Yeah, when I grow up, you know what I wanna be?

“Ooooh man! This is so close! You guys are both one answer away from getting that key!” Nola squealed, squirming behind the podium in excitement. “I can’t wait! Are you guys excited?! I know I’m excited!”

“Yes, I’m very excited,” Nick said. “I can’t wait to get past these embarrassing questions and get back to the actual escape room part of the escape room.”

Nola’s enthusiasm collapsed like a balloon with the air being let out of it. “Whaaaat? You… you want to get rid of me just like that!?” She wailed. “Come on! I thought we were having fun? I mean, yeah, things are getting kind of serious and dramatic, and we had a few questions that didn’t go over that well, and the two of you are having some problems, but that’s no reason to throw in the towel! Aren’t you guys liking this?!”

“Is my next question going to be another soul-crushing, scathing critique of my relationship with Nick that will make me feel absolutely miserable?” Marley asked with a scowl, crossing her arms over her chest.

Nola glanced down at the card in her hand.

“…Nooooooo…” She averted her eyes and quickly shuffled it to the back of the stack.

“…Uh-huh.” Marley rolled her eyes and scoffed, blowing a fringe of hair out of her face as she slumped back on the bench.

“Come on, it’s a good one!” Nola pouted. “And if you get this one right? Then that’ll be your last question!”

“Oh!” Marley sat up a little straighter and her eyes brightened. “Well… okay then. Shoot.”

Nola cracked a grin. “Great! Now Marley! You’re trying to spice things up in the bedroom, and want to try on a sexy outfit!”

“…Oh no,” Marley groaned, burying her face in her hands. “Not a cosplay question. Can’t you save that one for Carly?”

Nola pouted. “Let me finish!” She whined. “Now then! Which of these would Nick most want to see you wear for a kinky role playing session? Is it A) A sensual french maid giving turn down service? Or B) A strict, no-nonsense librarian? Or C) A sexy police officer with handcuffs? Or D) A skimpy nurse come to take his temperature?”

Marley cringed at the thought of all of those.

“Come on, isn’t there a tomboy option there or something?” She groaned, rolling her eyes. “Like a sports jersey or whatever?”

“The options are the options.” It was a surprisingly succinct response from Nola, much to Marley’s chagrin.

She glanced at Nick out of the corner of her eye, and saw just how flustered he was by the question. She also saw that he was staring at her, no-doubt playing those scenes out in his head.

Marley couldn’t help but smirk. Even after the issues they’d just faced, this was definitely a question that was more in keeping with the tone she wanted to set the evening at. So to hammer that point home, she pressed him.

“Well, what do you think? Are you imagining me in those outfits?” She purred, arching her back to emphasize the swell of her chest. “Which one looks best.”

“Ahem!” Nola cleared her throat. “Careful, Marley. We don’t want it to look like you two are colluding, remember? I’d like to get out of this room gas-free if you wouldn’t mind.”

Marley made a sour face, but she knew that Nola was raising a valid point. She sighed and shut up, and grabbed her whiteboard while she thought about what Nick would like best.

Well… Holly’s already got the maid fetish stuff down pat… would he like to see me like that? She wondered, picturing herself dressed as a maid and serving him.

Then again, a strict librarian… or would those vibes be a bit too much like Amelia? Marley asked herself, growing concerned. He might compare me to his stepmom, which would give him pause… he did put say that he would rather be with Sylvia than with his stepmother, so maybe?

As for the police officer, that’s not really a niche anyone’s filled yet. Would he be into that? She pictured herself dressed up like a cop next. Although the handcuffs give a certain vibe, and Nick’s never expressed any interest in being dominated or tied up… with Gina he seems more into doing the tying down. Although, he does like the way I tease him?

Then there was the nurse. Although being a nurse, that could be its own form of teasing, she had to admit. And maybe he would like that? Agh, if only schoolgirl was an option, he liked when I dressed like that last time! But a nurse could be okay.

“This looks like a really tricky one!” Nola giggled. “Marley, you’re putting so much thought into it!”

“It’s a tough question!” Marley groaned. “Give me some slack here! There are four possible answers, and they all seem feasible!”

Nick didn’t say anything, because he didn’t want to get them in trouble. But he’d finished writing his answer and set down his whiteboard. He made a point of not even looking Marley’s way, he was too embarrassed.

Marley sighed. I guess I do have to pick one in the end, she acknowledged, and chose her best guess of what Nick would want, given the things about herself that she thought he liked most.

“Alright! It looks like you both have your answers down?” Nola confirmed, looking back and forth between the two of them for confirmation. “Great! This was a pretty tricky question, so let’s see if you’ve got it! Marley? What did you pick? Maid? Librarian? Cop? Nurse?”

Marley blushed and shyly held up her whiteboard as her answer flashed across it.

NURSE

“Ooh! A nice, sexy nurse, that’s a good one!” Nola chortled. “So tell me, what made you go with that decision? I bet our audience is just dying to know!”

“Well, I mean… I just thought it was the one that fits me best,” Marley mumbled, squirming in her seat. What did Nola want her to say?! Any answer she gave would sound like she was stroking her ego, and she wasn’t the type of woman to do something like that!

Nola frowned, and then turned to Nick. “Well, if Marley won’t share anything else, then Nick, what did you say? Do you agree, Marley would look sexiest as a skimpy nurse?”

Nick blushed and lifted up his whiteboard as well as his answer appeared on it.

NURSE

Marley’s eyes widened and her face lit up. “Really!?” She gasped.

“Oh, really?” Nola seemed just as surprised. “You picked nurse too? Why?”

“Because, well…” Nick glanced over at Marley and the heat on his face intensified. “Marley, she’s… a very kind person. She’s always looking out for other people and trying to help them. Sometimes it even comes at her own expense. I just thought that her dressing up in a sexy nurse costume… well, I thought that it would highlight her nurturing personality best.”

“Nick…” Marley’s heart did somersaults in her chest. What was the matter with her!? She had just convinced herself that no good could come from these feelings she was quickly realizing she had, but she just couldn’t stop the yearning feeling that threatened to swallow her whole.

“That’s so sweet!” Nola sniffled, wiping the tears from her eyes. “Saying such nice things about your partner… it’s the best! Don’t you think, Marley?”

“Yeah…” Marley murmured, staring deep into Nick’s eyes. “It really is the best.”

Nick blushed and looked away. “So, um… the game… we got that one right, yeah? I mean, Marley did?” He was **** to change the subject back to the matter at hand. And thankfully, Nola was very easily distracted.

“Oh yes! You’re absolutely right!” Nola crowed. “Marley! You guessed the same as Nick! That makes three times! So you know what that means?!”

“I get my third point?” Marley sighed in relief.

“That’s right!” Nola nodded. “You’re the winner! Congratulations!”

“Winner? There’s no winner!” Nick pointed out. “The whole point of this game is for the two of us to work together and show how much we care about one another, it’s not about anyone winning or losing!”

Nola rolled her eyes and waved her hand dismissively. “Yeah, whatever. Anyway, you’ve got the question right, Marley, which means we don’t need to ask you anything more! And it also means that this key…”

She pointed up to the key dangling from the hook. It lowered a few more inches until it was hovering right over the box. If they stood up on their tiptoes then they might have been able to reach it, but nobody tried. No sense in risking it, not when they just had to get this last question right and they’d be free and clear.

“…Is almost yours!” Nola smacked the stack of cue cards on her podium. “Let’s go! Now it’s time for Nick’s question… and this could be the very last one!”

Nick shifted anxiously in his seat and leaned forward, waiting for what Nola would ask next.

“Okay, Nick!” Nola winked at him. “Here’s your question! Where do you think would be Marley’s least favorite place to have sex?”

“Huh?” Nick blinked. “What kind of question is that?”

Marley winced. It was a pretty open-ended one, especially since their sexual history was so sparse; would Nick even be able to come up with the right answer? For that matter, what even WAS the right answer? It wasn’t like Marley had ever thought about this before.

Nola clarified the question. “The question is simple. Nick, where do you think would be Marley’s least favorite place to have sex? Her least favorite place.”

Nick thought it through and then nodded. “Oh, uh… okay, I think I’ve got it.”

He scribbled something down on the whiteboard, which surprised Marley. He must have known her a lot better than she thought! Or thought he knew her, anyway.

She needed some more time to think about the question, honestly. Where would she not want to have sex?

That could be a lot of places. But she finally decided on an answer. It took a couple minutes though, at which point Nick was starting to squirm anxiously in his seat. The fact that Marley was taking so long to deliberate on this question had gotten him to start wondering if maybe he’d completely misunderstood what Nola had asked.

When Marley finished writing down her answer, Nola turned to Nick. “Alright Nick! Where do you think is Marley’s least favorite place to have sex?”

Blushing, Nick revealed his answer.

ASS

Nola stared at him.

Marley stared at him.

“What?” The deafening silence was starting to make Nick feel uncomfortable. “You know, up the butt! She wouldn’t want to have anal sex, right?”

“…Fumbled in the last minute,” Marley groaned, smacking her forehead in frustration.

Even Nola seemed a little taken aback by that answer.

Then the walkie-talkie came to life. Dakota’s wild laughter filled the room. She really needed to let the others know just how funny she found Nick’s answer, even though it made him feel even more self-conscious about it.

“It… I just… did you mean…?” Nick finally put the pieces together. Nola’s question was asking about a “place” not in the sense of an orifice, but in the sense of a location.

“I didn’t mean ‘where’ like butt stuff,” Nola said, struggling to restrain her own laughter. “I meant a location!”

Nick could just die.

Marley shook her head and held up her whiteboard.

HOT SPRING/POOL

“Doing that sort of stuff in the water, it’s a little…” Marley shook her head. She could just about die of embarrassment herself. “Call it a holdout from when I used to be a slime girl… but Nick, come on, really!?”

“I’m sorry!” Nick groaned. “I misunderstood the question!”

“And for the record, you aren’t wrong, butt stuff, that’s a little… yeesh.” Marley shook her head. While she liked that Nick had been checking out her butt, she’d barely had any regular sex. Moving onto anal sex sounded like a massive pain in the ass, in more ways than one.

“You COULD make your own lubrication, though,” Nola gleefully pointed out, earning her a scathing glare from the brunette.

“Just move on and ask the next question, alright?” Marley demanded.

Nola wisely decided to drop the topic for all their sakes, and ask Nick the next question. All the questions would be for him now, until he finally got one right.

“Okay, Nick, try not to misunderstand this one, okay?” Nola said, trying not to laugh as Nick just glared at her. “Right! Whatever. Now, when the show is over, and you all go back home to planet earth, what would Marley choose to do for her career? I say again, what would Marley choose as her ideal career, do you think?”

Nick’s eyes widened. Marley let out a soft gasp.

“For her career?” Nick had to think about that one for a second. His eyes slid over to Marley involuntarily as the image of her as a nurse flashed through his head again.

“Come on, Nick, you know this,” Marley urged him under her breath. She said it so softly she wasn’t sure if he even heard it, but that was probably for the best given the fact that Dakota was still listening in to everything they said.

But she didn’t have any reason to be anxious. Nick had finished writing down his answer before Marley had even gotten a chance to pick up her pen.

“Alright then Nick, what did you put?” Nola pressed, her face filled with excitement. “What do you think Marley’s ideal career would be?”

Nick held up his whiteboard with an expression that showed more confidence than practically any other answer he’d given today.

FLORIST

“Ooh! Florist?” Nola’s eyes widened. “That’s so cute!”

“Marley loves flowers,” Nick said, glancing over at her with a gaze filled with admiration. “We spent a lot of time talking back when we first met each other. Even now, I remember how much she loved studying flowers.”

But in spite of Nick’s sweet words… Marley was frowning. With a sigh, she raised her whiteboard and showed her own answer to the question.

BOTANIST

“Huh? What’s a botanist?” Nola scratched her head in confusion.

“It’s someone who studies flowers for science!” Marley exclaimed. “Nick, that’s why I was going to school in the first place! To be a botanist! How could you forget that!?” She was practically in tears. Remembering flowers was meaningful, yes, but he’d completely misunderstood her career goals! “A florist and a botanist aren’t the same thing!”

“I know they’re not! And I didn’t forget!” Nick protested. “I just thought that you would prefer to be a florist than a botanist, that’s all!”

Marley blinked, caught off-guard by that question. “Wait, really? Why would you think that?” She asked, confused.

“Because a botanist is someone who spends all their time in a lab studying flowers, right?” Nick pointed out. “But that’s not you, Marley. As a florist, you would be giving away flowers to people who would appreciate them. You’d take care of them and help spread your love of flowers to everyone. And I just thought, well… that was the kind of thing you would enjoy.”

He sighed and hung his head. “I guess I got that one wrong, sorry.” It wasn’t just about picking what he personally thought was correct. He should have been tailoring his response to what Marley was going to put.

“…Okay, um… maybe you didn’t get that one as wrong as you thought,” Marley muttered, feeling a little humbled by his response. “I had no idea you thought about me that way… I might have jumped the gun a little bit.”

Marley did love flowers, and did want to research them. But the picture Nick painted of her as a florist was nice, too.

…But nice didn’t matter! They weren’t any closer to getting that key!

“Well, as heartwarming as this is, as you yourself pointed out, Marley, a florist and a botanist are not the same thing,” Nola sighed, shaking her head. “So no points for Nick. Come on you two, you’ve gotta really try on this next one, okay?”

“We are trying!” Nick protested. “Stop asking such open-ended questions and maybe I’ll be able to answer one correctly!”

“You had the correct answer last time, you just didn’t put it down,” Nola pointed out. She grabbed another card. “Whatever! Time for the next question! Now Nick, here’s an important question for you, and one you’ve gotta think carefully about! Out of all the women in your harem, who do you think Marley gets along with the worst?”

“What kind of question is that?!” Nick exclaimed. And it was a very open-ended question as well.

“It’s a simple one,” Nola shrugged. “Come on, you should know the answer to this one by now, if you’ve been paying as close of attention to Marley as it seems you have! Who do you think Marley gets along with worst out of all the girls in your harem?”

Nick glanced at Marley, whose face was white with shock.

“I-I-!” Marley stammered for an answer, but none would come out. She couldn’t even begin to process the question Nola had just asked.

The person in Nick’s harem she got along with the least?

“Remember, like our other questions, this applies only to women explicitly in his harem,” Nola reminded the two of them. “So Dakota and Holly aren’t valid answers. So what do you think, Nick? Who is it? Who’s Marley’s biggest rival… no, wait, we already did that one, my bad! This isn’t about rivalry! This is about who she doesn’t get along with! And that’s definitely trickier, at least for a guy like you who’s trying to maintain the peace!”

“That’s a horrible question!” Nick protested. He didn’t want to think about it. And how horrible would it be if he got it wrong!?

Nola shrugged. “It’s not supposed to be easy,” she replied. “But don’t worry- like with the rival question, I won’t spill the beans! But the audience is sure gonna know, I can tell you that much! …Oh, and I don’t want you using ‘well they barely know each other’ as a justification for your answer, either,” Nola added. “The question isn’t asking for ‘gets along with worst’ in the sense that they haven’t spoken with each other enough to get along with. We’re looking for animosity here, Nick! Who she doesn’t like!”

That was the kind of clarification that Nick really could have used on a few questions before this one. It seemed like the little leprechaun was just trying to stir the pot.

While Nick stewed over his answer to what could very well be the last question, Marley felt like she was gonna die of embarrassment.

She thought hard about what the answer would be… but the more she thought about it, the worse she felt.