To perfume and make-up from ribbons and curls

Rose stepped out of the shower, and noticed with muted surprise that Carly and Marley were back already, and Carly was digging through her closet.

“What’s up?” She asked, still toweling off her hair. “I would have thought that you two would be off… I don’t know, hanging out and going shopping with Sylvia and Nick, you know?”

Marley sighed. “I wanted to,” she said, glancing over at her sister, “but Carly had a pretty bright idea, so…”

“Hey, Rose, just in time!” Carly glanced over her shoulder at the blonde. “Come over here and give me your opinion. What do you think of this?”

She held up a skimpy cheerleader outfit with a skirt that was way too short, and a shirt that would probably cut itself off just under her breasts.

Rose raised her eyebrow. “Uh… what, you mean you wanted to put it on?” She was a little surprised to see that, to be honest, because she’d just finished going over her list of potential bounties, and one of them included wearing a cheerleader costume. So for Carly to be shoving it right into her face… “Or… did you want me to wear it? What’s going on here?”

Carly blinked, confused. “Oh, no, I meant for Sylvia. Do you think it’s skimpy enough for her transformation?”

“Oh! Sylvia!” Rose relaxed slightly, laughing a little bit. “Sorry, I just didn’t expect that. Yeah… okay, I see what’s going on now. Hmm… I guess it’s pretty skimpy, but more importantly, it definitely counts as fetish wear.”

“Ah, good point,” Carly nodded, tossing the outfit into a pile of other skimpy cosplays. “I guess that’s another one, then, sis!”

“Yup,” Marley nodded. She looked a little disappointed, though.

“What’s up?” Rose asked Marley. “You two are picking out clothes for Sylvia, right? That bumming you out, for some reason?”

Marley nodded again. She lowered her voice to almost a whisper, glancing over at Carly. “Like… look, I don’t mind it so much, you know? After all, Sylvia’s basically my mom. I’m thrilled that Carly is being so nice to her, and giving her some of her clothes.”

Rose nodded. “But?”

“But… I don’t know. I guess I really wanted to go shopping with her.” Marley looked mournfully over at her sister. It was clear she felt a little bad about the fact that the two of them were, essentially, joined at the hip. She would have loved staying with Sylvia while Carly went to go pick out clothes of her own, but she couldn’t do that.

Rose couldn’t blame her for feeling that way.

Rose glanced between the two of them. The wheels in her head were already turning as she considered a new idea. She’d been intending to just duck out and go talk to Dawn to plan out her date, but she had another idea.

“Oh! I know!” She tittered, flashing a toothy smile. “If you two want to go different ways, then there’s an easy answer to that!”

“Huh?” Marley stared incredulously at Rose as Carly looked over her shoulder, confused and slightly intrigued.

“What do you mean?” Carly asked.

“Remember? I’m here!” Rose proudly placed her hand over her chest, holding her head up high. “Trust your buddy to help out in situations like these!”

Then she used her Method Acting transformation, to copy Carly’s transformation. The one that made Marley into her sister.

“Whoa, hey, wait a minute!” Marley gasped, realizing what Rose was going to do. But it was too late for that.

All three of them staggered slightly as new memories of being related flooded into all their heads. It wasn’t as shocking as it had been the first time, but it wasn’t exactly a picnic yet.

Rose struck another pose the second she regained her balance and her memories straightened out. She held up her head with a smile.

“And Rose Granger returns!” She tittered.

Carly suppressed a giggle. “Well… I guess that’s one solution to the problem, right sis? Sisses…? …Sissies, that’s it!”

“Not a chance,” Marley said sharply, glaring at her sister. She had no intention of being referred to like that, not if she could help it.

Carly just laughed. “Okay, okay. But that was pretty clever thinking, Rose! I never would have thought to ask something like that!”

“Of course,” Rose chirped. “As your buddy, I’m always willing to help out a friend! Especially one who’s now basically, family, right?”

She patted Marley on the back, and smiled. Marley smiled back, only her smile was a little shaky. After all, she still wasn’t completely sold on this idea. She had a lot of new memories to sift through, memories she’d experienced once before, the last time Rose had attempted this little stunt.

And now, they were clashing with both of the previous sets of memories, one of her as a plant, and the other as Carly’s twin sister.

“I’m glad my brain is so developed now,” Marley said, rubbing her temples. “Back when I was a slime girl, I probably would have been completely overwhelmed by all these new memories flooding into me head.”

“Ah, yeah, sorry about that,” Rose apologized. “I guess… maybe I should have asked first? I was just so excited to help, that-”

“No, it’s fine,” Marley assured her. “I’m not upset. And I doubt my sister is either, right?” She turned to Carly, who had already gone back to sifting through her closet without a care in the world.

“Hey, before you two go, can you answer this for me?” Carly glanced over her shoulder, and held up another costume. This one was a sex nurse that looked more like a white and red bikini judging by how much it covered. “Do you think this is a good costume? Or is it too far the other way? Like, **** is a good thing, but this is Nick we’re talking about, I’m not sure if he’d go for it.”

“Could work,” Rose said, shrugging. “But you know, it feels a lot more fitting to put Dawn in the sexy nurse’s outfit, don’t you think?”

The girls all visualized that. They were mildly surprised that the idea hadn’t arisen prior to now.

“Hm… maybe you have a point,” Carly said, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

Rose laughed, and decided that now was as good of a time as any to head out. “I think it looks fine, Carly,” she said. “Now, sis, you ready to go?”

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to you calling me that,” Marley said, giving her new sister a restrained smile. “But yeah, I’m ready. Let’s get a move on!”

The two left Carly to continue rummaging through her closet, and headed out.

“Hey, Rose? Can I ask you something?” Marley asked as they stepped into the elevator. Rose glanced over at her new sister, and raised her eyebrow with a concerned look on her face.

“Everything alright?” She asked, wondering why Marley looked so nervous. In her newly-acquired memories she knew that Marley was the shy twin, so it wasn’t exactly unexpected, but she was usually a lot more reserved and in control.

Marley sighed. “It’s just… it’s my mom.”

“…Oh. Yeah… yeah, I get it,” Rose murmured. “You’re worried about her position as the Auditionee, aren’t you?”

“Wouldn’t you be?” Marley asked anxiously. “I mean, I was the Auditionee myself before! I know exactly how big of an issue it can be! If people don’t pick you, if you don’t win people over… then that’s it. You’ve just been eliminated!”

She glanced down at the elevator floor. “And I don’t know if I’m ready for that, for my mom. It was hard enough to go through myself…”

Marley remembered Sylvia’s tears on the beach, the day she’d lost the vote and gotten eliminated. Even thinking about it now still made her feel miserable; after all, her mom had been so **** for her to win, that getting eliminated like that… would it be the same for her, should Sylvia get eliminated? When Dakota reduced her to sand and dust, Marley felt like she was going to die. She didn’t know if she had it in her to go through that a second time.

She bit her lip, and sighed.

“I just don’t know…” She muttered, shaking her head. “I want her to be safe…”

She wasn’t sure why she was telling Rose this. Maybe because Rose, for all her immaturity and lack of foresight, could actually be very insightful and aware when given the chance. Marley wanted somebody to confide in, and the blonde was the best option she had right now.

“…What do you want me to say?” Rose finally asked quietly.

Marley glanced over at her, seeing an even expression on Rose’s face. Her lips were pinched tight, and she stared deeply into the other girl’s eyes.

“I-I don’t know,” Marley admitted, shaking her head. Frankly, she was a little uncertain and confused herself, dealing with this. “I just… I don’t. I want things to be okay with us, but I’m not sure how that’s going to go. I guess I’m just wondering… Rose, what do you think of Sylvia? Do you hold a grudge against her? Because a lot of people… a lot of the girls… I bet they do.”

And if they did, Marley couldn’t really hold that against them. As much as she loved her mother, there was no excusing some of the things she’d done, even if they had been in the name of making Dakota happy and following her orders.

That wasn’t an excuse, Dani was right.

“I can definitely see where you’re coming from,” Rose admitted, tapping her chin. “After all, all this stuff with Sylvia, everything that happened… yeah, of course people would hold a grudge against her, and that would be difficult for them, to choose her over someone else.”

Marley winced. That was exactly the kind of thing she didn’t want to hear.

“But,” Rose continued, “I don’t think she needs to win everybody over. Remember, it’s not a popularity contest. She just needs to win over the right person. In fact, it could be as simple as one person, as long as that person wins the challenge. It’s pretty risky, though, and if I was in her position, I’d definitely want a bit more security. But there’s still a pretty good argument for her sake, you know?”

Rose was speaking from personal experience. After all, she’d been dangled over that fire quite a few times before, in the past.

Marley considered that thoughtfully. Rose was right. It was risky, but Sylvia didn’t have to win over everybody; just enough people to comfortably make it out of the challenge with a vote.

“You think we could find someone who wouldn’t hold a grudge against her, though?” Marley asked worriedly. “Besides my sister, I mean.”

She was too worried to ask Rose if SHE would pick Sylvia for her buddy when the chips were down; it was the kind of question that she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the answer to.

Rose stroked her chin as the elevator came to a stop. “I guess she’d have to find someone who was happy about their current suite of transformations, I suppose. Though that could be a pretty difficult proposition.”

The bell over the door to the boutique rang, and Kim raised her head. She already had one of her best customer service smiles prepared, being fairly certain she knew what was about to transpire. She’d been getting prepared.

And indeed, Sylvia walked into the shop with Nick and Holly in tow, already looking for new clothes to buy, while feeling a little uncomfortable.

“Welcome!” Kim greeted the trio with a wave. “Off on a nice little family outing, to buy some clothes for your daughter? We’re not quite at the discount sales yet, but it’s definitely worth it to beat the ‘back to school’ rush.”

Nick sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as Kim snickered in delight. “Seriously, Kim… not now. This is serious.”

He didn’t have the energy for her twisted sense of humor after the day they’d all had.

“I’m just… I’m looking for clothes,” Sylvia said awkwardly. “You know, stuff that I can wear? Carly said she’d loan me some cosplay outfits, but… I don’t want to just rely on her, you know? I want to pick out my own stuff, too… since, you know, relying on other people…”

She looked a little anxious. Kim could see it in her eyes, how uncertain she was. And she could definitely understand that.

“Worried, huh?” She asked quietly. “That maybe you won’t get the right fit?”

Sylvia looked at her, confused. She had a lot of worries at the moment, but that wasn’t one of them. “Huh?” She asked, tilting her head to the side. “What do you mean by that?”

Kim flashed a playful expression. “…Well, don’t worry! Here, we make sure that every fit is the right fit, and the perfect fit to entice your man!”

Oh, she was breaking into a sales pitch. Did Sylvia compel her to that with her transformation? If so, then maybe she deserved some of the punishment coming her way, being **** to say something that stupid definitely merited some bad blood.

But if Kim resented Sylvia for anything, it sure didn’t show on her face. She looked every part the cheerful, professional employee.

“We’re just here to do some shopping,” Holly said. “I think underwear would be a good place to start, don’t you guys?”

She glanced over at Sylvia. With the blonde’s current outfit, it was obvious that she wasn’t wearing a bra, at least; or if she had been, it had been shredded to pieces by Dakota’s punishment, which meant it was worthless to her.

“I’d be fine with that,” Sylvia nodded. “What do you think, Da- err… never mind.”

Nick didn’t like when she referred to him as “Daddy” and the last thing she wanted to do was antagonize him even more. After all, in a way, he was almost her lifeline; the one person she could count on at the moment to be completely selfless towards her, and care for her, besides her own daughter.

On the other hand, though... Dakota would want me to... I know she would. Sylvia was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Should she do what her mother wanted? Or what Nick wanted? If only there was some sign! The other girls, they were probably all split by their resentment, the way Holly had said. And even if they felt bad for what Sylvia had gone through, that didn’t mean they were up for chipping in and helping her out.

She considered the fact that Carly was willing to share her clothes with her to be enough of a win, frankly. That was the kind of sign that she never would have expected.

“Kim, you seem to be in a chipper mood,” Nick noticed, eager to get the conversation topic off of underwear.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Kim asked, blinking slightly. “I love my job, after all! I’m a model employee!” Her smile remained glued to her face.

Nick just stared at her. Oh, yeah, there was definitely something off about this.

“…Kim, if you’re being held against your will, blink twice,” Holly joked, suppressing a laugh. That could definitely apply to anybody here on the island.

But Kim didn’t laugh. She did blink twice though.

“Wait, seriously?” Nick tensed. “Kim-”

“Sorry, another bad joke,” Kim cut him off before things got out of hand again. “No, I’m just super stoked to work here! And my boss is just the greatest, and management…”

“Oh. Oh, I get it now,” Sylvia groaned, shaking her head.

“What’s going on?” Holly asked, confused.

“She’s got new management that she’s trying to impress,’ Sylvia said. Shaking her head and sighing in exasperation. “You know how it goes. After all, I’m not the one who’s running the shopping district anymore, remember? That would be…”

“Oh.” Nick turned pale. “Right. Dakota…”

“Dakota’s so great, isn’t she?” It was clear to everyone with ears that Kim’s praises were as **** as possible. “That’s what my boss says, anyway. She says she’s glad that the old boss is back in town and making changes.”

She glanced sympathetically over at Sylvia. “…Sorry. Try not to take that too personally, okay?”

“I’m not,” Sylvia assured her, shaking her head. “After all, that’s just how the faeries are, they’re sycophantic to a fault. All of them are devoted to whoever holds the cane, even if it would drive them against their friends.”

She sounded almost sad as she said that, which made Kim and Nick feel even worse about things. Holly too, though she was a lot better at hiding it.

And luckily, she had the perfect idea for how to break the tension and move off such an awkward and uncomfortable subject.

“I have an idea!” She said, clapping her hands together. “It’s perfect, Sylvia! You won’t have to spend as much money this way!”

“Huh?” Kim frowned, not liking the sound of that. So much for her sales commission.

“Are you still doing that promotion?” Holly asked. “You know, the one you did when Marley came to buy new clothes?”

“Oh… yeah,” Kim nodded. “The whole ‘if you model for the website, we’ll pay for your clothing’? Yeah I guess we could do that.”

“Wait, so I would be dressing up for the audience?” Sylvia asked, taken aback. She didn’t seem opposed to the idea, it was just… well, it wasn’t something she expected. After all, she was so used to being the host, that the thought of playing the role of Auditionee and appealing to the audience had never occurred to her before.

“We could even have Nick be the judge again,” Holly laughed, flashing a look at Nick, who turned a little pale. He glanced over at Sylvia.

“Hey, come on now, don’t you think that’s a little…” He wasn’t even sure how he was planning to finish that sentence, if he was being honest.

“I don’t mind,” Sylvia said, shaking her head. “I’d love to dress up to please Daddy.”

It was still awkward to say, but Sylvia was fine with that. What mattered to her was dressing up and showing off. After all, she wanted to appeal to Nick, right? And pick out clothes that he would find sexy? That was part of her transformation, not just skimpy outfits.

“Great!” Kim clapped her hands enthusiastically. “I’ll join in, too! I’d just love to show off some of the sexy lingerie we have for sale!” Ever since Kim’s figure had started to improve, she felt a thrill at the idea of showing it off. She wasn’t quite sure why; it wasn’t like she’d gotten a transformation that compelled that, or anything.

But it just seemed so exciting, and got her motor running!

Nick sighed, and nodded, trying to smile. Some things were just unavoidable, he supposed.