Some Loose Ends Tied

Stanley

Stanley nervously walks into the office. To be called in for a one-on-one meeting so early terrifies the anthropomorphic stapler. The only thing worse would be a last part of the workday meeting. Have I not done well enough? Is she going to force me to choose between the sea slug or the Extras Pool right now? Please...

The sea slug is asleep right now, fortunately. Stanley still doesn’t know how to feel about it. It is... very forward. Forward enough that Stanley really wishes Cheryl was here. The HR rep was always so kind to him in his false memories. He could use the hug (and the documentation paperwork).

The Host, his boss, is sitting at the reading nook area, coffee at the ready. She has a cinnamon roll waiting for him, still steaming. She smiles and gestures for him to sit.

“I, I did my best...,” Stanley says, “w-with the new hires.”

“I know, Stanley. I appreciate your work. Have a seat.”

Stanley scrambles onto the empty chair and curls up a little bit. “Please, ma’am, I-I need more time...”

She interrupts, “...And more time you shall have. I have good news for you. Your debt to the Extras Pool has been paid. I would ask you to consider staying on until the end of the season, but, if you want me to find you a ‘normal’ world to live in, I will do so.”

Stanley is surprised. He grabs the steaming roll and takes a bite of it to give me time to process. So, I don’t have to choose between being a sea slug or a fate worse than death?

Despite knowing not to look a gift horse in the mouth, he blurts out the only question he has, “How?”

“The audience, in their wisdom, decided to have Craig take your place in the Pool. A terrible fate for a terrible man, but a boon for you.”

From what little Stanley observed, he had no real sympathy for the gnoll. Still, the idea of substitution doesn’t sit exactly right with him.

The Host snorts, then answers the stapler’s unspoken feelings, “That’s because you are a decent person, Stanley. Finish your breakfast there and take a few personal hours. Let me know if you are staying on. I’ll let you think.”

The Host disappears into mist. Stanley eats his cinnamon roll and sips on his coffee. I have control of my life for the first time ever. What, exactly, do I want to do with it?

Mona

Mona wakes up, back in the Mistress Suite bed, back in Harith’s arms, just as she was promised on the boat. Part of her wants to just bask in his grip, still stressed and wound up by what she saw in the Hollow Garden. Part of her wants to turn around and try to ride the stiffness she feels pressing into her back. But, the responsible Mistress inside her says she needs to get up.

She turns, expecting to see Craig on the other side of the magenta skinned man. She does not. Harith, eyes open and smirking slightly, greets, “Morning, Darling. If you are ready, we can continue what we started last night...”

“Not now, Harith. Where’s Craig?”

Harith pouts a little, but slips back into that rakish grin. “If you insist on that conversation, my dear, I suppose we should get ready for the day. Your Host is waiting for us in your living room.”

The shower is quick and efficient, to what looks like both of their chagrins. Mona definitely wants to fool around, but is stopping herself simply for the sake of whatever aftermath from “last night” she needs to brace herself for. Both “last nights,” now that she thinks about it. She dresses in a skirt and hoodie, then wanders into the living room.

Tyalangan is there, an arrangement of breakfast items laid out at the coffee table (unfortunately, much less pastry based than what she got at the HH). “I gave Ophie the morning off. Come. Sit. Eat.”

Mona opens her mouth to ask her immediate pressing question as she takes a seat. The Host interrupts, “A note before we get too much into the nitty-gritty of this conversation. You are welcome to talk about the wedding weekend, up to the start of Andy’s final challenge. We are under a network NDA about their Endgame until it finishes airing. A consequence for what we did during it. The others already know, so you needn’t worry about that.”

Mona grabs a small pear and takes a bite out of it, mulling over that. I guess it makes sense, but some of what happened... It would be nice to talk about it. Instead, she asks the other pressing question, “Where’s Craig?”

“In a word, gone. In a few more words, no longer your concern.”

Mona talks with her mouth full, “Wah do yoo mean, gone?”

“Mr. Harrows, care to explain?”

Harith enters the living room in just some tight leather pants. Mona is distracted by the bulge as he sits and plucks a different pear. Once he starts talking, she focuses again, “Bastard tried to put a thing on you. I stopped him. She...” he pauses to gesture dramatically towards Tyalangan with his uneaten pear, then continues, “said something about the thing melting your brain? We had a bit of a spar, then I earned his spot. So, Darling, we get to play together again.”

Mona is too stunned to eat. Harith takes a bite out of his pear, then starts to tuck into some egg dish thing. She finally turns to Tyalangan and exclaims, “You were going to let him melt my brain?”

“Of course not!” Tyalangan growls, then takes a few deep breaths. “I was on standby, ready for him to make his dumbass move. Mr. Harrows just happened to beat me to it because his kind doesn’t sleep and he was already in the room. The device was destroyed. We would have done it sooner, but the only way to forcibly remove items from an Inventory is death and it is immoral to execute someone for a potential future crime.”

Mona narrows down to a particular bit of that for just a moment. His kind? Mona looks at Harith, who is reading nervous from Windows of the Soul. We should focus on the good part of that, Mona. “So, you saved me from a brain melting? Thank you. What’s going to happen to Craig? I know he hated me and all that, but I would feel bad if...”

Tyalangan holds up a hand. “Seriously, he is no longer your concern. I have handled it. It was my fault he was here in the first place. Harith, I hope you know what you are getting yourself into.”

Mona objects, “You didn’t kill him or...”

Tyalangan sighs, “Trust me when I say that you don’t want to know his fate. He won’t try to murder anyone else again.”

Harith speaks up before Mona could press it more, “So, practicalities. When’s my date night? How is access to my gear going to be handled? Do I get to spend my nights here for the rest of the round? Details, ma’am?”

“As far as the gear on your person is concerned, don’t be an ass and you can do as you please. Your possessions not currently on your person has been moved to the Spring Room, where you will be rooming. Ootah will be your roommate and I imagine the two of you will get along much better than she did with Craig. As for your ‘date night,’ you already had it.”

Mona feels solidarity with Harith as they both boo at the same time.

“Are you saying that what you two did last night didn’t count? We did track the XP you would have earned last night if you were already in the harem. I was going to just grant it to you, Harith. If you want to give up some first time bonuses, I guess we could add an extra day to the round...”

Harith looks to Mona. “Thoughts, darling?”

Horny me wants another ride like last night. That’s obvious. Responsible Mistress me needs to be in charge though. I have no idea how far behind Harith is. He only has half a round to qualify for the challenge and we did do a lot of stuff. Would he earn more points on a theoretical date tacked on somewhere than he did last night? Hmm...

“I mean, nothing is stopping us from doing things during the day? I do need to spend time with everyone else outside of date time. We could do a ‘you plan things out’ lunch date? Best of both worlds!”

Harith grins, “A little afternoon delight before you head off to your date would be lovely. I suppose that I will take the points now.”

With a snap of her fingers, a tote bag appears before Harith. A cacophony of notifications fires off from inside it. I suppose that would be the points?

Harith: +4 XP (Full Frontal Nudity for Mistress)

Harith: +2 XP (Give Mistress a Love Mark)

Harith: +2 XP (Undress Mistress)

Harith: +8 XP (See Mistress Naked)

Harith: +2 XP (Brought Mistress to Orgasm [Fingerblast])

Harith: +10 XP (Brought Mistress to Orgasm [Vaginal Sex])

Harith: +4 XP (Mark Mistress with Your Cum, x2 bonus [First time Mistress participant])

Harith: +1 XP (Spoon the Mistress)

Harith: +5 XP (Rescue Mona)

Harith: +1 XP (Defeated 1 Level 1 Player, x0.5 penalty [sparring], x0.33 penalty [overleveled], all rounded down to the end. [Under threshold. Here, have a pity point])

Mona: +40 BP (Craig Points Transfer)

Mona: -1 XP (Craig Points Transfer)

Mona: Weekly Task Update: Have Penetrative Sex with At Least Half of the Contestants (4/5)

With that, the Host stands up. “I will see the two of you downstairs in the Media Room shortly.” Then, before she disappears into mist, she adds, “Have fun, but not too much.”

The projector warms up and displays the Suite bedroom. On screen, Craig summons some VR helmet thing and moves to put it on Mona’s head. Harith lunges over the sleeping girl and into the gnoll’s bulk, hands around his neck. They are frozen in time and space. Tyalangan appears in the room and takes the item; her hand flares into inky darkness as the helmet thing is crushed into dust. A similar spurt of darkness happens as the Host does the same for a ring on Craig’s finger Mona didn’t notice “last night.” Finally, she grabs both boys by the scruff of their necks as she teleports them away. The television turns itself off. Again, Mona is stunned. She did not expect that she would be watching herself on that screen. When she can finally form a thought again, she asks, “Where’d she take the two of you?”

“A place to duke it out. He must have done a shitty job at learning how to handle himself in an actual fight. Even with me being a bit rusty from imprisonment, he didn’t last long.”

Mona traces a finger along the edge of one of Harith’s tattoos. “So, what now?”

“Now, darling, we should finish breakfast, then head downstairs. As much as I want to take you further along the path of pleasure, we don’t have enough time.”

So, they eat, Mona idly fantasizing about what the two of them will do when they can next have some fun.

Harith

Harith enters the Media Room with Mona in his arms. She has her arms around his neck and is enjoying the princess carry immensely. Good. Glad she’s pleased.

Harith: +2 XP (Princess carry the Mistress)

He scans the room as they enter. Looks like the drow maid, the orc, and the nekomata won their votes during the audition. The drow is leaning on a hu-cow bull who is eyeing him suspiciously. The orc gives him a look of mild surprise, then a nod of acceptance. The cat looks more... there... than she did during the audition.

He has no real context for the bull and the rest of the contestants: a warforged, a kitsune, a sea elf that looks very much like the Host, a dryad, and a corgi-girl. The warforged looks cautiously curious. The kitsune looks like she is about to rupture a blood vessel. The others are somewhere in between.

The bull makes a move first. He strides over then, feet planted as if ready for this to turn violent, demands, “Set her down. Now. Back away.”

Harith, not wanting to cause (too much) trouble, complies. Mona pouts a little, “It’s okay, Kevin. Harith is fine.”

“He certainly is!” the drow maid purrs from the couch.

Mona giggles. The bull does not. “I’m a bit distrustful at the moment, Mona. Tyalangan was cagey about what happened ‘last night’ during the wedding. I want some answers.”

“And,” the Host responds as she appears, “you can do a full interrogation after the meeting, if you like. For now, have a seat, all of you.”

Facing the group, she switches to a more inviting tone as she starts the meeting proper, “Ladies, gentlemen, perverts of all persuasions, welcome back to Harem Hotel. We all had a fun time over at Andy’s wedding, but now it is time to get back into the swing of things.”

“Why wasn’t I invited to the wedding?” the kitsune growls, “I am Mona’s fiancée!”

“Considering how much our dear mistress was panicking about marriage when the invites first came in, I picked those least likely to pressure Mona during the wedding to accompany her. I think it did some good for Jenny. Feeling better?”

The dryad nods, then whispers something to the elf beside her.

“Still should have been me...” the kitsune grumbles.

“Maybe next time, if you can be civil in mixed company. Next item on the agenda, the gaping hole in the room usually filled by a gnoll. Craig has earned himself an elimination last night. I have taken responsibility for my poor selection and spared you all from having to put up with his eliminated ass. The rest of you have shown a desire to be with Mona so,” she pauses long enough to give the kitsune a pointed stare, “if any of you earn an elimination, the harem will not be given the mercy of a clean break.”

The warforged raises her hand, “And what, exactly, have you done to Craig?”

“Those that need to know, know.”

“What’s with the pink guy?” the corgi-girl asks.

“That is Craig’s replacement in the harem. Harith Harrows. Speaking of replacement, the next item on the agenda is a couple of transformations. Harith, come on up.”

Wait. What? He moves, of course. No need to piss off the Host. He smiles as he says, “I thought that you would introduce the options, then I would have time to adjust...”

“Mister Harrows, we are the peak of efficiency here. The audience has already voted. Two transformations to get you caught up to the others. I’m sure you will like at least one of them. First, something of a pick-me-up.”

The screen of the Media Room lights up with the text of the transformation. Harith reads it, then quickly gets hit with a giant ball of dread:

He Waited His Whole Damn Life – ...to take that flight. Incubi can typically fly, shape shifting bat like wings for that purpose. Harith can’t, unless you’d like to grant him the ability to now. Harith gains the following as a species feature: Incubus Flight: Starting at 5th level, Harith can use a bonus action to manifest incubus wings on his body. These wings last for 1 minute. For the duration, he gains a flying speed equal to his walking speed and can hover. Once he uses this trait, he cannot do so again until he finishes a long rest (Incubus).

Mona shrieks before he could answer, “WAIT... he’s an incubus? Isn’t that a sex demon?!?!?!?!”

Harith winces. Tyalangan answers, “Yes. A few notes. One, you already made contact with him and invited him into your bed, so some of this is on you, Mona. Two, he actually renounced his demonic heritage and serves a true neutral god, Hoar, so he’s not going to be mindlessly trying to eat your souls or anything. He has restraint. Three, his fate is now intertwined with yours, so killing you would be extremely counterproductive.”

Mona deflates. “Oh.” Then, after a pause, adds, “Sorry, Harith.”

The corgi-girl quips, “I mean, he does have the pointy devil tail...”

“So, great. I got exposed for a transformation I am thousands of XP away from being able to use. Just swell.”

The Host smirks, “Don’t whine. It’s unbecoming. You did get plenty of XP last night. Check with Daphne after the meeting. Or did you think that we wouldn’t adjust the XP leveling curve? Anyways, for the other transformation, you’ll want to pull out Alanis. She’s going to be working differently after this.”

Don’t you hurt my baby! The incubus draws Alanis from his Inventory, contemplating delivering a strike, only for the screen to update:

It’s Like Ten Thousand Spoons – ...when all you need is a knife. Given that a Hexblade is all about a relationship with a weapon, it would just be boring to let Alanis grow in power just through Harith leveling up. Alanis becomes a sentient weapon, with her own separate development path and the ability to shift to a female elvenoid form. In an “ironic” twist, her ability to improve is not based on their performance exactly the way one would expect. Harith will be able to improve her elvenoid form by gaining XP with her in combat. Her combat stats will be improved based on him integrating her elvenoid form in XP granting sexual acts (Hexblade).

A flat voice resonates in his head, “Hello.”

Uh, hi? Alanis, are you okay?

The voice states, deadpan, “I have no context to make that decision. I have only achieved sentience a few seconds ago.”

The Host speaks up, pulling them out of the mental conversation, “Care to demonstrate her other form?”

The shift is easy enough. One moment, Alanis is in his hand, as solid as ever. The next, she is standing there. Four feet of drab gray woman. She is hideous by elven standards, which puts her at very plain by human ones. No real curves, either.

She greets the group, just as deadpan as when in his mind, “Hello.”

“A work in progress, folks. You can find Alanis’s character sheet on your phone, when you have points to assign her. You get points to improve her appearance and personality via combat. If the audience wishes to chip in some points, they can. You get points to improve her combat prowess via sexy times.”

The warforged again raises her hand to ask, “So, like my AEP app?”

“A bit off-topic, but, while I am thinking about it, Alex from the audience bought you some points for your app, Andromeda. Alanis’s personality is much more broad brushed than the fine tuning your app allows for. Her points are needing to be spread across physical and mental aspects, after all. One more thing, and we can move on for the day. Harith, you two can take a seat now.”

Harith walks back towards the couches, watching Alanis almost robotically follow him. He scans through the app, pleasantly surprised by how it will work. I should be able to do a lot with this. Should I talk with her(?) about all of it? Or will she not have a real opinion right now? Hmm...

The screen updates with the leaderboard. Harith appears to be at the very bottom:

Mona has 475 BP. Good job!

Name (Level) ------------------- XP Given -------------XP Reserved ---------------BP

Andromeda (Level 5) --------------- 5 ----------------------- 110 ------------------- 240

Kevin (Level 5) ---------------------- 5 ----------------------- 100 ------------------- 170

Gaia (Level 5) ----------------------- 5 ------------------------- 93 ------------------- 304

Ootah (Level 5) --------------------- 5 ------------------------- 69 ------------------- 150

Winter (Level 5) -------------------- 5 ------------------------- 60 ------------------- 185

Tegan (Level 5) --------------------- 5 ------------------------- 53 ------------------- 100

Mineko (Level 5) ------------------- 5 ------------------------- 42 ------------------- 225

Tessa (Level 4) ---------------------- 5 ------------------------- 72 ------------------- 225

Jenny (Level 4) --------------------- 0 -------------------------- 11 ------------------ 250

Harith (Level 3) -------------------- 0 -------------------------- 41 -------------------- 0

“Not a lot of movement on the leaderboard, but, good news, everyone but Jenny has qualified for the challenge, once they go get their levels. Don’t worry, Jenny, you got the rest of the round to get a whopping 8 XP, including your date. I’m sure that you will figure out what you need to do. Some XP padding would be good, though. Don’t rest on your laurels.”

And, with that, the Host disappears, leaving Harith alone to deal with the fallout.