I wanna join them but it seems like they're too far for me

With Nick in temporary exile from the other girls, he found himself in somewhat of a difficult position. After several days of very packed schedules he was suddenly left without any commitments whatsoever, and nothing but free time.

Well… I might as well go back to the Master’s Suite and go talk to Mary, he decided. She probably hasn’t heard anything about the party.

The party and the implication of it gave Nick a lot to contemplate as he traveled back to the Master’s Suite. Last time, every girl in his harem had accepted the invitation. He expected that once again Gina would send invitations to everyone- she was a magnanimous person like that.

But would Mary accept this time?

She’s not exactly dressed for it, he thought. Gina had made the dress code pretty clear- that was the reason Kim was going around selling clothes to the girls. And knowing Mary’s background, he doubted that her provincial southern tastes would enjoy some stuffy party. So since she would be stuck wearing her farmgirl costume and going to a party that wasn’t the kind she preferred, she might not even want to go.

But he still needed to extend the invitation, obviously.

Mary reacted with surprise when she saw him. She was still washing the dishes with some help from Holly.

“Oh! Nick! You’re back so soon?” She questioned. “I thought you were going to spend time with the others at breakfast?”

“Yeah, some stuff happened,” Nick said. “That’s actually why I came back, to talk to you guys.”

“Does this have anything to do with the commotion in the hallway?” Holly asked curiously. “We heard some clutter and people shouting but we couldn’t make anything out.”

She sounded a little disappointed, much to Nick’s confusion. Mary’s exasperated sigh clued him in pretty fast.

“Holly thought you were having sex with someone in the hallway,” she said, shooting the other girl a sharp look. “And she wanted to go peep. But I told her that wasn’t okay.”

“Spoilsport,” Holly muttered.

“You weren’t having sex though, right?” Mary asked. “I mean, it’s okay if you were. I wanted to respect your privacy so I didn’t peek, but I was still curious…”

She gazed at him with a pleading look in her eyes and Nick nearly burst out laughing. The discrepancy between what had actually happened and what Holly and Mary thought had happened… it was too much.

“No, Mary,” he said, shaking his head. “It wasn’t anything like that. No sex at all.”

Mary tensed. “Then… is it something you can’t talk about?” She asked cautiously.

Nick realized why she looked so apprehensive. I see. If the commotion wasn’t sex, then the only other explanation is that I got into a fight with someone. Which isn’t too far from the truth, but still, I shouldn’t talk about it like that.

“No, it’s nothing bad,” he assured them both. “Just a private conversation that got a little heated, that’s all.”

Mary sighed in relief, but Holly looked disappointed. “So it really wasn’t hatefucking…?” She mumbled. “Lame…”

“Holly!” Mary chastised her. Which only made Holly squirm even more.

Nick was glad that his two girls got along so well. Seeing them talking like this brought him back to his college days, before everything fell apart. He was so refreshed that he almost forgot the reason he came back in the first place.

“I wanted to talk to you guys about something,” he said, and both girls turned to look at him.

“Yeah, what is it?” Holly asked.

“Is everything okay?” Mary asked automatically.

“Yes! Everything’s fine,” Nick assured her for what must have been the fourth time in the last four minutes. When Mary sensed something was wrong, she was as persistent as a bloodhound. “This is a good thing! I wanted to tell you guys about the party that Gina’s throwing tonight.”

Mary gasped. “Oh! The party! I completely forgot!” Ever since her “elimination” from the harem, Mary had kind of been tuning out things regarding the schedule and the meta nature of the competition, so Gina’s party had slipped her mind.

“Ooh, the last one was pretty fun,” Holly giggled, remembering what it was like to be a bunny girl. “I wonder what the theme’s going to be this time?”

“That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you guys about,” Nick said. “She wants to do a really mature and fancy party. She hasn’t got the specifics picked out just yet, but it sounds like it’s going to require some really fancy clothes, I guess.”

Mary bristled. “Fancy clothes, huh?” She murmured, looking down at her wardrobe. She tugged on the knot of her flannel shirt. “But I’ve already had Sylvia and Vivian both use their New Style transformations on me…”

“Yeah, so it looks like you won’t fit the dress code,” Holly said, shaking her head. “Still! It’ll be a lot of fun anyway!”

“That’s what I’m thinking,” Nick nodded in agreement. “I’m not trying to discourage you guys! I think it would be great if we could all get together and have a nice party, just like last time! But if you’re not comfortable with it, Mary, I don’t want to pressure you, either.”

Mary pressed her lips together into a tight line. It was a tricky decision to make. But she was so grateful Nick was giving her the opportunity to make it. “Thank you for considering me,” she said, smiling genially towards him. “I think it could be a lot of fun. But… I might have to refuse.”

“Oh… well, okay then,” Nick nodded, unable to hide his disappointment. “If that’s what you want, Mary.”

“If Mary’s not going, then I’m not going,” Holly said firmly. “I don’t want her to spend all night alone up here, after all!”

“What?” Mary’s mouth twisted into an “O” shape. “Holly, no! You should go! You hardly get to socialize with the others as it is! I’ll be fine having a night to myself!”

Holly shook her head adamantly. “Mary, I know you’re just trying to be considerate of the others, and I’m not letting you take that bullet all on your own!”

Mary flinched. Holly had seen right through her. But Nick was confused.

“What do you mean?” He asked, looking at the two of them. “Mary?”

Mary averted her eyes. But she couldn’t lie to anyone, and certainly not to Nick. She sighed and hung her head.

“It’s a matter of the price,” Holly said, interrupting Mary before she could confess.

Mary gasped and looked at her, a little irritated, but relieved at the same time.

“Oh… that’s right, I almost forgot,” Nick winced. There was a 500 BP cover charge to attend the party. And neither girl had a single BP to their name anymore.

“Last time, Rose covered me,” Mary reminded him. “I used up all my BP paying for our wedding. And this time…”

“Gina paid for me,” Holly added. “Since even girls who have been eliminated from the harem have to pay to enter. So if Mary and I were to go this time…”

“We’d have to have someone pay for us… pay for me,” Mary said. “And I don’t want to put that burden on someone. It’s not like I could pay it back, anyway. It’s easier if I just sit this one out, don’t you guys think?”

Holly nodded glumly. She’d figured out immediately what Mary was after, which was why she’d decided to sit this one out, too. But neither girl was all that happy about it.

If Holly had her way, she’d like both herself AND Mary to attend the party.

That’s what Nick wanted, too.

“Well… maybe I can work something out,” he suggested. “I’m sure Gina and Sylvia aren’t that far into the planning!”

Mary’s eyes bulged. “Wait, Sylvia’s planning it too?!”

“Aw man, now I really wanna go!” Holly groaned, imagining what perverse competition Sylvia would engineer for them.

“It’s not what you guys think,” Nick said, shaking his head. “She’s only helping Gina a little with working out the details and stuff, like pitching suggestions. I’m pretty sure Gina’s the one who’s going to make the final decision.”

“What about a karaoke contest?” Sylvia excitedly suggested. “Everybody could have fun singing! And whoever does best is the winner! What do you think, my girls?”

She turned to the others, looking expectantly at them.

“Absolutely not,” Dani replied with a firm shake of her head. “I’m not going then. Remember my transformation?”

“M-me neither,” Morgana stammered, shaking her head. As bold as she’d become these last few days, she was still keenly aware of her Sotto Voce transformation. And even if singing shouldn’t trigger it (and hadn’t in the past) she didn’t want to risk it.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin just crossed her arms over her chest and raised her eyebrow, giving Sylvia an unamused stare.

Sylvia blanched. “O-oh, right. I almost forgot… heh…”

“You just made that suggestion because you wanted to trigger Dani’s transformation, didn’t you?” Dawn narrowed her eyes, staring at the former host suspiciously. “I’m watching you, Sylvia.”

“No!” Sylvia protested, unable to look the cat girl in the eye.

“A karaoke contest is out of the question,” Gina asserted firmly. Then her face softened with doubt. “I… I don’t want to do anything like singing, if I can help it.”

“Why not?” Amelia’s sharp voice as she approached the punk girl made Gina stiffen. The gleam of her narrowed eyes didn’t exactly help Gina’s doubts either.

“I-I just, um…” Gina stammered.

“You used to so enjoy singing when you were a little girl,” Amelia remembered, trying to sound as gentle and supportive as possible.

Gina gave her a rueful smile. “Yeah, that… that was a long time ago,” she muttered, scratching her hair. Her handcuffs clinked against her coat. “I’m too rusty for something like that.”

She remembered her other self, Regina, the pop star. In another life, she would be a talented singer right now. Imagining that just made her heart ache.

Amelia sensed that there was something to the other girl’s objection that she wasn’t aware of, and decided not to press the issue. Meanwhile, Sylvia just felt miserable.

“Okay, no singing then!” She said desperately, trying to change the subject. “How about… um… classy, classy… ooh! A wine tasting! That’s classy, right? We can pour wine down each girl’s body and have Daddy lick them all clean, and see which one he likes best!”

There were about a thousand reasons why that was a bad idea, and nobody felt like explaining any of them to Sylvia. They knew she was just trying to help, but sometimes she could learn to show a little restraint.

“Yeah, I’m sure they’re coming up for a way to accommodate things for everyone as we speak!” Nick said, very sure of herself. “Amelia is really responsible when it comes to stuff like this! Back when I was a kid, my dad left her in charge of planning my birthday party, and…”

His voice trailed off as he realized both girls were staring at him incredulously.

“What?” Nick asked, shifting awkwardly. “What is it?”

“No, um… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” Mary said, jumping slightly and quickly shaking her head.

“It’s just a little surprising, seeing you like this,” Holly pointed out.

“Seeing me like what?” Nick questioned.

Holly clearly wasn’t comfortable answering that. Which was unusual, considering she usually worshipped the ground Nick walked on.

It was Mary who managed to say it. “Talking about your family,” she said softly. “About… your stepmother.”

Nick bristled. “Oh… that… yeah.”

“Back in school, you never talked about her,” Holly said. “You barely mentioned your family at all.”

The girls had two distinct sets of memories to contend with, thanks to Dakota’s transformation. They both remembered a time when Nick was all alone, and when he had Dakota clinging to him. But regardless of which timeline they remembered, Nick had never talked about his family so openly like this.

“Yeah… you’re right,” Nick said, scratching his head. “I guess I just didn’t want to talk about my past. For obvious reasons.”

“Hi, I’m Obvious Reasons.”

The trio jumped as Dakota popped into existence, sitting atop the counter with one leg crossed over the other and a blank stare in her eyes. For once, she wasn’t wearing that damned smirk of hers.

“D-Dakota!” Nick reacted first, turning to her and trying to smile. It was getting harder and harder, though.

“It was because of me,” she said, hopping off the counter before Mary recovered enough to chew her out for being unsanitary in the kitchen. “After I died, you didn’t want to talk about your past. Even after I stopped… clinging to you.”

“But what about the timeline where you didn’t, um… you know?” Holly stammered, not sure how delicately she should ask. “I get Nick being too heartbroken to reflect on the past back when you were dead, but when you were up there with us…”

“He still suffered the pain of rejection from Dani and Dawn,” Dakota said gently. “For different reasons, of course, but still… thinking of the past… was a painful thing for him, I imagine.”

Mary frowned. She studied Dakota closely. “…You’re lying,” she finally said.

Dakota blinked. Her eyes widened imperceptibly as she was taken aback by Mary’s direct statement.

“…Am I?” She asked innocently.

She was less sure now. She knew Dakota was hiding something, but she was wary to press the issue. She glanced at Nick, who bristled.

“I’m sure your husband can tell you the reason, then?” Dakota turned to Nick, the faintest hint of an amused smile struggling against the cloud building over her pale face.

Nick was still flustered by her presence. And the fog of his memories made it difficult to sift through the two pasts, since he’d been affected far more severely than Holly and Mary had.

“…I-I don’t know,” he finally admitted. “It just didn’t feel right to talk about Amelia to you guys. It wasn’t because of Dakota or anything, I just… didn’t feel like I should.” Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t mentioned Dawn or Dani, either. Keeping Gina and Dakota a secret from his friends was obvious, given the pain associate with them, but the others…

“Let’s change the subject before our dear master gives himself an aneurysm, shall we?” Dakota clapped her hands together. “That’s not why I’m here, anyway.”

“Why are you here then?” Mary asked suspiciously.

“To make you girls an offer, of course,” Dakota chirped. “Consider it a gesture of good will, for taking such great care of my beloved Nick this past round.”

She reached out to caress his cheek, but Nick reflexively pulled away from her.

He immediately regretted it.

Dakota retracted her hand in an instant like she’d just touched the stove. Before anyone could say anything, she pushed a sneer across her face and turned to the other girls.

“Where was I… oh, yes, that’s right. Tonight is Gina’s party! And I’m afraid, you ladies might not make the guest list.”

“That’s fine,” Mary said, even though Dakota’s words stung a little. “We weren’t planning on going anyway.”

“How exactly is this an offer?” Holly asked, eyeing Dakota suspiciously. She was fine with being left out, in fact, that spoke to her fetishes. But she wasn’t going to trust Dakota.

“Oh, you’ve mistaken me,” Dakota purred, shaking her head. “That isn’t to say that Gina wouldn’t want to invite you. What I mean is that you two might play another role in the festivities!”

“Another role?” Nick asked, just as suspicious as the other girls. “And what role would that be, exactly?” He asked.

Dakota finally turned back to him, and the hurt she’d reflected in her eyes mere moments ago had completely vanished.

“If you like, you’ll be serving as judges of this next round,” she said cheerfully.

Both girls reacted with surprise.

“Judges?” Mary wasn’t sure she heard that properly.

“Gina just conveyed her tentative plans to me,” Dakota explained. “And unlike last time, where the audience decided who best fit the theme of the party and ‘played their role’ so to speak, she wanted to do something a little less formal.”

Rather ironic, given that her theme was so formal, but Nick didn’t say anything. He was more worried about how the two of them were getting roped into this.

“So what does it entail, then?” He asked. “This contest, I mean.”

Dakota shook her head. “Calling it a contest isn’t quite proper. As Gina’s transformation dictates, prizes are awarded simply based on how well the girls match the specific theme of the party. And the theme of this party is ‘maturity and elegance’ or something along those lines.”

For someone who had come here to explain, she sure was being light on details. Nick suspected that was to keep the three of them on the defensive.

“Gina came up with a few ways the girls could meet the theme of the evening,” Dakota explained. “But there need to be neutral judges who can make that final decision. Of course, Nick, you’ll be one of those judges. It is a party for your sake, after all.”

“And we’ll be the other two, then,” Holly noted. “For a panel of three judges in total?”

Dakota smiled brazenly. “More or less correct,” she nodded. “And this way, you’ll be able to attend the party! Not as participants, and not eligible to win any prizes, of course, but you’ll still be able to enjoy the festivities with the other girls in Nick’s harem. …And the entrance fee will be waived, of course. I’m not an unreasonable woman.”

Well, that last pat was definitely a lie. But the rest sounded like a pretty good deal to Nick.

“What do you guys think?” He asked, turning to Mary and Holly. “I think that solves the issue pretty well, don’t you?”

Mary was hesitant, but Holly was excited. Her suspicion towards Dakota still gave her pause, though.

“We don’t have anything to wear,” Mary pointed out, gesturing towards her clothes. “Won’t we be a little… underdressed?”

Dakota sneered. “Holly I’m sure is quite used to that,” she noted, running her eyes over the slender girl’s skimpy maid outfit. “Are you saying you’re not willing to lower yourself to the same standard?”

“Dakota!” Nick chastised her. Mary blushed, incensed.

“I-I’m fine with it,” she said firmly. “But the contest is going to be fair, right?”

“You’re the judge,” Dakota pointed out. “How much more fairness do you need?”

She wasn’t about to accept that non-answer. “Answer me.”

“Take it up with Gina,” Dakota replied. “Like I said. This is her party. I’m simply hosting. That is the extent of my involvement.”

Mary didn’t like that response. But she also knew that this party meant a lot to Gina, and she appreciated that the other girl had gone out of her way to include the two of them when she didn’t have to.

“Okay, I’ll do it,” she agreed.

“Same!” Holly chirped.

Nick sighed in relief. He was just glad that this wouldn’t turn into some serious incident.

“Excellent!” Dakota clapped her hands together pleasantly. “That’s just what I hoped for. Magnificent. Now, if you don’t mind, I have preparations to make. See you all tonight!”

And with a flick of her cane she was gone.