Vivian

People said a lot of things about Vivian Knight. Some behind her back, some in the consequence-free world of social media, some directly to her face. But nobody had ever called her a quitter.

However, she’d never faced odds like these before. She’d avoided the common room and other contestants for the day, not wanting to field any questions about what happened with Michael and most of all to avoid any feigned sympathy. Vivian didn’t like it under normal circumstances and now with her ability, it would ring out so false as to nearly cause her physical pain.

But running was getting pretty tiring, though. She’d been all over the casino and several areas of the grounds, and she could find no seat that would make her comfortable. It was as if every damn one was made of that godawful McDonald’s plastic meant to get you in and out in twenty minutes. She wandered the marketplace, trying to find a seller who would revert the transformation.

“My feet are killing me,” Vivian said, holding up the heels she’d had to kick off and carry hours ago and coming dangerously close to pleading. “I have chips, I will pay.”

“I can’t! Memsahib, please... Let me show you my other offerings.” The transformation seller was almost a walking caricature of the swarthy bazaar merchant, complete with beard and kaffiyeh. Of course, he’d introduced himself as Gabriel and had a Mexican flag tattoo on his arm that they’d not bothered to hide, so it was obvious the Hotel was reaching a bit on its casting. Though he was the one who had come out to block Vivian’s path and offer his wares, and had at least five inches of height on the woman, he was backing up with worry as the blonde bore down on him.

“You work for the Hotel, I am a contestant on the show. You have to sell me what I want.” Failing with sympathy, Vivian moved straight to demands. She had come ready, with her chips in a silk Harem Hotel bag at her side. She held it up and jangled it in the air, waving it in his face like a hypnotist totem..

“No… The audience chose that one… I can’t reverse it.” He ran out of space and his backside hit the small table at the back of his stall. If Vivian hadn’t stopped advancing on him, he might have tried to climb it and scurry over the wall.

“You can’t, or you won’t?” Vivian said, jangling the chips again. His eyes darted back and forth between the chips and her eyes, and then he leaned in conspiratorially.

“Nobody outranks the audience.” He said, leaning back and crossing his arms to indicate the conversation was over. And it was over, Vivian asked again. Twice. And he simply stood there blankly as if he’d run out of lines.

What the hell was that? Vivian thought as she walked out. The other vendors initially tried to approach her, but as Vivian appeared ready to brain one of them with the heavy bag of clay chips, they wisely chose to part and allow her to leave. “Nobody outranks the audience,” he said like it was profound, the words of Plato. It was getting pretty late, and Vivian was willing to risk that someone might be awake in the common room. Even sitting in Mallory’s lap is preferable to this.

As she crossed the casino to the elevators, she took a long detour past the front desk. To the side sat the concierge, a kindly looking and overdressed white-haired man who reminded her of a domestic servant one of her college friends had mentioned. “Who the hell has a butler in the 21st Century?” Vivian had accused/asked, during a brief flirtation with Marxist feminism. Of course, when that same friend had invited her to her estate the following summer, long after that phase had passed, Vivian was much more amenable to being waited on hand-and-foot.

She ignored his cheerful greeting, not wanting to dwell on her possible future, and instead focused on a small desk clock next to the concierge. It read the correct time, just as it had the other five times Vivian had found an excuse to wander by that day. Previously when Ruby wanted to meet, she’d frozen it at two minutes to midnight, a detail far too small for Al to pick up on. That Ruby had not done so today was a very ominous sign.

Vivian pondered that as she headed up the elevators, along with the line Nobody outranks the audience. Despite her quick dismissal, she was starting to wonder about the truth in it. If Ruby was not on her side, which seemed tragically likely, then Vivian was a loose end. A risk.

But nobody outranks the audience.

Vivian found she wasn’t alone when the doors opened on the common room. Sarah was on her back, nude as usual, splayed across the breakfast island near the center of the room, with her arms and legs tied down at an angle that would have been tortuous for someone not warped by pervert magic. Vivian wanted a quick nightcap from the bar before she knocked off and tried to shield her eyes as she passed, for Sarah’s sake, but instead the woman called her over.

“Hey Vivian, little help?” Sarah gestured to a bowl of carrot sticks near her head, but with her arms bound they might as well have been on the moon. “I hate these bastards, but that’s the best they give us up here for free.”

“Sure, why not?” Vivian said, seeing an opportunity.. “I need to get off my feet though, do you mind?” Without waiting for an answer, Vivian hopped onto the breakfast bar and straddled Sarah’s waist. This counted as a ‘lap’ for magical purposes, and the sense of relief spread through Vivian’s sore legs.

“Uh…” Sarah’s wide-eyed, open mouthed expression of shock gave Vivian a small thrill. “I don’t mind.” Vivian had replaced the dress that Al ruined with a pair of small rolled-up khaki shorts and a black ladies polo before taking off on her daylong wander. But even this modest outfit was clearly doing a number on the bound Sarah, who was trying very hard not to reveal how turned on she was. Even when they’d worked together, it was obvious that Sarah carried a small torch for her. Nothing about Sarah was subtle, and even before Ruby had boosted her ability Vivian could read her like a book. In fact, Sarah declining her job offer was the first time the woman had surprised her in their whole relationship.

“Thanks.” Vivian said, pulling her hands behind her head and arching and twisting to stretch her back. She closed her eyes and let out a long groan as she tried to work out a knot behind her shoulder. Vivian really was stiff and needed to loosen up after all that walking, but the secondary effect of thrusting out her chest for the benefit of Sarah and the viewing public wasn’t bad either. “Ohhhh man, they weren’t kidding about this magic. Sitting on anything but a lap is just rough.” Vivian opened her eyes and shook out her hair a bit. Hers was only shoulder length, so it didn’t do the whole ‘coquettish flop down the shoulder’ routine, but Sarah offered no complaints.

“Tell me about it.” Sarah said, tugging on the restraints above her head for emphasis. When Vivian reached for the bowl of carrots, the ends of the rope began to hover and tried to snap at her hands. Rather than pull back, Vivian quickly grabbed the ends like the scruff of disobedient cats and pulled them up to meet them face to ‘face.’

“No.” Vivian commanded right into the ends of the rope. The rope actually backed down, retracting and clearly deferring to allow Vivian to continue. Damn right. She thought. Sarah’s expression reached a level of shock that neither woman thought possible, and Vivian had to gently remind her to bite and chew the carrot stick when it was offered.

“I can bring something up the next time I’m down at the restaurant.” Vivian offered, delicately dipping the carrot sticks in some hummus and sliding them to Sarah’s mouth.

“A remarkably tender gesture from the ice queen.” Sarah teased, trying to regain her footing in the situation. “Don’t worry about it. The entire Hotel seems to treat me weird since I went into debt. If you ordered me food down there it would probably make my tits grow with each bite.”

Vivian hadn’t really considered that possibility, but magic in the food was something she filed away in her mind for later.

“Sorry about that,” Vivian offered. “I was just playing the game in that first round, I had no idea you’d lose your chips or end up underwater in points.” That wasn’t strictly true, it was obvious there were going to be consequences for the fiasco on opening night but the chips spraying everywhere was not Vivian’s intention.

Nor was it strictly true that she was sorry about it. Ruby had tossed Vivian a life preserver to get out of this competition and it wasn’t something Vivian could share. Vivian needed one of Ruby’s girls to win, and when she ran the scenarios in her head, she’d guessed that Sarah wasn’t a strong competitor. A glance at the scoreboard confirmed she was still in 6th, confirming that conclusion was correct. Of course, Vivian sat in 7th now, on the knife’s edge of elimination herself. Exactly where Sarah had been a few days ago. I never believed in karma. But I also never believed in magic either and look where that got me.

“How could you? We were all trying to figure this thing out at the same time.” Sarah said, though Vivian could tell she was more suspicious about that than her words let on.

“True.” Vivian said, even though it wasn’t. “But we’re here now.” Vivian shifted her hips a little bit, under the guise of trying to make herself more comfortable but really to grind against Sarah a little bit. It worked, distracting Sarah from whatever she’d been going over in her head. “And maybe we can do something to help each other out? And I can make it up to you?” Vivian quickly pushed a carrot into Sarah’s mouth so she’d be forced to chew it and not snap back with one of her quips. She needed Sarah to think before she spoke this time.

“Make it up to me, huh?” Sarah defied Vivian’s hopes and just started speaking with her mouth full. Come on, woman, we’re trying to appeal to a crowd here.

“Yes.” Vivian said, this time rolling her hips to make her meaning unambiguous. “You’re in debt, I’m sitting flush, let’s make a deal here.”

“For what, points? Chips?” Sarah said, cocking her eyebrow. “You gonna pay off my debt in exchange?” The ‘in exchange for what’ was left unsaid, but given Vivian’s moves in Sarah’s lap it didn’t need to be.

Vivian licked her lips slowly, another practiced move. She’d fooled around with women before, though she hadn’t really considered it with Sarah during their time working together. She’d hoped to get through the show without having to have sex on camera, but she’d come prepared to in any case. If she could boost one of Ruby’s girls over the finish line… what was the harm? In fact, in her short prep for the show, she’d even called up an old fuckbuddy and had a quick evening with her to ‘get back on the horse,’ so to speak.

Having sex with Michael broked that hope, but it had also left a nagging horniness she could not quite explain. Did I … want more of that? Vivian thought initially.

Vivian nodded, “Yes, I’d pay that.”

And Sarah surprised her for the second time. “No.”

“...What?” Vivian could not keep the shock off her own face, and subtle pride crossed Sarah’s face for wrong-footing her finally.

“I’m not a hooker, Vivian. Yeah, I could use your money but none of this shit matters if we can’t get out of here with any dignity.” Vivian gave the woman a completely incredulous look, appraising Sarah’s situation. “This?” Sarah shrugged. “They can put me on display all they want, but I’ve got to be able to look into the mirror after this. And whether I can recognize myself won’t have shit to do with the size of my tits or whatever.”

“Don’t be stubborn about this.” Vivian was losing control of the conversation a little bit, and she hated that. Her voice took on a little more hiss than she’d wanted. “We’re both floundering here. Help me out and I’ll help you out. You get free of this, I get some points, and we give the audience a show. We need it.” Vivian hastily added: “It’ll be fun, come on.”

“You think that’s gonna work?” Sarah almost laughed. “You went full porn star with Michael and they still voted you last. I don’t pretend to be Miss Sees-Every-Angle like you, but even I figured out that’s not a winning play.”

“Well what is the winning play?” Vivian asked, exasperated.

“Do I look like I know?” Sarah tugged against the ropes for emphasis. “All I know is what it ain’t.”

“I need to re-think this.” Vivian said, as if this was a perfectly reasonable thing to say to a nude, bound woman. Vivian climbed down off of Sarah slowly, feeling like she’d taken a physical gut punch. “There has to be a way.”

“When you figure it out, you know where to find me.” Sarah sighed, tugging fruitlessly at one bound wrist.

Out on the balcony, Vivian saw a mountain that hadn’t been there that morning, and a fire from its summit was visible all the way back at the hotel. Vivian gripped the railing, digging her nails into the iron bar out of frustration. Those were perfectly fair terms, why couldn’t she see that? Why wouldn’t the audience see that? Nobody outranks the audience. The audience doesn’t like me. If Sarah doesn’t know the play, who would? She hadn’t watched the others’ dates, but she couldn’t ignore how the votes had shaken out. Luciana didn’t know a damn thing about Michael a few days ago, and now they were up there thick as thieves.

The ding of the hotel elevator attracted her attention, and Vivian noted an elderly woman emerging from the elevator that she had not seen before. Sarah definitely recognized her, because she tried sliding away from her as far as the ropes would allow. Which was not far, but it’s the effort that counts.

“Good evening, Sarah.” Esmeralda said, “It’s time for your next interest payment.” She patted a small box under her arm and placed it on the counter next to Sarah. Sarah reacted as if it were a ticking bomb.

“Esmeralda, get that fucking thing away from me!” Sarah tried to kick at it, but the ropes pulled themselves tighter until she gave up that game. Esmeralda waited patiently, only approaching closer once the very real threat of Sarah kicking her had been neutralized.

“A deal is a deal, Sarah.” Esmeralda looked up as Vivian approached. “Ahh, Vivian! So glad you could be here, after I’m done delivering Sarah’s new toy, perhaps we can discuss some of my other options?” Vivian saw the quick side-eyed glance at the scoreboard and the recognition that Vivian was a potentially huge customer. If I was in her position, I’d turn on the charm too. Game recognize game.

“What’s ‘the deal’?” Vivian asked, moving between Sarah and Esmeralda and pretending to protect the former.

“I sold an item to Sarah on credit, as she came to me absolutely penniless. I warned her there would be interest payments if she did not repay the debt, and as she was present in the hotel tonight, I chose to deliver this one myself.”

“How much does she owe you?”

“$2,436”

“Excuse us a minute.” Vivian told Esmeralda, and the woman -not wanting to antagonize a potential customer- stepped aside to give them some privacy.

That’s it. There’s the way. Vivian turned to Sarah. “I can buy you out of this, and you’ll help me through to the next round.” Vivian resumed her ‘negotiation voice,’ a mix of confidence and take-no-shit bossiness that had closed many a deal. Once again, Sarah shook her head.

“That isn’t it either, Vivian. You can’t just buy or haggle your way to victory. If the audience or the showrunners wanted your money, they’d have just taken it. You’re not even worth as much as Mallory.”

“Then what the fuck do they want?”

“Again, do I look like I know?”

“They like Janet.”

“They do.”

“I handed her the first challenge, why didn’t any of that rub off on me?”

“Because you did it entirely for yourself? The fuck should I know? If I was ever in a room with the people who make this show I might ask them, if I could stop myself from throttling them first.”

Self-interest. It wasn’t the first time she’d been accused of putting it first, naturally. But this was the first time it hadn’t served her well. And if her other instincts hadn’t served her well, maybe she shouldn’t be following them. So Vivian chose to zig where she always zagged, and did something without carefully laying out the scenarios first.

“Esmeralda, I’m buying her out.” Vivian said over her shoulder. She scooped the amount out of her bag of chips and shoved them into Sarah’s hand. As soon as the woman closed her hand around them, they dissolved as her debt was settled. The scoreboard showed Sarah’s chip count return to zero. “There, she’s clear. You can take these back now.” Vivian gestured to the ropes.

“Settling her debt doesn’t clear those out, the interest payments are Sarah’’s for good. Even that one.” Esmeralda pointed to the still-unopened box.

“Then I’ll buy it.” Vivian said to Sarah.

“Hold up, I haven’t agreed to any terms here,” Sarah said.

“I don’t want any. Maybe a ‘Thanks for saving me from the Mystery Box.’”

“If you want a ‘Thanks,’ buy these ropes.”

“I’m not feeling that altruistic.”

“Fair.” Sarah shrugged and nodded. Not my toughest haggle.

Vivian took a single dollar chip from her bag and shoved it into Sarah’s palm. With her debt settled, it did not dissolve. Sarah started playing with it, her natural need to fidget finally having an outlet. Vivian collected the box and took it under her arm, as she did so, she noted that it felt lighter than she’d expected when she first touched it. Like the weight had shifted inside. Damn it I didn’t just buy a pet or something, did I? Esmeralda looked at her expectantly, hoping to see her open it and also clearly hoping for another sale.

“Our business is concluded.” Vivian said, waving the woman off. Esmeralda looked disappointed, but…well, fuck her. Vivian watched her until the elevator doors closed.

“Well? What’s in the box?” Sarah asked.

“I’ll tell you for a dollar.”

“You’re stone cold.” Sarah laughed, then her expression suddenly went dark. “Ah fuck! I dropped the chip.”

“Need me to pick it up?” Vivian asked, and Sarah nodded in response. “That’ll be a dollar too.”

“Oh get lost, Vivian.”

Vivian picked up the chip and put it back in Sarah’s hand, then headed for her team bedroom. Sarah was rolling the chip across her fingers immediately, and had dropped it again before Vivian even reached the door.

“Hey, Vivian, can you-”

“No.” She shut the door behind her. Ronnie lay in her bed, and though her bedside light was off and her eyes closed, Vivian felt like the woman was somehow watching her through her own eyelids. Vivian couldn’t tell if her suspicion was because she knew more than she was letting on, or because she knew how Vivian had wounded Michael in her absence. But the shoulder check in New Orleans was just the most obvious example of her animus.

Mallory, however, was passed out with no questions about it. She’d been completely drunk the entire day, turning her into a perfect little angel. Of course, she still slept like a drunk, with her covers half kicked off the bed and her body splayed and contorted worse than Sarah’s.

Vivian stepped into the closet and pulled the curtains closed so the light would not wake the others. The box in her hand rumbled a little bit, as if it was furious that she wasn’t opening it immediately. What if I wrapped it in a length of chain…? Vivian shook her head and dismissed that idea quickly. Remember, you’re not trying to outsmart the omnipotent freaks who’ve trapped you. Not tonight anyway.

Vivian undid the ribbon and popped open the box, which was ornately wrapped with gold leaf in the paper. Despite the godawful gaudy nature of this place, sometimes they did get things right. Despite the size of the box, inside was a much smaller item that she’d expected given the size of the box. Out she drew a black leather collar and a leash, which of course she recognized immediately as the one she’d only barely avoided receiving from the transformation vote. Fuck me, it’s not a pet. I’m the pet.

Her fingers magically taking the initiative over her brain, she involuntarily slipped the collar around her neck and secured it, with the leash dangling from her neck. She tried to tuck the leash into her shirt, but as soon as she did so she automatically pulled it back out again.

Vivian let out a long sigh.

Heel! - Vivian is forced to wear a dog collar and leash. She cannot hide or protect the leash, it must be visible and available for others to grab at all times. Vivian must physically obey anyone holding it. The leash cannot change her mind or force her to tell the truth, and the effect ends when the person lets go. [2P1L enhancement: Once per day, Vivian must offer the leash to another contestant or Michael. In that instance, the command will persist for a time after the person lets go.]

“What are you doing?” Ronnie’s head poked in from around the curtain. She did not look sleepy in the slightest, she must have been alert like a cat when Vivian tried to creep through. Ronnie saw the leash trailing from the collar. “I thought that one lost the vote?”

“It did.” A letter fell from the box as Vivian tossed it in the trash, and she grabbed it.

“Vivian,

I’m sure you expected this to be a gift for Sarah, but I had a sneaking suspicion you might try exactly what you tried. You need to learn that you cannot be in charge in every situation, so I’ve helpfully offered you the chance to be in charge in no situation. Perhaps you’ll see it as the benefit that it is in time. Right now, I expect you’ll ball this letter up and throw it in the trash.

-Esmeralda”

“Suspicion, my ass.” Vivian deliberately tore it into strips and dropped it in the trash, just to spite the old woman’s prediction. One of them anyway.

“You gonna tell me what that was about?” Ronnie asked.

Vivian’s immediate instinct was to say no, and she knew the leash couldn’t be made to make her. She’d always known that knowledge was power, and she’d hoarded it like a dragon in the mountain. But the truth will out eventually, and she needed to get some people on her side.

“I bought it off Sarah. I paid off her debt.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean? Those ropes were driving her mad, and who knows what else was coming out of the next box.”

“I haven’t known you very long, but you don’t strike me a person who’d drop a dime in a bum’s cup without expecting a return on that investment.”

“You don’t know me at all.”

“I’ve known people like you. Everything’s a transaction.”

“That’s not fair, Rhonda.”

“Nothing fair about a real casino, don’t know why you’d expect Magical Pervert Casino to be any different. And you still haven’t answered my question. Why?”

Why indeed?

“...because I’m screwed here, Rhonda.” Vivian tried to come up with a face-saving explanation rather than baring her soul to this stranger, but she could spot immediately that it wouldn’t work. “I’ve got zero points and a strike, and I’ve got to survive three more challenges just to make it out of this game without being eliminated.”

Rhonda’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know there are three more?”

“The pamphlet said five was the minimum, I guessed. If it’s more than that, then I’m screwed even harder.” Vivian quickly covered her mistake, and as far as she could tell, Rhonda accepted it. “But the bigger issue is exactly what you say - everyone, including the audience, thinks I’m irredeemable. I was hoping to make at least one of you ladies think otherwise.”

That seemed to hit home. Ronnie dropped her head for a second in deep thought before responding.

“Ok, maybe I was over the line there, Viv.” Vivian didn’t like ‘Viv,’ but it wasn’t the time to quibble. “I won’t lie to you. You’re in a bad spot. But I’ve seen bigger turnarounds.”

“How’d they do it?”

“The audience likes the Harem concept, that’s why they watch. Far as I can tell anyway, I’ve never met them. But that seems to flow from the way they vote. They reward those who get with the program and punish those who don’t.”

“Explain.”

“Look at Danica. She kicked and screamed the loudest when this started, but then she nearly won the challenge once she got that out of her system.”

“Yeah, but Mallory and I got the most points off those dates and they burned us.”

Ronnie flinched very slightly at that reminder, betraying a flash of anger and jealousy. But Ronnie was extremely controlled, only Vivian’s ability allowed her to even notice. Ronnie shrugged. “I said I haven’t met these people. Assuming they are people, which might be a reach. All those years working here and none of us ever met the bosses. Besides, half the time I felt like a lizard in someone’s terrarium.”

“Get with the program…” Vivian said under her breath. There was no better time to start than the present. According to the note, she needed to offer the leash to someone each day, and Sarah and Ronnie were the only ones awake. Unless she wanted to go climb a literal mountain. No, my struggle is all metaphorical. No actual mountains tonight. Once she’d made the decision, her mouth and hands moved on autopilot. She took the end of the leash, offering it on open palms as if presenting a gift to a monarch. “Please take my leash and command me, if you wish it.”

“Girl, seriously?”

“That just kinda slipped out once I decided to offer it to you.”

“You’ll get used to it.” Ronnie offered.

“I don’t want to get used to this.”

“You will anyway.” Ronnie said, with a tone hinting at a deep well of pain. She reached for the offered end of the leash, and as she did Vivian was struck by a memory that initially seemed out of place. She recalled the first month at Solar Flare, when they’d taken the executives to a retreat in the woods for the classically boring team building exercises. All the usual shit: the egg drop, the spider web, the plank bridge, etc. And they decided to end on the most clichéd: the trust fall. Vivian never put much stock in these things, just a way to creatively burn a budget and for the executives to pocket a few extra steaks and bottles of alcohol after the fact. Total waste of time. But when Vivian climbed up on the platform, and looked down at the faces of the people she’d come to join, she was quietly shocked at the antipathy in their expressions. She’d done the trust fall, because what kind of a pussy wouldn’t? But as she leaned back and gravity took over, she felt fear that they wouldn’t catch her when she dropped for them. She assumed it, after all what kind of assholes would just let her crash into the dirt? Vivian had brought them all a massive amount of business, enough to ensure that all of them could buy their wives and mistresses’ something shiny. But Vivian couldn’t guarantee they’d do her the simplest return courtesy, and that rocked her.

When Ronnie took the leash, Vivian felt that same weightlessness and the same bolt of fear about letting go. Letting someone else control her fate. Vivian could viscerally sense someone else connected directly to her mind, with no filter between their thoughts and her muscles. She assumed Ronnie would be benevolent, but once again she couldn’t guarantee it. Ronnie could ask anything of her: down her entire bottle of pills, hand over all her chips, go down on her, or even walk right off the balcony. Is this the benefit Esmeralda was talking about? It doesn’t goddamn feel like one!

“You alright?” Ronnie asked. Vivian didn’t answer immediately. Right, it can’t make me tell the truth.

“No.” But I might as well anyway.

“What happens if I don’t order you to do anything?”

“I’m not sure.”

Ronnie tried handing her back the leash, but once she was holding it again, Vivian felt the rising sensation that something was incomplete.

“No go.” Once again, Vivian made the decision to give it to Ronnie. “Please take my leash and command me, if you wish it.”

“Ok, fine.” Ronnie looked her dead in the eyes, and it was like her voice was coming from inside Vivian’s brain. “Go to sleep, I can’t relax until I know you’re not skulking around.”

“Wait a minute…” Vivian complained, but the command was already causing the black to come in from the corners of her vision. She slumped forward and Ronnie had to catch her before she crumpled face first to the floor. Ronnie was much smaller than her, and could not easily hold her up, once she was deadweight. Ronnie helped Vivian to her knees and then onto her side.

“Oops.” She heard Ronnie say as if she was far away, with some small amount of regret but not with any great deal of sympathy. Ronnie dropped the leash and left, just as Vivian closed her eyes on the image of Ronnie’s heels, and drifted off right there on the carpeted floor.

---

Vivian awoke still on the floor of her closet, but with a head finally clear of Ronnie’s command. Someone had apparently tucked a pillow under her head and brought in a blanket to pull over her sleeping form at some point. That couldn’t have been Ronnie. Vivian thought, annoyance growing. The least she could have done was make me walk to bed first. As Vivian shifted to sit up, she realized two things. First, that same someone who’d covered her up had also pulled off her polo and shorts, and second, they’d carefully folded those clothes and left them on the small bench in the closet. Sitting next to them was a bottle of Gatorade.

Vivian clambered to her feet, and one look in the mirror confirmed the worst: She looked exactly like someone who’d spent the night passed out on the floor and drooling into the carpet. She never wanted anyone to see her like this, let alone the other competitors, but the audience saw everything so what was the fucking point anymore? She took a silk robe from a hanger and threw it on over her underwear, automatically pulling the leash free as she tied the robe closed. Vivian swung the leash around her neck a few times and looked in the mirror again. Maybe I can convince people it’s a bold fashion accessory. She rolled her eyes at her reflection.

Ronnie was under the covers in her bed as Vivian emerged from the closet, her eyes closed but clearly awake. The way the blankets were tented on her lower half, it was obvious that she had her legs splayed open and low squeals of pleasure slipped from her lips. Right. Her jilling it rule. Vivian had a petty impulse to splash the drink in Ronnie’s face, but thought better of it and left her to her desperate fingering.

Janet was outside, standing at the breakfast island. The ropes apparently had enough of tormenting Sarah and let her free at some point the last night, and Janet was using a bottle of kitchen cleaner and paper towels to furiously wipe the spot where she’d been lying on the countertop.

“I think that’s a waste of time,” Vivian said. “I doubt there’s a surface in this hotel that hasn’t had a bare ass on it at some point.”

Janet froze at that revelation, looking around the room slowly with a mask of fear like she was suddenly realizing she was in an alien’s nest. Vivian couldn’t help but laugh at that image.

“Come on, be nice.” Janet said.

“Sorry,” Vivian said through a snort. “It’s just that I'm starting to have more respect for fighting impossible battles.”

Janet tossed down the towels and cleaner in disgust. When she looked up, she still had a worried expression but this time it was meant for Vivian.

“How’s your head this morning?” Janet asked. When Vivian gave her back a look of confusion, Janet pointed to the Gatorade bottle in her hand. “Mal told me you passed out on the floor in there, I brought you that for the hangover.”

“Oooooh. No, it’s not that. I just fell asleep there.” Vivian didn’t want to explain why just yet, and Janet was too nice to pry into further. She doesn’t even have the heart to look at the leash.

“Ok. I’ve just had to help out Mal enough times that I assumed. Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Vivian’s stomach started rumbling. “You eaten yet? I’m in no mood for bran flakes. Wanna get breakfast?” She caught Janet’s eyes flitting to the scoreboard and her own chips total, but before Janet could manufacture an excuse, Vivian pressed on. “It’s on me.”

---

Vivian slowly pushed her food around her plate, taking small bites when she thought Janet might notice she was pecking. Vivian thought she was being casual enough to fly under this woman’s radar, but Janet was more perceptive than Vivian had given her credit for. To be fair, it was pretty hard to hide anything when you were sitting in someone’s lap.

“You’re not eating.” She said, softly enough that Vivian barely made it out over the din of the restaurant, even at this distance. Vivian immediately attacked the simple statement like she usually did, trying to peel away layers like an onion to get the true meaning. But there were no layers, no hidden accusation, no passive aggression, not even any implied fat shaming like her mother had loved to slip in. Just… sympathy?

“Guess I’m not really hungry.” Vivian was hungry when she’d come down and sat on Janet at the table, but as soon as a waitress had walked by with another table’s order, something in the scents had reminded her of the food from Michael’s date. And then the limo. And I’m sleeping in his room tonight.

“Then why spend the money?”

“That’s a good question. A good question, well-phrased, deserves an answer.” Vivian stalled, hoping Janet would keep talking. It worked.

“I dunno, I’ve just always been so tight with money. Had to be. Splurging on something you don’t even eat…are you ok?” Detective Vivian was on the case once again, but she could still find no hidden meanings or secret coded language. She searched Janet’s face, expecting -almost hoping- to see, plots forming, schemes scheming, traps being set… but there was none of that. Janet was legitimately asking the questions out of legitimate concern.

Dealing with people that have no agenda is fucking exhausting.

“I’m just worried.” Vivian said, but that wasn’t the whole of it. She was fighting a rising fear and her usual confidence in her ability to find a seam or a loophole was starting to dim. She’d already spilled to Sarah and Ronnie and the latter had just left her on the floor, so she was determined to keep it together this time. But then Janet wrapped her arms around Vivian’s midsection and gave her a simple hug, and somehow this little gesture burst her resolve. Vivian took a deep breath, redoubling her determination not to let this turn into a public cry. She kept her voice flat and laid her situation bare. “It’s my night with Michael. I have no points, and I am not sure how to get more since he still hates me. I have one strike, and I’m not sure how to avoid the other since the audience decides that. I’m looking into a deep pit and feeling the ground beneath me start to give. How do you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Just…win people over.” Just as Janet had no hidden meaning in her statements, for once neither did Vivian. I need to know.

“Without offering them something?” Janet asked. Ok, I underestimated this one. “Not everyone works like that, Vivian.”

“But the world works like that.”

Janet scrunched up her face. “You’re right, Vivian, but that’s because it's run by people who think like you.”

Ow. Fucking ow. With a handful of words Janet had done what few of Vivian’s superiors and none of her peers had accomplished: stunned her into silence.

Janet hugged Vivian again, her face betraying instant regret for having said it.. “I’m so-” Vivian put her finger on Janet’s mouth to shush her.

“Don’t apologize, you said what you needed to say. And probably what I needed to hear.” Vivian slumped a little, not even realizing the haughty posture she’d been adopting. “Michael said something similar on our date. Before things got…out of hand. I haven’t felt myself since that happened.”

Janet finally seemed to notice the leash hanging obviously down from Vivian’s humiliating dog collar, though she dared not touch it. Vivian gave a defeated sort of laugh.

“Yeah, that was part of it. I bought out Sarah’s debt. Doesn’t sound like me, does it?”

“Not at all, but maybe you’re not who you were any more.” Janet paused. “You don’t have to be.”

I don’t have to be. “Is it too late?”

“I know things look bad-” Janet started, but Vivian gave her such a look that she started over. “Ok, I know things are bad, but the game isn’t over. Here.” Janet shifted slightly to free her hand and gave Vivian a hard smack on the ass.

“Hey!” Vivian said, jolting in surprise, but then she felt the surge of confidence pour through her body. “Hey….” It was her TF, it wasn’t “real” but it was powerful and exactly what she needed at that moment. Vivian turned until she was nose-to-nose with Janet. The redhead was a little taken aback, Vivian’s eyes had lost all that surrender energy and were starting to burn. “Again.”

“What?” Janet said, her voice quivering slightly.

“Hit me again.” A nascent idea was forming. Something that could, with a little water, care, and sunlight, turn into a plan. Janet obeyed, smacking Vivian’s buttcheek. Vivian felt the buzz again, but it wasn’t as powerful as she needed. Vivian climbed from Janet’s lap and bent over the table. “Again. Harder.”

“Vivian…” Janet’s eyes were flashing all over the room, the other diners were starting to notice. Probably shouldn’t have done this in a restaurant, the girl is going to be traumatized from eating in one ever again. If I get out of this, I’ll pay for her therapy.

“Please, Janet.” Vivian could see some of the lust brewing on Janet’s face, the result of the woman’s own transformation affecting her. Vivian could tell just from that that giving her a wiggle would have been enough to win her over. But, Vivian thought better of it. I don’t have to be like that. “Please, Janet. It helps me think.”

“Oh… ok.” She didn’t look totally convinced, but she did push herself away from the table and stood behind Vivian. Janet closed her eyes to shut out all the stunned stares of the staff, raised her hand… and brought it down into Vivian’s midsection, missing the X by half a foot.

“OW!” Vivian jumped up and rubbed the affected side. She was going to curse, but she bit her lip until the moment passed. “Janet… Please hit me on the left buttcheek next time.”

“Right… sorry.” Janet kept her eyes open this time, focusing hard on her target, and brought a hard, firm swat down onto Vivian’s ass. It sent a loud slap sound through the suddenly quiet restaurant. Vivian felt a powerful rush.

I can do this. I can do this.

She stood and turned on the redhead, who instinctively leaned away from what she clearly expected to be a slap to the mouth. Vivan’s hands shot out and… dragged Janet in for a deep kiss.

“Woohoo!” A lone voice called from the watching crowd, followed by a wolf-whistle.

“Shut it!” Vivian broke the kiss and pointed vaguely in their direction. Her command was apparently specific enough to hold.

Spank Spank Kiss +3

“Thank you, Janet.” Vivian said, with actual honest-to-God sincerity in her voice. Janet closed her eyes and parted her lips, clearly waiting and hoping for Vivian to continue. But that plan was firmer now, and if it worked there would be plenty of time for this. “Hold that thought. I have some work to do.”