Plea Deal

Richard woke up to another day. A pillow was in his arms, and Luna was sound asleep a healthy distance away. He set the pillow down and got into the shower. After the talk he had with his best friend and her reassurance yesterday, he had less guilt to drown out under the volume of the three high-pressure shower heads he’d gotten used to.

He got out of the shower and got dressed in something casual. It was just Hel today, and their relationship wasn’t the kind that either would feel the need to impress each other.

He was getting ready to leave for Hel’s place when he got a text from Hazel.

Good Morning, Sir. Ms.Turner asked me to let you know we wouldn’t need your visit. She wanted to take a slow morning and prepare for the day properly. I’ll bring her over myself about mid-morning and let you know when we’re on our way.

So they didn’t need him to visit today. It was nice, not needing to go through the awkwardness of her transformation. Yet it’d become part of his daily routine: Wake up, get dressed, give his stepsister permission to walk, get breakfast. Every time this place stops feeling insane…

As he was trying to decide what to do about his day being made a little bit easier, Luna started waking up. Having her wake up here was… not quite normal, but it’d be nice if it was.

“You’re still here?” She asked after a yawn. “I thought you’d probably be at the Arrow already.”

“They said they wanted to wait until later. Did you want to go to breakfast together instead?”

“Sure. I asked Genet to drop off some clothes yesterday with the show, so do you mind if I take twenty, maybe thirty minutes to get changed?”

“That’s fine, I’ll wait for you in the kitchen.”

Twenty-three minutes later, she was ready. Her hair was still slightly damp, but she had a powder blue dress on. “I cannot believe how much I missed being able to take a shower.”

“The…” He tried to remember which house she and Aubrey were put in. “The Pomegranate Cottage doesn’t have one?”

“Just an ivory bathtub. It looks expensive, but expensive doesn’t always mean nice, you know?”

He nodded. He’d seen over the years that things just needed to be functional sometimes.

It was a quick walk over to the Dining Hall. A bleary-eyed Ava was already sitting at one of the tables, trying not to fall asleep onto her pancakes. They were half eaten at this point, but after several days of waking up early to sit outside while Stella cooked it looked like she needed a nap more than food. A fancy espresso machine was sitting on the buffet table, the same brand that Helena had installed in her office and most of their homes. But Ava didn’t drink coffee, so she was just trying to power through her fatigue.

Luna got herself a cup of coffee and they both picked up a plate of pancakes that Stella dropped off at the window to the kitchen. They kept things quiet for a while to give Ava more time to wake up. The rest of their friends slowly trickled in. Dr.Petrov was the earliest, followed shortly by Felicia grumbling about that goat that lived outside their house. Aubrey was wearing a purple hoodie he’d bought her back in undergrad, and visibly brightened as she saw Maeve sitting next to him on the other side of Luna. She picked up a plate from Stella and her own personal pitcher of syrup, then joined everyone.

Stella sat down last, only joining after everyone else had started talking already. She had an awkward combination of a hoodie, sandals, and unusually short shorts that he thought he’d seen Ava wear before.

The conversation was flowing, everyone talking over and around each other and he had to keep dropping in and out of discussions to get bits of everything.

“So it was originally intended to be a combat encounter, but since she had a bear as one of her animal forms she was able to…” Aubrey had asked Ava to tell Maeve more about the G&G game they’d played together. Stella was whispering to Luna something that he couldn’t pick up.

“Have you heard anything about what the challenge will look like?” Felicia was asking him.

“Genet’s told me that it would be dramatic, but not dangerous?” He offered, trying to remember the host’s phrasing the day before.

“Do you know if you’re going to be part of it?”

“What do you mean?”

“When we were watching the challenges together, they’d often focus on the master. There were a few blowjob contests, or there was one Hazel and I watched together where all the contestants had to cook for the master of the branch. Hopefully it’s not something like that one though, it seems pretty obvious that Stella would win that. But the challenge involves the master pretty often. If you get a chance, would you be able to see if you can get Genet to spill anything more about it?”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thanks. We’ve only got two days until the challenge now, and the three of us found a lot of possibilities but no clear directions.”

Felicia moved on to something she wanted to discuss with Luna, and Stella went around collecting everyone’s empty plates once her most trusted friend’s attention was no longer on her. Everyone stayed in the Dining Hall for a few hours, talking and catching up after they’d spent the week lit into their own small groups. It was nice having so many of the people he cared about happy in one place. Seeing Ava, Luna, and Maeve next to each other was another one of those things this morning that wasn’t normal, but it’d be nice if it was.

The text came in after he’d been talking to everyone for a while longer. He said goodbye and went back to the Master’s Cottage

***

After he got the text from Hazel, he went back to his room to meet them there. He waited at the door, and opened it wide when he saw Hazel coming with Hel in a princess carry.

“Thank you, sir.” Hazel said as she moved past him and took her boss into the bedroom, helping her into a comfortable position sitting at the edge of the bed.

“You can stand up and walk around.” He immediately said as he followed her in. Helena immediately stood up, though she was looking down at the floor. I can’t imagine how strange this must be from her side. Trying to change the subject away from her transformation, he asked: “Did you have anything you wanted us to do today?”

She was still staring at the floor as she answered, her head bowed. “I thought it might be nice to play tennis or chess together. If we had some downtime, maybe we could talk about how work had been going before this started or if you were alright with it, we could watch Downtown Abbey together. How does that sound, Richard-dono?” She flinched at the honorific she hadn’t meant to say.

She still wasn’t looking at him.

“What was that at the end, Hel?”

“How does that sound, Richard…-dono?” She’d been trying to stop it from coming out.

He held onto Helena by her shoulders. “Hey. Look at me. Are you alright?”

She was finally able to meet his eyes. I can power through this. If I just tell him I’m fine and avoid using his name, I can get him to drop it. She got ready to reassure him. “I don't know how to stop it and I’m worried.”

“What’s happening?” He asked her.

She could feel the need to explain emerge as he asked. She turned her gaze towards Hazel, hoping she’d be able to help. “Can you explain? I don’t think I’m strong enough.”

Hazel stepped in as she was asked, and recounted the story. “Ms.Turner tried to find a way we could leave. She was caught by another host that wanted to watch your reaction if she was in danger. At the end of the round she’s supposed to be eliminated, and she was told that there would be smaller changes popping up until that happened.” Even with Hazel’s unflinching attitude he knew her for, she needed to take a breath to keep her voice steadied. “Ms.Turner told me about how much Genet tried to fix it, even taking her to another host who tried to help. All they could do was make her walking transformation easier to deal with.”

“Two days? That’s all she has?”

“I’m having trouble believing it too.”

“No.” He said quietly.

“It’ll be alright.” Helena tried to reassure him.

“No.” He said louder. “I can’t lose anyone else. I can’t lose you.” He stormed into the hall. “Genet!”

She was waiting for him at the front door. The hallway smelled strange, like ink, wine, and vanilla. “I’m glad you saw her. Do you have a plan-“

“Fix her.” His voice was smoldering.

“Fix her?” The host was confused. Clearly there’d been a discussion she’d missed. She tried to look through the house to piece together the conversation, but all three of them were too clouded for her to read.

“You made a big show of **** on the first night about how you could do anything. What’s the point of all that power you claim to have if you can’t save her. You promised me she’d be safe.”

“I want her to be safe too. I’d step in if I could, but my producer-”

“I don’t care. If you can’t save her, then the show's over. This is supposed to be a sex show, right? That’ll be done. Aubrey, Felicia, Hazel, they’ll understand. Hell, Aubrey and Hazel are almost as close to Hel as I am. I doubt they’d want to do anything if they watched something happen to her. I’ll ask Ava to take over the rest of the show, and your audience will watch nothing but our G&G campaign until you give up…” Richard continued talking, spinning the idea for his protest mid-speech.

Back in the bedroom, Hazel was thinking. She was watching the pained expression on her boss’s face as they listened to Richard try to defend her. “I don’t think I’m strong enough.” She had said. That felt… wrong. Ms.Turner had never backed down from doing something, especially not something that she found unpleasant. She’d power through, then recover from the consequences later. That determination was one of the things she loved most about Ms.Turner. About Helena.

Maybe it’s because of how hopeless this is? No. That didn’t sound right. She’d watched her try to walk off being shot before. I don’t think I’m strong enough. That phrase was eating at her. I don’t want to be the one that tells him? Sure, that was believable. She would lie and reshape the narrative to hide the worst parts from him, they’d done it together countless times. I don’t think I’m strong enough. That didn’t fit.

Could one of Yuki’s mental effects be responsible? The -dono honorific was obviously one of them. She’d been looking at the floor since they’d come to Richard’s house, at least until he had told her to look at him. Then the snap to make eye contact with him had been immediate. Was the lack of eye contact one of them? Was her ability to do it when she was told one? She’d heard Ms.Turner try and fail to resist using the honorific the second time. I’m not strong enough. The pieces were falling into place, but there was only one way to confirm her idea. She stepped into the hall where Mr.Turner was shouting at the host. “Richard?”

He stopped, caught off guard by her decision to finally use his name. “What is it?”

“I think you should ask her if there’s anything she hasn’t told us.”

“You expect something?”

“I have a hunch, sir.”

He went back into the bedroom, Hazel and Genet following behind him. Helena was pacing in front of the bed. She looked nervous at all of them coming in.

“Did you leave anything out of what you told Hazel?”

They could see her trying to hold it in. “Yes.”

“What was that?”

There was less resistance this time. “I can avoid elimination by receiving ten VP.”

Damn it. “Why did you hide that?”

“Anything that would cross that threshold would also cross boundaries that I don’t think either of us want to cross.”

“Damn it, Hel.” His fury was blunting to mere frustration. “You know I’d do anything for you.”

“That’s exactly why I couldn’t let you find out. It’s a shitty choice that you shouldn’t have to make.” She shot back. Now that he’d given her permission to look at him it was easier to argue with him like they were (step-)siblings.

“I can’t lose you.” He wasn’t arguing with her. He turned to Genet. “What’s the easiest way for someone to get to ten VP?”

The host answered, apologetic. “I was forbidden from telling you by the show’s producer. However, I have already given the nine of you all the tools you need to figure that out.”

The nine of us? He remembered Luna’s explanations of points yesterday. “Thank you, I think I know what you mean. I’m sorry for shouting at you earlier.”

“That’s alright. You were panicking, and in a way it was nice to see a demonstration of how much you care for her. I can’t help much other than telling you that you can spend up to twenty minutes at a time away from your date, but I’ll be watching from my apartment if you need anything.” With that, she melted into the floor, rosewater filling the air as she left.

“Ok, I’m going to go find Luna to figure out how we can get you through this. Do either of you want to come with me?”

Helena was about to agree, but Hazel spoke first. “You can go ahead, sir. We’ll be here when you get back.”

So Richard left, barely a minute after Genet had. It was just the two of them. “What was that?” Ms.Turner asked.

“Sit down, ma’am.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Sit down.” Hazel had the steadiness of her voice back that had been threatened a few times today, but her eyes were blinking like she was trying not to cry.

Helena sat on the bed, and Hazel rested on one knee in front of her. “So you were trying to let yourself get eliminated?"

“It was the least bad option for everyone.”

“Not for everyone. Did you at any point stop and think about how this would hurt me?”

Helena tried to reason with her. “Of course I did. Richard would be there. You two care about each other, and he’d need you around. You’d still be able to keep your job.”

“Ma’am, that’s not what I’m talking about. You are so much more than a job to me.”

That’s too perfect to be true. I have to be misunderstanding. “I’m not sure I understand.”

“How do you think I could’ve stayed through every insane thing that happened to us without falling in love with you?”

Hazel Singh, +1 BP (Love Confession) (Marraine)

There it was, out in the open. Helena wasn’t misunderstanding. “Why? You are so far out of my league. And why didn’t you ever tell me earlier?”

“Ma’am, stop. I love how determined you are. I love how cunning you can be, if I ignore the past two days. I love how selfless I’ve seen you be over our time together. More than that, I think I’m not comfortable saying if it’s unrequited. That’s why I’ve never said anything before. If you didn’t feel the same way, then that would be the end of my time with you.”

“Well, I do. I feel the same way.” Hel was still fumbling with her words, caught off guard and confused. She hadn’t thought anyone that knew her well could feel that way about her. Being interested in her for her power made sense, and she knew that plenty of people liked athletic women with short hair. But she didn’t expect anyone to still be interested once they got to know her. Knives were pretty, but no one was fond of a knife. But if Hazel, her Hazel, truly felt the same way about her? If she wasn’t horrified when she’d been flashed at the tennis court… She still felt the weight of her promise to Maria, but now she could feel the idea of being able to stay with her assistant, no, being able to stay with her partner reaching for her to stop her from sinking. “I’m sorry.” She reached for Hazel’s hand, and felt her heart relax as her bodyguard took it. “I’m willing to try for you.”

“That’s good to hear.” Hazel wiped at her eyes as she squeezed her partner’s hand, reassuring her. “He’ll be back, with whatever ideas they can come up with. We can figure this out together.” She sat next to her boss and they leaned against each other as they waited for him to return.

“I love you too, Hazel.”

Helena Turner, +1 BP (Love Confession) (Marraine)

***

He found them sitting together. “None of them are great, but I’ve come up with a few options.”

“I’m listening. I’ll do what I can.” Helena said. He didn’t notice how tightly she was holding Hazel’s hand.

“So the first idea is trying to minimize how close we have to be. If you see me…aroused, and you masturbate naked in front of me, that would get you ten exactly. We wouldn't need to touch. I could be in the doorway, giving you as much space as possible”

Helena tried to consider it. Making him fantasize about me like that? It was exactly what she had wanted to avoid, but to have a chance with Hazel… she needed to consider it. She was working up the strength to agree when Hazel spoke first again, noticing her struggle. “What were the other ideas?”

“The next best we came up with was a threeso-”

“No.” This time Helena rejected it quickly.

“It’s not as bad as it sounds. Genet wrote her rules for what counts as a threesome broad enough that two women that didn’t have any interest in each other could get the threesome bonus without having to actually do anything with each other. I can see arguments I could make in her definition allowing for it to work the same way with someone else in the center as long as I’m there, and I feel like Genet wants to be generous in her scoring. I’ve already discussed this with Luna, and she’s more than willing to act as our center. We could even use that sleep mask you use as a blindfold so that only one of us has to see the other. I know this is weird, but I think it could work.”

Helena made eye contact with her partner. She could do this. “I think we can make that work.”

He got his phone out and started a message, visibly relieved that they had a plan. “Perfect. I’ll let Luna know, she said she could be here whenever we want.”

“Sir?”

He looked away from his phone. “Yes?”

“I’ll be doing it instead of Luna.”

Richard looked at both of them. “Are you both alright with that?”

“We’re sure.” His stepsister answered. “But before we have to figure out what this’ll look like, could we watch some of Downtown Abbey?”

A DVD popped into existence on Richard’s desk with a single rose petal on it, answering her question.