She didn't seem to care, she sat there and smiled at me

Kim checked her looks in the mirror one final time going to get breakfast. She was surprised how quickly she’d gotten used to wearing a schoolgirl uniform.

Well, I suppose it’s better than the uniform at McDonald’s, she conceded. Her white blouse, red tie, and pleated tartan skirt looked a lot better than those shapeless blobs of clothing she’d worn at so many other part-time jobs. Wearing this, she almost looked… cute?

I look like I have money, she realized. The uniform she’d picked out today was that of a prestigious girl’s school in the rich part of town where she lived, complete with a dark blue blazer and knee-high socks. How many times had she seen those spoiled trust fund babies walk by gabbing about where they should spend their vacations while she worked her ass off scraping gum off the bottoms of tables?

Those brats who had never worked a day in their lives didn't appreciate their daddy’s fancy cars and platinum credit cards, not like she would have. And when her mother got remarried and her family had access to some honest-to-god real money she’d sworn not to let it change her.

But still… looking this good is nice. This uniform is probably worth more than I could make in a year at the gas station. Kim smiled as she admired herself for a few seconds before remembering that she had places to be. If she wanted to get breakfast before her date with Nick, she needed to hurry!

Kim rushed into the banquet hall, stomach growling insistently. Her mouth started watering as she looked over all the options. Today, she was going to have pancakes AND waffles!

“You seem to be in a good mood,” Gina noted, slinking over to her. “Excited for your date today?” Kim was surprised. The blonde so rarely left her room this early, preferring to sleep in. She was nibbling on some toast, and Kim subconsciously licked her lips.

There was butter AND jam on it. She didn’t have to choose! And not only that, the toaster here wasn’t like the crappy one back at her mom’s apartment that would turn one side of the bread into charcoal while leaving the other side completely untouched.

“Um… I guess I am,” she admitted. To be honest, she was more excited about breakfast. “I’m a little nervous, honestly, I don’t know anything about Nick. We only talked together a few times.”

Nick was cute, he made her laugh, and he was genuinely polite and considerate of how hard her job as a grocery bagger had been. That was all she really knew about the guy, besides his nebulous troubles with women.

“I suppose you do know him the least out of all of us here,” a snooty voice said from behind her. Kim turned to see Dawn sitting at the table, reading a book while eating some yogurt. Her tail bobbed in the air behind her and she glanced up. “Sorry. I didn’t mean that to sound rude.”

“No, it’s fine,” Kim said, getting some waffles after finishing up with the pancakes. “You’re completely right. You guys know so much about him, but for me he’s really just a stranger I talked to a couple times a week for the last few months.”

“Well, that’s what these dates are for, right?” Gina shrugged. “Getting to know the guy. Heck, it’s been 15 years since we last saw each other, you think we started out having things to talk about? Nah, we had to ease into each other a little bit.”

She grinned, socking Kim in the arm with a little more strength than she probably meant to.

Kim turned to the last, and best, part of the “make your own pancake and/or waffle” station.

The toppings.

Assuming she could get something resembling a pancake to cool properly on the half-broken stove back home, Kim would be lucky to have them with some butter. Syrup was a luxury she could maybe afford on holidays.

But here? There were more types of syrup than Kim knew existed, spreads of every kind of berry in existence, not to mention chocolate drizzles, caramel sauces, whipped cream, the works! For a girl who’d had to skip so many meals just to keep her family’s financials afloat, this place was like paradise.

Kim may have been the only girl here who was actually enjoying herself. For once, she had real, honest-to-god food in her belly, she’d stuffed herself to bursting every chance she got!

…I might need to see if Dani can set up a workout routine for me, she realized. If I don’t get this under control I might get fat.

Once she’d slathered her pancakes and waffles with so many toppings that she could barely make out the parts that were pastries, Kim sat down next to Dawn. Gina seemed incapable of sitting still, hovering around the table and nibbling on her toast like a squirrel with a nut.

“Yes?” Dawn asked, glancing up from her book curiously. She wasn’t used to someone seeking out company with her.

“Oh, it’s, um… I was just wondering…” Kim swallowed and asked the question she’d been dying to ask for days now. “How did your date with Nick go? What did you do together?”

Dawn raised her eyebrow, curious why Kim would ask a question like that. Then her face began to heat up as she remembered what the two of them HAD done together, specifically, the awful movie they’d both watched.

“Is there any particular reason you’d like to know?” She asked hotly, causing Kim to jump in her seat a little.

“Oh, um, sorry,” she apologized. “I didn’t mean to pry, if it’s private, I just, well…”

“We went to a music store, hung out at a bar, and got loaded as hell!” Gina crowed. “If you’re looking for suggestions, I mean.”

Kim scowled. She wasn’t, actually, and she definitely didn’t want to get drunk. **** reminded her of the harder times in her family, before her mother had managed to get her life back together after her biological father abandoned them.

“We know, you’ve told everyone about a thousand times,” Dawn tersely rebuked her “buddy”.

“I’m sorry for prying,” Kim tried again. “It’s just that I’m really trying to get a feel for Nick, you know? I mean, we all know what Dani did, because she told everyone, and Mary spent all day yesterday talking about her carriage ride and her trip to the bookstore, and since Carly’s not back, well… you’re the only person I haven’t been able to ask yet.”

It was an obvious explanation, but Dawn wasn’t exactly looking to give her opponents tips on what to do. Kim may have been a sweet girl, but she was still one of Dawn’s opponents at the end of the day.

She was about to let the other girl know as much when Carly strolled over to their table.

“What’s that about me?” She asked, leaning forward and planting her hand on the table so everyone could see the number “16” emblazoned on her palm.

Kim felt overwhelmed by the overt display of sexuality coming from the other girl. Her hair was still the black she’d dyed it, but it didn’t settle in its usual very short bob; rather, it was a tangled mess of curls not unlike Dakota’s current hairstyle, which, combined with the glow of her skin and the number on her hand, suggested a night of very vigorous activities.

What made Carly even more imposing was the costume she’d been assigned today. She was dressed as the Scarlet Witch, and not the reserved costumes from the live-action movies. No, this was the OG outfit with a plunging neckline that revealed a significant amount of her large chest, dwarfing even Gina’s boobs.

“Whoa, 16?” Gina asked, her eyes widening. “Dude, don’t tell me you two had sex!”

Carly’s lips curled up into a smirk and she tapped her chin. “…Maybe…”

Kim winced. It was just as she feared. If Carly and Nick were already sleeping together, any chance she had of getting him to look her way just vanished. She didn’t like the idea of using her body to get ahead in a game like this, but had resigned herself to a date regardless. But if he wanted her to put out…

“Don’t fall for it,” Dawn said, not even looking up from her book.

“Huh?” Kim asked. Gina just stared blankly at her buddy.

“She’s only got a 16, right?” Dawn asked, glancing up at the two confused girls. “She didn’t have sex with him.”

Carly said nothing, raising her eyebrow curiously and leaning in.

“How do you know?” Gina demanded.

Dawn rolled her eyes. “Because her number is too low. Think about it. Sylvia wants to reward us for having sex. Not only that, the first person who does something with Nick, they’re going to get double the points for it. Remember what happened with your boobs?”

“No,” Gina shook her head. She remembered very little from the first day.

Dawn groaned and rubbed her temples in frustration.

“I remember,” Kim said, coming to Gina’s aid. “The first person to do a specific sexual act with Nick earns double the points.”

“That’s right,” Dawn nodded. “And if that act is sex, it will be worth a lot more than just 16. I suspect it will be worth about 10 VP, or doubled to 20. If she doesn’t have 20 points, then I doubt she had sex with him.”

“You don’t know that, though,” Gina said. “Maybe she has 16 points because sex is only worth 9 points, not 10!”

The table was silent.

“What?” Gina asked, looking at everyone’s faces. Carly and Kim wore looks of amusement and pity, respectively, while Dawn looked frustrated as hell.”

“9 x 2 is 18, Gina, not 16,” Dawn informed her. “Half of 16 is 8.”

“Okay, fine, 8 points then,” Gina scowled. “It could happen.”

“Sure, it COULD happen,” Dawn said sarcastically. “So what are you saying? Carly had sex with him with all her clothes on? Dani got points just for touching his dick, you know. And getting naked is 5 points. The numbers just don’t add up. No, in fact, I’d bet Nick didn’t let you get that far, did he?” She asked smugly, turning to the cosplayer.

Carly whistled. “I guess that’s why you’re the smart one here.”

“Well, once you consider the point distributions of the sex acts we know about, it’s easy to guess what the value of other activities are,” Dawn smirked, tapping her head. “I’ve got it all loaded up on a chart in here.”

“…Wow, you really care a lot about where Nick's getting his satisfaction from,” Carly smirked, causing Dawn to redden. Sensing blood, the curvy girl pressed further. “Are you sure Holly’s the one who got the cuck fetish and not you?”

She glanced at the “0” on Dawn’s hand. “Because it looks like you’re starting to fall behind…”

Dawn slammed her book shut and walked off with a huff, her tail standing on end.

Kim sighed and returned to her breakfast. Today was her very first date. It didn't look like it would be off to a good start.

---

Nick descended the elevator, worried about what was waiting for him. Knowing how much of a tease Carly was, he hoped she didn’t put any sort of unnecessary expectations into Kim’s head.

I really fucked up. I can’t believe I let things get that far! Nick bemoaned. He’d spent the morning beating himself up. He’d been so close to giving into his urges and having sex with Carly last night. The only reason he’d been able to keep from crossing the line was because Carly had taken him at his word that he didn’t want sex. If she’d ignored him and pressed the issue, he was certain that in his mental state last night, he would have done whatever she wanted just to get off.

He couldn’t let something like that happen again. He was thinking clearly now. But because he was thinking clearly, he knew he couldn’t be trusted. He knew what Carly’s naked body looked like. His hands still remembered how soft her boobs felt. That was sticking with him. The next time they were alone together, he doubted he’d have any better control of himself than he did last night; it would probably be worse.

Oh yeah. They’d be fucking. He could see it. Now, the right thing to do then would be to keep himself under control and stay as far away from her as he could. But that wasn’t an option. Sylvia had made it clear that the girls would have to spend one night with him each week.

Succumbing to Carly seemed inevitable.

Right now, though, he didn’t want to think about her. He was already starting to get hard remembering last night, and that was the last thing he wanted. His date with Kim would be starting any second now, and of all the girls here, she was the one who he couldn’t get a read on. They were practically strangers.

He didn’t want his first date with the girl he’d been pining after for months to start on a first impression like that.

Luckily he managed to get his penis under control by the time the elevator came to a stop and Kim stepped on. As far as school uniforms went, she had chosen a rather modest one. It came with a blazer, and judging by the symbol emblazoned over the breast, it was from a private school.

The rest of her though, wow. Her skirt was tantalizingly short, so short it almost clashed with the modest image her blazer conjured up. It looked like something that belonged in a porno, not a private school, and the contrast was deliciously forbidden. But what really stood out to him was her smile. Kim had a smile that could light up the room, so bright and cheerful it left him enraptured.

“H-Hey,” he said, greeting her awkwardly as she got onto the elevator. “It, uh, it’s been a while.”

“I guess it has,” she said. “So, um… a date, wow…”

And the conversation promptly died there.

What was he supposed to do? He barely knew this girl! She was 7 years younger than him, and he doubted they had very much in common! In hindsight, he couldn’t believe he’d considered asking her out before. Would they even be able to function as a couple?

“So this is weird, right?” Kim pulled the thoughts from his head and put them into words, staring at him. She was still smiling that cheerful smile, but the way she’d phrased that made it clear that she was just as uncomfortable about this as he was.

“…Really weird,” Nick sighed, deflating. “I mean, when you think about it, we’re strangers, right? I didn’t even know your last name until you got here!”

“Well, I knew yours,” Kim laughed. “Nick Reynolds.”

“How-?”

“Driver’s license,” she grinned. Oh, right. He’d bought **** several times when she’d been the cashier.

“But you’re right,” she added. “We don’t really know each other that well. Is that why you never asked me out?”

“What?!” Nick was taken aback. “You, uh… how did you…? Did Sylvia tell you?” Of course that little minx would plant the idea he was going to ask Kim out in her mind before the date. Even if it happened to be the truth.

Kim laughed. “No, it was obvious. The way you lit up every time you saw me? How you’d always get in my lane, even though the girl next to me had a shorter line? It was so obvious I bet even my manager figured it out.”

Wow. Between Dawn’s little revelation of how much she’d been aware of his persistence, and Kim’s declaration right now, Nick was becoming abundantly aware that he was NOT as good at hiding his feelings as he thought he was.

“I feel so embarrassed,” Nick groaned, hiding his face in his hands.

“Don’t be,” Kim said. “Look, I’m going to be honest with you, stuff like that happens. You think I perfected this smile because I wanted to drive people away?”

“Still,” Nick said, shaking his head. “Hitting on a girl in the service industry is-"

“Not what you were doing,” Kim finished for him. “Believe me, I’ve been hit on before. By all manner of creeps. Compared to that, you were almost cute.”

Nick blushed. Cute? The only person who’s ever called me cute is Carly when she’s making fun of me.

When Kim said it, though, it sounded kind of sweet.

“Nick, I want to make two things clear to you,” Kim said as the elevator came to a stop. “First: it’s okay if we’re feeling awkward, or don’t really know much about each other. In fact, I’d go so far as to call that ‘normal’ for a first date. We’re getting to know each other.”

“Okay… what’s the second thing?” Nick asked as the door opened.

Kim gave him another heart-throbbing smile.

“If you’d asked me out, I would have said yes.” And without elaborating further she stepped out of the elevator and Nick followed her outside-

Wait, outside?

Nick took a look around. For a second he thought Kim had taken him to a jungle, but that didn’t make any sense. “Where is this?” He asked. “Are we still in the hotel?”

Massive plants filled every corner of his eyes. Trees, flowers, shrubs, bushes, there was even a long river flowing past. The only way he knew that he hadn’t gotten transported to some dense rainforest was the fact that the ground was covered in white walkways made of wood that seemed to snake through the plantlife like veins.

“According to the map, we’re still inside… somehow,” Kim said. “Well, I suppose it’s more accurate to call this an offshoot of the hotel, maybe? The map said it’s a botanical garden.”

Nick remembered the shopping district. Another place that shouldn’t be “inside” a hotel, but somehow was.

“I guess there’s no point in questioning stuff like this,” Nick sighed, shaking his head. “This hotel is just messed up.”

“You can say that again,” Kim agreed with a nod. Her smile seemed even brighter since she’d stepped off the elevator. “But still, whatever the reason, I’m glad we’re here.”

“Okay, I’ll bite,” Nick said. “Why’d you choose a botanical garden for our first date?”

Kim glanced away, feeling a little embarrassed. “B-Because… because I’m nervous…” She admitted. “This is my first date, after all. And this place… well, it’s kind of my safe space.”

That was a word Nick didn’t think he’d hear used in conjunction with anywhere in the Harem Hotel. “What do you mean?” He asked, catching up to her. The pair strolled down the path and arrived at a wide observation deck, overlook a large lake surrounded by greenery.

“You know I’m working a lot of odd jobs, right? Like at the grocery store, or gas stations, or fast food restaurants.”

“I remember the grocery store…”

“Well, those are the only kinds of jobs I can get,” Kim sighed. “I’ve been working since I was 14.”

“14 years old?!” Nick sputtered in disbelief.

“I wanted to get a job even younger, but I couldn’t,” Kim shrugged. “See… my family, we’re not exactly what you’d call ‘well-off’.”

If Kim needed to work since she was 14, that was the understatement of the year.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t-“

“Don’t apologize,” she said, her smile shifting into a hard scowl. “Look, I’ve had a pretty rough life. And no, I don’t want to talk about it.”

She felt like an idiot. The whole point of this date was to get closer to Nick, to open up to him and show him who she was. Kim should be spilling her guts about her crappy situation growing up to earn pity points and get him to comfort her. If he liked her and felt sorry for her lot in life, things would be easier for her.

But that’s not my style, she reminded herself. Kim had gotten this far through the power of Kim. Since the day she first picked up a mop and started scrubbing, she’d resolved herself not to accept charity if she could help it. If Nick’s going to pick me as the winner, it’s going to be because I’m me. Not because I guilted him into it. I’d be no better than a con artist if I used his compassion like that.

So instead of frowning, she smiled. She’d practiced it for hours in the mirror at first, getting it just right. A smile to conceal the grit and frustration weighing her down. And now, a smile that would get a guy she kind of liked to fall for her, if she was lucky.

“I picked the botanical gardens because there’s one not too far away from where I live,” Kim explained. “Ever been? West Sanctuary Gardens off the 64th.”

Nick shook his head. “Sorry, but looking at plants has never really been my thing…”

Kim smiled. At least he was honest. That meant a lot. “Ah, I getcha. Yeah, it’s not for everyone. But see, it’s free access. That’s what’s so great about it. Going to the movies, or going shopping, heck, even watching TV, all that stuff involves spending money. But if I’m between shifts, I can come to a place like this and just lose myself in nature for hours at a time, you know?”

“Yeah, I understand,” Nick nodded. “When you live in the big city, there’s not much green around. And hey, if I didn’t have TV, I might do the same thing.”

“Somehow I doubt that,” Kim laughed. “You seem much more the type to bum around in a bookstore or go to the library.”

Oof. Guilty as charged. “That obvious, huh?” He winced.

“Nah. Mary told me.” She stuck out her tongue. “But see, a place like this, it really helps calm me down,” she sighed. “I can actually, well… I can just be me for a little while. No manager making me clean up vomit, no chance that the tweeker in line might pull a gun and shoot me-”

“WHAT?!”

“Sorry,” she stuck out her tongue again. “There’s your first lesson about me, Nick. Dark sense of humor.”

Nick didn’t understand kids these days. Maybe it was the nihilism that came from working minimum wage. But he’d get used to it.

“You were a lot more chipper when you were bagging my groceries,” he noted.

“I was on the clock then!” She protested. “You think I’m allowed to use my best material? I’d give the little old ladies heart attacks!”

“I guess that’s one of the rough parts of your job,” Nick nodded. “Hey, can I ask you something?”

“Hmm? Yeah, go ahead.” She climbed onto the guard railing, digging her shoes into the space between the plants of the fence so she could stand up slightly and lean over the edge. She rested her palms on wood and let the wind blow through her hair.

She looked so picturesque in the morning light Nick forgot what he was going to say for a second, but then it returned to him.

“Why’d you quit your job at the grocery store?” He asked cautiously. “It’s been bugging me for the last month, honestly. I mean, we were getting along so great, and then you suddenly left before I could ask you out, and well…”

Dani’s face flashed through his mind. Kim had been a painful reminder of the last time he’d been ghosted.

Kim sighed. She looked back at him and shook her head. “I know what you’re going to ask, and don’t worry, it wasn’t because of you. You didn’t ‘drive me away’ or anything like that, believe me. No, I left because of school. My classes were changing for the upcoming quarter, and well… I couldn’t keep working there AND do my work. That’s all it is.”

Her smile brightened. “Feel better? Nothing to do with you.”

“It’s definitely a relief,” Nick admitted. “I’m glad at least one girl didn’t cut me off for no reason. But believe me, you have every reason to be upset.”

She looked at him, confused. Which confused him right back in turn.

Out of everyone here, Kim probably had the most cause to hold a grudge against him for being on this show. At least the other girls, even Holly, had been significantly close enough to him where it wasn’t unusual that they’d been selected.

But Kim was practically a stranger. Just because he’d developed a crush on her, she’d wound up getting **** into the harem of a guy she’d known for less than three months.

That just wasn’t normal. She should have been upset, but she wasn’t.

“Why are you taking this so well?” He asked. “Shouldn’t you be pissed as hell that you wound up here because of my feelings for you?”

Kim hopped off the guardrail and shrugged, continuing down the path. “I guess I get what you mean,” she admitted. “But honestly? I’m not having that much of a problem here. The food’s good, I’m not breaking my ass every day working hard, and the other girls, well… they’re nice. I’m the oldest in my family, but it kind of feels like I’ve got some big sisters!”

Then she giggled. “Well… Mary might be older than me, but I guess she’s somewhat of a little sister.”

Nick nodded. “She definitely gives off that vibe sometimes,” he acknowledged.

“And hey, look at what I’m wearing,” Kim said, doing a little twirl. “Sure, they’re schoolgirl uniforms, but that just means I’ll never have to worry about clothes for the rest of my life. Way better than all the worn-out stuff back home.”

She sighed and looked out across the vista at the multitude of plants filling the horizon.

“I guess I’m just making the best out of what’s happened,” she shrugged.

“Sounds to me like you’re just enjoying a vacation,” Nick smirked. “What happened to the girl who values hard work?”

Kim stuck out her tongue. “Well, there’s only so much work I can do here,” she replied. “And most of that work is- hey, what the heck’s going on here?”

The two of them arrived at a fork in the path. One route continued on in the direction they’d been going, while the other headed into a dense shrub maze with the words “Flora of the Demon World” written in blood.

Nick and Kim glanced at each other. No way, right?

“You’re not scared, are you?” Kim taunted him. She took a step forward. “You’re the adult here, after all. No way an innocent little schoolgirl is braver than you, right?”

“Is the next thing I learn about you that you’re reckless?” Nick asked. “I thought someone as diligent as you would be more responsible.”

“Come on, it’s not like Sylvia could actually let us get hurt,” Kim said. “Think about it. We’re putting on a show for her, right? If we get injured or killed, well, that would be catastrophic for the ratings. You’re the harem master, right? If you’re not here, what happens to the show?”

“Exactly! Thank you for being so responsible!”

Kim and Nick leapt back in shock as Sylvia materialized from the mouth of the hedge maze with a smile on her face.

“Here at Harem Hotel, we’ve gathered many different types of plantlife from all sorts of places,” Sylvia said. “Some are certainly not for interacting with. I’m afraid to say that this section of the botanical garden is off-limits at this stage of the competition.”

Nick didn’t like the sound of that. He and Kim glanced at each other, and headed down the other fork in the road to continue their conversation.

---

Nick and Kim finished up at the botanical garden, and headed back to the elevator. They’d spent the last few hours discussing things of great importance.

“Favorite book,” Nick asked.

Kim responded automatically. “The Catcher in the Rye.”

“Really? Wow,” Nick said, surprised. “It’s a classic, but I didn’t think it’d be your thing.”

“Had to read it for a class,” she shrugged. “It’s way better if you look at it from the perspective of Holden being a miserable prick who we’re supposed to hate the whole way through.”

“…Can’t argue with that one,” Nick admitted.

“My turn. Favorite animal?” Kim asked.

“Rabbits. Gotta love cute little bunnies.”

“Seriously?! Me too!” Kim gasped. “I’ve always wanted a pet myself, but they’re really expensive, sadly. And our apartment wouldn’t let us have one.”

“So you didn’t even have a pet cat?” Nick asked.

“Nope,” she shook her head. “What about you? Have you had any pets?”

“We had some cats and dogs at my house,” Nick nodded. “Sadly they’ve all passed away by now.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Kim winced. “Yeah, I guess that’s a downside of having a pet, huh… eventually, it’s gonna pass away on you…”

“It’s tragic,” Nick agreed.

“But hey, you’ve got Dawn now!” Kim joked. “She’s practically halfway to being your pet cat, right?”

Nick winced. He didn’t want to think about any potential transformations in Dawn’s future. Instead he changed the subject.

“Well, on the topic of pet cats, did you know Dawn has five of them?”

Kim’s jaw dropped. “No way, really?! She said she had cats, but FIVE? That… that is a lot, right?” Having never raised a pet herself, she wasn’t quite sure.

“It’s a lot,” Nick nodded as they entered the elevator. “So where are we going to get lunch, by the way? Some fancy restaurant?”

“Well, it’s my dream date,” Kim grinned. “So we’re going to all the places I’ve always wanted to go on my first date ever!”

The doors opened the smell of salt and grease hit Nick in the face.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me. Your dream date involves McDonald’s?” Nick couldn’t believe where he was right now. Faeries bustled around dressed in miniature versions of the standard uniform, and even the depressing, overworked atmosphere was the same.

Of all the fancy restaurants that no-doubt existed within (and without) the hotel’s walls, she wanted to eat at a McDonald’s?

“…Don’t judge,” Kim frowned, turning a little red. “Yes, for the last few days, I’ve been eating all kinds of great food, but… well… that’s not really ‘me’. This date’s about you getting to know me, and, well… I always kinda expected my first date would involve getting lunch at a McDonald’s.”

It was an embarrassing thing to admit.

“…Sorry, I’m sure Dawn probably took you to some swanky café, but… well…”

Kim was a frugal girl. Even if the food didn’t cost a dime, she didn’t want to be too excessive. At the same time, Nick remembered where Dawn had actually taken him, and couldn’t help but smile.

“It’s okay,” he laughed. “I don’t mind. I eat McDonald’s too. Besides, I climbed a mountain last night, I’d say I earned it.” He’d also been so lost in getting with Carly that he’d skipped dinner. He didn’t tell her about that part of the date.

“So you seriously made that whole trek?” Kim asked, her eyes wide. “I cut out like a couple hours in! That’s pretty impressive!”

“Thanks,” Nick said, standing up a little taller. It felt nice having a younger girl look up to him like that.

They walked to the counter and got their food. It was covered in grease as expected, definitely McDonald’s cooking.

Oh, and because Sylvia had a twisted sense of humor, their meals came with toys. A little plastic cane that lit up when you waved it for Kim, and a plushy replica of Sylvia herself for Nick. Both went in the garbage when they were done with their meals.

Kim stepped into the elevator and reached for the button, but Nick caught her before she could push it. She looked at him, confused.

“What’s up?” She asked, getting a little worried. “Are you not having fun? Oh, you’re not, are you?”

“No, it’s not that!” Nick said, shaking his head. “Really, it’s not. I just… well… is this really all you want from our date? Walking around the botanical gardens, then getting lunch at McDonalds?”

Kim frowned. “Well… it’s what I can afford, so…”

“What you can afford? Come on, we're here for free, forget about that,” Nick protested. “You’re on vacation, remember? This is Harem Hotel, where you’re supposed to be living out your fantasies. You can’t tell me that your dream date is JUST the gardens, right? They’re beautiful, but come on. I know there’s more to you than that.”

Kim bit her lip. “But… it’s not right to just go somewhere that should be expensive for free! Even if I want to go somewhere else, I can’t just have my fantasy! I need to do what’s within my budget in order to-"

“Hey, this is my date too, right?” Nick asked. He’d have to play a little dirty if he wanted to get Kim to admit the truth. “In fact, wouldn’t you say that your job is making sure we both have fun on this date?”

“I-I guess…”

“So it’s not really like you’re living a fantasy then, is it?” Nick pressed. “In fact, you can think of it as doing your job! So come on, what is it? If you could go ANYWHERE you wanted, on your DREAM first date, and you didn’t have to worry about money, where would you go?”

Kim hesitated. She shouldn’t. It wasn’t right! …Was it? Could she really be that greedy? Just this once?

I guess… making the master happy is my job, so… it’s okay?

She swallowed her anxiety and pressed the button. The elevator rumbled to a stop and the doors opened on a place Kim had always wanted to go. She'd been tempted when she saw it on the map in the hotel, but had resisted. But Nick's words made it okay.

Nick was stunned. The gardens had been amazing, but this…

“An amusement park?”

Kim nodded shyly.

“When I was little… we drove by one,” she explained. “I begged my mom, asking if we could go. And she said maybe someday, when we could afford it, but… well…”

Kim shrugged awkwardly. “I always said, as soon as we got some disposable income, we’d go for a family trip to the amusement park. I even have a jar of change that I’ve been saving up in. And, well… I know it’s kind of cheating, but… is it okay? You know, if we just hang out here? W-We don’t have to go on any of the rides if that's too luxurious, but we could still-"

“Are you nuts?” Nick scoffed, grabbing her by the wrist and dragging her out into the bustling park. “Of course we’re going on the rides you idiot!”

---

Being at an amusement park when you’re the only two customers is a bizarre experience. For the first time he could remember, Nick didn’t have to wait in any long lines for the rides. He hadn’t come to an amusement park since he was a kid, and for Kim, this was the first time ever.

So they enjoyed the fuck out of it.

“WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Kim screamed at the top of her lungs as the roller coaster whipped around a sharp turn, making her stomach leap into her chest. This was exhilarating! The feeling of the wind rushing through her, pushing aside all her thoughts of financial responsibility and hard work, and just living in the moment, it felt better than she ever could have dreamed.

“Again!” She cheered, hopping off the cart. “I want to go again!”

“H-Hang on,” Nick panted, struggling to regain his balance. The world was spinning around him. “I’m not… I’m not quite used to this stuff, so just… just hang on…”

“You good?” Kim winced. “I know it was pretty fast.”

“I used to be way better at this sort of thing,” Nick said, stumbling to a bench and sitting down. His head and stomach were having a race over which could spin the faster, and at this point it was looking like a tie. “Getting old sucks.”

“Hey, come on,” Kim laughed. “You’re not that old! You’re not even 30!”

“Maybe not… but apparently I’m still old enough where I can say ‘I can’t handle roller coasters like I used to’,” Nick groused. He knew his body had been on the decline in recent years, but he never would have expected this would be an issue.

He wasn’t going to throw up. That would end the date in disaster. No, he was going to hang on, and make sure not to lose his lunch. He wasn’t about to ruin Kim’s perfect date just because he was having a hard time dealing with a few extra G’s.

“Well, tell you what,” Kim decided. “We don’t have to go on the roller coaster anymore. Let’s do something else instead.”

Nick squinted up at her from where he lay collapsed on the bench. “You sure about that?” He asked. “I mean… this is your date, after all…”

“It’s our date,” Kim tossed his words back in his face. She sat down on the tiny part of the bench that he wasn’t using as a bed, and bit into the churro she’d bought. It just wasn’t an amusement park without churros and cotton candy.

“Still… you should do the stuff you want to do,” Nick mumbled. He was starting to feel a little better, and no longer felt the impending risk of vomiting. But his stomach was still queasy, and another ride like that would take it out of him.

“How about that one?” Kim asked, pointing at another ride towering up over the concession stands. It looked like a merry-go-round, but it clearly wasn’t. Large chairs were suspended from the wide wheel, perfected for a couple to sit on.

Kim felt a little embarrassed just suggesting it. But being proactive was important! She could do something a little daring.

Once Nick was okay enough to walk, they made their way over to the ride and got on. Indeed, it was a couples’ ride. All the rides at the amusement park were designed for two people to ride together, in fact. As the orange-haired faerie attendant strapped them in, she winked at the “couple”, and Nick turned red. Kim did as well.

The ride started easy enough, with the chair slowly rising up into the air. Their feet dangled over the pavement as the spinning tower in the center kept rising, and soon they were looking out over the entire park! The disk picked up speed and before Nick and Kim knew it, they were at a 45 degree angle from the ground!

Nick felt something soft press up against his side, and knew it had to be Kim’s boobs. He realized that this was part of Sylvia’s plan. Rides like this were designed to get him excited and worked up in order to make him more likely to take the next step. Well, he wasn’t going to fall for it. He’d already screwed up with Carly, he wasn’t about to do it with Kim.

After an agonizingly-long time of Kim pressed into Nick’s body, the spinning chairs slowed down and returned to their original positions. Kim pulled away immediately, hair a mess and face red as a tomato as she contemplated what just happened.

“I-I’m sorry,” she apologized, shaking her head. “That was a little… um…”

“Yeah, I know,” Nick said. They sat in awkward silence as the ride slowly lowered them back to the ground.

But the date didn’t stop there. They went on all sorts of rides after that, trying to avoid the ones that might make Nick throw up, or push them into compromising situations. It was more fun than they expected. Nick got to brag about how easily he made it through the hall of mirrors compared to Kim, while Kim would never let him live down the fact that he ran away screaming in the haunted house. (In Nick’s defense, the monsters WERE real and they DID want to eat him. Sylvia wasn’t going to settle for some amateur Scooby-Doo scares)

But Nick got his **** when they made it to the bumper cars.

“This isn’t fair!” Kim grumbled as Nick slammed into her from behind. “I don’t even have a driver’s license yet!”

“Not my problem,” Nick said, spinning the wheel and ramming her in the side, sending her car spinning out.

By the time the sun started setting, they’d had the time of their lives. They were laughing like hyenas as they stumbled through the darkening park.

“So what do you think?” Nick asked. “Was it everything you wanted?”

Kim nodded, smiling wistfully. Her eyes were on one last ride.

“Well,” she murmured, “there is one more thing I wanted to do. At the end of my first date, I mean.”

Nick followed her pointing finger to the Ferris wheel.

It was a little awkward sitting next to each other again, but at least this time the centripetal **** wasn’t smashing their bodies into each other.

“This is it,” Kim mused. “This is the best first date I could have asked for.” She wasn't being greedy. Just a small moment like this made her feel like the nervous girl from this morning was just a memory.

“I’m sorry about the roller coasters and stuff,” Nick took the opportunity to apologize. “I didn’t think they’d make me nauseous…”

“It’s fine,” Kim grinned. She tapped her chin. “Besides, I was thinking about it, and there were tons of rides. There was no way we could have gotten to ride all of them. I already rode the roller coaster once. If I want to do it again, well… I can always come back myself tomorrow, right?”

“You sure about that?” Nick asked, smirking. “Tomorrow you won’t be on the job. You’ll be doing something luxurious and indulgent on your time off. I thought that was a bad thing?”

Kim pouted, her cheeks flushing. “A little bit of indulgence never hurt anyone!” She replied.

“Well, this is the last ride, and I definitely had fun,” Nick said, looking out over the park as the wheel slowly turned, leading them closer and closer to the top. “I’d say your first date plan was a success!”

Kim beamed at Nick, staring into his eyes. Yeah, this was a nice date. Maybe if they’d gone on a real date, without all the Harem Hotel shenanigans, it could have been this nice too.

She liked Nick. It was just a crush for now, but it was real. And right now, on the Ferris wheel, she didn’t want today to end.

Then the ride jerked to stop. They’d reached the top of the wheel.

“Wait, it stopped moving?” Nick asked, surprised. His feet dangled in the air as he kicked, futilely trying to get it moving again through wind pressure.

“Haven’t you ever been on a Ferris wheel before?” Kim laughed, even though she had obviously never been on one before herself. “They always stop at the top. So you can admire the view.”

And do other things, she added.

“Oh. Okay, that’s pretty cool I guess,” Nick said, looking over the park. It was harder to see in the darkness, but there was still a lot of light from the other rides.

Kim swallowed, working up the courage. This was it. The perfect place. She hadn’t been sure until the car had stopped that this was what she wanted, but she knew it was.

I’m probably going to end up doing a lot more serious stuff during this competition. So at least this… at least this can be on my terms, when the mood is right. And there wasn’t going to be a better mood than this one.

“Nick… I almost forgot. There’s one other thing I wanted to do on my first date,” she whispered.

Nick turned towards her and was about to ask what she wanted, when she showed him. She leaned in and pressed her lips against his, kissing him with everything she had. Her bold move shocked him for a moment, but before he realized he was kissing her back.

Kissed the Master! +1 VP

First! x2 Multiplier