Is there really any hope for me if a simple conversation's complicated?

It had been quite a few days since Nick went to the pool. Normally, water wasn’t something that was relaxing for him. But as he’d gotten more used to swimming, he wasn’t as wary of it now. And… it was peaceful here, in a way.

Which was kind of the idea. Spend a while relaxing in peace with Dani at the pool, just letting things pass by; Kim would come when she was done with work. Then they could get to the more difficult part of Nick’s “date”.

But for now, Nick spent his time lounging on a deck chair, while Dani was enjoying herself in the water. One of the better parts of spending time with Dani was that Nick didn’t feel any pressure to entertain or impress her. It wasn’t like they were in a relationship. So while his days with the other girls were spent with either them trying to do things for him or him trying to make sure they had a good time, he and Dani had no expectations for one another- they could simply enjoy each other’s company.

And as Nick watched her curvy figure rise up out of the swimming pool, he had to admit he was very much enjoying her company- even if those kinds of thoughts weren’t the sort you should be having about your close friend who was also a lesbian.

Of course, Dani knew he was checking her out. The amused grin on her face said as much, while at the same time reassuring him that it wasn’t a problem. She walked over to him while wringing out her hair, her green eyes flashing as she grinned.

“Enjoying the view?” She purred.

“You said I should take the time to relax and enjoy myself,” Nick said lazily, resting his head back in his hands. “So that’s what I’m doing, enjoying myself.”

“Not interested in a dip in the water?” Dani asked, sitting down in the deck chair beside his. “From what I hear, you’re getting better at swimming.”

Nick turned and gave her an amused look. “Not good enough to race against you,” he calmly replied, earning him a chuckle from the tomboy.

“Ah, you saw right through that, eh?”

Nick laughed. “Dani, yesterday I had a date with Rose and Dawn, at the same time. I think that’s enough competitiveness for one round, don’t you?”

She couldn’t argue with that.

“So what’s the plan then?” She inquired. “Just gonna lean back and get some ogling done?”

“You’re the one who picked out the skimpy bikini,” Nick replied.

Dani hopped to her feet and posed, more for herself than for Nick’s approval. She knew she looked good; it might not have been her old, muscular physique, but if she came upon herself in the gym, she probably would have hit on herself.

…Who was she kidding? She probably would have stared out of the corner of her eye and not said anything, given her difficulty with making moves.

Nick fought the urge to say anything. Dani had made it more than clear that she was a lesbian, and that sexual interaction with him was a nonstarter. And it’s not like he objected- there were plenty of women in his life that he could fulfill those urges with, he was more than appreciative of Dani’s presence in his life as a platonic friend.

But it was kind of frustrating that she was still teasing him and showing off to him like this, when they both knew they didn’t want anything to come of it.

Dani must have realized what he was thinking because she suddenly sat back down, and a bashful look crossed her face. “…Sorry,” she apologized. “I guess I’m kinda getting drunk on the mood a little bit. I don’t know, it’s probably due to being on this island for so long…”

Nick sighed. “This show is doing weird things to everybody,” he acknowledged. “I wouldn’t worry about it. We both know how you feel. And I know you didn’t bring me here to show off your swimsuit, you just wanted to swim.”

Dani sighed in relief and placed her hand over her chest. “Oh, good. I didn’t want to say anything because I assumed it was obvious, but hearing that from you makes me a lot more comfortable, Nick. Thanks.”

“No problem,” he nodded. “If we couldn’t do stuff like this together, I don’t know what we’d do. Like, I’m gonna be honest here, I’m probably gonna end up looking at you a few times when we’re working out, too.”

Dani barked out a laugh. “Sure you are. If you’ve got the energy, anyway.”

Nick didn’t like the sound of that.

“But yeah, swimming is fun,” Dani continued, stretching her arms over her head. “I’m glad you suggested this, Nick.”

“Yeah,” Nick nodded vaguely. He looked at Dani again, though not checking out her curvy figure this time. “Are you sure you’re good with it, though?”

“What, ogling?”

“No!” Nick’s face reddened. “Swimming. Your arms…”

“Oh, uh, yeah…” Dani lowered her arms and inspected them. “Because of the feathers? Don’t worry, I can handle it. See, they were annoying at first, but now it’s like they’re not even there. If I get ‘em wet, they just slick down on my arms and get right out of the way. Not even any drag or anything like that, either.”

“Well, that’s a relief, I guess,” Nick said with a nod.

“Probably because it’s from the Siren transformation path,” Dani hypothesized. “It would make sense for a siren’s feathers to be immune from the water.”

“Yeah, that’s the thing I didn’t really get,” Nick said, sitting up in his chair. “I mean, there are sirens that are like mermaids, right? But then you got a bird transformation… Dakota said something about different kinds of historical sirens, but it’s still kind of weird…”

Dani laughed. “Yeah, I guess it would be,” she admitted. “But hey, you know, better this than a fish tail, right?”

Nick laughed at that image, too. But then his mind drifted to the other siren they knew. Serenity didn’t have a fish tail.

Then he imagined Dani with glowing blue skin. It was a strange visual.

“You’re still checking me out,” Dani noted, breaking his focus.

Nick snapped to attention. “O-oh, sorry.”

She grinned. “Nah, it’s cool. Like I said, it’s a nice swimsuit, right?”

Nick sensed a trap. Or maybe the question was brought about from Dani’s newfound interest in clothing. Either way, he wasn’t sure if he should say anything on the subject right now. He cleared his throat. “Well, on the topic of swimsuits…”

“Hmm?” Dani looked at him, a guarded expression on her face. She narrowed her eyes questioningly.

Nick held up his hands. “Not about you, about me.” He gestured to his swim trunks. “Why can’t I use these when we work out later? Why did I need to buy those shorts?” To Nick’s shame, the question hadn’t occurred to him until he had started changing into his swimsuit back in the bathroom.

Dani gave him a blank look.

“…That’s a swimsuit, Nick. It’s meant for swimming. Not working out in.”

“I’ve seen you work out in a hoodie because you didn’t have time to change,” Nick pointed out, not buying that excuse for a second.

Dani’s only answer was an amused smirk.

“I knew it! You just wanted an excuse to go shopping!” Nick said with a groan. “Wow, you really ARE becoming more like Vivian!”

Well, at least he knew he didn’t have to wear those stupid shorts now.

“Hey, those shorts looked great!” Dani protested. “Don’t you want to show off a little for Kim’s sake? Come on, you know she’s going to be looking good. Fair’s fair, don’tcha think?”

Nick smirked. “Oh, now you’re the one ogling girls?” He teased. “Careful, I might tell Carly…”

Dani smirked right back. “Carly would agree with me,” she replied, playfully crossing her arms over her chest.

Whelp, he couldn’t argue there.

“Besides, you’re forgetting the most important thing,” Dani said, leaning over Nick with a gleeful look in his eye. “Those shorts have something going for them that your swimsuit doesn’t.”

“What, better ventilation?” Nick asked.

Dani grinned. “Your shorts are dry.”

Nick stared at her, not understanding what she was saying until it was too late.

“H-hey!”

Dani grabbed the back of the chair, laughing maniacally, and started using her super strength to push it towards the water with Nick still on it.

Nick floundered for a second, fully expecting Dani to push him in. Especially once they reached the edge of the pool and he felt the chair start to tilt. He thought his heart was going to leap out of his chest for a brief, terrifying instant!

Then he realized that Dani had paused. She was waiting for him.

He scrambled off. The second his feet touched the tile floor, the chair went careening into the water with a splash.

If someone had been watching from the outside, it would have looked like Dani had been trying to dunk him in the water and he had just barely managed to get away from her. But Nick knew that Dani had given him plenty of time to escape. She was just playing around, and he couldn’t really get upset with her for a friendly joke.

Besides- she looked so happy, doubled over with laughter and holding her sides like that. And Dani being that happy was a rare thing on this island.

So even if Nick hadn’t appreciated nearly getting dunked into the water, he couldn’t really complain either. He smiled in exasperation and shook his head.

“I thought the idea here was for me to relax and take it easy?” He pointed out.

“Yep, it is,” Dani said, straightening up. “And nothing’s more relaxing than a nice dip in the pool, wouldn’t you agree?”

No, he would not.

“Sorry, but if I wanted someone to dunk me into the water I’d get Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin to do it,” Nick replied playfully. “We’ve already played that game before.”

“Ooh, kinky,” Dani teased, wiggling her eyebrows. “Anyway, sorry. Just thought it might lighten the mood. I wasn’t actually gonna dunk you…”

“I know,” Nick said, holding up his hand to stop the apology in its tracks. “Don’t worry about that, I know you were just playing around.”

At least now he knew why Dani had been trying to coax him into the water before.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were hoping to check me out later, and that’s why you’re trying so hard to get me into those shorts,” Nick teased. Let’s see how Dani liked it when the shoe was on the other foot! “No chance of that though, obviously.”

“Obviously,” Dani replied with a smirk. Then the playfulness in her eyes faded away and she sighed. Dani sat down on the edge of the pool and kicked her feet in the water, gazing somberly away from him.

Nick, sensing the change in her mood, was hesitant to approach her at first, but soon enough he sat down next to her.

“What’s up? Cramp? I knew we should have waited a little longer after breakfast-”

“No, you doof,” she huffed, playfully swatting him on the head. “I was just thinking… about what you said before. You know, about me checking you out.”

Nick bristled. “…You’re not though, right?” He asked, covering his chest self-consciously out of reflex. “Come on, that was just a joke…”

Unless… the Romantic Suite made Vivian and Dani’s interests overlap. Surely that didn’t include their sexuality as well? If the room was making Dani bisexual, then he was about to have a whole new problem with Dakota.

Luckily, Dani’s scowl put that concern to bed quite fast. “Of course I’m not,” she said, glaring at him. “That’s not… the issue.”

“Then what is?” Nick knew how uncomfortable being here was for Dani, even though she was friends with everybody (including him) and in a relationship with Carly. Of all the seasons Dani could have ended up on, at least here she wasn’t being **** into doing things with him, right?

Just as that thought crossed his mind the door to the pool opened, and a surprising figure stepped inside, startling both of them.

“S-Serenity…” Dani whispered, her eyes widening as she saw the siren.

Serenity said nothing, quiet as usual. She didn’t even seem to acknowledge they presence, even as she looked right at them. Instead of coming over to say hello, or even just nod, she stayed on the other side of the room, slipping into the deep section of the pool.

Nick was so focused on the presence of the third party he completely forgot about the conversation they’d just been having. Until he felt Dani’s hand on his arm, squeezing him gently.

“Sorry about getting distracted…” Dani whispered, looking up at him. “About what we were talking about before…”

She looked more self-conscious now, probably due to Serenity’s presence. But Nick didn’t let that faze him. If Dani wanted to have a serious conversation with Nick, it was his obligation to oblige her- in no small part because of the complex nature of their relationship and the fact that her transformation made it so that only he could properly console her when she was upset.

But she didn’t seem upset right now, just… divided. Like there was something weighing on her, making it harder for her to come to a conclusion.

“Dani, if you need me, I’m here for you,” Nick said firmly. He looked into her eyes without wavering, showing his friend that he wanted to support her however he could.

He hoped it would get through to her.

Dani’s face softened and her smile returned. “Thanks. I guess… I should probably tell you before you start getting worried that this is somehow your fault.”

Nick nodded. “Yeah, that would be nice,” he agreed.

“So what I’m feeling is… uncertainty, I guess is the best word for it,” Dani said finally. She wasn’t the best when it came to articulating her feelings, unfortunately. Not with words, anyway. “When you said there was ‘no chance’ of me checking you out… well, obviously that’s true. But there are a lot of other things that there’s ‘no chance’ of happening between us… and I’m not so sure anymore that’s a good thing. For me, I mean.”

Nick bristled. “What… Dani, what are you talking about?” He wasn’t sure what to make of this conversation topic. But knowing Dani…

Dani let out a frustrated sigh. “I’m near the bottom of the leaderboard, you know. And I’m fine with that. Really, I am. And I don’t care that much about popularity either…” Even as the words passed her lips Dani knew that wasn’t entirely the truth. While she tried not to care about the popularity polls, seeing how much people didn’t like her still had an effect on her. Even if they were a bunch of degenerate perverts enabling this whole horrible situation.

“…But what Dakota said this morning about needing at least 100 VP or something bad would happen… I don’t know, I guess what you sad just now made me realize how serious the issue really is, you know? For me, I mean,” Dani grumbled.

So much had happened that morning. Dani hadn’t really had time to unpack it all, unfortunately.

Nick frowned. He understood her concerns completely.

“You’re afraid that the challenges won’t be enough, huh?” He asked quietly. “That you won’t get enough VP for them.”

“Yeah, you’re right exactly,” Dani said, nodding. “I mean, last challenge, that was great! I was so close, I almost won!”

A shadow crossed her face. “Until Gina did that sneaky little… no, no, it’s fine, it’s just part of the game…” She didn’t want to get mad at Gina for playing the hand she was dealt. Frankly, it was her fault for not finishing the other girl off sooner.

Redirecting the conversation back to the matter at hand, she looked at Nick with renewed determination. “…I think… I need to start putting in more of an effort,” she said. “I don’t like doing those kinds of things with you, Nick, but… maybe if we can do some other things… you know, stuff that isn’t inherently sexual or romantic, maybe… maybe I can manage to scrounge up enough points that way, do you think?”

Nick looked at Dani in shock. The last time she’d had an idea like this had been way way back near the beginning of the show, when she had kissed him to try and make her dreams easier to withstand. Now her dreams weren’t an issue, but she was directly proposing doing even more stuff?

He wasn’t sure how he should feel about this.

“Are you sure you’re up for something like that?” He asked seriously, looking into Dani’s eyes. “I don’t think I feel comfortable with being a part of something that makes you uncomfortable.”

Dani tensed. “Well… it doesn’t have to be stuff that makes me uncomfortable,” she pointed out. “I mean, friends hug, right? And they, um, they do other stuff… too… or at least, they can… …It would have to be chaste things, though! Okay? If… if you’re okay with that, I mean.”

Dani just wanted to get more Victory Points. She was sitting at 59 VP; she needed 41 VP more in order to be safe like Rose was.

Maybe she could get there with just challenges and the occasional bounty. But maybe not.

“Nick?” She asked, looking at him. “Are you… okay with that?”

Nick stared at her. How could she even think to ask that? “Dani, I’m okay with whatever you’re okay with,” he said seriously. “From the start, I’ve just wanted to help you however I could, since I know how uncomfortable being here is for you. So if doing some casual friend stuff and getting a few more VP here and there will help, then yeah, who cares about how I feel? I’m fine with it!”

Dani sighed in relief. “Oh, thank you,” she said, holding her hand over her chest. “That really means so much, Nick. You’re a lifesaver.”

She squirmed a little, looking hesitant in spite of her previous statements. “So, uh…”

“Yeah?” Nick looked at her, wondering what she was going to say.

She looked back at him bashfully.

“Maybe… you could give me a lap pillow like you gave Rose?” She asked hopefully. “It’s only worth 1 VP, but it wouldn’t be so bad, right? Gotta start somewhere, after all.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Nick agreed. That seemed a little more intimate than he would have expected, but then again he and Dani had done some intimate things together already involving Carly, even if they didn’t directly interact with each other.

Dani brightened. “Great!” She said, clasping her hands together. Her eyes sparkled. “Thank you, Nick!”

As she raised her head to beam at him, Nick noticed that her hair was still dripping wet.

He froze. “Hey… wait a minute!”

“Hmm?” Dani looked at him in confusion.

Nick pointed at her hair. Then he pointed down at his swimsuit. “Don’t think I don’t see what you’re trying to do…” he said, narrowing his eyes.

Dani flinched. She batted her eyelashes, giving him a very bad example of an attempted innocent smile. “I mean… I just thought we should start somewhere, that’s all… I didn’t even notice…”

“Right.” Nick crossed his arms over his chest, not amused. He knew, of course, that Dani wasn’t just playing around. Everything she had said before about wanting to do more casual things with him to get VP had been sincere.

She was just also trying to use those sincere feelings to her advantage in the hope of soaking his swim trunks.

Who was it that said Dani was stupid? Because they were quite wrong.