And you just can't find love when you're down in the mud

“Look at that!” The pink faerie said, trying to smile. “They’re so… artistic!”

“You don’t have to patronize us,” Nick said, staring at the monstrosities he and Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin had created. “They’re awful.”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin nodded in silent resignation. In spite of her best efforts, she couldn’t turn that wad of clay into something resembling an artistic creation. It looked like a pot that had withstood a meteor shower; one side was all but caved in! The most that could be said about it was that it was standing on its own.

And even then, Nick wasn’t so sure it would stay that way.

“Well… I prefer to think of them as ‘abstract’!” The faerie declared, giving their work the artistic kiss of ****. “Abstract” was what you called a six-year-old’s scribble of “mommy” that looked more like the monster in his closet.

“…Thanks,” Nick said politely.

“We’ll fire ‘em up in the kiln for you, shouldn’t take a minute! If you’d like to paint them later, if you’d like,” the faerie said, trying to smooth things over. She couldn’t do a worse job of it than they had with their sculptures.

“Thanks,” Nick said, glancing at Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin. Her face was cold and icy; he doubted they’d be back.

They couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

“I’m sorry,” Nick apologized, approaching the mute girl. “I thought it would be fun, getting to make something together. But you clearly had a bad time.”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin swung her head around and looked him in the eye. Her gaze was locked firmly on his, and she shook her head sharply.

Nick blinked, stunned.

“Wait… you… did you like it?” He asked hopefully. “The pottery stuff?”

She puffed up her cheeks and held up her hands. They were still covered in clay, which was starting to dry and flake off. She smeared the residue all over his face, and then doubled-over in silent laughter as she admired her latest “work” of art.

Nick wasn’t even mad about the clay all over him- he was just happy Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin seemed to be enjoying herself.

“Well, as long as you’re happy with it, I guess it wasn’t that big of a waste of time,” he said, wiping his face. “We should probably get cleaned up, though. We’re covered in muck.”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin nodded. Only issue was that they’d already burned through their free hot spring time for the day. They could always go take a shower, though, or maybe…

“Do you want to go swimming?” Nick asked. He wasn’t exactly an expert, but at least he could get in the water now. “Wait, do you even know how to swim?”

The assassin nodded her head, and shrugged. Well, it wouldn’t be the worst idea for the two of them to do. Not like the pottery.

As Nick doubled back towards the elevator, he noticed that Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin had stopped. He looked back at her, and saw that she was glaring at the pottery store.

“Everything okay?” He asked, approaching her. She looked up from the window and nodded slowly, finally tearing her eyes off the completed works. There was something burning on her face, he could tell by the furious way she bit her lip and the intensity in her gaze.

She wanted to do more. He wasn’t sure if he could believe that or not.

“You really had fun?” Nick asked. “Even though we ended up making… …You know, I’m not even sure what we should call it. But you really liked it?” He’d gone into the pottery store hoping that he could find something that they could do together, something new he could share with her. And while his idea had resulted in a bit of a disaster, maybe, just maybe, he’d found something that could capture her interest.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin took one last look at the colorful pottery decorating the window, and nodded whimsically. She turned back to Nick with a dreamy expression in her eyes, and then leapt into his arms, hugging him tightly and nuzzling her cheek up against his chest. She was getting clay all over his clothes, but then, he was doing the same, and neither one of them seemed to care much about that.

“You’re back early,” Mary commented when she saw Nick walk into the Master’s Suite. “The date couldn’t have gone that poorly… wait, are you…? …What happened?!”

Her jaw dropped in shock when she saw her husband, and she rushed over to him. “You look like you were playing in a quarry! Did you guys do mud wrestling or something?”

“Oh, that sounds like a fun idea for a date!” Holly giggled excitedly, envisioning just what something like that would entail.

Nick shook his head quickly. “No, we didn’t mud wrestle or anything like that. We, uh… we kind of threw some pottery together.”

The operative term there was “kind of”. Nick wasn’t so sure what they’d done together actually counted as… anything, really.

Mary looked at Nick in amazement. “Well… did you guys have fun?”

“We did, yeah,” Nick nodded, heading over to the closet. “The date’s not over, though, just so we’re clear. We have plans to meet up. I just need to change my clothes and maybe take a shower.”

“Well, I should hope!” Mary put her hands on her hips. “Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin has been waiting for this date for a while you know, I’d like to think that your date with her wouldn’t end so early!”

“Thanks mom,” Nick said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. “…Sorry. Just a little wound up, you know? Pottery was my idea, and it kind of backfired.”

“Why? Did your pot blow up?” Holly asked. “That would explain how you got so dirty, since I doubt you two fucked on the pottery wheel or anything.”

“Holly, why does your mind always go there?” Mary asked, gently chastising her friend. “I’m sure that Nick and Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin were completely respectful of the pottery store’s space!”

Nick recalled how the two had playfully pelted each other with clay.

“…Yep,” he confirmed. “We respected the space completely.”

Holly smelled a rat but she didn’t say anything.

Nick grabbed a spare change of clothes and a bathing suit, and headed for the shower. It took a little longer than he’d expected to get all the clay off, but he hoped he got it all. The last thing he needed was to wake up and find little flecks of dust all over him in the morning.

He went down to greet Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin at her room, where they’d agreed to meet back up. He’d wanted to just hook up at the pool itself, but the assassin had been very insistent. She wanted as much Nick time as she could get, evidently.

It was only when he finished knocking on the door that he remembered Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin wasn’t alone in there, and he maybe had just woke up a very irate cat girl from her slumber.

If he had, he didn’t see it. Because Dawn wasn’t there to greet him at the door, Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin was.

And she hadn’t quite gotten the memo about getting changed into something casual before hitting the pool, because she stepped out in a slinky pink bikini that highlighted her growing curves, and happily posed for him with a sly smile on her face.

“Uh… wow,” Nick stammered, checking her out. He was taken aback by the sudden change. But he had already seen her naked today; this wasn’t much in comparison. “You look great.”

She smiled and her ears twitched. Nick realized as she walked past him that she hadn’t even brought her umbrella with her. Apparently, she was going all-in on this date, and wasn’t even gonna bother carrying her weapon.

That was a positive, in Nick’s eyes. He wanted to go into this with the focus being completely on the dating aspect, and nothing else.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin paused, and turned back to look at him questioningly. That’s when Nick realized that he was just standing there, staring, instead of following after her.

“Oh, uh, sorry,” he apologized, getting flustered. He followed her towards the elevators, and they arrived at the pool a short time later.

The last time they’d been here, Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin had led him on a merry game of tag/hide-and-seek, which had been mildly enjoyable. But this time, they were here to swim. Which would be good. She’d humored him by going to do pottery. And even though she’d liked it, she deserved some time to take it easy and lounge around, and maybe show off a little. She was definitely doing that last part, given the way she preened whenever she felt her eyes on him.

“No running by the pool this time,” Nick warned her, almost out of reflex really. “It’s dangerous.”

She gave him a look and rolled her eyes, letting out a silent scoff that he couldn’t help but agree with. This was Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin he was talking about.

Nick nodded. “Well, you have fun, I’m going to go get changed into my swimsuit,” he said, heading for the changing room.

So much for that plan- she followed him right in without hesitation.

“Hey, uh… what?” Nick turned around just in time for Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin to slap her hand beside his head. She looked fiercely into his eyes, her lips curling up into a daring smile as her eyes twinkled back at him.

“…You’re in the mood to get physical again, aren’t you?” Nick asked. He hadn’t even taken off his clothes yet, and already she wanted to jump his bones!

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin nodded. She reached up and began to play with the strap of her bikini, sliding it slowly down her shoulder as she pressed forward, emphasizing her chest. She’d grown a decent amount since the start of the round; those nanomachines were hard at work, it seemed to him.

Nick sighed and slowly shook his head. “Well… I guess it’s okay,” he admitted. “You humored me, taking that pottery class, so we can do a little bit of stuff. If you want to, I mean.”

She blinked and looked at Nick with a brief expression of surprise, almost like she wasn’t expecting him to go for it. But seeing that he was, the look of surprise didn’t last long, and she cheerfully nodded, leaning in and sliding her bikini off her chest to reveal even more creamy skin.

Nick reached up and cupped her chest, drawing a silent moan from her lips. “Is it just me, or are these getting bigger?” Nick questioned. It wasn’t much, but they felt just a bit larger than they’d been in the hot spring this morning.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin looked slightly perplexed. Still flushed she glanced down at her chest, and shrugged.

I guess it makes sense. With her Nanomachines, Son! transformation, her boobs should be growing continuously, right? Nick considered. He certainly wasn’t complaining. Ever since he’d come to terms with the fact that breast expansion was one of his fetishes, thanks to his fascination with pregnancy, the notion of Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin’s transformation struck him in a different way. Part of him even considered asking her to not use her transformation to amplify any of her other features or anything.

But he held his tongue- as sexy as that was, he knew she’d agree in a heartbeat, and he didn’t want to sabotage her. She should have the opportunity to use her transformation however she liked, to get an advantage.

In the meantime though, he would keep taking pleasure in touching her like this.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin’s breasts might not have any special transformations amplifying their sensitivity, but she sure wasn’t complaining about what he was doing.

Nick reached down and tweaked her nipples, making her whole body quiver, and she leaned forward, running her tongue across his neck. Her nails began to scrape at his shirt, and he quickly found himself wishing he’d grabbed one with buttons. Nick had chosen a t-shirt thinking it would be easy to remove to change into his swimsuit, but right now, the easiest way to remove it was…

“R-R-r-iiiiiii-p-p-p!”

Yep. So much for the shirt. Apparently, Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin decided that if she didn’t get a change of clothes for after they had their fun in the pool, then Nick wasn’t allowed to have one either.

“Wait,” Nick gasped, pulling away from her attempt to cuddle up with him. “How… how far are we going to go here?”

She looked questioningly at him. All he could do was shrug awkwardly.

“I mean… I was hoping we’d get to use the pool for a little bit today, at least,” he offered weakly, giving her a shaky smile. “But if you’re up for going the whole way…”

He could probably handle that. Maybe. But the interesting thing was that Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin seemed uncertain herself. She had Nick right where she wanted him, but for the moment, she seemed to pause.

Almost like she wasn’t sure.

She lowered her hands and took a step back. Nick let go of her breasts and just stood there, watching her circle around him contemplatively.

Is she trying to figure out what she wants? I mean, the two of us, we went really far in the hot spring, and it’s clear her transformations have got her all worked up and ready to go again… so what’s she wondering about?

Then he realized that maybe…

Maybe she’s trying to take my feelings into consideration? He wondered, recalling their prior conversation about Nick wanting to take things slowly and get to forge a real connection between the two of them. If that’s the case, that means she’s making some really good progress!

Suddenly, Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin popped up in front of him again, her eyes gleaming with mischievous excitement.

She’d clearly made her decision.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin dropped down to her knees, and reached up, coaxing Nick’s dick to full hardness. It didn’t take a lot of prompting, given that he’d been left high and dry back at the hot spring. She caressed him gently and gave him a few little strokes, then she leaned forward and opened her mouth.

She took him inside her and he stiffened in more ways than one.

“Wh-whoa, Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin, that… wow!” Nick gasped. He felt a little silly calling out to her like that- they really needed to work on getting her a name. But with the assassin’s mouth going to work sucking him like her life depended on it, that was the furthest thing from Nick’s mind right now.

The assassin removed his cock from her lips, and went back to licking. She went at him like an ice cream cone, and she did with skill and precision. In spite of the fact that she didn’t seem to have much experience with this, she definitely had the determination to make up for it. Nick could barely tell what was happening since her tongue seemed to be everywhere at once- she seemed to have the flexibility of Dawn’s tongue, but without the transformation.

Then, just as they were starting to get to the good part…

It was over.

“H-hey, what?” Nick blinked, looking at the assassin as she rose to her feet with a sly expression on her face. She licked her lips and wiggled her eyebrows, and took a couple steps back.

She wasn’t going to… was she?

Nick remembered how she’d teased him on their last date together, and he saw the look in her eyes as she smiled at him.

…Yes. She was.

“Come on, seriously?” He groaned, taking a step forward. His cock was throbbing impatiently, determined to get Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin’s wonderful tongue all over it again. But the sly woman wasn’t going for it.

She looked at him innocently and tilted her head to the side. She pointed at him and flapped her mouth open and closed.

“…Yes, I know what I said before about a real connection, but… you’re seriously going to blue ball me like this? So you’re the only one who gets any oral satisfaction today?” Nick was frustrated, but he didn’t let it surface. He laughed it off. If sexual frustration was the price he had to pay for the two of them to have a good time together, he would gladly pay it.

She stuck out her tongue at him in a taunt and skipped away, slamming the changing room door behind her.

Nick sighed and rolled his eyes. Clearly, dealing with Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin was going to be tricky. But he could deal with anything she threw at him.

“I guess I’ll pay her back double tonight,” he decided as he set aside the tattered remains of his skirt and took off his pants, getting changed into his swim trunks.

Nick stepped outside and saw that Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin was waiting for him; she was perched on a floating raft in the center of the pool, posed up on her side like a pinup model with her hand on her hip and her bikini top retied, teasing Nick with what he’d just gotten his hands on a moment ago.

“So that’s your game, huh?” He called out to her on the raft. “Gonna tease and play with me until I get frustrated?”

She paused and sat up, staring at him. Then she nodded.

He could barely make out the expression on her face from this distance, but he knew that she was probably smirking.

Well, two could play at the teasing game.

“If that’s what you want, alright then,” he said, shrugging. He sat down on a beach chair and pulled it up to the side of the pool, looking out at her. “I can wait.”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin responded with a pout, clearly not thrilled that her attempt to goad him into the water hadn’t worked. But Nick wasn’t about to let her get everything she wanted today!

No, they were going to have mutual teasing, he was determined to have an equal relationship with her. And even though she looked frustrated, the twinkle in her eye told him that a part of her really wanted that too.

And on a date, shouldn’t they both be able to get what they wanted? It was only fair, right?