Omelettes au Lard

After the previous night’s events, it hadn’t taken long for Caleb and Mira to settle down for sleep. Even with the heat of what had occurred, both had been overwhelmed with the physical exertion and had found sleep relatively easily. So it was after a full night of rest and the peaking light of dawn that Caleb stirred to the faces of Reyna and Lucian peering down at him.

“Congratulations!” Reyna cheered, pulling on a party popper and sending a stream of confetti and glitter flying over Caleb and Mira.

Mira woke with a start to the sound and pulled the covers up to hide her disheveled self while looking over at Caleb, “What is going on?”

Shrugging Caleb kept his eyes on the cheery face of Reyna and the nonplussed face of Lucian, “I don’t know either.”

“Why master,” Lucian leaned in with a sneer, “We are here to congratulate you on making decent headway with your harem. You have officially earned 20 VP across the women within the Castello, including the negative count possessed by Miss Wright.”

Reyna waved her hands excitedly, “That means your room gets its first upgrade! Look around!”

Caleb took a cursory look around the room. It did appear slightly larger, the CRT had been replaced by an older flat-screen TV, the bathroom no longer looked to be the size of a closet, and now had a small tub in addition to the shower.

Mira was also peering around the room, “So this is what you meant when you talked about your room,” She turned toward Lucian, “I am confused though wouldn’t it be better to make the Master’s suite luxurious to incentivize the women in the harem to enjoy their time there? As it stands this is now only marginally better than the suite I stay in normally.”

Closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose, Lucian responded “I’m sure you’d appreciate giving the master motivation to do better in his position. We don’t just want Caleb to have the perfect harem for him, we want him to be the perfect master for his harem. This encourages him to work to earn their approval”

Dropping her hands from the blanket Mira clicked her tongue, “Why? If the point of this show is sexy transformations, appealing to the master, and broadcasting to the audience. That actually has very little to do with him being good enough for us. In fact wouldn’t a bastard be better for your purposes, as they’d be more inclined to lean into trying to have sex with the harem?”

Reyna looked at Lucian with her hands on her hip, an amused expression on her face as the demon answered, “We are not just selling sex here, the audience wants wish fulfillment and fantasy. This is the same audience that voted your voice back. They don’t just want a Master who has sex with their harem, they want a master they feel good about projecting themselves onto. Humans don’t want to believe they’re as awful as they are, so we sell them the fantasy that they are good people on top of sex and love.”

Reyna smirked, “Basically people want to feel good about the people they watch have sex, not to say violent or cathartic sex doesn’t have its place it’s just a lot more niche. Not everyone can be Azure”

Lucian shook his head, “I don’t think even Azure is gonna survive being Azure.”

Caleb and Mira raised an eyebrow and looked at each other, unsure of who the host and his assistant were talking about

Waving his hand dismissively, Lucian turned to the two, “Regardless, congratulations you have earned a small upgrade to your room. Faster than expected as well, perhaps you are not entirely hopeless.”

Reyna popped another party popper over the two, “Don’t let him get to you, Master! You’re doing just great! I’m sure you’ll have all these women pining for you in no time.”

Mira cocked an eyebrow then turned to look at Caleb, “We will certainly see about that.”

Lucian made a bow, “Enjoy the rest of your day and your date with Miss Purcell” And he vanished in a flash of flame, followed by the happily waving Reyna as she puffed into smoke.

Caleb pulled his blankets off and stood up, feeling something soft beneath his feet, he could now see a plush rug had been placed under the bed, “If they really wanted to motivate me they could offer ways to make your lives easier…” he muttered.

Mira stood up and began to adjust and straighten her dress, “You don’t need to worry so much about that. This Island is rather remarkable, Maya and I have taken some time to explore and it truly has almost anything you could ever want from a vacation spot.”

Curious, Caleb looked over at Mira, “Maya huh? She’s the mystery girl, are you making friends after all that you said yesterday?”

“Friends isn’t quite the right word, but I do feel protective of her. I can’t say much without violating her privacy but I have a lot of sympathy for her plight. She needs the support.” Mira ran her fingers through her hair.

“Ok, but what about what you said? If a challenge comes round and pits you against her, isn’t that going to be a problem?”Caleb watched her carefully

“That won’t be a problem with Maya, if anything she takes this competition more seriously than I do. I think she would feel insulted if I took it easy on her. Whatever bond we have won’t be disrupted by that.” The singer began to tie her hair up.

“But you kept talking yesterday about not wanting to be part of a group like Eliza’s I just don’t understand, if you can make it work with Maya why can’t you make it work with others?” Caleb stepped forward, trying to keep his voice even, he didn’t want to give the impression he was antagonizing her.

Mira turned to look at him, “You’re focusing on the broad strokes. I can ally with Maya without worrying because our friendship isn’t based on the idea that we won’t work against each other if it comes to it. The others are dipping their heads in the sand, feelings will be hurt. I’m not against working with them, but any kinship that will be broken by participation in this game we are **** to take part in is false.”

Caleb looked back into her eyes, “Can’t you at least try? Maybe talk to Eliza see if there is anything that can be done?”

The Bengali woman sighed, “I’ll take it into consideration, but I need to get breakfast and you need to get ready for the day. Miss Purcell does not seem like the kind who would take it well if you put little effort into your date.”

Scratching the back of his head, Caleb watched as Mira strode out of the room leaving him alone. He turned towards his dresser, “Alright…what to wear.”

In her own room, Maddy was freshly showered after waking up again the the sharp dinging noise coming from somewhere in their room. She wasn’t able to find the source of it, and Lily seemed defensive when questioned about it. Maddy for sure that that her roommate was hiding something from her, but if she didn’t want to talk about it, she was too nervous to press her on it for fear of losing her friendship.

Now she was standing above the tray containing the various transformation sweets at her disposal and was still looking at them when Lily came out of the bathroom, running a towel across her face. She appraised Maddy’s expression and carefully asked, “Are you planning to use one today? For your date?”

Maddy slowly shook her head, “I kept thinking about it, but I think Eliza is right…this is our first time really interacting. It doesn’t do me much good if I’m not really…me. Besides I’m going to spend a lot of time in the kitchen and these transformations don’t last very long. It’s not like I would get much out of them. But it’s still tempting…I…do you often think about wanting to be someone else?”

Lily paused, “I mean yeah for sure, I’m practically someone else for a living.”

Frustrated, Maddy shook her head, “No not like that. Like…do you ever just get fed up with being yourself? Do you often find yourself looking at other people and thinking you wish you could be them instead?”

Frowning, Lily hung her towel over her shoulders and crossed to grab her clothes to change into, “I mean I have been jealous before but this sounds a little different. Honestly, I’m kind of surprised. Maddy whenever you talk about your life it sounds…really nice. Your relationship with your parents is good, you’re working your way to your dream job that sounds great.”

Maddy crossed the room and began to change. She had her outfit all picked out, a green sweater her dad always said had matched her eyes, black pants, and her black chef's apron. She began to get changed as she answered Lily, “I get that…and I love my life, I do. I love my mom and dad, I love working in the kitchen…I don’t love me,” her hands balled up, “I’m nervous all the time, I’m fat, I’m not smart, cooking is about the only thing I do well, I feel better camping in the wilderness than being around people, I’m just…I don’t work right”

Lily’s eyes widened hearing Maddy describe herself this way and she walked over and without saying anything wrapped her arms around the chef.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Maddy asked her face flushed.

“I’m giving you a hug, Maddy because even if it’s you doing it, I don’t like the fact that someone is bullying my new friend. You’re such a sweet, kind individual and you’re plenty pretty. Who cares if you’re chubby? You’re still cute. Clearly, there are people who think so or you wouldn’t have been **** for this show.”

Maddy felt her face heating up and she frowned, “How do I know you’re not lying to be nice? Lots of people have done that before.”

Lily held Maddy’s shoulders and pulled back so she could look her in the eyes, “Maddy, if you consider me a friend, trust me. I would not lie to you about something like that. Just believe in the fact that I wouldn’t do something just to be nice. I’m saying these things because that’s what I think, even if I don’t know you super well.

Reaching up, Maddy put her hands on Lily’s, “Ok…I hear what you are saying. It’s really hard for me to believe but I will try.”

Lily stepped away, “Good, I mean that’s all I can ask soooo,” Her face looked strained as she tried to smile, “Do you got your plans all squared away for your date today?”

Shooting her a Sideways look, Maddy continued to get dressed, “You don’t need to **** yourself you know, especially after you just said you wouldn’t lie. I know how grossed out you are by the fact we are all going on dates with Caleb.”

Lily’s expression crumbled, “That obvious?”

This earned a chuckle from Maddy, “Lily, you looked like you drank Vinegar when Eliza was telling us about her date.”

“Hey! At least half of that was because of the sabotage thing, not just because it really skeeves me out that we’re all supposed to be flirting with my ex!” Lily pouted.

Maddy sighed, “I get it…but are you going to hate me for trying to get him to like me?”

Lily waved her hands, “You can’t control the fact that you’ve on this show, I don’t want to see bad things happen to anyone, well maybe Maya,” She joked, “Just do what you have to do I won’t hold it against you. Maybe just don’t…tell me details.”

Maddy fluffed her hair in her hands, “I think that’s fair…I mean it’s not like anything serious is going to happen. But I am…I guess going to try.”

Lily finished getting dressed and walked over and wrapped her arm around Maddy’s shoulder, “Just be yourself, you know he was interested at some point, you don’t need to be anything other than who you are ok?”

“Yeah ok,” Maddy Muttered.

The two exited their room and went downstairs. The scoreboard had been updated to reflect the changes from Mira’s date which caused Maddy’s eyes to widen.

“Oh wow…they must have actually done something last night right? To get that many points?” Maddy said in hushed tones.

Lily shook her head, “It can be that big a deal, she’s still behind Noemi…also it looks like Eliza got points somehow too.” She pointed and sure enough, Eliza’s point total reflected a 3 where it had previously been a 1.

They turned and made their way to the dining hall and what greeted them caused their mouths to open. Standing talking with Eliza was Noemi. But what caught them off guard was what she was wearing. Noemi was sporting a green flowing Dirndl, that caused her ample breasts to be put on quite the prominent display. If anything it looked like her chest had grown since last they had seen her.

When she turned to greet them, there was a thick Austrian lilt to her voice, “Good morning friends, it is very beautiful today outside.”

Maddy was gawked at the presence of the confusing clash of cultures presented by Noemi when Eliza held up a hand.

“Noemi kindly volunteered to let me collect on the one bounty of the board for using a Sabotage on a sleeping partner. She’ll be back to normal by noon. I got up early so I could make it as little disruptive to her day as possible. After all the only stipulation was that she was asleep.”

Sabotage! Milkmaid: Forces target to wear a Dirndl and sport an Austrian accent for the next 8 hours. Bonus! Their breasts will gain the appearance of being swollen with milk.

“Plus I think I look pretty fetching in this outfit don’t you think?” Noemi did a little twirl causing her skirt to slow out.

“Hey what’s with the traffic jam by the entrance?” The women were interrupted by Caleb coming up behind them. He was dressed well in a black turtle neck and well-fitting jeans and the sight of him made Noemi turn bright red and duck behind Eliza.

He continued through and smiled at them all, “Good morning everyone, Noemi you look cute in that outfit.” Across the room, Mira was watching with mild amusement while sitting with Maya.

Lily turned away from Caleb, catching Maya across the room, the other woman waved at her and Lily felt an ember of anger from yesterday ignite in her gut.

Caleb looked to Maddy, “So about our date today, did you have any plans about what you wanted to do?”

Maddy looked at the man in the eyes and then quickly away, “I yes, the Fauns are going to let me in the kitchens…I thought I could cook and we could get to know each other over dinner?”

Caleb grinned, “Can I join you in the kitchens? I’d love to watch you cook and we’d get more time together that way.

Startled, Maddy looked at him wide-eyed, “You wouldn’t mind?”

“Not at all, sounds like fun. Should we meet up after breakfast?” Caleb grinned her way.

“Yeah! Sure!” Maddy got out and Caleb walked away, Eliza smiling at the girl as she stood in shock at how well that had gone.