Salades Bruxelles

Amy wasn’t sure what else to do with the **** Caleb, so she gathered him up and was now in the elevator up to the Master’s suite. She looked down at his face, still warped in anguish even in his sleep, and gave a sideways smile, “You carried me to the Sabotage shop; the least I can do is take you to your room.”

The sleeping master didnt react, and the oni sighed as the bell rang their arrival upstairs. She had been doing her best to hold things in downstairs, just because someone needed to have a level head amidst all that. That didn’t mean learning about what Mira had done hadn’t affected her; if anything, she was barely holding it together. The bounty board and points had been trying to tell her something was wrong and she hadn’t caught on. Could she have guessed how bad it was? Realistically, no, but that didn't stop Amy from feeling responsible.

If she hadn’t been so self-absorbed and wanted to solve the secrets of this place, Lucian wouldn’t be so pissed off right now; she might have noticed that Mira was making plays, goddammit, maybe she could have reached out to Eliza and stopped any of this from happening. She couldn’t help but keep kicking herself for her own inadequacy. Eventually, she managed to get the door open and stepped forward, gently laying Caleb down in the armchair, and as she turned to step away, she was startled by Eliza standing over her, watching what she was doing.

She was wearing the clothes she had worn for her date the night before, now seeming so unsuited to her countenance. The professor’s expression was unreadable as she raised a hand to her chest, before dropping it and asking, “Is he ok? Did something happen?”

Amy gave the Master a quick glance and nodded, “Yeah, he’ll be ok. Lack of sleep followed by adrenaline deficit, just knocked him out.” the oni looked at the ground unable to meet Eliza’s eyes as she opened her mouth again, “He-” She bit her lip thinking about how to say it when the professor beat her to it.

“He confronted Mira about what she did to me, didn’t he?” Seeing Amy’s expression, Eliza gave a bitter chuckle that might have been mistaken for a scoff, “Of course he did, he always hated bullies, hated injustice. He wouldn’t let it go; it’s just the type of guy he is.” She looked over to Amy, “Does everyone know then?”

Nodding, Amy pulled herself from the ground, “Yeah, he was pretty loud and angry. Woke me up from sleeping, he must have charged down the moment curfew ended.” It was funny how right now the space of the room felt oppressive, like the expansive walls were leaning in on the two and observing them. For a moment, Amy wondered if the sensation was anything like how Caleb felt when he went outside.

The oni’s hand clutched her wrist before squeezing it tight and forcing herself to look Eliza in the eye. The woman looked different. Coming in after being de-aged Eliza had always given off a youthful exuberance. After the challenge, she had looked broken, so overwhelmed with grief that she couldn't look forward, now? All Amy could see was exhaustion and a bristling anger just under the surface.

She finally found her voice, “He was going to revoke Mira’s ability to earn VP. I stopped him.” This got the professor’s attention, who looked at Amy quizzically as she continued, “I was worried that it would result in us getting burned with the challenge so close and that…maybe striking out in anger wouldn’t be helpful for you right now.”

“Ah.” it was all that came out of the professor’s mouth, and silence hung in the air for an awkward period before she spoke again, “Lots of people making choices for me then- don’t you fucking dare-” she cut Amy off as she started to open her mouth, “I don’t fucking care anymore, alright?”

Wincing, Amy shifted her eyes away, “Listen, I…no, I can’t imagine how you’re feeling right now.”

“What did I just say?” Eliza snapped and threw her hands up before running them through her hair, “I’m so done. Just period. Done. I want sympathy, I don’t want empathy, I don’t want help, ok!? Fuck, fuck, fuck! Like I’m done being treated like the victim, and that includes by myself, ok?” She walked over and grabbed her bag off the ground. “I spent my adult life pretending I was happy. I got turned young again and then pretended I was an adult, and yesterday? No, I’m ready to just not care anymore.”

There were very few times that Amy felt small, but the **** and vitriol of Eliza’s words were caustically tearing away at her thick skin. “Ok, but the competition?”

“What about it? I’m not going anywhere, am I? I’m just…Listen, I love the friends I’ve made here. I’m just done with the moral debates, fucking philosophy is all I've ever done. So fuck it, I’m living now. What's there to see on this island? What trouble can I get into? What do I want from Caleb? That’s what I’m doing right now, and you all are welcome to join in, but I’m done being the spectator. My life, my rules, no one else's.” She began to make her way to the door.

Amy made a move to stop her, but then stopped and just asked, “Where are you headed?”

Eliza pulled the door open, “To update my wardrobe,” she said brusquely before shutting the door firmly.

Amy looked over to the chair where Caleb was still resting and walked over to the wall and pressed her back against it, letting herself slide down to the ground. Things had felt like they were stabilizing, now Lucian on one end, tragedy on the other…before it was petty bickering, this? A different beast. Amy ran her fingers over her face, trying to collect her thoughts and trying to organize the maelstrom that threatened to overtake her senses.

So there was Caleb’s date with Lily that needed to be figured out, and tomorrow was Stella’s, and then after that was the challenge, which was probably some sort of hunting game, and then and then and then and then and then….Amy let out a sound like a teapot going off as she grit her teeth together and kicked her feet against the ground. Her body felt simultaneously icy cold and burning hot and her vision was so narrow she could barely see ahead of her. Her fingers clutched through her hair before she slammed a fist against the wall.

She had to keep it together.

When the group had separated, Lily had thought to leave the hotel for some time by herself. Even before the confrontation this morning, she had a lot on her mind, and she thought the sunshine and the quiet might jog something loose. She was in a small courtyard on the restaurant island, a half circle of brickwork with benches and plants and a fountain. There was a fence that let you look over the edge of the island that she was currently leaning over, watching the waves lap at the rockside. She tried to focus on that, but there was something nagging at the back of her mind and she couldn’t ignore it any more

She turned and faced Maya, who was standing awkwardly off to the side behind her, “I thought you were going off to process?” She tried to keep the annoyance out of her voice. After everything that had happened, the last thing they needed was to be bringing each other down.

Maya shifted her weight from one foot to the other and looked awkward for a moment before speaking up, “I was…and before coming here I’d try to talk to myself and calm myself down, but now I…” She gestured to herself, ”It’s not really possible.”

Realization dawned on the plant woman’s face, “Your transformation.”

Maya gave an awkward smile, “Yeah, feeling really stupid for not upgrading that one now. Normally I’d ask Mira…but yeah, I don’t feel comfortable with that right now.”

The statement was like a punch to the gut, and Lily, even with her complicated feelings surrounding Maya, couldn’t help but have her feelings go out to the woman. Mira and Maya had been thick as thieves since entering the competition, yet it seemed like what happened caught Maya as off guard as the rest of them. How must it feel to have the one person you relied on become the source of pain for so many?

Looking away, Lily lifted her hands up and out. “Alright, well, no nuzzling or anything like that, I’m just helping out. Not looking to be cuddle buddies.”

Wordlessly, Maya walked up and put her head against Lily’s shoulder and wrapped her arms around her, and Lily responded by wrapping her arms around the other woman’s back. It was quiet, Lily half expected Maya to break down into tears, but even as her shoulders shuddered, no sobbing came, just eventually words that felt like a knife.

“I never wanted anyone to get hurt. Why did this have to happen?” Maya said it quietly against Lily’s shoulder, and the green woman flinched.

Her instinct was to question how she could say that, given everything she did in the name of playing the game, but if there was one thing she was beginning to comprehend, if not understand, Maya could not see the game as a negative. Whether that was a conscious choice, willful ignorance, or anything else, the other woman could not see that the game they were being **** to play could cause real harm. Pushing on it wouldn’t help, and they didn’t need to start any more conflicts.

So instead Lily just frowned, “I don’t know, I didn’t expect anything like this to happen during our time here.” That much was true; of all the horrible things Lily had pictured, this was not one of them. “But the group has come back together after being fractured before; everyone helped me when I was in a bad space, so it will be fine, probably.” The tone of the words made it obvious that even she wasn’t convinced of what she was saying.

There was a pause, and then Maya spoke again, “What’s going to happen to Mira? Is she going to be eliminated?”

“ I don’t know…Caleb was really mad, but Amy stopped him from keeping Mira from getting points, so…” Lily honestly couldn't imagine a world where that might mean much. The bulk of their points came from interactions with Caleb, and she couldn’t see him wanting anything to do with the Bengali woman now. She closed her eyes and thought about Caleb and the type of man he was. “Caleb might be angry…he might hate her, but he won’t willingly let her be eliminated. I don’t know how, but that’s the feeling I get.”

“Ok…” Maya said simply, “I think I’m done for now.” She pulled away from Lily, and it was only now that Lily could see her eyes were red. She might not have cried, but it was clear it was through some considerable effort. Maya rubbed her cheek, “Your body is real soft, it makes for comfy hugs.”

“I-You” Lily reared before seeing the lottery winner’s expression and deflating, “Thanks- I guess.”

Maya picked a piece of lint off her shirt and flicked it away before looking around, “So why did you come out here?”

In the midst of dealing with Maya, Lily had completely forgotten the reason she had initially come out here and cursed, “Dammit, I was going to look for places for my date with Caleb. I was gonna look for a place similar to where we first started dating.”

Maya walked over and put her back to the railing and leaned against it next to Lily, “Did he really like that restaurant or something?”

“I mean, it was just a place close to campus, but I thought that maybe, you know, because we’re starting over it might be a nice sign of that?” Her train of thought lost steam as she said it aloud, and she was met by the other woman’s confused expression.

“You want to show that you’re starting something new by doing something you’ve already done?” There wasn’t judgment in her voice, but it was very clear that Maya could not follow the logic being presented at all.

“I-I mean,” The plant girl sputtered, “No, it’s like starting over, fresh! You know? Like a new start to something we’ve done before.”

Maya nodded slowly, “But didn’t it go like…really bad last time?”

“Not at first, though!” Lily’s face turned a bright crimson, “I don’t know what else to do! He’s probably going to still be upset and tired from earlier. How am I even supposed to make sure he has a good time?”

“Are dates normally this stressful?” Maya tilted her head quizzically.

“Why are you asking me? You’ve been on two with him already!” Lily barked at Maya; she could feel her blush spreading across her features as irritation weighed in on embarrassment.

“Oh yeah, but I just focused on having fun, isn’t that the point? Even though I screwed up on that, the last one. Don’t you just want to have fun with Caleb?”

“I mean-” Lily froze, “Yeah, of course I want to have fun, but I want to make an impression too! I want to stand out amongst everything, especially after today. I don’t want him just thinking about other things while we’re out.” She looked down, “Sorry, that's dumb and selfish.”

Maya nodded, “It is pretty selfish,” She then gave Lily a bright smile, “I don’t think that’s a bad thing, though, or dumb. You’re allowed to want things for yourself. I think wanting the guy you like to pay attention to you makes sense.”

Caught off guard by her words, the Plant girl felt her blood pressure go down, and she relaxed against the railing, shoulder to shoulder with Maya, “Thanks, but it still doesn’t get me any closer to answering what I’m going to do.”

“I mean, you said it yourself, he’s probably going to be stressed out, maybe do something relaxing? It would probably mean a lot that you are looking out for him like that.” Maya suggested.

Lily twirled a finger in her hair, “Yeah, maybe…No, I know you’re right, there’s got to be some place here that would be good to just relax. Do you mind helping me look?” She pushed off the railing and jumped lightly onto the brickwork.

Maya followed suit, “Sure, I don’t have any problem with that, putting our heads together, we’ll find the most relaxing place on the entire island.”

“Yeah, though I wish I could think of something that would make me stand out still…” Lily said as they entered the row of buildings outside the courtyard, “You’re probably right in this being the right direction, but I just” She paused, seeing a sign and looking at her hand still twirling in her hair. A smile split across her face, “I got one thing in mind, Maya, follow me!” She grabbed the lottery winner’s arm and dragged her into a building with a twirling red and blue pole outside.