and need to just sit down and think about them. Then try to actually pursue what I want, not simply what I think I should do.”

“Bloody hell, yes!” Flora exclaimed. Then she muttered. “I think some of Merida’s phrases might be rubbing off on me.” which got a round of laughs.

“Okay, thanks. I appreciate it.” Talia smiled, then chuckled slightly. “Hey, does it seem a little odd that this week has felt like one really weird and crazy type of therapy for all of us. Like, I realize that I was dealing with some self-loathing and accepted myself. Sam, you have been dealing with serious trauma. Flora, you sort of seem like you’ve had issues opening up to people, and Allie, you’ve been insecure about your relationship with Mark. But we are all actually making real progress dealing with our issues.”

Everyone laughed at that, and Allie then added, “Something like Harem Hotel: Therapy Edition?” Which got even more laughs.