Potage à l’indienne

Mira sighed, looking into the mirror in her closet. She had tried to pick some more conservative or casual clothes for today, something that didn’t immediately scream sex that she might feel comfortable taking out for a casual rendezvous. Unfortunately, the limitations of PVC and leather really showed this morning. She had initially considered a body suit as it would be the most “covering,” but quickly reached the consensus that it was almost better to be nude than wear something that contorted her body to look as pneumatic as possible.

In the end, she had settled on an outfit that contained a corset and a short vest to cover her arms. It also had a plunging neckline that, combined with her corset, offered her chest up on display, but at this point, Mira had to concede that it was as likely as good as she could do in the circumstances. She could wear other clothes, but she was wary of her transformation's conditions for allowing such a thing. Becoming more “submissive” wouldn’t be so bad if she truly knew what it entailed, or the degree, and she was not risking such experimentation on her date. There were things that needed to be done.

This would be her one dedicated opportunity this week to earn points outside of the challenge, and if anything, the last round had demonstrated how unreliable challenges could be for points. She grimaced, remembering being knocked out so early. She had to realistically acknowledge that, given the nature of the game, it was possible for similar acts to occur at any point, and it was theoretically possible to only lose points from challenges. Which meant the only reliable source would be Caleb.

Caleb was doing his utmost to provide for them all, and his efforts in going outside were to be commended. Mira had always been proud of his work ethic; he was always quick to turn in assignments, communicate promptly, as well as punctual with revisions. He could be doing so much more, though that was probably a moot point at this juncture.

The agent double checked her bun in the mirror and then turned to the pile of blankets that was still in bed and pinched the bridge of her nose. So far, the only progress the professor had made was getting out of bed and getting dressed, and that was only with the prompting of Mira there. Mira stepped away from the mirror. “Eliza, you know today is my date with Caleb, right?”

The pile shifted, and Mira could make out the vague impression of a head nodding before being followed by Eliza’s weary voice, “Yes, I know.”

“That means I’m not going to be around today to look after you, but I still want you to get dressed and out of bed. You’ve been doing so well; it would be damaging for you to spiral back now.” There was a pause as Mira leaned down to tighten her boots. “Eliza, did you hear me?”

The pile of blankets shuffled before tightening its ball around the occupant inside, before the answer came, “Yes, I hear you…I’ll get up.”

Mira let out a held breath. She could roughly understand the feelings that Eliza was grappling with, and if they were under different circumstances, maybe she’d be less impatient with the other woman. The fact remained that she was only risking herself the longer she stayed secluded in here; Mira was certain that Lucian and Reyna would not be taking any excuses to keep them from participating in challenges, and if Eliza couldn’t pull herself together…

There was only so much Mira could do; she wasn’t about to put herself in harm's way to save Eliza. She could support her recovery and give her all the tools necessary, but at the end of the day, it would be up to the professor to stand up on her own. If she couldn’t do that, well…whatever followed couldn’t be helped.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. She cast a wayward eye over at Eliza before moving to the door and opening it, revealing the fidgeting form of Ms. Purcell. Mira walked out and closed the door behind her, and gazed over Maddy’s form and noted the silver card in her hand. The agent nodded, “Good morning, Madeline. I take it then that you have already taken the bounty?”

Maddy nodded and gave a quick raise to her ring, which displayed the text of the bounty in question: Bounty: Coup: Sabotage the contestant with more VP than you. You earn VP equal to half of any they earn as a result of the Sabotage. The chef continued to fidget with the card in her hand and looked up at Mira, “Are you sure about this?”

Mira nodded, “It’s an easy way for you to catch up on points and removes one of the more inflammatory bounties from the board. It can only be considered a win all around.”

The blonde gave a tentative nod, and Mira tried to smile reassuringly, “You have my full permission to do this, Madeline. It benefits both of us. That being said, do you mind if I see the Sabotage you picked out? I would like to brace myself.” Mira stretched out her hand

“Oh, yeah, sure.” Maddy’s voice still betrayed her nerves as she reached out and handed the card to Mira’s outstretched hand.

As she read over the card, Mira gave a bemused smile and a laugh that was mixed with a dismissive scoff, “I know I left it up to your discretion, but you’re really not pulling any punches, are you?” She handed the card back to Maddy, who grew increasingly flustered.

“I-I uh…” Maddy shifted her legs, “I thought…it might help on your date and give you and Caleb a chance to connect.”

“Hmm..” Mira hummed skeptically, “Well, well, it certainly is a complication, but not an insurmountable one.” She straightened her form and looked at Maddy, “At your leave, Madeline.”

Maddy looked nervous still, but held up and activated the Sabotage, causing the card to glow and spark before vanishing.

SABOTAGE! Hot under the Collar: Target contestant is given a collar that keeps them from lying for 12 hours. Any attempts to lie or conceal the truth result in a pleasure spike.

Maddy: 52 BP - 3 BP: 49 BP remaining

Around Mira’s neck appeared a black leather collar with a gem heart that dangled from it. While it looked like a normal cosmetic, the agent could feel the leather lightly thrumming against her skin as she reached up to touch it.

Her fingers gingerly traced the outline of the heart before bringing her arms back down at her side and then cocking a hip to look at Maddy. “Well, Madeline, well played. I’ll do my very best to make sure you receive a return on your investment.”

Now that the Sabotage was out of her hands, Maddy seemed visibly more relaxed as she looked up at Mira, “You don’t need to phrase it like that, just try to enjoy your date with Caleb. Whatever happens from there is fine.”

Mira shot an eyebrow up and gave an amused grin, “I thought you were quite taken with Mr. Ward. I’m surprised to see you not trying to keep him to yourself or getting antsy with all these other women throwing themselves at him.”

Maddy tugged at the edge of her sundress, “I-I like him, but I know the situation we’re in and I understand that with all these attractive women around, it would be silly to expect him to only pay attention to me.”

“Uh huh,” Mira’s voice was flat as she kept her eyebrow arched, “So if you were the most attractive woman here, it would be reasonable then for him to only have eyes on you?”

Maddy jumped as if shocked by an electric current and rushed out, “T-That’s not what I said!”

“That’s still not a denial,” Mira thought to herself, watching the chef’s flustered expression, “No time to unpack that now, but…I will keep it in mind.” Mira relaxed her expression, “I was only teasing Madeline, no need to concern yourself. Would you like to join me for breakfast?”

“Oh-um sure,” The blonde moved to walk with Mira, turning her head slightly over her shoulder in the direction of Mira’s room, “How is Eliza?”

Keeping her eyes forward, Mira shook her head, “The professor has still not recovered and is currently at a point of stagnation.”

The chef’s expression turned downcast. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Madeline, focus on yourself for now. I will help Eliza in whatever way I can. You just need to stick to the plan we outlined together.” With her voice so even and confident, Maddy found it hard to argue with the Bengali woman as they made their way down to the dining hall.

Inside, most everyone else had gathered. Lily was now flower-free and had her cheek pressed hard against the cafeteria table as Maddy made her way over. She had been half worried that after the disastrous actions she had made when drunk, Lily might resort to hiding away again, so she was happy to see the plant woman up and about and sat next to her as Mira made her way to her usual table. “Hey Lily, are you doing ok?”

“I’m a plant…” Lily muttered against the smooth surface of the table, “You’d think that one of the few benefits I might get from that is being immune to hangovers.”

The blonde reached out and rubbed her friend's back gently, “Well, I guess it goes to show no matter how much the show changes us, at least some things won’t change. It’s almost reassuring in a way.” Maddy tried to encourage, earning a flat look from Lily.

“Yep, makes sense, they’d leave us with all the discomfort. Bet I still get period cramps too.” Lily let out a groan.

Overhearing from across the room, Noemi, rubbing her abdomen, “I wish I were ovulating right now, maybe by the time my date runs around.” Earning her a withering stare from Stella, who was sitting across from her.

“Noemi, I might be a degenerate, but sometimes, you open your mouth…” The imp shook her head.

Noemi bumped her fist against the table and looked at Stella indignantly, “There is nothing ‘degenerate’ about wanting to start a family with the man you love!”

Stella put a spoonful of cereal in her mouth and rolled her eyes, “Yeah…the man who you fell in love with a week ago, who is fucking every woman here at some point- speaking of which!” Stella lifted her head as Amy and Caleb entered the dining hall and called out to the oni, “Amy! I saw the updated scores this morning! Fucking get it, Girl!”

Amy simply sighed and shrugged, “They’re just VP, we don’t need to make a big deal out of it.”

Pushing forward regardless, Stella turned her attention to Caleb, “I hope your little man is still working after pushing out almost half a victory in a single day. I can only imagine the level of hustle that must have gone down.”

In her seat, Maya tried to ignore what was being said as she ate her toast with marmalade with frustration. She could have earned more points than that if her brain wasn’t so stupid!

For his part, Caleb’s face was a bright tomato beacon to the point that it looked like he might start illuminating the space as he tried desperately to find something interesting in the banisters of the room to look at. “It-It was a full day, that’s all.”

“Not the only thing that was full, I bet!” Stella gave herself a congratulatory high five as Amy walked over and put the imp in a headlock.

Noemi stared at Amy, tugging on her napkin with her teeth as she quietly seethed. “It should have been me! That settles it, if she can do it. I can do it too! When my date comes around, I’m locking Caleb in the master’s suite and-” Noemi’s thoughts continued to drift off, and Caleb caught the intense look in her eyes and tried to remind himself how helpful Noemi had been the other day.

The master walked over to Maddy and Lily’s table. Maddy was blushing furiously over the commentary, and Lily, seeing Caleb, suddenly remembered what she had done the previous day. The master gave a shy wave, “Hey, how are you both doing this morning?”

“I’m great, I’m fine, I just finished my food. Oh, I'd better get going!” Lily rushed the words out and launched herself to her feet, putting her plate away and shuffling her way out of the room as quickly as she could manage, the beet red hue of her face shining brightly off her green skin.

Maddy and Caleb exchanged a look before Maddy smiled, “I think she’s just embarrassed after yesterday.”

“Honestly? I’m just happy she’s in a place where she can act like that around other people now. Maybe it's not normal, but…I really appreciate you doing what you did for her.”

Looking bashful, Maddy avoided eye contact, “I didn’t really do all that much.” She admitted.

“Maddy, there’s no need to be modest, I really-” He was cut off by Maddy shaking her head.

“No, I’m not really it’s just…I wasn’t the one who got through to her. It was Stella. I tried to be encouraging and everything, but none of my words landed. Stella was the one who got through to her.” Maddy turned to look at the other table.

Caleb followed her gaze, where Amy had the imp bent over and was currently giving her a noogie as Stella’s tail whipped around erratically.

“Huh” was about all the master could find to say.

The chef gave a little half smile, “It wasn’t the optimism she needed to hear, I guess. Stella just told her ‘Yeah, it all sucks, we suck, so?’” Maddy chuckled slightly, “Well, a little more eloquently than that.” Her eyes watched as Stella tried to bite Amy’s arm, and the blonde raised her fingers with a tiny gap between them, “A little bit.”

“I don’t think you guys suck, I just think this place brings out the worst in us.” Caleb drummed his fingers against the table. “Besides, no one has shown their best self more than you, Maddy.”

Maddy’s fist clenched against the hardwood of the table as she **** a smile to her face, “Thanks, Caleb.”

The master smiled back, “I gotta go check in with Mira about what she wants to do today.”

“Make sure you eat too,” Maddy interjected as he walked off, and Caleb replied with a hurried thumbs-up. The smile on his face made Maddy want to curl up and hide.

Maya was the first to see Caleb approach and waved with a toast in her Mouth, causing Mira to turn to face the master. “Good Morning, Caleb. I see you’re quite active this morning. Not quite camp counselor mode, but in high spirits.”

The master chuckled awkwardly and adjusted his glasses. Honestly, after yesterday, he was excited to have a more relaxed time today and not to have to think about what Amy had learned from the mask. He pointed towards the collar around Mira’s neck, “Trying out new accessories?” his tone was curious; he had to admit the impression it gave with her outfit overall was quite striking. He could feel the wheels in his mind working as his newly inflamed fetish sent heat through his body, as it did whenever he saw Mira’s tightly clad form.

For her part, Mira just smiled and put her hand to the collar, “Oh, this old thing? It’s no-” She had been going to say ‘it’s nothing really’ but the moment she had started prying the words from her lips, it had been like a hot poker had thrust up into her womb. Except instead of searing hot pain, she could feel tendrils of pleasure spidering out from the area and causing her to nearly buckle over, as her features glistened with a light sheen of sweat, and she felt an annoying dripping down her thigh. “Really?! Even downplaying counts?! Of course it does. Why am I surprised?”

Maya had lunged over and gripped Mira’s shoulder, “Mira? Are you alright?”

Caleb had leaned over and was looking at her with concern as she raised her head. She thought rapidly, “Sorry, I was caught by surprise.” After a moment of nothing, she continued, “It’s new, a gift. Not important.”

Caleb regarded Mira carefully. It was obvious something had happened, but if Mira didn’t want to reveal it at this point, it was fine. They had the full day together after all. So he tried to play it as cool as she was, “Alright then, I was just wondering if you had anything you wanted to do for our date.”

Running her hands down her body to smooth out the wrinkles in her outfit, Mira nodded, “Are you still confident about your ability to go outside?”

Briefly pausing to check in with the pain in his chest, Caleb nodded, “Yeah, it’s no problem.”

“Good, then I have an itinerary,” Mira said plainly and pulled out a list.

“Ah,” Caleb looked down at the itemized checklist Mira had in hand, not exactly romantic, but very Mira, “Well then, I’ll have breakfast and we can get started.” He moved to go to the buffet

The agent’s eyes followed him as he walked off and she put a hand over her womb. This Sabotage might be trickier than she had initially thought.