Don't look at her smile

Dani returned to her room that night with a skip in her step and a smile on her face, something that didn’t go unnoticed by her roommate.

“Well,” Rose murmured, flashing a coy grin towards the tomboy. “It certainly seems that somebody had a good day today.”

“Y-yeah, so what?” Dani’s smile turned into a scowl and her cheeks flushed. “You gonna make a big deal about it or something?”

“No, not at all!” Rose hastily shook her head. “I just think it’s really cute, how good of a mood you’re in right now! Considering you’ve been all gloomy since we started partnering up together.”

Dani stared at her.

“I appreciate the sympathy,” she said plainly, “but this was your doing, right?”

Rose flinched. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, shaking her head and forcing a smile to her face.

“For an actress you can really be a crummy liar sometimes, you know that?” Dani pointed out, which actually incensed the other woman.

“Hey! That’s rude!” Rose huffed. “I’ll have you know I’m a great liar! Case in point, no one spotted my lies to you all about me being a seductress slut!”

“That’s… not exactly a great claim?” Dani pointed out. “And it’s kind of problematic for you, you realize that, right?”

Rose turned red. “Rrrgh… well, fine. Yes, I worked to get you and Carly back together, okay?”

Now it was Dani’s turn to be on the defensive. “Back together!?” She sputtered, shaking her head frantically. “What do you mean by that?! We were never ‘together’ we were just friends, so to say we got back together… that’s crazy talk!”

“Um, no, I didn’t mean it in a romantic context,” Rose tittered. “But the fact that you’re thinking that way is certainly amusing!”

Dani’s face soured. “You’re really spoiling the good will you built up here, you realize that, right?” She seethed.

“Hey!” Rose held her hands up defensively. “I was trying to do something nice for you, sorry! I just wanted to see you in a better mood is all. Isn’t it good when we all get along?”

Rose certainly had a pretty way of talking. Dani eyed her suspiciously. In spite of how attracted she was to Rose at first (and she definitely still was, in a physical sense) the other girl still rubbed her the wrong way sometimes, and this was one of those times.

But she was also grateful for what the other woman did.

Dani sighed. “Look… I get it, okay? I appreciate you for helping me and Carly patch things up. It means a lot to me.”

“…Oh,” Rose said, settling down. “Well, that’s all you had to-”

“But with that being said,” she continued, cutting Rose off, “I’m still not the biggest fan of how you did it.”

Rose blinked. “…How I did it? What do you mean?” She asked, completely confused.

“Going behind my back and trying to trick my and Carly together like that,” Dani explained. “Dawn and Mary aren’t the only people here who don’t like being lied to, Rose! It’s not okay to just trick and manipulate people like that!”

She slapped her chest, which caused her fleshy breasts to wobble all over the place.

“If you want to help me out with something, then come to me directly,” she insisted. “Don’t go behind my back, okay?”

Rose couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “…Are you kidding me right now?” She asked bluntly, staring at Dani like she was a moron.

“What? No, of course not, why would you think I was kidding?” Dani demanded, a scowl crossing her face. “I’m totally serious about this!”

“But… Dani, whenever the topic of settling things with Carly came up, you would always deflect and run away!” Rose protested. “What the heck did you want me to do, huh!? The only way I could get you two in the same room together was by tricking you!”

Dani let that statement sink in for about two seconds. “…Well, even if that was the case, I still can’t agree with your actions,” she huffed, and Rose wanted to scream.

But she didn’t scream. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down instead. Dani was just being difficult, which was nothing new. The tomboy breathed difficult, she ate it for breakfast. Well, Rose could handle difficult.

“I’m sorry for going behind your back to make you happy,” Rose said, trying her hardest to not sound sarcastic. “But I really wanted you to be happy.”

She added in a sweet smile and a bat of her eyelashes for good measure.

And that was all it took. Dani softened instantly, and blushed. “Um, maybe… maybe I was a little too hard on you,” she admitted sheepishly. “I’m sorry… it’s just, going behind my back, setting me up with somebody… it kind of triggered some bad memories for me, that’s all.”

Rose saw a flash of sadness cross Dani’s face in a shadow, but she didn’t press. She and Dani may have been buddies, but they weren’t close. And Rose had no intention of forcibly closing that distance and driving the other woman off even more.

So she let Dani keep her secret. It didn’t matter to her either way. This show… it has a tendency of drawing out our tragic pasts, she thought with a solemn wistfulness. Hopefully that won’t be painful for her.

She remembered the pain she’d felt when her own past had caught up with her.

“Well, I’m sorry again,” Rose said. “I didn’t mean to draw out any bad memories for you.”

“No, it’s fine!” Dani said with a smile. “That stuff was all in the past. I’m over it now.”

Rose raised her eyebrow. Dani might not have been crying in the corner about whatever it was that had happened to her, but it was clear to anyone with a working brain that she was not “over it” in any meaning of the word.

But again, that was none of her business, and she had no intention of crushing the fanciful delusion that the other girl had built up.

Instead, she changed the topic, intent on teasing the other girl a little and lightening the mood. “So Dani, what do you think?” She asked. “You and Carly going to go on a date tomorrow or something, maybe? Just the two of you? …Or, no, I guess it’s three, because of Marley. You lucky dog, you!”

She got off the bed, making sure to put some distance between herself and the other girl in case Dani got violent. She was risking getting punched in the face, but she found that preferable to Dani being upset about her past and getting all gloomy again.

…Well, maybe not the face… hopefully Dani would be merciful and hit her somewhere easy to conceal with a nice sweater.

But while Dani got mad, she had no intention of getting violent. Instead she turned into a sputtering mess of flushed skin and shock.

“H-hey!” Dani exclaimed. “That’s not-! We’re… I mean, I want to do something, but… no, it’s too soon to ask her to hang out after we just became friends again!”

“Really?” Rose blinked. “But didn’t you two… err, three, spend the whole day together today?”

“No, well, that… that was different,” Dani mumbled. “That was because we ran into each other… going to her and asking, that’s a little…”

Oh, wasn’t she just the most precious thing ever? Rose couldn’t help but smile. “Come on, Dani, if Mary can get the courage to go around asking all of us for permission to go on a date with Nick, then surely you can ask Carly out on a date, right?”

“It wouldn’t be a date!” Dani protested. “And… well, it’s not like I’d be asking her out like…”

“So if it’s not a date it should be even easier, right?” Rose tittered. “Sounds like a plan then! Want me to go ask for you?”

Dani leapt across the room and nearly threw Rose to the ground in panic. “NO!” She cried. “You can’t do that!”

“…R-roger…” Rose stammered, not expecting such a sudden reaction. “S-sorry…”

“No…” Dani realized what she was doing and backed off, embarrassed and ashamed. “I’m the one who should be sorry…”

“You like her, right?” Rose was done bullshitting. “You have feelings for Carly. You don’t need to deny it, we can all see it.”

Dani bit her lip and hung her head, ashamed. “Yeah… you’re right,” she admitted. “I… I like Carly romantically.”

Rose gasped. “Really?! You do?! I was just joking around, oh my gosh! I had no idea!”

“WHAT?!” Dani exclaimed.

“Kidding. Like I said, it was obvious.”

Dani’s eye twitched. “Rose…”

“Okay, look, I’m fine with helping you out a little, okay?” Rose offered. “You know, if you want to get closer to Carly or whatever. See… I know what it’s like, having feelings for someone who doesn’t feel the same way.”

“Wait, what?!” Dani’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped. “You have feelings for someone?! Why are you here, then?”

“Uh…” Rose didn’t know what to say. Does… does she not know?

“Wait, unless… Are you a lesbian?” That came as an even bigger shock to Dani. She thought she had a pretty good mind for this sort of stuff, but she never would have predicted that Rose was gay too! Imagine, two gay women in the same harem? It was almost comical!

Wait, no, I’m getting ahead of myself. I’m assuming way too much here. I shouldn’t have said something so insensitive. Dani calmed herself down. No sense in making a fool of herself. “Sorry, that was rude of me. It didn’t occur to me that you could also be bi, I’m sorry for assuming your sexuality like that.”

Rose gave her a frosty stare.

“I’m in love with Nick,” she stated dryly, a little miffed that Dani never even considered that a possibility. “He’s who I’m talking about.”

It took Dani a second to process that.

“…Seriously?”

“Yes! Why is that so hard for you to imagine?” Rose asked, her eye twitching with irritation. “Do you think I’m incapable of developing genuine feelings for someone?!”

“Well…” Dani wouldn’t go THAT far but it certainly came as a surprise to hear that Rose had a crush on Nick. I’m actually kind of shocked. Nick’s a great guy and all, but… for so many women to fall in love with him… seriously? Lucky bastard.

“Anyway, whatever!” Rose sniffed. “If you’re going to make fun of my feelings, then you can just forget about me helping you out with Carly!” She crossed her arms over her chest and turned up her nose with a “humph!”

“Hey, come on, I’m sorry!” Dani apologized. “It just caught me off-guard, that’s all! I don’t know very much about you, so I assumed the worst. That… that was bad of me.”

And maybe there had been a little bit of selfish desire in there, hoping Rose was attracted to girls. Or maybe more than a little bit.

Sensing the sincerity in Dani’s voice (when was she anything but?) Rose’s expression softened. “No, it’s fine. I might have reacted poorly just there… but you believe me, right? My feelings for Nick are real.”

“Yeah, of course I do,” Dani nodded. “I totally didn’t see it coming, but now that you said it, I believe you. What would be the point in lying? It’s not like you’d be trying to trick me.”

Rose’s eyes widened. She hadn’t expected a response like that. She felt a familiar resonance like she had with Nick, as if Dani was looking at the real her. It brought a smile to her lips.

I’m almost jealous of you, Carly, she thought, imagining what it would be like to date a girl like Dani. But she was far more relieved that she didn’t have another rival. If Dani was actually interested in boys? She’d be some stiff competition.

Speaking of which…

“Like I said, I’ll help you and Carly get together!” Rose assured Dani with a smile. “Just think of me as your cupid!” She winked at the other girl, and Dani nodded eagerly.

But then she had a thought. With the benefit of context, knowing now how Rose felt about Nick, a lot of stuff suddenly made a lot more sense.

“Rose… are you trying to hook Carly and I up so that you’ll have one less rival vying for Nick’s affections?” She asked suspiciously.

Rose flinched and averted her eyes for a second, which was enough proof for the tomboy.

“I can’t believe this!” Dani exclaimed. “You haven’t changed at all!”

“It’s not JUST that!” Rose wailed. “I think the two of you would be great together, I really do! But Nick can only pay so much attention to so many people, and if Carly is with you, then maybe… maybe he’d look at me a little more often…”

She hung her head, face flushed with shame. She knew that was wrong of her, but she couldn’t help herself. She was a girl in love for the first time, and she didn’t know what to do. It wasn’t like she was out to hurt anybody, the way she saw it, everybody would be happy if Dani and Carly got together.

Dani didn’t really know what to say.

Meanwhile, Carly herself was smiling like the sun. Marley followed behind her with a small smile on her face as well, glad that her sister was happy again. It had been a grueling few days, but with a little help and support, she’d managed to get the two of them talking again.

Dawn was quick to pick up on the good mood when the twins returned.

“Something good happen today?” She asked curiously.

Carly just giggled.

“Carly and Dani took a bath together,” Marley informed her, making Dawn do a double-take. “…No, not like that. It was in a hot spring.”

“A hot spring, huh?” Dawn said wistfully. “I remember those. I went to one during my trip to Japan.”

“You went to Japan?” Carly’s eyes widened in surprise.

“I went to Japan twice,” Dawn corrected. “It’s one of the few hobbies I allow myself in my free time. When you make good money, you might as well take a vacation, right?”

“I guess so,” Carly nodded. “Personally though I prefer to spend my time going on dates with guys I like.”

Dawn’s ears drooped as Carly twisted a knife through her heart.

“Well, we can’t all be that lucky!” She snapped, her tail standing on end. Carly winced and took a step back.

“Geez, sorry.”

“No, it… it’s nothing. I’m just reexamining my life a little, that’s all…” Dawn sighed, curling up in the corner and imagining her future as an old maid, dying alone and unwed.

Carly felt her sister’s elbow nudging her in the side.

“See what you do?”

“Me!? How is this my fault!?” Carly exclaimed.

“Because you don’t watch what you say! Of course Dawn’s going to be sensitive to the fact that guys don’t want to date her!” Marley cried. “It’s not her fault she looks like a teenager!”

“Still here you know, still listening,” Dawn pointed out, shooting a seething glare at the twins.

“Now who upset her?” Carly smirked.

“Whatever. I think you two would like going to Japan, honestly,” Dawn said. “It’s a beautiful country. And Carly, there’s lots of places to hike, if you’d be interested.”

“Well yeah, I’d definitely like to go sometime,” Carly nodded. “A cosplay photo set from Japan? I’d rake in the dough! It’d practically pay for the trip itself!”

Why hadn’t she ever considered that before?

“Of course, you’ll have to buy a ticket for me, too,” Marley pointed out.

“Nah. I’ll just leave you at home in the refrigerator or something. I think we have a mixing bowl that big.”

Marley flicked her sister on the forehead. “Not funny.”

The talk about buying tickets for Marley spurred a thought in Carly’s head. “Oh hey! I just thought of a great idea!” She exclaimed. “When this show or whatever is over and we’re all together in a harem, we should totally take a trip to Japan together! Wouldn’t that be awesome? Dani and Morgana would absolutely love it, and I bet the others would, too!”

Dawn had never seriously considered what “life after the show” would look like. She didn’t like speculating about possibilities when all the facts weren’t available, and there were too many twists and turns brought on by transformations to make that a good use of her time.

But going to Japan…

“Yeah, it should be fun,” Dawn nodded thoughtfully. “Japan is amazing… and they have this forest there where people commit suicide… how lovely…”

Marley gave her sister a pointed glare as Dawn stared vacantly off into the distance.

“Well, what do you want me to do, huh?!” Carly groaned. Neither sister knew how to pick Dawn’s mood up.

While the other girls were enjoying the time spent with their roommates, there was someone else who was certainly not.

Morgana’s face turned even more pale as she stared at the woman she’d be spending the night with.

“Oh, hello,” Dakota greeted her. She tried very carefully to make sure she wasn’t giving Morgana any bad vibes. She even smiled!

It didn’t seem to make a difference. Morgana wouldn’t look her in the eye.

I can’t do this… I can’t spend the night with her! Morgana felt like she was going to lose her lunch. With what she knew about Dakota… how could she sleep in the same bed as her?

“Hey, you.” Seeing that there was no chance of coming to a peaceful arrangement, Dakota dropped the affability and returned to coldness. “You have that transformation that lets you give whoever you want a fantasy, right?”

Morgana shivered. She wasn’t sure she liked the way Dakota was eyeing her up.

“I-I can, why?” She asked. Was Dakota planning to use her power somehow? Could she do that with her new transformation? Not even Morgana, with her crazy imagination, liked what she imagined Dakota having control over her diary.

“Would you give me a fantasy then?” Dakota asked. Her eyes were wet with desire. “I… I want to marry Nick. Can you give me that?”

Morgana blinked, surprised. That… that wasn’t what she expected.

“…Really?” She asked.

Dakota nodded. “Please. Just… a wedding. And maybe… our life together? Having a nice house in the suburbs, raising our children…”

“It doesn’t really work like that,” Morgana admitted. “If it’s not a fantasy of mine, then I can’t really do anything with it.”

Dakota narrowed her eyes. She leaned in close, forcing the goth to shrink away.

“I think if you try really hard you can make it a fantasy of yours, don’t you think?”

Morgana gulped. Yeah. Yeah, she could definitely do that.