5 Burning Jealousy

A day passed with nothing out of the ordinary. Or at least that's what I thought until it was time to check up on the girls' progress. They were supposed to be getting used to their workload by prepping the hotel rooms, stocking the pantries, and even making sure everything in each room was working as intended. Thankfully though, it seemed like there were no problems with the rooms themselves, but the same couldn't be said for the building tension between the girls.

"I've been scrubbing toilets all day, the last thing I want is you telling me that I can't take your place tonight!" Senya the pixie-cut demoness was fuming from her horns. Her index nail pointed at Maiko, as she grilled her with words in the kitchen. 

Standing near the entrance, I was instantly distracted by the flying pots, pans, and spices. Working over the flames on their own, the food was being prepared with Maiko's magic, and watching it happen before me was quite hypnotic. Like an inverted star shooting up from the earth, the spices trailed out of their containers and landed wherever they were needed. The pans tossed the food, and the pots stirred with no assistance. 

'No wonder she's the chef, nobody else could manage this place so effectively.' Darting my gaze back to the duo, I finally took my first step in. The very sound of my step shut their conversation in an instant. Instead, turning to me Senya stared at me for a brief moment before looking away. As for Maiko, she only took a glance at me before continuing with the meal preparations.

Like a masterful conductor, she waved her wand in the air and orchestrated a sizzling symphony of great nasal delight. But alas, I wasn't there to simply sniff the aroma, thus walking deeper in, I turned my attention to Senya.

"I thought Cinder was helping you? Is the workload still too much?" I asked, trying to figure out the problem.

"Too much?!" Visibly offended, she walked a few steps closer. "They work us demons like horses in the hellish fires, this is nothing!"

"Then why were you complaining?" I pressed further.

Folding her hands, she clicked her tongue and looked away once more.

"Senya, I need to know if there's a problem. I wouldn't want any of you to feel uncomfortable here," I assured, gently patting her on the shoulder.

"I just–" Pressing her lips shut, she took a deep breath and slapped my hands off of her body. "Nothing!"

Without saying another word, she stormed out of the kitchen. Even as she was in the hallway, Maiko and I could still clearly hear her stomping her feet as she went further away. At this point, it was no surprise that she was upset about something, and so bringing my attention to Maiko, I decided to ask.

"What's wrong with her?" Continuing with her work, Maiko squinted as a gentle blush took over her.

"She's jealous that we shared a room last night," her answer confused me further.

"How does she know? And why does that upset her anyway?" Maiko took a deep breath and sighed.

Finally turning her attention to me, she placed her wand down and forced a smile on her face.

"Because she thinks something happened between us, and given it the season of lovemaking, she's not too thrilled that an elf got a man first despite her being a demon," with that said, Maiko picked her wand back up and returned to work. "I tried telling her the truth, but she just wouldn't listen."

'Jealousy? Even though nothing happened?' Since Maiko had already tried to tell Senya the truth, I doubt anything I do to clear things up will work either. Even so, I still need to find her and try. 'But first, I should check on Cinder, and Rin and how they're holding up.'

Getting out of the kitchen, I began searching for the remaining two. With Cinder being a maid, and Rin the overall receptionist, it was easier to find one than the other. Wandering near the entrance, Rin was swatting flies away from her face. Utterly uninterested in the job, she let out a yawn while leaning against the reception's count.

"Oh hey," she muttered, gently waving at me as she noticed me approaching her.

"Can you go help Senya if you don't have much else to do?" I asked, wanting to lighten the weight on the demoness' shoulders.

Rolling her eyes, Rin let out yet another yawn before replying.

"I'm doing my job, the only one I'm paid for," I didn't expect much else from her to be honest. Darting a sideways glance, her eyes squinted as if she'd noticed something stuck to my face. "You seem tense, something happened?"

"Yeah actually," scratching the back of my head, I took a moment to contemplate whether to tell her or not. But before I could reach a conclusion, Rin spoke up herself.

"Lemme guess, Senya wasn't too happy with what you and Maiko did last night? Or was it Cinder who got into a fight with that busty gal?" A smile crept up her lips as she spoke. She was clearly trying to tease me.

"Maiko was scared after Ophelia's visit, so we shared the bed, that's all," I said, but her suspecting look did not drop.

"Sure sure, nothing happened," fanning her hands again, she chuckled lightly. "Even if I believe that I doubt the others will."

"Why do they even care?" I still couldn't figure it out. It hadn't been long since we first met, and they were already trying to claim me as a partner.

"Hmm…" Humming to herself, she moved her hand in front and began admiring her long-polished nails. "Because you're the only man we sort of trust, and well, it's mating season so what do you expect but raging hormones that make monsters do crazy shit?"

"So, it's pure lust?" The thought alone disgusted me. "And I'm your tool to calm those urges, just like the kidnapped humans that your kind tortures?"

Dropping her hand on the desk, she looked at me with frowning brows. A hint of bitterness rode her lips, and the disgruntled look in her eyes was sharp and piercing.

"Not all monsters are the same, I thought I told you that already," saying those words, she got off her chair. "Besides, only the true-blooded monsters like Minotaurs and Goblins do such crude things. Not the humanoids that are currently in this hotel."

Storming past me, she made her way up the stairs. Throughout her ascent, she didn't shower a peek back at me, which only went to show that I've actually managed to piss her off.

'I guess I shouldn't have mentioned that to a vampire. She or at least her people must've been humans too once, after all.' With how things were going, it seemed like I was on my path to piss everyone off. 'What should I do now?'

On my way to look for Cinder, the cheeriest of all the girls, I decided to have them take turns sharing the bed with me and see if that helped lessen the tension in the hotel at all.

"Hmmmmm," Cinder mused for a long time when I told her my suggestion, but then beaming a smile as radiant as her flaming body, she nodded. "Great idea, I don't want us to fight either."

"Alright, it settled then," with how things were going, my doubts about monsters were being trimmed every day. 

'Now let's hope that I'm not wrong in trusting them.' I thought to myself before returning to work until the day's end.