Please tell me this isn't Déjà vu

Cassandra teleported with an annoyed look on her face after leaving the tower. Hilde had apparently already left with the carriage as well. “So, would you like to join me for breakfast, or have you eaten?”

“I have had food a few hours ago, but I would like to accompany you all the same, Sir. It would be good for your other girls to meet me, as I can endeavor to manage your schedules better if they know to contact me about things that might not be important enough to tell you.”

“Alright, well, Laura seemed inclined to milk cooking for all the BP it’s worth, hopefully there is still some left.”

They walked over to the Playhouse Kennel and found everyone else here except Laura, but he saw the cottage door was open and there was movement through the window of the cottage, so she was probably inside. As he approached, he noticed two very different issues fairly quickly and pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes in annoyance. “Okay, so I just got done dealing with one issue. Care to tell me why you two are wearing those outfits and why Sam and Allie are cuddly?” Mark directed at Chloe.

“Because I am really hoping this isn’t something similar to the issue I just finished dealing with, so I want a clear explanation of what is going on, because if you two were also irresponsible, I am going to be ticked off. Okay… Sorry, that was harsher than it needed to be. You two seem fine, unlike some people.” Mark said, glaring at the portal he came through.

“Um… okay, sure, we can do that.” Chloe hesitated, “But I don’t really think there is a problem here, right, Merida?” To which Merida shook her head. “Not to try and be evasive, but did something happen with the other three that made you this upset?”

“Yes, let’s say they also decided to put on some clothing from their room, and things got out of hand.”

“Okay, I see why you are upset with us now. You just finished dealing with that problem, and think we did the same thing. Well, we didn’t, I don’t think. But are the three of them alright?”

“I think so, yeah, just tired.”

“Good. Last night, after I came back from shopping with the others, I found Merida in the Enchanted Wardrobe. There were a bunch of latex and spandex items in there, and it said if we wore them for long enough we would get BP. Merida proposed that we pick out clothes for each other while we are roommates there this week. Which was when I found these,” Chloe gestured to their outfits “And proposed wearing them as a pair to Merida.”

“So, whit d’ye think, Mark?” she said, standing up and dragging Chloe along with her. Striking a cheeky pose, she added, “D’ye no’ think we mak a richt pair o’ sexy Pink Power Rangers, eh?”

“Chloe went for the classic look, so I grabbed ane o’ the ither Pink Ranger ootfits masel'. Nae idea whit season this ane’s frae, mind ye, but it looked cute, so I went wi’ it.” Merida was definitely enjoying letting Mark see her like this.

“Uh, yeah, you look great. Both of you, I’ll say I always had a thing for the pink one. You both pull off the look amazingly. So no side effects?”

“They do have a thing that makes us more flexible and a slight confidence boost on them. Otherwise, no, I think we are encouraged to wear this stuff because you like it more than anything, but I did see some weirder options for magical effects. ” Chloe added. “Was it really that bad with the others?”

“Well, I’d like some of you to check on them throughout the day and maybe take the three some food? They haven’t eaten yet and are pretty wiped out.”

Stepping out of the cottage, Laura asked, “What, can't they walk over here to join us?”

“No, actually, they probably can’t.” Mark’s response renewed the concerned looks. “Like I said, they should be fine, but are exhausted.”

“Sure, not a problem, I can take some food over with Chloe and Talia.” They both nodded in agreement.

“Thanks, so what’s going on with those two?” gesturing to the rather relaxed pair that Sam and Allie made.

Talia opened her mouth to speak, but remembered she couldn’t and made an annoyed look on her face, and beckoned him to come to her. Mark rolled his eyes but complied and went over and kissed her on the lips. “Thank you, I kept forgetting that they couldn’t hear me. It is rather frustrating. We are going to need to figure out a way to resolve my having to kiss you every day.”

“Well, I’m not saying I don’t like it, but you don’t have to kiss me every day.”

“Mark, not having your voice is very inconvenient, and I need to be able to lecture when we go back to the normal world. Assuming I can even maintain my job, that is.”

“Sure, I get that, but I meant you don’t have to kiss ME. At least I am fairly certain. Read your transformation again; it says a kiss on your lips, not a kiss from me on your lips. Maybe Cassandra put some restrictions there, but I don't think that it is just me.”

“But… you’re the only guy here, and I doubt you’d want me kissing other men when we get back, so… Oh. Um. I see. Mark, I don’t want to harp on it, but I am straight, and it kind of grosses me out to think about doing that. I mean, you said you were straight, too, right? Think about if you had to kiss a guy every day.”

“I get that. You're right, I wouldn’t want to kiss other men. I just wanted to mention it is an option, in case you really need to talk and I can’t come to you. So you were going to say before this tangent, Allie and Sam?

“Well, we don’t know exactly what happened, but Chloe and Merida stopped by there and brought them over. They have been kind of just really peaceful looking.” Talia elaborated

“Seems like they are high if you ask me. Seen teammates take a hit and just space out for a while like this.” Laura added.

“Master Mark, if I may.” Freya interrupted and was noticed for the first time by the other women. “I believe that Sam and Allie here used the Hookah of Whispers, and while I am not sure precisely which spice pods they used, I know there are a few that essentially put them in a relaxed or calm state. They both should still be lucid and rational. Just very calm. It should wear off in a few hours unless they overdosed. If you like, I can go over to the Sugar Garden and try and find out exactly what and how much they took.”

“Thank you, Freya. Before you go, though. Everyone, this is Freya, my new butler. She and her sisters are apparently going to be part of my staff from now on, even after the show ends.”

“Wait—hoo’d ye end up wi’ a butler? An' why, exactly? Thoucht a wumman doin’ that wis ca'd a maid.” Merida said not being able to help herself.

Freya responded before Mark could, “No, the role of a butler and a maid are distinct and not gender specific. Though one could call me a butleress, it is sort of like actor or actress, where actor is the more proper term unless you are specifically excluding men for some reason. So Butler is correct here. As for the difference, young miss. A butler is in charge of maintaining order in their master’s household. While it has varied throughout history, they are also trusted and close advisors to the master of the estate and would be put in charge of running an estate while the Master was away. While maids are housekeepers, cleaning, cooking, child rearing, and the like.”

“Awe richt, cheers for the wee lesson, I guess… but seriously, Mark—why dae ye hae a butler?”

“I bought the Princely Staff TF, which I wasn’t given in the last round of voting. I figured none of you would mind me being particularly compatible in that department. I honestly forgot about the fact that it came with a butler and servants, until Freya here woke me up this morning.”

“If there is nothing else, Sir, I will head to the Sugar Garden.” Freya gave a slight bow and walked off.

“Weel, isn’t she a peach? I suppose it’ll be nice havin’ someone ‘roond tae help keep things in order for ye.”

“So, the others are really okay?” Chloe asked again with concern dripping from her voice.

“Yeah, Cassandra thinks they’ll be fine too. They just need some rest. But I think you should all be very careful how much you use the amenities. Please take it slow, like real slow, I don’t want a repeat of this morning.”

“Sure, so you don’t want any of this breakfast I made, then?” Laura teased him.

“Hey now, let’s not be hasty, a man's got to eat, and your food was great.”

“Very well, I suppose you can have a waffle with the rest of us.” At which point she went back inside and grabbed a new stack of waffles for everyone, along with some syrup.

While they were eating, Freya returned. “Sir, there doesn’t appear to be any reason to be alarmed. The two of them should be back to normal shortly after lunch. If you would like, I can monitor them for you until they are back to normal and then help Allie get ready for her date tonight. ”

“Thank you, Freya.”

“I think I am going to take a walk around town for a bit, if any of you would like to join me. I can also wait for you if you want to check on the others first.”

“I know I said I would bring food over to them, but I would actually like to join if that isn’t a problem.” Talia requested

“Sure, I don’t mind waiting.”

“Nonsense, we don’t need three people to carry three plates and a jar of syrup.” Laura chimed in, “You two go enjoy yourselves.”

“What about you, Merida? Want to join us?”

Merida glanced towards Talia and thought, given the conversation before Mark showed up, Talia would prefer to take the walk with him alone. “Nah, I’m good—I think I’ll stay here a while an’ get tae ken Freya a wee bit better.”

“Okay, shall we then?” Mark said, offering Talia his arm. Talia stood and reluctantly interlaced her arm with his. They began to walk towards the town.

Coming out of the portal together, Mark and Talia both received a ping on their phones at the same time.

Hi all, I wanted to let you know that due to budget cuts and the need to pay Mark’s new staff, we are going to have to reduce not only BP rewards for most things we are actually going to need to cut your current BP totals in half right now. New BP totals are displayed after this message. Deepest apologies, Cassandra.

Ellen - 2775 BP - 18VP

Flora - 1100BP - 10VP

Aubrey - 2075BP - 8VP

Samantha - 2775BP - 5VP

Talia - 725BP - 4 VP

Allie - 2475BP - 4VP

Laura - 3200BP - 0VP

Merida - 2825BP - 0VP

Chloe - 1775BP - 0VP

12850BP Mark

“Well, I don’t know if that is a good or bad thing. I was struggling to find stuff to buy to push down my BP, but all of you losing a bunch isn’t great either.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it. I think Laura is the only person who might get too upset… maybe Chloe. She does have a thing about money. Is there somewhere in particular you wanted to go, or do you just want to take a stroll?”

“I just want to look around to see if there is anything interesting.” With that, they just meandered around town for a while. Partway through, Talia leaned into his arm a bit more as they walked.

This is nice. I guess being here isn’t the worst. “Mark?” He let out a hmm in response. “About the deal Cassandra offered.”

“You mean the one I told you not to take?” Mark did not like the direction of this conversation already.

“Yes, that one.” She said, a little annoyed with Mark’s tone. “I talked about it with the other girls, the most with Laura of all people. I thought I wouldn’t really get along with her, but she was nice and helpful. She thought I should take the deal even if you didn’t want me to.”

“Well, Laura is very laid back about a lot of things and doesn’t seem to mind the whole situation all that much, so I could understand her thinking the deal would be good.”

“That’s the thing, though. She told me that if Cassandra offered her the same deal, she wouldn’t take it. It wouldn’t be worth it.”

“Okay, now I’m confused.”

“She thought I should take it, and if she were in my shoes, she would take it, but she doesn’t want it for herself now.”

“Okay, sure. But you’re asking me to change you. That is a lot of power you’re giving me.”

“Is it? Laura raised the point first last night, but so did all the others at breakfast. We all saw what you could buy in your store if you wanted to, and we only saw a fraction of the store so far. The power you have over us is already substantial. But of those at breakfast, only Chloe thought I shouldn’t take the deal. I was originally going to discount Sam and Allie’s opinions, but assuming we can trust Freya, they understood the deal and could respond rationally.”

“And what was Chloe’s reasoning?”

“A bit that nothing is stopping Cassandra from going back on her word. But also, that it is way too much power to make you use, and that you probably wouldn’t be happy about it.”

“Well, I agree with the second two points, but while a host going back on a deal isn’t impossible, there has to be a really good reason, or the audience tends to flip out. Which could get Cassandra replaced.”

“Oh no, she’ll be replaced. Big deal, she doesn’t get to finish the season as host. Such a loss.” The sarcasm in her voice was evident.

“Talia, about half the time I’ve read about a host being replaced, they either were put into the Harem of the current Master for their season, or they suffered the equivalent of an elimination transformation. It’s one thing for a season to get canceled, which can happen for any number of reasons, but getting replaced means either they suck, screwed up, or pissed off the wrong person.”

“Oh — I see. So, she doesn’t have much of a choice about this either.”

“Oh, she definitely does at least somewhat, but she is also one of the **** hosts. Back to the deal, though. The other two reasons are very valid. I shouldn't have that kind of power over you.”

“But you do.”

“Fine, I shouldn’t exercise that power. It is way too much.”

“Where’s your line? Hmm?”

“What?”

“Your line, the one you don’t want to cross. Obviously, there is one. I know it is a bit hypocritical of me, but I don’t really care; you don’t want to do it even for an okay reason, why? But where is your line? Because for me, I have to cross a line I never wanted to, no matter what happens. I don’t see a way to prevent it. Either I accept the fact I am going to be eliminated and allow someone to replace me, or I accept that I will have some sort of intimate relationship with you, where at least you don’t have to be monogamous. Because I thought about the alternative, where I try to win challenges to get by and do nothing with you. I don’t think I’ll make 100 points with that, which means I will still be **** into a niche in your harem. Of the two lines, I would rather be with you willingly than get eliminated. So, I’ll ask again what your line is, and why shouldn’t you have to cross a few for us?”

Mark was at a loss for words. Partly because he didn’t know what that line was. Partly because she was right, they were being **** to cross lines they didn’t want to, why shouldn’t he for their benefit? “Look, I don’t know where it is. And you’re right, I am going to have to cross some lines, but that is one I really don’t want to.”

“Then don’t, let me cross it for you. The rules were that you had to use them on something you think would make me better as part of your harem. Not that you had to choose them. I’ll pick some I think will work. If they don’t, you can ask me for more, or we can discuss it. But if you decided that you just wanted to use them yourself, I wouldn’t exactly be okay with it, but I think you can be trusted.”

“So, you intend to take the deal?”

“I don’t know yet. But I want you to be seriously considering the possibility that I am.”

“Okay, I’ll think of some options too, then, just in case. But I really hope you don’t take it, you don't need it to survive this.” Talia looked at him and just nodded. Then she rested her head on his arm, and they walked for a bit more before winding up back at the main fountain.

“Thank you for today, Mark. I think it is about time for you to go get ready for your date with Allie, though.” With that, she touched his cheek with one hand and kissed his other cheek goodbye and stepped through one of the portals.”