Don't let them fool ya, or even try to school ya! Oh, no!

The tension in the Master’s Suite was so thick you could cut it with a knife. But since Holly and Mary had set the tables for burritos, no such luck was to be had.

The two maids stood out of Cinder’s line of sight, wary what she would think of them in their current state of dress. But they probably didn’t need to worry, because Nick was the center of her focus right now. She didn’t seem to even register they were here.

That didn’t mean everything was fine though. Nick felt an immense pressure bearing down on him, and he kept his mouth locked tightly shut, not sure if he should even try saying anything. Would Ella’s other self even want to hear it?

He hadn’t spent time one on one with Cinder in quite a while. Even yesterday on the beach, she had only manifested for a couple moments before swiftly ceding control back to Ella.

What should he even say?

It didn’t help either that she had a very complex look on her face. It was certainly a frown, no doubt about that. And with her hair looking a little wilder than it did as Ella, it was unlikely the two of them would be mistaken. But Nick still felt like there was a little more of Ella in that calm expression than he would have imagined.

She wasn’t cursing or boiling over with rage. She seemed almost tranquil, even if the atmosphere of the room was not.

Needless to say, in such an oppressive atmosphere, Cinder was the first one to speak. “Is something the matter?” She asked with an unnatural purr in her voice, the sort of tone Nick never would have expected to come from her. It reminded him of the first time he met Ella’s alter, back when he still didn’t realize the scope of her issue and she was still playing nice with him.

Maybe he hadn’t done anything to draw her out after all. If he wasn’t the target of her rage, could they actually manage to be cordial?

Then he caught a twinkle in her narrowed eyes, and her lips slowly curled up into a sneer.

“Is something the matter?” She asked again, a little more forcefully this time. That caused him to bristle. “Because you seem very uncomfortable.”

Nick felt like he was navigating a minefield. Ella had been difficult to interact with, because he couldn’t be sure what kind of conversation they could have that wouldn’t end up setting her off and bringing Cinder out. But Cinder herself was a thousand times worse.

As much as he hated to admit it, he could kind of understand her point when Ella questioned the likelihood of ever being able to find love. It would be difficult to have a relationship with someone who suffered from her issues.

But Nick wouldn’t let that stop him. Ella needed someone in her corner now more than ever, and if Cinder was her defense against the world, someone needed to defend her against Cinder in exchange.

“I was just a little startled, that’s all,” he said, trying to keep the nervousness out of his voice. He doubted he succeeded. Maybe he should start getting some acting tips from Rose! “Ella and I were having such a nice night, I wasn’t expecting you to suddenly pop in like that.”

Cinder blinked. “…No, I imagine not,” she agreed, which was one of the more affable things she’d ever said to him. “And do you have a problem with that?”

Nick sensed a trick question in the way her eyes narrowed towards him, like a scientist studying a lab rat.

“Should I have a problem with it?” He replied.

“You tell me,” Cinder said right back, neither of them willing to put their cards on the table just yet. Speaking of the table, she looked down at her plate, and the strewn remains of her burrito, and forewent table manners by just digging her fingers right in.

She pulled out a couple black beans, leaving the tips of her fingers stained with dark juices, and popped them into her mouth. “‘Ey, chica, this isn’t so bad!” She crowed, casting a sneer in Mary’s direction that made the redhead stiffen. “Not bad at all…”

“Um… th-thank you! I did my best!” Mary tried to accept the other girl’s appreciation with a smile, but it was obvious that she was as nervous as her husband, if not more.

Luckily for her, Cinder was much more concerned with Nick than she was with any of the women he was banging, and soon returned her focus to the topic at hand.

“I suppose you’re wondering why I pushed so hard to take over,” she continued, licking her fingers clean in another display of her poor dining etiquette. “Given how ‘nice’ your night seemed to be going, after all.”

Nick raised his eyebrow. “So… you agree, we were having a nice night?”

He didn’t fully grasp the connection between Ella and Cinder yet, or how they perceived the world when they weren’t the one in control. He’d done a bit of reading on the topic since he met her (after all, it was vital to know the intricate details of a situation like this one in order to avoid screwing things up inadvertently) but as far as hard science went, it was a little questionable.

Had Cinder been watching everything as though she had a front row seat? Or was she just picking up vibes? He’d found evidence that could support either, and for obvious reasons he didn’t feel comfortable asking the girl directly, regardless of who was in control at the time.

And the elusive smirk on the brunette’s face didn’t help matters either. But judging by the cloudy look in her eye, he guessed that she was putting on an act.

Whatever the answer was, whatever had brought this out, it probably wasn’t a good thing.

“I’m not sure how much you know about my condition,” Cinder said, leaning back in her chair, “but when Ella is in the driver’s seat, it’s like I’m asleep in the back. I generally get a feeling of how things are going, but I’m certainly not conscious. …At least, not always.”

She narrowed her eyes and a flash of anger surged across her sharp features. For a second, Nick bristled, wondering what she was talking about, before he remembered one of the transformations she’d been given at the start of this round.

• Passenger Seat: Contrary to popular depictions of DID, Cinder and Ella are not present in their mind at the same time, and do not associate things that happened to the other persona as happening to them. For the purposes of sexual activity, that is no longer the case. Now, whenever Cinder or Ella experience sexual pleasure, the other persona will feel as though they were given the same pleasure, and knowledge of that will carry over the next time they take over. [NOTE: The persona will still not be present in the moment, this will only affect what they remember of the events.] (Switch)

He paled.

“I… that… we-we didn’t do any-”

“Save it. I know that damn well, fucking moron,” she spat, rolling her eyes. She leaned so far back in her chair that the front legs actually lifted off the floor, and Nick was terrified that she might actually fall off of it.

She shook her head. “And we’re going to keep it that way.”

With a snarl, she slammed the chair back down, snapping forward so fast that the table shook. Nick flinched, terrified for a moment that she was going to lunge at him, but she didn’t.

Shock and awe was apparently enough. Seeing the flustered look on his face, her wicked smile soon returned, and she straightened up in her seat again.

“There, that’s what I wanted to see,” she purred. “Someone who knows the score. Now, what will you be doing with Ella?”

Nick opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by an unlikely source.

“Hey! That’s not fair! You don’t get to just say stuff like that!”

Oh no… Holly, what are you doing!?

“Eh?” Cinder turned to Holly, studying her in surprise. “The fuck are you on about, puta?”

“If Ella wants to do something with Nick, who are you to say she can’t?” Holly demanded. “You shouldn’t be holding her back or restraining her!”

“Oh, really?” A shadow crossed Cinder’s face. “You realize this is my body too, right? Maybe I don’t want that. Ever think about it that way?”

“Err…” Holly turned red, not really considering that part. But Cinder kind of had a point, didn’t she? If she didn’t want her other self to have sex with Nick, was it really okay for him to go ahead with things? Was Ella’s consent enough here?

Ugh, multiple personalities are way more sexy when it’s just hentai, she thought, biting her lip in frustration.

“Cinder, I completely understand your concerns,” Nick said, trying to maintain the peace. “I understand why you wouldn’t want me to do anything with Ella. Not even just for her sake, but for your sake as well. So you don’t need to worry about that.”

Cinder looked surprised. And almost pleased at the same time. “Well… I suppose that makes it easy, then.”

“…But I also think it’s important that you recognize how difficult that can be on Ella,” Nick added, immediately destroying whatever good will he’d just bought from the other girl.

“…What do you mean?” Cinder asked, and the rage had already started to seep back into her voice.

Nick didn’t back down though.

“Ella wants a relationship,” he said bluntly. “You have to know that, given your circumstances. So trying to restrict her like that… it’s not going to make her happy.”

Cinder reached for her water and took a sip, not taking her eyes off him. “Of course I realize that,” she replied, setting down her cup. “Do you think I’m a fool?”

Maybe in some ways. But Nick was at least relieved that she seemed to be aware of this fact, at the very least.

“…I don’t think you’re a fool,” he said, shaking his head. “I know you’re protective. You’re looking out for Ella the best way you know how. But tonight, you didn’t need to pop in, right? Things were going so well. And yet, you still pushed your way out. And I think it’s because you had something you wanted to say, right? And not to just warn me for the fiftieth time not to do anything with Ella.”

Cinder sulked, but she didn’t deny it.

“…Let’s say you’re right,” she muttered, pulling in her arms and legs. She looked smaller that way, more ****, as if the conversation had just taken a turn she was uncomfortable with. “Maybe I did want to have a talk with you. So?”

“So… what did you want to talk about?” Nick didn’t know why everything had to be a battle with this woman. He was trying to see both sides here, he really was, but Cinder was doing everything she could to not make it easy.

She certainly wasn’t making it easy right now.

“…Ella,” she said finally. “Obviously I want to talk about her. Me.”

Cinder wanted that so badly she surfaced when Ella wasn’t even in danger.

“Okay then,” Nick said, holding his hands out, revealing his palms, a tacit signal that he had nothing up his sleeve.

Not that she could register such a subtle gesture.

“Let’s talk.”

“Ella doesn’t know what she wants.” The blunt words that came out of Cinder’s lips definitely caught Nick off-guard.

“What… huh? What do you mean?” He asked.

“She wants to be happy. She wants romance. But she’s scared of it, for good reason,” Cinder muttered. “And she should be scared. What, does she think I’m doing this because I want to or something?! Did she think I actually wanted to spend time with you tonight!?”

“I see… so even though Ella wasn’t feeling stressed or pressured, you came out anyway, because her being happy is also a problem.” Nick didn’t like the sound of that. Not only should he not risk upsetting Ella to keep Cinder from emerging, but she’d even come out if Ella was too happy?

It seemed like a problem, to say the least.

Cinder shook her head. “That had nothing to do with it!” She snapped. “Arrogant little… no, no, let me explain… fucking fool.”

She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed in exasperation.

Then she slammed her fist on the table and Nick jumped so suddenly he nearly fell out of her chair.

“…There, you see?” Cinder’s lips curled into a sneer. “You’re scared too. Scared of what I might do… scared I’ll end up ruining things. You want me to go away, right? If I wasn’t here, then everything would be perfect. You’d be able to do with Ella as you like, and she’d be too dumb and naïve to know any better!”

Nick could definitely understand how Cinder had reached that conclusion, given how much Ella’s stepfamily had exploited her, and how much trauma and self-doubt she carried with her.

At the same time…

“Ella isn’t as fragile as you think,” he stated. “She can stand up for herself just fine, Cinder.”

Cinder’s eyes narrowed. For a moment, it looked like her rage consumed her entire being, and then it just… disappeared.

In its place, a truly wicked sneer arose.

“…You think she can? I see… Shall we find out?”

Nick had no idea what she was planning, but he doubted he’d like it.

“Cinder, just calm down for a second,” he urged her.

“I am calm. This is me, being calm.”

She sure didn’t seem calm. She seemed like she was a hair’s breadth away from snapping like a twig.

Seeing that there was clearly no reasoning with her, Nick wondered if capitulating might be the better move, at least for now.

“So what do you want, then?” He asked quietly. “What do you want me to do?”

Cinder blinked. “…Huh?”

“Do you want me to back off? Is that it?” He asked. “Stop talking to Ella completely? Spend my day each round with her completely avoiding you two?”

She looked taken aback by that offer. “…No, that’s not what I said at all!” She snapped.

“Then what do you want, Cinder?” He was getting really tired of this. “Because Ella and I were having a really good night together, before you had to step in and take over. So what do you want from me that’s so important you had to interrupt her when she was having a good time?”

“I… I…” She really did look lost. Like she hadn’t thought things that far ahead. And maybe she hadn’t. It seemed clear that Cinder was a reactive ****, created to protect Ella from perceived threats, both tangible and intangible. So maybe she hadn’t fully thought things through when she surfaced tonight.

But somehow, Nick felt like that wasn’t it. No it seemed like Cinder was a little deeper than that.

Maybe he didn’t know what was going on as much as he thought he did.

She’s not just some personality, she’s still Ella. She’s just a different perspective. I need to think about her that way when I’m dealing with her.

Nick took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down.

“…I’m sorry for losing my cool like that,” he apologized. “I might have overreacted a little.”

Cinder’s mouth dropped open. “Uh… no, I don’t really care about that…”

In spite of her claims, she was clearly thrown a little off-kilter. She bit her lip and looked at him with uncertainty.

“…I’m just trying to do right by Ella,” Nick said. “And it seems like you’re a big source of stress for her. I just want to know if there’s anything I can do to help.”

“If I had an answer, do you think I’d keep it to myself? Fuck!” Cinder’s outburst was sudden and shocking. She pulled furiously at her bangs as she stewed in her seat.

For the first time, Nick wasn’t intimidated by the other girl. She seemed lost somehow. Like she wasn’t sure what to do.

Almost like she was looking for help herself.

“…The reason I came out was because I wanted to help,” she muttered, looking down at her plate. “I just wanted to help… to talk… I just… fuck, why is it so hard to talk sense to you stupid people!?”

“Maybe because you’re not being honest?” Nick went pale as soon as the words escaped his lips. That was absolutely NOT what he’d intended to say. And the shocked look on Cinder’s face as she raised her head to look at him supported that.

“…I’m not lying,” Cinder said finally. “But I’m not going anywhere. And I’m not about to let you hurt her! You got that!?”

Nick nodded. He knew that she was telling the truth about all that, at least.

But for all the talking the other girl was doing, she still hadn’t made it clear why she’d chosen now of all times to push her way to the surface. Why she’d insisted on being here, and practically cowed Ella into submission.

So at the very least, as far as that was concerned, there was something she wasn’t telling him. Something serious.

And he was almost afraid to get to the bottom of it.

“…Ella isn’t coming back,” Cinder said finally, picking apart the remains of her burrito and standing up. “You’ve got me now. If I left her in control tonight, she might do something we both regret. And I’d rather not have that happen.”

“I already told you, I-”

“And I don’t trust you.” She narrowed her eyes into a glare, standing over him. “…So maybe show me you deserve it, first.”

Nick blinked.

“Huh?”

“We have to share the same fucking bed, right?” Cinder made a sour face, and looked over at the beds in the corner. “So tonight, I’m going to be your partner. Ella might not have thought it this far out, but I did. And if you so much as lay one finger on me-”

“I wouldn’t do something like that!” Nick exclaimed, his face turning red.

“Yeah, Nick’s way too much of a coward to give a woman what she wants like that!” Holly shouted in agreement.

Nick slowly turned to her and stared at her in shock.

“…What?” Holly shrugged.

Cinder fumed, her face turning a deep scarlet. But she managed to keep it under control.

“I’m sorry if this ruins your night,” she sneered. “But it’s me you’ll be bedding with, not Ella. Best get used to it.”

Nick shook his head. “It doesn’t ruin my night,” he assured her. “I care about Ella. And if this will help you both be more comfortable here, then I’m happy to go along with it.”

If he wanted to bring Ella happiness, he needed to do so in a way that Cinder could accept. He saw that clearly now. He didn’t know if it would be possible to bring the protective alter over to his side, but if they wanted Ella to be happy, they would need to work together.

Because Cinder was right about one thing- she wasn’t going away any time soon. Nick and Ella could learn to work with her, or fight against her, because those were the only roads forward that he could see.