The best will climb to the top like me, the rest will end up like you

Nick found himself in a nightmare of a date. What had started out as a pleasant outing with a woman he had feelings for had quickly devolved into something unspeakable.

Two cat girls clung to him in the middle of the lounge, and neither one was willing to give an inch.

The Dawn clutching his right arm was the fiercer of the two, and she glared sharply at her counterpart as she dug her nails into his arm.

On his left arm hung a woman who was just as much Dawn, only she was sunny and smiling as she smugly looked down on the other Dawn.

And he was caught in the middle, like always.

“Okay, both of you, settle down,” Nick said, yanking both his arms free. As determined as the two girls were, they didn’t have the strength to hold him in place, and they both knew it. So they let him go and stepped back, looking at him with matching expressions of alarm.

Two sets of genius intellect were right now calculating what Nick’s reaction was, and determining their own reaction in response. But for now, they both were startled.

That gave Nick an advantage he meant to keep.

“You guys are both Dawn. You’re smarter than me, and I figured that out, so the both of you should be able to,” he pointed out firmly.

The two Dawn’s looked at each other and shared begrudging nod. While neither was happy to admit it, the text of the transformation was very blatant. Both girls were the “real” Dawn, neither was a copy.

“I think we split,” the Dawn on the right said.

“I remember that too,” her left self agreed.

Nick nodded. He could appreciate that. “So you two, what, got cut in half? Like an evil twin sort of thing, is that it?”

“I’m not evil!” Left Dawn exclaimed immediately.

“What, and I am?” Right Dawn snapped.

They were getting nowhere. And frankly, Nick was getting a little tired of having to differentiate between “left” and “right” Dawns in his head.

“Dawn… Dawns…” He was already having trouble. “Nicknames. I’m gonna come up with nicknames for you, okay? One of you can be Dawn, and the other…”

His voice trailed off as he felt two pairs of eyes on him. He sighed in exasperation. “…No, that’s not going to work, is it?”

“I should think not,” the right Dawn said, shaking her head. “Whichever one of us gets our real name, well, she’ll be viewed as the de facto ‘original’ by you. And I refuse to let that be me!”

“I refuse too!” The other Dawn agreed, shaking her head just as firmly. Their competitive transformation, another gift from Dakota, was taking over and making them butt heads.

Regular Dawn was stubborn. Two of them? That was an argument Nick wasn’t going to win.

“I don’t suppose we could flip a coin on this, huh?” He asked with an ironic laugh.

“Heads,” both Dawns answered simultaneously.

Yep. This was just going to get worse.

“I’ll come up with nicknames for you both, then,” he decided. “That’s the only way this is going to work. You agree?”

The two girls nodded. But right Dawn looked uncertain.

“Are you going to come up with the nicknames?” She asked cautiously.

Nick frowned. “Is there a problem with that?”

She looked pointedly at him. Fine, so naming things wasn’t his forte. But she wasn’t exactly pitching better ideas here!

“I’ll be fine with whatever nickname you give me!” Left Dawn said, gazing adoringly up at Nick.

“She’s lying!” Right Dawn hissed, yanking on the other girl’s collar. She hastily let go when she realized that was her own blouse she was mussing, and she didn’t know which set of clothes she’d be getting back when this transformation wore off. “If she really is me, then she’s just as concerned about a bad nickname as I am.”

“Nope! I don’t worry about stuff like that,” left Dawn sniffed, smiling smugly at her counterpart. “Whatever awful nickname he gives me, I’ll accept it with a smile! Because that’s the kind of person I am!”

“Hah!” Right Dawn crowed triumphantly. “So you do think his naming sense sucks!”

“Of course his naming sense sucks!” Left Dawn replied, just as incapable of lying as her counterpart. “But that doesn’t mean I have to let it bother me!”

Meanwhile, Nick was caught in the middle of this, taking emotional damage from both sides.

“Okay, fine, I won’t come up with the nicknames myself!” He groaned. Not that he had any other ideas. Heck, he didn’t even have ideas for names in the first place.

“How about you call me ‘Fun Dawn’,” the Dawn on the left suggested. “And call her ‘Grumpy Dawn’, would that work?”

“How about we call you ‘Flighty Dawn’ and we call me ‘Competent Dawn’?” The Dawn on the right tossed out, just as anticipated.

This was starting to get ugly.

“I’m putting my foot down,” Nick said. “You, um, right Dawn!” He pointed at her first. “I’m going to call you Anastasia!”

“Huh!? Why does she get to be named first?!” Left Dawn complained. Meanwhile, her counterpart on the right, Anastasia, looked pleasantly surprised.

“Not a bad name at all,” she considered.

Nick turned to left Dawn next. “Then for you, how does the name Bella work?”

“Ooh! I actually like that one!” The Dawn now named Bella said, her eyes widening in surprise.

Anastasia crinkled her nose. “Hey! Wait a second!” She snapped. “I recognize those names! They’re the heroines from those awful movies we watched with you on our first date!”

“Hey yeah!” Bella’s eyes widened. “I almost forgot about that!”

She smirked. “So I guess that means I’m the winner, then!”

“What!? Why?!” Anastasia demanded. From where she was standing, they both got screwed over.

“Because ‘Anastasia Steele’ from that movie was actually just Bella, back when the book was a crappy piece of Twilight fanfiction,” Bella said smugly. “In other words, I’m the original, and you’re just the cheap copy!”

“That-!” Anastasia turned red, but she couldn’t refute Bella’s declaration. She turned and looked desperately at Nick, demanding with her eyes that he fix this somehow.

Nick didn’t even know what he was supposed to do at this point. He’d really messed up.

“I-I just came up with those names off the top of my head, because I associated them with the two of you,” he stammered. “Sorry…”

“Don’t apologize, I like my name!” Bella said cheerfully.

Anastasia sulked. “Well, I don’t! I’m gonna change it! Call me something else!”

“No! No fair!” Bella immediately objected. “You can’t change your name!”

“Of course I can! It’s my name!”

“Then I want to change my name too!”

“But you said you liked your name?!”

“I don’t like it if you get to change yours to something else!”

Nick sighed. They were right back where they started. “Fine, I’ll call you something else!” He started wracking his brain. “Anastasia, I’ll call you Auburn instead. Does that work?”

Anastasia, now Auburn, blinked. “…I can live with that,” she replied. She couldn’t think of any comparisons to any films or anything else they’d done together.

“What about me!?” Bella demanded.

“Uh… Bella, how about Bianca?” He attempted.

“Okay, I guess that name’s cute enough?” The cat girl’s ears twitched as she reacted to the sound of it. It wasn’t a bad name at all.

Now it was Auburn’s turn to seem smug. “Bianca means white,” she noted. “You’re an absence of color, while Auburn is a beautiful, vibrant brown!” She ran her fingers through her long ponytail and held her head up high, looking down her nose at her other self. Quite a feat, given they were the exact same height.

Bianca scoffed. “Right, it’s the color of sh-”

“Should we actually get this date started, or something?” Nick loudly interrupted the two of them. He wanted to get the cat girls out of the lounge before the other girls came by and saw the mess he’d gotten himself into.

Both Dawns looked at each other.

“Still not good enough,” the decided at the same time. “We still look identical.”

“Well, I’m not changing!” Bianca insisted. “This blouse is so comfortable!”

“It’s cute,” Auburn stated. “Nick likes it. I’m not gonna wear something else.”

There had to be a way to differentiate between the two of them. But before Nick could make a suggestion of his own, Bianca reacted first, reaching up and undoing her ponytail.

Her shiny brown hair fluttered down past her shoulders, immediately drawing a sharp contrast to her other self.

“There we go,” she said. “That different enough?”

Auburn was surprised. “I-I didn’t think you’d let your hair down,” she admitted, running her fingers through her own ponytail. “I thought we liked this style?”

“It’s okay,” Bianca said. “But I want to wear my hair loose today. You know, to look different?” She batted her eyelashes at Nick, and Auburn immediately realized what she was playing at.

How could I have let her get the edge on me like that!? By wearing her hair in a different style, she’s drawing attention to the differences between the two of us! Because I always tie my hair up, now Nick is going to be looking at her and comparing her with me, and the fact that she’s different will earn her points with him!

She couldn’t believe she let Bianca get ahead of her.

Bianca watched Auburn playing with her ponytail, and knew there was no way that the other girl would actually let her hair down to copy her. She would just have to accept this defeat- she could see the doubt and hesitation burning within her other self.

They were both Dawn, which was why they both knew how the other thought. Even if there were some slight differences becoming apparent.

Auburn was hesitant and unwilling to let down her hair, because she still upheld herself to Dawn’s normal standards. But Bianca was more willing to push the envelope. By taking a chance like this and embracing some comfort, she could set herself apart.

Unless Auburn started differentiating herself from Dawn, Bianca was going to win this easy!

Auburn’s fingers left her hair, and she felt a note of remorse as she gave up on changing her hairstyle. She liked her ponytail, it was stern, efficient, and yet very cute, just like her. Why should she have to change something that worked so well for her?

She looked up into Nick’s eyes, and hoped he felt the same way.

“I think we should start the date now,” she said, intent on turning the momentum back in her favor. “Are you okay with that?”

Bianca was a little surprised at the olive branch extended by her other self. But she knew how Auburn’s brain worked like it was her own, and knew that the other girl was making a big gesture here.

She smiled and nodded.

“I’d love that!” She chirped.

Nick sighed in relief. Finally, it looked like they were on the right track here.

Then one of the doors opened, and all three of them jumped. They turned to see a dreary Gina walking down the hallway, looking like she was half-asleep.

She stopped midway into the lounge when she saw the three of them, and gave the two Dawns a flat, glazy-eyed stare. She rubbed her eyes again.

“…How much did I have to drink last night?” She muttered to herself as she doubled back to her room.

The trio sighed in relief and took that as a sign to get out of there. The three of them hustled over to the elevator and rode it down to the lobby, heading out of the hotel before they ran into anyone else in Nick’s harem.

“Well, that was sure a close one!” Bianca laughed.

“It’s not that funny,” Auburn groaned. “Do you know what would happen if someone took one look at you, Bianca?! I’d never live it down!”

Bianca huffed. “What do you mean you’d never live it down?” She snapped, pouting and crossing her arms. “We’re the same Dawn, remember? I’d never live it down! …Except, well, I would, because I’m me!”

Auburn sighed. “That came out wrong,” she said, shaking her head. “What I meant was-”

“What you meant was that you think you’re the ‘real’ Dawn!” Bianca accused her other self. Auburn bristled at the accusation.

“That’s not what I said,” she asserted.

Bianca wasn’t buying that. “But it’s what you meant! You’re all stuffy and brusque and serious, and you think that makes you the real Dawn, but it doesn’t! You’re as real as I am! I’m just not held down by all that stuff! I can be just as much Dawn as you while being open and inviting and sweet, you know!”

“I can be sweet!” Auburn protested. “But you have to admit, there’s a difference between the two of us! We aren’t the same!”

Bianca winced. That much was true, unfortunately. And the more time they spent apart from one another, the truer it became.

Auburn was serious, and Bianca could be, but chose not to be. If one had to ask who sounded more like the “real” Dawn, they would probably choose Auburn. It would be a hard choice, but that would probably be the one made.

She hated that feeling.

“I… Nick!” Bianca turned to Nick. “What do you think? She’s not the real Dawn, right?”

“Neither of you are the real Dawn!” Nick said firmly. “Or more like, you’re both the real Dawn! We already agreed to this before!”

“There, see?” Bianca turned and flung her victory at Auburn, who winced defensively.

“That’s what I was trying to say though!” Auburn protested, shaking her head. “There is no ‘real’ Dawn between the two of us, because we’re both real! The only reason you’re making a big deal out of it because of your low self-esteem!”

“Like you’re one to talk! Fidgeting with your ponytail like that!” Bianca sniffed. “We’re the same you know! We BOTH have low self-esteem!”

Auburn turned red, and Bianca mirrored her. In their rush to one-up each other, they’d inadvertently outed themselves in front of Nick. Both cat girls looked warily at him, and he sighed.

“…Like I said,” Nick groaned, split between being exasperated by the two of them and silently amused, “you’re both Dawn. In so, so many ways.”

Auburn and Bianca looked at each other. They nodded begrudgingly.

“I like your eyes,” Auburn complimented Bianca.

“That’s a very nice top,” Bianca politely replied.

There was more tension between the two of them. It was freezing Nick to the bone at this point. But as he’d just said, they were both Dawn. He couldn’t ditch one of them and go on a date with the other, that wouldn’t be fair!

…Not to mention he would have absolutely no idea who he would pick if he did decide to do that. Looking between the two of them, they really did both feel like replicas of Dawn. Just with different aspects of her personality emphasized.

This is like… dealing with Cinder and Ella, kind of, he thought. Cinder and Ella were also two sides of the same girl.

But he’d never had to face both of them together like this. He hoped that day would never come.

“I think we should come up with a date idea that won’t involve us inadvertently running into anybody,” he suggested. “What do you two think about that.”

“Agreed,” they said simultaneously. Then both girls looked at each other and shared a giggle. They might have clashed over a lot of things, but they were on the same page when it came to that, at least.

Nick was relieved to hear it.

“So I suppose that leaves the shopping district out of the question, then,” Auburn considered, stroking her chin. “Too good of a chance we run into someone. And obviously no workout at the Gym, either.”

“Why not?” Bianca pouted. “You’re being too cautious! Obviously, yes, the Gym is out of the question, but the shopping district is a big place! We’re not likely to run into anybody!”

“Not likely, no, but it’s possible,” Auburn pointed out. “The chances of running into someone are-”

“You’re not the only big brain here,” Bianca interrupted her other self. “I’ve crunched the numbers too, and it’s a calculated risk. It shouldn’t be an issue!”

“Did you factor in the probability of Dakota trying to screw us over, though?” Auburn reminded her other self. “We’re not dealing with this in a vacuum, you know. I’d bet she’s just dying to have us run into someone in the shopping district, and she controls that place with her mind. Out of the question, sorry.”

“But even if we do run into someone, and not saying we will, what’s the big deal?” Bianca groaned. “I agree, we should try not to, but these things happen. What, are you gonna say we can’t go to the Botanical Garden because we might run into Sylvia or Marley or Kim?”

“…I was about to,” Auburn mumbled, turning red and looking away.

Bianca turned to Nick. “See what I have to deal with? She’s so cautious, she never wants to let us have any fun!”

“Just because I don’t want our friends laughing at us doesn’t mean I’m not fun!” Auburn protested.

“It’s not a big deal anyway!” Bianca scoffed. “We have thicker skin than that! Maybe it would even be fun!”

Again, it was going to be up to Nick to decide.

“What about the Amusement Park?” He suggested, surprising both girls. “Nobody ever goes there. And as long as we stay away from all the tricky rides that Dakota organized, we won’t have a problem.”

He and Kim had managed to avoid all that stuff without even trying last time, though he considered that might have been Sylvia taking it easy on them. Either way- it was a good idea. There was a very low chance of running into any of the other girls.

And both Dawns knew it.

“Okay!” Bianca nodded excitedly. “That sounds fun! Let’s do it!”

“I think that would be good idea,” Auburn agreed. “We’ll just need to be on our guard, in case Dakota tries anything.”

Nick sighed in relief. Finally, consensus! He didn’t know how long he could keep the two women on the same page, but he hoped that the rest of the date would go better than this first twenty minutes had gone.