Well, the rain beats on my roof (Look through my window)

Marley wracked her brain trying to think of an answer to Nola’s question as Nick did the same.

A member of the harem she disliked… the person she hated the most…

Who would that even be?

She would have said Dakota without a second thought- after what Dakota did to Sylvia, of course Marley held a grudge against her!

But Dakota wasn’t in Nick’s harem anymore, she wasn’t a viable choice. No, now… now Marley had to choose someone else.

It wasn’t exactly something she spent a lot of time thinking about. After all, she was very fond of all the women in Nick’s harem. While she wasn’t close with all of them, she had good memories of all of them caring for her and trying to do their best for her. Even back when she was Mimi, they were still very sweet on her.

Marley wasn’t the type of girl to hold a grudge. She didn’t despise or disdain people without a very good reason.

She saw all the faces of her friends flash through her mind, and her sister’s face as well. Did she really have negative thoughts about some of them? Even if it was just one?

She had to, right? Nola wouldn’t have asked a question that didn’t have an answer to it.

Sure, nobody was perfect. Marley wasn’t SUCH a doormat that she’d never gotten annoyed by some of the other girls’ antics before. Mary could be rather high-handed, Rose had her bouts of being an annoyance, and Gina’s reckless behavior and irreverent hedonism were always tiring.

But did any of that rise up to the level of actual dislike? The more Marley thought about it, the more she understood that regardless of what negative thoughts she had for the other girls in Nick’s harem, they were vastly overshadowed by all the good.

“Nola, I have a question.”

Marley jumped in her seat slightly and turned to Nick. She’d almost forgotten he was here!

“Oh?” Nola blinked. “Well… what’s your question?” She asked curiously.

Nick bit his lip and glanced at Marley for a second. Then he shifted in his seat and turned back to Nola with a frown on his face.

“About this question… I don’t think Marley actually actively dislikes anybody,” he said firmly. “But do I need to, in order to give an answer? What if the good things she sees in them outweighs the bad she sees in them?”

Nola blinked, and looked around warily. She wasn’t sure if Dakota would fill the room with gas as a result of asking this question or not, and frankly, the thought that she might was terrifying. But she sucked it up and shook her head.

“That’s not what the question is asking,” she clarified. “I just want you to put down the name of the person in your harem you think Marley has the most negative feelings towards. Even if her feelings are, on the whole, positive.”

“Really?!” Marley sighed in relief. That made her feel a lot better. So she would have to choose the person she had the most negativity towards… but it was okay if she still liked them? That would help her make a decision…

…In theory, anyway.

In practice, Marley and Nick both sat for a while and tried to think about what their answer would be. After all, Nick’s clarifying question may have made deliberations easier, but that didn’t mean they both could immediately pick out a name.

Finally, though, after several minutes of thinking about who Marley likely had the most negative feelings towards in the harem, they both picked a name.

“Okay, it looks like that was a pretty tough one!” Nola noted, tapping her chin thoughtfully while grinning like a fool. “Can’t say I blame you guys for having trouble thinking it out, Marley is such a sweetheart most of the time, so the thought of her disliking someone is a little hard to wrap my head around! But that’s the way the cookie crumbles, isn’t that right?”

Nick rolled his eyes. “Nola…”

“Fine, fine, we’ll move on,” Nola cleared her throat. “So Nick, who do you think Marley dislikes the most?”

Nick knew that this might not be the correct answer. He tried to think about things from Marley’s perspective, and this was the best he had.

He held up his whiteboard.

DANI

Marley’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Dani?” Nola seemed just as surprised. “Why Dani? Her sister’s girlfriend?”

Nick squirmed. “Well, I mean… Marley’s such a nice person, and she cares a lot about people. It was hard to think of anyone she might have negative feelings towards… so I just figured, maybe Dani? Since, well… she’s taking Carly’s attention or something like that? That was my reasoning for it… I know it’s not very strong, but…”

He glanced at Marley, his eyes glistening with admiration. “I just can’t think of her having negative feelings towards people. So that’s why I chose Dani.”

“Aww… that’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard!” Nola cooed. “Now the only question is whether or not your guess was correct! Marley? What say you? What name did you put down on that whiteboard of yours? Who is the girl in Nick’s harem that you dislike the most?”

Marley felt miserable revealing this, but she didn’t have a choice. She’d had half a mind to put nobody, but that wasn’t gonna happen. She needed to handle every question seriously in the hope that Nick would get the right answer, and they could finally put this game show behind them.

DANI

And it looks like now was that moment.

Nola’s eyes widened in shock. Nick looked a little stunned himself.

“So… it was Dani?” He asked for clarification.

Marley bit her lip and nodded solemnly.

“Is it because of all the stuff Nick said?” Nola leaned over the podium with a glimmering expression. “You’re upset that she’s taking your sister away from you?”

“No!” Marley exclaimed. “It’s not like that! I’m glad they’re together, really, I am! That has nothing to do with this!”

“Then what is it?” Nick frowned. “If you and Dani have some kind of issue…”

“There’s no issue!” Marley shook her head. “It’s just… she’s really pissed me off these last few weeks with the way she’s acted.”

“Acted how?” Nick pressed.

“I mean… the whole reason she and Carly couldn’t get together for so long! Do you know how infuriating it was!?” Marley exclaimed. “I was sitting there, watching the two of them dance around the issue, and screaming to myself ‘just get together already!’ but no, they kept avoiding it.”

“So why didn’t you put Carly then?” Nick wondered. “I mean, Carly was probably the bigger cause of that hesitation than Dani.”

“Oh, no, I know that,” Marley nodded. “Frankly, I was a lot more pissed at her than I was at Dani; if I was answering honestly I probably would have put Carly’s name, believe it or not. I mean, yeah, I love her, but she also pisses me off so much!”

She stared at Nick.

“…But I know you wouldn’t have.”

“Huh!?” Nick’s eyes widened. He was about to say something, but he realized that Marley was right. Nick would have never put down Carly’s name; the thought hadn’t even crossed her mind.

“Nick, you’re an only child, so you don’t know how annoying sisters can be,” Marley sighed, shaking her head. “I knew there was no way you’d choose Carly, so I thought about the way you’ve been answering these questions, and I figured you’d go for someone like Dani. I was 50/50 on whether you would choose Dani or Rose, since you know Rose can be annoying, but I decided to go with Dani since she’s the one I’m more annoyed by right now.”

“That’s… wow, you know me a lot better than I thought,” Nick mumbled. He was a little flattered, but also very unnerved.

Marley smirked. “It’s my transformation. I’m a Fast Learner, remember?”

“That one’s still active?!”

“I guess so,” she chuckled. “After all those questions you answered, and getting to see the way you think through your answers, I’ve been able to read you like a book… more or less. There are still a lot of gaps, obviously,” she giggled, shaking her head. “But… it really helped me see things a lot more clearly, you know?”

That was kind of a relief… sort-of.

Nick wasn’t exactly relieved. But he was glad that Marley didn’t dislike anyone in his harem enough to be actively antagonistic towards them.

And he was also glad that they finally managed to make it through this challenge!

“We got the question right,” Nick pointed out, turning to Nola. “So doesn’t that mean we get the key now?”

“Oh!” Nola’s face brightened. “That’s right! You got the same answers, so that means it’s another point for Nick! And since you’ve both got three points now… this game is officially over! Congratulations! Hopefully, this little show has made you a stronger couple than ever before!” She spread her hands wide and a tape of canned applause played through the room.

Nick and Marley glanced at each other and winced. Just the opposite of that had happened, in fact, not that either of them wanted to think that way.

Marley stood up and grabbed the key as it was lowered towards them. They could finally move onto the next room.

“Thank you for playing!” Nola waved to them as they headed for the door. “…And thank you for not cheating! I really didn’t want to be gassed with aphrodisiacs!”

“No problem!” Nick called back to her as Marley opened the door, and the two of them walked through and into the next room.

It slammed shut behind them.

“Okay, well, that was fun!” Nola laughed, stretching her arms over her head. “Dakota, I’m ready to go now!”

Silence.

Nola tapped her foot. “Dakota?” She asked, getting a little nervous. “You can teleport me back now… Dakota?”

More silence.

“Come on, this isn’t funny! Let me out!” The leprechaun wailed.

Nick and Marley entered the next room, and they realized they were seeing double.

“What the heck?” Nick looked around, trying to make sense of what was happening. The room was very strangely-decorated. “Is that a mirror?”

It looked as though someone had set up a giant wall mirror. The room looked as though it had been cut in half, and a glimmering surface reflected in the center. There were two tables, two sets of chairs, two bookshelves, everything that was in the room was perfectly reflected.

“Wait, no…”

Marley rubbed her eyes and took a second look. “It’s not a mirror, see? Those people… that’s… wait, they’re mannequins!”

There was a discrepancy. In the room’s reflection were a pair of mannequins, a man and a woman. The man was holding the half-naked woman down on the table, and her face was twisted in ecstasy. They looked frozen in an act of mid-coitus, but as Nick and Marley crept closer to the image, they saw it wasn’t so tawdry.

…Still very tawdry, yes, but there was no direct penetration. The man’s hand was down the front of her pants, touching her vagina, but… no penetration.

The two of them stared at the frozen scene before them for a few seconds before they realized something.

“Wait, it’s not a mirror!” Nick pointed out the obvious.

“Shit, you’re right!” Marley couldn’t believe she missed it. She raised her fist and rapped it against the wall. “We don’t have reflections. So it’s not a mirror… it must be a window!”

That’s what it was. A wall of pure glass. Whoever had designed this room, they’d designed it to look like a mirror. The opposite room had been perfectly constructed to look like a reflection of this one, so that the glass looked like a mirror.

“So what do we do?” Nick wondered, going over to try the door on the far side of the room. It was locked. “I don’t think we can get into that room…” He nodded past the glass wall, over to the door in the other chamber, the one that was completely sealed away from them.

“I don’t know,” Marley said, shaking her head. “It’s an escape room though, right? Now that we’re done with the game show, back to the escape room. So I guess the only thing we have to do is find the key, like before?”

Nick looked around. They were in a study of some kind, a far more modern room than the previous ones they’d seen. Apparently after the game show Dakota had completely trashed the premise of being trapped in a witch’s dungeon. Unless this was part of it for some reason… ugh, he didn’t want to think about that.

He just wanted to solve the puzzles at this point.

“I think this is maybe her library?” Marley wondered, walking around the room. The shelves were stacked with books. “But… I don’t think we have time to do what we did in that underground lab, and check every shelf for books…”

There were a LOT of books they would have to dig through. Nick reached up and tried to take one off- like in the underground lab, they were firmly stuck on the shelf.

“There’s a desk over there,” Nick said, pointing to the desk on their side of the room. “Maybe the key is in there?”

They tried the drawers. They all opened, but they were all empty. No key anywhere.

Normally, Nick might start getting worried. But it was fine. Things were going to be fine. They still had plenty of places in the room to search for the key.

“What do you think the point of this glass is?” Marley wondered. She’d abandoned the search for the key and was studying the room’s wall. “Why would this witch or whoever it was go to the trouble of making a mirror image like this?”

Something about that clued Nick in.

“Hey, maybe that’s it!” He realized. “Making a mirror image!”

“Huh?” Marley looked back at him. “What do you mean?”

“Well… are you sure this room is a perfect replica of the other one?” Nick asked. “Take a look. Doesn’t anything look different?”

He figured Marley of all people should have picked up on it by now.

“Well, yeah,” Marley nodded. “The plants aren’t in the right places.”

There were two potted trees, one on each side of the glass wall. But one of the potted trees was right up against the glass, beside the desk, and the other one, while on the same wall, was closer to the door, on the other side of the desk. It took a second for them to notice, but when they did, it was obvious.

“I think that the way we get through this is if we change the things on our side of the wall so that they perfectly reflect what’s on the other side,” Nick said. “I think the door is going to open if we can manage to do that.”

“Works for me,” Marley nodded in agreement. It sounded like a better strategy than anything she had at the moment. “Like a spot the difference puzzle!”

“Exactly.”

While Marley went to go move the tree, Nick scanned the other room for any differences he could find in the setup.

The first thing he noticed was the chairs. On their side of the room, the chairs were perfectly tucked into the table. But on the other side, a few had been pulled out. He quickly went and took care of that, moving the chairs around so that it looked like invisible people were staring at them.

“What else is there?” Marley asked, studying the desk. “The drawers?”

The desk on the other side of the glass had one of the drawers sticking out. Marley quickly fixed that on the desk on their side.

But there was something else, too.

On the other side of the glass, a book sat on the desk, unopened.

They needed to find a book.

“We need to find the right book to use here,” Marley said. “It’s got a green cover.”

Nick’s eyes scanned the shelves.

“…There are a lot of books here with a green cover,” he groaned, already knowing where this was going to go.

“I know,” Marley sighed. “But we don’t have a choice.”

They searched the shelves for any book that they could take out. It was slow going, even with the chairs helping them get to the upper shelves.

Eventually, though, they managed to find the right book. It was way on a shelf in the back corner, but it was the only book that they could move.

Thankfully, it was colored green.

Nick didn’t even want to think about what could happen if the book was blue or red or some other color.

Marley took the book and set it down on the desk, aligning it so that was perfectly reflected in the glass. The room was looking more and more like a mirror image.

“Well, that should do it,” Nick said, sliding the chair they’d used back into place. “I can’t see any differences between the two rooms.”

Marley tried the door again, and groaned. “Nope. Still locked.”

“What? But we moved everything correctly!” Nick exclaimed. Then his eyes widened. “Wait, well… except…”

Marley blanched.

“Except for us,” she realized what he was getting at.

They’d been avoiding the elephant in the room because of how embarrassing it was, but obviously there had been a reason Dakota had put the two mannequins up there on the table making love to each other.

The same reason that those mannequins just so happened to be wearing the same clothes that they were wearing.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me…” Marley shook her head. “She can’t really be expecting us to…”

“It’s Dakota,” Nick said grimly. “Of course that’s what she’s expecting us to do.”

They warily circled the table, neither one wanting to be the first person to say it. But the longer they put it off, the more obvious it was that this was the last thing they needed to do in order to get the glass door to open.

They needed to copy the couple on the other table, with the man driving the woman to orgasm.