Thou hast for me; place in my hands the wonderful key,

“…A slumber party?” Ella asked timidly. She was watching Rose from the corner of the Fashion Suite as the blonde was looking through the outfits available, picking out something to wear for today. She didn’t need to, it wasn’t even as if the clothes were all in her style- she had plenty of clothes in her closet, too.

But as long as she was staying here, what, was she going to NOT take advantage of the room’s amenities and wear the free clothes available?

It was only sensible!

“That’s right!” Rose chirped, checking out a particularly cute pink blouse. She didn’t like wearing pink, but it definitely suited her complexion. “I’ve got a set of pajamas picked out for tonight already, right off one of these mannequins!” She nodded towards one of the posed models. “You could probably find one for yourself, too.”

Ella bit her lip and shook her head. “That… I don’t know,” she mumbled. “I mean, I haven’t been invited, so…”

Rose rolled her eyes and set the blouse down. She turned to the wary latina and placed her hands on her hips. “Come on now!” She scoffed. “Don’t be like that! You know Gina doesn’t formally invite people to these things! There’s a standing invitation if you want to go, so don’t use that as an excuse!”

“Uh… oh… okay…” Ella nodded. She still looked a little shaky. “If you think it’s alright…”

Rose’s face softened and she approached the other girl. The wary look in Ella’s eyes bothered her. “What’s the matter?” She asked. “I don’t think this is just about an invitation…”

Ella’s eyes widened slightly behind her bangs, confirming Rose’s suspicions. The blonde sighed and shook her head.

“I figured,” Rose groaned, rubbing her temples. “Look, Ella… if you’re worried about spending time with the other girls and getting nervous, don’t. No one cares if Cinder makes a surprise appearance, okay? It just doesn’t matter.”

“I-I… but what about…” Ella shivered. That wasn’t her main concern, actually, though Cinder was an issue. She snapped the rubber-band on her wrist. “Thwap!”

“Hmm?” Rose blinked.

“…What about… …Nick?” Ella managed to spit out.

Rose’s eyes widened slightly. “…Nick? What about him?” She questioned.

“He… he’s going to be there, right?” Ella mumbled, looking down. “At the… slumber party. With-with us, I mean…”

“Yes, that tends to be the case,” Rose said, nodding. She could sense the apprehension in Ella’s voice, and understood that she was flustered and worried. There wasn’t much Rose could do to help her out, though. Her support tended to be more blunt and cold than Ella usually worked well with. “Why? Is that a problem? You guys have some issue or something?”

Ella jumped. She looked at Rose with eyes as wide as saucers as Rose glanced down at the number on Ella’s hand.

“It does look like you two have made some progress these last few days,” Rose noted, narrowing her eyes. “I wasn’t going to say anything about it, but… when was this? A couple nights ago, after Dawn’s date? You went up to the Master’s Suite to do your daily cleaning, and then… …Well.”

Her lips curled up into a smirk as her eyes sparkled. “How was last night, by the way? You certainly went up there in a hurry.”

“I-!” Ella’s mouth flopped open and closed. What was Rose doing!? Why was she pushing her like this?! Didn’t she know that Ella was…?

“Thwap! Thwap!” Ella snapped her rubber-band to refocus herself, and tried to stand up tall in defiance towards the other girl. But it was easy to see that she was faltering.

Then Rose’s expression softened. “You went early so you could clean the suite without running into him, isn’t that right?” She asked gently.

Ella nodded, a glum expression crossing her face. “I… well, the restriction is that I have to spend an hour… it doesn’t say when that hour needs to start, so… if I do it earlier…”

If Ella cleaned the Master’s Suite earlier, her chance of encountering Nick would drastically decrease. That was Ella’s motivation for last night, anyway.

“Well, at least you can take the night off work tonight,” Rose pointed out with a smile. “And enjoy the slumber party!”

Ella tried to mirror her smile, but her face was frozen. “I… I’ve never been to a slumber party… before…” she admitted softly.

Rose winced. “Well, uh… me neither,” she admitted. “Not this kind, anyway.” She’d “slept over” with Nick many times, but like this… Nope. It was one of the aspects of growing up that she’d never had the opportunity to experience herself.

Oh well.

“Whatever happened between you and Nick, you’re going to need to move past it, simple as that,” Rose said, waving her hand. “It’s just one of those things. What, are you going to try and avoid him for the rest of the show? See how that works out for you! No, smart thing to do is just get over it, stop moping around, and make up with him. Then you guys can get back on track, yeah?”

Ella’s mouth fell open. “That-!”

“Am I wrong?” Rose asked pointedly.

Ella silently snapped her mouth shut. She couldn’t say that she was, unfortunately. So she just hung her head and meekly nodded. Rose might have been a little rude about it, but the blonde was right- there wasn’t much she could do in this situation, unfortunately.

It wasn’t like she even wanted to avoid Nick forever! Not really!

“…But how do I do it?” She asked meekly. “I-I don’t… I don’t remember everything that happened, but… I know I did something really embarrassing… …How do I face him after that?”

Her face burned just thinking about seeing Nick again. Shame blossomed in her chest and she stirred awkwardly.

Rose sighed. “Well… take it from a lady who knows. You’re going to embarrass yourself in front of him plenty of times,” she assured the latina. “Just accept that nobody’s perfect.”

Ella’s eyes widened in shock. “You… you’ve embarrassed yourself in front of Nick before?” She stammered.

“Hmm? Oh, I was talking about the other girls,” Rose said, shaking her head. “I’m always my best self for my dear Nick, after all!” She boasted and placed her hand over her chest, holding her head up with a smug smirk.

Ella stared blankly at her. “…Oh… okay?”

Somehow she didn’t buy that.

---

While Rose was working with Ella, trying to convince her to attend the slumber party, there were some other girls who were enjoying their morning as well.

“MMmm… what a good night’s sleep!” Vivian said, sitting up in bed and stretching her arms over her head. She ignored the fact that her clothes were practically glued to her skin by sweat. But she noticed that she was alone in bed. “…Dani? You awake?”

“Yeah, I am,” Dani said, coming out of the bathroom. Her hair was glistening and she had the scent of fresh shampoo. “You’re actually up at a reasonable hour,” she noted in mock surprise.

Vivian chuckled and rolled her eyes. “Don’t play coy,” she said, climbing out of bed and skipping over to her. “I feel quite energized!”

Dani raised her eyebrow. Given the events of last night… that actually surprised her.

When Dani returned to the Romantic Suite after a satisfying day with Carly, she had been surprised to see that Vivian had apparently spent her whole day in the room. And yet, rather than looking relaxed, she looked rather frazzled.

Dani wondered if it was because of her transformation. The one that got her worked-up and excited whenever someone in the harem was having sex. Knowing Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin, who could even guess how many times she and Nick had gone at each other over the course of the day’s date?

Not to mention…

Sorry, I think Carly and I might be to blame for some of that, as well, Dani silently apologized. She kept those thoughts to herself.

Vivian didn’t seem to mind. All night though, Dani remembered her tossing and turning. It wasn’t exactly fun, sharing a bed with her. She wasn’t sure if she should bring it up, either. If the shoe was on the other foot, Dani would have been mighty embarrassed.

But still… that wasn’t her concern right now. So she bluntly questioned Vivian, “Are you sure you aren’t too bothered by what happened last night?”

“Hmm?” Vivian batted her eyelashes innocently. “Whatever do you mean?”

Dani sighed. So it would be like that, huh?

“Your transformation,” she said, cutting to the chase. “The one that makes you hypersensitive whenever one of us is having sex. How are you handling it? Because last night, you were thrashing around pretty roughly, and I just wanted to know how you were dealing.”

Vivian froze, petrified. Her eyes widened slightly and she studied Dani closely, not sure what to say for a moment.

Then her lips curled up into a shaky smile.

“Well… let’s just say that last night was… an interesting experience, and leave it at that, hmm?” Vivian asked, pressing her lips together. She shivered slightly. “But I can handle difficult situations just fine.” She eyed Dani closely. “In fact, I think… you’re no stranger to that, either.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Dani asked, frowning.

“Your transformations,” Vivian clarified. “You’ve got those dreams, isn’t that right? The ones with you and Nick, I mean.”

Dani bristled. “…You’re not wrong,” she admitted, recalling one of her least-liked transformations. The punishment transformation she’d acquired all those weeks ago, after her stupid attempt to overpower Sylvia and take her cane. It was still affecting her even now.

• Sweet Dreams Are Made of These: Dani has always fantasized about women. And though she’s slept with men before, the thought of being with one now revolts her. At least consciously. But starting now, whenever Dani goes to sleep, her dreams will be plagued with nothing but moments between her and the master, as she remembers her past sexual interactions with him. (Punishment)

“You know what you might consider with that?” Vivian contemplated. “Why not talk about it with Sylvia?”

Dani blinked. “Sylvia? Why bother with that?” She asked, confused.

Vivian smirked.

“Well… she has that transformation, what’s it called again? Fuck the Voters? The one that lets her nullify another transformation for a week and take it.” Vivian had let Sylvia copy her New Style transformation, and that had gone just fine.

“Just think about it,” the heiress continued. “You’d get a round’s reprieve from those dreams, and Sylvia wouldn’t even be bothered by them anyway, no? It’s the least she could do for you, since she’s the one who gave you that transformation, or so I’ve been told.”

Dani looked at Vivian in surprise. That thought had never crossed her mind before. Letting Sylvia temporarily nullify her transformation…

“…Eh. It’s whatever,” Dani shrugged. Frankly, she wasn’t that bothered by the dreams anymore.

Vivian blinked. She leaned forward intently. “Oh ho? Now that’s something,” she mused. “I would have thought, what, you playing for the other side and all, that a spicy dream with a boy would be the last thing you’d want to deal with.”

Dani gave her a sour look. “Yeah, well…”

Maybe a couple weeks ago Vivian would have been right. Right now, though? …But she didn’t want to talk about it with the heiress.

Dani shrugged and shook her head. “Look, it’s nothing,” she scoffed.

Vivian narrowed her eyes. “I wouldn’t say nothing,” she murmured, stroking her chin. She paced around Dani, circling her in a way that reminded Dani distinctly of a shark surrounding prey. “In fact… you know I didn’t get much sleep last night. What, with my sensitivity boost and everything.”

Dani stared at her. “…Yeah, I mean… kinda figured,” she muttered, nodding. “What’s your point?”

Vivian laughed. “Oh, you know, just that I was awake enough to notice that you seemed to be having a rather pleasant dream! Could it be… this punishment isn’t so much of a punishment?” The heiress had no idea what the circumstances behind this particular transformation were, but it seemed like Dani wasn’t that fazed by it.

The tomboy glared at the other woman. “What exactly are you trying to say, huh!?” She snapped crossing her arms over her chest.

Vivian’s eyes widened slightly and she looked at Dani in surprise. She hadn’t expected that reaction from the other girl. She was almost getting defensive! …Why?

But she knew when to back off. She was curious, but not that curious. She held up her hands and took a silent step back.

Immediately Dani’s expression softened. “…Sorry, I didn’t mean to get so… sorry.”

“Hey, no, it’s fine. I shouldn’t have pushed,” Vivian said. The genuine, conciliatory look on her face was a unique one for her.

Dani sighed. It’s not like I can just keep this to myself forever. Maybe it would be better… if I got it off my chest.

“…Sorry, I didn’t mean to bite your head off,” Dani apologized again. “But you’re right, my transformation hasn’t been… exactly the same for a while.” She reached up and scratched the feathers sprouting from her cheek. They were just beginning to dry.

“Can you keep a secret, Vivian? For real, I mean,” Dani urged the other woman.

Vivian nodded. “Sure I can, you don’t get to be in my position without being able to play your cards pretty close to the vest,” she chuckled.

Dani rolled her eyes.

“Vivian-”

“Don’t worry, if you have something to tell me, I’ll keep it to myself,” Vivian assured her. “So what’s going on?”

“…You remember my new transformation, obviously?” Dani gestured to her feather-covered arms. “It’s kind of hard to avoid, yes?”

Vivian smirked. “Yeah, I had noticed.”

“Well… it isn’t just cosmetic,” the tomboy said, shaking her head. “If you want to know why I’ve been enjoying my dreams recently, well… some of them…”

She sighed, letting out the breath she’d been holding. It had only been a few nights of it, but…

“I haven’t been bothered by them really ever since I got the Just One of the Guys transformation, but this one really changed the playing field,” Dani clarified. “Because now it’s not just that they don’t faze me- it’s because… well… …Some of my memories involve Nick and Carly, and… and the two of them, well…”

She bit her lip, memories of the two of them together on the beach flashing through her mind. She didn’t even care about the Nick of it all- …No, that wasn’t true, Nick being there was part of it. Seeing him with her girlfriend like that…

It got her engine running in all the best ways.

“Hey now, it’s okay,” Vivian said, patting her on the shoulder. “Looks like we’ve got a lot of interesting nights ahead of us, but… it shouldn’t be a problem if we work together!”

---

On the topic of interesting nights, Morgana was having an interesting morning.

After taking the day for herself to recharge and refocus, she was ready to greet the day! She popped up, and went to go get ready for the day. After she washed up and got cleaned up, she went to go tell Amelia that the bathroom was free. But Amelia was gone.

“Eh?” Morgana looked around, surprised. “Amelia?”

The teacher was gone. Now that Morgana thought about it, she didn’t remember seeing Amelia in bed that morning when she got up to go get ready for the morning. No, looking back, she definitely wasn’t. Which meant Amelia must have started the day very early.

Morgana frowned. Knowing that, she felt a little inferior in comparison. Even though she had woken up early to get the day started, Amelia had a step up over her.

“I’ll just have to try my best!” Morgana decided, determined to do better and not let the other woman upstage her. She scurried off to get started on the day.

---

Morgana wasn’t the only one to find their bed partner gone in the morning. Nick woke up that morning to an empty bed, when he’d gone to sleep that morning in the tight embrace of a very clingy young assassin.

“Huh?” He sat up, confused. After having sex with Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin they’d turned in early for the night, so he could rest up. But when he woke up, Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin was nowhere to be seen. “Mary? You awake?”

“Mmng… what time is it…?” Mary mumbled, rubbing her eyes and sitting up with a yawn. “Oh… Nick… sorry, I’ll get breakfast ready…”

“No, it’s not about that,” Nick said, shaking his head. “I just wanted to ask, have you seen Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin? She’s not here.”

That got Mary to wake up fast. “Huh?” She looked around. “She’s not?”

Holly was still snoozing, no help there. But the married couple turned the Master’s Suite upside down looking for the assassin, only to come to the conclusion that she was nowhere to be found.

“Well… that’s strange,” Nick muttered, scratching his head. “Where could she have gone off to?”

Mary shrugged and shook her head. “I don’t know,” she replied.

---

While Nick and Mary were confused and concerned about the disappearance of Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin, there was one person who wasn’t that disappointed to not wake up in bed with her.

“Ah… how relaxing,” Dawn murmured, turning over in bed and hugging her pillow tightly. Not having to wake up to the sound of beeping from the machines was quite a relief.

She should probably get her day started, but right now she was otherwise occupied.

---

And as for Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin herself…

The assassin frowned, and looked around. She was stark naked, which didn’t bother her. What did bother her was the fact that Nick was nowhere to be seen. She was standing alone in an empty classroom. The first time she’d ever set foot in one.

It wasn’t somewhere she wanted to be

“I see. So it’s you, then.”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin’s ears twitched and she turned around to see that the classroom was not as empty as she thought it was.

Amelia stood in front of the blackboard, her arms crossed over her chest. She gave the trained killer a look of disapproval and pushed up her glasses.

“Apparently,” the teacher said with a sigh, “we have some work to do.”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin made a sour expression and crossed her arms over her naked breasts.