I wish you wouldn't worry, let it be

The girls in Nick’s harem, and to an extent, Nick himself, spent a considerable amount of time reading and responding to all the fan mail they received from audience members. It actually came as quite a surprise to a decent number of them, who didn’t expect that they would have so much popularity among the watchers.

Dani in particular felt slightly vindicated by all the letters she’d received. So much so that when she reunited with Carly and Marley in the Banquet Hall afterwards, she was actually smiling.

“Well, someone’s in a good mood,” Carly commented with a sly grin. “I take it that means more good news than bad?”

“Surprisingly yes,” Dani nodded. “I didn’t expect that, I’ll tell you that much. After all the results of that popularity poll, let’s just say I expect a flurry of hate mail. Instead… people were actually really supportive,” she admitted, reaching out and taking Carly’s hand. “Supportive of us.”

“That’s kinda what happened to me, too,” Carly laughed, causing her breasts to jump. Her hair covered them nicely, and extended all the way down to her ass to cover that, too. Unfortunately, given her boon, it was kind of difficult to keep her vagina covered. Even now, her juices were still leaking down her thighs.

Needless to say, Dani was trying very hard to look into her partner’s eyes, instead of down at her nether regions.

“To be honest? I wish I’d gotten supportive letters like yours,” Carly said, scratching her cheek with a sheepish smile. “Most of my letters were complimenting me on hooking up with you, and suggesting I do more to help Marley… some general support of my performance so far would have been nice.”

She let out a sigh. “Though I guess that means how I’ve been doing hasn’t responded well with the audience. Dakota’s right, it’s hard to believe that I used to be in second place in the popularity poll, way back when. You don’t think we should be worried, do you?”

Marley frowned. “Coming from someone who’s been eliminated already… it’s probably not a bad decision to get yourselves prepared for that eventuality. I’m not saying that’s a good thing, but given the state of the show right now… and how low you guys were… I mean, Dani, that score was the score I got back when I was on the show. And believe it or not, when I got letters, none of them were about me being a slime girl.”

“Oh?” Carly perked up. “So you got letters too?”

When the girls had finished reading their letters, the twins had been transported to the same place in the hall back at the main hotel, where presumably everybody else was taken. Marley hadn’t said anything about her letters since their reunion, so Carly was naturally curious.

The blush on Marley’s face and her inability to look her sister in the eye only made her more curious.

“She’s right. You should be worried.”

The three women turned to see an unlikely face staring back at them with lips pinched tight on her shimmering expression.

“Serenity!” Dani’s eyes widened. “Hey, come on in. What’s up?”

“Sorry about not inviting you to the party,” Carly apologized. “Dakota said it wasn’t allowed. Dani really wanted you to come.”

“It’s fine,” Serenity replied, approaching the table. “I enjoy spending time with humans again… but I was never one for parties. Besides, I expected it would be an orgy, and that’s the last place you want someone with my transformations.”

To prove her point, Serenity stopped herself right before she crossed the five foot threshold, keeping her ability at bay from affecting the girls.

“Anyway, as I was saying… you should be worried,” she said, staring primarily at Dani. “The audience doesn’t like it when a girl doesn’t want to be with the master. And that applies to both of you right now.”

“What?! Why?” Carly scowled. “I have sex with Nick all the time! And Dani was just intimate with the both of us… kinda. Doesn’t that get her any credit?”

“No,” Serenity bluntly replied. “It really doesn’t. And don’t think sex is enough, either. The show might be a sex show on its face, but it’s primarily trying to promote a romance between the master and the girls in his harem.”

That was something Carly didn’t expect. She actually looked taken aback.

“Seriously?” Marley raised her eyebrow. “A romance?”

Serenity nodded, and a sickened expression crossed her glowing face. “You think I didn’t do what I had to do, in order to try and please the audience?” She looked like she was going to throw up. “I thought that would be enough to keep them satisfied with me, but no. They could tell I wasn’t enjoying myself. That I didn’t actually have any affection for the master on my season. And when they picked up on that, well… let’s just say it wasn’t long before I had to start packing my bags, and going to stay where it’s wet and cold.”

That was a chilling thought for Carly indeed. Dani started to look worried again- not for her sake, but for her partner’s.

“Well… it’s going to be different on this show,” Carly stated clearly. “After all, I don’t know how eliminations worked on your season, but here, we’re the ones who do the choosing. And I know that if I lose, Dani will pick me. And if Dani loses, I’ll absolutely pick her.”

“And what if you both lose?” Serenity asked.

Carly winced. She bit her lip. “That… I’ll have to figure that out later.”

She couldn’t deny the very real possibility in what Serenity was suggesting. After all, it’s not like she’d exactly had a stellar performance, as far as challenges go. The only win she could really put on her belt was in the very first challenge, and the reason for that was because it was a team event, and they’d relied on Dani’s superhuman speed.

Without Dani to carry her over the finish line, her losses would have been four for four.

“You don’t have to worry, sis,” Marley said, placing her hand over Carly’s. “Whatever this challenge is, I’m going to be right there with you for it. And if you need help, well, you just have to ask! Alright? I’m not going to let you lose. I don’t care if you need to turn me into a slime! Just say the word, and I’ll do it!”

“I don’t know what the challenge is, either,” Dani agreed. “But last time, the only reason I lost was because I got confused! Because Kim played me! This time, I’m going to win it!”

She punched the palm of her hand. She was really fighting for something now, and she wasn’t about to throw away the chance to have a happy ending. “The people who sent me letters, a few of them were asking if I’d rather be eliminated. And yeah, maybe an elimination would be good, getting me kicked out of the harem so I won’t be obligated to Nick, and then being stuck with one elimination transformation instead of getting a new one every round… honestly, if I really think about it, maybe Holly had it right, and I SHOULD just eliminate myself! But no way. As long as I’m here, then I can keep looking out for you two.”

Dani tightened her grip on Carly’s other hand. Now, Carly was being comforted by both girlfriend and sister.

“I don’t want to get eliminated because I don’t want to be warped by an exit transformation,” Dani rightfully stated. “But I also don’t want to leave. As long as I’m still in the game, then I can keep you in the game, too, Carly. That’s what I’m fighting for. As for getting a wish, well… I’ve already figured out that I’m probably not winning this whole thing. So it doesn’t even matter.”

“If that works for you,” Serenity said, her expression softening into a gentle smile. “I just want to make sure you’re not setting yourself up for failure, alright?”

“Maybe I am,” Dani admitted with a shrug. “But even then… so what? It’s not like I can avoid the possibility of failure. All I can do is keep trying my hardest. You should know what that’s like, right? Back when you used to train for the Olympics, I bet you never once thought about letting it go and not trying your hardest, am I right?”

Serenity’s eyes widened slightly as she recalled a time lost long ago. She let out a sigh and nodded in resignation.

“You’re right,” she admitted. “And I didn’t give up when I came here, either. Even though the audience gave up on me. I guess I’m just giving you some really bad advice, huh?”

She cracked a grin that Dani returned. Carly was a little more shaken, but the comfort of her girlfriend and her sister helped her smile, as well.

“Now then, I really should get going,” the siren said, taking a step back. “Don’t want to interfere with whatever it is you girls spend all your time doing on the show.”

“No problem,” Dani nodded. “And thanks again, for looking out for us.”

“Thank you, really,” Carly nodded, taking her hand away from Marley to wave to the departing siren.

Once Serenity was gone, she turned back to Marley and smiled. “So, what was this about your letters? Because I’m not letting you off that easily! Given what was written in mine, let’s just say I have a guess or two!”

Marley turned red.

“H-hush!” She stammered, shaking her head quickly. “It’s not important!”

While Carly and Dani teased Marley about her letters, the door to the Banquet Hall creaked open and Kim walked in, fresh off her shift at work.

“Hey, guys, what are you talking about?” The asian girl asked, coming up to the girls.

They were surprised by what they saw.

Having seen Kim wearing nothing but lingerie and schoolgirl outfits (and the occasional carnie or pair of overalls) seeing her in other clothes was a bit of a shock.

But what was really a shock was…

“Your clothes are so boring!” Carly blurted out, her eyes wide.

“Carly!” Marley looked at her sister with a horrified expression on her face.

Kim’s eye twitched and she frowned. “Oh, is that right? And I’m sure you with your hair bra knows everything about fashion?”

“Sorry, sorry,” Carly quickly apologized, her face flushing with shame. “That really came out wrong… I didn’t mean… I just thought that if you could wear anything you wanted, well… why would you wear something so plain?”

Carly wasn’t wrong about Kim’s choice of clothes. They were very basic and functional, but nothing special. A simple shirt and a pair of slacks. The most daring and unique part of her wardrobe was that her top was sleeveless, emphasizing the shining pale skin of her shoulders.

It was a cute outfit. But it was so… “normal.”

That being said, Dani would love to wear “normal” clothes like that, instead of the limited wardrobe the store would sell to her, in order to enforce a more girly fashion sense onto her. She only had so many pairs of pants she was allowed to try on.

“These clothes were my normal wardrobe,” Kim replied. “You know, back when I was a normal person, and not some slutty schoolgirl stereotype? Dakota gave me access to my closet back, once I got this boon. Though I bet it’ll go away as soon as this whole thing wears off at the end of the round,” she added with a disappointed sigh. “…So what are you guys talking about?”

“We’re mainly talking about the letters and fan mail we got,” Dani answered.

“Yup, Marley here was intentionally trying to avoid talking about all the letters telling her to go confess her feelings to Nick already,” Carly stated. Her guess was right on the money. Marley shrinking back and turning even redder was proof enough.

Kim’s face soured immediately.

“Something wrong?” Dani asked, immediately getting concerned for her buddy. “You didn’t get any mean letters, did you? Anything critical about you?”

“What? Oh, no, except for the ones that called me boring,” Kim said, brightening up and shaking her head quickly. “No, all that was fine. No, the issue was that for the second half of the letters, Dakota made me work while I was going over them! Can you believe that?!”

The girls could all believe that. They all nodded.

Kim sighed and slumped her shoulders. “What a pain… but hey, I got through ‘em! So now we just have to prepare for the next challenge.”

Kim had won the last two challenges, something everyone here was definitely aware of. She might not have felt it just yet, but there was a definite target on her head- even if it was only from the audience and not her fellow contestants.

Dani sighed. “We were talking about that, too.”

The girls in the Banquet Hall weren’t the only ones concerned about the upcoming challenge. Sylvia had a tense expression on her face as she paced outside the large doors. She knew that everything was fine; she could just walk in, and the other girls would be happy to see her. Even Dani would be cool with her at this point!

But she was hesitating, after everything she read in the letters.

“What’s up, Sylvia? Is everything okay?”

Sylvia nearly jumped out of her skin. She turned to see Rose approaching her with a concerned expression on her face.

Seeing it was Rose, she sighed. “Oh, it’s just you.”

Rose’s concern quickly turned into frustration. “That’s a little rude, don’t you think? And here I was thinking about doing you a favor!”

Sylvia winced. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to react that way… it’s just, with the way things are going right now… I’ve got a lot on my mind.”

Rose’s face softened. “No, it’s okay. What’s up? Want to talk about it?”

Part of Sylvia really did. But she wasn’t sure that Rose would have the best grasp on how to help her current predicament.

Then again… it was Rose. Maybe she would.

Sylvia sighed again.

“Rose… when you messed up in your first round here-”

“You mean when you gaslit me into thinking I needed to do one thing to stay on the show, when really that wasn’t going to help me win at all?” Rose batted her eyelashes in an innocent smile that reeked with grudge. “What about it?”

Sylvia winced and tensed. “Yeah… that,” she mumbled, looking down. “When that happened… how were you able to bring yourself back into the good graces of everybody? I mean, I was watching it, and even I was amazed that you were able to win people over. And not just your fellow contestants, either, you were even able to convince the audience themselves, my girl, and now they’re ranking you so high! How amazing is that?”

Sylvia was genuinely impressed by that, as someone who followed the trends of the audience so carefully. She never would have predicted such an upset from Rose, of all people.

But she needed to know how it had happened.

Rose just looked confused.

“I mean… I don’t see why you’re asking me,” she said, shrugging. “It seems like everyone likes you just fine.”

“I know they do,” Sylvia mumbled. “But that doesn’t make me feel any better. ‘Just fine’ isn’t good enough. Not if I want to make it to the next round like you did.”

Rose frowned. “…Oh. I see.”

“Haah…” Sylvia slumped against the wall. “Do you understand how difficult this is, my girl? Being put in a position like this? Before today, I was certain that I would only have one round with everybody. I was sure that, after the round was over, no matter what I did, I would be getting kicked out. I believe that’s called ‘irony’ am I right? Being eliminated from the show I started, due to a rule I developed to make things more interesting.”

Rose nodded sympathetically. “I felt the same way, when it was my turn,” she said quietly. “Because I listened to your instructions like a blind fool, I made a mess of everything. I put myself at risk, and I realized that I was doomed from the start. I was resigned to lose, and then… I didn’t.”

“Right,” Sylvia muttered. “Because Holly sacrificed herself for you.”

“Oui, that’s part of it,” Rose admitted. “But I think the other part is that Dawn… she took pity on me, in the end. That’s the reason I’m still here. Because she cared. And I repaid the favor as soon as I could.”

Sylvia glanced at Rose. The two women had a lot in common. They were both blonde and beautiful, and they both had seriously harmed their relationships with the other girls on the show. And even after trying to make amends and grow for the better, they still weren’t sure of their fates.

“If you’ve known this for a while, though, why is it only now coming up?” Rose asked curiously. “I mean, my moment of realization was when I scored dead last in the popularity poll. But you did significantly better! You actually scored very high for an Auditionee!”

“That’s just it,” Sylvia muttered, shaking her head. “I didn’t expect that. I honestly, honestly thought I was going to be at the very bottom. I thought the audience would despise me, if not for being a former host, than for the fact I could only call Daddy ‘Daddy’. But… they actually scored me high. And then… when we got all that fan mail… I got so many letters of support. So many people were rooting for me to succeed… so many more than when I was a host.”

Tears began to well up in her eyes, and she wiped them away. “For a moment, I actually… I actually wanted to try. I wanted to win. But that’s when I realized… I couldn’t. There’s nothing I can do to protect myself. Even with your advice… I just don’t see it being possible.”

Rose bit her lip.

“Well… I can’t promise that I’ll be able to help you out,” she said quietly. “But I do have something for you, Sylvia.”

“Oh?” Sylvia looked up at her surprised, and wiped her eyes again. “Something… for me?”

“Think of it like a gift,” Rose said with a gentle smile. “I’m giving you… my transformation. You know the one. I think Method Acting would work brilliantly with your Fuck the Voters transformation! You’d be able to scout out whatever transformations you’re interested in, before committing to them! So if you want to veto that transformation now, go ahead! I’m fine with it!”

“Really? No… no, that’s not a good idea,” Sylvia said, shaking her head quickly. “I’m going to be eliminated soon anyway! There’s not even a point to it! And… don’t you need that transformation? It’s vital for you, isn’t it? What if you might need it for the next challenge?”

Rose waved her hand. “It’ll be fine. Just take it already! Look, if you DON’T get eliminated, aren’t you going to feel like a fool, letting an advantage like this get away from you? You’re always talking about how great these transformations are, and now you’re refusing to use your own transformation that would give you another one? Come on!” She laughed.

“Well… okay, if you’re sure,” Sylvia nodded, swallowing her doubts.

Rose held out her hand. “I don’t know how this works, but… should we shake on it?”

Sylvia nodded and shook her fellow blonde’s hand. With her other hand, she summoned up her screen, and selected the other woman’s transformation.

The two women started to glow. A light went from Rose’s body into Sylvia’s, and Rose felt lighter somehow, like a part of her was missing, while Sylvia felt a heavier burden on her shoulders.

Method Acting was Vetoed!

Sylvia Obtained Method Acting!

“And… I guess that’s it,” Sylvia said. “I don’t feel any different, though.”

“You’ll have to try it out first, I guess,” Rose shrugged, causing her breasts to bounce in her dress, thanks to her boon.

“Try what out?”

Both women turned to see Mary approaching them with a curious expression on her face.

“Oh, Mary!” Sylvia brightened, glad to see the other girl.

Rose was a little less enthusiastic. She tried to keep her distance from Mary, much to the redhead’s concern.

“Is something wrong?” She asked worriedly.

Rose bit her lip. “It’s just… I’m nervous because I feel like if I spend too much time around you when you have your boon, you’ll realize how envious I am of your- rrgh!” She clamped her hand over her mouth to keep from spilling the beans, and turned red with embarrassment. She turned and dashed into the Banquet Hall.

“…Oh…” Mary’s face fell when she saw that. She didn’t like that Rose wasn’t comfortable talking to her. “I suppose I should be expecting that a lot these next few days…”

“I don’t think you have to worry,” Sylvia said, patting her on the shoulder. “Honesty is good, right? Rose’s issue is that she puts her foot in her mouth too much and keeps saying the wrong thing. Now, you just made it so she has to say the truth! It’s working just fine on me, too, by the way, but I don’t really care.”

She flashed a toothy smile. “I’m always as honest as I can be!”

Mary blinked, looking concerned. “Are you sure?” She asked. “Because it seemed like you were really sad a moment ago, and now you’re trying to smile…”

And just like that, Sylvia’s emotions came pouring out again. She told Mary all the same things she told Rose, about doubting that she was going to succeed, about being afraid of what would happen if she failed, and about how she actually wanted to make amends for what she’d done- and be true friend and companion to the other girls in the competition.

Mary listened to it all with an even expression, happy to hear Sylvia out on her problems. And when it was done, she placed a comforting hand on Sylvia’s shoulder.

“Sylvia… I think it’s really admirable that you feel that way,” she said softly. “And I would honestly be tempted to pick you as my buddy myself, in order to help you further with your healing, to become a better person.”

“You do?” Sylvia’s eyes widened in surprise.

“But my question is… do I need to do that?” Mary asked, her expression serious. “Sylvia… do you really need my help? Because I think you have it in you to do the right thing all on your own. You’ve shown me that for the last few days. You’ve been so kind and generous, I don’t think I need to teach you anything else!”

Sylvia took a moment to process that.

“So what you’re saying is that because I’m such a good person, you’re not going to pick me?” Sylvia frowned. That didn’t sound very fair.

Mary raised her eyebrow. “You didn’t try to be a good person just so I would pick you, did you?” She inquired, frowning.

Sylvia cracked a smile in spite of the miserable feeling in her chest. “If I said yes, would you pick me as your buddy in order to reform me?”

Mary took a step closer and crossed her arms under her sizeable chest. “Yes,” she answered simply. “I would.”

Sylvia opened her mouth, but the words just wouldn’t come out.

“…No,” she admitted, hanging her head. “That wasn’t why. I really did like helping people, and seeing how happy they were when I did something nice for them. It wasn’t so you would pick me, or anybody else.”

Her face fell. “That transformation of yours is kind of a bummer.”

“Maybe,” Mary admitted. “But I’m glad you’re being honest with me. It’s clear you’ve come a long way, Sylvia. But making the other girls happy isn’t enough. You know that, right?”

“I know,” Sylvia nodded. “Daddy’s happiness is important, too.”

“That’s right,” Mary nodded. “Look, let’s talk. We’ve still got some time before we need to turn in for the night, and you have to go to the Master’s Suite. Maybe we can figure out some way to show everybody that you really have changed. And maybe then, someone will choose you for their buddy.”

“But they won’t choose me because I’m doing something good, right?” Sylvia clarified. “They’re doing it because they see that I really have changed for the better, whether they pick me or not, right? I’m just showing them who I am.”

Mary smiled back. “Now you’re getting it. You do the right thing for the right reasons, and the right people will notice, and take care of you. That’s how we should all aim to live our lives, don’t you agree?”

Sylvia smiled. She agreed completely.

It was a strange feeling, not having that strange ache in her belly. Like her head was finally cleared.