When faces change, you call our names

Following Kim’s wishes, Nick had decided to spend the morning doing what he wanted to do. And today, what he wanted to do was spend time with Holly. Going on a date with her and really showing her that she was still the same girl he found special. Even if that wasn’t something easy for the small, spritely girl to accept.

But in the meantime, the other women in his harem were busy getting breakfast.

Even if a few of them had ulterior motives.

“I’m not so sure about this,” Carly admitted, glancing at Vivian as they stopped outside the door to the Banquet Hall. “I mean, I can’t wait to go shopping with Emmy- won’t that be so fun? Emmy? A mother-daughter shopping trip? It’s gonna be so much fun, right?”

“Mother, daughter, and a couple of extras,” Marley pointed out with a dry smile.

“That’s where the fun is!” Sylvia chirped. “Everybody in Daddy’s harem working together to take care of one of the other girls!”

Everyone gave her slightly cringing looks, especially Emmy. Even Vivian looked a little stunned by that line.

“What?” Sylvia looked at the faces of opposition turned towards her. “Did I say something wrong?”

Marley rubbed her temples, trying to find the best way to express herself. “Well… not… not necessarily wrong, but…”

“No, very wrong,” Dani bluntly stated, crossing her arms over her chest.

Carly nodded. “Sylvia… please don’t refer to my daughter in that way,” she asked, trying not to sound mad, but her inner mother was leaking out. She was determined. “Emmy isn’t one of the ‘other girls’, okay? She’s not in Nick’s harem.”

“Oh!” Sylvia gasped, not even thinking about that. “Oh, I’m sorry!” She looked apologetically at Emmy. “I was so swept up in the moment I forgot.”

“Yeah… it’s okay,” Emmy said, scratching her cheek. “This whole ‘harem’ thing, it’s still kind of hard for me to understand…”

She’d spent a lot of time with her mother and aunt, and gotten to know Sylvia pretty well, too. Dani she was starting to understand, and this other girl, Vivian, she seemed friendly enough, even if she had a strange gleam in her eye that made Emmy feel a little uneasy sometimes.

But that was as far as her awareness of the “harem” went. She still didn’t fully understand the situation due to Carly shielding her from the reality of the situation. She felt… well, it was hard to describe how she felt.

She hadn’t even really had a conversation with this “Nick” person, even though he was the first (and currently only) boy she had ever met.

Part of her wondered if Carly was trying to keep the two of them apart.

“Emmy’s going to be spending a lot of time here,” Marley pointed out. “So she’ll have to get to know the others sooner or later, right?”

“Exactly what I was thinking!” Vivian chirped, nodding cheerfully. “And what better way to do that, than to go around and hold a little meet and greet? Trust me, I do this sort of thing all the time!”

“Solicit clothing money for your reanimated daughter?” Dani cracked a wry grin. “Why am I doubting that?”

Vivian just giggled in response. “Oh, you’re so cute!” She chirped, shaking her head. “No, I’m talking about throwing fundraisers. Benefit dinners, you know what I mean. Parties for the rich and famous to come and dress all fabulous and throw their money around so they look important!” She winked at Emmy.

Emmy didn’t quite know what to say to that. The way Vivian acted was very blunt, but there was something about her, an air around her that carried a sense of class and decorum that she couldn’t quite comprehend. Maybe it was because she just didn’t have a good grasp on the world yet, but she felt rather curious.

As Vivian continued her attempts to persuade Carly of the merits of a fundraiser, Emmy pulled her aunt aside and whispered to her, “Aunt Marley, is Vivian… rich or something?”

Marley pulled back and looked at her niece, wondering how she should explain this.

“Uh… well, let me put it this way,” the perplexed woman said, scratching her cheek. “So you’ve got rich people, right? So, like, take rich people, and multiply them by other rich people. Do that like a couple dozen times, and that’s how rich Vivian is. Make sense?”

Emmy stared at her.

“…No.”

Marley sighed in frustration. “How about-”

“I’m rich enough to own horses,” Vivian popped up behind Emmy.

The younger girl jumped. “Eh?! Uh…” She whirled around, not expecting Vivian to suddenly pop up like that. “V-Vivian… um…”

“Don’t worry, I’m not bothered by you talking about me behind my back.” Vivian coyly winked at the flustered girl. “It’s just because I’m simply that intriguing, wouldn’t you say?” She tucked a lock of chocolate-colored hair behind her ear and flashed a dazzling smile that left Emmy stunned. Her mom was so pretty, but Vivian was just classy and elegant in a way that she hadn’t really understood until she was expressing her charms directly.

And yet, very down to earth, as well.

“Let’s be friends, Emmy,” Vivian said, offering her hand to the other girl. “We’re pretty close in age, right? We should be able to get along!”

“Yeah, that’s one way to look at it,” Dani said, rolling her eyes and smirking. “You’re 23, Emmy, how old are you again?”

“Uh, one day,” Emmy said, holding up her finger with a sarcastic grin. “Oh! One day and a half. Yeah.”

Vivian let out an awkward laugh, not quite sure how to make a joke about the fact that Emmy had been brought back to life. She figured it was better not to try. “Well, apologies,” she said, shaking her head. “I guess I stepped right in that one, huh?”

Sylvia crossed her arms and nodded. “Oh yeah, you can definitely say that one again.” In fact, she was the one closest in age to Emmy. But she hadn’t tried to make any special effort to befriend the other girl, for obvious reasons.

Simply put, Sylvia knew that she wasn’t exactly on the proper axis of morality compared to most other people. And she was fine with that, for the most part. But she also knew that if she got too close to Emmy, she might inadvertently dye the other girl in her colors. And while Sylvia might not have a problem with that, Carly probably would.

In spite of the cosplayer’s promiscuity, she was very protective of her daughter. The last thing she’d want was for Sylvia to start planting seeds in her ear that she should start making moves on Nick.

Not that Sylvia would do something like that.

Probably.

But she was so enamored with her Daddy that it might just end up happening anyway! Better to be safe than sorry, and better to keep Emmy as just a casual friend instead of a BFF.

Besides, if the unthinkable happened and Emmy really did end up crushing on him, then she’d be filling the same role in Nick’s harem as Sylvia. And as hot as imagining the two of them as matching daughters for Daddy’s delight, Sylvia wasn’t sure she wanted to share her coveted role as “Daddy’s favorite daughter” with another girl yet.

Especially when he hadn’t even had sex with her yet.

“What are you thinking about right now?” Marley asked suspiciously. She recognized the placid grin curling up her mother’s face, and knew that Sylvia was probably having some thoughts that were best left unspoken.

“Hmm?” Sylvia came back to reality. “Oh, nothing. Let’s go in! We’ve got people to shake down for money!”

“Hey, come on!” Carly groaned. “Don’t put it like that! We’re just going to ask the other girls if they would like to maybe contribute some money to buying Emmy clothes, that’s all!”

“Right, with Dani in the background making intimidating faces,” Sylvia agreed with a nod. “Like that one!” She pointed at the scowl on the tomboy’s face. Dani was giving her quite an excellent glare, and the crossed arms were a nice touch.

“We’re not making threats,” Dani said, putting her foot down. She and Carly were on the same page on this. “Besides, do we even really need to go this far anyway?”

“What do you mean?” Vivian asked, raising her eyebrow.

Dani shrugged. “I’ve got plenty of BP. Carly, you’ve got a lot, too. We can probably just buy Emmy all the clothes she’d ever want if we pooled our money, right? Or hey, I mean, I could just give it to you guys myself, as a gift. Not like I’m using it for anything.”

“Really?” Emmy was surprised. She knew that Dani was in a relationship with her mother- that was one of the few things Carly had managed to share about her life. But she hadn’t expected Dani to be so forward about how she felt like this.

“Yeah, I mean, if it’s for your sake, why not?” Dani shrugged again. She liked seeing Emmy happy, because Emmy being happy made Carly happy. And asking the other women for BP felt like it would be pointlessly aggravating. Getting a single point out of Rose would be like pulling teeth, for instance.

“Well, if you’re offering…” Marley could definitely see the merit of that.

“Eh, I wouldn’t be so quick to accept,” Vivian said, eyeing Dani suspiciously. She smelled something funny in the air.

“What?” Dani looked at her and frowned. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Because I recognize that behavior,” Vivian said, stroking her chin. “Not to say you aren’t a generous person, Dani, but are you sure this isn’t the Romantic Suite influencing you just a teeny little bit, hmmm?”

Dani shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. “Huh? What do you mean by that?” She asked hotly, frowning. “Why would it be influencing me?”

“Not that I don’t think you’re a wonderfully generous person at heart, Dani, but tossing money around to make people like you… that sounds rather familiar,” Vivian pointed out. “I’d be wary of taking her up on that offer myself. Not that it isn’t genuine, but…”

“Right,” Carly nodded, understanding where she was coming from. “If it’s not fully from you, Dani, then that’s a little…”

This was another reason Vivian had been hesitant to go to Dani in seek of Bonus Points for Carly’s Stream Donations transformation in the first place. She knew how the Romantic Suite worked and she knew how her brain worked.

“Wait, does that mean you’re so **** for friends you’d toss money around just to make them happy?” Sylvia asked, addressing the elephant in the room.

Vivian’s expression twisted into a stunned look for a fraction of a second as she realized what she’d just inadvertently admitted, before quickly covering it up with a playful smile.

“Oh my, don’t be ridiculous,” she crooned, shaking her head. “I’m simply expressing that Dani’s such a wonderfully sweet woman that her compassion for others combined with my philanthropy would lead to philanthropic endeavors that are a little too generous, that’s all!”

She didn’t really fool any of them, but she fooled herself into thinking she did, which was what really mattered.

Dani cleared her throat. “Right. Well, fine. It doesn’t matter to me either way. So should we stop wasting time?”

She turned and pushed the door open and walked into the Banquet Hall… only to find that it was completely empty.

“Huh?” Carly looked around as they stepped into the room. “Where is everybody?”

“They couldn’t have finished eating already, could they?” Vivian wondered. “We aren’t that late.”

“Kim came down early for breakfast so she could start work early,” Dani pointed out. “But where’s everyone else? Dawn? And what about Amelia? She’s usually pretty punctual.”

“Maybe they’re off doing something else?” Emmy suggested. “I mean, you guys can order food to your rooms, right? It’s not like you need to eat breakfast down here every morning.”

Everyone turned to Emmy, giving her blank stares.

“…It’s tradition!” Sylvia asserted with pride. “Carried on since my time as the host, in fact! A nice, hearty breakfast with all the girls eating around the same table, it’s what a harem is supposed to be about, don’t you think?”

“Um… sure?” Emmy really wasn’t sure how to answer that. Sylvia was kinda weird.

Dani cleared her throat. “Well, anyway, no big deal. We can just enjoy breakfast without pressure then, sound good?”

“Sure, yeah…” Vivian murmured, nodding. But the gears in her head were already turning. She was still wondering where everyone else was. Like Dani said, it wasn’t like Amelia to miss breakfast. She knew her teacher better than that. And what about Dawn?

She really hoped they weren’t all off doing something really fun together, and she hadn’t been invited. That would be awful!

“See? I told you there would still be people here!”

Everyone turned to see Rose standing in the doorway. She waved at them with a smile. Standing behind her were two more girls, Morgana and Ella. From the way they were standing, practically using Rose as a shield, it was almost like they had shoved her to the front to be devoured by wolves or something.

“I knew it…” Ella grumbled.

“It… it’s okay!” Morgana encouraged her. “Rose is right! There’s no telling when everyone else is going to show up, so delaying breakfast isn’t necessary!”

Ella looked at her with an expression that seemed rather pathetic. She resembled a dog that someone had kicked.

She sighed and shook her head. “Whatever…”

“Sorry we’re late,” Rose said, strolling into the Banquet Hall without concern for the two girls she’d brought with her. “But it looks like you guys haven’t even eaten yet!”

She turned to Emmy and smiled at her in particular.

“Bonjour, Emmy,” she said with a sweet smile, placing her hand over her chest. “It’s so wonderful to see you again! How has your morning been?”

“Um… okay, I guess,” Emmy said, returning her smile. Rose was also really pretty. All the girls here were so beautiful! “…Sorry, what was your name again?”

She’d met so many people yesterday, it had been kind of overwhelming.

“Of course! Where are my manners?” Rose tittered. “My name is Rose Beausoleil. It’s such a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“Emmy, be careful with her,” Marley whispered loud enough for Rose to hear. “If you spend too much time around her, you’ll catch her stupidity.”

“Hey!” Rose glared at the other woman, ticked off.

Emmy giggled. “You’re kinda funny,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”

Yesterday, she’d been overwhelmed by all the new faces. But her mom and aunt were right. She would be spending a lot of time on this island; she really did need to start getting to know the people here. It only made sense.

Emmy turned to the other girls, who were hanging back near the doorway. One of them, the one with the short hair and dark skin, didn’t even try looking her in the eye when Emmy glanced her way. The other one, with the pale skin, seemed just as nervous, but at least she made an effort. She was around Emmy’s age, too, which was nice.

The pale girl gave Emmy an awkward wave, and the way she fidgeted around made her curvy body bounce in her loose clothes. That was something Emmy didn’t get. This girl… she was dressed up like a witch. That seemed weird.

Then again, my mom’s dressed like a superhero. Maybe dressing up like a witch is another one of those transformation things, she considered. I shouldn’t make assumptions. It could be that she’s **** to dress like that, the poor girl!

Of course, Emmy was unaware that Morgana had been dressing like a witch long before she ever set foot on the island. But what she didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her.

“Glad to see you guys could make it,” Vivian said, personable as always. “We were just talking about how deserted this place was! Any idea where the other ladies are?”

“Yeah, I’m wondering about Dawn and Amelia myself,” Dani said, nodding. If anyone could be persuaded to part with some money for Emmy’s sake, it was those two. Gina, not so much. And Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin probably wouldn’t even care.

“Oh! Um, I know!” Morgana raised her hand frantically. She was trying to be more outgoing, and she found the perfect opportunity to insert herself into the conversation.

Everyone turned to her. Suddenly, with all those eyes on her, she wondered if maybe she should have just stayed quiet. But those hesitations were quick to pass and she pushed forward.

“Amelia said, um, that she was going to be teaching Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin, so… they probably won’t be at breakfast,” Morgana explained. “As for Dawn… I don’t know about that, sorry. But, um, maybe I could contact her? You know, with my telepathy?”

Emmy’s eyes widened in shock. Telepathy!? Was that another transformation?

“Nah, it’s okay,” Carly said, shaking her head. “We don’t want to bother her. Whatever she’s doing, it’s probably important. No way she’s just lying in bed again, right?” She laughed.

Dawn was lying in bed. Again. She couldn’t manage to summon the strength to even sit up.

“Rrrgh… urgh… that woman…” She felt miserable. And she knew the cause, too.

“Gina, you bitch…” she muttered, shaking her fist weakly and scrunching up the covers. The beeps of the arcade machines filling her room were playing hell on her hangover. “I knew I shouldn’t have listened when you said one drink to celebrate would be fine…”

Luckily, Amelia had come to take Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin away before the silent girl could make a whole lot of noise with one of those games again. The last thing Dawn needed right now was the sound of space lasers filling the room.

But she still wasn’t feeling good! Rrrgh! When she recovered, she was going to give that punk a piece of her mind!