Eight billion people who feel alone

Nick was finally able to relax. He leaned back against the edge of the hot spring and let out a sigh of relief, feeling the warm water soothe his tired muscles and his weary heart.

“Enjoying yourself?” Kim called from the side. She was still sitting on the rim of the spring, her feet in the water up to her ankles. A chipper smile stretched across her face.

If there was one thing that was making it hard to relax, it was the fact that Kim wasn’t in the water. It was a little hard to look at her naked figure, even though Nick had seen it plenty of times by now.

Shouldn’t she be in the hot spring with the rest of us? Nick thought, remembering Kim’s statement about her heat exhaustion. At least she was looking a little healthier now. But it was still weird. With Dani and Dawn, their nudity was fine for him, because they were in a hot spring. But Kim was leaning back, almost like she was posing. Did she even know what she was doing?

“I’m doing fine,” Nick replied. “The water is good for my sore muscles. You should try it sometime,” he cheekily goaded her.

Kim pressed her lips into a wry smile. “I already did,” she replied, pushing up on the ground and leaning a bit forward.

“Aren’t you going to get back in the water, though?” Dawn asked, confused. Her ears twitched. “It’s the perfect temperature now.”

“You know we can see everything, right?” Dani wasn’t complaining though.

Kim shrugged. “Eh, what are you gonna do?” She replied, shaking her head. “It’s not like I care, you all have seen me in way more embarrassing stuff, anyway. And Dawn can’t even see me in the first place, right?”

This was true. Between the steam and her lack of glasses, Kim was just a flush-skinned blur in Dawn’s eyes. The cat girl shrugged and decided that she didn’t need to push the issue if Kim didn’t really care about that stuff.

Nick, on the other hand, was a little more hesitant. But, as long as Kim wasn’t complaining, he was inclined to do the same as Dawn.

The issue was that between the warm water and the sight of Kim’s naked body, his cock was having responses, and Dani’s presence a few feet away certainly wasn’t helping matters.

Then he felt something brush against his cock, and a jolt of electricity shot down his back.

“What’s wrong?” Dani noticed the way Nick suddenly tensed.

“Sorry, just… felt a chill,” Nick said, trying to get himself to relax. Maybe it was just a weird shift in the water or something. Or Dawn’s tail brushing against him. Yeah, that would make sense… …Except that Dawn’s back wasn’t to him, she was looking directly at him, and her tail was flicking behind her…

Wait…

He squinted at Dawn. She wouldn’t… would she? …No, no, that was something Rose would do. Or Holly, definitely, but not Dawn.

Then again, he remembered how playful she’d been today…

“What?” Dawn squinted at Nick in confusion. “Are you staring at me?”

“Huh? Uh…” Nick flinched again.

“Yes, he was,” Dani said wryly, pursing her lips.

“S-sorry,” Nick apologized. “Just, uh, felt something brush against me, and I thought it was your tail for a second.”

Dawn blinked. “Oh, yeah, sorry, that was me, actually,” she giggled. Her ears twitched. “Not my tail, though. Sorry for nudging your leg like that, I was trying to get more comfortable.”

She kicked her toned legs up out of the water briefly for emphasis.

Nick’s face had already been warm from the hot spring, but now they felt even warmer. Looking sheepishly at her, he scratched his cheek. “It, uh… it wasn’t, um… wasn’t… my leg… you touched,” he confessed.

Dawn blinked. She stared at him for a few seconds, then her eyes widened and her cheeks pinkened with embarrassment.

“Y-you mean… I touched your…?”

“Ooh, boy,” Kim giggled, covering her smirk with her hand.

Dani’s face soured. “Come on, you two, at least wait until I’m done before you fool around in the hot spring,” she chastised the both of them, as if public sex acts were totally fine as long as she wasn’t in the water while they were doing them.

“It was an accident!” Dawn asserted, her tail standing on end. “I didn’t know that I… that I would be, um…”

Yes, it had just been an accident, and one that Dawn felt really bad about.

…Mostly.

There was one tiny little problem, though…

Dawn… was thinking things now. Because her transformation was acting up. Not the one that had been bugging her all morning thanks to inhaling the scent of Nick’s pheromones, but the other transformation, one of her more recent ones.

• The New Thing All the Kids Are Into: At the beginning of each round, Dawn will have a vision of a specific sexual act. (Blowjob, handjob, etc.) She will feel more strongly compelled to do that act than any other form of sex, and urge other girls to do the same, aspiring to show that she can do it better than they can. Each time Dawn “wins” against another girl in this competition, as determined honestly by Nick, she will receive a small sum of VP as a prize. (Competitive)

Dawn’s dream, vision, or whatever it should be called this round was of using her feet to get Nick off. Not something that she had ever considered as a sexual thing, not even slightly! But now that she’d actually touched his cock with her foot…

That was changing. Sort of.

Her brain still found it to be really weird and twisted. But unfortunately, her body was telling her that she should give it a try.

“Okay! Confession time!” Dawn blurted out, wanting to put the truth out there before she couldn’t control herself anymore. Dawn hated not feeling in control (except sometimes, usually involving Nick) and when it happened, she wanted to stop it happening.

Kim jerked back by the sudden movement of Dawn rising up out of the water. Her skinny gymnast’s frame was dripping wet and glistened in the morning sun. She gave an assertive stare down at Nick, who was surprised by the intensity in her eyes.

“You guys know my transformation, right? The New Thing All the Kids Are Into?” Dawn asked the three of them.

Dani made a face. “That’s the one where you have to do specific sex stuff, right?” She grimaced.

Kim nodded. “Yeah, I remember that one. You got a lot of threesomes out of it, right?” She asked with a coy smile.

“…Right, yes,” Dawn said. “Well, to tell you the truth, my dream, it, uh… …This round, the specific sexual act that I’m supposed to do? It’s… using my feet.”

Dani and Kim both stared at her with blank expressions on their faces. Which was a preferable response to the one Nick gave her, which was a look of muted shock that almost trended into horror.

“…Feet? Seriously?” Kim was the one who verbalized the disbelief they were all feeling. “Like, what’s even sexy about that?”

“It just sounds gross, to me,” Dani said, shaking her head. “So, what, you’d be using your feet to rub on his-?”

“Yes,” Dawn cut her off before she could say it out loud. Her face burned with embarrassment. “TO BE CLEAR! This is not what *I* want. This is what the transformation is trying to TELL me that I want to do, but I’ve NEVER had a thought about that before, ever!”

Nick didn’t want to think about it either. He had never even once found a woman’s feet to be sexy, he was pretty sure.

Maybe.

“So, what, why are you telling us this, then?” Kim leaned forward and rested her chin in her hands, staring curiously at the cat girl.

Dawn’s face burned, and it wasn’t due to the hot spring. “Be-because… my body is… and my brain, a little… they’re trying to coax me into doing it, and… a-after I just touched him, just now, it’s like… I can’t stop thinking about it? Maybe?” She explained.

Just saying the words left her feeling mortified.

Dani grimaced. “Well, if you two are going to fool around, wait until I’m done,” she said firmly. Her Wingwoman transformation may have made her more interested in seeing Nick sleep with other women, but thankfully it seemed to draw the line at watching foot stuff. That was something she could do without, especially when she was in the water with them.

Gross.

“I’m not going to do it!” Dawn hissed at her. The hair on her tail was standing on end. “Not-! Not in public like this!”

“So, feet stuff is okay in the privacy of your own bedroom?” Kim cheekily asked. Seeing Dawn get all flustered like this was amusing. She admired and respected the older woman’s professionalism and responsibility, but it was also really adorable seeing Dawn act this way, too.

That didn’t make her a bad person, did it? No, of course not, how could it?

Dawn let out an exasperated sigh and shook her head. “You know, Kim, not all of us are that comfortable with this sort of thing,” she told the tomboy. “I’m trying to do the best I can to cope, okay? And your flippant tone isn’t helping.”

Kim shrugged. “I mean, I don’t get what you’re saying, I’m not ‘comfortable’ with foot stuff, either,” she replied, shaking her head.

Dawn gave her a frosty look. “…Not what I’m talking about.”

Sighing, the cat girl shook her head. “Never mind. Look, just… can we drop it, please? I’d really rather not focus on this if I can help it.”

Even as the words left her lips, though, Dawn was plagued with doubt. Because as much as she hated to admit it, the wheels in her head were turning and she was trying to come up with ways that she could get other girls to compete against her in competitions to rub their feet on Nick’s cock.

What a sick thought. Was that even something that a person could “win” in the first place? Dawn didn’t want to know, honestly.

“So, what, are you just… gonna deal with it, then?” Dani asked her, confused.

“Deal with…? What? The transformation?” Dawn crossed her arms over her chest and sank back into the water. “Well, from where I’m sitting, this whole thing is pretty messed up,” she replied, shaking her head. “I’d rather not think about it, if I can help it.”

Nick was right there with her. “Yeah, that one sounds pretty out there.”

“But you get VP with it, right?” Kim pointed out. “If you win?”

Dawn held up her hand. “Stop.”

Kim stopped. If Dawn didn’t want to talk about this anymore, then she’d respect the other woman’s wishes.

Even if she found the whole thing pretty amusing.

“I think this is one big headache, if you ask me,” Nick sighed, scratching his head. “But… I’m glad you told me, Dawn. Maybe we can work something out.”

“Please stop pitying me,” Dawn begged him. She couldn’t see any way that this could possibly be a good thing. His consideration for her situation was only making her feel even more embarrassed, if she was being honest. And that was a whole different kind of mortifying for the cat girl.

“So, what now, then?” Kim asked, turning to Dani. “I’ve gotta go to work in a couple hours, and I’m assuming you two will get back to your date, right?”

She smiled a cheeky smile. “Got anything fun planned, then?” She asked coyly, wiggling her eyebrows.

“Maybe we do,” Dani said offhandedly. “I like keeping an open schedule.”

She knew that she and Nick could have fun doing just about anything. That was the draw of having a best friend.

I’m glad I didn’t lose him, Dani thought. The times she spent with her friend back when they were kids… they were some of the happiest moments of her life.

And she’d almost ruined it.

Harem Hotel had been a nightmare for Dani, in a very literal sense, but a lot of good had come out of it, as well.

Maybe she could acknowledge a bit of that good, at least.

Kim looked at the two of them with a neutral expression on her face and nodded slowly. “Well, as long as you guys get along okay, I guess it’s fine,” she said, stretching her arms over her head. This had the added bonus of capturing Nick’s attention, and drawing his eyes right to her boobs. Just like she’d hoped it would.

Finally, Kim decided to join the rest of them back in the water. She slipped into the hot spring with a lot of grace considering her lack of swimming expertise, and before Nick knew what was happening, she was right there beside him.

A playful smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Kim asked, leaning against his shoulder. She poked him in the cheek. “Too much stimulation for you, hmm?”

It was her turn to do some teasing now. Dawn had already had her fun!

Nick blushed, but pushed down the thoughts he was having and gave her a smile. “Just glad to see I didn’t scare you out of the water,” he replied.

“Yeah, welcome back, Kim!” Dawn giggled.

“Good to be back,” Kim said, playing along with the joke. Even Dani cracked a grin.

Nick smiled. He was happy that everyone was getting along again, and he let himself relax again. This was good. This was how he wanted the date to end up going.

But, there was something that he needed to think about. Mainly, he was focused on what Dani had said before, about the date. He looked over at her, and their eyes met.

“What’s up?” Dani asked, raising her eyebrow. She knew he wasn’t going to be checking her out or anything, but there was definitely something in his eyes.

“I was thinking about our date, and what we’re going to be doing after this,” Nick said. “But it’s nothing serious or anything.”

He was still thinking about what he and Dani had agreed on before, about the two of them waiting to have their big conversation.

“I think you guys should go for a nature walk, or go to the Outdoor Garden,” Kim suggested. Her eyes were bright. “That’s a lot of fun! You guys should totally consider it!”

“A nature walk does sound like fun,” Dani agreed. “As long as it’s not too strenuous.”

Nick turned and looked at her in surprise. “Uh… say what, now?” He asked, not sure if it was really Dani who he was talking to right now. “You don’t want to do something strenuous?”

What happened to her? Had the hot spring warmed her brain up or something?

Dani shot him a look. “I’m thinking about for your sake, jerk,” he huffed, scooting over to him through the hot spring and swatting him in the shoulder. “You just strained yourself by working out, you know, just because your muscles feel better from the hot spring, that doesn’t mean you’re ready for a strenuous hike!”

“She raised a good point,” Dawn nodded. “Um, actually, can I ask you guys something?”

Her eyes flickered over to Kim and Nick, and then she turned to look at Dani. All three of them turned to look at her.

It was kismet, in Dawn’s mind. She thought about the way things were going, and the fact that all four of them were together here, like this…

It was an opportunity that she didn’t want to miss out on.

“Dani, do you remember last round?” Dawn asked, looking at the tomboy. “Specifically, your date with Nick?”

“Last round?” Dani blinked. “…Yeah, I guess, why?”

Dawn’s eyes flickered over to Kim again. “W-well… you and Kim, um… well…”

It was Kim who put the pieces together first. “Oh!” She gasped, her eyes going wide. “The threesome, that’s right!”

Nick blushed. He remembered the wild threesome that he’d shared with Kim and Dani, which had transitioned into him and Kim in bed together with Dani watching. He also remembered how Dawn had figured in, and how Dani had chosen Kim over her to join them for the evening.

Now he knew what Dawn was asking her.

Dani’s eyes widened as she realized it, too. Her cheeks reddened. “O-oh, so… so you wanted to… I see how it is,” she mumbled, nodding thoughtfully. She scratched the back of her neck.

Dawn didn’t put it in so many words, but she was basically asking Dani if she could join the two of them in bed tonight, for her turn.

“Well, I mean…” Dawn’s face was burning, but she pushed aside her embarrassment and pressed forward all the same with her head held high. “Look, it’s not like you and Nick are going to be doing anything together, right?”

Dani threw back her head and laughed in the cat girl’s face. “Yes, you could say that’s a safe assumption,” she assured her friend.

Dawn blushed. “So, uh… in that case… would it be alright if I have, um… or, if I, uh, take the initiative, and, have… tonight?”

Why was she so bad at this? She was supposed to be the mature one here! She swallowed her nerves, and said it outright.

“I’d like to join you on your date today, and then, uh, h-have sex with Nick,” she asserted. Her eyes flickered over to him. “If, you’re okay with that, Nick, I mean. And you of course, Dani, too, you know?” She said, turning to Dani as well.

Dani and Nick looked at each other.

“…Well, I’m fine with it,” Nick said, nodding. It was only fair, after all, considering last round. “But, it’s up to Dani.”

Dani blinked. “Well, I mean… Dawn, you’re not wrong,” she said, turning to the cat girl. “It’s not like I’m going to be having sex with him, or anything,” she snickered. “So, yeah, if you want to tag along, I’m fine with that.”

Dawn’s face lit up with joy, and Kim laughed. “Good,” she said, clapping. “And, in the meantime, I’m going to be having some fun with Nick, myself!”

Nick was glad that the three of them were all on good terms. And he was also pleased to feel Kim’s breasts rubbing into his chest, even as he tried to ignore that.