You're moving in so close 'til I'm picking up, picking up this heat

Nick didn’t realize at first that Cinder had replaced Ella. The girl’s face was so twisted with emotions that he couldn’t read, it was hard to tell much of anything for a few seconds.

But when the maelstrom of emotion on her face finally settled, and she looked at him as if seeing him for the first time, part of him just knew.

“Cinder…” Nick croaked out, unable to say anything else.

What could he even try at this point? The evidence spoke for itself, and it was damning. Nick was pinned to the ground with Cinder on top of him, his pants stained with their mutual fluids after her alter had humped herself to an orgasm.

Tell her “It wasn’t my fault!” or maybe “I didn’t mean to do it, Ella did!” or some other true statement that Cinder wouldn’t even begin to accept?

He had hoped that the events would have time to sit in Ella’s brain a little more before Cinder next took over, so both halves of the girl would have room to process them. But he should have figured that as soon as Ella’s mind cleared, she would retreat to the safe recesses of her brain, and leave him to Cinder.

Now all Nick could do was brace for the worst.

Cinder’s eyes fluttered open and closed, and her mouth shifted into several vague words as she looked down at Nick, trying to make sense of what was in front of her. But nothing escaped her lips as she slowly struggled to stand, not taking her eyes off him for a second.

Finally, she spoke.

“You…”

“Cinder, I-!”

“You… I… we…”

Oh, never mind, she wasn’t speaking, she was babbling. The flustered girl’s cheeks reddened and she clutched them, trembling, as she looked down at Nick, almost like she couldn’t believe what she was seeing and feeling.

She looked down at her own body, and for a moment, Nick thought she was going to throw up.

“This…”

“Cinder! I… this wasn’t… this wasn’t-!”

“This wasn’t my fault!” Was what Nick tried to say, but the words refused to pass his lips.

Instead, they came from Cinder’s.

“This wasn’t my fault!” She screamed at him, stomping her foot like a petulant child as tears welled up in her eyes. “I didn’t do this, I didn’t!”

“I… what?” Nick sat up, not sure what to make of her outburst. Did Cinder think that Nick blamed her for what happened? How absurd would that be? “Cinder-”

“Ella!” Cinder squeaked out, wiping her eyes. “Ella, she… she was overwhelmed with those feelings! It wasn’t my fault! I tried to stop her! It wasn’t my fault! But she just… she jumped on you, and then… and then…! …It wasn’t my fault!”

It seemed like every other sentence that passed Cinder’s lips was a rasping rant about how what had happened wasn’t her fault. And that left Nick severely confused. The relationship between Ella and Cinder as he had known it to be up until this point was Cinder doing things that upset Ella, and Ella pleading with the others to understand that it wasn’t her fault.

But now, it was Ella who did something… and Cinder was the one begging?

What was Nick even supposed to make of that?

Cinder screamed in frustrated wails as she buried her face in her hands, muffling her voice as best she could. But he could still hear her cursing.

Nick slowly stumbled to his feet and reached out to Cinder, stopping his hand before he could touch her. What had he been about to do there? Lay a hand on her, to comfort her? After what had just happened between the two of them?

How would she even react to that? Cinder was such a mystery in front of him right now, Nick didn’t even want to try and guess.

All he could do was offer her a half-hearted platitude.

“…I know it wasn’t your fault,” he said lamely. “It was… because of the spell. You- Ella- she- …You both weren’t in your right minds.”

Cinder’s eyes widened at the soft tone of his voice and she peaked out between her fingers to look at Nick with disbelief.

“…What did you say?” Her hoarse voice almost sounded like a growl, but at the same time, it almost sounded like a hopeful plea.

Nick wasn’t quite sure how to respond to it, so he just reiterated what he’d said before. “Like I said, it… it was the spell. Morgana’s spell. It was all one big accident, Ella… she didn’t mean to do it either. I don’t blame either one of you.”

Cinder’s eyes started to tear up and her hands fell limply to her sides.

“…You don’t?” She sniffled, looking at Nick with the suspicion of a feral cat. It seemed like she wanted to believe him, which was a first- but she just couldn’t bring herself to.

Nick shook his head. “I don’t. It wasn’t your fault.”

A tremor of relief shot through Cinder’s body, and she let out a sigh that was almost a moan.

Then fury lit up in her eyes.

“Then why!?” She wailed, lunging at Nick and grabbing his tuxedo by the collar. She gave him a vicious shake. “Why did you just-! Why didn’t-?!”

She sputtered and fumed, but she must have realized that nothing she said would make any difference at this point, so she let him go, slumping over in defeat.

“Cinder…” Nick had expected an outburst like that to happen first. But apparently, Cinder had just a bit more control than he’d anticipated, even if she was wild and untamed most of the damn time.

The flustered and exhausted latina raised her head, and gave Nick a tired look.

“Ella did that, not me,” she muttered. It sounded like even talking was hurting her voice something fierce. “She… she did… not… me.”

Nick nodded. “I know,” he mumbled. “I know. Because of the spell.”

“But she wanted to,” Cinder pointed out, her voice a poisonous mess of resignation and pity. “She wanted that… she just didn’t have the strength to make it happen before.”

She stood, still a little shaky on her feet, and took a staggering step towards him. Nick wasn’t sure if she was planning to lash out again or not, but he braced himself for whatever was going to happen.

Cinder didn’t touch him, though. Not with her hands. She slumped forward and buried her face in his chest, and started to shake.

“Why?” She sniffled, clinging to Nick’s shirt like a scared, lost child. “Why didn’t she rely on me?”

Nick didn’t have an answer to that. He just stood as still as a statue, wary of comforting her in any way. He feared that even breathing could set her off if he wasn’t careful.

And then, finally Cinder pulled away from him, and raised her head, looking up at Nick with those glassy, watering eyes.

“It didn’t happen,” she said. “This didn’t happen.”

Nick held up his arms. “Hey, look, I get it, okay? Ella was out of control, if you want me to forget about her doing all that, then, consider it forgotten!”

“NO!” Cinder snapped, her rage suddenly rebounding. She grabbed his shirt again and gave it a shake, growling at him. “You’re not listening! This! This didn’t happen! You got it!?”

“This… huh?!”

Nick was completely lost. By “this” did Cinder mean…

…Her crying?

“Ella can’t know!” Cinder snapped. “She can’t! Never! Don’t… you can’t tell her that I! That we-! …You just can’t! If you do, I’ll know, and then… then I’ll make you pay! Understand!?”

No, Nick couldn’t honestly say he understood anything that was happening right now. He looked down at the ball of rage and emotion and pain clinging to him like this, and could honestly say that he was completely lost.

“…Fine, I see how it is,” Cinder growled. Her fingers crept over his jacket, towards his shirt, and began to play with his buttons. “You’re going to **** me, then. Make me do what she did. That’s what you want to keep silent, huh? Well, fine, anything Ella can do, I can do even better! So you’ll use me next time, now that you’ve got the leverage… and you’ll leave her alone, you got it?!”

Nick’s eyes widened, as Cinder finally said something he could react to. He saw the look of frantic delusion in her gaze, like she had completely snapped. Moving more on instinct than out of any conscious thought, he grabbed her by the wrists and pulled her away, pushing her back.

“Cinder! Wait, no, that- that’s not what I-! Don’t be crazy!” Nick sputtered, shaking his head.

“Crazy!? But I am crazy!” Cinder snapped. “Or did you forget? I’m Cinder, the crazy psycho who murdered my whole family!”

Whatever the twisted emotions she’d been feeling when she tried to take his clothes off seconds before had been, they were gone now. A familiar look of rage took their place on Cinder’s face, and she glared furiously up at him, her hands shaking.

“Cinder…”

“Why!?” Cinder screamed, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Why do you have to use her!? That’s why I’M here! If you’re going to take advantage of someone, take advantage of me!”

“Cinder, I don’t want to take advantage of either of you!” Nick sputtered. “What happened with Ella, that… I was just…”

“So you’re not going to make me do those things?” Cinder shook like a leaf. “Then how… how do I… how do you want me?”

“Want you? Cinder, I-!”

“You can’t tell!” Cinder wailed. “Not Ella, not anyone! And- and I can make it worth your while, if you just-!”

“I don’t want that!” Nick interrupted her with a shout, grabbing Cinder by the shoulders. Finally, he touched her without caring about the consequences. She practically melted into his grasp, her breath catching in her throat as she looked at him with wide eyes, waiting for him to do…

Something.

Neither one of them were quite sure what was about to happen, but a moment of tension hung in the air between them like a rope tying them together. A rope that, should it snap, would send one of them flying into a bottomless chasm.

“Cinder… I promise, I’m not going to tell anyone,” Nick assured her. “I swear. Nothing that happened between you and me is going to leave this bathroom. You might not trust me… but… but I promise, I’m not going to say a word.”

The poor thing sobbed like a beaten animal. “But you could by lying…” she wailed. “Please… let me… let me give you something… please… I need to… I need to believe it!”

So that was it. Cinder… she was so broken she couldn’t believe Nick would keep her secret for nothing. Even though Nick didn’t even see the point in keeping what had happened a secret, he was still going to do it.

But Cinder couldn’t believe that. And he wasn’t sure if there was anything he could say or do that would make her.

Why did this have to happen? Why did she have to be put in such an awful position like this?

“Cinder… I’m sorry. But I’m not going to do anything to you,” Nick said firmly. “That would be the worst thing. You might think you have to in order to keep me quiet, in order to give you peace of mind, but you don’t. I promise, I’m not going to tell a soul what happened here. You just have to trust me.”

Cinder glared at him with smoldering eyes. “Puta madre…” She muttered under her breath, breaking his hold on her and stumbling back. Her face was a pained mix of frustration and sorrow. “Not even knowing what you could have had… stupid culo!”

She shoved past him and stormed out of the bathroom.

Nobody in the Master’s Suite expected to see what they saw. The bathroom had been completely soundproof, after all, so they could only imagine, but when Nick didn’t emerge after five minutes had passed, they figured something must have happened.

Holly had floated quite a few ideas in the interim, and yes, some of them involved Cinder. But upon seeing the frazzled appearance of the irate maid, and her disheveled clothes and look of humiliation, even she knew better than to say anything.

Nick stumbled out a few seconds later, somehow looking both flustered and pale at the same time.

“I’m leaving!” Cinder snapped, storming for the door. “Don’t any of you dare get in my way!” She threw the door open and stepped out- only to get flung back into the room.

Cinder landed flat on her butt, and without the extra cushioning she’d been carrying around all day, it almost hurt. No one tried to help her up, not even Mary- they were all too worried about her to try.

She scrambled to her feet, seething.

“…An hour hasn’t passed since you came here,” Mary said quietly. “You can’t leave yet…”

“Fucking-! Let me out of here, damn it!” Cinder screamed, trying to get through the doorway again. But just like the last time, it responded by flinging her back into the room.

Nick honestly didn’t know what to do. Cinder had never tried so viscerally to get away from him before, at least not when she was tasked with cleaning the room. She wasn’t even going to bother with it right now. She was determined to get out of here.

And only one person would be able to help her with that.

“Dakota!” Nick looked around for the host, knowing she was doubtlessly watching the whole thing. “Let her go. She doesn’t want to be here.”

“Oh? Are you so sure about that?” Dakota popped into the room, smirking.

Cinder’s eyes widened and her attention immediately snapped over to the host. She had to **** herself not to leap at the other woman.

“Let me out of here!” She snapped, narrowing her eyes into a glare. “I’m not going to get any cleaning done! Besides, what he and Ella did together, that should be more than enough for one night-!”

“Eh?” Dawn looked over at Cinder’s hand, and how her number had changed. Apparently, they’d gotten up to a little bit more than some playful nips on Ella’s inflated butt.

But Dawn, even pretending to be drunk, wasn’t about to comment on that in a heated moment like this one.

Dakota laughed. “Now, you’re not wrong, what the two of you did last night, that was a wonder indeed,” she snickered, shaking her head. “Seeing that frenzy of Ella’s emotions rising to the surface… mmm, good eating there.”

Then the smile left her face, and her expression became an icy void.

“…But that is immaterial. This hour is nonnegotiable, Cinder. Whatever you and Nick get up to in the Master’s Suite, that doesn’t ‘buy time’ off your contract. You’re going to keep staying in this room for another fifteen minutes, until your time is up. Only then may you leave.”

Cinder looked like she wanted to strangle Dakota. Which wasn’t anything new. But she held herself back, veins throbbing on her forehead.

“Dakota, can’t you see she wants to go?” Mary protested. “I know transformations are transformations, but whatever happened to her…”

“Mary’s right,” Nick agreed. “This isn’t going to help either of us! Are you really so heartless at this point, to make her stay here when she wants to leave?!” His voice cracked, which surprised even him. But he couldn’t help but feel hurt by Dakota’s actions.

Even as bad as she was, he couldn’t believe she was this twisted.

Dakota looked at Nick, and she actually seemed hurt, which came as a surprise.

“If she wants to go, she can,” Dakota said quietly. “It’s not like I’m forcing her to be the dominant personality right now.”

Cinder’s eyes widened.

“In fact, you know what? That’s not a bad idea.” Dakota turned to Cinder and twirled her cane. “You wanted to go? Fine. Your body has to stay here for another fifteen minutes, but if being in the same room as the master is such an imposition to you, tell you what- I’ll use my powers and bring out Ella as the dominant personality for the rest of that time. Sound good?”

Nick looked at Cinder, remembering her outbursts from earlier, and wondered how she’d respond to that.

The answer was “not well.”

“Absolutely not!” Cinder roared. “Letting Ella take over, that… that-!”

“But you want to go, don’t you?” Dakota pressed, leaning in close. “Isn’t that what you wanted? To go, and leave Nick, so you didn’t have to be near him? Then feel free! …Unless… you really want something else, of course.”

Cinder’s cheeks burned as she glared at the dark-haired woman. “You… YOU-!”

“Dakota, cut it out!” Nick didn’t know what was going on, but he was going to take Cinder’s side here. Even if it seemed like she didn’t even know what “her side” was.

“I’m trying to help her,” Dakota sniffed. “And she’s still being so ungrateful! I can’t believe it.” She clicked her tongue and shook her head.

“Help?” Nick couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Help how?”

Dakota didn’t say a word. She just blinked, then smirked, and turned to Cinder.

Cinder burned.

“Should I?” Dakota crooned.

“Shut uuuuuuppp!” Cinder wailed. She turned and ran for the door again, only to be bounced back like a ping-pong ball for the third time. Or snapped back like the rubber-band on her wrist.

“It’s strange…” Dakota tapped her chin thoughtfully. “She keeps doing that, even though she knows it won’t get her anywhere. But she refuses to take the actual action to get away from you, which is accepting my offer. I wonder why that could be? …Maybe she doesn’t actually want to leave? Could she just want to make a big show of rejecting her presence here, when really-”

“Dakota, stop.” Nick put his foot down, stepping closer, and Dakota’s next words died on her lips.

“…As you wish,” she said, curtsying for him. “You are the master, after all.”

And then she vanished, leaving a fuming Cinder to pick herself up off the ground. She glared at Nick.

“That would be what you wanted, wouldn’t it?” Cinder spat. “For me to go and bring Ella back, so you two can do all those things together, things you would never-! Things-! Things I-!”

Those were the last coherent words to pass her lips before she fell into a furious rant in spanish as she paced around the room, suddenly seeming far less concerned about actually leaving the Master’s Suite, as much as she was concerned with making a big show of her anger and frustration, leaving everyone thoroughly confused.