Salades Dalila

Lily, for once, had been grateful for the spoiled orgasm that had woken her up from her sleep, leaving her side of the bed covered in a fine glitter. It had ensured that she woke up before Caleb and was able to sneak out of the room before he woke. She didn’t want to be there for the questions he would undoubtedly have for her. She herself couldn’t believe how she managed to fuck up the landing so bad.

It would have been a far stretch to call what happened yesterday a successful date, but by the time they had made it back to his room, she had at least felt like maybe they were on the first steps to something. Then she had to go and ruin it by opening her stupid mouth. She didn’t know where it came from, she had just felt it well up and come out of her mouth before she could stop it. So much for starting fresh, here Caleb, here’s some additional baggage for you to unpack.

As she snuck down through the hallway of the dimly lit lobby, she tried to recall her feelings beforehand to see what might have possessed her. She knew what it had been, it was the first time since coming to the hotel that she had relaxed. In that moment, with the crazed feeling in her body and all the reminders of what life had been like from earlier that day…she must have been swept up in the moment and just…what?

The horrible thing was Lily wanted to dismiss what she had said as a weak moment, a momentary lapse in judgment from high-flying hormones and sudden release of tension. Then why couldn’t she bring herself to even tell herself it was untrue. Why, despite everything that had happened, did she know that it was the truth? She still loved him, loved what they had had. Was the reason she had taken on that transformation yesterday because she knew she just wanted to escape to that time on some level?

Now, she still hated him too, hated what he had done….but that didn’t change anything. Caleb had offered a chance to start fresh, to build something new together. She thought the biggest obstacle to that would be her hate, but now she saw the truth. She wanted Caleb to love her like he had before, not something new…not something built by this show. But she couldn’t have that now.

She paused in front of the door to her suite and tried to gather herself; her insides were a mess of all the emotions inside, and she desperately just wanted to rest and ignore those feelings away from Caleb, away from these thoughts plaguing her.

As the door creaked open and light entered the room, she saw the figure of Maddy stir under the covers and tilt her head up. Closing the door as quietly as she could, Lily crossed to sit on the bed and felt Maddy stir behind her.

“Lily?” The chef called out drearily, still muddled by sleep, “What time is it? What are you doing back so early?”

Lily paused and then swallowed, resolute, she had screwed things up with Caleb it was time to make things right with Maddy at least.

“Hey, Sorry I just…didn’t want to be there when Caleb got up,” Lily slowly turned to face Maddy, “I wanted to apologize for how I was behaving…I know you think I was mad because you enjoyed your date, but honestly…ok, it was upsetting, but I wasn’t mad at you. I know the show is making you do it. It’s not your fault.”

Maddy stared at Lily, and her expression became worried, “But it wasn’t just because of the show, Lily, I enjoyed my time with Caleb.”

Swallowing hard, Lily pushed on, “Yeah, ok…I know, but I can’t expect you to tiptoe around my feelings, that wouldn’t be fair. I get that. I just want you to know that I’m not mad, and even if I don’t like Caleb, that doesn’t mean you have to act based on my feelings.”

Maddy bunched some of the blankets around her waist like a barrier as she looked at Lily warily, “If you don’t like Caleb…how did you earn so much VP yesterday?”

Lily paused, frozen as she felt a heat rise up in her stomach. Maddy’s look stayed on her, her eyes scanning Lily desperately looking for an explanation, “I can explain…I was nervous, ok, I know that VP is important so I had Amy use a sabotage on me to make me ok with…some things. But nothing ****, just…” She paused her mind filled with the images of straddling Caleb, “It wasn’t a big deal.”

Turning her gaze downward, Maddy shifted slightly in the bed away from Lily, “You said…you wouldn’t use Sabotages to get ahead in the competition.”

Lily recoiled as if she had been hit in the chest, “Well, I meant I wouldn’t use them on other people…”

Maddy shook her head, “No, you said that in response to Eliza talking about consensual use of Sabotages, you said you wouldn’t use them.” Her fingers dug into the blankets, “You also said that you wouldn’t be upset with me for enjoying my date, and you just admitted it bothered you.”

Lily felt her body heating up as panic seized her, and she reached out toward Maddy, “Maddy, I wasn’t upset with you! Just the situation! It doesn’t mean I was lying!” She hadn’t intended to raise her voice, but the desperation in her body had naturally made it rise.

Gently pushing her hand away, Maddy locked eyes with the flower girl, “How can I believe you? You didn’t trust me or Eliza or Noemi about what you did on your date, you lied about using sabotages, you lied about my date. How can I trust you Lily? I wanted to trust you, I thought we were becoming friends here.” Tears formed in the woman's eyes as she tore the blankets off herself and got up.

Lily’s eyes bulged, and she stood up to go after Maddy, “We are friends, Maddy! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to lie, I promise it was just a mistake. I was too emotional, it was an accident!”

Maddy made her way to the door and looked over at the green woman, reaching out to her, “Can you tell me honestly then, how do you feel about me wanting to spend more time with Caleb?”

Frozen in place, Lily tried to muster a smile, the corners of her mouth struggling, “Maddy, it’s fine really…I just want you to be happy and do well.”

There was a long pause as Maddy stared at Lily before uttering, “Liar,” and exiting through the door.

Noemi was moving quickly through the dark alleys of the shopping district, ignoring the various Fauns that had been trying to catch her attention. She had been caught off guard by Eliza already being up but had managed to convince her roommate that she was just going out to brainstorm her date plan with Caleb for tomorrow.

Noemi grinned to herself, she didn’t need any additional plans. She had already worked through what her day with Caleb would be like and didn’t need any help making sure it was a success.

What she did need, though, was insurance that it would go off without a hitch. After seeing Lily and Maya’s confrontation, the Chilean knew it was only a matter of time before things hit the fan. Things were likely going to escalate, and she knew that she had a target on her back. It was only natural that it would be that way; she was in the lead after all, and she had earned that spot by appealing to Caleb, and it would only make sense for these other women to go after her the moment things got nasty.

So she made her way to the Sabotage shop. She had tried to think of other methods of protection. Her alliance with the other girls might protect her for a time, but not from Mira and Maya, and it sounded like even in that group that Lily had it out for her. No, she needed magical assistance, and so far, Sabotages had only been a boon for her; there had to be one that could help her out of this situation.

She began to rummage through the shelves and looked through what was available. There was truly a wide array of what could be done to others. Make another contestant's breasts grow, give another contestant an oral fixation, change a contestant into their opposite self, turn a contestant goth, make a contestant unable to speak the truth…There were plenty of options, but nothing that Noemi could see that might solve her predicament.

Then the Chilean woman was made to jump out of her skin as there was a light tap on her shoulder and she was **** to face Arietta, holding the last Sabotage she had been looking at in her hand,

Arietta’s dry tone cut the empty air, “Good morning dearie, you’re here quite early…” The shopkeeper glanced at the shelf and smiled, “Looking for something in particular?”

Noemi frowned and looked the other woman in the eye, “Yeah, I need a sabotage that’s going to keep me safe for the rest of the round, at least until my date with Caleb is done.”

The shopkeeper nodded and moved to her desk, pouring out some tea and handing it to Noemi. “Why don’t you explain the situation to me, and I can look and see if we have anything that may be helpful?”

Tentatively, Noemi took the cup from Arietta and began to explain the situation and how she was worried about being targeted because of her lead in VP. Arietta just sat on a stool next to her and nodded along, listening quietly while keeping a careful gaze on the girl.

When she had finished, the shopkeeper reached into the folds of her robes and extended her hand, now holding a gold-trimmed card to Noemi

“This is one of our premium cards, a little more expensive, but I think you will find it’s the best suited for what you’re aiming to do, Miss Castro.” Arietta placed the card in Noemi’s hand and the woman read the effect.

SABOTAGE! Release Reverser. Activated when someone targets you with a Sabotage, at the cost of one Orgasm, the person using the Sabotage becomes its target instead.

“When it says at the cost of an orgasm…does that mean?” Noemi looked up at Arietta, and the Shopkeeper nodded affirmatively

“The moment this card activates, you will have a spontaneous orgasm, the cost of the protection, and some might say it’s rather mild compared to what some of these things can do.” Arietta lazily waved her hand to the collection of shelves.

Noemi nodded, this was exactly what she needed to stay ahead. The worst case scenario she would orgasm on her date with Caleb, which already wasn’t far off from her plans anyway.

Noemi: 7 BP - 5 BP: 2 BP remaining

She clutched the card to her chest and made her way out of the shop. Now she just needed some last-minute preparations. Tomorrow, she was going to put it all on the line, and now nothing could get in her way.

Caleb had not been entirely surprised when he found himself alone in his bed when he awoke. After what had transpired last night, he figured that both he and Lily had a lot to think about before they were ready to face each other again. He was slightly surprised to see that it looked like a glitter bomb had gone off on one half of the bed. Reaching out with a finger showed that it crumbled and smeared when touched, so obviously not actual glitter.

He frowned, wondering if there was a place he could get things cleaned. Everything seemed to take care of itself in his room, so he wasn’t too concerned, but part of him felt that Lucian was not above putting cleaning on hold if it would inconvenience Caleb in a funny enough manner. No matter the case, it wouldn’t do for Caleb to stay cooped up in his room; he had another date to be concerned with.

While showering, the master thought about how to approach this. He knew next to nothing about Maya outside of what he had learned during her introduction, so he essentially knew she was pretty and had money, and she thought he was a schlub. The only other things he knew came from Maddy and Lil,y who both did not have glowing reviews. Should he be upfront with her when they met up? Let her know how the other girls viewed her and ask her what the deal was. Or should he give her a fair chance to make her own impression on him?

One option risked putting her on the defensive immediately and making it so she felt she couldn’t relax for their date. The other made it so that he would be constantly second-guessing her actions and wondering if they were part of some ploy. Maybe there was a way to confront her in a nonjudgmental way…he just wanted to know what he was dealing with.

The master got dressed and went down the elevator and the steps of the lobby and immediately ran into Stella. If anything, it looked like her transformation had intensified over the last day, her wings changing color,r and she was now sporting a swinging tail. It appeared she had dressed to match, wearing a red coat, torn t-shirt, and leather skirt.

She turned and glared at Caleb before it looked like she quietly cursed and then approached him, “Listen, Caleb, I’m sorry I didn’t realize it was such a big deal to you to steal those treats or **** you to go outside. I don’t really understand, but obviously it was a big deal if you’re willing to hold out on it like this, so can you just forgive me already and make this end?”

Caleb sighed and pinched his nose, “Stella, I’m glad you’re reflecting on what you did, but believe me, I’m not controlling this any more now than you are. Listen I can admit I fucked up with the wording but are you sure there isn’t someone else you harmed that day like Lucian said?”

Stella stamped her foot and her wings and tail stood on end, “Caleb I ran around all yesterday apologizing to every god damn faun in the shopping district in case I stubbed one of their toes or some shit, it did nothing! I apologized to you twice now and Maddy who the fuck else is there?!”

Caleb couldn’t help but pity the devilish-looking woman, but obviously, he had no clue who else it could be either. His expression must have shown as much because the devil woman growled in frustration and then marched out of the hotel.

Blowing out a long sigh, Caleb moved to the dining area for breakfast and was surprised to find it completely empty. He could understand one or two possibly going out to the other locations on the island or maybe sleeping in, but seeing no one there was off-putting. Seeing as there was no one to talk to, he quickly grabbed a bagel and made his way back to the lobby.

Then there, staring outside at the beautiful sunlit surroundings, sitting quietly on a couch in the library nook, and looking like they were completely at peace was Maya, dressed casually in a tailored tee and some nice black pants.

She seemed to clock Caleb's approach and turned to smile at him, “Good morning, Caleb. It’s so lovely out today, I’m beginning to think they won’t let it be anything else.”

Caleb raised an eyebrow, “You think they’re controlling the weather?”

“Why not? It seems trivial compared to everything else our captors have been shown to be capable of, and when running a dating show, bad weather could potentially ruin the mood or set back scheduling.” She gazed back outside.

Caleb followed her gaze and then sighed, biting the bullet and trying not to sound accusatory, “Any idea where everyone might be this morning? Seems weird no one was at breakfast.”

Maya turned to the master and shot him a sideways glance before looking thoughtful, “I can only speak to Mira, saying she had plans outside for the day. I can’t really vouch for anyone else. They all keep a pretty wide berth from me.”

She stood up and smoothed out her pants, “It’s nice running into you like this, but I’d like to save the majority of what is sure to be a charming discussion for our date. So, meet me in the game room after lunch?”

Caleb paused, unsure if he should be letting her set the pace, but considering he had no real objection, she nodded, “Alright, I’ll see you then.”

Maya beamed at him and then skipped past, “See you later, Caleb.”

Caleb didn’t know quite what it was, there was something about the interaction that put him on edge. He couldn’t place it, but he was beginning to feel like he understood why this woman had people worried.