You're out on the town, safe in the crowd

Mary finally felt like she could breathe easily after everything that had happened. For one thing, Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin was finally smiling again. Her smile was as inscrutable as always so Mary couldn’t be sure what emotions she was hiding behind it, but at least it was present, so that was progress.

Not only that, but Mary had also been able to resolve the situation without drawing too much attention to herself. The last thing she wanted to do was ruin Rose’s party by making everything about her, like Echo had said. Starting a scene with Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin would end up resulting in exactly that. So, she was relieved that everything had ended up getting fixed with only moderate strain and friction.

So, with that all settled, she could finally take it easy and relax, and do her part to show Rose how much she cared.

“Okay, Rose!” Mary stood up and turned to the woman of the hour now that everyone had mostly finished their food. “We’ve got one last treat for you today!”

Rose’s face lit up. “You’re getting a divorce so I can be Nick’s first wife?!” She asked hopefully.

Nick turned and stared at her. Mary’s mouth flopped open and her brain stopped working for a second there.

“What?” Rose asked without missing a beat. “I was only kidding. Geez. Have a sense of humor once in a while!” She scoffed, rolling her eyes.

Mary’s heart started beating again and she sighed in exasperation. The smoothness of Rose’s transition to claiming it was just a joke helped her believe the other woman, but at the same time, you could never be too sure.

“Rose, come on,” Nick said gently, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze. “Don’t make those kind of jokes with Mary. She’ll take you seriously.”

That helped Mary feel better. If Nick thought she was joking, that meant she probably was. He knew Rose a lot better than she did, after all.

“Hey, I thought it was pretty funny,” Gina called from down the table.

Marley rolled her eyes. “Time and place, though,” she pointed out. Her dry wit didn’t change the fact that it was a bit too over the line.

“Yeah, it’s kind of in bad taste to make a joke like that at a party in my own honor, huh?” Rose admitted, scratching her cheek and laughing sheepishly. “Sorry, Mary, I couldn’t help myself.”

“No, it… it’s fine,” Mary said, shaking her head. Her cheeks were still a little pink. “I can take a joke!” She laughed a forced laugh. Maybe it would have landed a little better if not for all the stress she’d had to endure as a result of her duplicate. But she didn’t want to make that someone else’s problem.

“I’ll help Mary out with the surprise,” Holly volunteered, standing up to lend her friend some assistance. She could see Mary needed to be bailed out before things got too awkward for everyone involved. “Don’t worry, Rose, I think you’re really going to like it,” she assured the actress with a wink.

Rose nodded, excited.

Vivian leaned over and whispered to Kim as Mary walked away, “Is it bad that I kind of found the joke a little funny myself?” She asked anxiously. She was relying on Kim to be her conscience here, because she was the kind of person who laughed at just about any joke anybody told her. It was one of the pitfalls of being Vivian Carrington and having to maintain an affable façade when rubbing elbows with the upper echelon.

“…Probably,” Kim whispered back. “But I wouldn’t worry about it that much.”

Kim kept her mouth shut, but she kind of agreed with Gina that the joke was funny, even if it was a little out of line. But then again, she had a pretty dark sense of humor, even where one of her closest friends was involved.

So, she couldn’t exactly call Vivian out on it.

Mary and Holly returned a moment later, and what they had with them definitely beat out divorce papers. (Not exactly a high bar to clear.)

“Mon dieu!” Rose gasped in surprise, rising from her seat. Her eyes widened like saucers and her fox ears stood on end. “Is that-?”

“A tuxedo cake!” Sylvia cheered. “Isn’t that your favorite, Rose?” She remembered the effort that Rose had gone to make one of those for her and Nick way back during the cooking challenge.

“That’s right,” Rose nodded. “I just love the blend of flavors together! White chocolate and dark chocolate, chocolate ganache, and… …Wait, what is that?” She wondered, examining the piece of cake that Holly cut and set in front of her, serving the guest of honor first.

Rose saw a few streaks of red between the lines.

“It’s a layer of strawberry spread,” Mary explained proudly. “Normally, a tuxedo cake is made simply with white chocolate mousse and dark chocolate mousse, as well as chocolate cake, but I thought that it might enhance the recipe by adding a bit of strawberry for some extra sweetness as well! What do you think?”

Rose was intrigued, but skeptical. Either way, though, she still appreciated the gesture. She honestly didn’t know what to say.

“A tuxedo cake, but with strawberry…” Rose tapped her chin thoughtfully.

“So, like someone wearing a tuxedo who got stabbed?” Ella asked.

Everyone turned to look at her.

“…What?” She asked meekly, sinking into her seat. “What did I say?”

“Hey, Dani,” Kim elbowed Dani in the side as Mary and Holly walked around the table and passed out slices of cake.

“Hmm?” Dani looked up at her.

“What’s black and white and red all over?” Kim wiggled her eyebrows in amusement.

“Ha!” Dani didn’t even need to hear the punchline, she got the joke.

Mary scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Come on, you guys. Just try it! I think it came out really good, considering it was my first time with this recipe!”

“Oh, yeah, no, we know it’ll taste good!” Dani assured her. She squirmed in her seat a little bit. After seeing everyone enjoy the lunch she’d prepared, she was actually feeling pretty aroused, and she could do with a bit of calming down.

“Mary!” Rose jumped up out of her seat and startled the other woman so much that she nearly dropped the rest of the cake.

“Y-yes!?” Mary squeaked, looking at the other woman nervously. “What? Did-did it not come out okay?” She asked.

“It’s delicious!” Rose wiped a few crumbs off her lip with her napkin. “I’m serious! This… this is one of the best cakes I’ve ever tasted! …I mean, maman’s was far superior, of course, and it can’t compare with mine, but other than that, it’s the best!”

“…Thank you,” Mary said dryly. She appreciated the acknowledgment, even though Rose’s praise came with quite a few conditional riders attached to it.

“Man, I forgot how good cake can be,” Kim groaned, her eyes all but rolling up in the back of her head. “Daniiiii why can’t I eat like this every daaaaayyy?” She slumped down in her chair and luxuriated in the delicious, decadent flavor.

“Do you want to do even more strenuous exercise?” Dani asked rhetorically.

Kim quickly sat up and sobered completely. She shook her head. “No, no, this is fine,” she said. “Perfectly fine!”

Dani smirked in amusement.

“Mary, new offer for you!” Vivian’s eyes sparkled with delight as she licked traces of ganache off her fork. “Come work for me as my personal chef! Okay? You’ll get to live in a luxury mansion, and you’ll have a whole kitchen’s worth of staff to assist you! Name your price!”

“Uh… no, thank you, I’m quite happy living with my husband when we leave here,” Mary said firmly, laughing a little. “But I appreciate the offer!”

Unlike with Rose, she knew that Vivian was barely serious. So, she could appreciate the joke far more than the last one.

Mary turned to hand out the next piece of cake to the person in front of her, but she froze when she saw who it was.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin was staring right at her, and her blue eyes were as unreadable as always. Mary swallowed, and forced a smile to her lips, acting as though the prior exchange she’d had with the other woman never happened.

“I hope you like it,” she said, setting the slice of cake in front of the trained killer. “It may not be as good as ice cream, but I promise you- it’s just as sweet.”

For a moment, Mary was worried that the other woman would reject it on principle. After all, it wouldn’t be farfetched at all to expect the assassin to go “Oh, you made a cake for Rose, but no one’s ever made a cake for ME before! I don’t want anything to do with this!” and push it away.

…Or something with less talking. Regardless, she was pleasantly surprised to see Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin pick up her fork and at least give it a chance.

And judging by the smile on the other woman’s face, she liked it.

Finally, all the cake was passed out, and Mary sat back down in her seat next to Holly so they could both enjoy their pieces.

Mary barely finished a single bit before noticing all the empty plates starting to stack up.

“…Wow. You guys went through those fast,” she said incredulously. “I JUST took the first bite out of mine, wow!”

“Well, what do you expect?” Dawn pushed up her glasses and looked slyly at the other woman. “It just shows how good a job you did on baking this, Mary.”

“That’s right,” Mary agreed, sitting up a little higher in her seat. “I did do a good job, didn’t I?”

She knew she was feeling a bit of pride again, but that was fine. There was absolutely nothing wrong with being proud of your accomplishments, that’s how Mary saw it, anyway!

“Again, Mary, this is really delicious,” Carly said, taking a bite of the cake. “I wish I could cook half as good as you can!”

“Me too,” Emmy agreed, nodding shyly. “This is probably the most delicious thing I’ve ever eaten!”

She wasn’t even exaggerating. It was probably a statement of fact!

“I want more, so badly!” Marley groaned. “Why didn’t you make enough for each of us to have one, huh!?”

“What? Have one what?” Mary looked at her in disbelief. “You mean… one whole cake?”

Marley nodded. She looked a little sheepish to admit it, but she would feel even stupider denying it, so she didn’t bother.

Mary just stared at her. “…I mean, don’t you think that’s a little much?”

“Nah, Marley here is like Kirby,” Carly said, elbowing her sister in the side. “She just sucks it up like a vacuum.”

Gina opened her mouth to say something, but her eyes shot to Carly’s daughter and she thought better of it.

“…I don’t know what that means,” Mary replied. “Kirby?”

A few groans of disbelief went around the table.

“Never mind,” Carly said, covering her amused smile and shaking her head. “You’re cute just the way you are, Mary, you know that?”

Again, Mary appreciated the compliment, but it did leave her feeling a bit confused. What had she said?

“Come on, Mary, even I got that reference,” Sylvia laughed.

Nick watched the women all talking with one another and enjoying themselves conversing with their friends around the table. It brought a smile to his face. This really was a good idea on Vivian’s part, he thought, looking to the heiress. Throwing a party for everyone to relax.

After what had happened with Echo and Dakota’s disappearance and imprisonment, everyone could use a bit of a break to just take it easy. Even he could find it in him to relax and celebrate Rose. He was worried about Dakota, but he trusted that nothing bad would happen to her, at least.

Echo needed her for leverage.

So, for now…

He would enjoy himself.

“What do you think, Rose?” He asked, turning to her. “Was this what you were hoping for when you thought about a party?”

“Well…” Rose took another bite out of her cake. Unlike the others, she was savoring every crumb of it instead of devouring it right away. “…It’s not quite sycophantic enough for my tastes…”

Nick rolled his eyes. He should have figured.

“…But it’s the best party I could have imagined,” Rose said, turning and giving him a doting smile. “Thank you.”

She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

Nick didn’t know why he was getting thanked. He hadn’t done anything. All the girls in his harem were the ones who had worked so hard getting this party put together.

Then again, this was Rose he was dealing with.

She probably was just looking for an excuse to kiss him.

“Even the cake… it’s so delicious it’s vexing,” Rose said wistfully, looking out at all the faces of people who had come to celebrate with her. “I was hoping it would taste bad so I could look down on Mary… but I can’t even do that!”

Nick knew Rose well enough to know a compliment when he heard one, even though she had veiled it under an insult. He smiled at her and she blushed and looked bashfully back at him.

So far, this party was going just as he’d hoped.

Now, he just had to live up to his end of things, and work to make sure that he fulfilled all of Rose’s expectations when he did finally propose to her. Officially.

This was just the beginning.

I’m not sure how long I can balance all of this stuff, Nick thought. He was feeling really exhausted already. After all, I have to balance a harem… and then there’s also marrying Rose, and dealing with Dakota and Echo… I can’t just ignore the two of them. All of this… it’s a tricky situation to be in, to say the least. And I’m not exactly a master of knowing what everyone wants.

He wished he didn’t have to worry about all this stressful stuff. He wished that the whole show could be just like this party, with everybody having a good time and getting along together nicely.

But he didn’t have that luxury. Not while Echo was plotting. Not while Dakota was still her prisoner.

He would have to do whatever he could to solve those problems eventually, eh understood that.

Still… for now, at least, he could enjoy the party and the celebration, and have fun with the people who he cared about. Nobody could fault him for that, right?

Mary was happy that the party had gone so well for everyone. She had never been so happy to see Rose so happy before- it was like a sneak peek at the other woman’s wedding. And she was glad that she’d gotten that peek, because now she didn’t have to be worried about how she’d react to the inevitable day itself.

But- there were still a few issues that needed resolving.

Specifically, the issue of a certain Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin.

The mute girl had seemed to be enjoying herself by the end of the party, which was good. But Mary wasn’t foolish enough to think that meant they had nothing to worry about now and everything was going to be fine.

No, if Rose had taught her anything this morning it was that you couldn’t let negative emotions like that fester.

Mary wasn’t the festering type.

But unfortunately, approaching Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin on her own was a tricky prospect to ask. Because the girl wouldn’t give her the time of day.

So… she would have to get creative.

Luckily, she had a friend who could be counted on for situations like this.

“Huh?” Kim was surprised when Mary pulled her aside after the party ended and people started going their separate ways. “You want me to… what?”

“I want you to help mediate,” Mary explained. “I’m going to try talking to… Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin.”

She turned and looked over her shoulder. The slender assassin stood up from her seat and stretched her arms over her head.

“…And, it needs to be now,” Mary added. She had no idea how long the assassin would stay in the room. If she left before Mary got the chance to talk to her, that would cause even more headaches.

Kim bit her lip and looked at her mute friend. “…Mary, I mean… I get what you’re trying to do here, really, I do,” she said. “You’re worried because she was kind of isolated in the middle of lunch, isn’t that right?”

Mary was surprised. “You picked up on that as well?” She asked.

Kim nodded. “I didn’t want to cause a scene, but… you did a good job helping her out,” she complimented Mary. “Still…”

Kim was in a difficult position here. She cared about Mary. The redhead had been the first person to really be nice to her when they arrived on the island, and being roommates from the start had really helped the two of them form a strong friendship in those first couple rounds that had left a lasting impact even now. Just because they didn’t spend as much time with one another anymore, that didn’t mean Kim didn’t really treasure their friendship.

But, at the same time, Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin was devoted to her. The other girl really cared about her a lot, and Kim felt uneasy about siding with someone else against her. Like it was a betrayal.

“…She doesn’t like you, you know that, right?” Kim bit the bullet and addressed the elephant in the room. “You’re Nick’s official wife. And, well, you know how she feels about him, obviously.”

Mary sighed and nodded. “Yes, you’re right, of course,” she murmured. “But even so… I want to speak with her. Even if she won’t say anything back!”

“She can’t say anything back,” Kim reminded her.

Mary blushed, embarrassed. “Well… yes, that too,” she said, nodding. “…I still want to try and be her friend, at least.”

Kim knew what this was. Mary’s kindness rearing its head again. She admired the other woman for her will, she really did.

“…Well, I’ll do what I can,” she said finally. “Don’t blame me, though, if she’s not willing to talk to you, alright?”

“OH! Yes, please, that’s fine!” Mary was just happy Kim was agreeing to help. “Thank you so much, Kim! This really… really means the world to me,” she said sincerely.

Kim gave her a strained smile. “Whatever I can do to help,” she replied, already sensing the difficult road ahead for all three of them.