All I ever do is run

“So did you guys have fun on your date? Did you figure out what you were hoping to figure out?” Holly was the first one to approach Morgana after dinner, and the goth girl was a little surprised by the sudden prying into her date. Not because it was unlike Holly to pry, but specifically it was the type of prying that caught her by surprise.

“O-oh, my date?” Morgana blinked. “I mean… it… y-yes,” she said shyly, her eyes flickering over to Nick. “I had… a lovely time.”

She hoped it was a shared feeling. Their eyes met, and the way he looked at her eased the anxiety in her chest. Finally, Morgana felt like she could breathe again!

Holly blinked. That… didn’t answer her question, really. “I mean, I expected you guys would have fun,” she pressed on, “I’m talking about the other thing. You know, the sex stuff?”

Morgana’s jaw dropped.

Mary was immediately alert. She’d been cleaning up in the kitchen when she heard Holly from the other room, and immediately came in to see what was going on, and to make sure her friend wasn’t pressuring the other woman. “What’s this now?” She asked sharply.

Holly flinched. “It-it’s nothing,” she said hastily, wilting a little the way she always did when Mary looked seriously at her. “Just… you know. We’re talking…”

Mary scowled.

“It’s, um… pr-private,” Morgana said, fidgeting with her fingers. She glanced helplessly over at Nick, practically begging him with her eyes to intervene.

Nick found himself a little stuck. Not a fun place to be.

“Don’t worry, Mary,” he said gently, stepping forward. “Morgana and Holly are just chatting, that’s all.”

“Yeah, last night I was helping Morgana plan out her date, remember?” Holly reminded her best friend. “Well, we were just catching up on the stuff, no big deal!”

Mary blinked. “Well… okay then, if that’s all,” she said, calming down. “Morgana sounded really distressed, so I just assumed… I’m sorry for overreacting.”

“No problem!” Holly chirped, smiling as cheerily as ever.

Morgana, in contrast, was very much not cheery.

“Um, it… it’s really not, uh… ah…” It was a struggle for her to get the words out. But she needed to clear Holly’s name.

“…I just got a little… startled,” she finally managed to say. “Holly and I, we were talking a-about my date, and I… I got really embarrassed, um… b-because…”

Morgana’s voice trailed off slowly. What was she doing? Why was she getting embarrassed and making excuses?

To Mary? About THIS?

That was really, really dumb.

Morgana quickly shook her head and returned to her sense. “…Sorry, I was being dumb,” she said, earning her a look of concern from the older woman.

“Don’t say that,” Mary gently urged her. “Be nicer to yourself, Morgana.”

Morgana nodded slowly, seeing the patience and understanding reflecting in Mary’s eyes. She really is amazing, the younger girl thought, biting her lip. No wonder I’m so envious of her.

But Nick’s words from today echoed in her breast. She didn’t have to try and live up to Mary. She could just be herself. Just be Morgana. And he would like her for who she was. Mary would, too, and even Holly, who wasn’t treating her any differently even though she no longer looked like a sex goddess bombshell.

Morgana’s admiration of Mary didn’t need to extend to mimicry.

More importantly…

“…I wanted my date with Nick to be… not about, um… sex stuff,” Morgana confessed, feeling like a complete fool. Why had she tried to hide this from Mary in the first place? It had been more out of reflex than anything. Embarrassment. But she had nothing to be ashamed of, except for maybe being dumb enough to think she needed to hide her intentions.

“Oh?” Mary raised her eyebrow, immediately intrigued. She leaned forward curiously, surprising Morgana. All of a sudden it was like the redhead was looking at her in a new light!

Mary’s eyes glimmered with patience and understanding. While the redhead had been just as surprised as Ella earlier when Morgana walked through the door with three negated transformations, she hadn’t pried. It wasn’t her place. Even as Holly, Morgana, and even her husband danced around the topic, she left it alone, because it wasn’t any of her business. But now that Morgana was confiding the truth in her, she was overflowing with eagerness to hear what the other woman had to say.

Morgana almost found it creepy, almost.

“I- …Well, i-it’s just, like… I wanted…” Morgana looked down at herself, playing with the bow on her collar. “I was worried that… that Nick… he only wanted me for sex, so… I thought, that…”

“That if you negated your transformations that altered your body, you could go on a date with him looking the way you used to look?” Mary asked gingerly, cutting right to the heart of the matter with both delicacy and precision that Dawn would have admired as a doctor. “To see if he would treat you the same way, then?”

Morgana nodded timidly. She was impressed at how perceptive Mary was.

Mary gave her a warm smile. “Well… I hope you’ve been completely disabused of that concern.” She looked over at her husband. “Nick is capable of loving anyone, regardless of how they look, or who they are…”

Nick blushed and scratched his head sheepishly. “W-well, I mean-”

“Yes, anyone,” Mary continued, wringing the towel in her hands. “Some might even think too many people, in fact, given that he has a wife! But of course, he has plenty of love to give, so such a concern would be quite ridiculous.”

Mary was smiling, but somehow Morgana didn’t feel like she was.

“Uh… maybe cool off there a bit,” Holly said, holding up her hands to ease her friend down.

“Oh?” Mary turned to her with an innocent expression on her face and tilted her head to the side. “Whatever do you mean?”

“Um… no, no, nothing, not at all,” Holly said, taking a big step back to give Mary some space. This was so NOT something she needed to be dealing with.

Content, Mary turned back to Morgana with renewed interest. “Anyway, Morgana, I hope you don’t take my words the wrong way. I’m thrilled that you and Nick are getting closer, really, I am. So if you’re trying to be considerate for my sake… there’s no need.”

Morgana wasn’t sure what to say to that. It felt like a side of Mary she hadn’t really seen much of had risen to the surface. A part of herself that she kept well contained.

“Mary can get pretty possessive and jealous,” Holly explained from a safe distance away. “Frankly, I’m amazed that she’s even willing to entertain a harem in the first place! Shows how much she’s grown, if you ask me.”

Mary ignored her friend’s cutting barbs.

“…I will acknowledge that as a woman… I am not flawless,” Mary said with a sigh, cradling her cheek. “And to be clear, Nick is not at fault here.”

“Yeah, why does it feel like I’m at fault, then?” Nick asked bitterly.

Mary looked sympathetically at him. “…In my heart, I can’t deny that part of me longs to be his one and only,” she admitted. “How could I not? I think it’s a natural thing to wish for the affection of the one you love to be gifted solely to you… that isn’t something to be ashamed of. At the same time, however, another side of myself is filled with… pride and joy, that he can care so much for so many people, and longs to see him share that love with others.”

Her heart stood divided in a way that Morgana had never witnessed before. The goth girl stared at Mary with her mouth hung open in shock, not sure what to say.

“Um… Mary, wow, that’s…”

Mary reached out and took Morgana’s hand in hers. “You don’t need to be so nervous,” she said again. “The reason I’m telling you this is because I would also like to be your friend, Morgana.”

THAT nearly knocked Morgana off her feet.

From the moment Morgana set foot on the island, she and Mary had had a rather contentious relationship. It wasn’t at all a surprise- Mary was devout and religious, while Morgana had been affecting the persona of a sinful, irreverent witch. And even now, she still clung to a lot of beliefs and thoughts that Mary would find blasphemous if they were truly unpacked in a debate.

In spite of that early conflict, though, Morgana and Mary had since arrived at a rather shaky truce. They’d gradually grown to tolerate and even enjoy each other’s company more as Morgana became more comfortable around the other girls, and Mary even stopped looking at her with a leery gaze, which was a relief in its own way.

Morgana was glad that Mary had accepted her into the harem, even if informally. But that comfort was a different feeling than the one that now pricked her breast.

“Mary,” Morgana mumbled awkwardly as Mary gazed deeply into her eyes. It felt even more intimate, somehow, than when Morgana had tasted her milk and the two of them had been with Nick together in bed.

Maybe because Morgana was fully herself right now.

Unable to hold back her feelings, the goth girl burst into tears.

“Uuu… uwweeeeehhh!”

Mary’s face twisted in alarm. “W-wait, what, wh-what did I say!?” She started to panic. “Did I do something wrong!? I’m sorry!”

“N-no!” Morgana sniveled, shaking her head and wiping her face. “I jusht… I’m sorry… I… hearing you say that to me… that you accepted me…”

Mary’s face immediately regained its loving acceptance. “Oh, sweetie,” she cooed, stepping forward and pulling the sobbing goth into a comforting hug. “I accepted you a long time ago… I just never thought I need to tell you... I wanted to show you with my actions, but I thought I should tell you now.”

Morgana had never needed to be concerned. She’d won Mary over quite a while ago, and the only reason Mary was confessing those feelings to her now was because she was only just now becoming aware of the girl’s insecurity related to them.

If that hadn’t happened, she would have been content to just leave things rest. But she was happy to help ease Morgana’s concerns.

“…Now then, now that you’re feeling better, shall we keep talking a while longer?” Mary asked when Morgana finally stopped crying. She was still patting the younger woman soothingly on the back. “I want to hear all about that date of yours… as much as you’d like to tell me, anyway.”

She stepped back and let Morgana regain her composure. The embarrassed goth wiped her face again and smiled shyly.

“I hope Nick was a perfect gentleman,” Mary said with a playful sharpness in her voice to let them know she was teasing.

“I don’t!” Holly cheerfully contributed from the sidelines.

Mary rolled her eyes and Nick sighed.

And Morgana… she laughed.

“It was… wonderful.” Morgana pressed the tips of her fingers together with a bashful smile, glancing furtively at Nick. “Nick, he… he was quite sweet… I was so… so happy, I just…”

Swooning a little, Morgana looked over at him again. “I was worried at first… but all my concerns… I didn’t need to have them. In the end… it wasn’t a perfect date… but I don’t think I’ve ever had a better one.”

The bar wasn’t exactly high to clear, but it was obvious from the tone of her voice what she really meant by saying that. And Nick couldn’t help but smile back at her.

“I’m glad it went well,” he said gently, nodding in agreement. “Morgana, I know I’ve told you this a thousand times already today, but I liked hanging out with you because you’re a fun person to be around. All that stuff about, um… you know…”

“Yes, we’ve covered that,” Morgana hastily said, not wanting to break out into another long conversation. “H-how about we just agree that it was a good date and leave it at that?”

“Boo,” Holly pouted. “I don’t want to leave it at that! The night’s not over, you know!” She pointed out. “Don’t tell me you guys are going to just go to bed and not do anything! Come on!”

“Huh!?” Morgana’s face turned red. “N-no, that-!”

She’d never for a moment thought that they wouldn’t be having sex tonight. Although judging from the context of their conversation, it wasn’t hard to see how someone could have come to that conclusion.

Mary looked sharply at Holly. “If they don’t want to have sex tonight, that’s their choice,” she said firmly, even though deep down she was a little disappointed herself. Unlike Holly, though, she wasn’t going to let her desire to see Nick with Morgana trump her consideration for their feelings.

“Look, uh… I think you guys have the wrong idea,” Nick stammered, looking at Morgana, whose face was bright red. He wanted to tell them that this was a misunderstanding but he had to restrain himself, knowing that it was a lot more complicated than that. He didn’t want to put Morgana on the spot either, but…

“We’re going to have sex!” Morgana blurted out loudly.

A hush fell over the Master’s Suite as the blush on her face slowly deepened.

As all eyes turned in shock towards the mortified woman, Morgana slowly stepped backwards, gradually retreating from their scrutinizing gazes.

“It-it’s just… I m-mean…” Morgana’s eyes were spinning in her head. What could she say at this point? She couldn’t believe she’d just shouted that out in front of everyone like that!

But as embarrassed as she may have been… she wasn’t going to back down. Morgana had conquered so many fears today… she could be honest about what she really wanted.

Clenching her fists, Morgana pushed her meager chest out and stood her ground.

“I-I want… to have sex with Nick tonight!” She asserted, managing to complete her sentence without looking away from him. “We had… an amazing date, and… and I know that he values me for more than just sex now…”

She stepped closer to him on uncertain feet, feeling unsteady in her steps but somehow certain that she wouldn’t fall.

Morgana gazed gently up into Nick’s eyes and pursed her lips together.

“…I want to be with you… looking like this,” she said, gesturing to herself. In many ways, this would have been the last test. The final proof of Nick’s feelings. Could he make love to her scrawny, modest body the same way he had when she was a sexual dynamo?

But Morgana didn’t need to test him any longer. She knew the answer now. Of course he would. Or at least, he would try. And that was good enough for her. Gazing up at him, Morgana braced herself, waiting to hear his words echo in her ears.

Nick’s voice came kindly to her.

“I… of course, I’m not going to say no to that,” he stammered, blushing even more than she was. Talk about shameful! “I mean… you tried so hard today… did you think I wouldn’t want to, umm… do that stuff?”

It kind of sabotaged the whole underlying idea behind the date, but frankly, Nick had already spent most of it aroused as hell thanks to Morgana’s voice, which they were both well aware of.

Fortunately the strong tone in her voice right now was actually not triggering the transformation, so Nick could be confident he wasn’t being unduly influenced, even though he knew that wasn’t something he actually had to worry about.

“Also, there’s, um, the bounty to consider as well,” Morgana reminded him.

“Right, of course,” Nick nodded. “That’s something else… to consider…”

The two lovers looked awkwardly at each other; somehow, they still found new ways to make things uncomfortable even after spending the whole day doing that.

“Aww, how sweet!” Holly interrupted, snapping them both out of their daze and reminding them that they were not, in fact, alone.

Both Nick and Morgana jerked back, and looked at their audience in unison.

Holly, obviously, was brimming with excitement, smiling from ear to ear.

Mary was quite excited herself, but she found it hard to keep a straight face right now, her freckled cheeks having a nice dusting of red themselves as she tried not to let her shaky, embarrassed smile break her face right in half.

As much as Nick didn’t want to bring anyone else into this awkward moment, he couldn’t help but pray for someone to burst in and break the tension.

Unfortunately, on Harem Hotel, you had to be careful what you wished for.

“I’m back!” Nola popped into the room with a big smile on her face. “Hello, everyone! I hope you’ve all been having fun today! I’ve been off doing things, enjoying myself, you know. Did you finish the date? Have dinner yet? Ooh, there it is! Does that mean it’s sex time? What fun! Oh, hey, Morgana, what happened to you? You look so small now! I think that’s a great look on you, by the way. Small breasts are quite lovely, like mine. Oh, but huge breasts are also good. Nick, what do you think? What kind of breasts look best on Morgana? Small? Large? Or do you prefer a medium? I think-”

All that was spilled out in the two seconds it took for Mary to grab the leprechaun by the shoulders and spin her around.

“We’re helping in the kitchen,” Mary snapped at the stunned little leprechaun contractually-bound to follow her orders. “Let’s give the two of them some space.”

“Right, you got it!” Nola saluted, not even sparing Nick and Morgana a second look as Mary marched her into the kitchen.

Nick and Morgana stared at them in shock, then turned to look at each other. They burst out laughing, both glad that the tension had been broken and that Mary was taking care of Nola.

Holly watched them gaze at each other, and a soft smile touched her face. “Well… I should probably go help out too,” she said, turning and heading for the kitchen. “I’m sure you guys could use some privacy… don’t wanna intrude.”

It was a surprising display of tenderness from the little pervert, reminding Nick that underneath her bawdy, perverted exterior was a genuinely sweet, caring, and considerate woman. …And a bawdy pervert. That still went right down to the core.

Nick and Morgana turned to each other again, and Morgana was the more embarrassed of the two. Nick was blushing, sure, but his face was flushed with desire.

…Actually, Morgana wasn’t that embarrassed, either, if she was being honest. So yeah, desire was doing most of the heavy lifting right now.