Isn't she pretty in pink?

After confiding in Amelia, Nick felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He was more at ease as he headed to the café he’d agreed to meet Gina at (she’d been surprised that they were going to meet at a café) and he held his head high.

This had the making of a good date, but also a very awkward date. He anticipated some pushback from Gina, given her usual attitude. But he wasn’t going to let that get to him. After all, Gina needed to see that they could have a normal relationship, and that things didn’t need to always come back to Gina just being a tool for him to use sexually.

As wonderful and attractive as she was, and as amazing as the sex was, Gina deserved actual dates too, not just booty calls. Nick’s day with Morgana had clued him into that even more than he already knew to be the case.

Sure- he was nervous about how things would go with Amelia this afternoon. But being with Gina would hopefully be relaxing, and give him some time to just take things easy and enjoy himself with someone who he cared about.

…But he had to think critically about this, too.

It’s Gina, after all, he reminded himself. Knowing her, she’s probably not going to go meekly along with anything sappy or romantic. For Gina, a good date involves shooting pool in a dive bar followed by sweaty sex in a back alley. I can’t let her steer things too off track.

It was a tightrope that he needed to balance. Nick wanted a date that Gina would enjoy, but he knew she would be resistant to the idea of a date in general. She could be difficult and stubborn about intimacy and closeness, and while he couldn’t blame her given the life she’d lived up until now, he wanted to show her that she deserved those things too.

She was a wonderful woman who shouldn’t let herself be defined by one mistake.

As expected, Nick got to the café first. He sat down and waited, hoping that Gina would at least show up for their date instead of bailing. It was a troubling notion. As sweet a woman as she could be, she had just as much of a tendency to run from her problems as Morgana, or even Ella, and he really didn’t have the flexibility today to handle it.

So he decided to pretend like that wouldn’t be an issue today, and hoped that would be enough for them.

“Uh… hey. You’re here already?”

Nick perked up immediately when he heard a familiar husky voice, and the note of hesitation that came with it. He turned and looked over his shoulder and saw Gina walking up to him, from the opposite direction he’d expected. Apparently, she’d already reached the Shopping District before he’d arrived himself.

But that wasn’t the only thing unexpected about what he saw.

Gina looked very different. Not to the extent that she seemed to be a completely separate person or anything, no, it was still obviously Gina. But compared to her usual penchant for not taking care of her appearance, this time it was clear that serious consideration went into their date today. For one thing, her hair was actually straight, with some volume to it, instead of the greasy tangle that usually flopped about her head given her resistance to taking showers. Not only that, she’d retouched her dye as well, meaning her roots were no longer showing and giving her hair a glossy, vibrant appearance.

…But that was just her hair. In the grand scheme of things, it was easy to overlook such a minor difference, compared to the far more obvious, drastic change.

Gina… she was wearing a dress. Not only was this a rarity in and of itself, but the dress in question was something Nick had thought she would never be caught dead in. Accented white and pink with girly frills, not clinging to her curvy figure but rather emphasizing it through what it hid beneath the loose-flowing fabric. It was girly and feminine and pretty, and looked exactly like the dresses she used to wear in summer camp nearly two decades ago.

She looked amazing, and she almost didn’t look like Gina. Nick’s mouth dropped open and he couldn’t process what he was seeing properly as she climbed the stairs with purpose and walked out onto the deck, sitting across from him.

He could see the tentative excitement in her eyes, like she was pleased by the reaction that she’d gotten from him. But with that excitement came a sense of worry as well. He could see from the way she carried herself, constantly looking his way with a hesitant expression on her face, hidden behind that genial smile, that she was just as uncertain about her new look as he was.

They both stared at each other for a few seconds, neither quite sure what they should say to one another.

It was Gina who overcame her hesitation first and broke the ice, likely because her surprise was a lot lesser than his.

“So… what’s up, Nick?” She asked hesitantly, opening her palms up to him. “A café? That’s the big date plan? Gotta say, when you promised a real date I was expecting something a little more… robust from you.”

The playfulness in her voice sent an obvious signal to Nick and he couldn’t help but laugh. The way she was looking at him, it was like she was trying to pretend everything was normal, but it really wasn’t. This was completely outside his expectations, and while he’d given her the reaction she’d been looking for, he was fairly certain that she wasn’t handling the situation with any more surety than he was.

They were both stuck out of their element, and that made for a rather amusing conundrum.

“…Gina, I think I’ll say this much,” he said, shifting in his seat slightly, “you’re full of surprises.”

Gina blinked, surprised herself by Nick’s reaction. Then she relaxed and flashed a smile. “Well, thank you, Nick, I do try,” she purred, batting her eyelashes. “I’d say that this experiment was a rousing success, then!”

Nick raised his eyebrow. Experiment? Was that what was going on here?

“What do you mean by experiment?” He asked.

Gina shrugged. “Well… isn’t it obvious? This dress is definitely not my style. But since you promised me a real date, I figured- why not dress the part? So here I am. And it looks like you’re quite shaken yourself, hehe.”

Nick wasn’t sure how much of that was true. Gina was doing an excellent job of hiding how nervous she was, but he could still tell that she was nervous. And that was fine. He understood why she would feel that way, given the newness of the situation.

Simply put, she wasn’t used to dates like this. She liked to boast that she had more life experience than Nick given her extensive partying past, but the truth was, when it came to actual dating, she was quite the novice.

And it was obvious with one look at her body language.

Gina was on edge. The way she sat, constantly shifting in her chair like she was struggling to find a comfortable position, and the way she kept looking hesitantly at him like she was searching his eyes for any sign of discontent, showed just how uneasy she really was in an environment like this.

Nick would have found it cute, if he wasn’t worried about the expectations she was placing on herself as a result of this.

“Well, I’ll say this to begin with, Gina,” he said, leaning forward and reminding himself to relax. Today was meant to be about having fun. “You look really pretty in that dress. So we’re already off to a pretty good start.”

Gina’s eyes widened and a smile twitched up her lips before she **** it away, trying to play it cool. “Well… aren’t you a sweet-talker?” She cooed, batting her eyelashes playfully. “You like seeing me wearing dresses, eh?”

She was glad that she’d gone with the story of “I wanted to wear a dress in order to catch you by surprise” because the truth was embarrassing. Gina wasn’t the kind of woman who tried, after all, it was unthinkable!

So for Nick to learn of how much effort she’d put into today… the thought of that was simply mortifying! No, thank you!

But in the back of her mind she suspected that he could already sense the truth. Which just made her feel more embarrassed, honestly.

Still, the tension flickering between the two of them… it wasn’t a bad tension.

She actually kind of liked it.

“It’s not just the dress,” he said, though he definitely thought it suited her, as strange as that sounded. “Your hair looks lovely, too. And did you do something new with your makeup?”

Gina mentally cursed, knowing her face was probably turning red from embarrassment but unable to do anything about it. She tried desperately to bat away those urges and she finally raised her head, forcing a tense smile onto her lips that she hoped looked casual enough to dissuade Nick from thinking he was getting her all flustered.

Even though it was obvious.

“I… I went for a more natural look on my makeup, that’s all,” she said, brushing back her hair. It was weird how silky it felt to the touch. “Less eyeshadow and all that…”

Gina didn’t put a lot of care into her appearance, but she wasn’t a total slob. She used a lot of eyeshadow and mascara to make her brown eyes really pop, because it suited the look she was aiming for. Presently though, her current look put less emphasis on those features, giving her a gentler, cuter look than she was used to.

It was kind of embarrassing, Nick looking at her like that.

And he was still looking!

“…And, and I touched up my hair a bit, too,” she added quickly. “New dye and all that, since my roots were showing. Plus some product, but it’s not a big deal, really. Wasn’t even that much, either! Just a small 200 BP.”

Gina: 8000 BP – 200 BP = 7800 BP

She cleared her throat. “The dress though, that cost quite a bit. 1000 BP, if you can believe that! I guess they really don’t like it when you buy modest clothes, huh?”

The laugh she gave showed she meant it as a joke, but they both knew she was right on the money, especially as far as Dakota was concerned.

“Still, 1000 BP, that’s a lot,” Nick said, nodding. He glanced at her dress again. “I think it was worth it, though, don’t you?”

“Hardly!” Gina groaned, defiant as always. “Kim definitely ripped me off with this price!” She ran her fingers along the hem. “Probably rounded up so she could get an extra bonus on the commission, I’d bet.”

Gina: 7800 BP – 1000 BP = 6800 BP

Kim: 11000 BP + 500 BP = 11500 BP

“Kim wouldn’t do that,” Nick said, knowing that Kim had some of the most BP out of everybody right now.

Gina sighed. “…Yeah, I know,” she conceded. “I just felt like complaining, you get me?”

Nick understood where she was coming from. Still…

“I think it’s worth the price,” he repeated, causing Gina to perk up. “You look really good in it, after all.”

He knew he was laying it on a little thick, but that’s what he’d promised her, right? A serious date together with him trying to make her as happy as he could? That’s what Nick wanted to give her, so that’s what he was doing.

Gina nodded slowly, understanding his perspective but still feeling hesitant. “I mean… you’re right, I look good in it,” she admitted, biting her lip. It actually annoyer her how right Kim had been, even if she preferred her usual look. It wasn’t so bad, trying out something new every once in a while. “But still! A dress this pricy…”

She shook her head. “…I’m going to feel tempted to wear it more often, just so it doesn’t feel like a waste of money,” she groaned.

Nick shrugged. “Would that be so bad?” He lightly teased her. “It’s not like anyone is going to make fun of you for looking cute.”

Gina scrunched up her face in irritation and gave him the stink-eye. “Yeah, well, they should,” she grumbled, shaking her head.

“Why?” Nick asked, pressing the issue even though he knew it was a sensitive subject for her. “I mean, you wouldn’t make fun of people for looking girly yourself, right? So why should people make fun of you for it?”

It was a blatant double-standard she was holding herself to, and he wasn’t about to let her get away with it.

Gina’s mouth flopped open and she stared at him in shock, not sure what to say. “Look, dude, just… it’s not like that, okay? You’re making a bigger deal out of this than it has to be…”

The way she mumbled that last part after making that exclamation, Nick could tell immediately that this was a troublesome situation. He was walking a tightrope here and he had to be careful. So he looked her seriously in the eyes, seeing the discomfort on her face, and hoped that he could help her move past it somehow.

“Gina… I really think it’s fine,” he said gently. “You can look girly and cute too, you know. You don’t need to be made fun of for that.”

Gina puffed up her pink lips in a pouting expression and sighed. “I know,” she mumbled out, shaking her head. “But like… come on!”

She gave him a **** stare. “It’s embarrassing… wearing something like this… and it looking good on me…”

Nick remembered the conflict Gina had faced way back at the beginning of this twisted show. When she’d been **** into clothes that she couldn’t stand, lost all her tattoos, and the dye had been washed out of her hair. He also remembered how happy she was when that transformation had been lost, and she reclaimed her original style.

Honestly?

He liked Gina either way. If she wanted to wear tight leather and torn jeans, and enough chokers and collars to supply a small pet store, he wasn’t going to argue with her about it, because he liked her just the way she was.

“Gina, I mean this when I say it,” he said, looking up into her eyes, “but I really like your original style of dress. You know, your punk clothes. I really think they suit you, and you don’t have to try to wear something you don’t like.”

“Thank you!” Gina said, rolling her eyes in exasperation as her chest surged with pride. Finally, some fucking vindication!

“…With that being said,” Nick continued, “you also look cute like this. So if YOU want to wear clothes like these yourself, I’m not going to have a problem with that, either.”

Gina blinked, clearly surprised by his statement.

And for the first time, she really contemplated her aesthetic.

So wait, he’s basically telling me that if I want to go get changed into my usual stuff, then that’s fine, right? I don’t have to wear this just for his sake, I can wear whatever I want?

It was the sort of choice her mother had never given her. And she could see it in his eyes as he looked at her that he meant it, too.

All of a sudden, a feeling of discomfort stirred in her chest, and she bit her lip.

“Err… well, it’s not like I really mind this dress, or anything,” she admitted, scratching her cheek. “And like I said… I already bought it, so might as well, right? If I toss it out and go get changed then I just spent 1000 BP for nothing.”

Nick nodded slowly, understanding her logic but also sensing that there was more to what she was saying than she wanted to let on.

“Well… I just want you to be comfortable today,” he said seriously. “Because this date is for YOUR sake, Gina.”

She blushed. “M-my sake… …Dude, like I told you a hundred times-”

“Remember what I said to you before?” Nick interrupted her, making the dolled-up punk girl jump slightly. “I said-”

“I remember!” Gina interrupted him, trying to cut him off before he could repeat those embarrassing words again.

Nick wasn’t going to be overcome that easily, though. “I promised you that I’d take you on an actual, romantic date,” Nick insisted, almost amused by the way Gina squirmed hearing his words. “Since the opportunity for that is so limited.”

“I know!” Gina’s face was completely red now. “Dude, I get it, okay?! You don’t have to be so… overwhelming!”

That wasn’t the right word to describe the situation, she was pretty sure. But who fucking cared!? It was how SHE felt!

Face burning, Gina leered at him. “I just… I’m just not sure what today is going to be like, that’s all…” She rubbed her finger along the edge of the table, just trying to distract herself from the uncomfortable and all-too-real conversation she was stuck in.

Then she timidly looked up at Nick, her expression hesitant.

“You really think this suits me?” She asked finally. “Because Kim said it suited me, too… and I don’t see it.”

Nick nodded. “Gina, I know you’ve changed a lot from when we were kids,” he said gently. “But remember, I wasn’t there to see all those changes. For the longest time, my only memory of you was of the girl you used to be, the shy and sweet girl who wore pink dresses. I know you don’t like those kinds of dresses anymore, but even though I like who you’ve become now as well, I’ve never once thought those kinds of clothes wouldn’t suit you.”

Gina knew she should feel flattered by his praise. But she mostly just felt embarrassed. She sank back in her seat, cheeks red, and looked hotly at Nick, chewing on her lip.

“I… I really like you,” she blurted out. “Liked you! I meant. In the past! Not that I don’t like you now, but it’s not, like, the same way, maybe… I mean, it’s not like it ISN’T the same way, just…!”

She was really messing this up, and she knew it. But unfortunately she was unable to stop herself.

“It’s just-! Not what you’re thinking!” She finally said, shaking her head. She took a deep breath and recomposed herself before sitting upright again.

“…Back then… I really had a huge crush on you,” she admitted, choosing wisely not to touch on whatever feelings she may or may not have had for Nick in the present. “And the thing is… dressing like this again… I keep remembering how I felt back then, and… it’s making me feel all weird.”

This wasn’t like when she was **** into those girly clothes against her will. This was a dress she’d chosen to wear for herself.

It gave so much more weight than she ever could have imagined to her situation.

Looking into Nick’s eyes, she saw the way he looked at her… and it made her heart pound. “Is that… alright?” She asked hesitantly.

He gave her a smile that eased her worried heart. “I think it is,” he said with a nod. “If you’re alright with it, Gina.”

Her nervousness was eased with that. She nodded slowly, relieved that he was so considerate of her. It made her feel like she wasn’t making the wrong choice after all.