Oeufs du Carême

Caleb and Eliza found Amy out in the lobby, sitting dejected with her head hanging low on one of the cushioned seats in the waiting area. She was just staring at the ground, no tears in her eyes, though she held her hands together tight, her thumb repeatedly brushing over the other like it was flicking some invisible switch.

The master crossed over without a word and sat next to her. “Hey, don’t let Noemi get to you. She’s…not always the most sensitive person and can be out of line.”

Shaking her head, the Oni sighed, “She’s not necessarily wrong, though either. It only makes sense with how much she likes you to be offended by some woman taking advantage of the person she cares about.”

“Taking advantage?” Caleb frowned, “Amy, no one thinks that’s what you’re doing.”

“That outburst demonstrates that, yes, at least one person does, and I bet she’s not alone.” Amy’s fingers tightened around each other. “What else do you call me using you for VP when I have no feelings for you?”

Caleb gawked at this and was quick to respond, “Amy, there’s probably no one on this island who has helped me navigate this place more than you. I don’t think I would be doing nearly as well at dealing with this mess if I didn't have you looking out for me. Even if we don’t like each other that way, you’re still my grand vizier, eh?” He bumped his shoulder against the Oni’s.

Amy smiled even as her chest tightened to the point of hurting and let out a strangled, “Yeah, thanks.”

Sensing something wasn’t right, Caleb opened his mouth to question Amy when Eliza, who had just been observing until now, cut in, “May I say something?”

Amy shrugged and then held out a hand, giving her silent permission.

Eliza moved over to Amy’s other side, “I think you’re being a little myopic on this matter. Maybe you don’t feel any romantic love for Caleb; maybe you never feel any romantic love period. That doesn’t mean you’re incapable of love.” Seeing Amy’s doubtful expression, the professor pushed on, “Caleb, you should remember this from my class, but a myriad of cultures have multiple words for love, whereas English tends to condense them all into one word.”

Amy shrugged, “Listen, if you’re going to say familial love, I got bad news for you on that front.”

Shaking her head, Eliza frowned and pointed at Caleb, “Caleb, the Greeks principally defined love for others in four aspects; name them.”

“Me?” Flustered, Caleb pointed at himself and, seeing Eliza staring at him unflinchingly, straightened up, “Um…shit, they were” he closed his eyes and counted on his hands, “Philia, Eros, Stork, and Agape.”

Eliza chuckled, “Storge, not stork, but very good.” She turned her attention back to Amy, “Eros and Storge are those romantic and familial bonds we form, and maybe you do struggle with those. But Philia represents camaraderie, and I’ve seen you make efforts with everyone here to keep them safe. More than that…Agape represents selfless love, the ability to care even when there is no benefit to be gained, such as mourning the same child that is currently torturing you.”

Amy stared at Eliza, and the professor lightly brushed her hand against her cheek. “Amy, you are a kind, loving person regardless of your relationship with Caleb. Nothing can take that away from you. There might be times here that you struggle due to inexperience in other forms, but it does not make you less worthwhile as a person, no matter what anyone says. Even you.”

Amy didn’t break out into tears, but her eyes watered and she hurriedly moved to wipe them away, “Ah jeeze…” She finished wiping and looked over at Eliza, “Sometimes seeing that baby face, it’s easy to forget you’re a wise old woman in there.”

Eliza smirked, “You could have left the old part off there.”

Caleb smiled as the two laughed together. Part of him felt inadequate that he hadn’t been able to offer those words of comfort himself, but another was just grateful for Eliza being here and being able to come in where he failed.

As Amy finished laughing, she looked over to the center of the room. “Oh, now that I’m finished my pity party, there was something I wanted to check.”

Eliza followed her gaze to the central display. “Oh, the new bounties should be posted, right?”

Pushing herself off the chair, Amy walked over to the display with the others following. “Yeah, we’re going to need them too, to deal with that new rule Lucian put in place. Every VP counts.”

Eliza winked and poked Caleb's cheek, “Just means our master needs to put in some extra work.”

Caleb winced, “What am I, a breeding stallion?”

Amy tilted her head and imagined Caleb with horse ears and then gave a lopsided grin, “I mean you’re big, but not THAT big.”

The master’s face turned crimson, “Stella has rubbed off on you!”

The oni smiled as she navigated the screens of the display, “Please, you think someone who has slept around as much as I have hasn’t delved into that humor before? Some guys are into that.”

Caleb bit his cheek and looked away, “Regardless, I don’t mind helping people out, but also if this starts becoming transactional we’re gonna just have other problems on our hands.”

Eliza chuckled, “No one is saying you should be naked in the lobby and just letting people have a turn; just maybe keep it in mind as you’re going through the week?”

“Exactly, and hopefully these bounties will lighten some of the load, ah there we are.” She pulled up the bounty display. As the group read the entries, though, their worries only grew.

Bounty: Mother May I: For twenty four hours your libido will spike. However you will be unable to orgasm without permission from a randomly assigned contestant. 6 BP 4 VP-

Bounty: Attached at the Hip: Share your date night with one other random contestant and be unable to be farther than 5 meters from that contestant. 10 BP and 5 VP

Bounty: Crossing the Beams: Engage in sexual intercourse with at least one other member of the harem, the master must be informed but not included to count. 5 BP and 3 VP for every contestant included

Bounty: Completionist run: While engaged in sex with the master, use each of the vagina, anus, and mouth at least once for penetrative sex in one session. 8 BP 4 VP

Bounty: PDA: Engage in sexual activity in a location where at least one other person is present, not engaged in the activity. Make no attempt to hide. Others may join in, but must not be participating originally. 8 BP 4 VP

Between all the entries, there were only 20 VP up for grabs, potentially more if someone pushed Crossing the Beams, but still. It was only enough to push one person into the safe zone for the stagnation rule if they took all but one. And that wasn’t the only problem.

Eliza sighed, “He’s really pushing the boundaries this time, isn’t he?”

Caleb gave a derisive “Mmhmm.” The message Lucian was sending was clear: if the group wanted to earn extra VP, they were going to have to go outside of their comfort zones to get it. No vanilla points here.

Amy sighed, “Without knowing what people are planning for the week, it’s hard to gauge how to use this information.”

Eliza shifted her weight onto one leg as she cocked her hip to the side. “Not to mention, as ‘cordial’ as everyone’s being, it’s no guarantee that people will want to cooperate.”

Caleb looked over. “Who?” He saw Eliza’s look, and realization dawned. “Stella.” All three of them said simultaneously.

Moving away from the display, Amy pivoted on her leg, swinging the other wide, “Well...” She stopped her movement abruptly, “Worrying about it isn’t going to fix things, and we got game night together tonight. Maybe I’ll go looking for Stella, she might have some ideas on how to handle this. If she’s decided to be brilliant today and not an imbecile.

Caleb gave a wry smile, “I’m not sure that’s a choice on her part as much as an impulse.” He turned to Eliza, “You still joining me in the book search?”

Eliza nodded, and the two headed to the corner of the room as Amy made her way out of the hotel.

Following Eliza and Caleb’s departure from the dining hall, Mira had taken her leave as well, saying that she wanted to make another survey of the islands for any interesting date options for the week. This left Maya, Lily, Noemi, and Maddy.

“Well, I want to go upstairs to the game room and look at what our options are and start getting it set for game night.” Maya proudly declared.

Raising an eyebrow, the plant woman asked, “What needs to get set?”

Maya looked smug as she explained, “A proper game night with friends has snacks and drinks aplenty so that way no one has to go anywhere if they’re hungry or thirsty! Game snacks are a must.”

Maddy, looking intrigued, then asked, “Oh, what did you have in mind?”

Maya’s smug look quickly turned south as she pressed her fingers together and avoided eye contact. “Um…there’s cheese and crackers in the kitchen, right?”

“Yes…but, I mean, anything else?” Maddy looked concerned.

“Boxes…of cereal…” Maya stuttered out.

Maddy frowned, “That is not a snack! I am officially taking over snacks and drinks for this event!”

Maya looked over, her face panicked, “No! You don’t need to do that. I didn’t ask for help! I’m not trying to be a bother!” She waved her hands hurriedly.

“Bother?” Maddy frowned, “Maya…I want to help; that’s why I volunteered. I like cooking for these sorts of things.”

Maya still looked worried, “But I’m not trying to cause problems. If you cook for the party, are you still going to be able to enjoy your day?”

Maddy saw a look of genuine fear in Maya’s face and recognized the desire the other woman had to minimize their impact as much as possible on the world around them, in fear of people growing upset with them.

She walked over and took Maya’s hands. “I’ll be o-ok.” She tried to sound confident and pumped her fist, “Your rival is s-strong.”

Lily looked on with mild amusement as recognition washed over the lottery winner’s features, and she nodded, “Right…I expect nothing less from my rival.”

Maddy smiled and made a move for the kitchen, “I’ll meet you upstairs later!” She called out before pushing past the staff doors.

Lily looked over, “I can help with picking out games and looking around. Video games may be more my expertise, but that doesn’t mean I’m totally ignorant about board games.”

Maya grinned ear to ear, “Ok!” She turned to Noemi, “Do you want to help too?”

Noemi, who was still looking dejected at the table as she twirled the tablecloth, frowned, “No, I don’t think so…I’ll see you later.” She pushed out her chair and made a move to leave.

Lily was going to stop her but realized she didn’t know what to say; as far as she was concerned, Noemi was firmly in the wrong for what she said to Amy.

Oblivious to the tension in the air, Maya brightfaced turned to Lily, “Let’s go!”

The two made their way to the game room on the second floor, pausing to wave at Eliza and Caleb who were reading in the lobby. With no sign of Amy anywhere, Lily hoped that was a good sign and that the two of them had been able to talk to her.

As they entered the cozy atmosphere of the game room, Lily took a deep breath, and then, as the door closed, spoke up, “I actually had another reason to come up here with you.”

Maya had already made her way to the cabinets and was opening up the glass swing doors. “Oh, did you want priority pick on a specific game? That’s ok, as long as everyone can play, I don’t have a problem with that. As long as it’s not Catan.”

“It’s not actually about the board game night, Maya.” Lily frowned. “I wanted a chance to talk to you privately because of how you were acting during the challenge.”

Freezing in place, Maya slowly turned her head to face the plant woman. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, that sort of game, I expected you to be competitive and have fun. But every time I saw you…you looked so…” She searched for the word, “You looked ****, like enjoying yourself was the last thing on your mind. Even when you won, you looked sad. That’s…not the you I know. So I wanted to know if something happened.”

Maya’s face took on a hollow countenance as she frowned and pursed her lips together.

Lily, undeterred, stepped forward. “Maya, did something happen before the challenge?”

Quietly, the lottery winner nodded.

“Did another contestant say something or do something to you? Lily had flashes of last week's confrontation with Mira running through her mind.

Maya just quietly shook her head.

Feeling more anxious than before, Lily pushed, “Will you tell me what happened?”

Maya shook her head again emphatically, and Lily let out a beleaguered, “Why not?”

Seconds ticked on before finally the purple-haired woman spoke, “I don’t want you to think I’m crazy and hate me.”

Lily put her hands on her hips, “Maya, I’m asking because I’m worried about you. I don’t ever understand you but…I know what it’s like to feel alone. I realized last week that the reason I struggled with understanding you so much is…we’re a lot alike in ways. We both struggle with other people; we both crave affection, and I think we’re both afraid of being hurt by people we care about.”

Maya looked up, surprised, and Lily pushed on, “So, if something is bothering you, even if it sounds crazy, you can tell me, and I promise not to judge you.”

Pressing her hands together, Maya’s lips cracked up, “You really promise?”

Lily nodded, and Maya bunched her hands together and swallowed before finally saying, “Before the challenge, I saw my mom.”

“Oh,” Was all Lily could say in response.

“I think it was her ghost…she told me…she told me she was in pain and that I was the only one who could help her.” Maya was practically **** on each word as she struggled not to break down as she recalled the ghastly image in the mirror that she had seen.

Lily quickly moved over and wrapped an arm around the unsteady Maya, who looked ready to tip over. She let the words wash over her and then quietly asked, “Do…you think it’s really her? Not a sabotage or some trick by Lucian?”

Maya frowned, “It’s not the first time I’ve seen her like that.”

Lily paused, unsure how to respond as Maya continued, “Normally it’s when I’m asleep; she comes and talks to me…even though she’s dead, even though I saw her die. It was a lot like that except I was awake.” Maya reached up and touched the scabbed scratch on her cheek

It was hard to know how to respond. Lily would have dismissed this as nonsense a few weeks ago, but her own body was living proof of the supernatural. Could Maya’s mom really have been reaching out to her, or was this another cruel trick of the show? She reached out and took Maya’s hand. “Have you told Caleb about this?”

Maya shook her head and let out a choked laugh, “I was going to, but…I don’t want to be a bother. He’s already got a lot going on.”

Entwining her fingers with Maya’s, Lily cradled Maya’s shaky form. “He’d want to know. Maybe he wouldn’t have answers, but he’d want to be here for you.”

“Ok…” Maya said shakily before letting out a shuddering breath and wiping her eyes. She struggled to climb onto her feet and extricate herself from Lily as she **** a smile. “Can we look at board games now?”

Lily gave a tentative nod, “Sure, if that’s what you want.”

Maya gave a hurried nod, and Lily joined her in looking through boxed games, even as her gaze drifted to look at the other woman’s face with concern filling her heart.