Let her kind words then suffice, and never speak hasty or rude

Normally, Nick wouldn’t mind too much walking down the street linking arms with a beautiful woman.

But while the woman who currently had her body wrapped around his arm may have been beautiful, she was also dangerous.

“So? Do you see anywhere you want to go?” Nick asked, trying to make casual conversation with a woman who couldn’t talk.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin wasn’t looking at any of the shops on the street. She kept her eyes glued firmly on him, and her flushed cheeks conveyed the desire that her voice couldn’t.

She shook her head and tightened her grip.

Rose sighed and rolled her eyes. She and Holly were following behind the happy couple, and Cinder trailed behind them with a plastic smile frozen to her face. The three girls were watching this sickening little exchange, and Rose was about ready to pull what was left of her hair out of her head.

“Of course there would be shit like this,” she muttered under her breath. “Why does she get to occupy all his time today, huh?”

“Hey, I mean, you got to spend all of yesterday with him,” Holly pointed out.

“Not by myself I didn’t!” Rose pouted. “I had to share him with Marley!”

Holly shrugged. “I mean, that’s still better than a lot of girls get, so can you really complain!”

“Yes!” Rose said unabashedly.

Holly held her sides and laughed. “Well, Rose, if there’s one thing I can say, it’s that I’m glad you’re always remaining yourself,” she chuckled, patting the other girl on the arm.

Rose pouted. “It’s just not fair. How am I supposed to grow my hair back if I don’t have him around to finish my bounties?”

“Well, how many of them do you really need Nick for?” Holly asked curiously.

Rose showed her the bounty sheet. Holly looked over it with an appraising eye and stroked her chin.

“Well… you could do the sex toy one on your own,” she pointed out. “And even though he’s rather occupied right now, I doubt he’d mind seeing you make out with another contestant.”

Rose shook her head. “What am I gonna do? Ask Dani if she minds me bringing her to orgasm really quick for some money? While she’s head over heels for Carly? Somehow, I doubt that’s gonna go over well…”

It didn’t help that Rose wasn’t exactly attracted to women. That was also keeping her from doing the make-out one. Especially since that was only 100 BP.

“Just so you know, I’m not going to make out with you,” Holly clarified. “It’s not worth it… you need to find someone who he wants to see getting down and dirty. Not… someone like me. He couldn’t care less about that.”

Rose grunted something and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, because you’d be the first name on MY list, too,” she muttered.

“Well… wouldn’t you take Mary?” Holly prodded with a smirk. “I’m sure he would just LOVE to see the two of you kissing and making up.”

Rose cringed at the thought of that. “No way!” She hissed, shaking her head. “I refuse! I’m not going to make out with anybody who has a chance of drawing his attention away from me! I’m the star, remember?!”

Holly rolled her eyes. The biggest problem Rose had in her mind was that the blonde just couldn’t accept that she was a tool for Nick’s pleasure. No, no, her ego had to get in the way.

“This is the problem with women who think they’re people,” Holly sighed, shaking her head in disappointment. “Rose, you’re supposed to be sexually satisfying, not spoiled and individualistic, you should know that by now.”

“You know, Holly, your mindset would fit you in pretty well with the incel demographic,” Rose pointed out.

“Involuntary celibate?” Holly snorted and rolled her eyes again. “Please, they aren’t even close to being in my league.”

That one did get a chuckle out of Rose.

“Well, technically, the one where you have to wear his cum on your face doesn’t really need his presence, right?” Holly pointed out, her eyes shining with excitement as she imagined the possibilities of that.

Rose crossed her arms and gave her a sour expression. “What, am I just supposed to steal his semen like a ninja when he’s fucking someone?”

Holly started to drool as she imagined that, and Rose lightly swatted her on the head with her bounty sheet in response.

“Um, excuse me.”

Rose stiffened and Holly jumped. Both women looked ahead to see a rather embarrassed Nick looking back at them, his face red. Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin was clutching his arm and shooting daggers at the two of them.

“N-Nick?” Rose stammered, forcing a sweet smile to her lips.

“You know I can hear you two, right?” Nick pointed out. “Rose isn’t exactly being quiet, talking about this stuff.”

Rose’s blush intensified and she quickly averted her eyes. Holly doubled over laughing.

“W-well, I just… I’m sorry! We were just speculating ways we can satisfy you, that’s all!” Rose clarified. “That’s it, really. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

Nick sighed. “Well… look, I get it, Rose, you’re worrying about getting your BP. But it’s fine, you just need to be patient. We can try out some of that stuff later, but right now, I’m trying to spend time with Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin.”

He glanced past Rose and Holly, and at Cinder, who was dutifully bringing up the rear. “Also, don’t we want to show Cinder that we can be on our best behavior?” He reminded the two of them. “The last thing she needs is to think we’re a bunch of weird sex freaks.”

“But I am a-!”

“Holly.”

“…Fine, fine,” Holly sighed, shaking her head in exasperation. “As you wish, master. I’ll be a good girl for now.”

Somewhere, deep down in the fog of sex, lust, and denial that swirled around Holly’s brain were memories of what she was like back in the real world. Where she repressed herself for the good of her future, and pretended that she wanted other things out of life than to just be a toilet for Nick to spray his semen over.

That Holly was a pain in the ass to drag back to the surface, like trying to retrieve a sunken treasure chest of gold from the bottom of the ocean. But somehow or another, Holly managed it, forcing a smile onto her face that didn’t look like she was about to go to the pussy buffet and pig the fuck out.

Rose was a little easier, but it was clear that in spite of her smile, she still radiated desire and disappointment.

Nick disregarded them both, and focused on Cinder.

“Sorry about this,” he apologized. “I know they’re a little much. Maybe it would have been better to leave you with Carly and Dani.”

Before they’d gone out for the day, Carly, Dani, and Marley had split off from the others, and gone to spend some time together. Nick figured that was fine, and they deserved some time to themselves.

“There is nothing to be concerned about,” Cinder said with a smile, her real feelings impossible to discern from her face. “I find this to be a most pleasing endeavor!”

Nick **** a smile to his lips and nodded. He wasn’t sure how much of that he was actually going to believe, but if this was going to go anywhere, then he would have to just hope that she was having a good time.

Man… It’s too bad Dawn’s not here. Maybe she would know what to do. After breakfast, Dawn had scurried off on her own. Said she needed some time to decompress after oversleeping. Nick had been concerned, but he let her go, since they had other problems to deal with. It seems like she’s spending more time in that bed than she is out of it, these days. If only there was something else she could do to relax.

Then his eyes widened. “Hey, wait! That’s it, that’s perfect!” He turned to Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin. “Have you ever been to a cat café before?”

The mute girl blinked, and then shook her head.

“Well, that’s perfect, then!” Nick said, remembering his first date with Dawn to the cat café. “Come on, you’ll get to play with a bunch of adorable kittens! It’ll be a lot of fun, you’ll see!”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin nodded cheerfully and tightened her grip on his arm, clearly indicating him to lead the way. As Nick turned a corner and headed down the street, Rose and Holly warily followed after them.

“Are you getting the feeling that this is gonna go terribly wrong?” Rose asked dryly.

“What, you mean like in ‘Of Mice and Men’?” Holly questioned with a grim expression, remembering the assassin’s superhuman strength. “Yeah, that’s a distinct possibility.”

Rose stared blankly at her.

Holly blinked. “…Of Mice and Men? By John Steinbeck?” She prodded.

Rose just shook her head.

“Fuck… would it kill you to read a book sometime?” Holly muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose and tromping after Nick and his date.

Rose pouted and stomped after her. Getting looked down on by the other girls like Mary was one thing, but even Holly was taking shots at her now?!

Nope, this wouldn’t do at all!

After a couple more minutes, they arrived at the café. When Nick stepped inside, it was just as wild and hectic as he remembered, with a swarm of adorable kittens playing around on the carpeted floor.

“Awwwww!” Rose squealed with delight. “Look at them all! They’re so small and cute!”

“Ehehe! Aww! That tickles! Oh, stop it! Hee hee!”

The kittens weren’t the only small and cute thing rolling around on the floor.

“Dawn?” Nick held his hand over his mouth to suppress his smirk.

Dawn’s head snapped towards him and her eyes widened like milk saucers. Her face turned red.

“Uh… this… this isn’t what it looks like,” she said, even while knowing that there was no possible way anybody could interpret what she was doing as anything other than exactly what it looked like.

“Hey, come on, it’s fine,” Nick said, walking over to her. “I totally get it. This is you decompressing, right? We all need that sometimes.”

Dawn, still blushing, set down the kitten in her hands and hopped to her feet, brushing fur off of her clothes.

“W-well, it had been a while, so…”

She cleared her throat and started again. “What are you guys doing here? I thought you were going out to find something fun to do with Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin? Don’t tell me you decided on a cat café?”

Nick shrugged. “I mean, it seemed like a good idea,” he replied. “Kittens are cute, and Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin is cute, so…”

The dark-haired girl squeezed his arm so tightly it felt like his bones were going to break. She squirmed with delight and Dawn smirked in amusement.

“Well, look at the lady’s man,” she scoffed, her tail flicking behind her. “And where was all that charm back when we were in school, huh?”

Nick gave her an exasperated look.

“Fine, fine, it’s not a big deal. Sure, let’s have some fun!” Dawn gestured to Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin, who looked suspiciously at her.

Seeing that she might need some more prompting, Dawn knelt down and picked up one of the kittens, a tabby with black and brown spots all over its white fur. “Come on, don’t you want to play with this cutie? I bet he wants to play with you…”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin stared at the kitten with a discerning eye, but she didn’t loosen her grip on Nick’s arm.

“Is something wrong?” Nick asked, turning to her curiously. “You don’t want to play with the kitten after all?”

She shook her head.

“Really?” Dawn lowered her arms. “But they’re so cute?”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin’s face softened. But she remained adamant.

Nick sighed. “Well, so much for that idea. I guess we’ll just get a seat then and watch,” he decided, leading the assassin over to the set of tables Rose and Holly had already picked out. He joined the three girls as they sat down and watched Dawn resume playing with the kittens.

Holly in particular looked antsy about it.

“…You know, if you want to play, you can,” Nick said. “You don’t have to deny yourself everything that makes you happy, you know.”

“Really!?” Holly catapulted out of her seat, her eyes shining with delight. “Oh, thank you, master!” She cooed, and rushed over to go play with the kittens.

“What about you?” He asked Rose, turning towards her. She was also staring longingly at the girls playing with the kittens.

“Come now, do I really look like the kind of girl who would pass my time cuddling up with an adorable kitten?” Rose scoffed, leaning back in her seat. She lifted a cup to her lips, even though the faeries had yet to fill it with anything. It was just for appearances.

Nick stared blankly at her.

“…Yes.”

Rose twitched. “…Hmph!” She turned up her nose.

“Let me guess. You don’t want to mess up your clothes?” Nick prodded.

She twitched again. Bulls-eye.

“Rose, do you know what I like the most about you?” Nick asked, leaning forward.

Rose sat up straight, staring at Nick with eyes filled with hope and delight. “No,” she said, quickly shaking her head. “What?”

“I like that you’re not afraid to indulge yourself,” he informed her. “You always do what you want to do, regardless of what other people think of you. I think that’s one of your most charming features.”

It was also one of her most annoying, but he didn’t say that part. When it came to Rose, you had to accept the good along with the annoying.

“W-well, they are very cute…” Rose admitted, her resolve faltering. If Nick liked her so much because she indulged herself… then maybe she should just indulge herself!

Yes, that was her decision and hers alone. No one had goaded her into it!

“Okay then!” Rose smiled brighter than the sun. “If you insist so much, I don’t really have a choice, now do I?”

Rose tried to pretend like she wasn’t dying to play with the adorable kittens, but no one was buying it. She rushed out of her seat and went to join the others, leaving Nick alone with two girls and a very awkward silence.

Cinder sat as still as a statue, her blank eyes staring off into the horizon. Nick felt really bad for the position she was in. Part of him wanted to suggest that she go play with the kittens too- it seemed like she would really enjoy it.

But he held his tongue. Because no matter how he worded his suggestion, he correctly suspected that Cinder wouldn’t interpret it that way. No, she would take it as an order, an order that must be followed under any circumstances, and she would do exactly that.

Nick had no intention of taking advantage of her current mental state, even if it was to convince her to do something that she would enjoy.

So he held his tongue, and just enjoyed the moment, while the faeries gave them all some coffee to drink.

Big mistake.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin made a cringing face, and nearly spit out the dark liquid the second it touched her lips.

“Oh, sorry about that,” Nick apologized. “You don’t like coffee?”

She shook her head rapidly.

“What? Too bitter?”

A nod this time. Nick sighed.

“Yeah… I suppose it’s way bitterer than ice cream,” he acknowledged, waving the faerie down. “Hey, could we get some sugar over here?”

After Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin added enough sugar to her drink that it outsized the coffee in terms of volume, it was finally sweet enough for her tastebuds. Nick had to admit, that was kind of adorable. In many ways, the assassin was a lot like an innocent child.

But at the same time, he remembered how easily she’d killed multiple people, and how ferociously she’d flung herself at him the second she saw him again.

So in a lot of ways, she wasn’t a child, either.

But it would be nice if she could play with the cats and have some innocent fun, he thought, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. For once, she wasn’t staring at him. She was watching the other girls cuddling with the kittens, with a look of longing in her eyes.

Then, something happened to change the dynamic completely.

“Mrrow?”

One of the kittens, a small one with black fur, climbed up onto Cinder’s lap and stared up at her with questioning eyes.

Cinder, who was already frozen in place, stiffened even more as the kitten made itself at home on her lap. She had no idea how to process what was happening, so she just let him make his place there on her pants.

Across the table, Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin bit the nail of her thumb as she stared enviously at the other girl.

Nick sighed. This was just about what he’d expected, honestly.

“You know… if you want to play with the kittens, you can do that,” he urged her. “This is the place for that.”

The assassin glanced up at him, and she actually looked sad for once. She shook her head somberly and returned to just looking at them.

Nick saw the expression of disappointed longing on her face, and he realized just what was making her feel this way.

“Wait… Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin… are you afraid?” He questioned.

The slender girl stiffened, and swung her head around to look at him with wide eyes.

“Are you afraid you’re going to hurt them?” Nick clarified.

The assassin looked like she’d been hit with another bucket of ice water. She was so surprised by his question that she was frozen stiff for a moment.

Then her face turned somber and she nodded.

Nick winced. That was just what he feared.

“Yeah… I understand now,” he nodded sadly. “You’ve got that strength, and you’re afraid you’ll hurt the kittens. But hey, don’t worry about that! Remember, Dakota is in charge here! And she won’t let any kittens get hurt, I promise!”

Okay, well maybe one or two. It IS Dakota, after all.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin blinked, and then looked hopefully up at him, like she wasn’t sure if she could believe him or not.

“I’m telling you, it’ll be fine,” Nick encouraged her. “Go on! Go enjoy yourself! Trust me.”

She took another longing look at the kittens, almost like she was working herself up to go do it. Then she rose from her seat and approached the other girls cautiously.

“Oh! You change your mind?” Dawn was still petting the calico from earlier. She held it out to Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin again.

This time, the assassin accepted the cat. And as she held the tiny warm thing in her arms, a brilliant smile stretched across her face. She caressed the kitten affectionately, and in that moment Nick didn’t see an assassin, but just another happy girl.