"I think I'll take this room," Kim said, gesturing to the same room Gwen took.
"You sure about that? You really wanna room with li'l old me?"
Kim nodded, quite certain she'd made the right choice. Ann seemed nice enough, but of the two she had struck more of a chord with Gwen. Her only concern was that whoever the last occupant of the room might well turn out to be, they would all get along well during their stay here at the Harem House. She didn't even notice how natural it felt to call it that. The nickname had crawled into her mind and made itself a nice home without her ever knowing it. This was the manner in which the magic on the house operated, like a velvet web it invited its victims in and ensnared them in comforts and delights. Everything that stayed on the grounds was eventually affected in some manner, meaning that even though the house had been redecorated, rebuilt, refurnished many times to make sure it kept up with the modern requirements of it, every single piece of furniture, every carpet, wallpaper, decoration, lightbulb, sink, shower, phone line, television was deeply altered by the spell surrounding the house. Each of these items and others besides were infused with the spell, working together like a well oiled machine. Better than that, in fact. Most machines don't learn by observation alone, or react to events by developing or altering strategies and plans and tactics to ensure that the prey in its grip was comfortable and happy even as the web tightened around them, and made them into the most comfortable state they would ever acheive. Machines don't do this. Indeed, the wizard that cast the spell in the first place used to joke that he had constructed a new form of life...
"Which bed do you want?" Gwen said, gesturing with her head as her arms were pre-occupied with Kim's box. "I think you can guess which bed I took, so if you want that I suggest we toss a coin for it."
"No, no, I don't want to fight you on something like that. I'll take... that one, over there."
The box was carefully placed at the foot of the bed, and Gwen stretched out the tension in her back. "Ah! Okay, you can manage from here by yourself, right? I'm gonna head back downstairs. Don't think Ann is exactly the kinda person that easily deals with new people. You know what I mean?"
"I get you," Kim said. "Best not to disturb her reading time, eh?"
"You said it! Just come back downstairs whenever you're done, alright?"
With that, Kim was alone in the room. Their room. Her bed. But more crucially, her stuff which had to be put away somewhere. The place had no less than three large wardrobes, and Kim noted there were even full body mirrors on the side of them. The wardrobes themselves had plenty of room for everything, as they were extremely spacious - in fact, slightly larger inside than out though she couldn't spot that from this angle - with built in drawers and shelves at the back. It was the perfect storage space. She opened the box, and began organising everything, but as she did so, she temporarily and completely unknowingly fell victim to one of the many magical traps contained within the room...
Wed Oct 20 14:39:53 2010