The Zoomies

“Twelve minutes and forty-two seconds,” Jasmine murmured as she clicked a timer to start a new line. “Faster, kitten.”

Lisa smirked deviously at Jasmine as she started her fourth round around the half-mile long track. The mansion was so sizeable that not only did they have their own personal gym, but they also had a swimming pool and a track. Of course, Lisa was becoming as feline as Jasmine and Diana wanted. One thing that good cats always did was run around when they felt pent up energy. Jasmine had long known that Lisa’s go-to coping skill for stress was eating treats or tormenting her Mistresses. Neither of those were acceptable. And thus, Jasmine had begun to train Lisa to get ‘the zoomies’ anytime she felt pent up rage or stress. Lisa wasn’t the best runner, but she was slowly getting better.

And, after lots of conditioning sessions and trances? Lisa was beginning to enjoy zooming around. She wanted to make another hurtful quip at Jasmine, but Jasmine had already punished her three times that week. And it was only Wednesday. Lisa only had so much bratting in her. As she ran, she thought about her past life, Jasmine and Diana, and her… friends, in the harem. Running gave her reprieve from having to think of her old life. In a way, Jasmine and Diana gave her that, too.

Truth be told, Lisa pretended like and couldn’t enjoy being in the harem a lot less… but it was much, much better than what she was doing before. She used to be trapped in a terrible apartment with her even worse ex-girlfriend. When Lisa finally stood her ground against Cathy, Lisa was thrown out into the street and had to fend for herself.  “Like a stray animal,” Jasmine cooed when she first met Lisa. That should have been the first hint for what Lisa had gotten herself into. As cruel and demanding as Jasmine and Diana could be… they were better than Cathy. At least they let her live out her subby desires and deepest fantasies.

Well, to be fair, the bar was kind of on the ground for Lisa. At least in terms of being better than her ex.

Lisa finished her fourth lap. “Wow,” Jasmine exhaled. “Eleven minutes and fifty seconds. You’re getting better, kitten.”

Lisa purred. It was instinctive to purr at that point. Her eyes widened and she shook her head around. “Uh, y-yeah.”

“That’s enough for today,” Jasmine put a hand on Lisa’s shoulder, stopping her before she could start another round. “Isn’t zooming around great? Makes you feel just like a little kitten running from her prey, doesn’t it?”

Lisa froze, the urge to kneel down and meow and obey growing strongly. She could almost feel Jasmine’s demeaning smirk on her skin. “Yeah, it’s, uh…” she scratched the back of her head. She couldn’t lie. Jasmine knew whenever Lisa was lying. “It’s good.”

Jasmine smirked even wider. “Open wide, kitten.”

Lisa obeyed. She opened her mouth up wide and held out her hands. That was one of her trigger phrases – and one she liked sometimes. Usually it was for oral service, but it could be for actual treats, too. Jasmine reached to a tray on her side, picking up another chocolate macaron, and putting it in Lisa’s hands. Lisa chomped on it, chewing and savoring the sweet treat. Chocolate was her favorite flavor. And she sure as heck didn’t get to enjoy macarons too much in her previous life.

“What do you say?”

Lisa smirked. She felt great. “More.”

~~

Tutorial Stage

“Aw, shit, fuck! I can’t believe this goddamn level!” Lisa threw her controller onto the ground in rage. She and Felicity had spend the last hour on the next stage of their new favorite game. It had been an arduous task – the game was well known for its difficulty, but this was just ridiculous. “Seriously, hard games are fun, but this is just pure evil!”

Felicity put her controller down as well in exasperation, her character dying soon after Lisa’s. “It’s pretty frustrating, yeah,” she resigned, crossing her arms. “You wanna play something else? I got the newest Mario Kart.”

“No!” Lisa hissed. “I’m too damn stubborn to give up! Let’s go again!”

Felicity shrugged her shoulders. The drone girl laughed a little as she navigated back to the level select screen. Lisa picked up the controller. She was ready to beat this damn level. She just needed to look a little bit harder when the enemies would pop on screen. They were so damn fast… but Lisa was getting the hang of it.

Just before they could start, they heard a knock on the door. Before the level even really started, they paused the game. “Yeah?” Felicity called out. “Come in.”

The door opened, and their hearts sank when Diana walked in through the door. Donning a simpler tiara and a soft purple evening dress, her high heels clacked against the floor as she entered. She held a curious, inquisitive look on her face, as if she had no idea what was going on.

“Your Highness,” Felicity greeted with obedience, standing up and bowing her head. She was not quite in drone mode, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t aware of her place at all times. The catgirl, on the other hand, couldn’t care less. “Is there something you need?”

“No,” Diana responded quickly, her eyes slowly turning to the TV. “What’s that?”

“Hm?” Felicity turned around, trying to figure out what Diana was asking about. Their eyes landed on the TV with its pause screen up. “Your Highness, that’s the newest game me and Felicity were playing. It’s been quite challenging. Has the noise been too loud?”

Diana shook her head. “I haven’t played video games in a while. May I try?”

Felicity opened her mouth. Did Diana ask what she think Diana just asked? “Try… the video game, Your Highness?”

Diana nodded. “Yes. I want to play.”

“I’m not sure you’re gonna get it right away,” Lisa sneered cockily. “It’s pretty hard… even for us.”

“Then teach me,” Diana quipped back with a death glare. “That’s an order.”

Felicity and Lisa looked between each other, trying to have some kind of telepathic conversation or something. They looked back at the game, to Diana, to each other, back to the game, and then finally nodding. “Of course, Your Highness,” Felicity responded. She went back to the game’s main menu to turn on the tutorial. Before she started, she obviously plugged in another controller for Diana, prepping a seat of cushions and pillows for her. “Here, we will teach you the basics.”

“You will,” Lisa smirked.

And Felicity did. Diana didn’t quite understand for a while which buttons were which – but she slowly developed the muscle memory for it. The two of them went through the tutorial stage, getting rid of each and every enemy they could. Diana of course made a few mistakes here and there, but this was one of the instances she welcomed input from her subjects. After clearing the tutorial, they went through the next few levels. Diana was… admittedly a formidable player. She must have been quite good at video games in the past, considering how she still had the coordination for it.

Eventually, Diana decided she wanted a challenge, and they decided to take on the dreaded next level together. Having a third player was quite an advantage, they found – except for the friendly fire. Lisa cussed out either of them whenever things didn’t go quite right, and Diana of course slipped up occasionally… but they were making it further than they ever had before. It was wild – in a strange way, Felicity felt herself bonding with Diana over this silly game. For the first time in a long time… Diana looked happy. At ease. Free.

After a few tough trials and rough battles, they persevered, reaching the finish line. “Holy shit, holy shit did we actually do it?!” Lisa demanded. They crossed the end of the level, and the three all stood up cheering and hugging each other. “YES! Yes, we did it!” Lisa cried out. “You’re the best, Diana!”

Diana chuckled a little. “I knew you two could use my help, huh?”

Lisa sighed, taking a moment to think. “Yeah, yeah. I guess you were pretty helpful.”

Another knock on the door came through, this one more demanding and impatient. “What’s going on in there?” Jasmine interrogated, walking in through the door without waiting for a response. Lisa and Felicity froze, unsure how Jasmine would react to the scene – certainly, judging by the way her jaw was on the floor, she wasn’t exactly thrilled.

“Diana? Dear? What’s going on?”

“I’ve been playing video games with Felicity and Lisa,” she stated. “It’s fun. We just beat a really difficult level.”

Jasmine raised an eyebrow. And then she said something none of them were expecting. “Interesting. May I try?”

The three exchanged confused and bewildered glances with each other. They tried to figure out if that’d be an actually good idea or if it would end in punishment and/or disaster. Eventually, Felicity looked back to Jasmine and said, “Of course, Mistress. We can teach you the basics.”

They went back to the tutorial, offering Jasmine the fourth and final controller. Diana took on explaining the game basics to Jasmine. After all, Diana was the person Jasmine was most likely to listen to. After the opening cutscene, the game started.

It did not go nearly as well.

Jasmine didn’t even know how to hold the controller. She kept getting confused which button was which. A few times, she ended up pausing the game and being unsure how to get out of the pause screen. That wasn’t even touching how bad she was at the actual game itself – when she did get a hang of the controls, her aim was disgustingly off balance, she lost all of their collective lives, and she ended up accidentally attacking Felicity’s character repeatedly.

Eventually, the normally composed businesslady gave up. She threw her controller on the floor, standing up and brushing off her suit. Diana looked up at her infuriated wife with a bemused expression. “Well, that was pointless,” Jasmine scoffed.

“It’s okay, love,” Diana reassured, though it sounded more like she was mocking Jasmine. “Not everyone is good at the beginning.”

“I am good!” Jasmine protested. “I just have more important things to care about than this silly game!” Without another word, she stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. The three gamers just stared in complete shock, having never seen something like that before. Diana was the first one to burst out into a fit of giggles, the other two joining her.

“Your Highness, forgive me for this, but your wife is…” Felicity tried to find the right words. Diana completed her sentence.

“A sore loser?” she chuckled. “I know. She does that.”

Lisa stretched her arms, amused from the sight and calming down from her fit of laughter. “Anyways, next level?”

~~

Public Workouts

Kae and Clara clinked glasses, staring at each other in the eyes. Kae was beginning to grow on Clara, and vice versa. They must have been charmed by Clara’s sudden confession and asking-out. Clara was a stupid princess with more glitter in her head than brains, but in a way, that made her more endearing and adorable. And Kae was a total fuckboy who was growing more and more sex and muscle obsessed – though in a way, that was preferably to Clara. After all, who didn’t like a playful guy with tons of muscles?

It’d been about a month since their himbo-bimbo public embarrassment date, and Kae managed to convince Clara to go on a real date with him. Clara didn’t quite understand at first. That was to be expected. Kae eventually wooed her with the possibility of a fancy dinner and shopping. Of course, as always, he had to ask Jasmine for the special credit card used by playthings. He took Clara to the fanciest restaurant in town, clad in a fancy suit with Clara brought in her fanciest purple dress. Clara wasn’t capable of holding an intelligent conversation, but she still was gorgeous.

They got a plate of pasta to share, like in those romance movies. Except, the pasta was ravioli and not spaghetti – Clara didn’t think that one through. To be fair, she probably forgot the difference between ravioli and spaghetti. After all, things like pasta varieties didn’t have anything to do with being a princess. So it was completely out of her wheelhouse.

Kae had taken her shopping beforehand, and their bags were stuffed with dresses and accessories and exercise equipment and sports balls. Clara had even taken one of the necklaces and put it on immediately after buying it. Kae didn’t mind – it was honestly kind of adorable.

At one point, Kae’s body had gotten so hot that they began slipping off their suit jacket. It was the first time Clara got a great look at their new muscle-bound arms. Her face flushed as she began gushing, staring deeply into their muscles. “Wow, you’re like, soooo jacked,” she fawned and giggled.

“Yeah?” Kae smirked as they flexed their arm. The microdosing on testosterone Jasmine had suggested had done wonders for Kae’s muscles. “You like this?”

“Yeah, like, it’s sooooo hot! What’s, um, your workout… thing?”

“My routine? Oh, y’know. Lots of weightlifting. I’ve gotten pretty good at bench pressing, too.”

"Wow," Clara gaped. Somehow, miraculously, she still knew what bench pressing was. Every time Clara remembered she knew something, it felt like she was a super genius. "That's sooo cool! Um, how much can you, y'know..." she blushed, fidgeting with her hands together. "How much can you, well, bench press?"

Kae blinked. "You mean what weight? Well, I s'pose I just managed to bench press 160 pounds yesterday. Why?"

Clara's eyes widened with a bright, deviant glint. Her lips curled into a manic grin. She had an *idea*.

"What?" Kae smirked, wondering what in the world could ever be on Clara's small tiny mind.

"You should bench press me!" she suddenly blurted out, unaware of how loud she was or the way the other patrons were staring at her. "I like, weigh less than that, and it would be so hot!"

Kae stared at Clara bewildered. They had to pause to try to fully understand what Clara was asking. Clara stared at Kae with baited breath, waiting for him to say yes. After all, Kae was being conditioned to love displays of power -- what kind of fuck boy wouldn't like bench pressing his girlfriend? "Sure, I could work off the carbs from this pasta when we get home."

"No, wait! I have a better idea!" Clara interjected. "You should bench press me right now!"

"Huh?" Kae's eyes widened in shock. "In... in front of all these people?"

"Yeah," Clara giggled. "I mean, are they going to care?"

"I like to think that rich people at a fancy restaurant would care if someone started bench pressing their date in public, yeah," Kae chuckled. Clara was so stupid sometimes that it was downright endearing. "Come on, Clara, I'll bench press you lots when you get home?"

Clara pouted, falling back in her seat just for a moment as she picked at their pasta. "That's no fun," she murmured.

"I know, babe," Kae reached over and ruffled Clara's hair. Clara flushed bright red. "I'll make it worth your time."

Clara got lost deep in thought -- which wasn't too deep, obviously. She wanted it to be public. She wanted everyone to see how powerful and strong her date was. But she couldn't force Kae. After all, she was just a ditzy, slutty princess. What could ditzy slutty princesses even do?

Wait... that was it! "I know how to convince you," Clara said with a mischievous smile.

"Really? Go on."

"If you bench press me right now, then I'm going to let you do, um, whatever you want with me, for like, a whole hour!"

Kae raised an eyebrow. "Really? Anything I want? Anything, at all?"

"Mhmm!" Clara had no idea what exactly she was agreeing to. None of Kae's ideas for what to do with her could possibly be bad. "C'mon, bench press me! Bench press me! Bench press me!"

Kae sighed, pushing their chair from the table. "Alright, fine, princess," they said as they stood up. "Attention, everyone!" He shouted out, turning to the confused restaurant customers. "My girlfriend is being very very pushy, so I'm going to satiate her needs and bench press her. Hope y'all don't mind!"

The fuck boy grabbed Clara's wrist and dragged her to the empty stage up front, getting on his back as Clara squeed in excitement. Everyone just stared in bewilderment, unsure what to do as Clara laid across Kae's chest at his command.

"Ready?" Kae asked.

"Um, yeah, of course!"

"Here we go."

Clara’s heart almost stopped as Kae lifted her up. Kae just suddenly took her breath away with one strong lift. Kae took a deep inhale as he steadied his arms. Clara felt like she was on cloud nine -- physically and emotionally. She realized she hadn't entirely registered the results of Kae's training until just then. Sure, Kae looked hot, like a musclebound jock with muscles for brains. But they were also so, so damn strong.

Clara's heart fluttered. She completely forgot people were staring at her. Though, one patron started clapping awkwardly, as if they actually enjoyed the sight. Soon enough, other patrons started clapping as Kae bench pressed Clara's body up and down slowly. The waitresses were all looking at them with raised eyebrows, whispering to each other in confusion.

"Yay! Thanks for, like, watching us, everyone," Clara giggled as Kae panted heftily. She didn't know she was mistaking their shocked gawking for admiration, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was the fact she was getting bench pressed by her hot jock boyfriend.

The night eventually ended with them getting kicked out of the bar -- a story they wouldn't tell Jasmine and Diana on their graves. Kae chided Clara playfully for roping them into that, but it wasn't like they weren't planning to use Clara's body in their workouts from then on.

--                           

Shopping Spree

"Woohooooo!" Lisa cheered as she marched out the mansion, her credit card in hand. "Let's go fucking shopping!"

"Wait, shopping?!" Clara gasped as she trailed behind Lisa, her body practically jumping up and down. "When? Where?"

"Right now, at the largest mall in town, you dumb ditz!" Lisa teased as she dragged Clara's body out. "There's a shortcut this way. I'm getting some new games. I s'pose you're just gonna get more, well, pretty dresses and makeup?"

"Um, like, yeah!" Clara giggled. "But like, what kinda toys? D-do you mean..." Clara began making an indecent motion to her cunt, but Lisa slapped her hand away. "Ow!"

Lisa clicked her tongue as she practically sprinted to the mall. Clara struggled to keep up with her with her damn tall high heels. "No! Get your head out of the gutter, it's not a place for a princess. I mean toys. Y'know, like magnetic sand or etch-a-sketches or puzzles or stress putty."

"Oh," Clara blinked. "Um... why?"

Lisa chuckled, crossing her arms and stopping in her tracks. "Do I need a reason, Clara? I just like playing with them. Gives me something to do. Besides, Jasmine and Diana don't mind -- they say it makes me just look more like a kitty cat." She rolled her eyes at the last statement.

"But... don't those get boring after a while?"

Lisa shook her head pityingly. "Not really, unless you have the attention span of a flea."

Eventually, they made it to the mall -- not without Lisa teasing Clara on multiple occasions on account of her lack of intelligence. Clara had to admit -- she was quite surprised by Lisa's niche interests. But then again, Clara had her strange obsessions with glitter and sparkles and makeup, too.

Of course, the first place Lisa physically dragged Clara was to the puzzle store. Clara could swear she'd never seen that many puzzles in her entire life. They weren't just table puzzles, either -- they were also 3D puzzles and wooden robots to build and things of that sort. Lisa looked almost like a kid in a candy store. Clara knew that Jasmine and Diana had placed a limit on their credit cards. Granted, she didn’t know what that limit was – after all, big numbers were kind of a weak point of hers at this point. But with the way Lisa grabbed anything that caught her eye off the shelf, she must have been reaching the limit already. Clara had to admit… she loved getting to know this part of Lisa. Maybe she didn’t know the other harem members as well as she thought.

After the puzzle store, they decided to go to a place Clara was vastly more interested in – a makeup store. It was very Lolita fashion inspired, so it had all the stickers and glitter that Clara loved. As Lisa had done so earlier, she began grabbing anything she wanted. Her shopping cart was more sparkles than anything else. Lisa found to the corner a section for Gothic Lolita fashion. She smirked, pulling out her credit card, preparing to spend even more money. Lisa wasn’t into makeup nearly as much as Clara – that would have been nearly impossible – but she couldn’t go wrong with some grey eyeshadow and deep red lipstick. They even had a section for fascinations, and each got new hairpins. Well, Lisa got a few, Clara got vastly more to stick in her hair immediately.

While at yet another one of Lisa’s favorite toy stores, they happened to run into Felicity and Kae – who apparently had the same idea. The game store was right next to there, and the sequel to one of Felicity’s favorite games had just come out. Seems it was a popular game, too – the line was so long it crawled outside of the store. Felicity was apparently getting the whole harem into games. She’d gotten Kae into sports and fighting games – he seemed to really like Pokken Tournament DX! What a surprise! – and even Anne was getting into those mindless puzzle games that she’d play while waiting for laundry to finish.

After they had spent well over two thousand dollars collectively, they decided to stop by and grab some lunch. Some minutes of fighting over which cuisine to eat, they eventually decided on a good sandwich store. Lisa of course got the tuna salad sandwich. Clara got a simple tomato mozzarella sandwich with a fruit salad to match. Felicity got an egg salad sandwich, and Kae opted just to get a protein shake and a teriyaki chicken salad. After some excellent food and conversation ranging from awkward (“so, uh, what’s new?” “Not much, being a cat more and more by the day is still pretty fucking weird though.” “Yeah, I suppose that makes sense.”) to exciting (“Oh my god, did you see Jasmine grabbing Anne from her cleaning and just immediately starting to angry-fuck her? And did you see how much Anne loved it?”)

Eventually, they all finished their food and drinks – and decided it was time to head home as a group. They must have looked completely absurd to outsiders – a stupid Lolita princess who couldn’t form a coherent sentence, a fuckboy walking out in workout clothes, a tall girl decked in black with cat ears and a tail to match, and a gamer with drone goggles on her forehead and a skimpy latex dress. But they were all each other’s chosen family, in a way. Despite the bizarre way the world had brought them together, they were a perfect group of friends – and play partners.

As soon as they walked in through the front door, Jasmine and Diana greeted them. Jasmine did not have a happy look on her face.

“Well, some fucktoys had fun, hmm?” she smirked with a hint of anger to her eyes.

“Uh, yeah?” Lisa narrowed her eyes. “Did we do something wrong?”

“Not necessarily,” Jasmine started, her arms crossed. “Though I did not like the confused calls I got from my credit card company. You four really went all out… didn’t you?”

They harem all glanced around and looked at each other nervously. “Well,” Jasmine huffed, “Until I fix this, you all need a… scolding. Not a punishment, but just something to set your heads straight until you know not to go out and spend $4,063.97 on a whim.”

They all started whimpering and looking around nervously. Lisa already seemed prepared to hit back with a snarky reply. Jasmine ordered them all again before she could, “put your purchases on the floor.”

The group of four complied.

“All of you, swap purchases with the person to your left.”

“Huh?” Clara blinked.

“You heard me,” Jasmine said smugly. “You’ll all get your stuff back to the right people when I go through all of your purchases and tell my creditors they weren’t mistakes. Got it?”

They all murmured a collective “yes, Mistress” in exasperation. Clara got Lisa’s bags of puzzles and toys, and had whispered to Felicity to take good care of her makeup. Felicity gave a thumbs up. As Jasmine and Diana went away to take care of their credit cards, Clara went up with her purchases. Surely Lisa wouldn’t mind her just looking through them.

At least, Clara hoped not. Clara was curious, and just had to try one out. She soon learned that despite being a dumb ditz, she was actually quite good with puzzles. No wonder Lisa liked this kinda thing!

~~

Couple’s Therapy

Anne had just finished polishing Diana’s favorite vase when she heard shouting. Rolling her eyes, she walked over to the source, fully expecting two of the maids to have gotten into another petty argument. Usually, they’d argue over who had to clean the toilets or handwash expensive clothes. Anne would always squash it and tell them to handle it like actual adults. Despite the growing pains at first, Anne turned out to be a fine, excellent head maid. Jasmine even complimented her once.

As she approached the yelling, she realized the voices were familiar. It was Jasmine and Diana… shouting? At each other? That didn’t seem right. Anne knew they got into tiffs – after all, Anne was hesitant about Diana at first in general – but it didn’t seem like they got into fights. Their relationship seemed as perfect as any relationship could have been. Then again, what did Anne know about relationships? She was single, dumped by who she considered to be the love of her life, and didn’t have much luck with dating.

Oh, damn it, she thought. Her curiosity got the better of her. Shuffling up to the door, she tried to hear if she could decipher what they were saying.

“I swear, sometimes it can be impossible to reason with you,” Jasmine sighed. Anne could almost hear her hit her face with her palm. “I want to take another vacation on you, but I need to focus on my business, too. The only reason we can take such extravagant vacations in the first place is because of my job.”

“But you’re always at your job these days! I feel like I never see you anymore!” Diana protested.

“Honey,” Jasmine groaned. “We just had a dinner date last night. And then we spent hours fucking Felicity straight. The day before we had a nice moment watching TV and lying next to each other as well, didn’t we? Why is this such an issue now?”

“But…” Diana trailed off. She seemed like she had something to say, but she couldn’t force herself to. It was like she almost knew she was being ridiculous.

Jasmine sighed heftily, and Anne could hear her take a seat. “I need to get back to my work, dear. I’ll be in my office.”

The door opened. Anne didn’t think to move away in time, and her eavesdropping face greeted Jasmine with shock. Jasmine didn’t even look angry. She just crossed her arms and looked disappointed. “Well. Didn’t think you were one to listen in on my private conversations, Anne.”

“I’m not,” Anne murmured as she stood up quickly. “I was… uh… cleaning the door, there was a lot of dust on it.”

Jasmine raised an eyebrow. “A lot of dust on a door that gets used multiple times a day? Please, Anne. If you’re going to lie, you should at least try to make it convincing.”

Anne sighed. “I’m sorry, Jasmine.”

“Mistress,” Jasmine corrected for what felt like the thousandth time since Anne joined the harem. “Have you just forgotten you signed a contract to join my harem?”

Anne coughed. “Yes. I’m sorry, Mistress. I couldn’t help myself. It won’t happen again.”

“No, it won’t,” Jasmine fixed her glasses. Anne gulped, preparing for the punishment of a lifetime. She’d quickly learned that Jasmine’s punishments weren’t anything to scoff or laugh at. Strangely enough, that wasn’t what Jasmine proposed after a short pause. “Because you’re going to solve this petty fight.”

“Wh—” Before Anne could protest, Jasmine dragged her into the room and forced her body down on a chair. Jasmine took a seat on the bed, coaxing Diana on there too. The royal queen groaned heavily, as if this were a massive annoyance, before sitting down next to Jasmine. “Wh-what’s going on? You want me to…”

“Tell us who’s right,” Diana completed, crossing her arms.

“Well, uh…” Anne paused, figuring out what in the world to do. She took out a pen and pad of paper from her maid’s belt, and got it at the ready. Was she really playing a couple’s therapist? For her temporary owners, at that? “Sure. Um, Your Highness, why don’t you go first?”

Diana narrowed her eyes. “I want to spend more time with my wife. You wouldn’t understand. But she spends all her time working, working, working, and when she’s not working she’s talking about work, and when she’s not doing either of those things she’s involving one of the playthings in our dates. I just want some time alone with the love of my life. It’s like she doesn’t even care about me anymore. Like I’m some accessory. Like I don’t even matter to her!”

She ended that sentence indignantly. Jasmine sighed and rubbed the sides of her nose, trying to quell her massive headache. “Honestly, this is my problem with her. I feel like I do everything to maintain this mansion, but more importantly make my wife happy! That’s why I’m so busy all the time. And I still try to make room for her, but sometimes it’s difficult! Like I only have one body!”

“The least you could do is take maybe one night off a week,” Diana murmured.

“Woah, woah, woah,” Anne stopped them. “Let’s slow down. Uh… Diana…” Crap. Anne really didn’t know what she was doing, but she sure could try. “W…why don’t you rephrase that as an I statement?”

“I…” Diana narrowed her eyes. Woah, she genuinely struggled with that minute task. “I… feel that we don’t spend enough time together,” she managed out. “I would, um… like it, if we could spend one night a week just the two of us. No work, no playmates, just us.”

“I… guess that’s a reasonable request,” Jasmine mused.

“There you go!” Anne said triumphantly. How was this going better than she expected? The situation was beyond bizarre. She was playing couple’s therapist for her ex and her wife, not to mention the fact Anne was their property – at least, for now.

“But,” Jasmine ruined the moment. “That doesn’t mean you can just demand all of my time! We do take time together, but when we do, you don’t enjoy it. It’s like taking a stone wall on a date.”

“Well,” Anne started. “Have you asked Diana what she wants to do on a date?”

“Of course!”

“No,” Diana huffed, “you just suggest things to do. How about asking me for once?”

“Well,” Jasmine leaned back with an exhale. “What do you want to do, dear?”

“I…” Diana crossed her arms and thought. “I want to go on more adventures. I’m sick of dinner dates and movies. I want to go rock climbing, hiking, roller skating… or maybe just… anything new. It seems like years of marriage just makes things like dinner dates dull and boring. Maybe we can try something new?”

“I want to do those things with you, of course! I just…”

Jasmine trailed off uncomfortable. Anne looked at her deeply. “What? What are you feeling, Jasmine?” Anne could tell them she was feeling herself quite ridiculous.

“You don’t think you’d get hurt, dear? Things like skating and rock climbing… those are dangerous, dear. You could injure yourself.”

“You can’t go through your entire life protecting me,” Diana retorted.

“Yes, I can!”

“Why?” Diana asked. “Why do you do this? Why do you treat me like I’m some delicate object? Or a fragile instrument? I’m a person who’s fully capable of doing things, Jasmine! You’re just overprotective because you’re insecure about your own capabilities as a wife. Maybe you should be, because you haven’t really been a good wife or partner to me!”

“Hold on, Your Highness,” Anne stopped her from continuing her tirade. “Why don’t, you, uh… phrase that less like an, um… less like an accusation and with more, well, understanding?”

Diana sighed. “This is stupid.” Anne decided to ignore that. “But… I don’t want you to feel like you have to protect me. Even if something does happen to me, I…” she stopped herself, blushing. “I know I can fix it. I know… we can fix it.”

“See?” Anne smiled. “Just like you can fix this issue!” God, she hoped they could.

Jasmine sighed, putting her hands on top of Diana’s. “I know we can, dear. I’ve just been at risk of losing so much in my life… I can’t afford to lose you too.” She paused, looking down. “I suppose I’d be open to trying more dates. I’ll… look which evening would be best to take off every week, so we can have just for us.”

“Okay,” Diana sniffled. “And… I want it to be just us. I love what we’ve built. I love our harem, and all our toys.” Anne blinked. Diana loved them? Including her? “But I also love you. I want time with you. Just to spend alone.”

Jasmine clutched Diana’s hands tightly. “I’ll do everything in my power to make sure we have that. I want that, too.”

Anne smiled, beginning to pack the pen and paper back into her bag and stand up. “Well, I guess, uh, my work here is done?”

Diana nodded gently. “Good maid. The rest of the day is yours. Leave.”

Anne wanted to respond with something else, probably a sarcastic or teasing comment. But she figured Her Highness and Mistress could use the alone time right now.

~~

Old Wounds, Fresh Scars

Felicity didn’t come to the mansion with a lot. And despite her years at the mansion, she never finished unpacking. She had about four boxes, but she only unpacked her clothes and games at first. Of course, the former was moot as her wardrobe was slowly replaced with latex outfits and drone attire. But she had a bit of time today, so she figure she’d finally go through the last of her boxes.

The first box was a lot of old books. She was an avid but strange reader – she would read literally everything from beginner’s guides to crafts to cookbooks to niche erotica to true crime novels to trashy, badly written sci-fi. Most of them were thrifted. She sorted them into things she’d want and things she could do without. The majority of the books fell into the latter pile, all things considered.

The next box was full of mementos from her last life. It was a small box, and most of them felt… unfamiliar. In fact, Felicity was unsure how she got most of them. She pulled out a necklace, and it felt like it should have instilled some sort of feeling in her. Felicity sure felt stirred upon seeing it. She shook her head and put it away. Such strong emotions weren’t fit for an obedient, high protocol drone. Where did she get it from? It didn’t matter… did it?

And then she pulled out the last box. More books. No… upon closer look, they were journals. Varying sizes, lengths, covers, page types… Scrawled in varying fonts and sizes. Some with images glued or taped to the pages. But all in Felicity’s handwriting. She… wrote these?

And Felicity began to remember her life coming back.

It was only bits and pieces, at first. But none of it was pleasant. She remembered being abandoned by her parents – waiting for them for hours at a bus stop. That was when the trust issues started seeping in. Then it turned into having to fend for herself most of her life, having to steal necessities to get by. Getting into fights. Getting arrested. The abuse she faced on the streets, the harassment, and scolding leers. The way she wasn’t able to truly trust anyone. The journals detailed these little moments, and while Felicity didn’t remember everything or feel like it was real, she knew it happened.

The journals stopped, suddenly. Felicity didn’t even realize how much time had passed. Or that she was openly sobbing, tears streaking down her face. Her body wracked with intense sadness. How could she have forgotten that much?

She heard impatient footsteps by her door, followed by a loud knock. Felicity recognized her – it was Mistress. Her heart sank as she tried to wipe her tears and fix her puffy face. Unfortunately, Jasmine gave her no time as she barged in.

Instantly, the hard, cruel look on Jasmine’s face melted into a soft, concerned expression. “Felicity? What happened?”

It was rare. It was absurdly rare for Jasmine to refer to Felicity by her name and not her drone number. It was only in serious, honest moments that she dropped the façade. “I’m… fine, Mistress,” Felicity murmured as she tried to collect herself.

Jasmine raised an eyebrow. “Felicity, don’t lie to me.” She paused. “Please.” It was even rarer when her Mistress said ‘please’.

Felicity always had a feeling Jasmine had a soft spot for her. After all, Felicity was their first official plaything. She remembered that much. Maybe that was why Jasmine held Felicity in particularly high esteem. Especially since Felicity had actually stayed. Jasmine walked up and held Felicity in an embrace. Despite her unusual demeanor, her hugs were still stiff and cold. But Felicity wouldn’t have them any other way.

“Mistress,” Felicity started, her voice choking. “What happened to me? Why am I here?”

Jasmine sighed. “When I saw you like this, I feared you found your old journals.”

“You mean…”

“Yes. I hypnotized you not to care to look into any of your journals. I looked through them myself, of course – I need to be informed on who my property is. I didn’t think rereading them would help you. Which also means I…” Jasmine sighed. She didn’t have any regrets, did she? “I also hypnotized you to forget your past.”

“I… why?” Felicity’s face dropped as she clutched the journals. “I’m – I’m not questioning you, Mistress, I just—”

“You asked me to.”

Felicity blinked. The weight of that statement hung over her like the world’s heaviest book bag. “I… asked you to wipe my memory? I did that?”

“When you first came here, yes.” Jasmine fixed her glasses and sat down on the bed. Felicity joined her – it seemed like the right thing to do, after all. “You wanted a new life. And to get that, you felt like you had to forget everything you’ve ever known. After all, it didn’t seem like it was all great times. I told you the risks in doing that, but ultimately I decided to fulfill that wish. I… am not sure it was the right decision, given what I’m seeing here. Call it a moment of inexperience. You were my first owned plaything – there were times even I don’t know what I was doing.”

“I… I don’t even know how to feel anymore.” Felicity admitted. “I mean, obviously, I want to stay here – and even if I didn’t, that would be your decision, Mistress. But… it’s so much at once.”

Jasmine lightly petted Felicity’s hair.

“I don’t want my memory wiped again,” Felicity admitted, much to Jasmine’s surprise. “I want… to know these things. And still be a part of this mansion.”

Jasmine smirked bitterly. “You don’t hold it against me, plaything?”

Felicity suddenly did something quite unusual for an owned plaything. She embraced Jasmine tightly, holding her arms around her Mistress’ waist. Jasmine was unsure what to do for a moment, before she held Felicity back. Felicity didn’t want to let go. She didn’t want to leave.

“Not at all, Mistress.”

“Then… would you at least like me to take your mind off of it, even momentarily?”

Felicity let go. “Yes, please, Mistress.”

The next thing she knew, she was right back in drone space. Only this time was much more affirming, much more welcoming. She knew this was where she belonged.

~~

Cum Laude

Anne had finally got around to sorting her documents and files and papers in her suitcase. She had been required to turn over anything vital to Jasmine and Diana – such as her social security card, her ID, and her credit cards. But anything that was less than that, she could keep to herself. Anne was the kind of person who kept little treasures she’d find in obscure places, but since her maid training, she was beginning to realize how much useless stuff she had.

Anne was a maid. And she took it very seriously, as she did with being a college professor. She had a feeling at the beginning she’d miss being a college professor, so she brought along some of her favorite essays that old students have written. She was a great teacher for quite a few years, but she was a very strict one. She rarely gave out A+’s, if at all. She mostly brought along the few that did, and some of the essays that were so abysmally bad they were amusing to look back on. She looked through them, tinges of admiration hitting her heart, until she saw something.

An essay of Clara’s.

Of course, this was before she was all dumb and ditzy. This was from when she was a straight A honors student, at the top of Anne’s class. Anne did a quick skim over of the essay for the sake of nostalgia. Holy hell. Clara was smart. It was nearly impossible to believe that she was the same person. Clara had no problem naming plants in their scientific names, and explained everything with a clarity that proved she knew what she was talking about. Now, Clara was lucky if she could spell out what day of the week it was.

Was it sad? Maybe a little. But more so… it was hilarious. Anne never realized how much she loved laughing at idiots. Maybe that was why she stayed as a college professor for so long. And she had to show this to someone.

Anne folded up the essay and all but skipped out of her room. Unfortunately, all of the maids were busy with the work Anne had given them. She could pull them aside to have them laugh at Clara… but she wouldn’t put them through that. The maids weren’t playthings or sex toys for her pleasure. Usually.

Eventually, though, someone tapped her on the shoulder. Anne whipped around to see Diana standing there, a curious look on her face. Diana’s makeup was, as usual, done perfectly. She was wearing a gentle purple evening dress and a see-through blue coverup. Anne blushed hard. Despite her feelings about Diana, she always somehow looked immaculate.

“Y-your Highness,” Anne bowed her head. “How can I help you?”

“You seem excited about something,” Diana noted, raising an eyebrow. “I was curious.” Her eyes drifted to the folded papers in Anne’s hand. Without even asking, she took the papers from Anne, eyeing it curiously. At this point, Anne knew better than to protest. “What’s this?”

“That’s…” Anne looked down. “An essay. Written by Clara, when she was my student.”

Diana choked. Her face was usually slightly aloof and bored, but Anne could swear Diana was trying her damndest not to burst out cackling. “This? This was written by Clara? We mean the same Clara, yes?”

“Of course, Your Highness,” Anne smirked. “She was quite smart and capable, you know.”

“Wow,” Diana chuckled. “This feels like it’s from a different universe. Why don’t we show it to Clara, then?”

“Wh—I…” Anne blinked. How did she not think of that? Diana was really full of good ideas. Sometimes. “That’s a great idea, Your Highness.”

“Let’s go,” she snapped excitedly, almost dragging Anne to find Clara. Diana was almost running from the excitement of getting to shove Clara’s former intelligence in her dumb, dimwitted face. Anne found it hard to keep up with her. And yet, she was excited too.

Clara ended up, of course, being in her room, putting pretty, sparkly glitter all over her face. As soon as she saw Diana and Anne, she stopped and turned around. “Y-Your Highness! And Anne! Good afternoon,” she stood up and bowed her head.

“Good afternoon,” Diana smirked. “We have a gift for you.”

“Huh?” Clara’s eyes lit up. They sparkled almost as much as her face did, at that point. “That’s, like, so kind of you! It’s so, um… gen… gener… kind of you!” she giggled. Anne and Diana eyed each other, smirking wildly at her inability to pronounce basic words. “What’s the gift?”

“It’s this,” Anne triumphantly handed Clara the essay.

Clara looked at it with a wide, toothy smile. “I can’t understand this!” she announced as if it were some great accomplishment.

Diana’s smirk widened even more. “Of course you can’t, idiot. But guess who wrote it?”

“Huh?” Clara cocked her head. “Who?”

“You, you ditz.”

Clara blinked. Her face momentarily fell. “Huh?” she looked back down at the paper. Her face was… crestfallen? Disappointed? Anne felt a pang in her heart. Did they make a mistake by showing her this? “I… did?”

Diana paused. She got the same feeling Anne did, apparently. “Yes,” she huffed. “You did. You used to be… smart.”

“Oh…”

The silence felt so awful – at least, to Anne and Diana it did. Clara looked like she was still processing. Naturally, it took Clara longer to process than the two of them. Her brain cells probably had to work overtime to understand fully. Soon enough, she broke the silence with her usual idiocy and a loud declaration. “That’s, like, really cool! I used to be sooooo smart,” she giggled. “I don’t even know what this says!”

“Of… course you don’t,” Anne chuckled awkwardly.

“That’s… fine with you?” Diana asked.

“Well, yeah, it is,” Clara started. “It means that you all have changed me so much! And like, that’s so hot. Being dumb is so hot and fun. I don’t need to worry about, like, anything anymore. All I need to do is smile and be dumb and, well, be a princess!”

Diana paused for a moment. She let the moment of anxiety wash over her before going up to Clara and petting her head. “Am I happy to hear you say that,” she chuckled. “We love having you dumb and stupid and pretty for us.”

Clara beamed in the admiration. “That’s, like, good! ‘Cause I like being dumb and stupid and pretty for you. Um…” she blinked. “So did you want something?”

“Yeah,” Anne smirked. “We just wanted to laugh at you.”

“Oh!” Clara grinned even wider as if it were a compliment of the highest praise. “That’s also, like, real hot.”

Somehow, knowing how smart she used to be made the moment even hotter.