We'll breathe easy in the morning light

Morgana was a good person.

It was very important that she establish that now, for the context of the situation, before anyone said otherwise.

Yes, she was a good person. She made mistakes, but she was a good person! She absolutely was not the sort of girl who would eavesdrop on other people’s conversations, no matter how curious she was. When she left the Luxury Suite to go to breakfast, her motivations were completely genuine. She may have tripped and landed on her butt on the way out, and ended up falling back against the shut door, but that wasn’t her fault. She wasn’t that athletic!

…And maybe the door to the Luxury Suite wasn’t the most soundproof thing in the world. But again, Morgana wasn’t to blame for that! She was a good person!

She absolutely had not been trying to hear what she’d inadvertently ended up hearing. Because she was a good person who didn’t eavesdrop.

Of course, that being said, when you heard the word “baby” it was perfectly natural to strain your ears just a little bit, to get a better picture of what was being discussed. Instead of making her own assumptions off of that one word and giving other people the wrong impression.

Not that Morgana was planning to gossip about what she overheard, or anything. Because she was a good person, and good people don’t gossip! No, she was going to Dawn’s room right now because she needed advice! She needed to talk this through to calm herself down, she absolutely wasn’t spreading rumors about the conversation she’d listened in on, and overheard how Nick and Holly had tried to make a baby last night!

…That was something a bad person would do, and Morgana wasn’t like that.

She had to make that very, very clear.

Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Morgana was so flustered as she ran to the Arcade Suite that she didn’t even care about getting breakfast anymore. In fact, she was SO overwhelmed by emotion that it never crossed her mind that she could initiate her own private conversation with Dawn right now, using the boon she’d gotten from the slumber party.

No, this was white-knuckle emergency-mode Morgana, who was so **** to talk to someone face to face about the overwhelming news that she didn’t even look where she was going as she practically leapt across the depression in the lounge floor to get to the neighboring room.

And she didn’t see the outstretched arm coming her way until it grabbed her by the collar, yanked her down, and pinned her to the ground.

Suddenly Morgana’s prior concerns were a thing of the past, and she stared in stark terror into the deep blue eyes of Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin. The dark-haired woman leered down at her with a look of suspicion, gloved fingers curled tightly around her collar.

And the oddest thing? With her heart doused in terror the only thought that registered in Morgana’s brain was that the assassin’s boobs were looking pretty darn huge thanks to her nanomachine stockpile, and they were hanging in front of her face.

“I-I-I-I-I-I…” Morgana started to babble, squeezing her legs together tightly out of fear that she’d piss herself in terror. Wouldn’t that just be the most humiliating thing in the world!?

Morgana didn’t exactly get along well with Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin. She didn’t have an issue with the killer specifically or anything (other than the fact that she was a timid girl and the other woman was a killer) there just wasn’t much common ground between the two of them.

The way she’d been brutally eliminated in the previous challenge didn’t help either. Or the fact that the other woman seemed to hold a grudge against anyone who was close with Nick, which Morgana could now say with confidence that she was.

…She wouldn’t do that now, but she could, if she wanted to.

“I’m sorry!?” Morgana finally blurted out a couple of complete words, and prayed they were ones the assassin wanted to hear. “I-I’m sorry I wasn’t looking where I was going-! I’ll be more careful in the future, I promise!”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin didn’t reply, of course, she just kept staring down at Morgana. She wasn’t smiling, and the goth girl didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Right now, she was going to go with “BAD” or maybe “VERY BAD” and she squeezed her eyes tightly shut.

She knew on some level that the assassin couldn’t hurt her, but right now, fear wasn’t letting that logical notion enter her brain.

“DAWN, HELP! Your roommate is trying to kill me!” Morgana mentally screamed to her friend, praying Dawn was actually in the Arcade Suite like she’d thought earlier.

Four seconds of eternity later and Morgana’s prayers were thankfully granted as the door to the suite swung open and Dawn rushed out into the lounge in a blind panic.

“Morgana!? What the heck!?” She exclaimed, nearly tripping over her own feet in a very un-gymnast manner in her hurry. “Aug-Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin, get off of her!”

Dawn had no idea what was going on, but the notion that Morgana could possibly be the aggressor here was laughable. It was obviously a misunderstanding of some sort, she just hoped that her roommate would listen to reason.

Not the best plan, but hey, Dawn wasn’t always great at using her brainpower in an emergency.

To the relief of both girls, though, Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin released Morgana’s collar and slowly got back up, stepping away and letting Dawn help the flustered goth to her feet. Morgana’s balance was a little shaky and she looked up at the curly-haired mute with a wary expression on her face.

“I… I didn’t…”

“What happened?” Dawn asked. Her question was for Morgana, but her eyes never left the slender assassin. She watched the other woman carefully as Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin stood in front of her, silently fuming.

Morgana didn’t really know how to answer. And obviously, the mute woman couldn’t. So Dawn was **** to put the pieces together herself.

Calming down and adjusting her glasses she stepped forward and looked the assassin in the eyes.

“You shouldn’t get on top of people like that,” she said seriously.

A shadow crossed the assassin’s face and she frowned. She waved her hand furiously at Morgana, making the witch girl flinch. Then she pulled her hand back and slapped it against her other hand, and flung them both down.

Dawn wasn’t sure how to respond to that. But seeing the look of frustration in the other woman’s eyes, she felt hesitant to say anything.

“It… it wasn’t her fault!” Morgana blurted out suddenly.

Dawn turned to her friend, her ears flicking up in surprise. “Morgana?”

“I… I wasn’t looking where I was going,” the goth explained, her cheeks pinkening. “I think I… was about to crash into her, and instead she flipped me over or… or something, I don’t know… it all happened so fast…”

Dawn glanced at Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin, who nodded. The smile had returned to her face.

“…So it was an accident, then.” Dawn pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a sigh of relief. Her tail slumped downwards. “Good… I was worried something was about to go down… the last thing we need is drama right before the challenge.”

She raised her head and gave Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin a sharp look. “But also, even if it was an accident, you still shouldn’t push someone down like that,” she said. “And especially don’t sit on top of them! You scared Morgana half to ****!”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin’s mouth fell open and she placed her hand on her chest. Her eyes were wide as if to say “Who, me?”

Dawn’s ears twitched. Cute.

She let out another sigh. “You’re superhuman, right? With cat-like reflexes?”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin held her hand over her mouth in a silent giggle and pointed at Dawn’s tail.

“Yes, I’m aware!” Dawn’s cheeks turned pink. “I’m serious here! If someone’s about to crash into you, don’t give them a judo shoulder throw or whatever, just, like, I don’t know… can’t you just catch them and stop them without giving them a heart attack?”

Dawn hadn’t actually seen what happened but she knew how her roommate moved, due to the woman’s addiction to those dancing and punching arcade machines in their suite. As a gymnast, she could admire the grace and fluidity of the girl’s motions, but wished they were tuned towards responses beyond **** as a first resort.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin looked a little disappointed. She let out a silent sigh of exasperation and shrugged, clearly not happy about the idea.

But she nodded. Even if it came with a roll of her eyes.

“Dawn, don’t… don’t you think that’s enough?” Morgana asked. She was starting to feel bad for Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin getting chewed out this much. “I really am fine, it’s not a big deal.”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin nodded again and pointed at her. A triumphant smirk crossed her lips that made Dawn’s eye twitch in frustration.

“…You’re right,” she conceded finally. “It was an accident.”

“Right,” Morgana said, giving the other girl as genuine of a smile as her pounding heart could muster. “I-I didn’t meant to startle you.”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin gave Morgana a blank look and raised her eyebrow.

Now that Morgana thought about it, that DID sound kind of dumb. To think that SHE could startle Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin, of all people.

“Err, I just meant-”

“Let’s just move past it, okay?” Dawn suggested, sensing that nothing productive could come from further discussion on this topic. (Or whatever it was that Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin was doing.)

Morgana couldn’t agree more. She glanced at Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin and felt a little bad that her psychic abilities didn’t work with the other woman. That would be something, wouldn’t it? Being able to connect with her genuinely? To have a real conversation where they shared their thoughts with one another?

Too bad there was no way to do that… Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin would unfortunately be stuck for quite a long time not being able to properly join in a conversation, just listening in on them from the sidelines…

“AH!” Suddenly, Morgana remembered why she’d gotten so worked up in the first place. “Oh my gosh! Dawn! I almost forgot!”

“Geez! What is it?” Dawn winced. Morgana’s shout was so loud she must have woken up the whole floor with that.

Morgana looked around hurriedly, thinking the same thing. “C-come with me! Let’s get back to your room, this is serious! I can’t tell you here!”

She rushed towards the Arcade Suite, not even checking to see if Dawn was accompanying her in her haste.

“…Sure, why not, you can come into my room,” Dawn said dryly, following after her. She didn’t have an issue with Morgana stopping by, but still, asking permission would go a long way.

But to both girls’ surprise, Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin followed them right back into the room.

“Eh?” Morgana jumped, her eyes wide when she saw the other woman step into the room and close the door.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin glanced at her with a sly smile on her lips and crossed her arms, leaning back against the door.

Anxiety immediately spread through Morgana’s chest. This was something she’d meant to share with Dawn, and having the other woman here messed it all up. Sure, they could have the discussion using her mental connection, but that seemed really rude, too…

She was at a loss.

Luckily, Dawn had no qualms about being rude.

“This is a private topic,” she said to her roommate, sensing the tension coming from Morgana. “Would you mind giving us a little bit of privacy, please?” Whatever Morgana wanted to share with her, it was obviously meant for her ears only.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin gave her a hurt expression. Then she pinched her lips tight with a smile and mimed a zipper motion across them.

Dawn stared blankly at the other woman. Well, I mean… she kind of has a point. Who exactly is she going to tell?

A glance at Morgana told her that the goth was thinking the same exact thing. Their eyes met, and Dawn hesitantly asked, “Morgana…?”

“It’s fine,” Morgana suddenly stated, catching Dawn by surprise. She relaxed a little (which was a good step for her!) and smiled. “I, um… it’s really not… not a big deal…”

That wasn’t true. It WAS a big deal. But Morgana didn’t want to protest too harshly.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin seemed really, really happy about being included in something.

Maybe she’s just lonely, Morgana thought. Maybe we’re not so different after all.

She always tried to see the best in everyone, except herself.

“Look, um, you guys… you can’t tell anyone, okay?” She looked shiftily around the room. “The-the only reason I’m telling you is because I overheard this, and it’s a really big deal. I don’t like spreading rumors, I really don’t, but… I… I have to tell SOMEBODY or I’m going to explode! I’m really freaking out right now, okay!?”

“Morgana, calm down,” Dawn soothed her friend. It really DID seem like she was going to explode. “Take a deep breath.”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin nodded in agreement and mimed the gesture. Morgana took their advice, taking a few deep breaths to calm her nerves before finally exhaling.

“…It’s… kind of serious,” she said finally, her anxiety still present but not as overwhelming. “You guys really have to promise not to tell anybody, okay?”

Dawn nodded hesitantly. She wasn’t a fan of rumors herself. But she knew Morgana wasn’t the kind of girl to idly gossip, so this much be serious. “I won’t,” she agreed.

Morgana glanced warily over at Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin. The other woman pointed at her mouth, and Morgana immediately felt like an idiot.

Oh, yeah. Duh.

“Well?” Dawn asked, unable to keep her curiosity back. She WAS a cat, after all.

Morgana bit her lip. Her heartbeat drowned out the pulse from the arcade machines. “…Yeah… I… so, the thing is… I think… Holly… might be pregnant.”

Dawn nearly fell over. Her tail jumped up in surprise and her mouth dropped open.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin immediately tensed up, on high alert. She looked at Morgana with a challenging expression on her face and a scowl on her lips. She narrowed her eyes at the other girl as if she couldn’t believe what Morgana was saying.

Morgana couldn’t blame her. She wasn’t sure if she completely believed it herself.

“I… I’m not sure,” Morgana mumbled. “But that’s what I think, anyway…”

“Who told you this?” Dawn asked immediately. Because if it was Holly, she could just be fantasizing. “Was it Nick?”

Morgana gulped. “W-well, I heard it from him,” she mumbled, dancing around the truth. “But, um… t-technically, it… it was… uh… …I overheard it. He was telling Amelia. I just… kind of ended up hearing through the door.”

The look Dawn gave her made her heart sink.

“I know what I heard!” She wailed. “Not- not that I was trying to hear, but-! I just… I needed to be sure, you know? And they both sounded so happy about it, too…”

“So Holly’s pregnant…” Dawn couldn’t believe it. She slowly shook her head as her brain immediately began playing out scenarios. Wasn’t last night supposed to be Sylvia’s night with Nick? So I’m guessing Sylvia wasn’t ready to have sex, so she got him to have sex with Holly instead… yeah, that sounds like her. And Holly would definitely play into Nick’s fetishes. So what, was it just an accident? Nick couldn’t hold himself back and ended up cumming inside of her? …No, Morgana said he sounded happy about it. So… did they really plan it out like that?

It was hard to believe, but… Dawn couldn’t deny the possibility.

Out of everyone here he COULD knock up, Holly is probably the safest bet, she conceded. It’s not like she’d be stressing herself out with challenges or anything. She isn’t even getting extra transformations. So if they’re okay with doing this… I guess it’s fine?

Dawn was glad that she wasn’t feeling competitive about the notion of getting pregnant. If she was the kind of woman who would want to compete even in THAT, things would definitely not go well.

Morgana seemed less burdened, after having spoken the truth.

But that only lasted for a couple seconds before a shadow fell over her.

Suddenly, she was looking into those bright blue eyes of Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin. They stared intensely at her, and for a brief moment, Morgana was afraid that the other woman was upset with her or something.

But no… the way Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin was looking at her, it almost seemed like…

The mute woman scrunched up her face into a scowl and then pointed at herself. She stomped her foot on the floor, causing Morgana to just give her a bizarre stare.

“Wait… are… are you asking me why Holly is pregnant and you’re not?” Morgana couldn’t believe what she was hearing. The professional killer enhanced with nanomachines… actually wanted to be a mother? Seriously?

Even Dawn seemed stunned by that possibility; she had left beside her thinking on the matter and was now staring at the mute assassin herself.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin shook her head, however, disabusing both girls of that possibility.

Then she gestured at herself again.

“I… we don’t know what you’re trying to say,” Dawn said, way too overwhelmed by Morgana’s revelation to even try to decipher the mute’s frantic gestures. “What?”

“I… I don’t know,” Morgana mumbled. “Is it… are you asking if YOU should get pregnant? Like… you think Nick would be happier if that happened?”

The assassin’s face lit up and she nodded cheerily.

A chill went down Morgana’s spine. Dawn’s face turned pale.

“I… I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Dawn said, shaking her head quickly.

Morgana couldn’t agree fast enough. She nodded frantically up and down. “No way! Definitely not!”

Nick might have been excited by stuff like that, as they both intimately knew, but he also took it seriously. He wouldn’t want to indulge in something like that with someone who didn’t seem to understand the consequences involved.

And speaking of consequences… Morgana really hoped this wouldn’t result in any severe ones.