Saying "Get that together, come back and see me"

Before the girls began the walk back to the hotel, Dawn raised her hand.

“Yes? What is it?” Dakota asked, raising her eyebrow.

The cat girl furrowed her brow. “You sent Kim off to do her job… but we aren’t done here yet,” she replied. “We still don’t know the order for our nights with Nick,” she pointed out.

Dakota frowned. “You’re not wrong there,” she agreed. “I suppose it slipped my mind. Oh, well, I’m sure her roommate will be happy to inform her, assuming that she can pay attention, of course,” she noted, grinning at Gina.

Gina rolled her eyes and scoffed.

“Regardless, you’re right, Dawn, before we head back to the hotel, it would be good to see who will be spending the night with the master when,” she said with a twinkle in her eye, raising her cane. “Of course… it’s a bit of a shame that Nick himself isn’t here to see it.”

This all sounded nice and convenient. Almost like she planned this or something.

1. Carly

2. Dawn

3. Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin

4. Gina

5. Vivian

6. Rose

7. Dani

8. Kim

9. Cinder/Ella

10. Morgana

11. Sylvia

12. Amelia

The numbers were nice and varied. Amelia raised her eyebrow when she saw that she would be going last this week.

“So I’m first, huh?” Carly whistled. “That’s not so bad.”

“And I’m second,” Dawn noted. “Dakota probably wanted me pretty early, to speed up my transformation.”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin didn’t have much to say, as usual. But she looked rather pleased by her own placement.

Ella couldn’t say the same. She bit her lip as she looked at where she’d landed on the schedule, feeling hesitant to express her feelings on the matter. That was something that Morgana picked up on- she was unusually perceptive about the feelings of others for once. Or maybe Ella was just really bad at hiding her emotions.

“Are you okay with this?” She asked, approaching Ella cautiously.

Ella flinched and looked up at Morgana, her eyes wide. “Oh! Um… I…”

She reached for her rubber-band, only to remember that she had forgotten it. Of course.

“…I just wanted my day to be a little earlier, that’s all,” she mumbled, looking down.

Morgana nodded. “I, um, I feel the same way,” she stammered. “Last time I was really early in the week, though, so… I can’t really complain… um…”

She may have been able to pick up on Ella’s concerns, but she didn’t really know what she could say to alleviate them, unfortunately.

Morgana let out a sigh and shook her head. “It’s alright…”

“Let’s get going already,” Dani complained. She was already walking towards the hotel. “I’m hungry! That challenge really took a lot out of me, and I’m not looking forward to figuring out how to use a shower with these things!”

She might have appreciated her transformation, but as she scratched at the itchy feathers growing from her wrists, she also knew that it would be quite a problem to deal with them.

Smirking, Dakota watched the girls go, and waved her cane, disappearing. She looked forward to finding out how they would all handle their new room placements.

Once the girls got back to their rooms, they all split up to go check them out. Except for Kim, of course, who was stuck working overtime at the boutique. That left Gina with a lot of freedom on her hands for the moment.

“Huh, this place isn’t so bad,” she mused, sauntering into the room and taking stock of her surroundings. She ripped a piece of gummy bear off from one of the chairs and took a bite, noticing that it quickly regenerated. “…Cool.”

If Gina was feeling up for it, she might be willing to experiment with some of this stuff. But that wasn’t really her style. She was just glad that the Candy Suite wasn’t going to get her stuff all sticky.

“I’m glad I didn’t bring my jacket,” she said, going to check the status of her clothes in the closet. “Would have sucked to get this ruined.” Thankfully, the candy wasn’t affecting any of their clothing either. Not that Kim had a lot of variety in her outfits.

Gina blinked. “…I can’t believe I actually won…” she said, shaking her head slowly. It was still sinking in. Gina had never won a challenge before… until now.

She’d actually won! It was hard to believe, but it was true!

“…Yes!” She cheered quietly to herself, making a triumphant fist. “I won!”

It was a display of pride and joy that Gina would have never shown to anyone so overtly. But since it was just her in the room…

“You seem to be pleased with yourself.”

“Whoa!” Gina jumped in surprise, slamming the closet shut and shaking off a few skittles in the process. She whirled around to see Dakota standing in the doorway with an amused smirk on her face. “D-Dakota! What are you doing here? I thought…”

“What, that I was just going to fuck off or something?” Dakota scoffed, sauntering into the Candy Suite. “No, no, no, I wanted to check up on you, Gina! See how you’re doing!”

Gina blinked. Then she gulped. “O-oh.”

“How do you feel? You actually won a challenge!” Dakota applauded her. “I’m almost proud. You always tried your hardest to win when we were kids, after all. And when you did, you’d burst into tears.”

Gina was pretty sure that Dakota cried tears of joy whenever she won back then as well, but decided not to say anything.

“I’m happy about it,” she said slowly, nodding.

Dakota smiled widely. “That’s great! Now then, I forgot to mention this back on the beach, but we need a name for your team! You and Kim don’t have a lot of points of overlap, I’m afraid. She’s a hard worker, you’re a massive slacker…”

Gina rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I get it. Come on, stop beating around the bush.” She cracked a grin. “We both know that you’ve already come up with a name, so…”

Dakota smirked back at her. “…That’s right. I have,” she admitted. “You and Kim are going to be… Team Bottom!”

Well, that certainly wasn’t what Gina expected. “You sure about that?” She asked, raising her eyebrow. “I mean, I get why me.” She slapped her ass for emphasis. “But Kim? I mean, she’s toned, but her ass is a little…”

“It’s because she’s at the bottom of the corporate ladder, of course,” Dakota replied cheerfully.

Gina burst out laughing. “…Good thing she’s not here to hear that!” She said between wheezing cackles as she imagined Kim’s reaction to her new team name.

After Dakota finished giving her congratulations to Gina, she moved to the next room on the roster, the Arcade Suite.

She hung back in the doorway, listening in as Dawn tried to get to know her new roommate a little better.

“Okay, Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin, I think it would be for the best if we laid out some ground rules, don’t you?” Dawn asked, trying to brush over her feelings of doubt and reservation with something that made sense to her- rules and expectations.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin rolled her eyes in response.

“D-don’t roll your eyes!” Dawn exclaimed, flustered. “This stuff is important! Look… we’re just trying to stay out of each other’s hair, okay? That’s what’s best for both of us. And that means, please don’t play any of these games in the middle of the night, okay? Please?”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin feigned a silent yawn, and then nodded. Then she gave Dawn a smirk that made the cat girl have some serious doubts about whether or not the assassin would actually go along with that.

But she could also tell that this was probably as good as she would get, and any attempt to push further would just result in the assassin doubling down on being a pest just for her own amusement.

And Dawn really didn’t want to have to deal with that.

So she sighed and reluctantly nodded. “Great, it’s a deal then,” she mumbled, hoping that it really was a deal, and that the other woman wasn’t going to just go back on her silent word the second she had the inclination to do so.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin had already stopped listening to Dawn, and had skipped over to her closet to take a look at all the new clothes that she’d received as a result of her transformation.

Dakota decided that this was a good time to make her presence known, before she headed down that particular rabbit hole. She cleared her throat loudly, getting both girls’ attention.

“Good afternoon, ladies,” she greeted them both with a wave. “I just came by to discuss your team name for a moment.”

“Oh?” Dawn’s ears twitched curiously.

“That’s right,” Dakota nodded. “I was thinking… Team Ingenuity! After all, Dawn, you’re quite a smart little kitty cat, and Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin is the product of human ingenuity itself, so… there you have it! Simple as can be!”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin wasn’t amused. Dawn wasn’t, either, but decided not to say anything.

Chuckling, Dakota went on her way.

Dakota didn’t find herself interrupting any important moments of team bonding when she arrived at the Fashion Suite, though.

There was an awkward silence hanging in the air between Rose and Ella. Even though both girls had been ecstatic to be placed in the room, they both felt uncomfortable with the other girl. The issues that had arisen as a result of the last challenge clearly hadn’t been resolved yet, even if Rose had decided not to hold a grudge.

Just as Dakota liked it.

“Well now, what do we have here?” She said as she sauntered into the room, looking at both girls. They were standing on opposite corners of the room, practically hiding among the mannequins for camouflage. “I would have thought that the two of you would be holding a little fashion show or something, given how excited you were to find yourselves here.”

“Dakota!” Rose’s eyes widened. “No, I love this room, it’s just…”

She couldn’t help look over at Ella, who ducked behind one of the models.

“…It’s my fault,” the latina mumbled, sticking her head out a moment later. “Because of what I did, Rose is still upset…”

“Ugh, come on, I already told you I’m not,” Rose said, rolling her eyes. “It was a challenge. And with a challenge, you do what you gotta do, you know? I’m not mad.”

Rose had told her that several times already, but the other girl didn’t seem to get the message.

“Really?” Ella asked hesitantly. She couldn’t imagine letting go of something as drastic as stabbing someone in the back that easily.

“Yup, don’t worry about it,” Rose said with a sharp nod. “Now Dakota, what do you want?”

She regarded the other woman with a suspicious look. Dakota didn’t just “drop by” it was always when she needed something.

“Are you here to give me my bounty sheet?” Rose guessed hopefully.

“Oh, that’s right, your bounty sheet!” Dakota laughed. “I almost forgot. Yes, I’ll get that to you later,” she said, waving her hand dismissively. “Right now, I have more important things to do, like discuss your team name!”

“Eh?” Ella blinked.

“Is that really necessary?” Rose grumbled. She’d much rather have the bounty sheet. “Fine, what is it?”

“I was thinking… Team Two-Faced would be a good description for the two of you,” Dakota said.

Rose’s mouth fell open, and Ella went pale.

“Two-Faced!?” Rose sputtered, her face turning scarlet. “But I’m not-! How could you even think that-!?”

“Relax, it’s a joke,” Dakota said, rolling her eyes. “Learn to get a sense of humor, Rose. No, no, for your team, we’ll come up with something a little more sensitive to current… issues.” She glanced at a stunned Ella. “I think… Team Emphatic would be a good fit!”

Rose’s expression of shocked outrage morphed into a scowl. “Okay, and what’s that supposed to mean?” She demanded.

Dakota smirked. “I think you know.”

After leaving Rose to fume and snort, Dakota headed to the next room on her list, the Garden Suite. This was one she was curious to see the effects of.

“…And look at that one over there! Isn’t it just marvelous?” Sylvia was having a blast showing all the lovely plants that populated the Garden Suite to an equally-excited Marley, while Carly watched politely from the bed.

“Yeah, I can’t wait until we start growing our own,” Marley agreed with a nod. “What do you think, sis? Any suggestions?”

Marley looked back to her sister, and froze when she saw Dakota standing in the doorway. “…Oh.”

Carly looked up at Dakota, surprised. She frowned. “Didn’t expect to see you here,” she said calmly. “So what’s up?”

“Can’t a host just stop by to see how her contestants are settling in?” Dakota asked with a small smile.

“…Sure,” Marley said suspiciously. “…So what’s up?”

So they weren’t buying it. That was fine with Dakota.

“Dakota!” Sylvia rushed over with bright eyes. “I had all sorts of ideas for plants we could grow, is there a catalogue I can take a look at, or maybe-”

Dakota cut her off with a raised hand. “Later,” she said, shaking her head. “We can discuss those details some other time. I’ll get you all the info you’re looking for, but right now, I wanted to talk about your team name. I was considering ‘Team Family’, since, you know, you and Marley, but technically your teammate is Carly, so…”

“Well, any family of Marley’s is family of mine,” Carly pointed out. She wasn’t one to quibble over technicalities.

Dakota was, though.

“Considering the both of you, and your interests, it’s fairly obvious,” Dakota said, smirking. “You made your living as a streamer, and Sylvia, well… whatever else she is, she was a host at one time. So I think that ‘Team Audience Appeal’ would be a perfectly serviceable name, don’t you?”

Sylvia snickered and Marley rolled her eyes. Carly grinned.

“That’s kind of funny, given my placement in the Popularity Polls recently,” she pointed out.

Dakota shrugged. “Why do you think I’m having you go first this round?” She asked. “I want to give you a chance to pump those numbers up!”

Sylvia frowned. “But usually, performances near the end of the round tend to make a bigger impact on-”

“Make sure you do your best,” Dakota said, quickly cutting the former host off before she could point out any flaws in Dakota’s reasoning. “In the meantime, I have other girls to speak to. Now, if you would be so kind…”

She excused herself before any of them could say anything, and headed to the next room.

Morgana had already stayed in the Luxury Suite last round, so she didn’t really need to check the room out too much. She was too busy fawning over her new hat, anyway. In the meantime, Amelia was taking stock of the room’s amenities with a critical eye as usual.

When Dakota entered, she turned to the host, wearing a neutral expression that frankly had Dakota feeling a little irritated.

“Hello there, Amelia,” she said, greeting the other woman with a frosty wave. “Doing well, I hope? Getting used to your room?”

“It is passable,” Amelia replied.

“…Glad to hear it,” Dakota said coolly. “Passable. That’s what we strive for here at Harem Hotel.”

“Are you going to teach me magic yet?” Morgana asked excitedly, hopping off the bed.

“Why is it that you girls always want something from me?” Dakota sighed in exasperation. “Can’t anyone just appreciate my presence for its own sake?”

Amelia raised her eyebrow and Morgana looked down sheepishly.

“…That was a joke,” Dakota clarified, seeing that she wasn’t getting anywhere with these two. “Anyway, I came by to see how you’re both doing, and to let you know I’ve decided on your team name. Morgana, given your frankly nebulous relationship with schools and your studies back when you were a student…”

Morgana blanched and looked quickly over at Amelia, gulping loudly.

“I thought that the team of our oldest contestant and our youngest, a teacher and her student, would be best named ‘Team Remedial Lessons’! Of course… in a setting like this one, whichever of you is the student and which is the teacher may not be so clear,” Dakota added with a giggle.

Amelia wasn’t amused. On the other hand, Morgana was letting her mind get carried away with the implications of being in the teacher role. And what would she be teaching the older woman, exactly? Well, how to please Nick, of course!

Her nose started bleeding.

“…I see I’ve made my point,” Dakota said, quite proud of herself. She turned and left before Morgana could come to her senses and start protesting.

There was only one room left to get to, and Dakota wasn’t going to bother with niceties for much longer. She strolled into the Romance Suite, wondering if Dani and Vivian were at each other’s throats already or not.

She was pleasantly surprised by what she saw instead.

“Wow!” Dani moaned. She was topless, having managed to get her shirt off without too much difficulty from her feathered arms, and was laying face-down on the bed, getting a massage from Octavia. Vivian, likewise undressed, was lying beside her with a pleased grin on her face.

“I know, right? Octavia gives just the best massages,” Vivian murmured dreamily. “She’s just amazing…”

“As you say,” Octavia said gently, while her hands were anything but. Dani had worked herself over pretty hard on this last challenge, and the butler had her work cut out for her getting through the knots in her back.

Dakota cleared her throat.

“Well, I must say, it’s a pretty close competition, but I think you two just about beat out Carly, Marley, and Sylvia in terms of getting along best out of all the roommates,” she said in amusement. “What, since the two of you are starting on newer ground than them, I mean.”

“Just helping Dani relax a little after a long day,” Vivian said, propping herself up on her elbows. “What’s up?”

“Ignore her,” Dani mumbled into her pillow. “Whatever she wants, it’s nothing good, I promise.”

Dakota twisted her mouth into a wince and placed her hand over her chest. “Why, I’m wounded,” she crooned, shaking her head. “And here I am, coming by to check up on the two of you!”

Dani cracked a peek up at the host. “Yeah? So what do you want?” She asked hesitantly.

Dakota smirked.

“I just decided on your team name, that’s all,” she said, taking another look at Octavia giving Dani a massage. “Team Dark Horse.”

Dani’s head snapped up. “Huh?!”

Vivian laughed. “Well, that’s rather fitting,” she said, shaking her head. “But I think you’ll find it’s not so simple.”

Dakota shrugged. “Well, even if the audience’s opinions on you two may be rather divided… I expect some great things to come from this partnership. Now, enjoy the massage!”

And with that, she excused herself. Enough playing around with the contestants. She was quite eager to see what Mary would be doing, now that she finally had Nick all to herself.