Unexpected Date with Crystal

Victoria was in hell, and it was so much worse than she'd prayed. Worse than **** on sulfuric smoke, worse than bathing in rivers of flame, worse than fire snakes...she trapped in her own body, unable to escape or close her eyes as all of her worst impulses were fed. Dana was smiling as she spoke, her eyes bright and shining with excitement. These were eyes Victoria had seen many times before, had taken advantage of many times before, a young woman who was clearly thinking of the rewards of her future actions, and not so much the consequences. She could feel her body responding to Dana, that low throbbing arousal that hit her whenever she interacted with one of her lovely young students like this. Victoria wished she could stop herself, to put an end to this, but she wasn't in control right now...Vicky was.

'Relax Victoria,' Vicky purred in her mind, just thinking these thoughts out loud was enough for Victoria to read them. After all, they shared the same brain. Victoria knew everything Vicky knew, felt everything she felt...or at least, most everything. There was a part of her mind that was eerily silent to Victoria. Knowledge granted to Vicky that Victoria wasn't allowed access to, either by Nymeera directly or some quirk of the transformation... Victoria wondered if the reverse might be true. Some corner of her mind reserved for her and her alone, where Vicky couldn't touch her. Vicky seemed to find this idea amusing. 'You need to be more honest with yourself. I'm not some other person Nymeera stuck in your head. I'm you, just more...free. Didn't you want this? We shuffled minds, something that can only happen when both of us desire that outcome. You can lie to me as you lie to yourself, but you can't lie to that fact. You wanted this to happen.'

'A moment of weakness...' Victoria thought back, her legs uncrossing and recrossing on the bed without her input. It was hard to get used to, having your body puppeted so completely. She felt her fingers slide eagerly along her legs, looked directly at Dana's eyes, felt her lips crook up into a faint grin...and yet none of those actions were her own.

"So the letter said to drop the coin on the ground, 'accidently' and then something...and then she tries to hypnotize me and ends up hypnotizing herself!"

"...and then something?" Victoria's mouth said without her intent.

"Well that letter was redacted for spoilers," Dana said with a shrug, Victoria noted that her eyes dipped down to the heave of Dana's chest as she shrugged. Redacted for spoilers was something that Vicky also noted as very interesting...Victoria really wished Dana wouldn't be so cavalier about giving away all this information! "But that isn't really that important, the important part is that it gave me a really good idea for how to use my Hypno-Coin! See, we both already-"

"Three."

"Huh?"

"The three of us," Victoria's mouth said with a smirk. "Victoria is here too after all. Shouldn't you be considering her as well?" Dana frowned a bit, thoughtful, and Victoria felt a massive disconnect between her brain and her body. Her mind was feeling despair and terror, and normally she'd feel a physical response with that as well, such as her stomach dropping, or heart racing. Perhaps a tightness in her chest, or chill along her spine, and yet all she felt was calm and in complete control. Vicky was manipulating Dana...making her think of complicated things like Victoria's dual mind so that she didn't dwell on topics that might have her change her mind, such as whether hypnotizing her fellow friends was really the best way to ensure their "happiness" at this hotel. It wasn't the best form of manipulation, and Dana was a smart girl when she wanted to be, but it was evidence that Vicky really wanted this...

"Right, sorry... I kinda figured you wouldn't want to talk about her since...well I'm assuming she isn't okay with any of this."

"Why Dana..." Vicky said, widening her eyes and blinking as though she wasn't baiting Dana into this very line of thought. "Of course she isn't, but she doesn't understand what you and I do. She wants this place to be a place of suffering and ****, she feels she deserves it for the thoughts and desires she naturally holds, as though she ought to be punished for her very nature. A very Christian idea to be sure, but you and I are different aren't we? You and I know that this place is not meant to be suffered, but to be enjoyed. Not just by you and I, but by everyone. You and I understand that Harem Hotel is a place where we can all finally be free to be ourselves and enjoy every minute of this novel, unique experience, and it is our moral duty to help the others understand that as well, even Victoria! So, just as you won't hide the potential of this place from your friends, I won't hide it from her. She may not understand now, but I have hope that soon, I can get her to see the light." Dana smiled widely as she ate up each word tailor made to feed into Dana's ideas of this place that she'd been all too happy to share with Vicky. Victoria wanted to feel disgusted, to be sick to her stomach...but all of that was beyond her now.

'I'm not lying Victoria,' Vicky thought with a calm, almost gentle compassion. 'I mean every word. I agree with Dana, that this place isn't meant to be Hell, it's meant to be indulgent. Why not indulge with me? We both know you want to...' Victoria shot a harsh laugh toward her counterpart, if only in her head. She'd conned herself for over a decade with thoughts like that. It wasn't going to work this time.

"The letter specifically mentioned Syn, but I think she'd be kinda difficult to hypnotize..."

"I don't know about that...but I'll admit that I don't have much interest in Syn," Vicky said, for once something Victoria could agree with.

"Wait really? I'd thought she'd be one of your biggest targets, well besides Suki... She's so...I mean, I'm not really into girls like that but even I have to admit that Syn is..." Dana let out a low whistle, to which Victoria felt her lips quirk up.

"Dana...you did me the service of not calling me out in front of Suki, and so I want to be honest and upfront with you," Victoria felt her mouth saying, though she tried desperately to stop it.

'Lord please...help me stop this madness...this sin...'

"I'm not attracted to Syn, not because of her body, but because of her personality. Brash and cocky and...well that type of attitude simply isn't attractive to me. My tastes are far more...sweet and endearing." Victoria's tongue slipped out to lick her lips. "As a te- a former teacher, and I hope you will appreciate how **** I'm being here, but I so much more appreciate those who are in need of, and are willing to accept, guidance from an authority. Those who will come to rely upon my instruction and will do as I say are very much more...my type."

"Hmm...then I think I know exactly who we should target first..." Dana said, eyes going cloudy with lust as she looked toward the delicious future she was crafting in her mind, all the while gazing straight through Victoria, failing to see that the mask had slipped and for a moment the predator beneath had been revealed.

Damien watched as Crystal made his bed, replacing the sheets and even putting chocolates that he in no way was ever going to eat on the pillows. It was probably playing right into Nymeera's hands, but he couldn't help but appreciate her attention to detail, and how nice it was having her make his living space look clean and orderly. Not to mention her own looks... His jeans, he seemed to have no shortage of changes of clothes, felt rather tight, no thanks to a certain red haired vixen who would continue to plague his thoughts, much to her pleasure he figured, and Crystal's presence, and to a different extent Nymeera's, wasn't helping with the discomfort.

"So, I assume you hear everything that goes on in this hotel?" Damien asked the fox woman as he sat and watched Crystal replace the unused shampoo bottles with different, unused shampoo bottles. Was he going to have to shower without soap and shampoo for the next 30 days?

"You should assume so, certainly," Nymeera smiled at him, her red eyes twinkling mischievously.

"Is she right?" Damien asked, undaunted as Crystal disappeared into the bathroom to replace towels.

"About what?"

"Don't play coy now... This whole show. Are you trying to make me into some sort of womanizing stud who thinks of his companions as pieces of meat to stick my dick into?"

"Mmm, well I'm certainly doing my best to make you a 'stud,'" Nymeera teased, flirting away from the question, but Damien wasn't having it.

"Fuck you, answer the question." Nymeera raised an eyebrow, and shrugged her shoulders.

"My, the ice queen sure has gotten you all...prickly. An attractive look, when used sparingly. I think I've been quite clear on my stance as to any sort of moral questions in our interview. I do as I please, and you're all just here to provide the one thing that infinite power can't buy, entertainment." Damien frowned, there was something about all this that rattled around at him, refusing to just settle into place, but refusing to go away either.

"You said all this is just for entertainment. Why do you need to be entertained?"

"Excuse me?"

"I mean, I get it. What you said before makes perfect sense. You don't need money, or popularity. The fame and fortune that are the usual reasons to get into showbusiness don't really matter when you can do the things you can do, rewriting reality itself at a whim... So at first blush 'entertainment' does seem to make sense. All that power...boredom seems inevitable, and rewriting your own mind to just make yourself entertained feels like it'd be...unsatisfying. But at the end of it all, something about all of that just sticks out at me. Why do you need to be entertained? With all your power, all that control...aren't you happy?"

Nymeera cocked her head to the side for a moment, processing this, her mouth slipped into a cool grin, before melting away to something more neutral, and perhaps more genuine. At least, Damien could hope. She leaned back in her chair and reached up a perfectly manicured red nail to brush strands of violet out of her face, letting out a low sigh.

"God, here I thought I didn't pick one of those fucking bleeding hearts..." Damien's frown deepened from curiosity to resentment at that. "You want a peek behind the curtain? Fine, here's the rub. It's all meaningless. We're all puppets dancing on strings. You, the harem, dancing for the host, who is being puppeteered by the producer to dance for the audience, and even the producers dance for someone. So what do we do?" Nymeera grinned widely, "We live, we dance for our Masters, and we enjoy. The hardships, the victories, the emotion, the drama, the close calls, and the near misses. If it's all meaningless then anything you pick is the right answer. It won't always be easy, it won't all be enjoyable, I intend to make sure of that, but don't be an ethics professor who gets bogged down in his own philosophy so heavily that he forgets to enjoy himself. I certainly plan on enjoying myself quite a bit these next 30 days, and when it's all over... Well, it would be a little too sad if you couldn't look back and say: 'That part, right there. That part was fun.'"

"Is that why you do this? For those moments of fun?"

"No," Nymeera said, smiling at Damien in a way that made him think she looked very sad. "I do this for another reason altogether."

"You know, it might be my degraded moral compass talking but..." Damien smiled at Nymeera, "I think you'd be having more fun playing the game than hosting it."

"Why Mr. Carter!" Nymeera shouted out in a mock aghast Southern drawl, "I do believe you are propositioning to me! How very uncouth..." Nymeera's faux accent melted away with every ounce of amusement on her face. The gorgeous fox woman looked positively bloodthirsty as she stared at him. "Don't be giving the audience false hope now. I told you before, I'm not here to play the part of one of your side characters. I'm the villain, and I promise you that by the end of this, you'll regret taking me so lightly."

"I guess we'll see," Damien stated back, not backing down. "Offer's always available, if you wanted to experience the harem from the loving side of things."

"Let's not say anything we'll regret later..." came a cold voice, cutting in as Crystal approached the duo. "What's the saying about foxes being let into henhouses? Well, the moral is don't."

"Well at least one of you has a good head on their shoulders," Nymeera teased, gliding up from her chair and winking at Crystal. "Mr. Carter seems to only have a good head below the belt...isn't that right Professor?" Damien looked away from both women and tried to look neutral, but he couldn't help but cross a leg over his lap. Nymeera smiled mirthfully. "Well, are we finally ready for your date? I must say it is bad manners to make a gentleman wait so long, even if you are cleaning his room in the meantime... So! Where are we off to? I'm sure you know plenty of fun spots to unwind after a long day..." Nymeera licked her lips slowly, and Crystal ended up closing her eyes and taking a breath before meeting Nymeera's gaze head on.

"Here's fine."

"I'm sorry?" Nymeera blinked several times in quick succession. Damien had a few blinks himself.

"Here, this room. This'll work," Crystal said with a shrug, settling into the couch across from Damien and glaring coldly at Nymeera. "You can go now. Or are you present during these, supposedly, one-on-one dates?"

"I just...here? In his room? Don't you want to go somewhere a little more well...romantic? A five star restaurant? In Paris? The fucking moon? I have all the power in the entire universe here and-"

"And I don't need any of it to get what I want," Crystal replied softly with a smile. Nymeera smiled back, but Damien was getting very uncomfortable.

"That's fine, you spend your date however you wish ice queen. Just remember, you still have all your work ahead of you, and not giving the audience what they want, won't help Summer."

"Are you leaving or not?" Crystal asked, her voice icy ****. Nymeera tipped an invisible hat and vanished in a puff of smoke...like a stage magician. Crystal rolled her eyes. "Alright, let's get this over with," she said, crossing her legs and pulling a small book out of her apron. She had a pen attached to it and started to jot some things down.

"You know, if you can't really think of anywhere to go, I could plan the date for..." Damien trailed off as Crystal shot him a withering glare. This was very clearly not like Syn's date where she was willing but unable due to different priorities. Crystal certainly had different priorities, but she was also completely unwilling to even entertain the possibility of a date with him. Which made him wonder...what was about to happen right now?

"Okay, we can talk now," Crystal said, putting the book away, a diary? "This is an official date now, so Nymeera shouldn't interfere." It felt more like an interview than a date, especially as Crystal steepled her fingers and looked over at him with those cool blue eyes, sharp and focused and ready to root out all secrets. "I'll ask again, since we were interrupted last time. What do you plan on giving Summer for her transformation path?" Damien sighed, he'd been thinking about what to give Syn actually, since she was the one who had already had her date with him. She'd been a really sexy roleplayer in her policewoman 'uniform' so he had been thinking about having her Student path transformation make her fully believe that she was whatever she dressed up as, though with a sexual bent to it. The only problem was that Nymeera's T&A GPA was popular with the audience, so it was likely that it would be picked again, especially since Nymeera vetoed it so...harshly before. That would guarantee him not having to get a transformation, but he didn't like the idea of not being able to consciously affect her "grade," and at the end of the day it was still a Nymeera transformation. The temptation was that Syn's other paths were so unpopular he might be able to sneak in something very light, like his Career Path TF (final name pending™), but the risk was that if he was too light on his transformation people would just pick one of Syn's other paths...and Nymeera might've learned from the previous round. All that to say that, he hadn't really thought about Summer at all yet...

"Honestly I don't know," Damien admitted, doing his best to meet Crystal's gaze. "I've only really thought about Syn's, since she and I have had a date already. My plan was to come up with transformations after each date, getting to know everyone a bit better should help me come up with ideas that appeal to them and to the audience." Crystal didn't look amused.

"Why waste brain power on Syn? She already has a winning transformation that the audience feels cheated at. Just give her the same option," Crystal said, speaking to him as though he was stupid for not just latching onto the easy answer right away. Damien's eyes narrowed a bit, but he remained patient.

"Well, I'm thinking that I might be able to get away with something a little tamer, and something Nymeera didn't pick, since her other options were so hated and there's some bad blood between Nymeera and the audience around her. I have this idea actually, it's-"

"Stop," Crystal interrupted with a sigh, "I honestly, truly do not care about what happens to Syn. Give her the same transformation, give her a different one, make her your sex **** or your dominatrix. It's all the same to me. Let's talk about Summer..." Damien felt frustration bubble up in his chest, and not just the frustration from Syn's earlier teasing... This 'date' was feeling like a disaster, and Crystal just didn't seem to care. "She was given an 'Optimist' path for her transformations, which I think we can work with..."

"We?" Crystal looked at him like he was stupid again...was that on purpose or just a natural part of her cold expression?

"Yes we. I need to make sure you don't fuck her over trying to help, and inadvertently prevent me from protecting her. Did you already forget about our Twin transformation? Connected Since Birth means that whatever transformation she gets will affect me too, and vice versa. So if you give her something that makes her feel happy and content with everything, I'll feel that way too, and that would be bad for everyone." Honestly Crystal seemed like she could really use some more 'happy and content' feelings in her life... Crystal sighed, rubbing her temples as though HE were being the unreasonable one. "I can see I'm not getting through to you... Look, I get that I'm not the easiest person to...interact with."

"Really now?" Damien said despite his better judgement. He immediately regretted speaking to her in such a sarcastic tone, it wasn't her fault she was put in this unbelievable situation, and he shouldn't be shaming her for dealing with things as best she could...but damn the woman was insufferable at times. Crystal gave him a cold look, but didn't retort.

"Yes, I'm not good at making friends like Summer, or building people up, like Summer is, or helping people when they're down, like Summer does... Trust me, I know very well that I'm the inferior copy. All the good traits went straight to Summer and all I'm left with is a cold disposition and resting bitch face, but that disposition does give me my edge. The one thing I can do that Summer can't right now is cut through all the bullshit and keep her safe while I figure out how to get her out of this mess... She doesn't deserve this."

Suddenly Damien wasn't a Master on a magical extra dimensional game show, he was an Ethics teacher, listening to his student berate herself for not being good enough, that almost **** pleading in her voice at the end... The implication that Crystal DID deserve this. His heart was melting and he softened his stance, and his voice, considerably.

"Crystal..." he began, keeping his voice gentle and accepting.

"Don't," she shot back warningly. "Don't you dare try to talk about things you haven't the first CLUE about." Crystal sounded dangerously close to shouting at him...or to breaking down into tears.

"You're completely right, I don't have the first clue about...any of your situations," Damien stated, recalling how taken aback he was to learn that Syn was living in a low income home, and to learn she was an AVID dog person. "But I'd like to, if you'll just-"

"What? Let you in? Be ****?" Crystal barked out a cold laugh. "That's exactly the kind of game Nymeera is playing. You know what I do for a living right? I help people get out of bad situations they've entrenched themselves in. People always think of divorce as this bad thing that must be avoided, but it isn't, sometimes people just grow apart or dive into a relationship too early, then they convince themselves that they have to stick with each other and suffer through every little frustration because well...that's just the way things are. I cut through that, that's what I do. When some fucking fox bitch comes here and tells me that my sister is destined to be a part of your harem or else suffer some horrifying elimination transformation I'm here to stand up and say no. Or Objection as the case may be... I'm not playing the game to win Damien. I'm playing to break it just enough so that my sister can slip out through the cracks, and after that, fuck whatever comes next."

"Is that what your meeting with Nymeera was about?" Damien asked, trying to wrap his head around what Crystal was saying. It sounded like she was trying to divorce him and Summer...before they were even married, with a petulant god standing in her way. Crystal just smirked.

"I've gathered enough data to confirm that the only real way to do much of anything is with the host's help. Anything I do without Nymeera's blessing can be overridden with God powers."

"Nymeera is willing to help you get Summer out of the harem?!" That was the most insane thing Crystal said so far! No way was Nymeera going to let Crystal have her way like that!

"No, of course not, but she knows it's something I want, so it's a very good carrot to dangle in front of my face in order to get me to play her game the way she wants..." Damien was suddenly very much reminded that Crystal was dressed in a skimpy maid outfit and had just cleaned his hotel room. He felt bad for Crystal...she was being manipulated by Nymeera, and even seemed to know it, but just either didn't care, or was **** enough to convince herself that it would all pay out in the end.

"Crystal..."

"There's that fucking tone again..." Crystal growled angrily. Damien didn't let her intimidate him though, he reached out a hand to touch hers, to show her that he was on her side, that he wanted her to be-

"Fuck!" Damien pulled his hand back in shock. She was freezing cold! He looked looked at her in shock, and almost awe. It was almost like touching a block of ice. When was the last time she reset her Frigid transformation? It had to be over a day which meant...not at all. Crystal smiled coldly at him, suddenly her off-putting demeanor was cast in a new light.

"I'm not exactly looking forward to the next 30 days, certainly, but if Nymeera wants to dangle the carrot in front of my face that's great. I'll chase it as long as she wants me to, because by the time I'm done, I'll have pried that fucking carrot away from her, and she can have it back when she takes it from my cold dead hands..."

"And what does Summer think about all this?" Damien challenged, refusing to shy away or let her chilly presence cow him. "She's listening in right? You can't hide anything from her, so what is her take on you sacrificing yourself to such a degree for-"

"She doesn't know."

"She..." Damien frowned, surprised by that. "Maybe I don't understand how your transformation works, but she knows everything you do right? She knows about the deal and...everything you're feeling?" In response Crystal took out the diary from earlier and held it up.

"From my personal BP store, though it was under the 'Twin' transformation so Summer might have the same store I do," she shrugged as though it didn't really matter. "For 2000 BP I get a diary and anything written in that diary becomes private information that no one can gain access to without reading its pages...or unless they were there as well, like you are now. I've written our 'date' into my diary, so no one except you, me, and probably the audience will know what goes on in this room, even Nymeera doesn't know. Though I suspect her boss might... Regardless, I confirmed with Nymeera that it will block our InterTWINed transformation. I can feel her...she's confused and worried about me, but I'm not burdening her with this."

"Crystal..." Damien pleaded, his heartrate beginning to climb. "How did you afford that? Didn't you start with only 1000 BP? I know you bought clothes too so...did Nymeera really give you such a powerful gift just for cleaning my room?" Crystal's smirk started to become worryingly smug.

"I can't give you the details, but assuming I'm up to the task, it shouldn't be an issue."

"What task?"

"Can't say, and I mean that. Do not push me on this, I'm not going to screw this up already..." Crystal tucked her diary away, a look that Damien could only associate with fear passing over her icy features.

"What happened to make you so driven?" Damien asked, just speaking his thoughts out loud, but unable to make it sound like he wasn't trying to pry.

"None of your business. Now, can we finally talk about Summer's transformation?" Damien sighed, but had to acknowledge that this 'date' was not going to be much in the way of fun. He only hoped that Crystal didn't suffer some penalty in response...

"Hellllllo?" Summer called out again, worriedly. Patika and Lauren looked at each other with concern as Summer just shouted out at the empty air. Patika knew that Summer could talk to her sister telepathically, but it was still weird to see her do it...only now something seemed wrong. "Crystallllll!" Summer shouted again, pouting and stomping her foot petulantly, like a child throwing a tantrum. Summer huffed and finally turned back to Patika and Lauren. "She's ignoring me!"

"Can she really do that?" Lauren asked, looking almost as uncomfortable as Patika felt. Patika didn't want to say anything in case she said something wrong and made Summer even more upset... The bright eyed twin had seemed fine up till just a minute ago, smiling and saying she wanted to hang out with Patika with Lauren just behind her. She was so excited and happy that Patika didn't have the nerve to say no, so she told Summer she was going to do the most uncomfortable task she could think of in an effort to get Summer to decide to hang out with someone else. That had turned out to be a mistake... As soon as Patika said she wanted to go work out not only did Lauren seem genuinely excited, but Summer said they should all go get new outfits to work out in and looked even more fired up about spending time with Patika. She didn't even bat an eye when the skimpy, tight 'gym bunny' uniforms turned out to be much cheaper, just suggested they all buy them right away, and Lauren was no help at all! She almost couldn't say yes fast enough, which meant Patika was **** to go along with the crowd or do something she disliked even more than exercise...say no to someone.

"I don't know, this has never happened before," Summer replied while Patika attempted to just stay on the edge of everyone's periphery and decided to try lifting some weights. Just small weights that she could curl in one hand, nothing too crazy, maybe just 25lbs (11kg). The weights lifted easily for her muscular frame, her powerful forearms flexing as she did her best to remain out of the conversation... Suddenly Patika felt very...nice. Lifting the weights was so...pleasant for some reason... Oh right! Her transformation, Sexercise! It was making exercising feel really...really...

Patika froze as she realized both girls were now staring at her. Lauren looked a little out of it, focused on her arms for...some reason, and Summer looked a little mad. Uh oh, they were gonna talk to her... Patika took a breath to try to will away the tingly feelings in her chest and between her legs to prepare herself.

"Patika, would you be upset if we left early?" Summer asked, sounding despondent.

"Huh? Left?" Lauren blinked a few times, wrenching her eyes away from Patika towards Summer. "I mean...are you sure? I think Crystal's fine, if anyone here can take care of herself it's your sister."

"Yeah, she's way smarter and stronger than I am, especially mentally..." Summer said with a soft smile, "She's better than me in pretty much every possible way, but she doesn't always do a good job showing others her strengths. I want Damien to like her, especially if we're gonna spend the foreseeable future together!" Patika's heart hurt for a moment, hearing Summer **** herself like that hit a little too close to home for her.

"I don't mind..." Patika said, quickly but hopefully not too quickly. She wanted to get rid of them, but she didn't want to seem like she was getting rid of them. "And I think you're a really amazing person Summer..." she said, being very careful not to make eye contact, lest Summer see the sincerity there and decide to do the unthinkable by inviting Patika along. "Your sister is really lucky to have you, you know..."

"Awww Patika!" Summer cried out, doing the other unthinkable and crushing Patika into a big, warm hug...which Patika couldn't help but enjoy. Summer was just so pure and happy that Patika almost felt like that energy was flowing down into her. She smiled, and went and hugged Summer back, actually feeling kind of sad that Summer was leaving now.

"I don't want to criticize your energy here but...isn't Crystal on a date right now?" Lauren asked as Summer untangled herself from Patika, who found herself clinging on just a bit longer for that warm...loving...touch, and now it's gone. "How do you plan on talking to her in the middle of her date?" Summer smiled broadly, giving Lauren a particularly smug look.

"I haven't thought about that yet," she declared proudly, causing Lauren to immediately thump her playfully on the head. "Ow!"

"Don't be so proud about that!" Lauren chastised, sounding like...well like an angry mother. Patika did not like that and went back to working out in the background, this time sitting on the leg extension machine and lifting her muscular legs up and down. Up and down... Up and down... Fuck that felt good... "What's the point in even going if we can't...can't...ummm..." Lauren was starting to trail off for some reason. Patika looked over and she was staring right at Patika's legs, which made her feel a little funny...or maybe that was just the Sexercise talking. Only the strangest part was...Patika kinda didn't want to stop. It wasn't like she'd orgasm or anything from this sensation...well she hoped not anyway, but the way the pleasant feelings swept through her body and made her tremble in blissful waves was almost addicting... Maybe she should've come down here to exercise a bit earlier... The only bad thing was that her shoes were really out of place... Heels had no place in a gym!

"Oh don't be that way," Summer said, undaunted and unaware, "We don't know until we try, besides, it's probably best just to ask Nymeera what's going on right? She'll know!"

"I...well...I guess that does make sense..." Lauren said, frowning a bit. "A-alright, but I AM coming with you, I don't trust you not to do something stupid and agree to be Nymeera's personal chef or something..."

"Huh? Why not? I bet I could make Nymeera lots of yummy food!" Summer said, walking out of the gym with Lauren. "See you later Patika! Thanks for understanding, I'll be sure to exercise with you soon! I promise!"

"Oh um...okay," Patika said, almost feeling sad that Summer was leaving despite herself.

"Not the problem... Just, trust me on- Oh! Uh Patika! Before we go..." Lauren stopped and turned back around. Patika regretfully stopped lifting her legs and that pleasurable feeling started to ebb as she turned towards Lauren. "I've been telling the other girls this too, but I'm not sure Coach Victoria is uh...herself right now. Just, be careful around her okay? And if you need any help, call or text me on our phones. I'll come right away if you need anything, okay?" Patika blinked, that was...unexpectedly sweet of Lauren. Honestly Patika really did bond with the girls when they were all cheerleaders together, but after so many years apart interacting with them was just so...awkward. She hated it, but Lauren and Summer were really good at just pretending like all those years never happened, and now Patika was starting to feel guilty for wanting to stay alone the whole time. Or for making Syn spend time with her by buying her like that...

"Okay...thank you," Patika said, offering Lauren a soft smile, which Lauren returned in kind. Maybe it really was the Sexercise talking, but Patika actually might enjoy herself more in this crazy gameshow than she thought... Though now she was extra nervous about Victoria...so that was stressful!

Patika watched Lauren and Summer go, for a moment even thinking she might go with them...but then she remembered that they were going to talk to Nymeera and THAT was a little too scary for her at the moment! Still, she was kinda looking forward to the next time they were all together. The shopping hadn't been THAT bad, and while the outfit was a little much...err not enough, at least it was something she could use practically, not like that skimpy cheerleader uniform...

*cling*

Patika jumped at the sudden noise, turning toward the sound... There didn't seem to be anyone there, but she noticed something shiny had fallen onto the ground. Frowning a bit, Patika wandered over to the little object, which turned out to be a coin with a hole in it, and a string tied to it. Patika had never seen a coin like that before...was that what BP looked like in physical form? She reached out to pick it up by the string, holding it up so she could see it a little better... The coin started to swing back and forth at the end of the... Back and forth... Patika blinked a few times as her eyes started to track the coin and she felt a little dizzy... What was she...oh right, the coin started to swing back and forth at the end of the string, almost as though something invisible had nudged it... Back and forth... Patika found herself relaxing as the pleasurable feeling from when she was exercising came back...though it was a little different now. Kinda like the pleasure that came from falling asleep after working really hard, not from sexual stimulation.

Back and forth...

Patika's eyes were starting to get heavy thinking about sleep, she blinked a few times to wake herself up, but her eyes were blinking so slowly it just made her even sleepier... She wondered where this pretty coin...back and forth...even came from... She wondered...she wondered... She...

Patika's mouth fell open as she found herself drifting into a really lovely daydream. The coin was very beguiling, the way it just swung back and forth in front of her eyes like that. She felt so comfortable, she didn't really want to leave the daydream, so when she sort of heard someone else enter the gym she decided to just not worry about it and focused instead on the pretty coin swaying gently before her enraptured eyes.