Matt Hawkins and Felix

Twelve numbered glasses of amber-brown liquid were laid out on the table in front of Felix in an intimidating array, and he had no idea where to begin with them. Andy, Van and Robert had all ended up at other circles to mingle in after collecting their glasses, leaving him at the table on his own. Around the room people were sniffing, sipping, discussing, and taking notes, so he decided to follow their lead and start by taking in the scent of glass number one. It smelled of whiskey, which wasn’t particularly helpful.

“First time doing a whisky tasting?” came a voice, smooth, confident, and British. A tall, thin man in a sharp black suit had sidled up to the table, carrying his own tasting set on a small tray.

“Does it show?” Felix asked with an awkward smile.

“A little, but everyone has to be new at some point,” the man shrugged, unbothered, then extended a hand, “Matt Hawkins. I’m about as new to this whole Harem thing as you seem to be to whisky.”

“Felix,” he took the hand and shook it firmly, “I’m kind of new to alcohol in general. I’m only eighteen, but nobody thought to check my ID so...” he shrugged back.

Matt cocked his head in confusion, then let out a short laugh as he realised. “Right. Americans. I forget you’re weird about the drinking age.” He gestured to an empty chair across the table. “Mind if I sit? I’ll tell you everything I know about whisky if you tell me what you know about this damn Hotel.”

“That sounds like a fair trade.”

The thin man lay down his tray and slipped into the seat. He adjusted his jacket, slapped his hands on the table, then picked up a glass and held it up to the light.

“Whisky. Fire water. Uisge beatha, if you’re going to be Scottish and pretentious about it. You take a distilled grain alcohol mixture, basically unpurified vodka, and age it in a barrel until it takes on the colour from the wood. You also get some flavour from the wood, and from the water that’s mixed into it. That’s what you’re tasting for here: the original alcohol mixture, the wood, and the water.”

“I’m tasting the wood?” Felix looked at the whiskey suspiciously.

“You don’t need to watch out for splinters, and it’s not going to taste like chewing on a plank, but yes,” Matt chuckled, then brought the glass up towards his face. “Now, technique. Take a small sip to start with and let it spread around your mouth, but don’t worry about picking out flavours yet. Your palate is going to be too overwhelmed by the alcohol to give you any clear messages.” He demonstrated, taking in the tiniest amount of the liquid and twisting his mouth around for a few seconds before swallowing. “Let the burn fade, and then you can try again for smell and taste. Pay attention to anything that comes to your mind, however random. There’s no wrong answers. You tell me it reminds you of cheddar cheese, then it damn well reminds you of cheddar cheese.”

Felix followed along with the instructions, coughing a little at the sudden sharp heat of the first sip but then bracing himself for the second. It still burned, though maybe not quite as badly. It tasted awful, but there was something else there. Half a childhood memory in the very adult drink.

“It tastes like...” he coughed again, “Like a campfire. Like the wood you mentioned, but also smoke, and maybe... dirt?”

“Very good,” Matt nodded encouragingly, “That’s the peat. Flammable bog-soil, as appetising as that sounds. This is a scotch whisky, from the highlands if I’m not mistaken, and scotch distilleries use peat fires to dry the barley that makes the alcohol.”

“Sorry,” Felix shook his head, and put the glass down, “Not a fan of that one.”

Matt gave a warm smile. “Hey, no wrong answers, right? If you don’t like it, then you don’t like it. Maybe you might prefer Irish or American whiskeys, maybe you’ll like it more when you come back to it later, or maybe you just don’t like whisky at all. You won’t know until you try, and that’s half the fun of trying new things.”

“I feel like I’m getting well practiced at trying new things by this point,” he laughed.

Matt laughed along with him, but trailed off. He sat back in his chair, still smiling but with a more serious edge to his expression. “What’s that been like?” he asked quietly.

“It’s been a journey,” he looked down, swilling the remnants of the whisky around the tasting glass, “Not an easy one.”

“You seem like you’re coping though?” Matt looked him over analytically, the question wasn’t quite rhetorical, “It must take some confidence to show up to a party in an outfit like that, at least. You’re making me feel overdressed and under-exercised.”

“If you're curious, me being shirtless is a fetish thing,” Felix said. “A lot of my harem got far hornier than most humans from the transformations they got, and as part of that, they like keeping me naked or as near naked as they can. Me getting to wear shorts required a change in who votes on it.”

“Votes on it?” Matt asked, incredulous. “I caught something about that during the Roast, but what kind of setup do you have over there?”

“I may have the only femdom season in Harem Hotel history, not counting girl on girl stuff,” Felix said. “As part of that, my harem votes on transformations I get, and one of them was they got to decide what clothes I wear. The other options were me experiencing clothing damage like a horny anime, or being perpetually naked outside of maybe extreme situations. This way I get to, occasionally, wear pants.”

A noise that was almost a growl slipped out of Matt’s throat, seeming to surprise even himself, before he covered it with a cough. He couldn't fully hide the displeasure from his expression though. “That’s... They didn’t even let you wear a shirt to a party? Please tell me you’ve talked about this with them, and you’re okay with it?”

“It's a lot better than my life used to be,” Felix continued with a small smile. “Not just because of retroactive reality alterations but... well, the pile of fetishes I have brings joy to other people. If that means I have to be embarrassed at events like this, that's a small price to pay. How about you? Have you been able to explore the stuff you wanted to?”

“That’s a loaded question,” Matt laughed sharply, without any humor, “I've only been there for half a round, and I’m a married man. My wife’s here too, Sarah, and last night was the first time in over ten years that I did anything with someone other than her. It's a bit more of an adjustment than...”

“A teenager who had no success at anything?” Felix asked rhetorically. “Don't worry, I'm not mad about it. At this point I'm just trying to be the best guy for my harem that I can. Speaking of, you definitely need to get used to Sarah not being the only one anymore, even if she's the only one you love romantically.”

“Only one romantically?" Matt asked, frowning. "What do you mean by that? Do you not love the rest of your harem?”

Felix sighed before replying. “Cammy is the love of my life, and honestly I often feel like I don't deserve her. Noah, the slime girl I'm sure you've seen, is an amazing friend but I don't think either of us want to do the girlfriend/boyfriend thing. Of the rest of my harem, Castelilise is a fuckbuddy, and has made very clear she doesn't want to do anything deeper than that. Jamina is... complicated, but I think wants me to be a warrior to save her world more than she wants any kind of emotional thing, and primarily fucks me because she's a grown woman with needs.

“Nox I haven't had much time to interact with, as until recently she was trapped in the head of an oni, and then afterwards was that oni's slave until literally yesterday. Hailey I care a lot about, but that's mostly because she's been the victim of Hotel shenanigans, and is literally only there to make me feel guilty. As for Janessa... our relationship isn't in a great place, let's just leave it at that.”

“I don’t know if I’m capable of that,” he admitted in a soft murmur, “Neatly separating out the feelings. I’ll try, but I’ve only ever been with two women.” He winced. “Three now, I guess. I love Sarah more than anything, and I know she loves me. I loved Emma too, even if it wasn’t as mutual as I’d hoped. Max... I don’t know. She was always rough around the edges, but I thought we were friends. Then yesterday it suddenly seemed like the closer I got the more she pushed me away.”

“There was once a guy, named Austin,” Felix said, searching for a way to emphasise the importance of his point. “Horrible person, to the point where I didn't save him from elimination, because I figured he deserved it. However, that elimination was so horrific that, even though I think on some level Austin deserved it, it will still haunt my nightmares to my dying day. I say this because, as the master, your main responsibility is to those in your harem, even if you hate them, because I guarantee you that elimination is far worse.”

“I know. Believe me, I know.” Matt swept a hand through his short hair and exhaled, long and slow. He suddenly looked very, very tired. “I don’t want to hurt anyone, but some of them... I know I’m going to have to be something different for each of them, but I don’t know how. A couple of them in particular. One hates me, and might be worse than your Austin in terms of personality. Another one...” he looked carefully at Felix before finishing his sentence, “Poppy doesn’t have any interest in me at all, in that way. I’m pretty sure she’s my Hailey. The one that’s only there to make me feel guilty. I’ve got no idea at all what form my relationship with her is supposed to take.”

The table fell silent, apart from Matt tapping his fingers on the table with an anxious rhythm. Before Felix could try and respond though, Matt sat forward and clenched his hands into tight fists.

“That’s a lie, actually,” he spat, avoiding eye contact, “I know what it’s supposed to be, I just hate it. But the only way she avoids elimination is if I can somehow get something that ‘pleases me’ out of her.” He snarled and made sarcastic air quotes with his fingers around the two words. “It would be easier if my season was set up like yours, but it’s not. I’m the aggressor, I’m the one that’s in control, I’m the dragon hoarding them all. I don’t get any excuses if they end up getting hurt.”

The rant came to a close and the sudden anger fell from Matt’s face. He sat quietly for a moment, then shook his head and grimaced. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to downplay your experiences like that, or to vent at you without warning. It’s just... it’s been a lot of pressure.”

“It’s fine,” Felix said gently, “I get it. Apology accepted.”

“Thanks,” Matt murmured.

“To be less dark about it,” Felix returned to his earlier advice, “You're in a polyamorous relationship now. I know that's a tough adjustment, because I was someone who didn't even have experience with what it was like to have friends until I had a harem, much less romantic love. But, it can have advantages. Castelilise is amazing because if I'm ever too spent emotionally, she doesn't expect anything of me except what my body can provide. Noah is the best friend I never had, and helps me be my best self. I'm sure as time goes on, I'll discover a different way everyone in my harem completes me as a person even if it isn't a romantic sense. A relationship can be sexual without being romantic, and still have plenty of worth. If you remember that, you'll do just fine.”

Matt gave him a curious look, and a tired smile. “Are you sure you’re only eighteen? I wish I’d been half as mature as you when I was that age.”

“I've had days that feel like years lately,” Felix said with an equally tired voice. “Maybe let’s get back to the whiskey? I wouldn't want to bum you out during a celebration.”

“Sure,” Matt smiled, his face smoothly resetting as if the previous conversation hadn’t happened at all. He sat up straight, pulled his shoulders up and back, then picked up glass number two. “Now, look at the difference in colour of this one...”