Matt Hawkins and Laura Black

Networking was a skill that Matt Hawkins had spent a great many years developing and practicing. Making a good impression, sticking in people’s memories, and being the first one they thought of in the future when they had money to spend were all incredibly important in his line of work, and things he had managed to get very good at over the course of his career so far.

Before any of that though, to network correctly you had to be able to work out who was worth networking with. That was proving more of a challenge at this event, where there were literal gods mingling with superheroes and beings straight out of the pages of a fantasy novel. But there was still one person in particular who stood out to Matt.

Seven feet tall, wine red hair, massive wings. He’d watched her throwing boulders around when a brawl broke out during the island challenge. None of that was why he found himself seeking her out. It was something about the confidence in her stance, and the way she was occasionally scanning the crowds looking for the same things as he was. She acted like she was good at networking too.

“Nice wings,” Matt said with an easy smile, casting his gaze over the huge span of reptilian muscle as he sauntered up to her, then tilting his head back to make eye contact, “Wow, you’re taller up close as well.”

Laura Black raised an eyebrow at the smartly-dressed British man approaching her with the unearned attitude of an old friend. She assessed him in an instant, immediately recognising his type even if she hadn’t spoken more than two words to him across the whole bachelor party they’d both attended.

“Please tell me you didn’t expect that to work as a pickup line,” she commented dryly, taking a swig of champagne that wasn’t even close to getting her drunk enough to deal with this.

“I would have been astounded if it had, since I didn’t mean it as one,” he shot back, not even slightly phased. He offered a handshake. “Matt Hawkins. I think we might have some things in common.”

“Besides both having a harem?” She took his hand and shook it firmly, mildly surprised he met it in kind and didn’t either treat her overly delicately or try to show off his grip strength. “Laura Black.”

“The harem too, I suppose,” he laughed, then glanced at her wings again, “I meant the whole dragon thing though. I’ve not had any of those transformations yet, but I know they’re coming in future rounds.”

“Well the wings took some getting used to,” she flexed them, “But flying is pretty great. I don’t think I can give you much advice on how to use them until you get wings of your own though.”

“I might not ever get them, but that’s not the important thing. I’m more interested in what it says about us both, that our hosts chose that path for us. What themes they’re trying to emphasise. Reputation, power, wealth; you strike me as someone who had all three even before ending up here.”

“You’re making a lot of assumptions over some scales,” she replied, giving nothing away.

Matt shrugged to concede the point, then took a step back, fixing her with an analytical look. She had a good poker face, but that in itself was a clue. Clothes chosen well, a style that spoke of sophistication and didn’t overly emphasise sex appeal - even though she had plenty of it. Defensive posture, but not intimidated by him. Not even a little bit.

“I’ll assume you work mainly with people, not tech,” he guessed, “Whatever your company does you’re on the front line of it, customer facing rather than back end. You work with money, and lots of it, but you don’t seem like the finance type, and I am the type so I’d know. I’m going to continue assuming, and say… You’re a client manager of some pretty sizable accounts.”

Laura’s eyebrow went back up. “Close, but not quite. VP of Sales, Wagner Group.”

“Oh damn,” Matt blinked in surprise, but smiled widely, “That’s impressive, breaking into the old boys club when you’re so obviously neither of those things.”

“Thank you,” she raised her half empty glass, “You’re not beating the flirting accusations though, and I’m not interested.”

He laughed again, quick and easy. “I can’t appreciate your achievements without wanting to get you into bed? Believe me, I’m not trying anything. I’m sure you’ve got enough going on in your love life as it is, and so do I now,” his expression softened, and he gestured into the crowd, “That’s my wife over there, the brunette talking to Emily. She would have been enough for me on her own, even without this whole harem thing.”

The pair watched the distant conversation for a moment. Sarah Hawkins had her arms held up protectively in front of her, and was nervously toying with her hair, but she giggled as the newly-wed nudist told some anecdote or other with a funny twist at the end. Laura looked across at Matt, though he didn’t seem to notice. He only had eyes for his wife, and a dreamy smile full of melancholy-tinged love.

“Are any of your other girls here?” she asked curiously.

For the first time, Matt’s mask slipped as he flinched hard. For a brief moment the easygoing smoothtalker took on a haunted, guilty expression, but it lasted long enough for Laura to notice before he recovered.

“Just one,” he said quietly, looking around but not finding who he was searching for, “Poppy. The photographer.”

Laura went silent for a second, then stiffened both her posture and her voice. “The tiny woman with the camera?”

“Yep.” Matt nodded, pressing his lips into a thin line.

“The tiny woman with the camera and the lesbian pride flag pinned to her chest?”

“...yep,” he croaked, not making eye contact.

“Right,” Laura nodded, maintaining her poker face, “In that case, my Host had a message she wanted me to pass on if I ran into you.”

Matt flinched again. “Alright. Go on then.”

“She wanted me to tell you ‘Do not hurt her. Be another Nick or Andy, or be judged. You don’t want to be another Steven.’” Laura sighed. “Look, it’s not you. She’s just really sensitive about lesbians in a man’s harem. She was one.”

Matt exhaled a deep breath, then swallowed heavily. He stood up straight and thrust his hands into his pockets. “Yeah, that tracks. Not sure exactly who Steven is, but I get the idea. Message received.”

“You’re not going to do anything to her then?” Laura challenged.

“Not if I can avoid it,” he shrugged helplessly.

“And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means I don’t know,” he snapped in frustration, “I don’t want to hurt her, I don’t want to hurt anyone, but she’ll get eliminated if she doesn’t reach 100VP by the end. Am I just meant to let that happen?”

“That’s a cruel setup,” Laura growled, a little of her draconic nature creeping to the surface, “Your Host better know what she’s doing.”

Matt shrugged again. “Scarlet only cares about telling a good story. She’s hinted that there’s something I can do about it, but she’s also explicitly said that the points are only for things that please me. I don’t know how I’m meant to keep Poppy safe from that. From me.” He looked up again, his eyes filled with anger and self-loathing, then shook himself and reset. Spine straight, shoulders up and back, a smile on his face that was almost indistinguishable from a real one. “Sorry for bringing the mood down. It was nice to meet you, Laura, but I should get going.”

“Wait,” Laura said before he could leave. He paused halfway through his first step. “Just do your best to help her, help all of your harem, do well. If seeing them thrive pleases you, then maybe that counts. Be open to intra-harem relationships. It’s actually been a godsend for me. The master can’t be everywhere or everything to everyone. If they pair up, or more, and can rely on each other, that’s less you have to do. And you should absolutely build a relationship with Poppy, with everyone. Just not sexual for her. You’ve seen what Sam is for Andy, find a place Poppy fits in your life that can satisfy both of you, and that might be enough for Scarlet’s ‘story’.”

“Thanks,” Matt nodded slowly, processing the advice, “I’ll keep that in mind.” He sauntered away, off in the direction of his wife, then paused, giving her a half-glance back over his shoulder. “I might be a dragon, apparently, but I never wanted a hoard. I just wanted enough. I just wanted to be enough. I wanted everyone to be happy. I hope that means you’re right.”

Laura watched him depart, then drained the last of her champagne in a single gulp. She wasn’t anywhere near drunk enough for this. Maybe she’d see if Sam could work her magic on the next glass.

“Hey there, dragon lady. I hear you were talking shit about my story arcs,” came a new voice, bright and cocky.

Laura managed to avoid jumping in surprise as the short ginger woman in the red leather jacket appeared at her elbow, grinning like a maniac. She smoothly turned to face the new arrival, taking a cautious approach to someone who she knew must be a lot more powerful than she seemed at first glance.

“I only said I hoped I knew what you were doing,” she said, folding her arms sternly, “Do you?”

“Of course I do,” Scarlet snorted dismissively, “I’ve been doing this for longer than almost anyone,” she paused for a moment before continuing, “I don’t remember any of it, but the skills are still there. I think.”

“I hope that was more convincing in your head than when you said it out loud,” Laura commented, “So what are you actually doing with Poppy then, putting her in that situation?”

“Why should I explain myself to you, little dragon?” The Host gave the massive woman a warning stare, her strange eyes entirely a fiery yellow apart from the coal-black pupils, “Maybe I’m throwing her at Matt’s dick, or maybe she’s elimination bait. It’s none of your business either way.”

“That would be cruel,” Laura laid out the accusation like a criminal charge.

“Sure, but it could still make for a good story,” Scarlet’s grin widened. In one hand she held a large orange feather quill, and she twirled it around so it danced over her fingers.

“So she’s just entertainment then?” came the frustrated response. Host or not, this woman was infuriating to deal with.

“Yes!” Scarlet threw her hands up in exasperation, “Obviously! We’re all just entertainment, that’s what Harem Hotel is!”

“Entertainment doesn’t have to involve… that.”

The Host rolled her eyes. “Oh get off your high horse, sisterfucker. Not every branch can be about lesbian orgies.”

Laura took a step closer as the tone of the conversation changed on a dime with the childish insult. Draconic rage burned in her eyes as she towered over the much smaller woman. Scarlet’s eyes burned right back, but with glee rather than anger, and a total lack of any kind of fear.

“That’s it, let the dragon out,” she taunted with a smirk. “What’s a wedding without a good brawl?” She lifted her chin. “I’ll tell you what: you can hit me once, no consequences and no punishment. I’ll survive it no matter how hard you hit, and I promise I won’t retaliate. Get it out of your system. Go on.”

For a moment, Laura seriously considered it. A part of her new nature wanted this. To show off her strength, to prove her power, to unleash her anger. She took a deep breath, unclenched her fists, and stepped back. She was still in control.

“Fuck you,” she said plainly, because she still needed to do something.

Scarlet just laughed, but not cruelly. Her eyes softened. Her smirk turned into a kind smile.

“Huh, how about that?” she mused, stroking her chin in exaggerated thoughtfulness, “I freely offered you something you wanted, made clear it wouldn’t have any consequences for you, and you still didn’t take it. I wonder why that is?”

“I’m not gonna hit you just because I’m angry,” Laura grumbled.

“I think it’s because you’re fundamentally a good person, Laura Black,” Scarlet answered her own question, “You don’t want to hurt anyone, and you think before you act. All the best Masters are like that, for light seasons at least.”

“Great. Thanks. Was there a point to all this?”

“The point is that dragons are also about protecting precious things, not just being a terrifying monster. And also that Matt’s an idiot who can’t see the contradiction right in front of his face even when he says it out loud. Not yet.” The Host shook her head, adjusted her leather jacket, and looked out across the party with a wistful expression.

“You could have just said that without being a bitch about it,” Laura sighed, letting herself relax a little.

“I could have,” Scarlet grinned, “And yet, I didn’t. This way seemed more entertaining than a calm explanation.”

The tension slowly left Laura’s body, and she rolled her shoulder and flared her wings as the muscles uncoiled. She’d made nice with more annoying people in the course of corporate politicking. She could finish the conversation without doing anything rash.

“I guess it probably was more entertaining to the Audience,” she admitted, “Are you trying to get me to tell Shar to stand down then? That I was right about how Poppy gets through your season?”

“You can tell the upstart vampire that I’m going somewhere with this. Give Matt a chance to realise that he’s thinking about this completely the wrong way, and I promise it will all work out. If she still doesn't trust me, then tell her to ask her girlfriend what I'm really like. The watery tart knows more about me than I know about myself at this point.”

“Sure,” Laura agreed cautiously, committing the message to memory, “I’ll let her know. Anything else?”

“Just a message from me for you and your girls: enjoy the party,” Scarlet gave a mischievous wink, “And you have my blessing on your second chance.”

“Thanks, I suppose,” Laura shook her head and looked down at the empty glass she was still holding. The first step for enjoying the party would be to get herself another drink. A stronger one, if possible. When she looked up again, the annoying redheaded host was gone, and that actually improved her mood quite a bit.