So when the night falls, my lonely heart calls

Dakota leaned back in her chair with a glass of wine in her hand, holding court over the guests of the slumber party.

A court of silence.

Everyone else lay asleep on the ground, huddled up in sleeping bags. Apparently, that was another appeal of the slumber party- to gather with your friends on the floor in a nice little pile; the couches and chairs had been pushed away to make room in the center of the little depression in the floor, and everybody had gathered together at the end of the night to talk, gossip, and, finally, sleep. Even the insomniac girl with a split personality slumbered under Dakota’s watchful gaze, and with her face locked in peaceful contentment, it was impossible to tell whether Cinder or Ella slept before her.

A long, wistful sigh escaped Dakota’s lips. With a wave of her cane she created a wide window in the wall. Even though the lounge was in the center of the hotel, meaning there should be rooms on every side of that, she paid it little mind. This was her realm, after all, and she wished to view the moonlight tonight.

It beamed in through the panes of glass, filling the room with a soft, gentle light. Dakota brought her glass to her lips as she gazed at the figures on the floor, bathing in the warm moonlight.

Nights like this, it made Dakota pensive. It made her wish that she were also capable of joining the others in slumber. But her body had no need for rest, and even if she should try to do so, what would be the point?

Dreams were not something that came easily for her.

So while the others enjoyed their rest, she sat in endless vigil, keeping watch over the women in her master’s flock.

The sweet taste of wine stung her throat, turning to ash in her mouth. But she cared little about the taste, focused solely on the image of herself as the pensive, brooding host who ruled over Harem Hotel in endless slumber, dreaming while awake.

She gazed off into the distance, her eyes glazed over with disconnect until a stirring caught her attention, and pulled her wandering soul back into her body.

Someone else had awoken.

“Welcome,” Dakota said with an amused smirk as she raised her glass to her lips, turning and looking at the guest to her world of silence. “Have you come to keep me company in the waking world?”

Serenity rose from the floor and gazed silently at Dakota, her shimmering eyes as unreadable as the host’s pinched smirk.

“…So you as well… keep nothing but silence?” Dakota questioned.

Serenity gnashed her teeth together in response and narrowed her eyes.

“It’s unfamiliar to you, isn’t it?” Dakota carried on her conversation one-sidedly. “When was the last time you were around other people, hmm? Truly, I mean. As the human being you once were. Did you have a slumber party on your original season? Or was it before that…? Back on earth?”

So much time had passed, she herself did not even know.

Serenity clicked her tongue, standing still as a statue as the moonlight formed a halo around her.

It was odd, but Dakota felt a strange sense of kinship with this siren.

“…You may be excused,” the host said finally. “It was not, of course, your intention to come here in the first place, after all.”

Serenity blinked, surprised.

Dakota leaned forward. “That is the case, is it not?” She murmured. “Vivian brought you here, after all. Even though you prefer to spend your time with the water.”

“…Can’t sleep on land,” Serenity finally responded, her voice joining Dakota’s in breaking the silence. “Too uncomfortable.”

Dakota nodded slowly. “Isn’t it just…”

She waved her hand, done with Serenity now. “As I said, you may go. Consider it a reward for keeping me company tonight, and enjoy yourself.”

Serenity raised a curious eyebrow, still rooted in place. In spite of Dakota giving her permission to leave, she made no move to do so.

Undoubtedly because she couldn’t trust the host in the slightest, a fact that Dakota regarded with amusement.

“…That’s right, I almost forgot. As a guest of the slumber party, you’re entitled to a boon, are you not? Well… I am nothing if not generous.”

And she wasn’t generous.

With a wave of her cane, Dakota bestowed the siren with her exit ticket.

She Was Afraid to Come Out of the Water: While on land, the allure of Serenity’s transformations is dulled, allowing her to interact with those around her for a longer period of time without her powers taking affect over them.

Serenity stared incredulously at the host as she read over her boon.

“Surprised?” Dakota raised her eyebrow. “I think it only fair that you be given a bit of a benefit, considering everything you’ve gone through. It will only last for the round, though. And of course, you may stay or go as you wish. No one is making you spend time with the other women, of course.”

Serenity frowned. She wanted to thank Dakota, but the thought of doing so revolted her.

“…Thanks,” she finally managed to spit out, before disappearing towards the elevators.

Dakota swirled her glass of wine slowly, once again left to her own devices. She brought it up to her lips and gazed out at the moon again, and sat her long and jealous vigil beside the women of Nick’s harem.

---

One by one, the girls began to wake up that morning. Kim was quick as always to get up at the crack of Dawn, and sat up in her sleeping bag, stretching her arms over her head.

“Mm… ugh, sleeping on the floor is such a pain in the ass,” she groaned, massaging her aching shoulders. “Is this really what people do? Slumber parties? …If you ask me, it’s not worth it.”

“Welcome to the land of the living, Kim,” Dakota said from her seat, making the tomboy jump.

“O-oh, of course you’d be here,” Kim said, pinching her lips together. “Before you ask, no, I’m not going to be taking a sick day today.”

What would be the point? Nick would be off with Vivian all day anyway, so it wasn’t like she’d be taking it to spend time with him.

“Wuzzat? Sick day? Huh?” Carly rubbed her eyes and sat up, a difficult prospect considering her sister’s arms were wrapped tightly around her in a hug. “G’mornin…”

“Morning,” Kim greeted the cosplayer, pointedly ignoring Dakota, which Dakota found rather amusing herself. Dani woke up not long after, feeling nice and refreshed. And after her, the others started to rise as well. Dawn was next, then Mary, and Holly and Sylvia not long after her. Rose and Morgana both looked like they would sleep in rather late, though, and much to Carly’s irritation her sister was still out like a light as well. Eventually she managed to shake Marley free though, and the curvy brunette woke up right around the time Rose did.

“So what’s for dinner?” Sylvia asked, turning to Mary expectantly. The housewife rolled her eyes.

“Oh, now you all want to eat healthy?” She scoffed, standing up and stretching. “Fine.”

“Thanks, Mary!” Rose called from her sleeping bag, flashing an amused smile. Mary trudged over to the kitchen attachment in the lounge, and gathered the ingredients for pancakes. Holly scurried after her, and after a few seconds Dani went in to join as well.

“Waaah!” Mary let out a gasp and stumbled, grabbing the counter. “What the-?! Wait, Vivian?! Huh!?”

“Ow… hey, watch where you’re stepping…” Vivian grumbled, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. “This sleeping bag wasn’t cheap, you know…”

“Why are you sleeping in the kitchen?” Dani questioned.

Vivian looked up at her with dreary eyes, not fully awake yet.

“And… did you leave the refrigerator door open!?” Mary gasped, turning pale. Thankfully none of the food would spoil because Harem Hotel (did they even need fridges, now that she thought about it?) but that wasn’t the point.

Vivian stared blankly at the redhead and shrugged.

“Look, if Vivian wants to sleep closer to the food, I say go for it,” Holly chortled. “Fatten her up a little, like Marley!”

“Hey!” The pudgier twin bit her lip, her face turning red. “I-I’m just fine, thank you very much!”

She wasn’t fat! Just because her sister was a little skinnier, that didn’t mean Marley didn’t still look gorgeous!

“Girls, girls, this is a lovely conversation you’re all having, but keep in mind that a few of you are still sleeping right now,” Dakota reminded the noisy women in the kitchen. She gestured to the sleeping frames of Gina, Morgana, and…

“Mng… ung…”

The bright pink sleeping bag with flower stencils that Cinder had begrudgingly gone to sleep in began to stir, and the girl inside turned over in her sleep. That was apparently enough to wake her up, because Dawn saw a crack of amber in her fluttering eyelids as the messy-haired girl sat up slowly, face slackened in a daze.

“Good-” The cat girl’s opened mouth fell silent halfway through her greeting as she didn’t realize who it was she was greeting. Cinder had been the one to close out the night with them, but now… who was it in front of her? Still Cinder? Or had Ella taken over?

The dreary-eyed latina blinked a couple of times, lazily looking around the room like she was trying to process what was going on. Then the light returned to her eyes and she gasped, perking up immediately.

“O-oh! Good… um, good morning…” She still looked tired, but she seemed much more aware of her surroundings. Smiling bashfully at the other girls, her red cheeks and shy expression clued Dawn in that it was Ella who greeted them, not Cinder.

She greeted Ella right back. “Good morning!”

A few second later, Morgana woke up as well, leaving Gina the only one still out like a light.

“You done with the food yet?” Rose called from her sleeping bag.

“Holly and Dani are helping,” Mary snapped back at her. “So could you!”

“Nah.”

Mary rolled her eyes and muttered something very un-Christian under her breath.

“Where’s Serenity?” Vivian asked, finally realizing that the siren was gone now that she was fully awake.

“She left in the middle of the night,” Dakota calmly replied. “But that isn’t important right now. What is important is that, before we start today off, you all need to be congratulated on such a wonderful party!” She applauded with a cheery yet smug smile.

“…Of course, the host herself is still incapacitated at the moment,” Dakota added, looking down at Gina. It was the smell of Mary’s pancakes that finally roused the punk girl from her sleep.

Gina stirred from her slumber with a loud yawn. She knocked over the pillow wall some of the girls had built around her and sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes.

“It was a lot of fun,” Sylvia nodded in agreement. “So… boons now?”

She had a one-track mind, it seemed.

Dakota nodded. “Soon enough,” she said. “Before that, though, I just want to inform you that today hasn’t actually started yet.”

Kim frowned. “And what does that mean?” She asked suspiciously.

“See for yourself,” Dakota replied, and gestured over to Carly.

Carly was just as confused as the rest of them, though. She held up her hands as every turned their attention to her, and quickly shook her head. “Hey, don’t look at me!” She hastily replied. “I’m not, I mean…”

“I think she means your clothes,” Dawn helpfully offered.

The cosplayer looked down, and figured it out. “…Oh!”

Unlike the other girls here, who had picked out their pajamas themselves and gone to bed in them, Carly had woken up to this outfit yesterday as part of her transformation. It should have vanished in the middle of the night, leaving her naked.

“Yes, you see?” Dakota nodded. “I just stopped time slightly, for the morning. So you could all start your day with whatever boons you receive.”

She tapped her cane lightly on the ground. “Until today starts, Kim, you can’t turn down your Sick Day transformation-”

“But I’m gonna,” Kim interrupted her.

“…And Carly,” Dakota continued, ignoring Kim, “you won’t get a new outfit.”

Carly shrugged. Like she cared about being naked in front of everyone at this point.

“Oh, and Vivian, your day with Nick hasn’t started yet, either,” Dakota added, turning to the heiress.

Vivian blinked. “Well, it’s not like I can afford a trip to the Master’s Suite anyway, so not a big deal,” she grinned.

“Now then,” Dakota said, turning to the other girls. “As I was saying, it’s time for you all to receive your boons. So if you wouldn’t mind…”

She waved her cane, and a yelp came from the kitchen area.

“Hey!” Mary was trying to pry a pancake off of the pan, but her spatula was frozen in place. Not that it mattered, because stove’s flames had frozen as well. Dakota had put the entire kitchen on a pause.

“…Breakfast can wait,” Dakota said, wearing a smile as sweet and sticky as the syrup for the pancakes. “Don’t you want to know what you’re going to win?”

“Um… maybe?” Morgana squeaked.

“I-I don’t, I don’t… yes, please,” Ella said, nodding. She was a little more shaky than Morgana, but determined to see this through.

“Yay, boons!” Sylvia cheered.

Mary, under protest, returned to the main area from the kitchen, and waited impatiently with Dani and Holly as Dakota prepared to distribute the boons.

“Now then,” Dakota said, clearing her throat, “this is going to be different from the last time.”

“Which was different from the first time,” Dawn pointed out, not amused. With how Dakota changed the rules at every turn, it made it very difficult to formulate a strategy.

“…Yes it was,” Dakota said. “This time, since you all did such an amazing job taking part in the activities and everybody giving it their all, I’d say everybody gets a Generous Boon. That sounds fair, don’t you think, Gina?”

“Well… what about Serenity?” Gina asked, looking around. The thirteen of them were the only ones there, along with the host.

“I already gave her a prize last night,” Dakota replied. “No, this will be slightly different. Since you all did so well, you’ll all get boons. But as for which ones…”

A sly smile crossed her lips. “…I’ll let the audience worry about that.”

“Huh!?” Dawn’s eyes widened.

“Ooh?” Sylvia’s eyes, in contrast, sparkled with excitement.

Smirking, Dakota raised her cane, and with a wave she set the stage, summoning up a screen.

“Here is a list of all the potential boons you girls can get, all thirteen of them,” Dakota said, presenting the options to the girls. “And the audience will be voting, to decide which of you should get which boon. Keep in mind, some may be better than others, depending on where you are in the rankings, of course!”

And with that, she stepped out of the way to give the girls time to look over their potential prizes.

Polishing Off: Contestant will receive a vial of ruby red nail polish that comes with an enchanting affect. Color your nails, and anything you touch with it will receive a massive surge of sexual pleasure!

Phone a Friend: At any time in the round, the contestant can consult with another contestant for advice, developing a telepathic link with them. This link can be changed, but must be established with the consent of both parties. Only the contestant with the boon may initiate the telepathic conversation, not the chosen friend.

Mask of Invisibility: Contestant will receive a special mask that, when worn, allows them to turn invisible. It only has enough charge to last for an hour each day, however.

Anitrix: Contestant will be given a special watch that, when used, can turn them into an animal girl of any animal. They will still be mostly themselves physically, but obtain traits of that animal. The effect lasts for ten minutes, and must recharge for ten minutes.

All-Access Pass: Contestant will receive a one-time only waiving of the fee to access Dream Alley for their next date with the master, allowing them to attend without paying 5000 BP. (Like the regular purchase, it carries over to next round if their date night this round has already passed.)

Pillow Pal: Contestant will receive a special body pillow that, when slept on, will give them special and sweet dreams that will fill them with a rested feeling of contentment all through the night.

The Moment of Climax: Magnifies the intensity of any orgasm the contestant experiences this round by making time stand still or “freeze” upon the moment of climax. The sexual pleasure may pass in the blink of an eye, but to the contestant it will feel never-ending!

Gacha Girl: For the rest of the round, the contestant will have the option of rolling three temporary transformations for themselves, chosen at random. They can use all three of their rolls at once, or spread them out through the week. The transformations will last for 24 hours or until the end of the round, whichever comes first.

Whoops, That One Didn’t Count!: This round, if the contestant has a transformation that can only be used a specific amount of times (once per day, once per round, once per contestant, etc.) they will be granted a “do-over”, allowing them to use the transformation an additional time, overwriting the effect of the first.

Special Helper: For the rest of the round, Nola will serve as the contestant’s personal informant, giving helpful hints and advice upon request, as well as providing favors above and beyond her normal obligations.

Spa Day: Contestant gets two free tickets to the spa, to invite anyone they wish to enjoy a spa day with them. All sexual facilities will be suspended during this time, meaning all amenities will be result in only positive consequences with no negative consequences. (Also entitles ticket holders to unlimited bath time for the round.)

Priority Selection: When a bounty is placed on the bounty board this round, the contestant will be given the priority to decide whether or not they wish to take it. No other contestant can take a posted bounty until they have a chance to read it and decide if they wish to take it or not. (Unless already engaged in another bounty.)

My Body, My Choice: For the rest of the round, the contestant will have complete control over their reproductive cycle, allowing them full control over whether or not they get pregnant from intercourse. (Has no effect if already pregnant.)

“Well?” Dakota asked with a smile as the girls looked over their options. There was a lot of discussion to be had. “Some of these boons will be better for some of you than for others. And I’m sure you all have a lot of thoughts to share, but I’m quite curious what the audience will choose. So… with that in mind, I’ll leave things in their hands, to decide what boons you’ll all be receiving!”

And with a wave of her cane, she let the audience decide who would get what reward.

https://forms.gle/BMEgxXA44tgC9jFL7