Been a dark aura in the city

Kim’s stomach was killing her. It wasn’t just the amount of exercise she’d done to strengthen her core, the problem she was facing right now (along with the soreness) was how hungry she felt. She’d skipped breakfast, and now it was past lunch time.

And even though her hours had improved considerably, she still didn’t get any lunch breaks. She hated working.

It felt like she was about to pass out.

Gina walking in with a smug look on her face and eating a banana didn’t help.

“Hey there, Kim! How are you doing?” The punk girl greeted her with a wave. She sauntered up to the counter. “Hungry?”

“…Yes, I’m very hungry,” Kim said, leering at the dark-haired girl. Gina had seen first-hand that Kim hadn’t gotten any food today, or at least that she’d skipped breakfast.

“Well, that’s too bad. Want a banana?” While she snacked on one, she offered the other, dangling it tauntingly in front of Kim. But the half-naked clerk didn’t take the bait, just staring at her with a scowl on her face.

“Did you just come here to mock me?” Kim asked.

Gina took another bite of her banana. “…Yeah, basically. It was fun taunting Dani, I thought it would be just as fun with you.”

She sighed and finished off the banana. “But you don’t have as funny of reactions as I’d hoped for,” she sighed.

“Well gee, sorry to disappoint,” Kim muttered, her eye twitching. She had barely shared two words with Gina before now; she had no idea why the other girl would be harassing her like this.

“Come on, Kim, I’m sorry,” Gina said, offering her the banana for real this time. “Come on, take it, I’m being nice.”

Kim stared at it warily, but the rumbling in her stomach won the fight, and she took the fruit from her fellow contestant.

It tasted damn good.

“Thanks, Gina,” she said through mouthfuls of watery goodness. Gina twitched, and a small smile touched her lips.

“Happy to help,” Gina chirped. She clenched her thighs. “Very happy…”

Kim ignored that and devoured her food. The banana was gone before she knew it. Then she turned to Gina, curious.

She actually hadn’t talked to the girl all that much.

“Hey, Gina, can I ask you something?”

“Sure, what’s up?” Gina blinked.

“Oh, nothing, I was just surprised. I didn’t think you were one for eating fruit,” Kim noted. “You know, given your attitudes.”

“Ah, yeah, no, I’ve started eating healthier,” Gina said. She actually looked embarrassed. She glanced away from Kim with a sheepish expression on her face. “See, um… Dawn told me… she said that I need to work better on my diet, so that I wouldn’t face nutrition problems… so yeah, that’s how I felt, I guess.”

She shrugged.

“And bananas, well, out of all the fruits I’ve tried, they were the absolute best.” She touched her lips thoughtfully, and her eyes turned glassy. “I don’t really know why… but I’ve got this itch in the back of my throat that’s just dying to be scratched.”

“And the bananas quench it?” That sounded really weird to Kim.

Gina shrugged. “Not really, honestly,” she sighed. “But they help it a little, I guess. Anyway, is that all? Asking about my dietary preferences?”

She glanced down at Kim’s belly and Kim reflexively covered herself; she’d almost forgotten she was half-naked, and her slightly-pudgy belly was sticking out slightly.

“What’s the matter?” Gina asked, confused. “You’re not that out of shape, you know.”

“…Thanks?” Kim glanced at Gina’s waist. She had her leather jacket open and her shirt was a crop top that exposed her belly, making it clear to Kim just how stick-thin the girl was.

Hey, maybe that would help me trim my belly fat, she thought darkly. A nice **** addiction. But she kept that to herself. She had a dark sense of humor, but saying that to Gina would probably be a step too far for her.

Or maybe the other girl would actually like it. It was impossible to say.

“I’m serious,” Gina encouraged her. “You look fine. You don’t need to be so self-conscious, you know? I think people put way too much stock into appearance anyways.”

Kim looked her over. Gina’s hair was a mess as always, and her jeans looked like they were falling apart. Oh yeah, she could completely believe that this girl didn’t care about her appearance.

“…Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind,” Kim mumbled, forcing a customer service smile to her face. She put a lot of work into making sure her appearance was impeccable, so she always looked her best. Except when it came to actual beauty, of course. But professionalism mattered more.

But Kim could at least acknowledge that Gina was trying to make her feel better in her own way, and that meant something at least.

“Thanks,” she said again, a little more sincerely.

“Anything else you want to know?” Gina shrugged. “I’m an open book.”

Now Kim was confused. She thought Gina just came in here to bug her, but now things seemed strange. The awkward way the girl was acting, it almost seemed like…

“What do you want to talk about?” Kim asked. “I mean, I’m still working, so we can’t talk about just ANYTHING, but still.”

“Really?” Gina brightened up. “Yeah, sure, I guess… hey, do you like music?”

“No,” Kim dryly replied. “I’m the only person on the face of the planet who doesn’t like music.”

Gina snickered. “That’s pretty good, sarcasm, like it.”

Kim finally picked up what Gina was putting down. “Are you… lonely?”

Maybe she shouldn’t have said that out loud, though.

Gina flinched. “N-no, lonely? Why would I be lonely?” She turned away from Kim and crossed her arms, but Kim caught her glancing her way out of the corner of her eye.

She just kept staring at Gina until the other woman succumbed.

Gina sighed and nodded reluctantly. “It’s not loneliness… exactly,” she admitted. “It’s more just… I’m bored, you know? I want to hang with somebody. And Dakota’s blowing me off again, plus my new roommate, well… you know what she’s doing right now.”

Kim raised her eyebrow at the pale girl’s lopsided smile. Gina was certainly very close to the bottom of her list in terms of potential friends, but Kim was being more open and outgoing these days, so she was willing to humor her.

“I mean, I guess we can hang out, sure,” Kim agreed. “Only thing though, I’m kinda trapped here for a few more hours. Not a lot of fun to do in a lingerie store.”

“Oh, come on!” Gina laughed. “That’s not true at all! There’s a lot of fun stuff to do in a lingerie store, for example, we can try on lingerie! That’s the whole reason you’re here, right?” She winked at Kim, who nodded.

“Fair enough,” Kim admitted. “Although… well…”

She glanced cautiously at Gina, not sure whether or not to voice the thought on her mind. She decided to go ahead with it, since if Gina was sincere about wanting to hang out, it would benefit the both of them if she were honest.

“…You’re actually going to consider buying something, right?” She asked, just to make sure.

Gina smiled. “Aww, you’re so cute!” She reached up to pinch Kim’s cheek and Kim just stared at her.

“Answher be,” she glared, and Gina glanced the other way.

“Where would the fun be in that?”

Kim rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation. Well, it wasn’t like she had anything better to do, might as well follow up with this window shopper.

“So, what do you want to buy?” Kim asked, putting specific emphasis on the “buy” part as a middle finger to the other girl. “We’ve got all kinds of styles to choose from here. I’m assuming you want something in black, yeah?”

She walked out from around the counter and led Gina to the rack of bras. Thankfully there were more in her size than Kim expected; she presumed that Sylvia was responsible for arranging that. Though, given the likes of Carly, Marley, Gina, Morgana, and Dani and Rose, it might just be the case that big boobs were in for the season. Mary too, given her newest transformation.

As one of the few girls on the show with a modest chest, Kim couldn’t help but exhale in disappointment. It was hard to be the only hill surrounded by mountains.

In the midst of her introspection, she realized that Gina hadn’t actually answered her question. She turned to the other woman, and saw Gina’s eyes glazed over as she stared at white bridal lingerie with a solemn expression on her face.

“Hey, you in there?” Kim snapped her fingers in front of Gina’s face, causing her to flinch.

“Oh!” Gina gasped. “Oh, sorry, I wasn’t thinking. Just kind of lost my focus for a bit there!” She tried to laugh it off, but Kim had seen the desire in the other girl’s eyes. “What was the question again?”

Gina seemed pretty **** to try and change the subject, but Kim wasn’t sure if that was the best idea. But she repeated the question anyway, because that was her job.

“Well, you’re right,” Gina said, nodding. “Whatever you’ve got, black is the way to go! Lacy, latex, strings, anything you choose, it’ll definitely look good on me!”

Kim nodded and picked out a few selections. Thanks to her job here, she would have to model them for Gina herself, for better or worse.

At least it gave her a decent amount of time to have a chat with the other woman while she was changing.

“Hey, Gina, can I ask you something?” Kim called from the changing room.

“Sure,” Gina shouted back. Then she paused for a moment as if she was considering whether or not to go along with that. “Wait, ask me what?”

“It’s about Mary,” Kim said. “How’s she doing? As a roommate, I mean. Is she okay? Are you guys getting along?”

“Mary? Yeah, sure!” Kim could hear Gina’s grin even from behind the wood door. “We’re getting along great!”

“That’s… good… She’s not too much trouble, is she? I can imagine that she might be a little too overbearing for you…”

That was her biggest concern. She really didn’t want Mary to get eliminated; she was Kim’s best friend on the island! Before, when they were buddies, it was a simple matter of looking out for one another. But she couldn’t guarantee that now. She might have won the last challenge, but now she was partnered up with Dakota! It was easy for her to imagine that Dakota would win the next challenge, or at least score higher than Kim, and if that was the case, Kim wouldn’t have the freedom to save Mary from elimination.

Mary was beloved by the audience, but Kim wasn’t certain that translated into making many friends. In fact, it could even be the opposite. She remembered what Sylvia had tried to tell her about eliminating Mary in the last round; it had just been a scheme to keep Mimi in the game, but that didn’t mean she was wrong, either.

“How’s Dakota doing?” Gina asked out of nowhere. THAT was a question that caught Kim off-guard. She knew that Gina and Dakota were old friends, and they’d partnered up together after the second challenge, but she didn’t expect Gina to still be concerned about someone who seemed to show little regard for anyone but herself.

Then she remembered how lonely Gina had seemed before. The whole reason they were hanging out together was because the punk girl didn’t have anyone else. So maybe it wasn’t so out there that she’d be concerned about one of her only friends on the island.

“Dakota… she’s doing fine,” Kim said. “I mean, you know as well as I do that she’s not the most sociable person in the world, but… hey. It could be worse.”

“So you two haven’t really bonded then?” Gina’s tone was hard for Kim to place. She wasn’t sure if the other girl was upset, worried, or hopeful. Or maybe some combination of all three.

“I guess not,” Kim shrugged. “Not that I’m not open to it, of course, but it’s been a pretty rough couple of days.”

First there was dealing with the whole thing with her other self. Then she’d spent the day after that hanging out with Dani and working out, which had led her to becoming bedridden the day after THAT. And now here she was, running herself ragged in a job she hated while essentially babysitting a woman who was seven years older than her and yet significantly less mature.

Life had a funny way of playing out.

“She did help me figure out that I needed to change myself, though,” Kim mentioned. “So that was definitely helpful. If not for her, I might still just be spinning my wheels.”

Instead of killing myself physically every other day. Why should I be grateful for this, again? Kim realized that maybe she was getting played, and she didn’t like that.

Whatever.

“Yeah, anyway, I don’t have any issues with Dakota or anything like that,” Kim assured her. “But we’re certainly not as close as I was with Mary.”

“So… if you win, you might not pick her?”

Now Kim could definitely detect a sad note in Gina’s voice. She bit her lip.

“No, that’s not what I’m saying,” she assured the other girl. “It’s complicated, that’s all. I already picked Mary over Mimi once… I don’t know if I have it in me to make a choice like that again.”

Kim was open to a lot of new things, but honestly, being the one to choose who stays in the game was hard. She would much rather prefer being the girl who gets chosen instead, because then she wouldn’t have to feel guilty, like in the second challenge when Mary chose her.

Although then she ran the risk of being eliminated herself…

Kim sighed. “I know this isn’t anything new, but this game really has no good options, huh?”

“You can say that again,” Gina echoed. “You almost done in there?”

Kim looked down at the underwear she’d just finished getting on. It looked less like underwear and more like some very elaborate knot.

“…Yeah, I’m done,” she sighed, and trudged out of the changing room to present herself for Gina’s approval.

On the topic of Dakota, the woman in question was stalking down the hall, looking very much like someone on a mission. She had a determined gleam in her eye, and a cloud over her head.

Needless to say, she was in one of her moods.

I should be happy for Nick and Mary, she reminded herself. This is what I want, after all. Mary is just perfect as the “nice girl” of Nick’s harem, the maternal figure he comes home to who will cherish him all the time! So why does it sting so much, the thought of them getting married?

Dakota wanted Nick to be happy. And Mary could definitely make him happy. So why did that thought put her in such a foul mood?

She caught a glimpse of her scowl in the mirror and slammed her hand against the wall, nearly knocking the damn thing over. She didn’t need to know how frightening she looked.

I’m still jealous. I need to work on that.

After so much time spent not being human, it surprised Dakota to learn that she still had these emotions. Instead of devoting herself to Nick and his pleasure, she was playing petty games of spite. Though I guess I knew what I was getting into.

She took a few deep breaths and calmed herself down, then tried to **** on a smile that didn’t look like something out of a horror film.

Dakota pictured Mary’s smiling face, and the way she clung to Nick all the time. As much as she hated to admit it… Mary was the better wife.

She sighed.

“I could have been a good wife, too…” She mumbled to herself. And suddenly it was like all that time hadn’t passed, and she was back to being that little girl again who snuck over to Nick’s house to sleep in his bed because she was lonely.

“Yeep!”

Dakota’s eyes shot up and she rose to her feet. She’d been curled up in the corner without even realizing it, but now that she was at her full height she stood defiantly in front of the other girl, glaring down at her.

Then her expression softened when she saw who it was.

Morgana stared up at Dakota like a deer caught in the headlights. She was shaking, and Dakota couldn’t see a trace of the so-called “proud witch” in front of her right now.

“Can I help you with something?” She asked, trying to sound as gentle as possible. Morgana just flinched and shook her head.

Dakota’s eye twitched in irritation. The goth girl had run into her in the middle of a very private moment, and was rightly scared of it. But she wouldn’t even talk to Dakota, when Dakota wasn’t mad at her?!

That made Dakota mad at her.

“I’m not upset,” she lied, approaching Morgana. She **** a smile to her lips. “Believe me, I’m not. I was actually looking for you!”

“Y-you were?” Morgana stammered. Her eye widened in disbelief. “Why?”

“Because we’re going to be rooming together,” Dakota said. “And I thought it might be nice to help you out a little. You know, with the whole Nick thing. You are in love with him, right?”

“…Yeah…” Morgana nodded. “Um… please don’t hurt me?”

Dakota was taken aback. “Hurt you? Why would I hurt you?” She asked.

“Just… um… please don’t…” Morgana shook a little more, and kept backing away from Dakota. “I didn’t see anything, I promise! I didn’t see anything I shouldn’t, so… please be nice?”

For once, Dakota didn’t know what to say. She just stared on in confusion as Morgana ran away, leaving her alone in the hall.

Am I going crazy? What’s happening here? Dakota had meant the best for the other girl, even if it was a selfish desire of her own. She sought to sculpt Morgana into the perfect goth queen of Nick’s desires, even the desires he didn’t know he had yet.

So for Morgana to run away like that without even listening to her, when just the other day she seemed to practically worship the ground Dakota had walked on…

What had changed?

I really must look a fright, Dakota thought with a sigh. She turned to look at the mirror again, and saw that her own reflection looked normal. At least, normal to her.

So what could have frightened Morgana escaped her. Certainly the goth would have been attracted to the malevolent aura she radiated, right?