Week 1: Mallory's Date, Part 1

Aífe woke to find her bed empty save for herself. Worried for a moment that Cecilia might have had another freak out, she was relieved when the other redhead walked in with a yawn and two cups of coffee. With her eyes half-closed and still groggy, she took a sip of one cup as she reached to hand the other to Aífe before grimacing and swapping which cup she was handing over.

“Accidentally took a sip of yours.” Cecilia yawned once again. “You like it sweet, right?”

“Yeah, thanks.” Aífe took the cup that had a more than healthy amount of milk and sugar added while Cecilia sipped from the now correct cup. “I take it you like yours black, then?”

“Yep, I like it bitter and scalding, just like my personality.” Cecilia joked and Aífe had to fight not to laugh into her own cup. The two sat there and finished their coffee in companionable silence before getting on with their morning routines. Aífe chose to return to wearing jeans—she didn’t know what Mallory might have planned for their date, after all, but she did at least forgo a t-shirt this time, opting instead for a casual blouse. Cecilia gave her a once-over when she stepped out of her closet, and nodded begrudgingly. It was a step in the right direction. They finished getting ready and departed the Lily Suite.

Once the two made their way down to the dining hall, they were greeted by a very grumpy and tired-looking Erica.

“I’ve got a bone to pick with you!” The bunny stormed angrily toward Cecilia, who looked completely baffled. “Bet you thought it was real funny, huh? Turning the thermostat down for when I’m spending the night alone in our suite.”

“Back the hell up, okay? I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Cecilia held her hand out in front of her. “So let me get this straight—our room felt way colder than normal last night? Did the bed also seem less comfortable to you?”

“See! I knew you messed with it somehow! Now tell me where I can find it and how to fix the bed!”

“Ugh, hold your hares, bitch. When exactly would I have messed with things in our room without you noticing? I left before you and I was with Aífe the rest of the day.” Cecilia motioned to Aífe with her thumb. Aífe nodded, confirming Cecilia’s account. “I know about it because the same thing happened to me the night that you were on your date.”

“It did?” Erica took a step back, her rage somewhat defused by her confusion. “So, who’s been messing with us?”

“No one, my dears.” Sera explained as she appeared in the open doorway behind Aífe and Cecilia. “Or, in game development terms, ‘It’s not a bug; it’s a feature.’”

“The hell does that mean?” Erica redirected her ire toward the Host.

“What it means, Miss Erica, is that you were experiencing the effects of the Rose Suite.” Sera smiled. “You didn’t think those names were for show, did you? Each suite has an effect based on the symbolism of its namesake flower. Roses—or red roses, at least—symbolize passion and romance. Therefore, those who find themselves staying in the Rose Suite will experience heightened emotions, passions that flare brightly and burn deeply.”

“Okay, but that doesn’t explain why the room is horribly cold and uncomfortable half the time.” Cecilia chimed in, crossing her arms.

“That would be the secondary effect, Miss Pine.” Sera held up two fingers. “The secondary effect being that its occupants will be encouraged to be more physically affectionate. To that end, physical affection such as handholding, cuddling, and sex will feel much better, and going without for too long might cause some discomfort.”

“So whoever’s staying there will have at least one night a week where they’re **** to be uncomfortable?” Cecilia was steadily getting angrier. “That’s bullshit!”

“Now, now.” Sera held up a hand to hold off the building rage from the occupants of the Rose Suite. “The suite was designed to encourage you to be physically affectionate, it does not make a distinction as to whom. If your roommate isn’t going to be staying with you on any given night—and wasn’t feeling generous enough to invite you with her on her visit to Lady Aífe’s suite—you’re free to invite another contestant to stay with you for the evening. Or even one of the staff, if you’re so inclined.”

“Hold on, are you saying that we can swap rooms?” Erica’s eyes widened.

“No.” Sera responded bluntly. “This exception only exists for the Rose Suite, and only applies when one of the assigned occupants won’t be present for the night. Otherwise, what would be the point of assigning you rooms?”

“So, you’ve told us what the Rose Suite does—” They turned to look at Elise, who had just spoken up. “But what about the other rooms? You did say that each of them has an effect.”

“Hmm, I suppose I could tell you…” Sera tapped her chin as she pondered. “But I don’t think I will. Not right now, at least.” Seeing their looks of disappointment, Sera compromised. “How about this, then—I won’t tell you right now, but you each get one opportunity each week to ask me to confirm whether your idea about what the effects of a given suite are, and I will answer truthfully. If you haven’t guessed by the halfway point of the season, I’ll come right out and reveal them.”

“In that case, I—” Elise started before Sera held up a hand to cut her off.

“Please wait until after breakfast, Miss Elise.” Sera said calmly. “We still have to go over the schedule for the day.” Aífe and Cecilia went to get food while Sera turned to look at Mallory. “Today is your turn, Miss Mallory. While Miss Pine’s date with Lady Aífe was lovely in its own way, I certainly hope yours will result in a much greater number of VP generated. You could even find yourself back in first place.” Mallory blushed as she remembered how she gained her initial lead before gulping and putting on a determined expression.

“Well, I can’t say for sure that we’ll end up doing anything of that nature, but I do have a fun day planned.” Mallory smiled in Aífe’s direction, who was now seated and eating a small plate of pancakes and sausage. The Mistress took this moment to notice how Mallory was dressed. If her outfit was a clue to what they’d be doing on their date, Aífe wasn’t picking up on it. She’d expected Mallory to be dressed in her usual clothes, but that wasn’t the case today. Rather than the sports bras and yoga pants she’d been wearing for the past couple of days, she was dressed in what would look like a nice outfit to wear on a date… if the long-sleeved top she was wearing hadn’t been turned into black latex and the skirt changed to a matching latex pencil skirt. As far as Aífe could see, the only thing Mallory was wearing that could be assumed to still be the same fabric as when it was manufactured were the pantyhose she was wearing.

“Then I’ll leave you to it once Lady Aífe is finished eating.” Sera nodded and turned back to Elise. “If you’d like to give your guess now, you may. And keep in mind that you can ask about any of the suites, not just your own.”

“Okay, then…” Elise closed her eyes as she brainstormed. “Does the Sunflower Suite make you friendlier and/or more sociable?”

“While I suppose it could result in such a change, that is not it’s primary effect.” Sera shook her head. “A well-reasoned guess, though. To avoid being inundated with your guesses all at once, I believe I’ll be limiting them to one per day. This way, the rest of you will have some extra time to think on it.”

“Welp, I’m finished.” Aífe said, dabbing the last bit of syrup from the corner of her lips. “Are we heading out? It sounds like you have plans for us—were those for the whole day?” Mallory nodded and stood up.

“Yeah.” She smiled. “I figured everyone else has been spending the whole day with you, and I wouldn’t want to fall behind.” She cast a glance to either side of where she had been sitting—Natalie on her left and Diona on her right. She nodded at the both of them, and they both returned a smile and a thumbs up.

“Don’t go causin’ too much of a ruckus, Mal.” Natalie playfully teased.

“Nah, don’t listen to her, Mal. I wanna hear the moans from all the way in my room!” Diona cheered her on.

“I’ll see you two later—Nat, Diona.” Mallory waved at them before turning her gaze to Ember. Not wanting to feel left out, Ember also gave a thumbs up with her usual blank expression. Mallory led Aífe out of the dining hall.

“So… what was that about? If you don’t mind my asking.” Aífe asked as she followed her latex-clad date.

“Oh, with Nat and Diona? We spent the day together yesterday, wandering around and brainstorming date ideas for each of us. Or—for me and Nat, anyway. Diona already has a plan, apparently.”

“Okay. And Ember?” Aífe inquired further as Mallory turned to lead them through the doors to the garden outside. Aífe was surprised—this was the first time someone had wanted to go out into the garden for their date. She just now realized that this was the first time she’d been outside since the opening ceremony ended. It was easy to forget to leave the main building, since it had such a wide array of amenities.

“Oh, that was just confirming my plans for lunch and dinner.” Mallory said as they stepped outside onto the cobblestone path. “It was really cute how she gave a thumbs up too, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah.” Aífe smiled and chuckled inwardly. We’ll have to see about spending more time with Ember and some of the other staff. She thought to herself. They’ve been really nice, so far. Plus, it’s been cool to meet so many different mythical creatures. “I’ve also got to ask about the clothes.” Aífe changed subjects. “I definitely wasn’t expecting to see you dressed in latex this morning. I figured you’d be sticking to sportswear.”

“Oh, these?” Mallory gestured to her top and skirt. “These were very generously donated—or maybe sacrificed would be a better word—by Nat. She even gave up this pair of loafers to the cause.” Mallory wiggled her foot to illustrate. “That said, I did sort of promise her that I’d take her shopping once we have more BP next week.”

“Maybe I’ll tag along for that.” Aífe joked. “I’ve been becoming a bit of a shopaholic—two trips to the boutique in 72 hours.”

“It is pretty nice.” Mallory mused as they approached the edge of the garden—the path continuing through a lightly wooded area. “That was one of the places we stopped yesterday. We figured it’d be good to plan our outfits while we were at it.”

“While that does sound nice, that doesn’t answer my question.” Aífe pressed while absentmindedly looking around at the trees that were now surrounding them. “What I still don’t get is why are you wearing clothes that you knew would turn into latex? Wouldn’t you feel more comfortable in your usual clothes?”

“Oh, um… there are a couple of reasons.” Mallory was slightly in front of Aífe, so the redhead couldn’t see the less than honest expression on Mallory’s face. “One is that this is a date. I should be trying to dress a bit nicer than just yoga pants. And the second, well…” She paused. “It’s not like I’m going to be able to wear workout clothes 24/7—especially once we’re back home. It’d probably be a good idea to get used to being around people when I’m, y’know… dressed like this. And you’re the person here who I’m most comfortable around, so…” She trailed off.

“Wow, um… thank you.” Aífe responded, touched by Mallory’s words. “It means a lot. That’s actually one of the things I’ve been worried about the most—how comfortable you all are with me, so I’m really happy to hear you say it.”

“Why do you sound so surprised?” Mallory slowed for a moment, reaching out to hold Aífe’s hand. “You’re not some stranger to me, y’know? We did work together for the better part of a year. I thought we’d gotten pretty close during that time.” She pouted.

“No, no, of course we were close!” Aífe panicked. “It’s just that it’s been so long! Not to mention the whole magic transition thing!”

“Relax, Aífe.” Mallory broke into a laugh. “I was teasing you. And you don’t have to worry about the ‘magic transition thing.’ You’re still you, right?” Aífe meekly nodded and Mallory continued. “I think most of us are just really happy for you, at least as far as that part of the show is concerned. You look much happier now than you did back then.”

“Did I really look that depressed before?” Aífe cringed. She thought she was better at masking than that.

“Not necessarily.” Mallory said as she thought about it. “But you always seemed kind of tired—like you were just going through the motions. You’re much livelier now, and I’m glad to see it.” She squeezed Aífe’s hand tighter as they approached the end of the forest. Aífe was genuinely clueless as to where Mallory was taking her. If she had to guess at how long they’d been walking, she’d wager about 10 minutes.

They left the woods, and Aífe had to shield her eyes with her free hand while she readjusted to the bright sunlight. When she removed her hand, she saw the cobblestone path end at a large deck area along the shore of a lake, with several sunloungers. The lake itself was gorgeous like all the other scenery at the Lily Garden, with sparkling blue water. She could also see a small pond a few meters to the side of the lake. In the distance, part of the lakeshore curved around into a more heavily wooded area than what they’d just walked through, while the opposite side of the lake trailed off into a stream leading deeper into the forest. Mallory led her to the deck and motioned to the water as she looked back at her.

“Surprise! Bet you weren’t expecting us to go swimming.”