Oeufs brouillés Magda

Maya had been lying in bed for the last hour and a half, unable to get back to sleep. Last night, for better or worse, both she and Stella had been too tired for any form of confrontation, so they had slipped into their PJs and had gone to bed. That had been fine. Now, though, Maya had been woken up by a leathery wing slapping her in the face, to wake up and see that her roommate was dominating three-quarters of the bed, spread out like she was making a snow angel. This left Maya curled on the final quarter, staring up at the ceiling.

She looked over to her sleeping roommate and grimaced. Mira had said to make up and apologize, and Maya did want to become friends; but watching her drool on the sheets blissfully unaware of how much of the bed she was hogging was making it difficult for Maya to feel kindness in her heart. The purple-haired woman turned to look at the clock, which was steadily blinking the time of 8:58 AM at her.

She didn’t mind sharing a bed; she had done so most of her life, but she did mind being woken up. Not getting the right amount of sleep, waking up at the wrong time, it all messed with Maya’s groove, making it harder to go about the day. She had always been that way; routine was important, and it gave the day a sense of structure so that even if bad things happened, at least one thing was going right. It’s why even once she started living alone and had seen no real point of getting out of bed, she had still made sure to stick to her schedule. She looked back at the clock, it now read 9:00 AM. That was good enough, she decided.

She flipped over on her side, facing Stella, and squarely collided her hand with Stella’s face, not enough to hurt, but enough for there to be a flat slapping sound as skin collided.

There was a sputtering noise as Stella recoiled and snapped awake, her eyes shooting open as she collided her head with the headboard in her retreat. “Augh!” Stella’s hands flew up to clutch her head and nose, and she reared on Maya, “What the hell was that for?!”

Keeping her face even, Maya sat up, “I’m sorry for dumping juice on you yesterday when you were being a bully.”

It took Stella a moment, the response was so incongruous with the events leading up to it that trying to reconcile them made it take longer for her even to recognize what Maya had said. She lowered her hands and looked on in disbelief, “What the Heck, Maya? Is that why you hit me and woke me up?”

Not missing a beat, Maya nodded, “Yeah, I wanted to apologize, and also I was annoyed that you woke me up.”

“I woke YOU up?” Stella stared on in bewilderment, fighting the anger boiling inside her.

Nodding again, Maya continued, “Yes, you slapped me with your wing in your sleep, and I wasn’t able to get back to sleep, so I was annoyed.”

Stella paused and looked down at her wings, which fluttered subconsciously from the attention, before turning back on Maya, “But I didn’t mean to do that! You can’t get upset with someone for something they do in their sleep!”

“Why not? Obviously, I’m less mad than if you did it intentionally, but it doesn’t change the fact that my day is worse because of you.” Maya laid out bluntly.

It was like Stella’s brain was short-circuiting, trying to follow the other woman’s logic. Stella started and stopped saying several things rapidly, sounding like an engine that was having difficulty starting.

Giving the bartender a look of concern, Maya tilted her head, “Are you ok? Did you hit your head too hard?”

Stella found her words as she pointed her finger into Maya’s chest, “No, I’m not ok! I was woken up by being hit in the face, hitting my head, and being told it was my fault for sleeping wrong! Why would I be ok?”

Maya froze and took a lengthy pause before responding, “I did not mean for it to sound like that. I explained it poorly. I’m sorry.” Her voice was a mix of apologetic and something along the lines of resignation, like she was used to this sort of outcome.

Sighing, Stella tried to take a deep breath, “Fuck ok. Just it’s irritating as shit. I feel like I can’t do anything without people assuming I did it for awful reasons.”

After another few seconds of pause, Maya spoke up, “Do you accept my apology?”

Stella blinked, “What? Maya I don’t fucking care, it was just another topping on the shit sundae that was yesterday” Stella turned away and got up from the bed, going over to dresser and opening the drawer, finding to her relief and annoyance that her clothes had been modified for her new appearance.

Maya watched her from the bed and remembered what she had been told about making friends. Asking questions, this seemed like a good start, “Why did you go after Eliza yesterday? You don’t like being made into a villain, but you really said some cruel things to her.”

Stella suddenly became very focused on the Shirt in her hands, avoiding all eye contact with Maya, “Is it that important? I’d kind of like to drop it.”

Maya crawled forward to stare at the bartender from the bed, “I really want to know, I’m trying to understand why you would bully someone else here like that.”

Clenching her knuckles, Stella clicked her tongue, “I was annoyed at being the only one called out.”

Maya held her hand out, asking for more, and Stella sighed, “Everyone has been on my case since my date. It started with the punishment, but it wasn’t just that…I just was fed up. Maybe I made a mistake, ok? But like, it’s not like I’m the only person here who puts themselves first or is a hypocrite. Seeing how Eliza’s group behaved, it just pissed me off and I lashed out at her. Maybe I went too far, but honestly, after the challenge…I just was angry, and she became the target.”

Maya nodded, “Everyone thinks I’m a bad person because I want to play the game, so I can understand that it’s…hard to see other people behaving in a way that makes you think the accusations are unfair. I understand that.”

Stella laughed, “That should have been the name for our room, ‘Team Villains’.”

Smiling, Maya got up and went to her own dresser. That had gone better than she had expected.

---

In the Pierrot Suite, the two most senior members of the Harem were both up and awake. Well, up would be overstating for one. Mira was currently staring down while fully dressed at Eliza, who had pulled the covers up over her head.

“You know, staying in bed today isn’t going to make you feel better? You’ll just be stuck with your thoughts, and it’s only going to make you feel worse.” The Bengali woman said exasperatedly to the lump under the covers.

There was a muffled noise from under the blankets. Mira rolled her eyes, reached down, and pulled them up, exposing Eliza’s face. “I can’t hear you when you talk directly into the bed.”

Eliza sniffled, her hair was completely unkempt, her eyes red and swollen, and she reached for the blanket to recover herself, but was only able to partially due to Mira’s resistance.

“I said…it doesn’t matter, I can’t face anyone like this, so I might as well stay in bed.” The professor managed to get out.

Mira put a hand on her hips, looking more intimidating than ever in the tight black cat suit that she was being **** into today; all she needed was a whip. She respected Eliza as a fellow adult professional and competitor, but it was really trying her patience with her acting like this. “So you can’t face them today, so when are you going to be able to face them? When will be the right time? How will you go on your date with Caleb?”

Eliza frowned and tried to retreat further into the covers, “I don’t know, I just can’t do it today. It’s too fresh, Mira!”

Mira tapped her finger on her hips, “Eliza, this is the first challenge you understand what that means? This is as likely as easy as it’s ever going to get, so if you can’t pull yourself together now, the chance of you doing so in the future is slim. Then what hope do you have of making it out of here?”

Pushing her face toward the pillows, Eliza shook her head, “It’s not like it matters, no one will care if I don’t make it through to the end.”

Mira’s tapping increased in speed as she closed her eyes. She could feel her temple throbbing, “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear you say that, because it’s absolutely ridiculous. If you insist on throwing a tantrum, fine. I will give you the time to throw a tantrum. I am going to breakfast. When I come back, I expect to see you up and about. If you aren’t, I am dragging you out of bed. Do you understand me?”

There was a muffled sound from the pillows, and Mira reached down and gently grabbed Eliza’s hair and made her look up at her. “I said, do you understand me?”

Eliza looked sideways, avoiding eye contact as she answered, “Yes, I understand.”

Mira let go and sighed heavily. It was far from ideal, but it would have to do for now. She pivoted and walked out of the room with a sharp click of her heels against the ground.

---

Meanwhile, in the Brighella Suite, Maddy awoke to being firmly in Noemi’s clutches. It seems the Chilean had crossed her side in the middle of the night and was now holding the chef firmly in the little spoon position. Maddy didn’t necessarily mind, but getting out of bed without waking her roommate at this rate would prove a monumental task. It was an upgrade from being glitter bombed at the very least.

The blonde sighed. She didn’t know how to deal with Lily at this rate. She understood that her choice in the challenge had been motivated by wanting to help out Amy, and she could recognize in retrospect that it was the right choice given what happened in the other booth. That didn’t change the fact that it was once again Lily doing what she thought was best at the disregard of her word and integrity. Maybe it wasn’t fair to hold the challenge against her, but Maddy couldn’t help having the feelings she did. Was it too much to want the people she cared about to be upfront and honest?

Then there was Eliza, if Maddy didn’t know what to think about Lily, then her thoughts were even more tumultuous concerning the professor she thought had been her friend. It was just like what happened with Lily, she became friends with who Eliza presented herself as, a person that Maddy thought was kind and could be trusted. Turns out that person collapsed under any sort of pressure, and not only that, despite the amount of respect Maddy had built up for the professor, turns out it hadn’t been reciprocated in any way.

“Do I really come across as so unreliable?” Maddy thought to herself before shaking her head and smiling ruefully, “What am I even thinking? Of course I do. Mousey Maddy can’t do anything except eat and cook. Why would anyone think I was capable of more than that?”

The chef was shaken from her thoughts by a drawn-out groan and smacking of lips behind her as Noemi nuzzled against her shoulder, eyes opening blearily, “g’mornin’”

Maddy turned her head back to look at her roommate, “Good morning, it seems that we’re a bit knotted up here.”

Noemi smiled with her eyes closed and chuckled into a low hum, “Yeah, sorry about that, I’m a cuddler. Used to always cuddle up with my little siblings back home. Also, you’re so soft and huggable, I can’t resist!” She punctuated her words by giving Maddy a soft squeeze and jostling her around playfully, eliciting a blush and chuckle from Maddy.

Finally releasing the chef from her grasp, Noemi pulled away and sat up, “I hope it wasn’t a bother, did you sleep alright?”

Maddy shrugged, “I mean, I had trouble getting to sleep, despite how tired I was, just…a lot on my mind after the challenge, I guess.”

Noemi perked up at this, “Oh right! You still have to deal with your transformation from the last round!”

Momentarily confused, realization suddenly dawned on Maddy’s face, and she jumped out of bed, “Oh god, right! The treats! They should be here somewhere!” A quick survey of the room showed they were right on the table at the side of the room, lying on a silver tray.

Same as last time, each treat looked impeccably made and had a little notecard with a description. There were three: a multiringed cake, a wet-looking piece of sheet cake, and a golden, thick wedge blondie. Maddy checked each one’s description.

Bumkuchen: This delightfully round, ringed cake will prime the consumer for sex with their own round ring. For 4 hours, anal sex will result in increased pleasure, no pain, and be biohazard free

Quattro Leches Cake: While this delicious, moist cake only contains 3 types of milk, the consumer will provide the fourth. Consumer’s breasts swell with milk, and their sensitivity increases for 4 hours

Beach Blondie: Consuming this rich brown butter treat turns the consumer into the vision of a beach bimbo version of themselves and all that entails for 4 hours.

Maddy’s eyes narrowed; they seemed more intense than last time. They at the minimum lasted longer. It seemed the bit of the treats getting more potent as the rounds went on wasn’t just fluff. Still, that left the chef with the same conundrum as last round and what to do with them.

Noemi looked over Maddy’s shoulders, “Oh wow, they all seem like a lot, got any plans for them?”

The blonde shook her head; her strategy last time of ignoring them had led to them being stolen. She sighed, “What I guess I can do is tell the group about them, maybe they sound fun to someone who would like to use them on their date.”

Noemi’s ears perked up, and she leaned in slyly, “If that’s the case…Think I can get the leche cake?”

Maddy turned, looking at the Chilean, surprised, “You want it?”

Eagerly nodding, Noemi smiled, “Yeah…just the thought of being filled with Milk, ready to feed, mine and Caleb’s children…” Her face turned flushed as her eyes rolled up and she held her cheeks in her hands

Maddy didn’t fully understand, but she had no problem giving it to Noemi. Maddy didn’t see the appeal in being pregnant, having her stomach swollen like that…the budding life inside her, Caleb caressing her body and fucking her as milk dribbled from her breasts…Maddy’s hands flew up to her face in embarrassment, leaving Noemi looking at her confused.

---

Lily turned over and blinked a few times before reaching over and grabbing her glasses, She could faintly make out the sounds of papers being shuffled. Putting her glasses on, she saw Amy sitting at the edge of the bed, fully dressed, rummaging through some papers containing what appeared to be various detailed scribbled notes on them

The plant girl raised a hand and rubbed her eyes before crawling over and looking over the Oni’s shoulder. Not turning to acknowledge her presence, nonetheless Amy said, “Sorry, did I wake you? I was going through what I need to accomplish this week before the next challenge.”

Shaking her head, Lily responded, “No, you didn’t wake me. How long have you been up?”

Amy briefly looked at the sun peering through the window, “I didn’t sleep, I had planned on doing it when I had settled on my plans, but…well, that’s kind of been falling through.”

Lily leaned in, the soft texture of the leaves that made up her pajamas crunching softly as her position shifted, “What sort of plans are you working on? Does it have to do with the mask?”

Tossing the papers down onto the ground in frustration, Amy put her head in her hands, “Um, yeah, partially, a little bit, but not mostly. There are just still so many unknowns about this competition and the island that it’s getting to me.”

Lily got up from the bed and picked up the papers, even without reading closely, the plant girl could tell that they were detailed, with lists and subheadings and sub-lists. Things ranged from determining Reyna’s true identity to just earning more VP. Things were crossed out, circled, underlined, and there were arrows drawn between things. It was evident how this could all become overwhelming very quickly.

“You know, it’s not your responsibility to figure these things out, especially not on your own right?” Lily looked at her horned friend.

Dragging her hands across her face, Amy sighed, “I understand, yes, I do. But I also want to figure them out. The mask is just another mystery now on top of it all.”

Raising an eyebrow, Lily looked over, “How do you mean? Isn’t it just like the other masks?”

Amy shook her head, “The description that Arietta gave us is that having the mask in your possession for bronze masks lets you read minds, well, I can’t read Lucian’s mind. The silver masks let you turn into the person, but I can’t turn into Lucian. There’s something I’m missing!”

Lily frowned, looking across the room where the mask was sitting on the table, “Have you tried…I don’t know? Putting the mask on?”

Amy sat blinking at Lily for a long beat before jumping up and giving off a sound that startled Lily and made her jump back, “Why! Why?! Why didn’t I think of wearing the damn thing! Goddammit.”

Walking back over, Lily rubbed Amy’s back, “Hey, hey, you’re tired and trying to do too much at once. Why don’t we table it, yeah? You have the mask now, you can put it on whenever you like, there’s no urgency to it. Why don’t we take this free day of rest and use it to actually rest?”

Amy chuckled, “As tempting as that sounds, I don’t want to do that…you’re right, I do need to slow down. It just doesn’t feel like there’s enough time. Thank you, Lily.”

The plant girl shrugged, “It’s not a big deal, just a fresh set of eyes on the problem. The number of times my technical problems were solved by just screensharing with one other person…”

Nodding, the Oni continued, “Still, I appreciate it.”

Lily felt a warm glow come to her cheeks, and she hurriedly handed the notes back to Amy, “Um…anyway, why don’t we just pick one mystery then and see if we can’t get it figured out today?

Amy shuffled through the papers and stopped, thinking about their conversation with Arietta yesterday, “Yeah, I think I got an idea of one to solve. Let’s go over it with everyone at breakfast, I think it’s something everyone will be interested in.”

Confused, but happy that Amy seemed satisfied, Lily went over to the bathroom to get changed. She was still getting the hang of making her outfits and needed her privacy to do it.

---

Sleeping alone for the first time this week, Caleb was surprised that the bed that at once had felt too small, now felt too large, that he was by himself. Last night, returning to his room to find it unchanged had confirmed that the VP earned from challenges did not contribute to his room changing. Probably appropriate, as Caleb had done nothing himself to earn it, and being truthful, upgrading his room was the last thing on Caleb’s mind.

The challenge of the previous day was still playing fresh in his mind. Lucian had pushed them all into that scenario, things had played out exactly how he had wanted, and all Caleb could do was sit there and watch. Caleb clenched his teeth and felt his nails dig in against his palms.

Too much time last round had been spent thinking about himself, his own hang-ups. Even after talking with Amy, he felt he had time, that he could go at his own pace. No more. If he couldn’t protect them now…what good would he be to any of the girls in the future?

He remembered what Mira had said to him, he had to be better. He didn’t have the time to take it slow. He didn’t have time to beat himself up. That feeling of powerlessness. He didn’t want to feel that way ever again.

He collected himself, putting on some casual clothes. Right now, he could go down to breakfast and support the girls however they needed. Then…he would spend the day getting over himself.