Ishtar relaxes a bit.

"Okay, everyone, let's take 10," said Isthar with a snap of her fingers. "I've let the spells lapse, you can walk and talk so and so on. Stretch your legs, I'll get you all something cool to drink. But no big fights! Save it for the cameras."

With that, she turned and started chatting to statues on the wall, apparently organizing cold drinks for them all.

Meanwhile, Theo and the girls were looking at each other in bewilderment. This lasted for a few long moments, until Theo finally got up, and walked to Joanna.

"Love.. are you okay? I'm sorry for using that trigger, I just - I was still completely confused, and Ishtar looked very impatient, and- "

"It's okay, honey. Don't worry about it. I understand. I needed it just then, I think."

"Are you... well, obviously you're not okay, but how are you doing?"

"I'm... I'm fine, I think? I'm not panicking, even though I feel like I should be. But whenever I think about it, it's like the feelings just fade away."

Theo frowned at that. Was Ishtar manipulating their emotions somehow? It certainly wasn't his doing, and even if he thought he could do something like that - a dubious idea at best - he never would. But both himself and all the girls were acting remarkably calm for having just been magically kidnapped. The thought sent a shudder through him, and he pulled his girlfriend into a long, reassuring hug, though who was getting reassured was anyone's guess.

Joanna enjoyed the hug, as she always did. Theo wasn't huge or muscular, he couldn't wrap his entire body around her, or pick her up from the ground, but he didn't need to. He was warm. And he held onto her, like she was all he had in the world, like she was precious to him. She'd said that once to Jessica, her best friend, and Jessica had jokingly called Theo 'Gollum' for a week, much to his confusion. She held on to him, too. Theo wasn't the only Gollum there.

Eventually, the hug broke, and Joanna allowed herself a moment's smile as she stared into his eyes.

"And how about you? Are you okay....?" she asked, letting her words fade out. Theo could provide the right title for the situation, and she trusted him to do so.

Theo thought about the question for a moment, then nodded.

"I'm okay, my love. Worried, and confused, but okay. I do not need anything right now."

My love. Not 'pet' or 'princess' or 'my good girl,' or any of the other mostly public-appropriate terms of endearment they they used to indicate that she was his sub and that she was his Sir. A piece of her felt a tiny stab of disappointment. A part of her would have liked to step into her role and disappear in it for a moment. But most of her was happy with the response. She was his girlfriend before she was his sub, after all, and that was all she needed to be.

While Theo and Joanna talked, the other girls had clumped together a little.

"Anna!" Nina started. "Do you have any idea of what's going on? The bitch with the weird hat said this was some sort of… tv show?"

"I think she's telling the truth. Ishtar. I'm not sure why, but you felt it when she just… changed your clothes. When she made you talk and walk. I can't think of any other explanations."

"I can't either," Miriam broke in. "I'm Miriam, by the way."

"Yeah?" Nina turned to Miriam, seeming to really notice her for the first time. "Pleased to meet you, Miriam."

As she spoke, a thought seemed to strike her, and she gave the other girl a short, evaluating look.

"Who are you, then? To Theo I mean. I mean, I'm his former sub, and he and Anna used to hook up. The third girl, she must be Joanna, right? His current ****?"

The last question, she directed at Anna with a glance, and Anna simply nodded a reply.

"I'm, uh… no one, I'm just his friend. I mean, he and Joanna are in my Saturday D&D group. And what do you mean, 'his current ****'? Like, I know what a collar means, but she told me it was just a fashion collar."

Anna and Nina exchanged awkward glances for a moment.

"Theo, uh, likes a certain kind of relationship with his girlfriends. Joanna does too, as far as I can tell."

It was Anna who had broken the silence.

"That said, she is also his girlfriend. They go on dates and he gets her roses and all that, it's really disgustingly sweet."

Nina rolled her eyes.

"Sounds like him, he really is a -"

"Nina..." Anna broke in, giving her friend a hard glance. "I know he broke up with you and you had your big blowout and all, but seriously. Not the time."

Nina looked like she was about to respond, but bit it down and acquiesced with a shrug.

Meanwhile, Miriam was watching them both. They clearly knew each other, and Theo. She'd heard both their names before, and even met Anna... once, maybe twice, but she didn't really have any idea of what had gone down; it was before she met Theo, anyway. As as she could tell, Nina and Anna were friends, Nina hated Theo - maybe mutually? - and Anna knew Jo a little bit. She wanted to put all the names on a whiteboard and write out the connections, like when she planned an intrigue for her players.

She looked over at Theo and Joanna, who were just separating from their hug. Was she really his ****? It was an odd thought, but it fit. Not that Theo ever ordered her about at their D&D game, but she did seem like she relied on him for guidance and support, and Theo was very easy to trust. And now she was in... some sort of Harem TV show with them. She looked back to the other girls.

"So, one of us should probably bring it up..." she started, and the other girls turned to her.

"The Harem thing?" asked Anna.

Miriam nodded. "And the part about 'serving him sexually' and 'sexual challenges,' or whatever it was she said."

"Oh, I believe I can help with that."

Ishtar's melodious voice was loud and clear and everyone - including the two lovebirds - turned their heads back her way.

Everyone's eyes went wide.

Ishtar was walking back towards them, and next to her walked a huge lion. And not just a lion - a winged lion, with massive bird's wings folded on its back. It walked slowly, keeping pace with Ishtar, and kept its eyes straight ahead. As she walked, Ishtar patted its head lovingly.

She was smirking at the look on everyone's faces.

"Oh, don't worry, he's just bringing drinks," she said, and picked a plastic water bottle from a tray on his back, tossing it to Theo.

Everyone else still looked bewildered, but relaxed a little at the creature's obvious deference to Ishtar, and after a little coaxing, each picked up a plastic bottle from the little tray on its back.

"Now, as I was saying," continued Ishtar, "It's really quite simple. Each of you will be competing to be the first to reach 100 points. If you do, you'll be Theo's new queen, and you'll get a wish - some simple restrictions apply, mostly that you can't undo anything done during the show or get out of the harem. But beyond that, you can wish for anything you want. You can win points in weekly challenges, or by serving Theo sexually. Extra points if you're particularly submissive or let your master get into your head with a bit of erotic hypnosis."

"What!? That's not remotely fair!" said Miriam. "Joanna's already his girlfriend, not to mention his uh..." Miriam trailed off here, eyes flickering between Theo and Joanna.

"My sub," Theo finished for her. "And she's right, Ishtar. This whole thing is more than fucked up already, but how is it fair for them to compete with someone I'm already having sex with?"

In response, Ishtar rolled her eyes.

"Oh don't worry. You can only get points for each things first, and you get more points from new experiences. So Joanna here" - Ishtar reached out to pat Joanna's head, but Theo pulled her in protectively - "Joanna here would have to do something you've never done before to get full points. She'll get reduced points on blowjobs, spankings, deepthroating, vaginal sex, bondage, petplay, hypn-"

"We get the picture!" interrupted Nina. "You don't need to air their dirty laundry in front of everyone. Leave the girl alone."

That seemed to surprise everyone. Theo, especially, looked at Nina as if she'd grown wings and started to fly.

"Oh? Would you rather I remind you that you're getting reduced points on a few things too?"

"Everyone here already knows I fucked Theo. But so far you've only mentioned the carrot - the wish. What happens if we get less than a hundred points?"

Ishtar smiled in response, her eyes twinkling with laughter, but it was not at all reassuring.

"Oh, nothing too bad, you'll still get to serve your Master. But I'll go over all this once we have everyone here. Make sure to drink your water, and get back in your seats, we're starting in a moment."

There were a hundred more questions Theo and the girls wanted to ask, but when they opened their mouths, nothing came out. Dejected, they each sat down in their chairs, drinking from their plastic water battles. The water was very nice, to all their surprises. Cool, but not freezing, and it quenched their thirsts marvelously and cooled them despite the glare of the sun, which had risen in the sky by now.

Meanwhile, Isthar emptied her own bottle, carefully placed it where it couldn't be seen, and picked up her microphone. Once everyone sat down, she turned and talked, once more, to the empty air.

"And welcome back everyone! Now, I promised you a doozy for the next contestant, and we've got one! Next up are two sweet girls who couldn't be more different. One is an all-American cheerleader, a good diligent daughter of a preacher with the hots for teach - or at least for her cute student instructor. The other is a slutty bisexual witch who sells rocks and candles on Etsy when she isn't working on her math degree. Quite the odd pair, but do say hello to CHLOE AAAND JESSICA!"