I could never be ashamed of you, homie

“If you’re not going to buy anything, why are you still here?” Kim let out a tired sigh as she tried not to let her irritation show. She didn’t want to give Vivian the satisfaction of knowing that her presence was a bother.

Vivian smiled cheerfully at Kim, and leaned forward over the counter. “Is it so wrong that we hang out together and chat?” She cooed. “What are friends for?”

Kim offered as polite of a smile as she could. “But you forget, we’re not friends.”

If Kim’s rejection stung, Vivian did a very good job of hiding it. She pressed her lips together into a thin smile, and shrugged.

“I’m sorry to hear that, really, I am,” she said softly. “I know we don’t get along so well, but I’m really trying, you know?”

“…Yeah,” Kim said with a sigh. “I know.”

There were plenty of reasons Kim had for not liking Vivian. Admittedly, a lot of them were from before Kim had really gotten to know the other woman, but not all of them. Maybe it was wrong of her to keep holding a grudge, but Vivian just annoyed her.

Still… at least I could try to be polite. Kim **** a more natural smile to her face, trying to conceal the negative feelings she held towards the other girl.

That made Vivian frown, surprisingly.

“Oh, don’t do that,” the heiress pouted, shaking her head.

Kim’s smile dropped and she looked at her in confusion. “Huh? Don’t do what?”

Vivian puffed up her cheeks. “Don’t give me a fake ol’ smile and pretend like we’re good chaps!” She shook her head again. “I don’t want you to humor me, Kim, I really want us to be closer!”

“…So you want the real me, huh?” Kim said, putting her hands on her hips. “Well, the real me doesn’t like the way you seem to enjoy taking pleasure in how you frustrate and irritate the people around you. Thoughts?”

Vivian winced. “Oof. Fair… would you feel better if I told you I don’t like that either?”

Kim blinked. “…No, because then you would be lying.”

Vivian’s lips turned up in a half-smile. “Well… maybe a little. But I’m trying to change, Kim, really, I am.” She placed her hand over her chest. “The girl you’re talking to right now is a whole new Vivian Carrington!”

Kim’s face showed just how little she bought that.

“…Really? ‘Whole new’ Vivian Carrington, huh?”

“Ah, well… I’m trying my best,” she said sheepishly. “That’s worth something, right?” She slapped her hand over her chest. “I mean it, Kim. I’m trying to be a better woman! Only teasing folk who like it when they’re teased a little. Not trying to make anybody feel bad, intentionally or otherwise!”

Kim raised her eyebrow. If Vivian was actually sincere, that WOULD be admirable. But… Kim couldn’t exactly take that on face value.

“You really mean it, then?” She asked, frowning. “You’re not just saying that?”

Vivian blinked. “Of course I really mean it. Why would you think I didn’t?”

“Because you have a tendency of saying whatever you think will get the other person to like you,” Kim replied. “It’s almost compulsive with you, Vivian.” She tapped her finger on the counter. “Look, if you’re sincerely trying to change, that’s good. But me, I’ll reserve my judgment until I can actually see some genuine progress. Like before, when you stopped calling me ‘Kimmy’, I appreciated that. More progress like that, please.”

Vivian smiled. “Well… you raise a fair point,” she admitted, scratching her cheek. “I guess I haven’t done much to earn your trust. So is there anything I can do, to help show you that I’m being sincere right now?” She asked hopefully.

Kim held out her hands to the sides, turning up her palms. “Sure thing,” she chirped. “You can leave me alone like I asked.”

Vivian placed her hand over her heart and twisted her expression into a pained, but exaggerated, wince. “…I had a feeling you would say that,” she murmured. “Very well. Your wish is my command.”

She placed her arm over her stomach and gave Kim an exaggerated bow, mimicking her butler’s politeness.

Kim was actually a little surprised that she had agreed to leave her alone. And she seemed to mean it, too, judging by the fact that she was heading for the door.

Of course… she never made it.

The door to the boutique swung open and Kim jerked up, her eyes widening in surprise. Vivian’s jaw dropped for a moment before she quickly covered her shock with a cheeky grin.

“Hey, uh… we’re here,” Dani said, smiling an awkward smile as she walked into the boutique with Nick in tow. He had a sheepish expression on his face that matched hers quite well.

Vivian stood as stiff as a statue. Kim normally would have felt happy seeing her reduced to silence like that, but she was too busy trying to figure out what was going on. Why were they here?!

“Dani… N-Nick, I thought…” Kim checked the clock. “…We still have more than two hours left before I’m off, you guys are WAY too early!”

“Sorry, Kim,” Dani said, clasping her hands together in an apologetic prayer, winking at her friend. “Slight change of plans.”

Nick blushed and scratched his cheek. “We’re actually here to shop,” he admitted.

It took a second for that to sink in. Kim looked incredulously at him, and then over to Dani.

“HUH!?”

Kim was a smart girl. She’d only gotten average grades in school, but considering her extracurricular obligations between work and family, that was pretty damn impressive. She was studying to be an economist, and was determined to have a better life than her mother had. That goal was why she’d eschewed personal relationships and friends for most of her life before being abruptly brought to his island and had everything she thought she knew about herself uprooted. But through all of that, she held onto her pride in being at least moderately intelligent.

But right now she felt a lot more like Gina than like Dawn as she tried to make sense of what Nick had just said.

“You two… you’re here shopping… together?” She finally managed to stammer out, her trembling finger sliding between the two of them.

When Nick came shopping with a girl, it was usually either because the girl had just arrived on the island and needed new clothes, or because they were trying to find something sexy for their night together. But Dani already had a decent wardrobe, and there was no way she’d be interested in buying sexy clothing for NICK.

So why…?

“It’s not for me!” Dani blurted out, realizing why Kim looked so flustered. “G-get your head out of the gutter!”

Kim rebounded nicely and turned to the tomboy, her cheeks red. “W-well, sorry for assuming that when a guy and girl walk into a lingerie store, it’s to buy clothes for the girl!” She stammered out. Kim knew it was a bad idea to show hostility to a customer (especially considering Dani was doing her a huge favor by letting her come on their date later) but she had kind of lost her cool.

Vivian had worn out what little patience she had.

Speaking of Vivian, she was doing an excellent impression of a mannequin at the moment, standing as stiff as a board. Kim wasn’t sure that her two new customers even noticed her.

“The clothes are for me,” Nick said. He looked down, embarrassed. “I, uh, don’t exactly have a lot of stuff that would be good for working out in, according to Dani, so…”

“So I said we should come over here and see what you have in stock,” Dani explained. “That’s it.” She slapped her hand lightly on the counter. “No funny business or anything, just good old clothes shopping.”

It took Kim a few seconds to catch up. “Okay, so… working out? Uh…” She definitely didn’t expect that from Nick, though she liked the idea nicely enough. She imagined the two of them working out together like they had a couple times in the past. Maybe it could even be a regular thing? He would check her out in her training gear…

“Kim?” Dani snapped her fingers in front of the other girl’s face. The short-haired girl was looking a little distracted.

“Oh! Uh, sorry, just, uh, just thinking about something,” Kim said hastily, flashing a shaky smile. “Right, so our sports bras and bloomers are right over there in the sports section…”

A loud laugh broke the silence, startling Dani and Nick. Vivian had finally come out of her stupor, and held her sides.

“S-sorry, uh… just… nice one, Kim,” Vivian said, clasping her hand over her mouth.

Dani couldn’t help but crack a grin as well. The only person not amused by the recommendation was Nick.

“Come on, really? A sports bra?” He said, exasperated. “Don’t you think that’s a little much, Kim?”

Kim flashed a cheeky smile. “Prefer going topless?” She cooed.

“I think he means he wants something meant for guys,” Dani pointed out.

Kim raised her eyebrow. “…This is a lingerie store,” she reminded the tomboy again. “Our men’s selection is a little… sparse.”

That was a word she had carefully selected in place of “filled with fetish gear”.

“I figured at much,” Dani said with a sigh. “Still, couldn’t hurt to look around…” Her eyes drifted over to the shelves. “You know, see if we can find anything that might make a good substitute…”

Kim blinked. “What, you mean window shopping? …Sure, I guess, if you guys want to browse that works for me…” Kim looked at Dani, perplexed. It wasn’t that she had a problem with the other girl’s suggestion, she just didn’t think that Dani was the kind of person who would waste her time browsing a store like this. The tomboy was way more of a go-getter, the kind of woman who knew what she wanted, walked in, bought it, and walked out.

But Kim could see the way her eyes kept drifting to the shelves.

“Hey, Dani!” Vivian interjected herself between Dani and Nick, making sure her back was to him. Kim noticed that she hadn’t directly spoken to him once yet. The heiress grabbed Dani’s hands, her eyes shining.

“Y-yeah?” Dani asked, a little unnerved by the sudden burst of chumminess from her roommate.

“Let me help!” Vivian urged. She placed her hand over her chest and held up her head with pride. “If it’s clothes shopping you’re after, I’m an expert on the topic, after all!”

“UH…” Dani didn’t know how to respond to that. She looked to Kim, who shrugged.

“I mean… she’s offering,” Kim replied. She certainly wasn’t going to argue if Vivian wanted to make her job easier. It wasn’t like she would be getting a commission on any clothing Nick bought for himself, after all. “And whatever else she is, you know she’s an expert when it comes to fashion.”

Dani relaxed a little after hearing that. She nodded and smiled. “Yeah, okay, if you say so,” she agreed, turning to Vivian. “Thanks for the offer! Let’s have a look.”

“Great!” Vivian chirped. “Just great!” The two girls headed down one of the aisles, notably not even close to the limited men’s section.

“…They really buying clothes for you?” Kim asked, leaning over the counter and resting her cheek on her hand. “Because it seems like she’s more interested in shopping for herself.”

“Yeah, I’m a little surprised, too,” Nick agreed. “I told her I wanted to build some more muscle, to get in better shape, and she said before we headed to the gym we needed to get me some workout clothes first.”

Kim glanced over at Nick, not even attempting to hide her interest. “Build up some muscle, huh?” She said, cracking a grin. “Wouldn’t happen to be because of what happened this morning, would it? With the princess carry?”

Nick turned red. “You… you heard about that?!” He sputtered.

Kim smirked. “Rose was bragging this morning at breakfast about your princess carry, and Dawn just so happened to fill me in on what really happened. Can’t say I blame you, judging from the lap pillow this morning she probably squirmed so much out of embarrassment she fell right out of your arms.”

“Yeah, well… you had to be there,” he mumbled. He had tried to justify what had happened to Dani earlier that morning, but in the end the tomboy was right- he needed to work on himself a bit more.

And maybe he could translate his gains into sexual stamina; you never knew.

Kim gave him another appraising look. “Yeah, I guess it wouldn’t be so bad, you getting some muscle,” she agreed. “Don’t suppose you could give me a princess carry sometime?”

She batted her eyelashes innocently.

“If you want to, sure,” Nick said. “Probably not a good idea to do that now, though.”

Kim smirked. “Feeling self-conscious? You know, if you drop me, this place probably doesn’t have health insurance, so…”

Nick rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to drop you, Kim.”

“Yeah, you said that to Rose, too, right?”

“Haaah…” Nick sighed, shaking his head. Kim’s playfulness was endearing, but sometimes it felt like she was trying too hard. “I’m happy to do whatever you want, Kim,” he assured her. “Tomorrow’s your date, after all. If you’d like, I can princess carry you for as long as I can.”

Kim blushed scarlet now that the shoe was on the other foot. She suddenly became conscious of the fact that she was chatting with the guy she loved while only in lingerie. This was far from the first time, but the fact that the conversation had turned so personal was a loop she hadn’t expected.

“Yeah, uh, yeah… I-I’ll think about it,” she stammered, playing with her choppy bangs. “Though if you’re gonna keep your word, you might wanna be careful today…” She looked tentatively over at Dani. “Don’t let her wear you out too much.”

Nick laughed. “Somehow, I don’t think that’s up to me,” he joked, and Kim joined in the fun with a laugh of her own.

“With Dani? Probably not, no.” Kim turned and looked at the two women in the corner of the store, chatting about the skinny jeans Dani was clearly considering. Absolutely pointless for a workout routine, but the tomboy would probably look good in them. “…Okay, what the heck? I’m not complaining or anything, but it seems like Dani’s completely forgotten about you and is just focusing on shopping, talk about weird.”

Nick had to agree. He nodded. “Yeah, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her care this much about clothes before.”

As the words passed his lips something felt strange about them. And in the following few seconds that they hung in the air, he realized what it was, and he gasped.

“It’s the Romantic Suite!” He said, jerking up straight.

Kim nearly fell over, startled. Dani and Vivian looked over at the two of them for a second, before returning to their shopping.

“What are you talking about?” Kim asked, confused. But she was a few seconds too late; Nick was already heading for the two of them.

“Oh hey!” Vivian waved at Nick as he approached. “What do you think of these jeans? I was just telling Dani I thought she’d look great in ‘em, the blue really goes well with her feathers!”

“I don’t need Nick’s opinion on my clothes,” Dani protested. “He’s a guy!”

Vivian shrugged, not convinced it made a difference. “Not like it’s gotta be a sexual thing, I think women look amazing in my clothes all the time.”

Dani frowned, considering the girl’s position. She turned to Nick tentatively. “Well… maybe you’re right,” she admitted, holding up the jeans for him to look at. “What do you think, Nick?”

Nick took a deep breath and exhaled. “…I think that you’re doing that thing you were worried about earlier this morning, Dani.”

The tomboy looked blankly at him. “…Huh?”

Nick cleared his throat and gestured to the pants. “Remember? This morning? You were talking to me about how you were concerned that the Romantic Suite was causing you to behave more like Vivian around me?”

“Wait, for real?” Vivian turned and looked at Dani, surprised. Meanwhile, Dani’s brain was a million miles away as Nick’s words sank in. Her mouth dropped open as realization slowly started to creep in.

Nick cleared his throat. “Going off that, when was the last time you cared about clothes shopping, Dani?” He prodded her.

Dani’s eyes dropped to the pair of jeans in her hands, jeans she’d just been gushing about with Vivian not two seconds ago.

She flung them away like they were covered in toxic mold.

“Shit, you’re right!” She groaned. “This isn’t like me at all!”

Dani had never given a damn about clothes before. She’d always been the kind of girl who just threw on whatever fit in the morning, as long as it was clean enough and didn’t smell. When it came to shopping, it was always the bargain bin.

But she’d just spent the last ten, twenty minutes picking out clothes with Vivian and having a great time doing it!

Vivian herself was nodding slowly as she began to understand what Nick was saying. “Wow, yeah, that… wow,” she mumbled. “I didn’t even realize, I just thought it was normal to like shopping. So you’re saying Dani’s becoming more like me?”

There could be worse things.

“Well, I just wanted to bring attention to it,” Nick said, scratching his cheek. “Before Dani found herself buying a ton of clothes she didn’t want.”

“Uh-huh, yeah, thanks,” Dani said, a little flustered. She blushed. “Sorry for getting all weird like that just now.”

She picked up the jeans and smoothed them out. They really did look nice.

“I mean, it’s not a bad thing, being a little more fashion-conscious,” she pointed out. “Don’t you think Carly would appreciate it?”

“Oh, yeah, totally!” Vivian said, nodding in agreement.

“Sure she probably would, but what about you?” Nick asked. He didn’t want his friend to be affected by something like a transformation she disliked.

Dani wasn’t sure what she thought, if she was being honest. She took another look at the jeans.

“…I don’t really have a problem with it, I guess,” she said finally. “It just took me by surprise.” She looked ruefully at Nick and grinned. “I’ve never really been the kind of girl who did girly things, you know?”

Nick shrugged. “No, that’s certainly true,” he agreed.

Dani laughed. “So maybe I can experiment with this whole ‘shopping’ thing just a little bit,” she murmured. “Couldn’t hurt, right?”

“That’s the spirit!” Vivian cheered, slapping her on the back. That’s when Nick noticed that she was being a lot more physically aggressive than usual, with far less of her normal playfulness.

Well, the Romantic Suite isn’t just a one-way street, now is it? He considered, hoping both women would be able to make the effects work for them.