Carpe a la Chambord

Everyone was finishing up their meal, and with how much socializing went on at breakfast, it stretched out, taking a good part of the morning. Caleb was glad for that, it meant even if sectioned off, the girls did seem to be enjoying each other’s company. When it looked like everyone was about to part for the day, though, Amy stood up and raised her voice.

“Before everyone leaves, I have something to share. I had hoped to tell everyone all at once, but I can grab Stella and tell her back in our room,” Amy sighed before focusing on everyone with resolute eyes, “I found something at the Sabotage Shop the other day, I think it’s important to share with the group.”

That got everyone’s attention. Maya leaned in with excitement while Eliza looked trepidatious, Lily held Maddy defensively before the Oni continued, “It’s a mask that was hidden from the main display, it doesn’t match the design of any of the other masks. There is no description of what it does, it has a unique ruby outline…and it appears to be of Lucian, not any of us.”

Amy gauged everyone’s reactions, checking to see if anyone was feigning surprise, “Despite being hidden, Arietta was able to tell me how much it costs, if not what it does. It’s forty BP, and after this next challenge, I intend on purchasing it.”

Caleb frowned; he could hazard a guess why Amy was doing this in this way. If she bought the mask behind everyone’s back, regardless of what it did, it might immediately put people on the defensive and start an arms race. By letting people know about it and her intent, she could potentially cut that off while also painting a target on her own back.

Maya was the first to speak up, “If you don’t know what it does, why buy it at all?” Her tone was quizzical, rather than skeptical. Based on what Caleb now knew, she was probably earnestly trying to understand why Amy might do such a thing without there being a payoff.

Looking over, Amy regarded the purple-haired girl evenly, “I showed Caleb, but I’ll tell everyone else. I have a rudimentary AI I built based on transcripts of other seasons, I’m trying to figure out the best way for us all to get through this together. Based on other seasons, something like this cropping up is liable to be a trap, either to harm the purchaser or to sunder relationships of the harem. I want to avoid that if possible.”

Maya seemed satisfied with this answer and leaned back in her seat, and Maddy, across the room, hesitantly raised her hand, “Once you find out what it does, will you tell the rest of us?”

Amy screwed up her face, “I can’t promise that without knowing what it does, I’m sorry. If it appears to be harmless to share and I still can do so, then yes, I will let people know what the mask does. Just respect that there may be situations where I am unable to without harming the group.”

Lowering her hand, Maddy nodded, though her face indicated that she was still nervous about the whole ordeal, and Lily rubbed her shoulders. Mira was the next to speak up, “If after the challenge, you do not have the BP to purchase the mask, do you expect us to wait for you to do so or is it open to anyone at that point?”

The Oni sighed and scratched the back of her head, “That is a possibility. Obviously, I would rather you allow me to make the purchase, but I can’t make anyone do that. It would also be unfair of me to hold it against someone who had the BP to spend it how they wished. I can only ask that if you do to let the rest of us know you have done so. Otherwise, we can only assume you’re plotting against the group.”

“A fair assumption,” Mira nodded, resting her head on her hand, leaning inward, “Perhaps it’s worth bringing up then that I plan to go out and purchase a Sabotage today in preparation for the Challenge tomorrow. I don’t plan on using it until then, so that everyone is aware.”

Amy frowned, “That’s your right to do so. I’ll admit if I didn’t need to save my BP, I may be joining you. Just remember the audience doesn’t always take kindly to cutthroats.”

Eliza smiled nervously and held out her hands, “Hey, there’s no need for name-calling, we’re all trying to navigate things as best we can. No matter what happens tomorrow, as long as everyone does their best, there should be no reason to hold any grudges.”

Sliding out of her chair, Noemi stood up holding her hands out determinedly in front of her, “That’s right. None of us chose to be here, we can only make the best of this situation any way we can. So no matter what happens tomorrow, let's not let it drive us apart.”

Maddy and Lily looked surprised at this coming from Noemi, but each of them smiled in response.

Maya then smiled, “That’s right! Let’s all play as best we can and be good friends!” Lily’s smile vanished from her face, and Maddy looked distinctly uncomfortable.

Pushing her chair in, Mira stood up, “Is that everything then?”

Amy sighed, putting a hand on her hip, “Yeah, unless someone else has something to share.” The room remained quiet, “Yeah, that’s it then, thanks for listening to my TED talk, hopefully we all make it through tomorrow ok.”

Caleb watched as Maya jumped up and joined Mira as she left the room on her way to the Sabotage shop. He hoped Maya didn’t feel the need to buy anything, but honestly, he had his doubts given what she had said on their date. Even one Sabotage in the mix for tomorrow would make things hectic enough.

As everyone began to file out to leave, Noemi crossed the room to Caleb, “So about our date? I thought it would be nice to meet at the pool. The hotel has one by the gym, right?”

Caleb vaguely remembered Lucian saying something about that at the beginning of the week, “Sure, that sounds like fun. Do you want to go get changed and we can meet up by the entrance?”

Noemi flashed him a big grin, “Sounds great!” She then skipped off to her room to change. Caleb was glad that his last date would be a little more relaxed.

That is, it would be relaxed if Caleb was now not stuck in front of the entrance to the pool wearing a t-shirt and trunks. He had assumed that, like the rest of the gymnasium that the pool would have been indoors. Instead, he looked through the window at a very outdoor pool sparkling in the reflected sunshine.

Caleb wasn’t aware of how long he had been standing there when he heard Noemi call out from behind him, “Caleb! I hope I haven’t kept you waiting long!”

Turning to face her, Caleb gave a wave and frowned, “No not at all, there’s just a slight problem.”

Jogging to meet him, Caleb could now get a good look at her swimsuit. Noemi was wearing a pretty daring blue one-piece which had cutouts at the navel and chest, which showed off her prominent chest bouncing as she approached, momentarily distracting Caleb from the problem at hand.

Noemi peered out the window, “Oh shit, I thought the pool was inside, I’m sorry Caleb I should have thought this through more.”

Caleb paused, looking at how devastated the expression on the Chilean's face was, and then swallowed, “Hey, Noemi? Can you go outside and see if there’s an overhang at all?”

Noemi raised an eyebrow and then pushed past the door and walked outside before doubling back in, “Yeah, there’s a fabric overhang covering the beach chairs around the perimeter.”

Summoning his courage, Caleb nodded resolutely, “Alright…let’s do this.”

“Caleb? What are you-” But Noemi was cut off by Caleb pushing past and exiting the building into the sunlight.

Immediately, he was hit with vertigo and found himself on his knees. His heartbeat simultaneously in his chest pounding away and in his ears like a drum. His eyes darted around, and he saw the covered area not more than two feet away from him. Prying his hand from his chest, he reached out and grabbed the edge of one of the beach chairs. They were the nice kind, sturdy and with fabric covering.

Meanwhile, Noemi was hovering over Caleb, leaning in, unsure what to do with her hands reaching out, “Caleb, what’s going on? What do you need me to do?”

“-Chair” Caleb managed to gasp out, “Help…me…”

Not fully understanding, but wanting to help, Noemi reached out and helped support Caleb's body as he flipped himself onto the chair. His hand immediately went to his chest, and he closed his eyes and focused on breathing. He could feel the air moving on his skin, felt the sunbeams cascading across the thin hairs on his arms. He slowly took in each breath, slowly exhaling until he was able to look into the sky and up at Noemi leaning in above him.

She looked thoroughly distressed, staring down at him, “You didn’t need to do that.”

Caleb half-chuckled, half gasped as he lost control of his hair, “No…I know I didn’t have to. But all of you are working hard for each other’s sake and for mine. I want to meet you on that. Maybe I can’t swim together with you, but I can enjoy the outdoors together while you swim.” He paused, “I’m sorry, I know it’s not what you had planned.”

Shaking her head, Noemi leaned in and captured Caleb’s lips with hers. They held the kiss for some time before Noemi pulled away, a thin line of saliva trailing from her tongue before she wiped it away, “No it’s not what I had planned, but the fact that you did something so hard for me makes this more special than anything I had prepped for today.

Caleb grinned up at her and then laughed, noticing across the way in the lifeguard chair was a faun wearing sunglasses and thick sunscreen on its nose, “They really thought of everything, haven’t they?”

Running her hand down Calebs chest, Noemi smiled, “This place isn’t too bad once you get used to all the craziness.”

Caleb shook his head, “I’m not sure I would go that far, but I can honestly say that one thing I can’t complain about is the company.”

Looking into his eyes, Noemi leaned in, “Do you really mean that? After everything?”

Caleb nodded, “Hey, we said we were putting all that behind us, all I've seen from you since we’ve gotten here is you trying your best. That’s an extremely attractive quality in a woman.”

“Camelista, you dog, it’s unfair.” Noemi leaned back in and kissed his cheek.

Clearing his throat, Caleb gestured to the water, “Is there a reason you wanted to go swimming specifically?”

Noemi shot him a cocky smile and ran to the waters edge and diving in, resulting in the faun guard blowing their whistle before leaning lazily back in their seat. When she rose up out of the water, droplets cascading over her form and a bright smile on her face, she came to the the waters edge and climbed out.

“To show off mostly, I did swimming in school until college. It was one of the only sports that I practiced before school instead of after, which meant I could exercise, compete on weekends, and still be home after school to take care of my siblings.” She leaned in over the water’s edge, diving back in before slinging her body over the edge to talk to Caleb from the pool.

The Master nodded, “I remember back…” he was going to mention her taunting him, but thought better of it, “before you would sometimes mention your siblings. How many do you have?”

Noemi beamed over at him, “I’m the oldest of four, there are the twins Diego and Lucas and my little sister Carla. Though she’s not so little nowadays.”

“Wow, that’s quite the family,” Caleb marveled, “I’m a single child of a single parent household, so I can’t really imagine such a big family.”

“It’s crazy a lot of the time, but you can always count on there being something to do, or someone to have your back. We’re a pretty typical immigrant family, parents work all the time to support the family, and then I make sure the other kids are fed and get their school work done.” Noemi smiled, though her expression was a bit tense.

Caleb leaned in from his seat, “So it sounds like you had a pretty big part in raising your siblings. I can imagine that’s pretty stressful, being so young and having to take care of other people like that.”

“Yeah, well…” Noemi drifted off with her words, “What else was I going to do? Mama and Papa were working hard all the time, so we had food to eat. Someone had to make sure that things didn’t fall apart when they weren’t around.” She began to swim laps back and forth in the pool.

Caleb crawled to the edge of the overhang, “I get that it’s something you felt you had to do. It still must have been hard at times.”

Noemi stopped swimming and pounded her fist into the water, “So what? I should complain? I’m not some whiny Puta who needs consoling because she had it so hard Caleb. I did what I had to do, I will continue to do what I have to do for my family. That’s what I got to do. And if you can’t support that-”

Caleb swallowed and reached out, stepping from beneath the protective cover of the overhang to reach out and grab Noemi’s arm, “Hey, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m happy you love your family, that’s awesome. I love my dad too more than anything. I don’t have the same experience having to make sacrifices for my family, but I want to support what all you girls find important. But I don’t want you wrecking yourself over it. Just like how I want to be a safe harbor for all you girls while you’re here. I want to be that when we get home too.”

Noemi frowned and then pulled her arm from him and sniffing, “Well that’s alright then…”

“I just think…from what I’m hearing, you’ve had to handle a whole lot all on your own, let me share that burden with you a bit.”

“Even though you have all these other women here for you?” Noemi turned to look Caleb in the face.

Caleb shook his head, “Caring about them doesn’t mean I care about you any less, ok? You’re important to me, Noemi, and as long as we’re together, I want to do what I can to support you.”

Noemi cupped her hands and spoke into them, “Camelista”

Looking over, Caleb raised an eyebrow, “What was that?”

Noemi splashed him with water, “Never you mind!” She dove back into the water to swim as Caleb retreated under the overhang.

“Hey! Hey!” Reyna whispered to the Camera, lounging on the couch backstage, the camera zoomed in on her lounging form, “I know you audience members are enjoying this date, probably chomping at the bit to get to the action of the challenge too. Well, don’t worry, we’ll be getting to that, but I wanted to take advantage of Lucian being distracted by telling you fan mail submissions are open for the next week, your time.” Reyna shot a winning smile to the camera.

“You can send messages to anyone here at the Masquerade, the girls, Arietta, Caleb, Lucian, Me, whoever! Simply send your message via DM or through the Harem Hotel Discord to the creator. Make sure to include who is sending the message and who it’s for. Then on Challenge day we will be handing the mail out for everyone to read right before getting to the action!”

Reyna gave a jovial chuckle, “Also, don’t worry, this won’t put a pause on Noemi’s date so you be sure to enjoy that mess while you write.”

FANMAIL WILL BE ACCEPTED VIA DM or CONTACT THROUGH THE HAREM HOTEL DISCORD UNTIL 4/16/2025