I guess I couldn't give that up

“Mmm, this stuff is delicious!” Vivian’s smile could light up the whole room as she dug into the sushi platter. “I can honestly say that this is the best sushi I’ve ever eaten! And I’ve eaten sushi in a lot of places!”

The two girls were sitting across from each other, still lounging in their bathrobes, and enjoying the feast laid out before them in the spa’s dining room. It was the first time Dani had even been made aware that this place HAD a dining room; she supposed it must have been a new addition by Dakota to accommodate her prize. After all, it wasn’t exactly a spa day if they had to leave to go get lunch, was it? Or even order in and just eat in the lounge. No, the faeries had pulled out all the stops it appeared, and Dani wasn’t about to complain.

“This really is amazing,” Dani said, nodding. “I mean, I know we can get sushi this good any time we want, just by going to the Banquet Hall or one of the restaurants in the Shopping District, but I don’t know, there’s something special about this, you know?”

Vivian cracked a smile and nodded enthusiastically. “I know just what you mean,” she giggled. “It’s part of the package! Sure, we get free food- and super high-quality food, too- whenever we want, but this is your prize. It’s your reward. So of course it tastes better! Since you earned it. You know?”

Dani looked at her in surprise. She didn’t expect a statement like that from Vivian Carrington, of all people.

“It was the same with me,” Vivian said dreamily, biting into a piece of grilled salmon slathered with sauce. “Back when I was a kid, I could have whatever I wanted, you know? Octavia would cook me up all kinds of dishes whenever I asked! But… there was just something about that first meal I bought for myself, you know? With my very first black card.”

Dani rolled her eyes. Of course.

“Hey, don’t laugh!” Vivian huffed. “I’m serious here. When I went into business for myself and started making my own clothes, that was my money. Money that I earned, not what I get from my family. Eating a meal that I paid for with my own blood, sweat, and tears-”

“And the blood, sweat, and tears of your workers,” Dani pointed out, channeling her inner Kim.

“…Well, yeah, it’s not like I did everything myself,” Vivian conceded. “We all work together to make it work! But you get the point, right?” She took another piece of sushi and popped it into her mouth. “It’s different from the food you eat every day because it’s something you earned, Dani! So enjoy it!”

Dani nodded. Somehow, accepting Vivian’s logic did make the sushi taste even better than before. “…But what about you?” She asked curiously. “Sure, the meal is part of my reward, but why are you enjoying it so much?”

It may have been a little rude, but Dani couldn’t help but wonder what was going on in the heiress’s head.

Vivian leaned back in her chair and laughed jovially, patting her stomach. Dani was surprised she still looked so thin even with how much she’d just eaten. Apparently good genetics were working overtime for the model, since she didn’t have any physical transformations that would help her.

“Obvious, innit?” Vivian cooed, batting her eyelashes playfully at the other woman. “Eating with a friend makes everything taste better!”

Dani felt her face heat up. It really wasn’t fair, how easily Vivian could say stuff like that. Especially considering how pretty she was! Didn’t the heiress know the effect she was having on Dani? Sure, Dani was committed to Carly, but her girlfriend said it was totally fine for her to do things with other girls if she wanted to, and Vivian was definitely high on the list of women Dani was attracted to.

More than that, though, they were friends. And just like how Nick was capable of setting aside his physical attraction for Dani out of respect for their friendship (whatever he said, she knew he still felt that way about her, she could see it in his eyes- and she was grateful to him every day for keeping those feelings under control) Dani knew she could do the same for her pretty and alluring new bestie- hard as it may have been.

The more she got to know Vivian, the more she noted the similarities between her and Carly- and herself as well. After today, she would try to see if she could get the three of them (four if you included Marley) hanging out together more; she just knew they would get along, and Vivian could really use more real friends. And Carly was a great friend to have.

Plus, it was kind of awkward that Vivian and Carly had been intimate with Nick earlier in the week; she wondered if that was why Vivian seemed so hesitant to befriend the outgoing cosplayer in spite of their multiple common interests.

“It’s nice to just relax sometimes and get pampered,” Vivian said, sighing wistfully. “Sometimes, I take it for granted, you know?”

“What do you mean?” Dani asked, not sure what the heiress was trying to say.

Vivian sat up in her chair and met Dani’s eyes. There was a seriousness in her gaze that she masked quite well, but Dani was getting better at seeing through her façades.

“…You’re having fun, aren’t you?” Vivian asked, confusing Dani for a moment.

She nodded slowly. “Yeah, I mean… I am,” she said slowly, nodding. “Why, did you think I wasn’t?”

Vivian laughed and shook her head. “No, just the opposite!” She chirped. “It’s obvious, just looking at you! You’re really having a blast today, Dani, and I’m sure it’s because you’re not used to being pampered and spoiled like this.”

Dani didn’t miss the sad tinge in her voice at the end of her sentence either. Concern stirred in her breast as she pinched her lips together. “I-I see,” she murmured, nodding slowly. “Right…”

She really didn’t know what she should say in response to a statement like that.

Vivian looked deeply into Dani’s eyes.

“It’s all really new to you, huh?” She said quietly. “You’re used to doing everything for yourself. Isn’t that right?”

Dani frowned. True, even after coming to the island, and having all her needs ready to be fulfilled (well, most of them) at the snap of her fingers, Dani still did a lot on her own. Unlike Vivian who was happy to order in, she still went down to the Banquet Hall, and not just to socialize. She just did it because it felt right.

She wasn’t used to being spoiled, unlike her friend, who had lived her whole life with people waiting on her hand and foot.

“I really admire your diligence, you know?” Vivian said wistfully. “Working so hard all the time. I mean, yeah, I work hard too, but… it’s different. For me, it’s part of my job, I manage a huge brand, and I’m heir to even more companies and organizations and charities. But for you guys… you don’t have any of that stuff.”

Dani’s frown deepened. She didn’t like the way this conversation was headed. She could sense the self-deprecating tone in Vivian’s voice, and it wasn’t at all pleasant. “Vivian…”

“Whoa, hey!” Vivian snapped up and waved her hands quickly. “Not trying to make you feel bad or anything here!” She swiftly clarified. “I actually really admire you, Dani! You’re awesome! That’s all I’m saying. Someone like you who works hard, and doesn’t get a lot of spa days, you get to really appreciate them because of that. Me, well… …I guess that’s the whole ‘first-world problems’ thing, right?”

The awkward laugh that escaped her lips made Dani wince.

“Do you really feel that way?” Dani asked her. “That you’re not as good of a person because you don’t have to struggle for anything?”

Vivian blinked. “…That isn’t what I’m saying at all,” she said firmly, surprising Dani.

The tomboy blushed.

“S-sorry… I just… with what you said, it sounded like… …I’ll stop talking now.” Dani had the distinct feeling that anything else she said would just dig herself into an even deeper hole. And she very much didn’t want that to happen.

Vivian just smiled at her and shook her head. “Really, Dani, it’s fine,” she said gently, batting her eyelashes. “All I meant was… we’re different people with different experiences. Different lifestyles, you know? And it’s not like I think I need to be poor or something to be a decent person, it’s not that at all- I’ve done a lot of good with my family’s money, you know? I’ve helped people I never would have been able to help if I wasn’t Vivian Carrington. …But sometimes… I don’t know. Don’t you ever wish you could be someone else? Just for a day, I mean?”

Finally Vivian was saying something that resonated with Dani. She looked at the heiress in amazement and nodded slowly.

“I think everyone feels that way sometimes,” she said quietly. She didn’t want to pry any further, knowing that if she did, it might trigger something in the heiress- something best left unmolested.

Vivian leaned forward and gazed longingly at her friend. She rested her chin in her hands and for a moment, she looked like any other woman. Not some gorgeous model or famous influencer or powerful billionaire, just… a girl.

“…Remember that beach party when we all made hamburgers?” Vivian giggled. “Wasn’t that a blast?” Her eyes glazed over as she thought fondly back on that party last round, only a few weeks in the past but a lifetime of experiences ago. “We all got to just have fun out on the beach, make our own food… …Oh, hey, wait, did that trigger your transformation?” She asked, her eyes widening in realization.

Dani felt her face heat up as she remembered that beach party. Not just Carly’s hot as hell cosplay of Nami and her bikini top, but also the rush that had come from making that hamburger.

She nodded sheepishly. “It… it kinda did, yeah,” she admitted.

Vivian giggled. “Well, if you liked it so much, maybe you should have cooked lunch today?” She suggested playfully. “Just kidding- this is about pampering you, Dani, remember?” She pointed out. “Wouldn’t do to have you not get the full experience, right?”

Dani couldn’t argue with that. She shook her head and shrugged. “Still, coulda been nice. Or maybe, since this is MY spa day, YOU could have cooked!” She suggested. Just a playful tease back, but, in part- Dani was feeling out the other woman. Trying to see where she stood.

Vivian looked quietly at the tomboy, a contemplative expression on her face.

Then she smiled, and Dani saw the walls go back up.

“Maybe I could have,” she said, humoring the tomboy. “…Then again, I’m not nearly as good as you are, Dani!”

There was something in that smile, Dani just knew it. “…Maybe you could try it sometime,” she said finally. “You know Mary does those cooking classes, right? She’d love to teach you. Or I could, if you want, though I’m not as good…”

Not yet, anyway. But I’m getting better.

“Me, as a master chef? Ah, but I’m already quite adept in the kitchen!” Vivian said proudly, puffing up her chest. “Just ask Octavia! Once, I cooked a whole meal for her, and it was so good she had to go to the hospital!”

Dani stared at Vivian, not sure what to say to such an earnest statement.

“…Uh…”

“…That was a joke, Dani,” Vivian snorted, rolling her eyes. “Come on. Be real here.”

“O-oh, right, uh… yeah,” Dani said sheepishly, cracking a smile and scratching her head. Of course Vivian didn’t actually hospitalize her butler by cooking her dinner. And if she had, she wasn’t stupid enough to think it had been because the food was too good.

Vivian just laughed again and shook her head. “Maybe…” she murmured, and Dani wondered if she really was considering it.

She hoped she would.

The discussion of Vivian’s prospective culinary career was put on hold, though, as they finished up their lunch and moved on to enjoy the rest of what the spa had to offer.

“This place sure looks amazing,” Vivian said, stretching her arms over her head and yawning. Contentment was making her a little drowsy. “What do you think, Dani? A couples’ massage? You and me?”

Dani rolled her eyes. “If you keep joking around like that, someone might take you seriously,” she said, not thrilled by how intent Vivian was to pretend this was a date. The heiress was so hard to read- was this just how twisted her view of “friendship” was? Then again, given how hard it was to get a bead on her position when it came to her relationship with Nick, it was entirely possible that Vivian might not even have a solid grasp on her sexuality in the first place.

“Come oooon, what did you expect?” Vivian purred, sidling up next to Dani and hugging her arm, batting her eyelashes flirtatiously at the other girl. “You did invite me on a spa vacation instead of your girlfriend, after all… people may talk…”

…Or maybe she just liked messing with people. Dani was pretty sure that was a big part of it.

Playfully shoving the heiress, Dani turned and looked at the sign hanging in front of them. “Wow, there… are a lot of services offered here,” she murmured.

When she’d come with Nick, they’d gotten a massage, but that had been the prelude to some real naughty stuff that Dani would prefer not to repeat. But this time, there wouldn’t be anything funny in the massage oil, so she could rest easy, right?

Still- there were quite a lot of options.

“You didn’t know there were that many kinds of massages available?” Vivian asked, raising her eyebrow. “Because yeah…”

“I mean…” Dani felt her face heat up. She DID know! After all, she was the one who helped Nick get so good at giving massages in the first place! But she had to admit- some of this stuff was completely out of her wheelhouse.

“It kind of reminds me of a menu in a restaurant,” Vivian noted, scanning the list. “What about this one? A Shiatsu Massage? That one sounds pretty calming and relaxing, don’t you think? I got one before, completely drained all the tension out of my body!”

Dani was about to agree, before Vivian had to go and spoil everything again, as usual.

“Plus, we get to keep our clothes on- you won’t be tempted,” she giggled.

Dani rolled her eyes. “Okay, Vivian, do we need to have a conversation?”

Vivian blinked, stunned by the serious tone in Dani’s voice. “Uh… s-sorry,” she immediately apologized, fear flickering in her eyes as she looked warily at Dani. “I was just trying to joke around… but… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

“No… no, it’s fine,” Dani said quickly, shaking her head. The last thing she wanted was to upset her friend, after all.

But Vivian still looked worried.

Maybe Dani needed to address it after all…

She turned and faced Vivian directly.

“Vivian.” Her crisp voice made the heiress stand at attention.

“Dani.” Vivian was trying to reflect the other woman’s tone, as best she could.

The two stared at each other again.

Dani figured the best course of action was to be direct.

“Are you interested in me?” Dani asked bluntly. “Sexually, I mean. Or romantically, even. Well? You can tell me, I won’t mind.”

Vivian’s jaw dropped. Dani had completely blown her shields away, it appeared.

But was that because she’d hit the mark, or…

“No!” Vivian sputtered, shaking her head in disbelief. She looked at Dani like the tomboy was out of her mind. “That… Dani, I-I was just playing around before, I know you wouldn’t ever actually cheat on Carly with me! And- and I thought you knew that I didn’t like girls? Remember? When you turned me down that one time?”

Yeah, Dani knew that. Which was why she made a point to ask Vivian again. To have this confrontation with her.

“Then stop it.”

Vivian flinched. The tone in Dani’s voice struck her like a slap in the face. “D-Dani…”

“I like you, Vivian,” Dani said softly, placing a comforting hand on Vivian’s shoulder to keep the heiress from retreating into her shell. “I’m having fun today, and I’m glad we’re friends. But these jokes, this flirting… I know what you’re trying to do, and it’s the same as the stuff Kim keeps calling you out on, right?”

Vivian winced. “That… y-you’re right, I’m sorry,” she apologized. Shame and guilt welled up in her chest. “I’m sorry, I… I just…!”

Oh boy. Dani could feel a hurricane coming.

“I thought I was getting better, but it turns out I’m not, I’m, I’m making the same mistakes as before, oh no…” Vivian started to ramble, her composure crumbling like a house of cards. “I’m sorry, Dani! I’ll stop, I promise, I-”

“Vivian, Vivian,” Dani shook her intently, startling the heiress. “It’s okay. Just breathe. I’m right here. I’m not upset.”

Vivian winced, meeting her eyes again. “You’re not…? Even though I… I was poking fun again? And I said all that stuff…”

“You found the line,” Dani said firmly. “Jokes about my sexuality? That’s a risky road. I let it slide, because I know you’re just playful. But I didn’t bring you on a date. I invited you because you’re my friend. That’s our boundary, right?”

Vivian swallowed and nodded. “R-right,” she stammered out. “We’re friends. I-I know that, I just…”

“You’re just not good at being friends, right?” Dani finished her sentence for her. She gave the heiress a smile. “That’s alright too.”

Vivian’s eyes widened. “It-it is?”

Dani nodded again. “It is. Trust me, I said some really awkward stuff around Carly at first, too. And I know you’re not really interested in me. But it can be a little awkward, jokes like that.”

She paused.

“…Do you joke around with Nick like that?” She questioned worriedly.

Vivian’s face went pale. “A… a little…” she admitted.

Dani bit her lip. That complicated matters. “Well… I can see how that might be different, given the premise of the show and everything… but Vivian, Nick’s a sincere guy. When it comes to his feelings, he gives it his whole heart. I don’t blame you for sending mixed signals when you’re not even sure about how you feel yourself, but… just keep in mind that when it comes to jokes like that-”

“There’s a line,” Vivian interrupted her. “Believe me, I know. I promise, it won’t happen again!” She swore.

Now Dani felt bad. Like she was taking advantage of Vivian’s desperation for friendship to mold her into a woman who wasn’t herself.

“Vivian, it’s really okay,” she said softly. “I like the Vivian who teases and plays around, alright? And if you want to keep joking around about this being a date, then I’m okay with it.”

Vivian’s eyes bulged with surprise. “Really? But you just said…”

“Because I wasn’t in on the joke before,” Dani clarified for her. “That’s the difference. If we’re both on the same page that the joke about this being a date is really just you joking around and teasing, that’s totally fine! It’s when you say stuff like that and the other person doesn’t know your real feelings, that’s when it starts to get complicated. And that’s why you keep pissing Kim off. She’s not in on the joke, and frankly, she doesn’t want to be.”

Vivian swallowed and nodded heavily. She’d learned her lesson already where Kim was concerned- joking was, ironically, no joking matter with the tomboy.

Dani cracked a grin. “Me, I’m different. I know you really like me, since we’re friends. So come on, let’s go get that massage. And feel free to crack all the jokes you like, okay? As long as we’re laughing at them together.”

A spontaneous giggle escaped Vivian’s lips as she nodded, relieved beyond measure that Dani was so forthright with her.

Dani felt quite relieved herself. Holding hands, the two women headed off to get a massage.