Did you see my party dress?

“So are you guys ready?” Nick asked, turning to Mary and Holly as he finished getting dressed. It had become normal at this point, to change in front of his wife and his… maid? Mistress? ****? …Whatever. An uncomfortable amount of bizarreness was becoming rote for Nick’s daily.

Right now, though, he was a little nervous about tonight. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Gina’s party planning abilities or anything like that, but this was the first time she was really seizing the initiative and spearheading something for herself. He wanted this to work out for her, he really did. But given that she’d gone to Sylvia for help planning this…

“Are you sure I’m not too underdressed?” Mary asked, tugging on the collar of her flannel shirt. “It’s too bad I couldn’t wear my wedding dress again,” she sighed wistfully.

Nick blushed. To minimize the amount of exposure in an otherwise skimpy outfit, he’d assisted Mary by massaging out as much of her excess milk as he could. But even with her milk tanks freshly emptied, her breasts were still rather large, and indecent in her regular clothes, at least compared to the fancy tuxedo he was wearing tonight.

“You’re thinking about this too much!” Holly chirped. “It’s not like we’re going to be upholding the party’s themes or anything, right?”

“True,” Nick nodded. “When Holly’s wearing that, nobody’s going to be caring about what you’ve got on, Mary.”

Mary blushed. “Maybe you’re right,” she agreed, glancing at Holly’s skimpy maid costume. Even though the spritely girl could have chosen something else to wear, she had made a point to not. Which was rather irritating for Mary who had no such choice.

“We just have to make sure tonight is a success!” The redhead said fiercely. “Gina is counting on us! …I don’t know exactly what for, but if she’s trying to have a nice, pleasant party, we’re going to give her our support!”

“That’s a wonderful thought! As expected of you, Mary.” Dakota appeared in the Master’s Suite with a flourish, lowering her head in a bow. “I take it you all are ready to depart, then?”

“Dakota,” Nick murmured. Their eyes met, and a tense spark shot through them both. Neither one of them had faced the other since the awkwardness this morning, and neither of them knew what to say about it, either.

But something else popped into his mind unbidden.

“Your dress… it looks… amazing,” he murmured.

Dakota blinked, and a small smile tugged at the corners of her lips. “R-really?” She stammered, her pale cheeks flushing. “…Thank you.”

She really did look magnificent. While Dakota had demonstrated a penchant for fancy dresses ever since regaining her position as host, the one she wore tonight was especially lovely. Elegant and gorgeous in shades of red and black, without any of the usual gaudiness. She looked exactly as she intended, like a wealthy young woman out to a fancy cocktail dinner.

It set the tone for what Nick could expect from the rest of his harem tonight.

“So what exactly are we going to be doing?” Holly asked curiously. “You said we’re going to be judging, right? How’s that going to work?”

“All in good time,” Dakota said mysteriously with a twinkle in her eye. “But first, we have to get a move on. I’ll explain the situation once everyone has arrived.”

She raised her cane, and the world began to spin around the black crystal embedded in the head. As everything turned and twisted around them, the four of them were deposited in the middle of an elegant ballroom.

“Quickly! Gotta hurry! Gotta get everything right!” Nola was rushing around to and fro, pink curls bouncing and green eyes wide with panic. She was wearing a very nice evening gown of her own, but that seemed to be taking a backseat at the moment to her desperation to get everything cleaned up and ready for the party.

“You’ll have to forgive Nola for not having everything for tonight adequately prepared yet,” Dakota mused with a smirk, walking towards the leprechaun. “We only got word of the plans for this evening’s festivities a few hours ago, and we’ve been in a bit of a rush.”

“We’re in the… what was it called again?” Holly looked around the large ballroom. “The place we were in last time, right? The Paradox Palace. Can’t you just get everything ready with a wave of your cane?”

Mary nodded. “Yeah, or ask the faeries to do it?”

Dakota looked back at them and smirked. “Now, where would the fun be in that?”

Nola whirled to face her boss, cheeks puffed up and red. “I would have had plenty of time with their help! But you interrupted me and had me pass along that information to Sylvia and Dawn!”

Dakota smiled serenely. “…I had you do what, now?”

Nola blanched. “Err… nothing! Nope, that was all my idea! All mine! You certainly weren’t playing favorites, nope!”

Dakota nodded. “That’s a good girl.”

Nola sighed in relief and wiped the sweat from her brow. “But seriously boss, mistress, your lord high and almighty Dakota-ness, we’re really running behind schedule here, and the girls are gonna be here any minute! I don’t know if-!”

The leprechaun continued to ramble as Dakota waved her cane, and suddenly everything fell into place. The long tables were covered in silk cloth, and fancy food piled upon trays lined them. A crystal chandelier dangled down from the ceiling, and brilliant lights flooded the hall as glasses of champagne sparkled into existence.

In an instant, the night was set. Nick, Mary, and Holly were stunned, even though they’d seen plenty examples of the host’s powers firsthand.

Nola sighed in exasperation. “…And ya couldn’t have done that an hour ago?” She groused, rolling her eyes.

Dakota smirked. “Tell you what, since you’ve worked so hard tonight, how about taking the rest of the night off? You’ve earned it.”

Energy surged through Nola like she’d had jumper cables hooked up to her curls. “Really!?” She cheered with hope. “You mean it!?”

Dakota shrugged. “Your services won’t be needed for the rest of the night. We’ve got everything prepared now,” she said, looking around. “I’ve brought in some other help, in fact, and she should be much better-suited for this evening’s theme.”

Nola froze halfway to the door. Trembling, she turned to Dakota with a look of horror on her face. “…O-other help?” She stammered.

Dakota smirked in response. She tapped her cane, and then, to everyone’s surprise, Octavia appeared beside her.

“…What am I doing here?” The butler asked, looking questioningly towards Dakota. The host smiled brazenly back at her.

“The theme of tonight is an elegant high-society soiree is it not?” She pointed out. “Who better to attend our guests than someone who does so for a living?”

Octavia’s scowl was subdued, but a scowl nonetheless. “When you brought me to this island, you said my duties were to attend to Lady Carrington’s needs,” she pointed out. “I did not anticipate being roped into whatever scheme you’re planning to perpetrate on milady and the other guests of this… establishment.”

Dakota clicked her tongue, but otherwise said nothing in response. Not that she had much of a chance to do so.

“What’s the meaning of this?!” Nola demanded, storming back over so fast she would have made the Road Runner jealous. “Dakota! You’re not seriously saying that she would do a better job than I would, are you?!”

Dakota didn’t say that, but she did make a point to not look Nola in the eyes.

Nick sighed. He could tell that Dakota was playing around with the pink-haired girl, and wasn’t necessarily serious. But Nola clearly didn’t understand her boss’s twisted sense of humor. Though sometimes, even he didn’t.

“But Dakota!” Nola wailed. “I can be a great butler! Way better than her! I’m smart, I’m witty, and you KNOW I’m diligent! Don’t you think I’m diligent? I can be diligent. I just was diligent! Didn’t you see? I’ve been working so hard to get this party ready! You know I can be a good attendant. You’re not going to fire me, right!? This is my last chance! The producers want me to do a good job serving you! If I can’t help you out, then what’s going to happen to me!? I’m going to be kicked out of the leadership altogether! Abandoned on the streets! Left with nothing but my top hat to my name! Or I could get booted down to become a harem member like Sylvia! …Oh, but that might not be so bad…”

She glanced furtively at Nick, for all of two seconds.

“…No! I don’t want that! I want to be a host again, and if I do a bad job that won’t happen! I managed to become an intern on one of the more popular seasons running right now, and if I just get passed off to some no-name hick season then that’s it for my career! I’m just gonna be some sort of perpetual assistant like that snooty sales rep! Just constantly being some second fiddle, until they eventually get rid of me! …Ah! We both even have pink hair and green eyes! She’s going to steal all my fans if we have to start working together! No, no, no, this is all going bad, all of it!”

As Nola continued to panic, Dakota failed to properly hide how amused she found all of this. She eventually had to cover her mouth with her hand just to keep her smile from showing on her face.

“It’s not a permanent thing,” Dakota crooned, patting Nola on the head. “Octavia will just be helping out for tonight. Of course, if she does a great job, I might end up relying on her more in the future, but she’ll usually be assisting Vivian, don’t worry.”

“Don’t I get a say in this?” Octavia asked with a frown.

Dakota scoffed in reply. Then she turned back to Nola. “Besides, you’ve been working so hard tonight, I thought you’d like a little time to yourself?”

Nola whipped her head back and forth so fast Mary feared she might cause it to spin 180 degrees.

“I can do it!” She said firmly. “I can help! Just watch! I don’t need a break! I’ll be the best, um… butler I can be!”

“We just need an attendant,” Dakota clarified, smoothly finagling Nola into agreeing to work without a break and making it seem like it was her idea and not the host’s. “If you really want to help out, then that would be fine.”

She turned to Octavia and stroked her chin. “Now, what to do with you…”

“You could return me to my service,” Octavia smoothly suggested.

“No, not that. That’s boring,” Dakota sniffed. “You’re already here anyway, you might as well have a seat and enjoy. Nola, please fetch our guest some champagne, if you would?”

“Right away!” Nola dashed over to the refreshments table and returned with a glass of champagne quick as a wink.

Mary sighed and shook her head. “That poor girl… Dakota’s got her wrapped around her little finger, doesn’t she?”

“Yeah, but… she looks happy,” Holly pointed out, indicating Nola’s smiling face. “Maybe she’s like me. Maybe part of her likes doing stuff like this.”

Nick honestly couldn’t be sure. As manipulative as Dakota was, Nola did seem to be enjoying herself. Or maybe she was just pretending to enjoy herself, he couldn’t be sure.

Regardless, he knew that Dakota was lying, or more like “truthing by omission” about sending Nola away. He knew her better than that.

Dakota never threw away her toys.

Except for Sylvia, he thought. The way she’d just discarded her back then… it seemed so unlike the Dakota he knew. She seemed almost **** to be rid of her, and yet, delighted… it was a sadism that she’d done well to hide from him since, but he still felt a prickling in his heart whenever he thought about that day.

There has to be something going on between those two. Something Dakota isn’t telling me. Even if she did see Sylvia as an extraneous thing without a soul, that doesn’t seem like something she would do.

Nick had been trying not to think about that moment, but this morning, when he’d recoiled away from her and saw that horrified look on his face, he flashed back to the look in her eye when she’d been washed away all those years ago. The worst day of his life… and it had blended together with the look of horror on Sylvia’s face, when Dakota had erased her.

Now that those moments had been brought back to the surface, Nick couldn’t push them down. And that frightened him.

Dakota loudly cleared her throat, and snapped Nick out of his reverie.

“Ah, uh…” He looked at her, confused, and saw her staring at him.

“Is something the matter?” She asked, raising her eyebrow. Her face reflected a strange level of concern.

Nick shook his head. “No, just… something we can talk about later,” he **** out. “Tonight, let’s just think about the party, okay? It’s Gina’s big night, after all.”

Dakota blinked, taken aback slightly. But the momentary gleam of delight in her eyes reassured Nick considerably.

“…Yes,” she agreed. “Let’s. Nola?”

“Yes! Do you need something? Champagne? Chocolate? A white rose? Should I turn on the music? What would you like to hear? Or maybe a shoulder massage? Anything I can do for ya boss, just ask!” Nola waited on Dakota like a loyal little puppy, eyes shining with delight.

“…Just get the door, if you would,” Dakota replied. “And please, introduce our guests one at a time? They should be coming in now.”

“Yes ma’am!” Nola saluted, and rushed to the grand doors of the ballroom. She skidded to a stop and cleared her throat, turning back to face Nick and the others.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” She boomed. “Presenting our first guest of the evening, all the way from the shores of… um…” She checked the notecards and her shoulders sagged. “…Oh. It’s the English cunt. Of course.”

She sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Ahem.”

Dakota cleared her throat and looked pointedly at Nola. The leprechaun stiffened up straight and her eyes widened.

“…R-right! Yes, um, Lady Amelia Campbell!” Nola stepped aside and the door opened. Amelia walked through, looking every part the graceful woman of noble birth that she was.

Nick swallowed as he gazed upon his stepmother. No matter how many times he saw her, he couldn’t help acknowledge just how lovely she was. She’d worn a dark blue dress to his wedding, but now that the stigma was gone, she was clad in all white. She glided across the floor to him, green eyes twinkling on an otherwise cold face. With her glasses removed, her beauty was unhindered, and she stood out even more.

Amelia passed Nick by, and gave him a slight nod when their eyes met.

“And next, the other half of Team Order, the redoubtable heiress who also happens to be a no-good, colonialist yank, Vivian Carrington!” Nola announced with more than a hint of venom in her voice as she glared at the heiress.

If Amelia’s entrance was graceful, Vivian’s was saucy. The heiress strutted into the room with her head held high, and Nick was reminded just how classy she really was. She hid it well with her sarcasm, jovial tongue, and acerbic wit, but as he could see from her lovely black dress and perfect poise, she wasn’t at all out of place in an environment like this. It practically seemed like she was a different person she looked so mature!

She winked at him as she approached, and flashed a smirk at Amelia, who stood off to the side with her arms crossed.

“Next, from Team Chaos, a woman of few words and even fewer failed hits, Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin!” Nola was much happier about this introduction, now that she’d moved past the enemies of a free Ireland.

Vivian and Amelia had done an excellent job of showing they belonged. Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin was an interesting contrast to them. She walked with measured steps and carried herself well, and if one didn’t know better they might think that the slender woman in the sleeveless dress was of noble bearing just as the ladies who came before her. But the twinkle in her eye and the sneer on her face betrayed that readily. She looked ready to get up to some mischief, and as she approached, Nick could feel her beady blue eyes aimed his way.

And if Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin is coming, then that means… uh… well, hopefully it will go well? Nick had no idea who to expect next, even though he knew which contestant Nola would be introducing.

“Also from Team Chaos, we’ve got… Cinder? Or Ella?” Nola scrunched up her face in playful confusion, before tossing her card aside. “Ah well! Who cares? Let’s give ‘em a round of applause!”

The door creaked open and out stepped Ella in a beautiful blue ballgown. Her cheeks were flushed and she looked completely out of place. It wasn’t exactly what she’d wanted, following three women well-known for their grace and elegance. But that was how the lots had been drawn, and she’d had to make her bed. But at least she’d been strong enough to take those tottering steps forward without Cinder’s interference, and she held her head up high as she entered.

Feeling Nick’s eyes on her, she froze halfway into the room, and might have just stood there blocking the entrance if not for Nola gently dragging her out of the way.

“…Phew!” Nola wiped the sweat off her brow after having stashed Ella away in the corner of the room. “Now that that’s settled, let’s move onto our next team, Team… uh, do I really have to read all these out?” She groaned, rolling her eyes. “We all know the team names. Just bring out Kim next, okay?”

She swung the door open and out stepped Kim, wearing a dress Nick recognized well. To his relief, it fit her a lot better this time, and she cracked a smile as she saw him, leaning forward and arching her back a little to make her chest bounce. Showing him that yes, she had caught him looking, and what was he going to do about that?

“Sorry I’m back to my normal size,” she teased as she walked past.

“Our next guest, Dani Montenue!” Nola declared. “Did she actually wear a dress? Or has she come out in defiance of the so-called gender norms? …Ah. A dress. Excellent!”

Indeed, Dani was wearing a dress. It didn’t fit the glare she shot Nola’s way, but it did look nice. For a second, Nick thought she was wearing the same blue dress that she always did, the one she really liked. But no, even though the color was the same, this dress was far more modest, the kind of outfit Dani would have picked out for herself if she had to go to a fancy party like this. While it was hard to contain all of her enhanced curves, the tomboy wore it in a way that made her look classy instead of slutty, coupled with her confident strut into the room.

“Our next guest, is a young lady who knows Dani quite well!” Nola continued, flipping to the next card. “Joining us with her twin this evening, essentially Harem Hotel royalty, may I present the sisters Carly and Marley Granger?”

Unlike the swimsuit debacle a couple days ago, Carly and Marley entered the room together, but they couldn’t look more different. Carly was still wearing her host costume, looking every bit the dapper gentleman even as her large breasts strained against the suit. Complementing her nicely was her sister, Marley, who wore a pink gown decorated with flowers, highlighting her cherubic features and giving her the look of a princess from a faerie tale.

“Whoa…” Dani murmured, blushing a little when she saw Carly. Carly came over to greet her partner, leaving her sister to smile bashfully at Nick.

Marley looked like she was about to say something, but she seized the opportunity Carly’s departure granted her, and fled to join her sibling.

Nola cleared her throat. “Yes, two girls is nice, but we need to speed things along!” She pointed out. “Especially given how impatient our next guest will likely be! Rose Beausoleil, come out and show us what you’ve got!”

“Gladly,” Rose purred, walking through the door like a star on the red carpet. For a second, Nick didn’t know what she was wearing. But he put it together pretty fast. She was dressed like a flapper girl from an old movie in peacock blue dress, complete with a headband and a feather boa. If that was Rose’s idea of dressing classy… It was actually a pretty good one. She looked positively dripping with elegance and culture, which was a rarity for her. As lovely as she looked, though, Nick suspected the image would shatter the moment she opened her mouth. So he appreciated it while he had it.

Rose winked at him, and batted her eyelashes. Chaste, coming from her.

“Next, another blast from the past, we’ve got a gothic young lady, the fancy and mysterious Morgana!” Nola continued, introducing the next girl on the list.

Like Ella, Morgana definitely looked uncomfortable to be dressed all fancy like this. For all her claims of loving gothic clothes and imagining herself as a gorgeous witch, she was used to more casual, dowdy things, and wearing an elegant dress like this was a rarity for her. She approached the others with a shaky smile on her face, trying not to highlight her curves too much with her satin red evening gown. It was one of the few times she wasn’t dressed in black, and Nick thought that the color suited her well.

She gave him a slightly more comfortable smile, but still looked shaken.

“Next, Morgana’s partner! The cat familiar to our little witch, Dawn Willowbrook!” Nola giggled. “Fresh off a stint of cleaning up several of your rooms, she’s sniffed out all the dirt!”

Dawn walked cautiously through the door, shooting a disapproving look Nola’s way before facing the others. She looked lovely in a violet dress that reminded Nick of the one she’d worn to prom, with ruffles and a pleated skirt. Maybe not the most fancy or elegant gown there could be, but on her slender frame it made her look quite ravishing. Like Amelia, she’d chosen to forgo her glasses for the night, and in his eyes that was absolutely the correct choice.

There were only two women left. And Nola couldn’t wait to introduce the next one!

“Coming in next,” she declared, “a girl who needs no introduction, a sweet little darling daughter and my bestie, Sylvia River!”

“Yo! Hello there my girls! I’m here!”

Sylvia did not get the memo, that was obvious. Her black dress was a little slutty, which Nick could attribute to her transformation restrictions. But that wasn’t the problem here. No, the problem was that Sylvia made a big showy entrance, waving and blowing kisses to everyone with the subtlety of a cheerleader at a college party high on ecstasy. But the redhead was clearly sober, she was just… not embodying the classiness one would expect from a party like this.

Still, Nick could appreciate her efforts to liven things up. That just left one person.

“And finally, your host for this evening, the woman who planned this whole thing, the illustrious, elegant, and questionably mature-”

“HEY!” A groan came from behind the door.

“…Lady Gina DeAmico! Give her a round of applause!” Nola spun to the side as the door swung open, and Gina stepped out.

Her eyes met Nick’s from across the room, and for a moment, everything fell away and it was just the two of them. She looked positively radiant, wearing a dress the color of midnight. In spite of the plunging neckline, the shawl and the high gloves gave her an atmosphere of class and elegance, even if she did still have to wear her handcuffs. Another thing he realized- far too late, since he was so focused on the rest of her- was that her hair was brushed straight for once. How much work had she put into looking her best tonight?

Earlier, Nick had made a point of reminding Mary and Holly how important this was to Gina and how hard she was working to make this night a success. It was only now that he realized just how true that statement was.