Each small victory can feel gigantic

Octavia had her work cut out for her with Dawn. The difference in height wasn’t much of a problem, but Dawn’s movements were far too… careful.

“Your technical skill is sufficient,” the butler said gently as she guided Dawn across the dance floor. “But your movements are rigid.”

Dawn grimaced. She expected as much.

“It’s my tail,” she replied automatically. “I’m still getting used to moving with it.”

Octavia blinked.

“Is that so?” She asked bluntly.

Dawn’s ears twitched and her tail stood up straight. Signals to the butler that the girl’s claims were not necessarily truthful.

She already suspected as much, though.

A light flush spread across Dawn’s cheeks and she looked away.

“My parents insisted I learn ballroom dancing,” she said quietly. “For my future wedding.” Just the thought of it made her hands tremble.

Octavia nodded slightly, encouraging the other girl to keep talking.

“I took the lessons, and I did well,” she said. “You can tell, right? I know how to dance.” She was almost defensive about it. And Octavia could see why. Like she’d said, Dawn knew the mechanics of how to dance. Her movements weren’t as rigid as she would have anticipated, and even if she wasn’t necessarily comfortable, she was doing a good job of pretending to be at the very least.

The problem was entirely one of Dawn’s self-esteem. That was crucial for being a good dancer.

“It’s not like gymnastics,” Dawn said. “When I tried dancing with Nick before… I just froze. Getting that close to someone I like… having to move so perfectly, dreading any mistakes I make… what if I step on his toes? What if I turn at the wrong time? What if I-”

“You worry too much,” Octavia interrupted her. She looked sharply at the flustered girl. “Just take a breath. Go with the flow. You will not make a mistake with me.”

Dawn’s eyes widened, and her hairs settled. She exhaled softly and sank into Octavia’s embrace as they danced.

“It is alright to follow my lead,” Octavia encouraged her. “You may be hesitant. But you do not need to be in control all the time.”

Dawn’s eyes widened. “How did you-?!”

“It is written all over your face,” Octavia bluntly replied.

Dawn’s cheeks flushed. “I’m not… used to that. Putting my trust in other people.”

This wasn’t like sex, where she could “try” her hardest. As the “female” role in the dance, it was her job to let someone else lead, the “male” part.

And Dawn had never been good at that. Even when she wanted to trust other people, like right now, she would doubt herself, doubt them, freeze up-

“You see?”

And suddenly, Dawn realized she was dancing. “Ah! I…”

“Do not think, just move,” Octavia encouraged her as she led Dawn across the dance floor. “Your body knows the movements. You just need to trust it, and let your instincts guide you the rest of the way. Like this.”

Dawn’s heart was racing, but… she could feel the truth in Octavia’s words. It all seemed so easy, so simple. She could just let go, and let her body do the rest.

When was the last time she felt so freeing and safe like this?

I don’t understand. I’m always overthinking things. So why am I so comfortable letting Octavia take the lead? It’s not like there’s anything special about her. So why is it different? She couldn’t figure out what led her to trust Octavia so readily.

But she did.

And just like how she was suddenly dancing, she suddenly found that the music had finished, and the dance had ended.

She was grinning broadly.

Octavia stepped back. “I don’t know if further lessons would help you,” she said sternly. “But if you would like-”

“No, it’s fine,” Dawn said, shaking her head. “I’m fine. Next time…”

She looked over at Nick. Her heart started racing and she smiled a smile that was both bashful and excited.

Next time she would dance with him. And it would go better than their first dance together. She could let herself go now. She just knew it!

But next time would have to come later, because Sylvia was coming next.

“It’s my turn,” she said, stepping forward as Dawn left the dance floor. She looked at the judges. “And I would like to dance with… Serenity.”

The siren blinked, taken aback. “Eh?”

Sylvia smiled bashfully at the siren, and then at Nick. “I would like to dance with Daddy… but that might be a little…”

She shook her head and returned her affectionate eyes to the siren. “Aren’t you feeling lonely, Serenity?”

A look of surprise crossed the siren’s face. She kept blinking, but didn’t say anything.

Sylvia approached her, getting within the five-foot boundary.

“Because of your transformation, you haven’t really been able to dance, have you?” She pointed out, looking saddened by that fact. “It’s not fair. You must be so lonely… feeling out of place in an event like this.”

True. Nobody had considered dancing with Serenity for a second. Of course she hadn’t come down from the judge’s table to help work out ideas for the event. It wouldn’t have been something she could take part in anyway.

But now Sylvia was telling her that she could take part and dance as well.

Serenity looked like she didn’t know what to say. For someone who was usually a woman of few words that may not have been a surprise, but she did look genuinely grateful for the hand Sylvia was extending to her.

So she took it.

“…Not good,” she mumbled, shaking her head. “Dancing.”

Sylvia winced. Her cheeks flushed as she felt the effects of Serenity’s aura wash over her. “Yeah, uh… I’m not exactly the most experienced with it either,” she admitted.

The two of them danced. It was just as awkward as their mutual looks of uncertainty at the beginning suggested it would be. But no one could deny that the two of them really tried their best. They put their whole heart into the dancing, and just watching them move, clumsy as their movements may have been, was enough to help Nick relax, along with the other women who were watching.

He was a little nervous by what he saw from Sylvia, though.

“She’s going to be okay, right?” Dani asked nervously. “I mean, Serenity’s powers…”

“Sylvia wouldn’t give into something like that,” Marley said, shaking her head. “I mean, probably not, anyway.”

She didn’t sound very confident.

“Just let her have her fun,” Rose advised, shrugging. “It’s not like there will be much difference from her usual behavior.”

Holly laughed. “You can say that again!” She said, holding her sides. “It’s Sylvia after all, I doubt that she’d be all that fazed by horny powers.” Like Serenity, no one had asked her to dance. But she didn’t really care about that. Dani confessing to her was awkward enough, but having to dance with one of the girls? That wasn’t really her thing.

“It’s nothing to sneeze at,” Vivian pointed out. “I got a bit of a surge from it during that one event, and I didn’t even spend a minute with her. And I definitely wasn’t that close!”

She looked amused at the possibilities, but Nick could also see the doubt and hesitation in her expression as well. And it’s not like he could blame her given the situation, he was having those same thoughts.

“Sylvia wouldn’t do anything even if she did get dosed in siren pheromones,” Mary said firmly.

They’d find out pretty soon. The song came to an end and the two women stepped away from each other, both looking a little uncomfortable with what had just happened. Serenity was as hard to read as always, but Sylvia’s embarrassment was written plainly across her face. She blushed and looked away, and scurried off the dance floor.

The fact that she was headed right for Nick should have been concerning, and he bristled when he saw the gleam in her eye.

“Hey, Daddy…” Sylvia’s tone took on a deep, melodic quality, like a husky bedroom voice. It was something Nick hadn’t heard from her in quite some time. The desire blazing in her smoldering gaze was familiar though.

“…How was your dance?” He asked tensely.

“I had fun,” she preened, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. “Did you like it?”

Nick had no idea how he should answer that. But before he could get the chance, someone interceded on his behalf.

“I’m sorry to interrupt you two,” Gina said, stepping between Nick and Sylvia, “but I do believe it’s my turn to dance with him?”

Sylvia blinked, taken aback by that. “Oh, you want to dance with Daddy?” She giggled, recovering quickly. “How sweet! By all means, then!”

With a bow she stepped aside, allowing Nick to escape. He was grateful that Sylvia still had a lot of her compulsions from when she was a host, like desiring seeing him spend time with the other women in his harem. Otherwise, she might have seriously propositioned him, and if THAT happened…

…

Nick was glad that Gina gave him an excuse not to think about that.

“Are you sure you want to dance with me?” He asked. “I’m not very good.”

“I saw you dance with Rose,” Gina pointed out. “And it looked like you two were having fun together, so…”

True.

“Besides, I’m not very good either,” she added with an awkward, self-deprecating chuckle. “I mean sure, I could have gone out and asked Octavia for lessons as well, but she deserves a break, don’t you think? After all her help?”

“And I don’t?” Nick asked jokingly.

Gina giggled again. “Fair,” she admitted. “But still. I wanted to dance with you, even if I wouldn’t be good at it. Is that okay?”

How could he say no to that face? He’d been so **** to make this party a success for Gina’s sake, and now she was asking him point-blank to dance with her?

Nick didn’t even need to think about it, of course the answer was yes!

And besides… he’d been trying so hard to add more romance into his relationship with Gina. This seemed provident.

“I’d like a chance to dance with you,” he agreed. The relief in her expression made it all worthwhile.

The music started, a slow song, not the kind Gina ever would have chosen on her own. She didn’t like this kind of music, after all. But it wasn’t about that.

She had Nick with her. Holding her close, dancing with her, even though she had no idea how to dance slowly like this. But he taught her as best he could, passing on what he’d learned from Rose, incomplete as it might have been. And in each other’s arms like this, skill was the last thing on their minds.

What mattered was that they had each other.

“I had fun tonight,” Gina whispered into his ear. “At the party.”

“I’m glad,” Nick murmured. “That’s what I was afraid of. That you would put all this work into your party, and nothing would go right.”

“Well, it almost didn’t,” she pointed out. “Dakota’s right… I really need to put more thought into it, for next time.”

Nick could agree with that position.

“I did what I always do,” Gina continued, her voice tinged with a hint of sadness and self-loathing. “I ignored it, I blew it off, I pushed it back until ‘later’ because I didn’t think it was a big deal. I’m always doing that…”

Gina’s laziness manifested itself in a lot of ways, but procrastination was a big one. Today and tonight had been a wake-up call. Struggling to come up with a good plan for the party, working so hard and half-assing some ideas that she thought were good, only to have it blow up in her face because of corner cases she didn’t expect… and that was with the input of others!

If Gina had taken this seriously from the start and planned her party out for days, since the round began, would it have gone smoother than this? She couldn’t necessarily say yes, but she had to imagine that it would.

That was the thing.

Gina sighed and gazed up into Nick’s eyes.

“It was worth it, though,” she said, smiling up at him. “As long as everyone had a good time tonight, it was worth it…”

Nick nodded. “Yeah, I think you’re right,” he agreed, tearing his eyes away from hers for a second to look out over the dance floor, and at all the joyful faces of the other women.

Then his eyes landed on Dakota.

She was watching the two of them with that same amused smile on her face that she always seemed to wear. But maybe the fact that Nick was so familiar with it was why he could see a slight change in it right now.

Almost like she was sad.

He didn’t have time to contemplate those thoughts, though, because the song was almost over. He returned his attention to Gina and continued to dance with her as she held him tightly, and the two swayed in time with the music, nearing the conclusion.

And just like that, it was all over.

Nick had no idea how he would have scored this dance, or any of them, for that matter. He was just relieved he wouldn’t have to. It had been wonderful and magical and it had made him smile, and honestly that was enough.

He looked into Gina’s eyes and she looked back up into his, and he could sense her regret as they parted from one another, clearing the dance floor for the final time.

Dakota stepped forward to fill the space, softly applauding.

“Congratulations,” she said, sounding sincere for once. “You all showed a remarkable display of heart and fortitude tonight.”

“I’m sure it couldn’t have been easy,” Mary murmured, looking at the others. Morgana couldn’t agree enough.

Dakota nodded sympathetically. “Unfortunately, that’s all the time we have for tonight. Yes, yes, I know, if possible, you all would just love to dance the night away, but…” She looked around the room and raised her eyebrow.

“…Come on now,” she smirked. “Would you really?”

She wasn’t wrong. Not many people here found the idea of spending the rest of the night dancing to be that enjoyable.

Dakota pushed right on past that with a smile on her face and a heartfelt laugh on her lips though. “We’ve come now, to the next most important part of the evening! The final score. And I believe that there was an agreement in place, isn’t that right?”

Nick stepped forward and nodded, taking the lead before anybody else could speak up. “That’s right,” he confirmed. “The other judges and I all agree, we’ll be arranging the scores so everyone ended this competition with the same exact total. It was a tie. Because all the guests tried their best.”

He looked over at Gina and she nodded back at him, her eyes misty with joy. This was what she wanted, and it was what everyone deserved.

Dakota accepted this with a nod, and smirked. “Well, if you’re all in agreement, then that works for me. Of course… there are other factors to consider before we calculate the final scores, though.”

Nick bristled. “Wait… what?”

“I said at the beginning, remember?” Dakota tapped her cane on the floor. “The events aren’t the only way to alter point totals. You judges have the right to take away points from anyone who you felt did not adequately behave as a mature, elegant woman should.”

“That’s right,” Dawn winced.

“What?!” Rose’s eyes widened.

“But that’s not fair! We all agreed…” Kim looked over at the judges with a worried expression on her face, and she wasn’t the only one.

Vivian fell silent and glanced at Octavia. She wasn’t the only one giving the butler renewed attention.

If anyone would deduct points over something like this, it would be her.

Octavia seemed to realize that herself. “That will not be necessary,” she assured the host. “It is my opinion that it would serve no purpose to strip any of the guests of their points at this time.”

Vivian let out a sigh of relief. She wasn’t the only one feeling a weight off her shoulders.

“I see, and our the other judges in agreement with that?” Dakota asked, looking around the room.

“Of course we are!” Nick replied. “Dakota, do you really think we’d do something underhanded like that?!”

“Of course not,” Dakota said automatically, shaking her head. “I just needed to make sure.”

She winked at him.

“That’s my job, after all.” With that, he held up her cane and gave it a twirl. “Now then, shall we get on to business?” She asked, looking around the room. “Time to hand out the rewards! We won’t even need to use the points screen this time, there’s a boon for everyone!”

“Wait, what about me?” Marley asked, taking a step forward. “We still haven’t decided about how this is going to affect me yet.”

“Well, like we said before,” Dakota replied, lowering her cane and turning to the brunette. “You can choose to give your boon to whoever you wish. And the ability will stack with theirs.”

“So four times the BP?!” Rose was at a loss for words. “Ooh, Marley, pick me, please pick me!” She begged.

“You already have plenty of BP, and tons of ways to obtain it,” Gina pointed out. “Don’t you think that’s a little excessive?”

“No,” Rose stubbornly replied.

Marley was hesitant. There were a lot of people who could make use of the gift, who should she give it to?

Sylvia raised her hand. “Actually, I have an idea about that,” she said.

“Oh? What?” Marley turned to her mother curiously.

“Marley, you know how you’ve always gotta stay with Carly thanks to your transformation?” Sylvia pointed out, looking over at the cosplayer.

“Yeah.”

“Well, she can use her BP to give other people babysitter privileges, thanks to her upgrade,” Sylvia reminded her. “…Maybe that’s a way you could use the BP.”

“Hey, that’s a great idea!” Carly’s face lit up at the suggestion. “Yeah, if you give me the boon, I’ll get more BP, and then I can use it for your sake!”

“Although it’s really more for Carly’s sake than yours,” Dawn couldn’t help but point out. “Still, I think that’s a good idea.”

“Yeah, you’re right, I think that’s what I’ll do,” Marley nodded. “Is that okay, Dakota?”

“Of course,” Dakota chirped. She waved her cane again. “And now, here you all go! Enjoy your rewards!” With a bright smile on her face, her cane flashed black, and everyone glowed as they were given their boons.

Cinder was given hers as well, even though she wasn’t here.

Dakota bowed. “Now please, enjoy the party,” she chirped, stepping aside. “It will be concluding shortly, after all.”

The night was winding down, but the party mood sure wasn’t. Everyone was talking with one another and having a good time.

Nick took the opportunity to approach Dakota.

“Oh?” She looked surprised to see him. “Is there something I can do for you?”

“I saw you before,” he said quietly. “When I was dancing with Gina.”

Dakota blinked. “…And?”

“Do you want to dance?” He asked quietly.

She looked surprised. Like she hadn’t expected him to ask that. Her face looked incredibly human in that moment, like she was no longer the perfect, idealized host he had grown to know.

And then that look came back, and she shook her head.

“No,” she said simply. It was hard. Final. And yet, still gentle somehow. “That isn’t my place.”

And with that, she turned away from him.

Nick felt further apart from her in that moment than any time since she regained her role as the host.