This time: Gabby's Date

Victoria's body stalked down the hallway and into the elevator angrily, though Victoria could feel grief mixing with that anger, and a hint of fear. It was a strange sensation, she could feel those emotions surging through her, but they weren't affecting her mind, weren't driving her towards any decisions or causing her to lash out. It was emotion without purpose or drive, completely sterile...at least for her. Vicky was not so fortunate.

'Fuck that stupid fox bitch! I thought she was on my side! I thought she WANTED me to run amok, taking my fill. What the hell else did she create me for?'

Victoria was fairly disturbed by this internal dialogue by her darker self, and it brought a lot of uncomfortable thoughts to mind. Nymeera created Vicky, essentially giving her life, and Vicky had thought that that life had come with purpose. To go out and seduce everyone she took a shine to...only Nymeera's TRUE priority lay in making Damien the one who went out and 'plucked' the fruits of Nymeera's labor. Vicky wasn't important, she didn't matter, she didn't have purpose...all she was, in Nymeera's eyes, was another flavor for the Master to sample.

'Fuck you. I know what you're thinking about Victoria...' Vicky snapped angrily. Victoria chose to ignore the obvious malice and instead focused on Vicky's hurt, and betrayal.

'You don't have to go through all this alone,' Victoria thought to her, trying to summon up feelings of warmth and love. The feelings of when she prayed to God, and felt the hand of a higher power sheltering her from the inner turmoil of her blackened soul.

'Except I'M that blackness... Not a great way to cheer me up,' Vicky pouted scornfully. Unfortunately she was right, Victoria couldn't hide her emotions from Vicky anymore than Vicky could hide them from her. Vicky is the exact dark part of her soul that Victoria prayed for forgiveness for, and for release from. In her heart of hearts, she would wish for nothing more than to excise Vicky from herself forever...hell it was the wish she wanted to make if she won this damn show.

'I'm not talking about me. We both know I'm not strong enough to forgive you...but God can forgive anyone. If you'll just open your heart an-'

'Please. Do EVERYONE a favor, and shut the fuck up.' Victoria felt some genuine anger on her end forming, but was able to suppress it as Vicky made her way back into their room. Victoria was trying to show some patience, but she was having a hard time convincing herself Vicky was anything but a demon, custom made by Nymeera to tempt her towards evil, and showing patience to a demon wasn't something she could accept.

'Fuck you,' Victoria shot back, matching Vicky's anger with her own. 'Fine, no come to Jesus moment for you. Hell if I care! You obviously already know this but I'm ECSTATIC that you got rejected so soundly by everyone, even fucking NYMEERA! Dana didn't bother to try to help you, thank you God for that! Damien actually seems to be on the ball about keeping the girls out of your talons, makes me respect the guy a hell of a lot more, and Suki is well and truly out of your reach.' Victoria found her body tensing angrily and took it as a win. 'You have no reason to be here anymore. Why don't you let me back out now, and go back to being a normal demon, whispering to me from the inside, hmm?'

Suddenly Victoria's body collapsed onto the floor, and Victoria was shocked by the torrent of grief that washed through her. Vicky was holding back tears! The very suggestion would've seemed impossible just hours ago...minutes ago! Yet...here they were. Could it be that there was more to Vicky than just being Victoria's dark urges? Or was she just upset that she didn't get to go hunting the other contestants? Well, questions like that were rather useless when they essentially shared a mind. Vicky's entire being was crafted for the purpose of inhabiting Victoria's most perverse desires, not being allowed to do that was making her stressed and frustrated to no end! So Vicky really was considering playing nice with the others...of course she was also considering faking playing nice in order to take advantage again, or pretending to swap with Victoria and try again to seduce the other girls. She even thought about getting some BP to use on special items from Nymeera's Back to School Store...but Vicky couldn't decide on anything. Her brain was spinning and every option sounded bad for her. However, there was one thing that was crystal clear inside both of their heads...

Letting the other have control over their shared body was a massive mistake.

Damien made his way to the hotel's entrance quickly, not even bothering to change into anything for his date with Gabriella. So far, both of his other dates hadn't been the wine and dine, dress your best, types anyway, so he figured he'd probably be able to get away with it this time too... He was absolutely wrong.

"Oh my god..." Damien said upon seeing Gabriella dressed to kill in a revealing red gown that made it hard to look her in the eye. He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, seriously regretting not stopping by his room for that tux he didn't really get to use much during Syn's date... His blood surged at the thought of Syn, her leaving him high and dry was making it hard not to want to pin Gabriella against the wall and see how easy it was to get that dress off. Damn she looked good...

"Good response," Gabriella commented, clearly pleased with his reaction, though her expression turned toward disappointed as she looked him up and down. "You don't clean up as well as I'd hoped," Gabriella said, all smiles.

"In my defense I was helping Suki..." Damien said, trying to defend his, apparently, slovenly appearance by comparison. "And the other two dates weren't quite so...formal so I thought..."

"You also have a bad habit of mentioning other women. We'll have to work on that." Gabriella interrupted, firmly removing the shovel from Damien's hands before he dug himself any deeper. She then snapped her fingers expectantly. "Chauffeur!" she called out, like a millionaire calling for a nearby staff member.

"You know, I can only entertain these flights of whimsy so far..." Nymeera said, walking towards them as though she'd always existed in that space, despite the fact that the curvy kitsune was definitely not there mere moments ago. Gabriella's smile remained undaunted and she merely clicked her fingers together expectantly a few more times. Nymeera sighed but relented and her tails waved over her body, causing her appearance to change like a transition in a movie, her clothing now including a hat and a more official looking uniform, and those tails disappearing, though her ears certainly didn't. Well, official might be a bridge too far to describe an outfit that so clearly failed to even attempt to hide her impressive bust...

"Where to milady?" the purple haired fox asked in what Damien imagined was as close to a subservient tone as she was ever likely to speak. Gabriella seemed positively thrilled regardless, beaming brightly before turning to Damien with a frown.

"Well, first we'll need to get my date properly attired. Miss Ny, would you please?" Gabriella asked, putting a little extra posh into her tone. Damien couldn't help but crack a smile, she seemed to really be getting into this, and her energy was a little infectious. Nymeera at the least seemed willing to play along for now. Though Damien didn't really have time to worry about that, as Nymeera approached him and grabbed his polo by the collar, getting uncomfortably close before leaning in...as though for a kiss. Suddenly, Nymeera tore downward with her hands in a sudden, jerking motion, as though she were a magician pulling out a tablecloth from under a spread of food, taking his polo, AND JEANS, with her.

"What the hell!" Damien cried out, feeling naked for a split second before realizing that he was still clothed, just in something completely different... He looked toward Gabriella, who was looking him up and down again, but this time looking suitably impressed.

"Now that's more like it..." Gabriella said with a smile as Damien looked himself over to see he was wearing the tuxedo he'd worn, well TRIED to wear, on Syn's date... Nymeera had a cruel sense of humor it seemed, but at least Gabriella seemed happy. Seeing the tux did remind him of Syn's date though...and once again his blood surged through his veins... "I do hope you've packed your monocle Mr. Carter-" Gabriella let out a light gasp for a moment before quickly recovering. "Because we're going...to the Opera!"

"Wait, like what the fox that Summer took was advertising?"

"I took her up on the offer," Gabriella shrugged, her gorgeous brown hair falling delicately over her shoulders. "I don't have any BP left, so I couldn't buy anything to make the date more...exciting, but Eggplant's Opera House date was fully customizable and at no charge." Gabriella's smile started to turn a little smug. "It means this dress is a bit of a loaner, but as long as it gets me some extra points it'll have served its purpose...and by the looks of things I don't think you're going to complain."

Damien couldn't help but imagine Gabriella in his bedroom, in that dress, just waiting for the timer on the date to run down so Nymeera could take it back off of her... He suddenly found his mouth very dry. He knew he wasn't a young man anymore, not really, but in this body, with a woman like that in front of him...he was starting to feel like one.

"None here," he agreed quickly. "I've never been to an Opera before. Are we uh...just going to teleport inside? Or is there one here?" Damien asked, looking around the campus complex of buildings. He thought it was a reasonable question, until Gabriella playfully hit him on the back of his head.

"I'm so sorry you had to have Syn and Crystal as your first two dates," she said with a sultry grin. "Teleporting you around...sounds like something someone as lazy as Syn, or as efficiency concerned as Crystal, would come up with, but a date isn't just about the destination it's about the journey to get there. You can't just pop into the Opera and have the fun injected into your brain via syringe. It's an _experience,_ and a part of that experience is the anticipation. Don't worry though, we'll be travelling in style..." Gabriella said smugly, snapping her fingers at Nymeera again.

Damien's mouth dropped open as a long, black limousine began to drive around from behind the hotel, the tires crackling on the cobblestone as it approached the trio. Nymeera automatically went to open the door for them, and Gabriella stepped inside, her gorgeous red gown flowing beatifically around her tanned, caramel skin.

"Coming?" She asked invitingly, disappearing into the posh leather interior of the vehicle that probably cost as much as Damien's house! He slipped in behind her and felt his body sink into the comfortable leather. Nymeera closed the door behind him, and suddenly Damien was in another world, surrounded by decadent wealth. The Limo's seating was in an upside down 'L' shape, with a small bar set up in front of him. At first he was concerned about the glasses sliding all over the place and making a mess, but even as the limo gently rolled into motion the glasses remained fixed to the bar. Closer inspection allowed Damien to discover that the bottoms of the glasses were magnetic, and would only move from the bar when taken. Soft music played through unseen speakers and the bar in front of him held platters of fancy looking snacks that made Damien realize he hadn't eaten anything since that delicious breakfast made by Summer and Lauren this morning.

Of course, none of it compared to the gorgeous woman dressed to the nines seated only a scant foot away from him... Damien suddenly didn't know how he ought to behave. On one hand he wanted to devolve to his baser instincts and start pigging out on the expensive buffet set out before him, on the other the sheer extravagance of his surroundings made him want to act more the part of the rich aristocrat, rising to the level of expectation one might have for a refined, cultured individual who could actually afford all this.

"What do you think?" Gabriella asked, her grin broadcasting that she already full well knew the answer.

"It's incredible... I honestly don't know what to do with myself, I feel like a peasant that's been told he's king for a day."

"Well, according to Nymeera you're king for at least 30 days, so try to get used to it," Gabriella said with a smile, though Damien noted that smile was a bit more faded than before. Apparently she hadn't gotten fully on board with this whole...situation, despite the extravagant way in which she handled her 'date' with him. She leaned towards the bar and pulled a martini glass to her lips, taking a long, slow sip, and letting her tongue slide out of her mouth to sensually lick up and down the cocktail skewer. She caught herself quickly and pulled away, but Damien couldn't help but notice a look of shame pass across her features before quickly covered up by a mask of sultry smiles. "So Your Highness...oh! That works too huh? Anyway, why don't you help yourself? It's a long drive after all, possibly across dimensions, and it's in very bad taste to bring food or drink into an Opera. The way an Opera House is designed is to take full advantage of acoustics, the ultimate in surround sound but without any technology like microphones or speakers. The downside is that any noise can take advantage of those acoustics, like someone chewing or swallowing or unwrapping a candy bar. This isn't going to be a pair of teenagers going to the local movie theater to ignore some mass produced line of film in order to make out in the back with popcorn on their breath and drunk on soda. This is a full live experience meant to be taken in with all your senses."

"You speak like someone who's been to more than one Opera before."

"Of course, my mother took me to them all the time as a child, and it's common political fare for lobbyists to spend lavishly on outings with several politicians in tow. I got dragged on a few of those trips, and a couple were to operas."

Now it was Damien's turn to give Gabriella a grin and a look. "Oh? Is that what you're doing to me? Trying to get me to endorse your bill?" Gabriella gave a musical chuckle in reply.

"I'm never going to be able to hear that without thinking of it as some sort of innuendo from now on. Some lobbying tactics may have crossed my mind when I was thinking about what kind of date to put together...but I do want to have a good time too, and the opera is a great experience. It's a win/win. That said, don't hesitate to load up on some food before we get there," Gabriella said with a smirk, taking the opportunity to pick out a finger sandwich and, after giving it a suggestive slide between her lips, ate it in one bite. "It's a 3 hour show with only one break." That was all the invitation Damien needed to join in the expensive banquet.

Gabriella was trying so fucking hard to not get angry right now. She was already incredibly nervous about this date, which absolutely needed to go well! She could still vividly remember Nymeera twisting her body painfully into perversions more archetypes than persons...plus she had this twisted desire to defeat her competition, and receiving barely any fan mail had irked her far more than it should have. The problem was, on top of all that, her damn Cockus transformation kept sneaking in and taking control of her mouth! Not to mention how difficult it was to keep eating the little hors' devours and not bend over Damien's lap, slide his pants down to his ankles and slide in something with a little more...meat.

She took a breath, and fought back the urge. Sex wasn't going to be something she could compete in, not after Syn showed her just how much better the slutty redhead was at it. As much as it galled Gabriella to admit, if she made this a competition about sex, Syn was going to beat her. So Gabriella wasn't going to drop down to Syn's level, if she couldn't fight fire with fire, she was going to compete with class. If only Damien wasn't so intelligent... He'd already picked up on her strategy, at least a little bit... It was so STUPID of her to mention lobbyists, since that was exactly what she was doing. It's popular to think of politicians as corrupt elitists who care more about donor parties than constituents, but most politicians really do try to remain uninfluenced by the mega donors and the lobbyists vying for their votes or trying to get them to support bills favorable to the 1% despite what everyday voters think of them. However, the reason lobbyists spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on events like this is because these tactics work! Gabriella wasn't usually the recipient of extravagant dinners or VIP status seats at the latest hit play or must watch ball game. As a simple Treasurer of a city she wasn't nearly so important...but her mother was a House member and got wined and dined frequently, sometimes she even took Gabriella along. Being there, able to sit on the lap of luxury was...intoxicating, and if it could influence a woman as headstrong and strong willed as her mom... Well Gabriella couldn't be blamed for trying her best right?

"You okay?" Damien asked with a shrimp cocktail in his hand. "You look very deep in thought..." Intelligent and insightful...damn it! Gabriella wished he was one of those men who just went along with whatever she said because she was hot and he wanted to get his dick wet. They were easy to manipulate and less of a hassle to talk to.

"I'm good, just a bit nervous about the date," Gabriella replied honestly, though misleadingly. She was worried the date wouldn't go well, that the audience would hate it, or hate her and by extension her date...but Damien did seem to enjoy the limo ride, and keeping Nymeera close meant that she could leverage those god powers for her own gain. Now if only she could stop this Cockus transformation from affecting her! She took the cocktail skewer, which didn't even have any olives on it anymore, out of her mouth with an audible pop. Somehow things just kept ending up in there despite her best efforts! She had specifically set this date for the real world...or at least the city she lived in. If she embarrassed herself out there she might just let Nymeera twist away her personality!

"Don't feel too nervous," Damien said, giving Gabriella a strong, steady smile. "I'm already having a great time, and you've really sold me on this opera. I'm actually feeling a bit excited." Gabriella smiled at that, even though all it really did was make her nervousness worse...

In the front seat Nymeera quietly drove the car, the limousine quietly and effortlessly passing through dimensions to arrive in Gabriella's town at night, taking her time getting to the theater. After all, Gabriella wanted anticipation to build, a strategy Nymeera could certainly respect, so Nymeera decided to actually allow herself to get stuck in traffic, the limo making a slow crawl toward the theater, which would be finding itself with two extra seats near the front, and a reservation for two.