And your time, and your patience, but your grace is...

Things got a little awkward after Cinder left the Master’s Suite. That just left Nick with Dani, and no one to really distract him from the uncomfortable cloud hovering over their heads.

With little else to do, they decided on dinner.

Mary was happy to assist Holly in the kitchen while Rose cleaned up around the place. Apparently she could sense the awkward mood herself, and for once, she was actually considerate enough not to say anything; she just got started cleaning, and left Nick and Dani alone.

“Man, I always forget how good o a cook Mary is, and then I try some of her food, and I’m just reminded all over again!” Dani’s eyes practically rolled back in her head, the meal she was eating was so good. She devoured the food in front of her with delight, and Nick was just happy to see that she was enjoying herself.

“Yeah,” he agreed, nodding. “It’s really good, isn’t it?”

“You’re telling me!” Dani was so animated while she slurped her soup, it was actually kind of impressive. If Mary was present, she’d be blushing and smiling from ear to ear at all the praise she was receiving. “I wish I could be half the cook that she was!”

“Oh that’s right, you’ve been taking lessons from her, I almost forgot,” Nick noted. “How’s that going, by the way?”

“Well, it’s not just me,” Dani reminded him. “Gina and Rose are getting in on it too. Even Dawn, Morgana, and Kim drop by sometimes. Though I think Carly’s probably a lost cause if I’m being honest with you,” she laughed.

“Yeah…” Nick remembered the last time Carly had tried to cook something. It hadn’t gone well. She’d tried her best, but some people were more skilled than others were.

Frankly though, he had always been a little impressed that Dani was one of those people. And that she was actually eager enough to try.

“If someone had told me at the beginning of the show that I would actually enjoy cooking, I never would have believed it,” Dani said, shaking her head. Mary came to the table with another plate of food, their main course. She removed the soup bowls and replaced them with some stirred meat and vegetables, a nice, healthy meal for an athletic tomboy like Dani.

“Well, isn’t learning new things grand?” Mary commented with a smile.

Dani smiled up at her and nodded. “I guess that’s one way to look at it,” she agreed. “I definitely find myself enjoying it more than I thought I would… though part of it is my transformation.”

Like with many feelings Dani’d been having since coming onto this show, part of her love of cooking had stemmed from a transformation. I’ll Have What She’s Having gave her a sexual thrill when practicing her culinary skills, down to watching other people consume them.

“But it’s not all that, right?” Mary prodded, stopping herself from heading back into the kitchen to interject some curiosity into the conversation.

Dani nodded, and then shook her head. “Nope, it’s definitely not. Even before that, I felt the urge to cook,” she pointed out. “That cooking challenge… that was the catalyst.”

She grunted and leaned back in her seat with a sigh on her lips. “I suppose I might even owe Sylvia some thanks for that, what, since she’s the one who hosted that challenge in the first place.”

Nick tensed. Now they were getting into some dangerous territory.

“Are you two still not getting along?” Nick asked warily. “I know she can be a handful, but-”

“It’s fine,” Dani bluntly cut him off with a shake of her head. “I’m not going to raise a big stink about what happened before. Don’t worry. Your daughter’s fine.”

Nick turned red. “She’s not my-”

“I know.” Dani’s lips turned up into a smirk. “I’m just teasing you a little. That’s allowed, isn’t it, ‘Daddy’?”

Nick’s lips twisted into an “O” shape and Mary’s jaw dropped right alongside his. The married couple was caught completely by surprise by that little comment.

“Dani… please stop flirting,” Nick begged. “You’re just making things more awkward.” He didn’t know why Dani was behaving like this, and he didn’t know what he should be thinking in the moment, either. Between the **** boob grope and now this, she was behaving a lot more like Carly would than the Dani he knew.

But when her expression turned sour, he knew who he was dealing with.

“I wasn’t trying to flirt,” she said, glowering at him. “Just trying to make small talk, that’s all. Tease you a little bit?”

She sighed and slumped back in her chair. “I’m sorry, I-”

“No, it’s fine!” Nick cut her off before her mood could turn any worse. “I don’t mind, really, I don’t,” he assured her with a shake of his head. “I was just worried… you know, that you were trying to do something you weren’t comfortable with.”

Dani smiled a little at that, and shook her head. “No… trust me, it’s okay,” she agreed. “Sorry, I guess ‘Daddy’ was stepping over the line.”

Nick sighed and nodded. “A little bit, yeah,” he agreed. “Anyway… how are things going with you? You and Carly, I mean. I was with Marley the whole day, so you had plenty of time to yourself, right?” He asked.

Instantly he wished he hadn’t. Dani’s expression soured again, and she sighed.

“Things are… complicated,” she muttered, shaking her head and looking down at her plate. She poked at the food with her fork, suddenly losing her appetite. “Look, it’s a complicated issue, okay?”

She raised her head and glanced at Mary. “Mary, could we…”

“Right! Absolutely!” Mary immediately got the hint and nodded. “I’ll be off to prepare dessert! You two enjoy yourselves!”

She made a hasty retreat to the kitchen. Of course, Nick and Dani ignored the presence of Rose, who was still straightening up Cinder’s mess with a **** smile on her face, not at all happy that nobody was looking her way.

“You remember my transformation, right?” Dani asked after Mary left.

Nick shook his head. “You’re going to have to be a lot more specific,” he replied. Dani had so many transformations that made problems for her, asking that question didn’t exactly help narrow it down in the slightest.

She sighed again.

“The one I got before,” she muttered. “What’s it called? Skinned Our Hearts and Skinned Our Knees? The one that makes it so I can’t be comforted if it’s not by you.”

Nick tensed. That was a rough one. “Yeah… that one. What about it?”

“Well… Carly and I… I don’t know… we kind of… had a fight.” She managed to stammer out her words, and when she finally got them out, she sank back in her chair like a massive weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

…And dropped right onto Nick.

“A fight?” He asked worriedly. “What do you mean by a fight?”

Dani tensed. This was a tricky position to be in. But she aired on the side of not broadcasting Carly’s dilemma to the world- or at least, not to the guy who was the center of them. Maybe I should have invited her after all, she considered.

Instead, she decided to give Nick a bit of a half-truth. Normally she disparaged lying, especially about stuff like this, but it was vital to keep Carly’s confidence.

“We were having some concerns about our individual levels of intimacy,” Dani answered. “It was my fault, in a way. I wasn’t fully sure about sharing her with you. And isn’t that such a shitty thing? I mean, it’s not like she’s mine to give away. But Vivian just got in my head, man…”

Nick scowled. “Vivian?” When he’d first gotten to know the heiress, she seemed okay, if a bit overbearing and eccentric. But it seemed like today she was causing nothing but problems.

“Wait, it wasn’t her fault,” Dani clarified, shaking her head. “She just helped Carly out with a few outfits, and they got to talking about relationships. It wasn’t intentional at all.”

Nick relaxed a little. That was good to hear, at least.

“So what about relationships?” He pressed.

“Just… you know, stuff,” Dani answered with a non-answer. “Where Carly and I are going when we get back to earth. I mean, is this really a long-term thing? Because we’re still bound to you and your harem, you know?”

“Sorry about that,” Nick winced.

“Don’t be. I said it from the start, remember? This isn’t on you,” Dani said, shaking her head.

Nick nodded. He still remembered way back at the beginning of this show, when Holly had raised such a stink. Dani had his back completely and stood up for him.

Things were so much simpler back then. It was actually something he missed.

“I’m happy for you two,” Nick said out of nowhere. “I don’t know if I ever said it, but I’m really happy that you two are so in love with each other.”

Dani blinked, and her face brightened. “Thank you, Nick,” she said softly. “And I’m glad that you and Mary get along so well, too.”

“Ahem!”

Nick and Dani glanced over at Rose, who was sweeping the floor and staring at them with a frustrated expression on her face.

“Ahem!” She cleared her throat again, a little louder, even though she could see that she had their attention already.

“Yes? Did you want something?” Dani couldn’t help herself- torturing Rose was a little too enjoyable for her.

Maybe she really was a bad person.

Seeing the lack of amusement on the blonde’s face, Dani relented.

“I’m glad he can get along with you so well, too,” she said, laughing.

Rose relaxed a little when she heard that, and batted her eyelashes at Nick. Then she went back to cleaning.

“Must say, seems like this is the life for you,” Dani laughed, turning back to Nick. “A beautiful wife, and pretty maids to wait on you hand and foot…”

“Jealous?” Nick teased, knowing how much Dani would love to be in his situation right now.

Dani laughed at the suggestion, but then she shook her head. “The lizard brain part of me definitely is,” she admitted. “As for the rest of me… well, you know me, Nick. I’m a one-woman type of gal.”

Nick raised his eyebrow. “Really? Until recently, I had you pegged as a no-woman type of gal. You know, because of your bad lu-OW!”

Dani kicked him in the shin under the table. She’d tried to hold back due to her strength, but she still might have gone a bit too hard.

“Sorry,” she apologized lamely when she saw his response. “Didn’t mean to go that hard. But hey! Don’t say stuff like that!” She pouted. “It’s not like you’re one to talk, anyway! Considering you were a virgin before you even came on this show.”

Nick had to admit, she raised a valid point.

“Fair enough,” he agreed. “But still… about those issues you were talking about before, your fight…” He desperately tried to return to the topic at hand, because he wanted to help. It was clear that Dani must have felt very taxed by this whole thing.

She smiled and shook her head.

“I don’t know if a ‘fight’ is the right word,” she admitted sheepishly. “A disagreement, maybe? Or maybe we just were looking at things the way they are for the first time…”

Nick stared blankly at his friend as her voice trailed off. He wasn’t sure what kind of point she was trying to make, and he wasn’t even sure if Dani knew.

“Dani…”

“Look… I don’t want to go into too much detail, for the sake of Carly’s privacy,” Dani explained. The last thing she would ever do is out the possibility of Carly having deeper feelings for Nick. “But… this does involve you, since, well… the nature of our relationship isn’t what anyone would call ‘ordinary’ as I’m sure you know.”

Nick wasn’t sure, actually. Dani’s terms were vague enough that he couldn’t be sure what “our” referred to. Her relationship with Carly? His relationship with her? Or the strange arrangement between the three of them.

“Dani…”

“I like Carly,” Dani said, not exactly spilling a big secret. “And… I told her that it was okay with me if she slept with you.”

“Well, I would hope so,” Nick said, trying to lighten the atmosphere with a joking tone. It didn’t really work, so like the moron he was, he kept pushing the joke. “Because that ship kind of sailed a long time ago.”

He felt like he was digging himself deeper with every word. But he felt so awkward he just couldn’t control himself.

Luckily, Dani didn’t react with embarrassment or jealousy.

She laughed.

“Fair enough!” She nodded. “Fair enough…”

Somehow, Nick had escaped this topic without any major injuries. He considered that a definite win, and sighed in relief.

“But still… I wasn’t really sure, you know?” She said quietly, finally getting started on eating her food. It wasn’t as cold as she feared it would be. “How I felt, I mean. I thought… well, this is going to sound really pathetic, but when Carly and I got together, and we had that strange night, just the three of us? That was me, agreeing to do it for her sake. I thought that if I wanted to keep her, then I’d have to let her sleep with you sometimes.”

Nick winced. That hadn’t been the vibe he’d gotten at all that night. “I’m sorry you felt that way,” he quickly apologized. “But that wasn’t my-”

“No! It’s fine!” Dani shook her head. “I was completely wrong! Carly and I… we’re a lot stronger than I thought we were. She even said… she even said that she was considering giving up sleeping with men entirely just to make me feel more comfortable in the relationship. And that includes you.”

Nick couldn’t deny that the idea stung. While he prioritized Carly’s happiness over his own, and to an extent, Dani’s happiness as well, he had to admit it would suck not being able to enjoy that body anymore. But if the two of them were really in love…

“I told her to shove it though,” Dani bluntly replied.

Nick’s eyes widened. “Huh? Wow, that’s…”

“I know, right? I didn’t expect it either,” Dani admitted, shaking her head. “But it’s like this. See… I’ve always been really insecure. Especially where relationships come in. And part of it, I think… I think part of it is because I spent so much time not realizing that I loved women.”

Nick remembered the string of awful hookups that had plagued Dani through high school. He was glad he’d never ended up in that category.

“But what she said… that she would give you up for me… that got me right here, you know?” Dani whacked her fist against her heart, causing her breasts to bounce slightly. “I never would have thought someone would do that for me, you know? Especially not Carly, given, well… given the nature of your relationship with her.”

Nick winced. Again, it was reasonable for Dani to think that way.

“I felt so much better when I heard her say that,” Dani admitted. “But not as good as I feel now. And I know it’s the transformation talking, but still…”

Every word Dani had said to Carly, that had been the truth. She had never felt more relieved in that moment, or more in love.

But her transformation had still held her back. And now that she’d finally confided everything in Nick, she felt truly free.

Free enough where she could tell him the other truth that she’d been hiding.

Just… not yet.

“I’m happy for you, Dani, I really am.” It felt like that was all Nick could really contribute to this conversation. “You and Carly… you two are great together.”

“Believe me, I know,” Dani said, flashing a toothy grin at him. “But you and Carly are great together, too. Just in a different way.”

Nick felt a little embarrassed at what she was insinuating, but he didn’t react to it. “Thank you,” he cordially replied instead.

Yeah, things felt really awkward. It was like there was an entire other person missing from this conversation.

“…Am I the only one who thinks that Carly should be here for this?” Dani blurted out, putting words to the feelings of discomfort between the two of them.

“No, you’re not,” Nick agreed. “We could always send Rose to go get her though,” he pointed out, glancing at the blonde.

“I’m not an errand girl!” Wailed the woman who was busy adjusting the drapes.

“It’s fine,” Dani said, shaking her head. “I’m actually… I told her I wanted to be alone with you,” she admitted. “Even though she said she wanted to come.”

That was news to him, too. “Really?” Nick asked.

Dani bit her lip and nodded. “There are some things I wanted to talk about with you… you know, without anybody else around.”

She looked pointedly at Rose, who got the message.

“…Fine. Am I done cleaning now?” She looked around at the spotless room. Cinder had made quite a mess, but Rose had done an admirable job at fixing it. Nick was honestly impressed.

“I’ll say,” he nodded. “That was some really good work, Rose.”

“Yes!” Rose made a fist and punched the air. She set down the mop and sashayed over to Nick.

He glanced up at her warily. “Rose…”

“I know that your night tonight is with Dani.” Rose cut him off with a finger over his lips. “Don’t worry, I’ll go like an obedient young miss.”

She winked at him. “But with how good of a cleaning job I did… I’m hoping there’s a reward for me, down the line? And I’m not talking BP here. Oh, pretty please?”

Rose batted her eyelashes and Nick sighed, relenting to her demands. “I’ll think about it,” he agreed, which was good enough for her. With a hum on her lips and a skip in her step, she evacuated the Master’s Suite, leaving Dani and Nick alone.

Rose: 8200 BP + 100 BP = 8300 BP

With Rose gone, Dani and Nick could finally talk. Dani opened her mouth, but before the words could come out, Mary burst out from the kitchen, holding two slices of pie.

“Dessert time!” She called, and Dani sighed.

Well… better luck next time. They would have to postpone the conversation until after dessert.