With you I'm in warm water swimming down

Mary nearly toppled over when she saw who was coming her way. It was Gina! And she was dragging a very exhausted-looking Dawn behind her as well.

“What are you guys doing here?” Rose asked, raising her eyebrow. Of course, she was promptly ignored as Gina reached Mary.

The punk girl didn’t say anything, though. She grabbed her knees and began gasping for air, clearly out of breath much to Dawn’s chagrin. The cat girl rolled her eyes.

“Seriously?”

“S-sorry…” Gina panted. “I’m… not in the best shape… haa… and we’ve… been running around the hotel looking for you guys…”

“Looking… for us?” Mary asked cautiously. Things were still a little uncomfortable between her and Gina after what had happened last night. Now that her feelings towards Nick had been settled she could see that the other woman wasn’t in the wrong, but that didn’t make the tension between them magically disappear, either.

Even though Mary wanted to apologize for her attitude a lot.

Finally, Gina recovered her stamina enough to stand up straight.

“Yes!” She declared, wiping the sweat from her brow. “I-I wanted to apologize for the stuff that happened last night! I was really rude to you, and much more forceful than I should have been! I’m sorry!”

“N-no! That’s okay!” Mary shook her head frantically. “It’s fine, really! I was in the wrong, too… I was being selfish and stubborn, and… I’m sorry.”

“No, no, that’s not good enough,” Gina said, shaking her head. “Listen, Mary! You’ll never believe what we found out!”

Mary blinked. “…Found out about what?”

Gina smirked. “Well, you see, because I felt so bad about the stuff I said, I wanted to do whatever I could to make it up to you.”

Dawn rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation.

Gina gave her a side-eyed look. “…Yeah, anything. So I tracked down Dawn, and we spent the whole morning going over the Bible together!”

“Excuse me, ‘we’?” Dawn leveled a glare at her. Gina looked away with a guilty expression on her face.

“It… it was a joint effort… in some parts…” She mumbled, before clearing her throat. “Anyway! The point is, Dawn, and I, can’t emphasize that enough, Dawn and I, we found some stuff you’re not going to believe! In the Bible?! There’s all sorts of stuff about dudes marrying multiple wives! Polygamy’s totally fine!”

“Whoa, really?” Rose raised her eyebrow, taken aback by that revelation.

“Yeah! Seriously!” Gina nodded rapidly. “So you don’t have to worry, Mary! If you want to marry Nick, the Bible says it’s a-ok!”

“…She’s obnoxious but she’s not wrong,” Dawn said, sliding her glasses up her nose. “It may have been a pain in the ass reading all that stuff, but if you want, I can cite all sorts of passages saying polygamy isn’t a big deal. So if your religion is what’s keeping you from proposing to Nick…”

Mary didn’t know what to say. She never thought that someone would do something like this for her, and she certainly never imagined that the Bible would be so permissive of alternative lifestyles like this. In the past, she would have demanded evidence, and may not have even accepted it when she got it. But now it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that everything was going to be okay. It was if the last doubts that had clouded her heart had been erased.

She smiled warmly at the two women. “It’s fine,” she said, shaking her head. “I already decided that regardless of what the Bible said, I would get married to Nick.”

“Whaaaaat?!” Gina’s jaw dropped in shock. “So you’re saying I just wasted all that time for nothing?!” She exclaimed.

“Giiinnaaaa…” Dawn seethed behind her, her ears flattened and her tail standing on end. Gina gulped.

“H-hey, come on, Dawn, it was the right thing to do, y-yeah? I was just trying to be a good person…” Gina began to sweat as she sensed the frustrated aura wafting off the ponytail-wearing cat girl.

‘That’s why you’re still breathing,” Dawn seethed.

“I’m honestly truly grateful for both of you, though,” Mary said, lowering her head. “Thank you both. It means a lot you’d do something like this for my sake. I won’t forget it.”

“…Yeah, whatever,” Dawn muttered, playing with her ponytail. She glanced away, her cheeks flushed. “I just did what anybody would do for a… f-friend. No big deal.”

Gina, on the other hand, said nothing, because she was too busy stemming off the wave of pleasure threatening to knock her over. When she finally came back to her senses, her emotions were a little out of control.

“Aargh, but this means I haven’t made things up to you at all!” The punk groaned, pulling at her hair. “Come on, isn’t there something I can do to make up for all the shit I flung at you last night!? Come on, anything!”

Mary’s eyes widened and she shook her head. “No! Seriously, there’s no need! I’m really-”

Rose clamped her hand over Mary’s mouth to shut her up. “Yes, actually! There’s a lot you can do to help, now that you mention it…”

“Mmph?!” Mary looked at Rose in confusion and Rose narrowed her eyes and hissed. Then she turned back to Gina with a smile on her face.

“You have quite a bit of BP stored up, isn’t that right, Gina?”

After giving the two women a quick rundown of Mary’s financial situation, Gina was happy to oblige.

“What’s that? 1900 BP for a wedding ring? Sure! No big whoop!” Gina chortled. “I’ve got like 5000 of those points stored up! I’m actually shocked, because usually I’m so bad with money!”

“Why does that not surprise me…?” Dawn muttered under her breath.

“And you’re really okay with this?” Mary asked, her eyes shining with gratitude.

“Sure thing! We’re square now, right?” Gina asked, tapping her screen to officially transfer the money.

Gina: 5100 BP – 1900 BP = 3200 BP

Mary: 8100 BP + 1900 BP = 10000 BP

“Y-yes! And I promise as soon as I get enough BP to pay it back, I will!” Mary promised. “Thank you so much!”

“Dang, seriously?” Gina couldn’t believe she was so nice. And the burst of pleasure she got from that little exchange was no small thing either. She grinned. “Gotta say, it’s WAY better to be the one loaning out money, as opposed to just borrowing it all the time!”

“Does it count as borrowing if you don’t ever pay it back, though?” Dawn asked. For the life of her she couldn’t imagine Gina ever being the kind of person who would square up her debts.

“OH, by the way…” Rose’s eyes slid to Dawn, and narrowed into predatory slits. An ominous black aura began emanating from her curvaceous figure. “On the topic of loaning out money…”

Dawn looked away and started to sweat. “I-I don’t have it now, but I promise, once I get to 1600 BP, I’ll pay you back…”

“You’re damn right you will, ponytail,” Rose said with an entrepreneurial smile that sent a shiver down Mary’s spine. Yes, she was definitely paying Gina back as soon as possible.

“So what’s the plan now?” Dawn asked, **** to change the subject away from her outstanding debt with Rose. “You’re going to propose to him, right? I’m assuming it’s going to be on your night together?”

Mary and Rose glanced at each other and Marley suppressed a smile.

“Actually, um…” A sheepish Mary mumbled something just loud enough for the other girls to hear.

“Whaaaaaat?!” Gina exclaimed.

Dawn’s jaw dropped. “Y-you’re proposing tonight!?”

Mary nodded with a flushed smile. “I-I am, yes. I wanted to do it as soon as possible.”

Dawn turned to Rose, shocked. “…And you’re okay with that? Her tagging along and upstaging your night with a proposal?”

“…It was a necessary sacrifice,” Rose sighed. “If I didn’t she’d be proposing right now.”

“Ah, yeah. I getcha.” Dawn could definitely see that.

“Besides, this way I get a 500 BP bonus! Just for helping out my good friend Mary!” Rose draped her arm over the redhead’s shoulder. “See, my bonus sheet rewards me for bringing another girl up to the Master’s Suite! Consider it a finder’s fee, only one you don’t have to pay!”

“You should really work on your greed,” Mary chastised her. Marley burst out laughing at that, earning herself a dirty look from the blonde.

“Dang it, this is the worst!” Gina groaned, slumping over. “My night’s tomorrow! How am I supposed to follow a proposal?! Way to cut my legs out from under me, Mary!”

“…Um… sorry?” Mary apologized, feeling a little bad. Especially after she’d just taken Gina’s money to boot!

“Nah, we’re cool. I’ll just have to try even harder then!” Gina chortled.

“Well, I hope it goes well for you,” Dawn said, trying to keep her own feelings separated from the situation. She was happy for the other girl, she really was. But at the same time… This is okay, right? I mean, she said she was fine with him marrying other girls… that includes me, right?

Then Rose had a great idea. “So anyway, the three of us were headed to the hot spring, you two want to come?”

“A hot spring?” Dawn perked up. “That’s right, Carly told me about that… it’s been a while since I went to one of those! Not since I was in Japan! I’d love to go!”

Gina was a little more ****. “Eh, I’d be up for it, but, well… I don’t think it would go great for the rest of you, so…”

She grabbed her arm and offered a sheepish smile.

“It’ll be fine, we’ll just not look at you. I do it every day.” Dawn’s cutting words were especially-vicious today, apparently.

“We can cover it with something,” Rose offered. “Come on, it’ll be fun!”

“…Well, sure thing then!” Gina grinned.

The five girls headed off to the hot spring, talking enthusiastically about Mary’s upcoming proposal tonight.

“Haaaaah… you guys were right, this is greeeeaat…” Gina sighed, sinking down into the water. Thanks to the tattoo on her arm, she had to be very careful about how she sat in the water, since the faeries wouldn’t let her bring in a towel or anything like that to cover up. Instead she decided to go into the spring up to her neck, which worked fine enough as long as no one stared at her for too long.

“I wonder why the night sky?” Dawn mused, squinting up at the stars plastered over their heads. She had some difficulty seeing without her glasses, but she could still make them fine. “Those are the same constellations you can actually see in Japan, did you know that?”

Rose shook her head incredulously. “Your memory is really something.”

“This is nice…” Mary was definitely feeling a little shy. She wasn’t the type of person who liked being naked around other people, even other girls. It didn’t help that her breasts were floating on the water, either. But she was coming out of her shell, and doing her best! Even if she needed to hug her knees to her chest to cover up.

“Blurble…” Marley was practically submerged in the water entirely, enjoying the feeling of the warm hot spring. It was nice to be back. Especially without the family drama that came with it.

“Whoever came up with the idea for a free hour of bath time each day has definitely got my appreciation,” Rose said, leaning back against the rocks. Thanks to Gina’s tattoo, she probably had the least modesty of everyone there. “Sure, I know it’s probably Sylvia, but even that thing can be right sometimes.”

“Careful,” Marley said, coming up for air to chastise the blonde. “I know that you guys have your issues with her, but…”

“I know, I know,” Rose assured her, waving her hand. “She’s still your mom.”

Marley nodded, an uncomfortable blush touching her cheeks that wasn’t just from the warm waters. “It’s… complicated.”

The part of her that was human recognized how terrible the things Sylvia had done and would continue to do were, but the part of her that was Mimi still remembered how loving of a mother she would be. Marley’s vocabulary had been developing at a breakneck pace since her time as a slime girl, and “complicated” was by far the best term she could use to describe her situation.

“Sylvia may be awful, but this hot spring is so nice,” Mary sighed. The water was so soothing she actually forgot her modesty, and let her arms and legs splay out around her as she sunk down. “Maybe we could see if Holly can come next time…”

“Oh, that girl would love this!” Rose tittered. “Don’t they have a lot of hot springs and the like in those animoos she’s always watching?”

“It’s ‘anime’,” Marley sternly corrected her.

“Whatever, Japanese porn cartoons, who cares?” Rose rolled her eyes. She didn’t really believe that, but it was fun to goad the other girl.

“A nice setting like this, it really gives me the craving for some sake,” Gina said, licking her lips and rubbing her belly. She could already taste the creamy, milky flavor of her favorite brand now. “You went to Japan, right Dawn? You must have tried all sorts of great stuff!”

Dawn squinted at her. “I sampled from a wide selection of teas during my time in Japan,” she replied. “Alcoholic drinks don’t agree with me.”

“I don’t think I want to drink anymore either,” Mary agreed, shaking her head.

“Oooh, ‘anymore’? And here I thought you were a teetotaler!” Rose tittered, leaning in curiously. “Go on Mary, you can tell us! Have you been a little naughty? Drunk a bit too much of that communion wine?”

“No!” Mary sniffed. “But on my date with Nick yesterday, I had some champagne. And it was just fine!” She pressed down on her stomach. “…A little bubbly, though. And it made me light-headed.”

Suddenly, Marley burst out of the water.

“Wait! That’s right! I can drink!”

Everyone stared at her incredulously.

“I’m human, but I haven’t had any **** since my transformation!” She explained quickly. “Sure, I have a lot of memories of drinking, but I haven’t actually done it myself.”

“…Yeah, raise your hand if you think THAT’S a bad idea,” Dawn said, and every other girl raised their hand out of the water, even Gina.

“Come on!” Marley groaned. “I’m an adult!”

“She has a point,” Gina said, though she didn’t lower her hand. “Tonight’s the night for bad decisions after all, right, Mary?”

Mary shot her a look. “…And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, nothing…”

Everyone was surprised when Dawn burst out laughing.

“I’m sorry,” she giggled. “But… this is still a little too much to take in…”

“…Everything okay there?” Marley asked, sitting back down.

“Yes, yes…” Dawn wiped her eyes, still giggling. “It’s just… I still remember when Nick was a little kid, you know? Even shorter than me… and to think that he’s getting married…”

“Hey, he was my friend first!” Gina pointed out. “If anyone gets to find it incredulous that he’s already getting married, I’ve got dibs! …Or Dakota does, I guess.”

“We should really invite Dakota here,” Mary murmured, looking up at the sky. That earned some surprised looks from the others.

“Really? You want Dakota to come?” Gina was happy to hear that other people thought positively about Dakota, but it sure did come as a surprise.

“I suppose I wouldn’t mind it,” Dawn said. She felt her tail twitch behind her and she sighed. There was one difference between the hot springs she’d been to in Japan and this one, and that was the soaked tail and cat ears she’d have to dry off thoroughly when she got out. “Still, I don’t think she’d be up for it. Given her transformation and all…”

“True, that could get out of hand,” Rose agreed. If Dakota got horny whenever she was in the water, well… a hot spring with a bunch of naked girls would be quite an experience, that was for sure. “It wouldn’t do for little Mary here to be deflowered in the eleventh hour before her wedding.”

Mary’s jaw dropped in shock and Gina burst out laughing. She rolled around in the water cackling like a hyena.

“ROSE!” Mary was incensed. “She’s not THAT bad!”

“I know, I know,” Rose said, shaking her head. “Still, what brought this on? I wouldn’t have expected you of all people to be on the pro-Dakota train. Is it because she helped you out by giving me your transformation?”

Mary shook her head. “No, that too… but I just thought… it would be nice if all the girls who want to marry Nick… if we could all be friends, that’s all…”

Rose blushed. “I-I see…”

“W-wait, marriage?!” Gina sputtered. “Hey, correct yourself there, red! Nick and I, we aren’t… we… okay, look, I’m not the marriage type, you got that?! That’s just crazy talk, right, Dawn?” She looked to the more rational cat girl for confirmation. Just because Mary was giving Nick permission to marry whoever he wanted, that didn’t mean THEY were gonna be involved in that!

“I’m in.” Dawn said firmly, surprising everyone.

“…O-ho, really?” Rose raised her eyebrow.

“Yes,” Dawn repeated with a sharp nod. With her ponytail undone, her wet hair fluttered everywhere. “It’s the only rational decision to make after reviewing my feelings. I’m in love with him, after all, and while now isn’t the time for marriage, it’s undoubtable that’s where things are heading.” She looked down at her blurry reflection in the water.

The only thing left is whether or not Nick will say yes. Dawn may have been in love with Nick, but Nick’s feelings on the matter were a lot more complicated. Their relationship wasn’t like the one he had with Mary, where he was filled with affection and desire. Sometimes it felt like that passion had been left in the past. Just because they’d started an intimate relationship, that didn’t mean he liked her with the same intensity as when they were kids.

“Dawn…” Gina swallowed, staring at the brunette in surprise. She never thought that the rational, intelligence, no-nonsense-having Dawn Willowbrook would ever acknowledge her feelings so readily like that.

Her heart prickled as she imagined it.

“…Well, if you’re going to be that upfront about it, I suppose there’s no sense in denying it,” Rose sighed reluctantly. “It’s the same for me, I’m afraid… While I certainly haven’t known him as long as the rest of you, my feelings are real.”

This time it was Marley who felt a pinprick. Of the five girls here, she had definitely known Nick the least.

Rose continued her musing. “It may be too soon for marriage… no, it definitely is. After all, we haven’t even slept together yet…”

“Which is a good thing,” Mary interrupted her to point out.

Rose rolled her eyes. “…Well, what I’m getting at, is that I have no intention in getting involved with him if things aren’t serious. So… when the time is ready, I also plan to become his bride. Anyone else?”

Gina’s lip quivered. She wanted to raise her hand so badly, but her doubts kept her buried beneath the water. After all… I’m not someone who’s meant to get married. A white picket fence and a couple rugrats? No, that’s not me. I’m the kind of girl you tie up in the basement, not walk down the aisle.

She knew that for a fact, so why did it hurt so much to acknowledge it?

“Marley? What about you?” Rose asked, turning to the brunette after seeing she was getting nowhere with Gina.

“M-me?!” Marley squeaked, splashing back in the water. “Don’t drag me into this! I’m… I’m just Carly’s sister! You girls are the ones in his harem!”

Mary stared at her. “Why does that matter?” She asked.

“Yeah, she’s right,” Rose agreed. “Just because the rules of the game say you’re not in his harem anymore, that doesn’t mean you can’t fall in love with him and get married. Holly plans to stay by Nick’s side the rest of his life. Is that something you want?”

“Assuming, of course, that you do have feelings for him,” Dawn noted. She squinted at the other girl to try and make out her expression. “Well, do you?”

Marley swallowed. She knew what she felt in her heart, but…

“…Carly’s the one in Nick’s harem, not me,” she said, shaking her head. “She’s the one he should be marrying.”

She had a human body now, and she was sitting in a hot spring. But saying those words made her feel colder than she’d ever felt as a slime girl.