Mark’s Rules For an Orderly Harem

Mark woke up in bed alone. He heard quiet voices coming from over by the couch. “Morning.” Mark yawned. “You are all up early.”

Sam sorted, “We really aren’t. You slept in. It’s already 10:30 am. We’ve been up for a couple hours, and have had breakfast.”

“Why didn’t you wake me?”

“Didn’t see a need to.” Sam shrugged. “Flora and Ellen aren’t cooking so no reason to go to the cottage today. Freya said that besides a request for a brief check in from Flora and Aubrey she hasn’t gotten any requests on your time today besides Ellen’s date, which she’d like to start in the earlier afternoon. Well besides ours.”

“Ours? You three have something you want to talk to me about?” Mark said as he got out of bed and went to grab a change of clothes. I should actually also grab a set of clothes for when I’m Mary.

“Yes, actually. A few things. First, because I think this is the most important one, your rulebook TF.”

“Sam, I don't really plan on using it that much.” Mark went into the bathroom to change. “Give me a minute.” He came back out in his typical slacks and polo. “Okay please continue.”

“I sort of thought you might not want to use it for much. I actually think you should use it.”

“What why?”

“Well, talking with Isabella, she mentioned the one rule you wanted to add about Freya. Which got us talking about the rulebook. I wanted to propose a better system for you being allowed to punish us, if we go too far. I think you should establish actual rules, right now things are nebulous. With the rulebook though we will know what the rules are, so we will know if we are breaking them.” Isabella was frowning but did not interrupt Sam’s conversation.

“Did you mention this to the others yet?”

“Yes, actually. Talia, Isabella, Aubrey and Chloe are against it. Everyone else thought it was a better choice. I want to clarify though, Talia just thinks you are capable of making that decision yourself, she isn’t opposed to you using the rulebook. Chloe isn’t opposed to it per se, but rather is concerned about what you put as rules and that you might just keep using the book. Aubrey likes the current system better. Isabella…”

“I think you have some nerve thinking you can punish us at all, pendejo.” Isabella nearly growled.

Allie cut in, “We tried explaining a bit, but then you woke up. It might just be better for you to do it.”

Mark turned to Isabella, “Isabella, will you actually listen to me right now?”

“Sì, but you need a damn good explanation.”

Mark moved over to the couch and sat down across from Isabella. “Okay. Also before I forget. Please be careful about insulting me Isabella. I doubt that, pendejo, comment crossed the line but you and Allie could lose VP if you push it too far or to often. As far as punishing people. Let me ask you, if one of the others did something to you that permanently altered your brain chemistry, do you think there should be consequences for that? Also just so we are clear this isn’t a hypothetical, it has already happened.”

Isabella looked shocked at that. “What?!” Isabella turned to Allie and Sam for confirmation and got nods from them both. “Who? Also how were they changed?”

“Ellen and Aubrey both have a small permanent libido increase because of Flora’s mistake. Ellen thinks she is also slightly more submissive.”

“Okay, yeah I would want there to be consequences for that. Why should it be you though? Why don’t the ten of us decide?”

“I’m the closest to a neutral party we have, Isabella. Think about it, are you going to actively agree to punish Allie if she doesn’t think she did anything wrong? Plus how many need to agree? We would either have a situation where only the most egregious of offences are punished, or something that will divide all of you into factions, and splinter relationships. So it has to be me. I did agree to wait a day at least and talk to as many of you as I could about it before deciding to do anything.”

“Fine.” Isabella huffed. “I guess there isn’t a good option. I do agree there should be consequences for something that egregious. If that is the case though you should use the rulebook. I don’t think it should be up to your whims if we get punished. I also think you should let us vote on any rules you put in.”

“Well I wanted to check on something first.” Mark materialized the rulebook which came with a pencil. ‘Mark’s Rules For an Orderly Harem’ was emblazoned on the front of the book in intricate gold lettering. He opened the cover and found a set of instructions for how to use the book. “Okay, looks like I can set rules for either the whole harem or individuals. The rules can’t be too long but it doesn’t say exactly what that means. I can also modify or get rid of a rule if I don’t like it. I’m going to add a rule to the book now and I want you to tell me how it feels to you.”

“So you’re just going to ignore me about letting us vote on the rules.” Isabella’s frown deepened.

“No, but I need to know how it functions first. Also in general I’m not opposed to you all voting but this is something I want to stop. It will stop.” Mark added, ‘Discussing adding Freya to the Harem is against the rules: unless you get permission from Freya first.’ “Alright can you tell me what I added, how it feels and anything else you think I should know.”

Sam began, “Well, I know what the rule is, it’s about Freya. I can also tell what would break the rule. I can break it, though. I would understand you can punish us for breaking the rule, but I might think the punishment is egregious depending upon what you do. I think the best example I can think of is that it is like speeding laws while driving. I know what they are, but can ignore them if I think they are stupid. I might think that getting a speeding ticket sucks because it does, but it would be my own fault, so I would pay the fine.”

“Even if that fine was insanely high?”

“I might protest it and try to appeal to you to give me something lower but ultimately yes I would pay the fine or rather take my punishment. I might be utterly pissed at you for it. But I don’t think I would be if it was reasonable.”

“Allie, Isabella, either of you have anything to add?”

“Not really.” Isabella said, “The law analogy seems rather apt though.”

“Okay, can you tell me, do you accept that the rules are the rules even if you don’t like them or do you feel like you can object to the rules?”

Allie responded, “Well they are the rules. They are what they are. If I wanted to I can say I don’t like the rule, but I accept that it is the rule.”

Sam added to Allie’s answer to clarify, “Agreed. I think object isn’t the right word. Like I can voice my thoughts about the rule saying that it is a bad rule, but still acknowledge that it is the rule.”

“Isabella, I’m not getting rid of this rule, and I plan on adding two more right now. After that I’m open to letting things be voted on. But these two are getting added.” ‘Deliberately crossing someone’s established boundaries is against the rules.’ ‘Causing permanent physical or mental alterations on another without their consent is against the rules.’

Isabella frowned but not as deeply as before, “These aren’t too bad, I suppose.” Isabella sighed, “Guess I’ll add it to the pile of things outside of my control now. You won’t add more with us agreeing right?”

“For the most part yeah, I’m not going to promise that, but unless something clearly must be added, yes I’ll let you all decide if something gets added.”

~PingPingPingPingPingPingPing~~Ping~

“Well, I expected that.” Mark opened his phone to check the harem wide group chat. “Okay about what I expected.”

Mark (To Group Chat): To answer the questions. Yes, I think this is a better system and we will be going with it. No, I’m not reconsidering these three rules. Yes, I am going to allow all of you to vote on further proposed rules. Also I will say that while I can create contestant specific rules, I have no intention of doing that, except maybe as a temporary punishment for breaking the rules.

Laura: Well I for one think these are great rules. Might need some specific word tweaking as we see how they function but the concepts are good. One question: do the rules apply to you Mark?

Mark: They do not apply to me. I am of course open to revision of the rules, if there is some issue with the wording but I think respecting boundaries and not making permanent changes to one another without consent are things everyone can get behind.

Aubrey: I don’t like this but fine. I know I was out voted, and can’t stop you. Are you still going to talk to us about punishments, or just decide those for yourself?

Mark: I’ll still be talking to people, at least for the most part. I can actually establish specific punishment rules for specific offenses, which I won’t do now but is something we might talk about doing.

Not receiving any more messages he returned his attention to the three in front of him. Well… he tried to but Bruno came over to him and woofed, demanding head scratches. Which Mark happily provided. “Okay was there more you wanted to talk to me about? You did say a few things Sam.”

“Yeah, about my list. Could you move following Allie’s walkthrough to inactive? I don’t want to be compelled to follow it to the letter. I probably will follow it but I don’t want to be **** to if I think it crosses a line. Also I would appreciate it if you would take some things off my inactive list. Nothing in particular mind you just, I’m finding it hard to not be working on improving some of the things right now. Like I’ve just been going over everyone’s TFs in my head and thinking about what could trigger them, in my spare time. It is getting a little annoying.”

“Well there aren’t a lot of great options to remove.”

“Mark, remember that at least to some degree I want to get better at these. Look if you really don’t want to pick yourself just move the looking better for you and the pleasuring each other options back to the active list.”

“Fine, if you’re sure.” Mark made the requested changes to Sam’s lists.

“Thank you. I don’t know exactly how it works yet but it seems that the increase in compulsion from inactive options is based upon the ratio of the two lists as opposed to a flat value.”

“It doesn’t seem like you’ve reached the required level of skill for any of them yet, for them to be completely deactivated.”

“Yeah, I’m hoping that they will count towards the active options for the ratio or at least not be counted in the inactive list. Okay last thing Mark, the three of us here think, you should look into the mirror.”

Mark considered that, “Sure I was planning on doing it at least once a round. Finding out how Isabella factors in will be helpful.” Mark stopped petting Bruno, much to Bruno’s annoyance. He walked over in front of the mirror.

Mark found himself back in the foyer with the same number of halls. There were several immediate differences that he noticed. First the white hall was now adorned with bright red roses, vines and all. The blue hall had lightened in shade and now had a large fierce dragon’s head above it, with the dragon’s body circling the room above all the hall’s as if protecting all of them. The pink hall was much the same but Mark sensed less warmth than before. The brown woodsy hall was the same, maybe more tranquil. The orange hall was the first of four with what Mark thought were the largest changes. It radiated an intense aggressive passion that demanded Mark return it in kind, and wouldn’t take no for an answer. The dark green hall now contained a flickering hope and acceptance, with a tinge of desire and the chemical smell was completely gone. The black hall was no longer black but rather a deep midnight blue, that could be mistaken for black at first glance. It was filled with love, and acceptance. Then there was the deep crimson hallway, which had undergone the biggest change. Not only was everything more opulent and radiating majesty. The hall smelled wonderful, inviting, and he realized going down that hall he could indulge in practically anything. Mark finally noticed the last hall, that he had not before. It was a golden yellow, but each time he looked at it, it changed slightly and he simply couldn’t maintain focus on it.

Mark found himself back in the Master’s Suite. “Okay, that was intense. I get the impression that things have definitely improved.”

“Well, that’s good.” Allie responded, “Anything in particular standing out?”

“Well, you and Isabella are very much intertwined. But it was still good for us. Sam, it felt like you were in some kind of guardian role. Talia’s hall is now much more clear, and seems positive, Chloe’s is improving. Laura’s is the one that stood out the most, though. I think her being a literal goddess now might have more implications than we realized, because I don’t know what else could have caused that change.”

“I’m a guardian?” Sam asked, “So like Mushu or something? Also what changed with Laura.”

“Yeah, sort of like Mushu. Like you are the family protector, at least that’s what it felt like to me. Well, I don’t keep everything, mind you, but majestic would be the best word to describe the feeling from Laura’s hall. But I would say that it felt more welcoming than last time. Are any of you going to look into the mirror?”

Sam shook her head, “I’m good. I feel like things are moving positively for us and I don’t need the mirror to tell me that. I also don’t think becoming a dragon is going to be that big of a deal. Also a family protector?”

“Well… I mean that is what we are going to end up as right? One, big, hopefully happy, family?”

“Well, sure I mean I see the others as my family. I’m just surprised you are thinking like that, already.”

Allie cut in, “Wait, you think of us as family? Sam I like you a lot but isn’t that moving rather fast?”

“Allie, it’s Sam’s TF.” Which got the others to all look at Mark. “I guess it hasn’t really come up so far, well at least the original bit, but Sam’s Bring Honor To Us All makes her view the rest of you as family.”

“Wait, what kind of family? Like you don’t view me like a sister do you? Because I’ll be honest Sam that would weird me out a bit.”

“No, I don’t really think of you guys in an assigned role. Like I don’t think of any of you as a sister or cousin but you are all definitely family.” Sam clarified.

Allie’s brows furrowed. “If that’s the case, how could you do that stuff to Aubrey, in the challenge yesterday. If she’s your family?”

Sam looked at Allie, “You like most of your family don’t you, Allie?”

“Yeah, I love all of my family.”

“That isn’t what I asked. I asked if you liked them, not if you loved them.”

Mark stifled a laugh with a snort. “Sorry Allie, but no way you can say yes to that. I think the point Sam is making is that just because you’re all family doesn’t mean you are all equal in her eyes. Like a cousin is a family member but you would prioritize a sibling over them… well… probably. I mean, Allie, you would prioritize your siblings over your cousins. That actually begs a question. Sam, do you have a problem with Aubrey?”

“I mean I do now, rather she has one with me. But I didn’t do that to her out of **** or dislike. I was serious. I would have done that to pretty much everyone but Allie and Laura, maybe not Flora as well. But definitely everyone else. It wasn’t personal. Why? Do you think I shouldn’t have done that?”

“Ehh… I mean… tying Aubrey up was definitely fine. It sucks for her, sure. I wouldn’t blame her for being a bit cross with you either. Smacking her butt with the dildo might have been a bit much. But I still don’t think you were wrong per se to do that. Would you have kept the dildo if you hadn’t tested it?”

“No, probably not.”

“Then I can’t say you were wrong to do it. Because if you hadn’t stabbed me in the back with the dildo like you did I probably would have caught you.”

“You stabbed Mark with a dildo?” Isabella inquired.

“She sure did. If you want Isabella, apparently Cassandra has footage of the challenge in the theater. It might be worth watching, when you have time.”

“I’m surprised you aren’t more upset about that Mark.”

“Isabella I’ve told the others this, I’m not going to get mad about stuff you do in a challenge unless it is egregious. I mean truly egregious.” Someone knocked on the suite door. Mark got up to go open it. “Hi Aubrey. What’s up?”

“I wanted to talk with you. In private. I messaged Freya like you asked but you didn’t come down. Freya said that I should come here, instead. I didn’t realize the three of them were still here. I can wait.”

Sam moved to the door, “No it’s fine we should probably get going anyway. Mark, don't forget to eat something.”

Mark turned toward Allie and Isabella, “Are you both good? Also don’t forget to take Bruno with you Isabella.”

They both got up and moved for the door. Isabella raised her voice slightly, “Come on Bruno follow mamá.” Bruno raised his head off the couch, looked between Mark and Isabella, and then put his head back down. “Mark… What did you do to Bruno? Bruno, come here before mamá gets upset.” Bruno begrudgingly stretched and walked over to the five people by the door. Bruno noticed Aubrey for the first time, and barked at her rather aggressively.

“Since when was there a dog here?” Aubrey asked rather startled at the aggressive Bruno.

“He’s mine, and Bruno calm down, or mamá is going to take away your treats for a week.” Bruno whined at that. “Dang I’ll need to get a leash. Bruno, come here.” Bruno reluctantly went to Isabella and she grabbed his collar. “Aubrey, it might be best if you just come in and we can leave.” Aubrey stepped into the room and Bruno barked again and then growled. “Bruno seriously what the heck is up with you. Aubrey I’m really sorry.” Isabella started to pull on Bruno’s collar to get him out of the room but he wasn’t budging. “BRUNO! STOP THAT NOW!” Bruno stopped growling but didn’t stop staring at Aubrey.

Mark knelt down in front of Bruno, between Bruno and Aubrey. “Bruno, she’s a friend Bruno. Can you go with your mamá?” Mark pointed at the door. Bruno sulked but left the room.

“I’m really sorry Aburey, he doesn't normally get like this. I’ll make sure to get a leash, as soon as I can.” Isabella closed the door behind her as soon as Sam and Allie were out too.

Mark got up and turned towards Aubrey and noticed she seemed a little frightened by the situation. “Are you alright, Bruno is normally rather friendly towards new people. I’m certain Isabella will have a leash in a couple of hours.”

“She should consider getting a muzzle for him.” Aubrey said, holding a hand against her chest.

“Aubrey…” Mark looked at her sternly, “I would never say that around Isabella if I were you. Not even as a joke. She’d take significant offense to you suggesting to muzzle her dog.” Mark relaxed his tone and posture then continued, gesturing towards the couch. “Shall we sit and you can tell me what you wanted to talk about.”

They moved over to the couch and sat then Aubrey began, “Mark, do you think what Samantha did to me in the challenge was okay?”

“Honestly, I can’t say that she was wrong. I don’t like that it happened to you Aubrey but Sam’s not wrong that you are competing in the challenges, and both tying you up and finding out how the dildos worked probably helped Sam get a better placement. If only by a spot or two. Unless one of you does something to another person that is particularly egregious, I’m going to remain neutral about how you all handle challenges.”

“Even if I decide to take **** on her in the next challenge?”

“I would prefer you didn’t do that Aubrey, but yes. If you decide to do something to hamper Sam so you can do better in the challenge, then yes I’ll remain neutral.”

Aubrey looked defeated and humiliated. “Mark, do you realize how humiliating it was to be stuck on the floor like that? That if I was on my stomach or back I would be getting turned on because of how sensitive I was, and then be **** to moo? To have you see me like that? I’m not a particularly violent person Mark but I really wanted to punch Sam right in the face. The only thing that stopped me was I knew that I would get punished by Cassandra.”

“Aubrey…”

“It’s fine. You don’t need to say anything. It might be better if you didn’t. I just wanted you to know how I felt about this. It isn’t the main reason I wanted to talk to you.”

“What is the main reason then?”

“Mark, you realize you are almost certainly going to be a father by the end of the show right?”

“It has occurred to me, yes. I assume this is about your pregnancy TF then.”

“Yes, and no. I mean we still need to do something about it, but some of its effects have already kicked in. Mark, I want to have your children. I’ve always wanted children. But this is more than that. I’m starting to want to have your kids, like, now. At least starting to try.”

“Aubrey, I’m not saying no. I have a question though, because this has been bothering me. How do you see our relationship? Like what do you think of me?”

“I think you're a decent guy, who tries his best to be kind, caring, and mindful of others. As for our relationship… I’m not sure. I mean I know I can’t really think of anyone else who I’d like to be the father of my kids. I would say that eventually I would like us to get married and have a family together.”

“Well, I’m glad you think of me that way. I’m less happy about how you described our relationship though.”

“Really? Why?”

“It’s what has been bothering me the most about how you’ve been viewing me, viewing us. It feels like you want me to be the father of your kids first and being your partner is secondary. You even told me you were considering just settling for a friend so you could start a family. That you were looking for Mr. Right but never found him. That I was that guy now, by default. Aubrey, I realize that I’m going to end up having kids with you. That’s essentially been decided. But I want more than that. You even said you were concerned with just becoming a baby factory. But right now you’re so focused on me being the father of your kids, you aren’t considering us. Also you’ve been saying ‘my children’ and ‘your children’ but not ‘our children’. You used that term once to me, on the very first day but I don’t think you’ve used it since. Also I don’t want to simply be a father. I want to be a dad. I’m sure out of everyone here you know exactly what the difference is. Right now though it doesn’t feel like you see me like that. That you don’t see me as your partner. Allie doesn’t know that I overheard her last night, but she was talking with Sam and Isabella about who wants to marry me. She mentioned you were on that list of people, but you aren’t anymore. She doesn’t know why but I have a guess, because of Chloe. I want to say this clearly, I don’t have a problem with you being with Chloe. I’m happy for you, if she makes you happy. I still want us to be together though. It would be one thing if I was currently second fiddle to Chloe but I don’t even feel like I’m that to you. I feel like you see me as a sperm donor, for your kids with her and that hurts.”

Aubrey was quiet for a long time digesting what Mark had said. The more she thought about it the deeper her frown got. “Mark, I’m sorry if my actions and words have made you feel like that. It was not my intention. Thinking things over I think you are mostly right. I haven’t really been considering us as partners, and that I was sort of stuck with you. To be fair I am stuck with you as is everyone else. So I hope being accepting of that fact doesn’t bother you too much. But you’re right I’m not sure that I want to be with you, at the moment, rather I feel like I need to be with you. I get why that hurts. I’m sorry and I’d love for that to change. I’m ecstatic to hear you want to be a dad and not simply a father. I just didn’t think you would feel like you would have the time, you now have ten women, most of whom want children. I will say I have never thought of you as a sperm donor. I wanted you to be involved and help raise our kids as much as you could. I would actually have been really upset if you weren’t in their lives at all. I’ll try to focus on us a bit more, Mark, but it is really hard right now. That emptiness I told you I felt. It feels like it’s growing.”

“Well, Aubrey. I know this is probably not what you want to hear, but I don’t want our first time together to be simply for you to get pregnant. I’m not saying we have to use protection, but I want you to want me, for me, not that you simply want to get pregnant. Until you feel that way I don’t want to have sex with you.”

“That doesn't seem fair. You had sex with Laura because she just wanted some sex.”

“First of all, each of you have different circumstances to consider, I’m not going to treat each of you exactly the same. You don’t have the same needs or wants as Laura, so treating you like I treat her would be a disservice to you. So don’t judge our relationship by my relationship with Laura. Second, yes, Laura wanted to have sex but she very much wanted to be with me. She didn’t feel like she had to be with me. I know Laura has done stuff with the others. If she simply needed to have sex there are multiple people here she could have gotten off with. If she really didn’t care about me and my feelings she could have even been with Smug. Maybe she would have been penalized for that but she could have done it. She has been a great partner, even if not the exact partner I would have imagined wanting. I want more with her too, but if she doesn’t I’ll accept that. Sex for her is more about fun and pleasure, over emotional intimacy. But she still made sure that I felt wanted and desired, it was important to her that I felt that. To her if both people don’t get off during sex, and enjoy the experience, that wasn’t good sex. It wasn’t just about her and her wants. So until our relationship is about more than me getting you pregnant, I don’t want us having sex.”

“Then we really need to do something about my TF before it gets worse soon. Because I think in another round or two it will start making that hard. Over the last round my desire for kids shifted from wanting them to wanting yours in particular. I also started feeling the desire like an emptiness inside me. Sort of like when you are hungry and have a desire to eat. I feel like that now. Like I’m mildly hungry. I’m worried it will go from, ‘I’d like a snack’ to ‘I feel like I’m starving’ in a few more rounds.”

“Okay, that does help me get a better handle on your TF. I was thinking it would be, a slower growth but I guess it is faster to push you, while we are here. We’ll figure something out soon then, okay. We already had some okay options. I know you aren’t happy with Sam right now Aubrey but I think you should try to work with her on this. She’s already been looking for a solution.”

“You really think she will help?”

“She definitely will if I ask her too, but yes I think she’d help if you ask as well. I know it was personal for you Aubrey but what she did to you wasn’t personal for her. She doesn’t have an issue with you besides the fact you now have an issue with her. Maybe this is something that can help you two resolve things. If you don’t think you can work with her right now I will ask her for help though, as this is too important to not resolve, because of a spat.”

“I wouldn’t call this a spat but I’ll ask her myself. Thanks for talking with me.” Aubrey got up to leave, and Mark followed suit to walk her out. At the door she turned back to Mark and placed a hand on his chest. “I will say Mark, I do want to improve things between us. I liked you before, in college. I think you’re a good man right now. You’ve shown that.” Aubrey reached up for Mark’s face and found it rather difficult. “Well, I guess I’m going to need to remember to wear heels more now that you are taller and I’m shorter. Could you lean down? I'd like to kiss you.” Mark smirked at that but obliged. He leaned over but at the last second decided to put his arms around her and lift her up to kiss her instead. Aubrey let out a small “Eep” of surprise but began kissing Mark all the same. After a good thirty seconds of making out with him, she stopped for a moment. “Mark.” She said rather flushed. “I want you to know I do want to try to make things work with you. Also… if you wanted, I don’t have to leave so quickly. We could continue this for a while, just carry me over to the bed.”

“While I would love to do that, Flora also wanted to talk with me today. I still haven’t had breakfast and it’s almost lunchtime and Ellen wanted to start her date in the early afternoon so I do have other things to do today.”

“Well… maybe just a few more minutes? That shouldn’t impact your schedule too much. You are a really great kisser. Also the fact you can hold me like this with one arm is super sexy. Maybe I don’t need to wear heels all the time.”

“Well… I suppose… I could spare a few more minutes. Also I really like women in heels. Just something to keep in mind.” Mark carried Aubrey over to the bed effortlessly while she began kissing him on the way.