How could I change when I'm still the same person?

Kim let out an exasperated sigh, and tapped her finger impatiently on the counter. “So after all that… you aren’t gonna buy anything, then?” She asked, hiding her mild irritation behind a pleasant smile. It wasn’t like she didn’t appreciate the company (well, Dani and Nick, anyway) but it was a little galling when people came around to window shop but wouldn’t buy anything.

“You’ve got plenty of BP saved up, don’t you?” Vivian pointed out.

Kim’s smile twitched. It was also rather galling when people raised valid points.

“…True enough,” she admitted.

“Sorry,” Dani said, scratching her head sheepishly. “I just thought it might be better to hold off on buying anything until I sorted out this whole Romantic Suite thing.”

“And it would be better to save your money for now anyway,” Vivian chimed in. “This way you’ll have plenty if you want to buy new clothes for Emmy!”

“And I’m getting clothes!” Nick added his voice to the discussion, even if he felt a little embarrassed about it. “I’m sorry that my clothes are free, but…”

“Don’t worry,” Kim said, turning her smile towards him. Nick didn’t miss the way it shifted slightly into an amused smirk. “I think I’ll be getting paid for those in a completely different way, and I’m looking forward to it.”

Nick felt his face heat up and his pulse began to race. He stewed in frustration as Dani looked at him sympathetically.

“Sorry,” she apologized. “Maybe there’s another store we could try…?”

“No, this is fine,” Nick said, accepting her consideration at the very least. He held up his hand. “We’ll make do with this.”

The reason Dani was apologizing was because Kim’s prediction had sadly bore fruit. The clothes that the boutique had in stock for men were woefully limited, particularly when it came to work out gear.

But there were plenty of clothes designed for women- and in a wide variety of sizes, too.

So Nick, burning with shame and embarrassment, picked out the longest pair of shorts and the biggest tank-top he could find, and brought them to the counter, presenting them to a gleefully amused Kim.

“They’re unisex,” he insisted snappishly, glaring at the cashier as she tried not to laugh.

“A little tight, don’t you think?” Kim asked as she scanned the items, snickering to herself. “I can’t wait to see you all dressed up, you’re going to look so adorable!”

Nick just stared incredulously at her. “…What happened to you?” He asked, shaking his head. Maybe it was the long hours working in a place like this, but Kim was starting to develop some very strange interests.

Kim looked back at him, a little perplexed herself. “…Honestly, I’m not sure,” she admitted with a sheepish smile. She handed the clothes back to him. “You have tried them on at least, right? To make sure they fit?”

“Was just about to,” Nick replied. He didn’t see much point in doing so before; after all, he could buy as many clothes as he wanted from this place using his privilege as the master.

And really, he’d been trying to put it off for as long as possible.

Kim suppressed an amused smirk and shrugged. “Well, go on and have fun then,” she chirped, waving him off. While Nick went to go try on his **** purchase, she turned her attention to the other girls. “Now, back to you two…”

“Hmm?” Vivian batted her eyelashes innocently. “Certainly you aren’t going to complain about little ol’ me not buying anything, are you? You’ve got a lovely selection here Kim, but compared to my closet, well…”

“No, I don’t care,” Kim bluntly cut her off before she could start bragging about all her fancy clothes. “Dani, you were saying something about shopping before…”

Dani flinched. “Yeah, uh…” She brushed her feathery hair behind her ear and blushed a little. “I didn’t realize it until Nick pointed it out, but… I think the effects of the Romantic Suite might be working on me. I’ve never been the kind of girl to care about clothing or shopping before now, but it just felt like such a natural thing earlier…”

“Hey, come on! It’s not anything to be ashamed of!” Vivian chirped, patting the other girl on the back. Her eyes glittered with excitement. “Caring about your appearance is a perfectly natural thing, Dani. I mean, the whole reason you work out is because you like looking good, right?”

Dani blinked. “I-I guess… but mainly I just find it a good way to relax and decompress, plus it just feels fulfilling… I don’t really do it to look toned…”

Plus, with her Soft as Silk transformation her previous muscular physique was a thing of the past. She’d gone from looking hard and cut to looking soft and gorgeous. Which had its own perks, admittedly, but still.

“Dani would look good even if she didn’t work out,” Kim volunteered, earning her a smile from her workout buddy. “Me though, I get where you’re coming from, Vivian.”

Vivian turned to Kim, surprised. “Really?”

Kim shrugged. “Before I started working out with Dani, I didn’t like the way I looked very much. But she’s really helped me get in shape. It’s not the only reason I work out- like Dani said, it’s a good way to relax and use some of the energy I have stored up from standing around here all day. But I kinda get what you’re saying.”

Vivian nodded, quite pleased. “Wow, the way you two are talking, maybe I should give it a try sometime!” She turned back to Dani. “Well, back to what I was saying before, wanting to look nice is just a natural thing. Whether that’s making sure you’re in good shape, going through a proper skincare routine, using makeup and hair care products, fancy jewelry, good clothes, they’re all ways that we try to look our best!”

Dani shrugged. “I dunno. Never cared about that. This is all transformation,” she said, gesturing to herself. “…Well, the hair took some work to care for, I guess, but the rest is thanks to my first transformation.”

Vivian whistled. “Whew, jealous. Even I have to put some work into looking so fine.”

Dani rolled her eyes. “I get what you’re saying,” she admitted. “It’s just weird, you know? I’ve never… felt like that before. Like I cared what I looked like.”

“Hmmmmm…” Vivian stroked her chin thoughtfully. “I see…”

“What are you thinking?” Kim looked warily at the heiress, not liking the look in her eyes. “Leave Dani alone.”

“Hey, I’m innocent!” Vivian held up her hands and laughed. “I’m not gonna get in the way of your date with Nick, don’t worry!”

“It’s not a date,” Dani griped.

“Well, no, but you know what I mean!” Vivian patted her on the shoulder. “Anyway, looks like I may have made things a little difficult for you, what, with the whole Romantic Suite thing… my bad. I’ll make it up to you, okay?”

Dani bristled. She chewed on her lip for a second and averted her eyes, before timidly raising her head to look at Vivian again. “No, I mean… it’s not… that big of a deal,” she mumbled. “Forget about it…”

“Eh? You sure? I-”

“I said forget about it!” Dani said a little more forcefully. She winced. “…Sorry. I didn’t mean to lose my cool like that…”

Vivian shook her head. “No, it’s totally fine!” She said. “Totally fine…”

She glanced over at Kim. The other girl held up her hands. “Whoa, hey, don’t look at me, I’m not a part of this. But Dani, maybe you’re not thinking about this the right way?”

Dani frowned. “What do you mean?” She asked, confused.

Kim shrugged and looked around the store. “Well, you remember Dakota’s explanation about the Romantic Suite, right? Yeah, it’s making you and Vivian more like each other, but Dakota said it would be things that you would naturally grow to have in common, remember?”

Dani looked at her for a moment, stunned. “I… yeah, she did say that, I guess…” She looked down and considered that.

“Hmm, I see… so what you’re saying is that Dani was already naturally interested in shopping, then?” Vivian questioned. “Because it doesn’t sound like she was…”

“Hey, I don’t know, I’m not the host,” Kim protested. “I haven’t had to spend any time in rooms with mental transformations involved! I’m just trying to make sense of it, same as you guys.”

She glanced at Dani, who was looking a little shaken. It felt like the entire foundation of her personality was coming down around her.

Kim sighed. “Look, the way I see it, Dani, the Romantic Suite makes you naturally more like the other person by amplifying things you admire about them. So like, maybe on some level, you’ve always wanted to care about clothes and dressing up, you just didn’t really feel that way before? Until it was brought out of you by the room, I mean? Agh, I don’t know…”

She ruffled her hair, feeling the beginning of a headache coming on. “Look, it’s cool, if you don’t want to shop, don’t shop, I’m not trying to **** a sale onto you or anything!”

Dani broke out of her hazy thoughts with a laugh and shook her head. “Yeah, don’t worry Kim, I know that much at least,” she assured the other girl. “You might be a bit pushy, but not that much. Still… maybe you’re right. Maybe I shouldn’t reject this out of hand…”

“That’s the spirit!” Vivian chirped.

Dani hid her real feelings behind a polite smile. In the back of her mind, though, she felt a little troubled. Of everyone on the island, she was the one most sensitive to mental transformations. She hadn’t brought it up at the time of the room selection because she didn’t want to always be making a fuss, but she was concerned about her interests and tastes changing. And there was no question now that it had happened.

But maybe… it wasn’t as bad as she’d feared. Maybe a change like this was actually something good for her.

It wouldn’t hurt to be more open-minded to her newfound interest in clothes.

And besides, if this is most significant change, I should consider myself lucky, Dani thought. There are a lot of things about Vivian I’m not so sure I’d like to emulate.

Even thinking that, though, she knew that the heiress wasn’t as bad as she seemed. Vivian was quite pleasant and likable when you got to know her, especially recently. Apparently she was trying to turn over a new leaf, and Dani wanted to support that if she could.

I wonder… what has she been emulating about me, then? Dani contemplated, looking curiously at the other woman. The Romantic Suite was supposed to turn them into the best of friends or something, but the round was almost halfway done and the heiress was still a mystery to her.

For the first time, Dani honestly felt intrigued by the other woman.

“Ha!”

She was quickly pulled away from those thoughts, though, by the laugh of Kim. Dani turned her head to see what had Kim throwing a laughing fit, and she couldn’t help but let out a giggle herself when she saw it.

“Sh-shut up,” Nick said, his face bright red. “At least it fits, right?”

“I-I guess that’s one way to look at it,” Kim sniggered.

Dani looked apologetically at Nick. “You look fine,” she said gently.

Truthfully, it wasn’t that bad. Kim was just playing it up. The clothes fit well enough. The tank-top was indeed something suited for any gender, and it wasn’t that baggy. Maybe a loose t-shirt would have been better, but this was perfectly adequate workout gear. The bottom half of his outfit was where the problems started to arise. Simply put, the kind of shorts designed for athletics were not made with high coverage in mind. They rode high on Nick’s legs, revealing way more thigh than most men would be comfortable with. And while they were loose enough to not be skintight, no one would have gone to a store, tried them on, and made a purchase unless there were literally no other options available, that’s how unsuitable they were.

Unfortunately… that was exactly the position Nick found himself in.

Nick let out a tired sigh and rubbed his forehead. “Okay, just get all your laughs out of the way now,” he said in resignation.

“Sorry, sorry, I’m just teasing,” Kim apologized sincerely. “It’s really not that bad. But if you really want a second opinion, maybe you should ask our resident fashion expert. See what a professional thinks about it, hmm?”

She gestured to Vivian, who flinched. Nick had forgotten she was even there for a second. He turned and looked warily at her, and the two shared an awkward look. They hadn’t really spoke that much since their semi-disaster of a date.

Vivian opened her mouth, looking like she wanted to say something, and Nick braced himself for whatever gleeful teases and taunts the playful heiress was going to throw at him.

But then she shut her mouth tight and **** a shaky smile to her lips. She held up her hands in surrender and took a step back.

“Yeah, uh… I think… I’m gonna go,” she said, shaking her head quickly. “You all have fun today!” She winked at Dani. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”

And with that she sauntered off, trying very hard to look like she wasn’t fleeing the scene of a double homicide.

“…Well, that was weird,” Kim said loudly.

Nick sighed in relief. “I was expecting her to make a joke,” he said, scratching his cheek.

“So was I,” Dani admitted. She cracked a smile. “Well, I guess we’ll have to pick up the slack, then!” She elbowed Nick playfully in the side. “So, Nick, when you said you got those shorts ‘half-off’ is this what you actually meant?”

“Ooh! Hey, Nick, is this your way of giving my store some more exposure?” Kim giggled. “Because I’m not complaining!”

Dani tried to think of something else to come up with. “Uh… well, we can tell those legs go all the way up, but do they spread, too? …No, that’s not a good one…”

“Hmm, yeah, this is tricky,” Kim agreed, stroking her chin.

Nick looked at the pair of jokesters with a cold gaze. “Okay, are we done making jokes at my expense now? I know how weird these look on me.”

“Not as weird as I’m gonna look on you tonight!” Kim blurted out. “…Wait, no, that’s not a good one at all…”

“Okay, okay, I think we all get the idea,” Dani said, holding back her urge to come up with even more bad jokes. “Nick, you look fine, don’t worry.”

“You know, the more you say that, the less true it feels,” Nick said, rolling his eyes. “Who are you trying to convince here?”

“The sales department,” Kim said. “If you’re a satisfied customer, I don’t need to inform them that I embezzled the rest of your pants.”

Nick and Dani both looked at her. Even Kim could tell that joke was a pretty big stretch.

“…Yeah, sorry. I’ll do better.”

Nick pinched the bridge of his nose. “No… please don’t.”

Kim smirked and shrugged her shoulders. “Well, alright. Can’t blame a girl for trying! In the meantime though, what now, Dani? You gonna get him all warmed up?”

She glanced up at the clock. “Because I’ve still got over an hour before I’m free, so…”

Dani glanced at Nick thoughtfully. “Actually, I was thinking maybe we should take a little break for now,” she suggested.

Nick was surprised to hear that. “A break? But we haven’t even started working out yet.” The idea that Dani would be suggesting a break already sounded absurd.

“Okay, a break’s the wrong word,” Dani groaned. “Look, I just mean… you had a pretty rough night last night, right? It wouldn’t hurt to take it easy and just relax for a little while, right? We’ve got plenty of time, we can just hang around and cool off while we wait for Kim to finish working.”

Nick stared at her. “…Are you feeling okay?”

“Huh!?” Dani’s jaw dropped.

Nick cracked a smile. “Sorry, but the Dani I know wouldn’t consider relaxing and taking it easy this early in the morning, she’d be set to work out.”

“It’s the Romantic Suite,” Kim said, realizing why Dani was saying the things she was saying. “Maybe Dani’s emulating Vivian’s desire to take it easy! Is that it, Dani? You becoming lazy on us?” She asked with a grin.

“No!” Dani shot her a glare. “Vivian’s actually a very hard worker! This has nothing to do with the Romantic Suite!” She crossed her arms over her chest and puffed up her cheeks. “Can’t I just be thoughtful every now and then?”

“You’re always thoughtful,” Nick said gently. “…Well, most of the time. I was just surprised. But I appreciate you being so considerate of my condition, Dani.”

Dani perked up a little, smiling in spite of herself.

“I was just joking around, sorry,” Kim apologized sincerely. “I didn’t really think it was the Romantic Suite influencing you, Dani. I was just kidding.”

Dani sighed and shook her head. “No, it’s fine, I’m not upset. You’re right, my thoughts have been a little tangled up recently. But I do think it’s best if we start things a little slower with you, Nick. You’re not going to have a lot of time to rest once we’ve started, after all, so you’re going to need all the rest you can get…”

The words out of her mouth were sweet, but they sent a chill down Nick’s spine.

“H-hey, what, uh, what do you mean by that?” He asked warily, trying to laugh it off like it wasn’t a big deal.

Dani glanced at Kim, who held up her hands. “Hey, leave me out of your crazy plans, I just work here,” she said, stepping back behind the counter.

Dani turned back to Nick, flashing him an impish grin. “Let’s just say there’s a reason why I agreed to let Kim tag along on our ‘date’ today,” she teased, her eyes flashing. “I meant what I said, Nick, you’re going to need all the rest you can get.”

Nick suddenly felt like he might be in danger. Equipped in just a tank-top and short shorts, he was feeling very exposed and ****. “…Okay,” he squeaked out.