There's nothing I can say except sometimes, you see everything you wanted

Nick and Morgana were both in agreement that they needed some time to themselves after the hot springs got a little too hot. The only problem was, they were on a date! And since it wasn’t like they could go on a date over the phone, it was kind of necessary for them to continue being in the same place together.

In the interest of calming their nerves, the two decided to leave the hot spring early and take advantage of the separation that the changing rooms provided. That would let them get their space while still remaining mostly on schedule.

They had different motivations behind the separation.

For Morgana, it wasn’t just about getting away from Nick so she could calm down and refocus. After hearing how he really felt about her, she was actually flying pretty high in terms of her self-esteem! No, the main reason she needed her space was because of a miscalculation.

Namely, the hot spring, the shower, and her sweat and tears had ruined a morning’s worth of hard work on her face, and her makeup was a mess. And after she’d spent so much time on it! Luckily she’d anticipated that her makeup would run at some point, so she’d brought the necessary materials to reapply it. But given the time constraints, she was still a little wary about whether or not she’d do a good job.

As for Nick…

Nick was facing a much deeper conundrum. It was a dilemma that was faced by many a man over the course of their lives, but usually not so late into his twenties.

Whether or not to masturbate in a public restroom.

Common sense would dictate an obvious “no” and that was the answer most adolescent boys arrived at as they matured and understood that the world did not revolve around them. This also happened to coincide with the realization that masturbation was not a discrete activity. Just because you were not aware that the sound of slapping meat was leaking out of a bathroom stall, that did not make it the case. And just because you couldn’t smell your own shame, that didn’t mean the people around you couldn’t.

But then, common sense did not necessarily apply here, did it? After all, this was Harem Hotel. Nick could make a very convincing argument that these bathrooms, like the hot spring, the whole spa itself, like this entire island, existed solely for the sake of his sexual gratification, and thus it was perfectly acceptable for him to make use of the facilities to relieve himself and clear his head, so he could meet Morgana again with an eased mind.

…Was that just his penis trying to convince him? Yes, it was, but that didn’t make the argument less compelling, just like the underlying point that there were no other men on the island to walk in on him and embarrass him.

…

Still. He wasn’t that far gone. While yes, he had engaged in a couple sexual acts that straddled the border between risky and exhibitionist (ironically mostly with Gina and not Carly who actually had the Exhibitionist transformation path) there was something that felt more shameful about doing it himself, even though he was in the privacy of a bathroom that was ostensibly only for him.

It was quite akin to the shame of resorting to masturbation when there were over ten women in the immediate vicinity who would happily take the problem “off of his hands” in a manner of speaking.

…In that end, Nick decided that, no, he was NOT going to spend even a second of his date with Morgana jacking off in the spa bathroom. No matter how much he wanted to relieve himself.

What would her response even be if she found out? Nick wondered as he tried to focus on the cold water of the shower running over him. Would she be pleased that she got me so aroused I couldn’t help myself? Or upset that I chose to masturbate instead of saving myself for tonight, seeing it as another way she came up short?

Or some other twisted combination of those outcomes. With Morgana it was hard to predict.

So yes, better not to push his luck. Nick should just shower in peace, and try to suppress his urges the old fashioned way, with pure willpower.

He had to think unsexy thoughts! Most men, he knew, thought about baseball, or their grandmothers. Well, Nick didn’t know the rules to baseball and had never met any of his grandparents before, so those options were off the table.

Okay, unsexy thoughts… unsexy thoughts… hadal snailfish, yellowfin tuna… um… giant squid… sea spiders… oilfish!

It was the oilfish that did it. The oily, ugly white fish whose meat could even make your anus leak. Talk about a boner killer. The cold water had its effects on his body as he continued to recount more marine life in his head, picturing the snarling, bulbous, or cavernous faces of the aquatic animals to make sure he didn’t recover.

By the time he was done, and he turned the water off, two things were true. His shivering skin was very wrinkly like a prune, and sex was the last thing on his mind.

…It would probably be a long while before he had sushi, too, but that was a sacrifice he was willing to make to have a nice date with Morgana.

Checking the time, Nick realized that he’d spent more time in the shower than he actually had in the hot spring. He rushed into the lobby, prepared to apologize profusely to Morgana for keeping her waiting, only to find that she wasn’t there.

He looked at the two faeries at the receptionist desk, one bright green and the other sky blue. They both informed him that no one had come out from the lady’s room since he and Morgana left the hot springs.

“If you’d like to check on her, that can be arranged…” the green faerie cheekily suggested, earning her a roll of the eyes from Nick.

“It’s fine, I can wait,” he griped, shaking his head. Technically they still weren’t behind schedule since they’d used such a small amount of their budgeted hot spring time in the actual hot spring, but he was worried about Morgana’s mental wellbeing.

He could easily picture her fretting with worry and doubt in the shower, questioning whether or not it was her fault that things had gone so off-track. That was just like her, to be huddled up in the corner of the shower and clutching her face, screaming into her hands, as the water rolled over her pale, slender body…

Damn it.

All that hard work, and Nick was starting to drift back there again! Damn it, he had to get a hold of himself, and not in the way his body was telling him to!

Luckily, before things could go back in that direction again and ruin all of his hard work, Morgana quickly bustled out of the changing room, and she looked like quite a fright.

Her makeup was a little sloppier than it had been before, and Nick could see she’d missed a few splotches by her neck. But that was fine. The fact that her mascara was a little darker and less evenly applied was fine. Even the fact that her hair was let down again, and ruffled in uneven layers from a hasty blowdrying was fine.

He was just glad to see she was smiling.

“S-sorry I took so long!” She said hastily, her cheeks red. “I-I didn’t think it would be this hard to reapply my makeup… um… it…”

She wanted to ask him if she still looked good, but she stopped herself before she could, remembering her Sotto Voce was still active.

“It’s okay, you look just fine,” Nick assured her with a smile. He didn’t need the women in his life to be flawlessly made up like Rose always was, or a natural beauty like Mary. Part of Morgana’s charm was in how hard she tried, and in that regard, it didn’t really matter to Nick how successful she was.

She was fine just being herself.

“Oh, thank goodness,” Morgana said, adjusting the brim of her hat in the mirror. She looked anxiously at him, wondering if she could really be so lucky as to have a guy looking out for her like this.

She decided that, yes, she could be. “So… so.” She adjusted her voice again, taking on a deeper timbre to keep her transformation from acting up. “I think we should move on, and get to our next date activity… don’t you?”

Nick nodded. “I couldn’t agree more,” he said, excited to see what Morgana came up with. So far, this date could have been planned by anybody. He was looking forward to how Morgana would make today uniquely her.

“I… I wanted…” Morgana was having trouble remembering to keep her voice modulated, but she was doing her best! They stepped out onto the street and Morgana took the lead, reminding herself that she needed to be confident.

Nick wants this date to be a success almost as much as I do! Maybe even more! He was able to fend off my advances because he doesn’t want it to be just about us fucking! Morgana would return that consideration with consideration of her own.

“…I want to go to a hobby store!” She blurted out, a wild look in her eyes.

Nick stared blankly at Morgana, not sure what to make of that suggestion.

“…Excuse me?” That probably wasn’t the most considerate thing he could have said, but Morgana’s suggestion came out of the blue.

Seeing the doubt and confusion on his face, Morgana immediately deflated. “That… I mean… y-you know, like… a store, for, um, comic books, and vi-video games, and trading ca-cards, you know, a-a hobby store? H-have you never heard of…?”

“Oh! No, yeah, I-I know about those,” Nick said quickly, shaking his head. “I just… it caught me a little by surprise, that’s all.”

Morgana blinked and tilted her head to the side. “It… did? Why?” Nick must have known about her hobbies and interests. She hadn’t exactly been secret about them. She was a massive nerd, and she made no excuses about it.

“…Do I not look like the kind of person… who would go to a hobby store?” Her heart sank in her chest. If that’s how he saw her, then boy- they really had a lot of ground to make up, didn’t they?

Nick’s eyes widened and he shook his head even harder. “No, that’s not what I meant,” he assured her, eager to nip this in the bud. “Of course you look like someone who would go to a hobby store? I’m sure?”

He found himself wondering if that was even a compliment. “You look like someone who would go to a hobby store?” That almost sounded insulting.

Morgana didn’t take it that way, though. Her chest swelled with pride and she held her head up high, placing her hands on her hips. “That’s right, of course I am!” She boasted. “I love hobby stores, I’m an expert after all!”

Sure, she hadn’t actually spent more than five minutes in one before, given the way the men who seemed to inhabit them were always looking on her, but that didn’t matter. So she felt self-conscious about being a nerdy girl, so what?

Now was the perfect opportunity!

Seeing Morgana look so happy and cheerful helped assuage a lot of Nick’s concerns. Still, he felt the need to clarify his earlier surprise.

“I know you like stuff like that, Morgana, that wasn’t what I was trying to say,” he assured her. “I was just surprised because I didn’t think they’d have stuff like hobby shops on the island, that’s all.”

Morgana paused in the middle of the street and frowned. “…Oh no!” She gasped, clapping her hands to her cheeks. How could she have messed up like that?! She never for a moment even considered that possibility! But now that Nick pointed it out, pretty much every store in the Shopping District existed for the purpose of sex, or to provide food or activity that would eventually lead to sex. Even the bookstores were filled with pornographic novels (not that Morgana was complaining about that) but what would a hobby store even be like at Harem Hotel?!

“Th-there’ll probably be a bunch of sexy board games and adult comics instead of the usual stuff,” she fretted, starting to crash out. “They’re not going to have any Pokemon cards, they’ll probably have some 18+ rated version, where all the Pokemon are replaced with sexy women! Or… or even worse, wh-what if the only thing they have is Yu-Gi-Oh! cards!? Oh, I’m so stupid, I can’t believe I didn’t check this out beforehand!”

Nick found it quite adorable how Morgana was getting so worried about her date plan falling apart. He could have kept listening to her panic forever if not for his concern about her mental state. And, you know, the fact that she had completely forgotten about her Sotto Voce again and had slipped back into her usual tone of voice.

Yeah, he had to stop her before she crashed out again.

“Morgana, it’s fine,” he said soothingly, giving her a genial smile.

Morgana blinked and looked up at him, a **** spark in her eyes.

“It… it is?” She asked quietly, a tone of hope in her voice.

“I’m sure whatever you’re imagining, it won’t be that bad,” he assured her, even though knowing Dakota it would probably be worse. “The important thing is that we have fun together.”

“R-right, of course,” Morgana said, bobbing her head up and down. “Sorry, I just kinda… lost it. Because, you know, all the sexy stuff…”

Yeah, he could guess why she was so worried.

“Morgana, we don’t have to ignore all sex completely,” Nick said, having been on this island long enough to know that was a futile endeavor. “Just because we go to a hobby shop that’s a little sexier than normal hobby shops, that doesn’t mean I’m going to suddenly start thinking of you as a sex doll or whatever else you’re worried about. It’s just a natural part of the date. Alright? We can still have plenty of fun and get to know each other with a bunch of sexual stuff in the air.”

He could see Morgana was starting to overcorrect, and was practically channeling Mary in her repulsion of sexual matters. And as Mary had proved, no way was that going to work here.

They had to strike a balance. Being around sexy stuff wouldn’t magically make their date all about sex; they could take things slow and go at their own pace.

Thankfully, Morgana seemed to be satisfied with that explanation. Her smile eased into a more relaxed grin as she nodded in agreement, and the two of them shared a look of understanding.

“Okay… so now, we just need to find one of those places… assuming there even is one,” Morgana said, going to check out one of the ever-changing map posts that stood on every street corner in the Shopping District.

Nick had to admit that was another factor he hadn’t considered. Morgana wasn’t wrong in doubting that Dakota would set up a hobby shop here. After all, if the goal was facilitating sex, Nick couldn’t think of anything more counterproductive than a bunch of sweaty gamers.

“Oh wow! There’s one on the next block!”

…On the other hand…

I’m sure Dakota’s having a bit of fun at our expense, Nick thought with an amused smile on his lips as he followed Morgana’s eager footsteps down the street. Knowing her, she probably just conjured a hobby shop out of thin air two seconds ago and filled it with all the stuff Morgana was just panicking about. We’re just giving her ideas at this point.

A few minutes later and they were there.

The sign hanging outside did little to soothe Nick’s concerns. It depicted a busty blonde warrior in armor that better resembled lingerie than anything suitable for battle. She was resting on her side like a pinup model, with the tail of the firebreathing dragon beside her worming its way between her legs. It looked like the cover picture of a tawdry fantasy novel where the descriptive prose spent more time detailing the way the heroine’s boobs bounced as she walked than it did the setting.

Still, Morgana looked over the moon about it, and Nick decided to give it a fair shot, even if this wasn’t really his thing.

Nick wasn’t so much a nerd in the classical sense. His childhood had been too complicated for that. Yes, he played video games, he watched anime, he even read some comic books and traded Pokemon cards back in elementary school.

But when it came to stuff like this… he was a very self-contained kind of nerd. The kind who enjoyed his nerdness in the peace of his own bedroom, rather than risking to venture out into the world where the other nerds dwelled.

…The crippling depression he’d dealt with didn’t help matters, either.

But when the door to the hobby shop swung open, he wasn’t greeted with the foul odor of mold, mildew, beard sweat, and Dorito dust he’d been expecting. There was a pleasant freshness in the air, like he was just walking into any ordinary shop.

“Welcome,” the faerie at the counter said with a wave. She wore a midnight black dress that was still somehow gossamer enough to make out her slender figure, and her hair was cropped short and flared up and out at the front.

She waved a lazy hand at her guests as Morgana rushed forward, nearly knocking the counter over in her greed to see just what they had available.

Nick wasn’t quite sure where to begin himself. Morgana seemed captivated; right at home, as it were, but he felt a little awestruck.

…And no, it wasn’t from the walls of half-naked lifesize cardboard cutouts of superheroines and fantasy women all posed and dressed as scantily as the woman on the sign above the store.

…Maybe a little bit.

As Nick was wondering what exactly a shop like this would even be used for, and what a girl would even need to buy here, as opposed to the clothing stores and boutiques and hairdressers and the like, he found himself not really caring.

The important thing, he had to remember, was that Morgana was happy. The shining smile on her face as she looked into the glass displays, her nose pressed right up against it so she could read the cards “for sale” here, reminded him of why he had come in the first place.

He relaxed and approached Morgana, not really caring about any of this stuff, but pleased to see that she was finally in her own element and enjoying herself on the date.

…The only problem was that this date was supposed to be about the two of them getting closer to one another, and Morgana had basically completely forgotten him five seconds through the door.

Nick couldn’t help but smile all the same. He wondered how much time the girls had budgeted out for this part of the date, because judging by how happy she looked, it might not be enough.