The sweet smell of my lady’s love

Nick didn’t bring up the strange incident with Cinder and/or Ella that morning during breakfast time with Mary. He was still thoroughly confused, and he felt that if he told her about what had happened, it would almost be like violating her privacy somehow.

He didn’t know if that was right or not, but he didn’t want to take any further steps down that path, either. Best to not upset either of them, whichever side of the girl it turned out to be.

Mary didn’t pry. She was confused why Nick’s bed partner hadn’t stayed for breakfast, but when he explained to her that she’d left early in the morning, she accepted that on face value. After all, given what she knew about Cinder and Ella, that made sense to her.

And besides- there were other things happening today that took up her priorities.

“Are you excited for your date today?” She asked Nick in a sing-song, almost teasing sort of voice as she wiggled her eyebrows his way. “With your daughter?”

“Ugh, Mary!” Nick’s jaw dropped in shock. “I can’t believe you would joke about that!” Good, Christian Mary joking about ****?! He knew she’d stopped being so prudish about sex ever since their marriage, but there had to be a limit, right?

Apparently, Mary thought so as well, judging by the face she made. “Yeah, that… that sounded weird to me, too,” she said, scrunching up her lips unpleasantly. “Sorry, I was trying to make it sound like not a big deal… but I guess it is, isn’t it?”

Nick nodded grimly. “It is a big deal,” he said. “Sylvia’s feelings are important here. And even though I’m not a fan of how she always calls me ‘Daddy’ it’s just something that I need to get used to. Like how I’m still getting used to your hair.”

Mary’s jaw dropped. “You… you don’t like my hair this way?!” She gasped.

“What!? No, I love it!” Nick quickly assured her. “It just took some getting used to, because back when we first met, when I got to know you, your hair wasn’t so… voluminous.”

Mary squinted suspiciously at him. “This isn’t about my hair at all, is it?”

Nick turned red and averted his eyes. “Well… a little bit?”

She giggled. “I know… You really think I’m in the dark about how much I’ve changed since coming here?” She teased him, gesturing to her breasts. Sylvia had put her in that maid outfit just yesterday with her copied transformation, and already her boobs were straining it.

Nick’s blush intensified.

“…I was being polite,” he admitted. “I thought you wouldn’t like me commenting so much on your… other changes.”

Mary’s expression took on a look of triumph. She was clearly proud of having distracted him so adequately.

“Well… Sylvia is a little different,” Mary admitted. “After all, calling you Daddy makes you uncomfortable, whereas you’re obviously not uncomfortable with the increased volume of my… hair.”

Nick nodded. Yep, that was definitely a major part of his issue here.

“I wish it didn’t make me so uncomfortable,” he admitted. “Compared to some of the other fetishes I’ve had to deal with, it shouldn’t, right? But when it comes to something like ****…”

“It’s natural I think,” Mary said gently, placing a comforting hand over his. “And the important part is that you’re not letting it alter how you perceive Sylvia, which is what really matters here I think. Don’t you agree?”

Nick nodded. That was exactly how he felt, too.

“Sylvia is a complicated woman, to say the least,” he said with a sigh. “That’s why I’m putting so much effort into thinking about what I should do for her date…”

In a way, he was almost glad that Ella (or maybe Cinder) had left so early. It gave him time to brainstorm with Mary about what to do for Sylvia’s date. If she’d stayed, then he would have wanted to focus on her, instead.

He was starting to see more holes in this “harem” idea. He could only be in so many places at once, and could only spend so much time and consideration for each girl. What would he have done if Ella had stayed? He’d only have a few minutes of planning time between his obligations to her, and when he had to meet Sylvia.

That thought must have been showing up on his face, because Mary was looking at him with concern in her eyes.

“Nick, are you okay?” She asked worriedly. “You seem kind of tense.”

“Hmm?” Nick flinched, not sure what to say. “Err… yeah. I’m just thinking that I really need to get better at managing my time.”

“Because you have a date with Sylvia coming up, and you haven’t come up with anything for it?” Mary’s correct statement cut into Nick like a dagger. He paled and sank back into his seat.

“W-well…”

“That is it, isn’t it?”

He couldn’t even deny it, that was the worst part. He sighed, and hung his head in resigned acknowledgment.

Mary sighed.

“You owe her better than that, Nick,” she said, puffing up her cheeks.

“I know, I know, I really should have. I even promised I’d make sure today was all about her! But I had to plan for Ella, too… Aargh, trying to account for the needs of so many different women is so hard! I can see why Amelia made such a big deal out of it…” Nick scratched his head in frustration. As difficult as his “date” with Amelia had been, the things she had said were ringing abundantly clear for him now that he was in this mess.

Planning dates to make your partner happy? That was difficult. Doing it every day, accounting for the needs of different women who liked different things? Even more difficult. No wonder she’d tried to hammer that point home so harshly so early on.

“It’s too bad not everybody is like Rose,” Mary laughed. “You don’t have to worry about coming up with date plans with her.”

“That’s true,” Nick had to agree. Rose was always the one making the plans for their dates, and Nick was always along for the ride. And since she always prioritized doing what she wanted to do, she always had a good time, and Nick always had a good time right back.

…Maybe that was the answer, actually?

“…Huh.” Nick stroked his chin thoughtfully. “You know, thinking about it that way… maybe you’re not wrong,” he said, shaking his head.

“Huh? Not wrong about what?” Mary raised her eyebrow curiously.

“It’s not like I have to plan everything out myself, right?” Nick pointed out. “Maybe I should leave it up to Sylvia. After all, she used to be the host of this island, right? She probably as a lot of things that she’d want to do here.”

“Maybe…” Mary wasn’t quite convinced. “But you guys had trouble on your outing with Amelia, right? Finding stuff for her to have fun doing… are you sure it’s the best idea, not going in without a plan of some kind?”

“Good point…” Nick was really stuck here, wasn’t he? Try as he might, the ideas weren’t coming to him, and while he wanted to come up with something that Sylvia would enjoy, he just didn’t know her well enough. And if he left things up to her, and they didn’t go well…

Mary squeezed his hand, pulling him out of the cloud of dark thoughts swirling around in his head. He looked up at her in surprise.

“It’s going to be fine,” she said tenderly, her soft features soothing his doubts. “I promise, it’s going to be fine. You don’t need to think so hard about this, Nick. Whatever you two do together, Sylvia’s going to love it. Because right now, you’re one of the most important people to her. …Look. I don’t know her all that well myself. But she obviously loves you dearly, and I know a little something of what that’s like.”

Nick blinked. “…Just a little?”

Mary scowled and swatted him lightly on the arm. “You know what I mean! …Haah… …Nick, Sylvia doesn’t need any special plans. Just be there for her, and attentive. That’s what matters most. That’s how you feel on dates, right?”

Nick remembered other dates he’d had, like when he went to the movies with Ella, or when Rose took him to the art galleries in Paris. Those weren’t things he’d have enjoyed on his own, but being there with people he cared about, seeing how happy they were… it made it all worth it.

“…Amelia tried to tell me something like that,” he said, realizing what she’d been getting at. “It wasn’t enough for me to do things that the girls liked. If I wasn’t having fun myself, or if I was having more fun with one of them than the other, that was a problem too.”

Mary nodded. “I think she was trying to get you to see it,” she agreed. “That what matters most on a date is that you’re enjoying yourself with the person you’re with.”

“I already knew that, though…” Nick protested.

“You knew it about you,” Mary pointed out. “You’re able to look at yourself and know that it’s okay if you’re not doing something you’ll enjoy, because at least your partner will. And you’re fine with putting your enjoyment second, because you’re such a nice guy.”

Being a nice guy was only part of it. Honestly, Mary thought no small part of it had to do with the kind of life Nick had lived up until now, blaming himself for everything that had happened with Dakota and the long stream of unsuccessful romances he’d endured, including with herself. Those experiences had led to Nick naturally prioritizing the happiness of the women around him, and treating his own desires as secondary. Part of her desperately wanted to tell him that, but she was afraid it would lead to him shrinking inwards rather than confronting those fears at their root.

Maybe there’s someone who can talk to him about this stuff better… but I don’t know if it can be me.

Instead, she used those feelings as a shield, and held it up to protect herself as she plowed further into this minefield of a conversation.

“Mary, it’s not-”

“You don’t have to be the nice one all the time,” she bluntly interrupted him. “Take it from someone who’s lived most of her life being the ‘nice one’ myself.”

She sounded more bitter than Nick expected.

“Like, do you think I don’t have those moments when I want to push Rose down a flight of stairs?” Mary sighed. “Of course I do, that girl intentionally tries to get on my nerves! …I’m being facetious here,” she quickly admitted, blushing a little.

“I know,” Nick assured her. Mary didn’t REALLY want to hurt Rose, and she certainly wouldn’t want the blonde to be injured. But even someone as patient and loving as Mary could have moments where she thought poorly of other people. Even he’d been on the receiving end of that before.

It was one of the things that reminded him that she was still human, and not some perfect loving angel crafted to his heart’s desires.

…Still, a perfect angel that could give him the exact correct advice he needed to do right by Sylvia would be pretty appreciated right about now.

Mary sighed, seeing it still wasn’t sinking in. Nick could be so dense sometimes!

“What I’m saying is… I love that you’re so kind and giving that you would put your own happiness secondary to make other people happy. But don’t you think the people who love you, would be happy to do the same? I know I’d love any date that I saw you smiling on, Nick, not just ones tailored for me.”

“She’s right.”

Nick jumped, and nearly yanked his hand away out of a strange sense of chastity to not even want to be holding hands with Mary in front of someone else.

Which, given that someone else was Holly, freshly awake, seemed rather silly in retrospect.

On the other hand, the look she was giving him was brimming with sincerity, unlike her usual horniness. Holly when she was at her best.

“Remember when I took you on that date to Deep Blue?” Holly reminded him, calling back to their first week on the island, when Sylvia had made each contestant come up with the perfect date to make him happy. “I wanted you to have a good time. Partially to make up for all the bad stuff I did, but still, that’s why. Even if I’m not a big fan of aquariums myself, I knew it would make you happy. And when you’re happy, I’m happy.”

“It’s the same for me,” Mary said, nodding in agreement with her best friend.

“…I know that, guys,” Nick said. “I know it might not seem that way, but I’m aware that the other girls would be happy seeing me enjoying myself. My self-esteem might have taken some hits over the years, but even I’m not that self-derisive.”

Mary and Holly both sighed in relief.

“Let’s say you’re right, and I try prioritizing my own interests, and Sylvia will be happy with that just because we’re on a date together,” Nick continued, willing to consider this line of thinking. “It’s still unfair to her, don’t you think?”

“I guess so,” Mary agreed. “But that’s not what I’m suggesting you do.”

“That’s right, it’s not an either/or thing!” Holly nodded firmly.

“I’m just trying to tell you not to overdo it and stress yourself out, just like Vivian was trying to say last night, to Ella,” Mary urged him. “Just focus on having fun. Because if you’re having fun, then Sylvia will have fun, and that’s what’s most important!”

Nick appreciated their perspective on this. “Yeah, you guys are right,” he said, scratching his head. “Maybe I’m getting too anxious over this thing.”

“Now, you should still have some plans,” Mary pointed out. “But keep in mind, Sylvia might have plans of her own! If your goal is to make her happy, then try and be a little happy yourself!”

“That might be hard for him,” Holly giggled. “Nick does love making things difficult!”

Nick shot her a dirty look. “I don’t want to hear that from you,” he said playfully. She stuck her tongue out at him in response.

“So you do have some ideas, then?” Mary asked hopefully.

Nick scratched his head. “Actually, I was hoping to get some advice from you about that. We’ve got a bit of time, right? Any ideas what Sylvia might like to do?”

Mary tapped her chin thoughtfully. “What Sylvia would like to do… that is a tricky thought, I gotta say…”

“Maybe you should prioritize doing some sexy stuff!” Holly suggested, being her usual perverted, cheeky self. “Sylvia does like you doing sex stuff with people, right? And she’d certainly be happy to do all kinds of things I imagine!”

“Err… that…” Mary blushed and shook her head. “Let’s not get carried away…”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Nick nodded.

Holly might just be trying to help, but her advice wasn’t exactly the best all the time.

Or most of the time.

Or some of the time.

…

Or ever.

He cleared his throat and tried to push forward, focusing on the positives. “I’m sure we came come up with stuff that she’ll like. I mean, I’ve been on dates before, right? And it’s Sylvia. Things would have to go pretty badly for her to not like it. She’s trying to have a good time, not trying to be difficult.”

“Okay, so the first thing you’re going to want to do is try to be difficult,” Gina advised her. She sat on the bed with her legs crossed, staring at her roommate with the grim coldness of a military commander on a grisly battlefield.

“Right! Yes, ma’am!” Sylvia saluted, standing up straight in front of the bed. She was absorbing all of Gina’s ideas like a sponge.

“But not too difficult,” Gina added. “Remember, you want to play hard to get, but you also don’t want to upset him or make him uncomfortable by seeming like you’re not having a good time. Being rebellious is a tricky tightrope to walk.”

In spite of the amused smile on her face, Gina wasn’t sure this was the right course of action that she should be taking. It had surprised her at first, when Sylvia had asked for her advice on how to be a rebellious daughter, especially given her own struggles with maturity.

Imagine her surprise when she discovered that it wasn’t just motivated by Sylvia’s urge to resist pleasing Dakota all the time, but also because she really wanted to play a bit of a brat on her date with Nick, instead of being a dutiful daughter.

Isn’t she doing bratty just fine on her own? Gina wondered. But maybe Sylvia was after something a little more specific.

“Is there anything else you need my help with?” Gina pressed.

Sylvia stroked her chin and gave the other woman a ponderous look. “…I’m not quite sure myself,” she admitted. “I want Daddy to have a good time, that’s a given. But I’m trying to rebel against being seen only as his daughter.”

Gina grinned. “You want to throw in some sex appeal, right?”

Sylvia snapped her fingers and nodded. “Exactly! …Well, wait, no. That’s the thing! This is really, really hard!”

She messed up her hair and started pacing.

“It was easy to just follow instructions, but having to go on my own? Having to put myself out there and actually think about what I should do!? It’s the heels all over again!”

“Huh? Heels?” Gina blinked.

“The high heels from that one bounty, Gina. Keep up!” Sylvia snapped.

Gina was starting to figure it out. “So back when you were the host, it was easier, because you just did things you were told, rather than doing things you wanted. But now that you’re just a contestant, there’s a chance that putting the moves on Nick could backfire, and things would get even more awkward between the two of you, is that right?”

Sylvia nodded glumly. “I don’t want to mess this up!” She said firmly. “It’s my first real date with Daddy… and I don’t want it to be a bad one.”

Gina sighed. “I think that’s a pretty normal feeling, Sylvia. But don’t you think behaving rebellious and bratty might have the opposite effect?”

Nope, not at all! Sylvia shook her head cheerfully. “Just the opposite!” She chirped. “Daddy is probably all stressed out right now, trying to plan for a good date! But if I’m bratty and rebellious, then that should take the pressure off him of having to make it perfect! We’ll be able to take things easy and really get along!”

Sylvia seemed so certain in her decision that Gina really didn’t know how to question that. Maybe she was right. Gina certainly didn’t know much about how traditional relationships went.

She shrugged. “Well, okay then. Now, about your clothes…”