Don't be upset, don't be sad, you gave it your best try!

“That was so much fun!” Bianca had a big, beaming smile on her face as she skipped out of the candy store. Auburn followed after her, trying to maintain a stoic expression while secretly smiling just as wide on the inside.

She had to hand it to Bianca… eating all that candy without care, it had been a lot of fun.

The wild transformations they’d accrued as a result of their haphazard candy consumption? Not as much fun.

Both Dawns were smart enough to avoid any candy that would cause their intelligence to drop. But that still left a lot of options. They competed to see who could get their breasts bigger with the gum (much to Nick’s secret pleasure) and when that wore off, they turned their hair a wide variety of colors. Then there was the sweet syrup, which turned their hands all sticky. They could both think of some fun things to do with that, but that was where Nick had to draw the line. Along with a couple other mental transformations that Bianca was willing to risk, but Auburn was less certain of.

Someone had to be the voice of reason, and to Nick’s growing concern, that person was unfortunately not Auburn.

Eventually, all the effects of the different candies had worn off, for the most part. Once they were all back to normal, having eaten their fill, the two girls shared knowing looks, and asked Nick if it was okay to take a piece or two with them. For later usage.

Nick had an idea what candies they were going to secret away for later. The kind that involved inflating bubbles, and other things with them.

But both girls were secretly thinking about the candy that Sylvia had shown them a couple days ago, while they were cleaning Ella and Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin’s room.

One Nick hadn’t seen.

…They did also get the gum, but that one they saved for later. This one?

There was a lot of fun they could do with this one right now.

The two women turned to each other, sharing looks brimming with mischief, even though Auburn was a little more reserved than her compatriot. Normally she would have been talking about how immature this was, but Bianca was the little devil in her ear, almost like she was a manifestation of all those childish impulses that Dawn had suppressed as a little girl, in an effort to be more mature.

Both girls knew they were heavily indulging their inner child at the moment. In a way that they so seldom did when they were one combined person.

Bianca smiled at Auburn. “I’m not going to let anything hold me back from having fun!” Her eyes seemed to say.

Auburn smiled softly back at Bianca. “If you’re going to give me an excuse to be a little bad, I’ll take it,” her eyes said.

Nick just reacted with shock when both girls popped marshmallows into their mouths, and grew taller and taller.

“Wait, what the heck?!” He gasped, his eyes widening in surprise. “Auburn… Bianca… what!?”

He had no idea there was a candy that would make the girls grow like this. Breast expansion was one thing, he expected that. But actual height gains?

That was a little strange.

When the two Dawns finished growing, they were both about seven feet tall. Considerably taller than Nick himself, by over a foot.

They both looked down at him with playful smiles.

“So this is what it’s like to be taller than you, huh?” Bianca giggled. Nick half-expected a booming voice to come out of her, like in a cartoon, but obviously that wasn’t the case.

“I actually like my new height a bit,” Auburn agreed, stretching her arms over her head. “A girl could get used to being this tall!”

“I’ve gotta say,” Nick said, scratching his cheek and smiling sheepishly up at both of them. “It’s a little intimidating, being around two girls this much taller than me!”

Bianca and Auburn glanced at each other, and both immediately realized what the other was thinking as they had the same brilliant idea.

Before Bianca could make her move, though, Auburn cut her off, stepping in front of the other cat girl.

“I know what you’re planning,” she said, placing herself down as a wall between her duplicate and her crush. “Do you honestly think I’d let you cuddle him?”

“What?” Nick blinked, his eyes widening.

“You want to cuddle him too!” Bianca pointed out.

Auburn didn’t even bother denying it. “If we both cuddle him at once, we might overwhelm him!” She pointed out. “And if we can’t both do it, it’s not fair for either of us to do it. We have to be mature about this.”

“We could take turns,” Bianca pointed out.

Auburn blinked. “…Good point,” she acknowledged. “Then I’ll go first.”

“Don’t I get a say in this?” Nick raised his hand.

Both women looked at him. The desire in their eyes made it clear that Nick’s choice in the matter stopped as soon as he chose to say no.

Fortunately that wasn’t his plan.

“Just because it might be a little intimidating, that doesn’t mean I still don’t want to try it,” he pointed out. “This is a unique situation. There’s no telling if I’ll ever have the opportunity to be cuddled by two copies of the same girl at once again, so I might as well make the most of it now, right?”

He could tell that whatever was happening here, it was good for Dawn. It almost felt like she was working something out between her two selves. And he was willing to indulge that a little, if it helped her.

And both Dawns seemed to be up for the idea.

“You raise a very good point,” Auburn agreed, nodding. “Yes, I think in that case, it would be fine if both of us were to hug him.”

“That’s what I’m talking about!” Bianca nodded eagerly.

And that’s how Nick ended up squished between both girls as they hugged him tightly, wrapping their arms around him and nuzzling their cheeks against his. It would almost be heaven if not for the fact they both still had their glasses on. Still, the hums they made as they curled up around him sure sounded like they were having a good time- almost like the purring of a pair of cats.

But it couldn’t last. The marshmallows made the girls taller, but the height growth was temporary, like all the candies. After a couple minutes of walking around the park, the girls were already back to Nick’s height. They still clung to him as much as they could get away with, but soon enough, the transformations wore off completely, and they returned to their original size again.

“It was nice to be tall for a little while,” Bianca purred, still wrapped around Nick’s arm. She rested her cheek against his shoulder now as she interlocked their fingers together. “I’d love to do it again, but if I ate another marshmallow I think I might suffer an intestinal rupture.”

“How appealing,” Auburn sniffed. In spite of her judging tone, she was wrapped just as tightly around Nick’s other arm. He found himself quite pinned between the two of them, not that he was complaining. He actually liked it quite a bit, regardless of size.

“Maybe you could keep some with you for late,” Nick considered. “It might be nice, you know, as something for every once in a while.” He knew how much Dawn was bothered by her short stature. If eating the candy every now and then could help with that…

The two girls looked at each other. The thought had crossed both their minds already, because of course it had.

But they both knew better.

They looked regretfully up at Nick, and both shook their heads.

“It’s a nice thought,” Bianca murmured sadly.

“Even I’m tempted,” Auburn admitted, and she didn’t give into temptation easily.

“So what’s the issue?” Nick questioned.

“If we get too dependent on those marshmallows, we’ll get fat!” Bianca puffed up her cheeks.

Auburn nodded. “I might have the self-control to resist, but if you give her half a chance, she’d be eating them every opportunity she got just to be taller, and get all pudgy!”

“Hey, I’m you, you know!” Bianca replied. “How do you know you wouldn’t be the one getting round in the belly?”

“Because I’m the mature and controlled one.”

“You ate just as much candy as I did!”

“A modest indulgence. We’re still different.”

“We’re the same and different, that’s the whole point!”

“Indeed, that was my point entirely.”

Nick could tell this was a problem.

“Okay, you’re right,” he laughed, trying to break u the discussion before it got any further. “You guys are dealing with a lot of differences, and maybe this isn’t the right call. I’m sorry I recommended it. I just wanted to help!”

He wasn’t bothered, and both girls could see that. They all shared a laugh together.

It was time to put the candy aside, and go have some fun on the rides!

“So what do you want to ride first?” Nick asked, taking the lead and trying to shift the tone of the day in a different direction.

“Something where we don’t need to eat marshmallows to ride,” Auburn said with a snarky smirk. Bianca giggled in agreement.

“It’s a magical park,” Nick pointed out. “So I think we’ll be fine in that regard.”

Both girls nodded in agreement.

“In that case, let’s try the roller coaster!” Bianca exclaimed.

At the same time, Auburn suggested, “I think the roller coaster could be good.”

They might have slightly different ways of thinking about things, but they were still both Dawn, and if Nick phrased things the right way, he could get them to agree on things.

That was a relief, at least.

“Okay,” he nodded. “Roller coaster it is.”

Last time they had been here, Dawn had shared some of her sentiments about roller coasters. She hadn’t needed to, because anyone with a brain would have been able to understand the problem she had with them.

In this case, Nick was happy to lend a hand in order to make the experience a better one.

But there was one thing he felt the need to point out.

“I’m surprised you’re both interested in the roller coaster,” he noted, looking at Auburn in particular as he said that. “Weren’t you the one who said last time we came here, that it wouldn’t fit to go on the roller coaster due to your height?”

“That was when we were Dawn,” Bianca pointed out. “Dawn was taking care of Morgana at the time, and going on the more passive rides.”

“That’s right,” Auburn agreed. “She was doing the responsible thing.”

“Because she’s such a good friend,” Bianca added. Auburn nodded in agreement.

“So you guys secretly did want to go on the roller coasters that time, then?” Nick felt a little saddened to hear that.

Both girls shared tense looks with each other.

Auburn sighed. “…We did. But we didn’t want to make a big thing about it, you know? After all, we’re, well… we’re who we are.”

Nick stared blankly at her.

“Huh?”

Auburn rolled her eyes. “We’re short, okay!?”

Bianca giggled, glad that she wasn’t the one who lost her temper. She nodded in agreement with her other half.

“Exactly, we didn’t want to make a big stink about the heights,” Bianca explained. “Especially given that Gina was likely to tease us to ****.”

“Don’t even get me started!” Auburn rolled her eyes in exasperation again. “Getting talked-down to by Gina of all people? We would never be able to live that down.”

“Gina’s not so bad!” Bianca said, surprising Nick with her defense of the punk girl. “She’s irresponsible, sure, but she’s trying really hard now. I think that’s really impressive.”

Auburn nodded. “I would have to agree,” she admitted with a begrudging sigh. “Gina’s come a long way from back then.”

Nick was impressed by both of them, honestly. Or maybe just impressed with Dawn in general.

“Well, let’s go to the roller coaster then,” he suggested. “I bet it’ll be a lot of fun!”

Both girls couldn’t agree more.

“Sorry!” Nola held up both hands over her head and made an ‘X’ shape. “We can’t permit you to ride the roller coaster! You’re both too short!”

The firm tone of her voice was somewhat undercut by the amused grin she was struggling to keep off her face. It was no secret how much the bratty little leprechaun was absolutely loving what was happening here, especially the looks of chagrin on both cat girls’ faces.

“Are you kidding me!?” Auburn groaned.

“But that’s not fair!” Bianca whined. “I want to ride!”

“Come on, Nola,” Nick sighed, knowing that Nola was probably just acting on Dakota’s orders. “Can’t you just let them ride? It’s a magical amusement park, you know. It’s not like they can actually get hurt, right?”

Nola’s eyes twinkled. “That’s not the point!” She chirped. “There are certain safety standards we have to meet, even if the ride is super-duper stupendously safe! I don’t make the rules here you know!”

“Then let me talk to your boss,” Auburn demanded.

“Yeah! Let her know that this is fascist oppression of the height-challenged!” Bianca cheered in agreement, punching her fist into the air.

Nola plugged up her ears.

“Lalalalala-”

“Okay, I think that’s enough.” Nick stepped forward and pulled Nola’s hands away. He knew she was just doing a bit, but it was getting tired at this point. “Come on, enough games. We’re trying to have a nice date here.”

Nola glanced at Auburn and Bianca and her expression softened.

“…Okay,” she relented, sinking back into her seat and drumming her fingers on the counter of the attendance desk. “I’ll tell you what we’ll do!”

The gleam in her eye made Nick’s heart sink into his stomach. He just knew that whatever idea Nola had, he wasn’t going to like it one bit.

“The rules are rules, I’m afraid,” Nola said, gesturing to the sign. It depicted a normal girl, and underneath her read YOU MUST BE AT LEAST THIS NOT A CAT GIRL TO RIDE.

Cute.

Auburn’s eye twitched and Bianca rolled her eyes.

“Fine, fine, I’m kidding,” Nola giggled, pressing another button. The sign replaced itself with an actual height requirement, which, to both Dawns’ surprise, they passed.

If one counted their ears.

Which Nola did not.

“You have to be this tall,” she said, brandishing a very long measuring stick. “So let’s measure!”

She stepped around the box and twirled it in her hand, then held it up to Auburn. The cat girl stood up straight beside her.

“Let’s see… oh, okay, 4 feet, 10 inches! Not bad, but not quite enough…” Nola tapped her chin thoughtfully and turned to Bianca, holding the measuring stick up to the other cat girl, extending it again.

“…There we go! 8 feet, 20 inches! …Err, I mean, 9 feet, 8 inches! Stupid Americans, can’t learn the metric system… …Anyway!” Before she went on a tangent under her breath about arrogant people using improper units of measurement, she returned to reality and looked at both girls.

“You’re over nine feet tall!” She declared. “That means you’re more than tall enough to ride this ride! Congratulations!”

“Wait, how does that work?” Auburn asked.

“I’m a little confused,” Bianca agreed. “Why…?”

Nola shrugged. “Well, you’re both Dawn, right? So by that metric… hehehe… to figure out the actual height of Dawn, we would have to measure the two of you and combine the results together! Those are the rules, after all! You’re one girl who is 9 feet 8 inches tall, and just so happens to be split between two bodies! Legal will have no problem dealing with that, the Farah Loophole hasn’t been overturned in court yet!”

Nick wasn’t sure any of that made sense, but at least…

“So that means they can ride?” He asked hopefully.

“Yepper-doodles!” Nola chirped, tossing the measuring stick off into the bushes. “Any ride is open for business to you two!”

The two women shared triumphant smirks.

“…Now, come and take a look!”

She led them to the roller coaster car.

It was a two-seater.

Both girls immediately realized the problem.

“I’m gonna sit beside Nick!” Auburn said immediately.

She spoke in the same instant Bianca said “I’m gonna sit beside Nick!”

The two girls, who had just been getting along, immediately turned on each other and hissed.

“Wait, hey, come on, we don’t have to turn this into another competition!” Nick protested. “How about you both sit up front, and I’ll sit in the car behind you?”

“NO WAY!” They synchronized on that, at least. Nick shrank back.

“If I’m not sitting next to you, it won’t be any fun!” Bianca pouted.

“It’s only logical that I sit next to you, for maximum enjoyment,” Auburn tried to rationalize.

“If I’m sitting next to you, then I get to rub up against you whenever the car turns!” Bianca explained.

“Exactly. It maximizes contact with you. Hence why I deserve it. You’ve been clinging to him the whole time!”

“So have you!”

“Only because you did first! I was trying to be dignified!”

“Yeah, well, that’s because you don’t know how to have fun.”

“Yes I do!”

“Yeah, right.”

“Wait, okay, um, so it’s about sitting next to me, is that right?” Nick was **** to work out a solution here, and it couldn’t be that hard, right? “How about this? What if I ride with one of you, then I go on again sitting next to the other one?”

Both Dawns looked at each other.

“…I can agree to that,” Auburn nodded slowly.

“Yeah, that totally works!” Bianca agreed.

“…But only if I get to go first!” They shouted at the same time.

…And they returned to square one, because of course they did. Nick felt like he was digging himself into a deeper and deeper hole.

“Excuse me, I think all three of you are misunderstanding something,” Nola said, loudly clearing her throat. She was all set to start dumping more dirt onto Nick’s head with her own shovel.

Everybody looked at the leprechaun.

“You’re one Dawn in two bodies,” Nola reminded them. “The only reason you’re riding the roller coaster in the first place is because together you meet the height requirement.”

She tapped her palm on one of the seats.

“Obviously you have to take the ride together, right?”

Both girls took a second to process that.

Auburn blinked. “What, you mean like…”

“…In the same seat?” Bianca finished the thought.

Nola looked at them both like they were complete idiots. Which, coming from her, was quite an insult. “Duh?”

Auburn and Bianca immediately turned to Nick with renewed determination glowing in their eyes.

“I’m on top, then!”

“No, me!”

Nick sighed as he felt the first of many headaches to come throb in his skull. So it really could get worse.