And sometimes when you're on, you're really fucking on, and your friends they sing along and they love you

Dani couldn’t miss the expectant look on Nick’s face as they were warming up. He kept glancing around surreptitiously when he thought she wasn’t paying attention, like he was looking for someone in particular.

“What’s the matter?” Dani asked, cracking a wily grin. “Don’t tell me you’re waiting on Morgana to come join us? You make plans with her to start your date with a workout or something? Talk about cute!”

She was just joking around, but the mental image of Morgana flailing as she tried to lift weights and do stretches was a cute one. Out of everyone in Nick’s harem, Dani was pretty sure that Morgana probably was in the worst physical shape, not that there was anything wrong with that. She’d offered to help plenty of times, but Morgana would just go pale and shake her head in firm rejection of anything even remotely resembling physical exertion.

So she was mainly just teasing.

Nick shook his head. “Sorry, my mind’s somewhere else,” he apologized. He hadn’t even been thinking about his date with Morgana today, even though Holly had apparently (according to Rose, anyway) spent the night planning with her. “I’m actually looking for Kim. Is she not going to be working out with us today?”

Dani bit her lip. “…Oh… yeah, no, I guess she’s not,” the tomboy said, frowning.

Nick blanched. He began to worry now. He hadn’t gotten the rundown from the others due to spending most of the day with Ella; the last he’d heard about Kim had been when he was peeking in on that store she’d been sent to, the one run by that mysterious Little Miss woman.

She wasn’t still there, was she?

“Did you see her at all today?” He asked, trying to sound casual.

Dani shook her head again. “Nope. Apparently she was working somewhere else, or something like that?”

“Yeah… see, she used Sick Day, and the transformation she got from Dakota, well… it was kind of a strange one.” Nick took a second to explain everything that had happened with Kim the previous morning, and Dani nodded along, letting the words sink in.

Finally she smiled and said, “Well, that’s a good reason to be concerned. But you don’t have anything to worry about, Nick!”

Nick sighed in relief. “I don’t?”

Dani shook her head. “Nah. Kim’s back!” She was wondering why he’d been so antsy. But after hearing his explanation about what happened, it made sense that he was so worried- he must have thought she was still in that weird place!

“See, before heading down I went to check with Gina to see if Kim was around. Since I’d missed her all day yesterday, I figured something was up,” Dani explained. “Turns out, I was right on the money. She didn’t give me the specifics, but she said that she’d had a really exhausting day yesterday, and she just wanted to sleep in.”

Nick was relieved to hear that, but also a little alarmed. “She didn’t use her Sick Day transformation again, did she?” He asked worriedly. Those punishment transformations rolled over, and he was concerned that Kim might have been sent away again.

Dani raised her eyebrow. “Boy, you must have had a long night last night,” she said, playfully pushing him in the shoulder. “Half-asleep? How could Kim have been there to talk to me if she had used her Sick Day?”

Nick blushed. Dani was right. He couldn’t believe he’d said something so stupid.

“Sorry,” he apologized. “Long day… it’s pretty stressful, you know, being so concerned about so many people.”

Dani nodded sympathetically. “I’m sure it is,” she agreed. “I can’t imagine going on that many dates one after the other, having to plan everything out like that…”

“Well, what about you and Carly?” Nick questioned. “You two are getting along pretty well. You spend pretty much all your time together, don’t you?” He pointed out.

The tomboy shrugged, then began stretching her back muscles, intent on keeping her workout going even while they chatted, since it seemed like this conversation was just getting started. “It’s different with Carly and I, I guess,” she explained.

Nick wasn’t sure why that was. Well, he had a guess, but he didn’t want to say it…

Dani sensed what he was thinking anyway though, and smiled. “It’s okay, you can say it, it’s written all over your face,” she giggled. “And no, that’s not the reason.”

Nick turned red. He hadn’t intended to say it, but she’d gone and dragged it out into the open anyway. He’d been thinking that the reason Dani had such an easy time was because Carly was a pretty easy woman to please; she was fun to be around, she loved trying new things, and everything was just so casual and comfortable with her.

Apparently, that wasn’t what Dani had been getting at.

The tomboy shook her head. “You’re not wrong that when Carly and I are going on, well, I guess an ‘official’ date, those are pretty easy,” she said, admitting that much at least. “But it’s completely different. There’s also the time we spend together that isn’t actually a date, you know? Like, hanging out with Marley, and Emmy now, I wouldn’t really consider that a date, would you?”

Nick shook his head. He was trying to do like Dani did and maintain his stretches and the conversation at the same time, but since he was in worse shape than the tomboy, he needed more breaks so he could talk. “I guess not,” he admitted.

“And that’s the difference. We can just hang together and have it not be a big deal.” Dani paused for a second, thinking it over. “…But I guess that’s not the same with you, is it?”

“I have a date every day,” Nick pointed out, acknowledging along with his tomboy friend that there was a significant difference there. “You two can go at your own pace, but for me, I guess there’s the obligation of ‘I’m only going to have this one day with her; I need to make sure it’s good enough’ and that…”

“It can be draining, I bet,” Dani agreed. “Especially with how little time you guys have…”

There was an obvious answer here, but Dani wasn’t sure if she should say it or not.

…But since that never stopped her before…

“So just go on dates in a group, then?” She bluntly suggested. “Like when Kim and I went out with you. Although that wasn’t really a date… but you get what I mean, right?”

The date with Dawn and Rose would have been a better example. But Nick understood what she was getting at.

“Amelia suggested the same thing a while back,” Nick said, recalling his “date” with Amelia last round, where she’d used her day with him to bring Sylvia along and highlight the important of maintaining his relationships with multiple girls at once. “And while it can work, is that really easier?”

Dani shrugged. She didn’t know what answer she could give him for that. “This is why I only date one person at a time, Mr. Harem Master,” she teased, brushing her feathery arm against his cheek in a playful swipe.

Nick rolled his eyes and laughed. “That ship has definitely sailed,” he replied. “But you’re right… I really do need to balance my schedule more. You are not the first person to tell me that this round, believe me.”

Dani snorted. “Please, I bet I’m not the first person to you that this morning,” she replied.

Mary’s face flashed through Nick’s mind, and the expression he made was answer enough for the tomboy. She smirked in triumph.

“Well, you’ll figure it out, Nick,” she said, finishing up her workout and lightly socking him in the shoulder. “That’s the thing about you, you’re a sincere guy, and you’re always trying to think about other people. Those are some great qualities to have in a partner; I’m sure if you put your mind to it, you’ll be able to make everyone happy.”

Nick smiled. It was good to hear Dani’s support of him. He was glad to have her in his corner.

“Thanks, you’re the best,” he said. Honestly, just being here was doing wonders for his mood. “I think just having some time and space to think and relax like I’m doing right now, that’s good enough for me as it is.”

Yesterday’s date with Ella had been lovely, but Nick had needed to be “on” the whole time. Regardless of whether Ella or Cinder was the active persona, Nick had tried his hardest every moment to make sure that they were having a good time. They’d had fun… but in the aftermath, Nick could acknowledge that even the relaxing parts hadn’t been as relaxing as he felt right now.

Dani nodded sympathetically. While she had no idea of the specifics, the expression on her friend’s face was telling her quite a lot.

“Just do your best,” she said, placing a comforting hand on the shoulder she’d just socked. “And if you can relax while we’re working out? That’s great!”

There was a sharpness in her tone; a playfulness that suddenly got Nick’s hackles up.

“…Uh, the way you said that, it sounds like…”

Dani’s eyes flashed and a smirk crawled up her lips. “Of course… I think it’ll be a while before you can really relax.”

Nick’s face went pale and his heart sank in his chest as Dani’s words sank in. He could see it in her eyes, she was about to put him through the wringer.

“Dani…”

“I’m glad you and I are such great friends!” Dani draped her arm around his back and led him towards the weightlifting machines. “Now, let’s get started!”

Nick winced. Dani’s support was a relief, and he did feel better after talking to her. But right now, he was certain he was about to feel a whole lot worse…

All things considered, it could have gone worse. Dani had been right there with him, encouraging him and helping him the whole way through, as well as stopping him when it looked like he was approaching his limit.

And as exhausted and sore as he felt right now, he still felt much better than he had the last time they’d worked out together. When he told her that, she’d beamed at him in admiration and let him know that was a sign that it was working!

He was glad- because if he wasn’t improving, then he’d just wiped himself out for no reason, and that wasn’t fun.

The first thing Nick considered was that he should take a shower. It wouldn’t do to greet Morgana while stinking of sweat, after all. But then, she would probably be up already; shouldn’t he go pay her a visit before she left her room?

Memories of yesterday morning and his blind hunt for the invisible Ella gave him pause. The last thing he wanted was to spend his morning trying to track Morgana down, especially when they hadn’t agreed to a formal time for their date.

Yeah… better to just go see her now.

…Unfortunately, he had an obligation he had to knock out of the way before that, courtesy of a helpful reminder from Dani. So his throbbing legs carried his rundown body over to the door of one of the other suites, and he knocked, hoping that she was still there.

“Oh, hey… what’s up?” Kim greeted him at the door, which was a relief. It was good to see her again. Especially wearing a smile. She seemed lighter, less burdened.

“Hey, uh, good morning,” he said, giving her an awkward smile.

She raised her eyebrow, noting his state of dress. He’d changed out of his workout clothes, but he was still covered in sweat.

“…You and Dani finish up in the gym?” She asked, nodding in approval. “That’s great. I’m glad to see you’re taking things seriously!”

Nick smiled. “Thanks,” he said, scratching his head. “I, uh, see you’re back, too. From, um, you know. That store.”

Kim made a face. “Yeah, you mean Little Miss’s store? The one with the obnoxious name? Yeah, I… wait, what do you mean?”

She squinted suspiciously. “How did you know where I went?” She’d been poofed over to Little Miss’s store without the opportunity to even say goodbye. She’d assumed Nick would be tearing his hair out with worry about her, but he seemed to understand exactly what she’d been up to, and didn’t react to the name “Little Miss” at all, almost as if he’d…

Kim’s face paled and her eyes widened. “Oh, fuck, no, you didn’t…”

Nick held up his hands. “I-I’m sorry, Dakota, she, she showed me… I was really worried about you, so I just…”

“Agh, so you were spying on me?” She groaned, grinding her palm into her forehead. “Yeah, I should have figured Dakota would be snooping around, showing you all that… …How much did you see?!” She suddenly demanded.

“…Huh?” Nick jumped, surprised by the fervor in Kim’s glare.

“How. Much. Did. You. See?” Kim asked him slowly and deliberately, narrowing her eyes into slits. “Did you see me in the golden dress? Or the big poofy sweater?”

If Nick had seen the photo collection of Kim’s greatest “hits” she might just…

“It was just the beginning!” Nick assured her. “I wanted to make sure you were okay, so Dakota let me have a look and see how you were getting on. I just saw you with Little Miss, changing into your bathrobe, that’s the most I saw!”

That was already pretty bad though. Not that he’d seen anything new, but somehow, peeping on her when she changed, without her knowledge, that seemed wrong, even though she’d already showed him her naked body.

Kim blinked. “Oh. Well, okay,” she said, shrugging.

“…You’re not upset?” He asked, relieved.

She snorted out a laugh and rolled her eyes. “What, that you saw me naked? Or in a bathrobe? No, come on, that’s nothing! Look at what I’m wearing right now!” She pointed out, gesturing to her current outfit. Now that most of the temporary modifications to her body had run out of time, she could finally fit into her old clothes again, although the schoolgirl uniform she was wearing definitely felt tighter than she was comfortable with.

It made for a rather raunchy sight, though. She’d had to leave most of the buttons open, giving him a nice look at her cleavage. Nick struggled to tear his eyes away and meet her gaze directly again, and she didn’t let him think he’d gotten away with it.

She flashed a knowing smirk and his blush deepened.

“Plus, I’m wearing lingerie all the time,” she reminded him. “So yeah, no big deal. I hope you didn’t just come by to apologize for something like that!”

Nick shook his head. “No, of course not,” he assured her, relieved that she was taking things in stride.

Kim leaned against the doorframe of the Candy Suite and crossed her arms over her enhanced chest. “Well, as sweet as it would be to hear you tell me you came by to check up on me and make sure I was okay, I don’t think that’s the reason, either,” she said. “Dani wouldn’t have let you flounder, she told you I was back, right?”

“Yeah, she did. I was relieved to hear it. So you fulfilled the obligation of your punishment transformation or whatever it was?” He asked hopefully.

Kim shrugged. She honestly didn’t know how to answer that. “I’m not used to being pampered,” she admitted sheepishly. “Little Miss gave me a bunch of stuff… it was all really expensive and fancy… I knew I should have been grateful, but I don’t know… it just seemed weird. Then I guess we came to an understanding. She stopped giving me weird stuff I didn’t care about, and started, well…”

It was hard to describe, and the more she tried, the more embarrassed she was getting. Kim could feel her face heating up with every word she spoke, and she shook her head quickly to try and dispel those awkward memories.

“…We got along great, and she helped me see I could be spoiled on occasion,” Kim said finally, giving him her answer. “Then when it was done, and I was satisfied, she sent me back. Late last night, I guess, while you and Ella were…”

She gave him a pointed look, her lips slowly curling upwards.

“Get your mind out of the gutter,” Nick playfully chastised her, and she stuck her tongue out at him.

“…Well, that’s how it went,” Kim finished. “I enjoyed myself a lot, but man, was it stressful.”

Nick nodded. It sounded like they had a pretty similar day, then. “Well, just glad to have you back,” he murmured.

Kim regarded him with a scrutinizing look. “…So are you going to answer my question or…?”

“Your question?” Nick asked, playing dumb.

She raised her eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest again. “Yeah. You know, about the reason you’re here? I mean, you’re wasting time, isn’t today your date with Morgana…?”

It was. Nick knew he needed to cut to the chase. So he sighed.

“Dani told me, about, um… your… situation,” he said as delicately as possible. “I know most of your temporary transformations from our date wore off, once your upgrade ended, but…”

Kim blinked. It took a second for her to figure out what he was getting at, but when he did, she gasped in realization.

“Oh! You mean…” Her face turned red and she stood up straight, craning her neck behind her to draw attention to her expanded rear end, courtesy of Morgana’s magic.

Nick scratched his cheek. “We never, uh… ended up getting rid of it, so…”

He’d hoped that it was one of those things that would wear off in time, but no, one glance at Kim’s backside confirmed that her ass was still as plump and juicy as it had been on their date.

Kim blushed sheepishly at him. “I’ve been… trying to ignore it,” she admitted. “You know how to get rid of it, right?”

Nick nodded, feeling a little embarrassed himself. He shouldn’t have been, after everything they’d done together, but…

“So should we…?” Kim’s voice trailed off and she curled her fingers around the doorframe. “I mean… you’re kind of on a deadline…”

“Yeah,” Nick echoed, nodding slightly. He really did need to get going. So the sooner they got this over with, the better.

“Yeah, don’t mind me! You guys just have your fun!” Gina called from the bedroom, watching the two of them with an eager glint in her eyes.

Nick jumped, realizing she was there for the first time.

“What?” Gina batted her eyelashes innocently. “I said, don’t mind me!”

Yeah, somehow he felt like that wasn’t exactly possible for him to do right now. But he couldn’t just not help Kim either, so… he had ****, really.