We could wear matching clothes

Nick would be lying if he said he didn’t have a little anxiety about his date with Ella. After all, the last time they were alone together, the conversation had kind of died off because they didn’t have a lot in common. Which didn’t even begin to touch on the problematic possibility of Cinder popping up and completely ruining everything.

But he knew that Ella was really trying. She wanted to make this work, and he felt the same way. So even though it might be tricky and would probably carry a lot of mental strain, Nick was determined to make sure they both had a good time.

Amelia had given him a lot of feedback about how to please a partner on his practice date with her and Sylvia, and he’d had a decent amount of experience accrued himself given the number of dates he’d been on with other women in his harem.

Sure, Ella had a few issues. But so what? At the end of the day, she was still an individual just as capable of being happy and enjoying herself as he was. There was no reason he could think of why they couldn’t have a good time together, especially considering she’d given him a roadmap. She might not have been aware she had, but given the time he’d had to think, he’d come up with a few ideas.

They all flew out of his head for a moment when he met up with her in the lobby.

She looked great. Uncomfortable, but great. Ella was standing in the middle of the lobby and fidgeting with the rubber-band on her wrist, probably contemplating whether or not to snap it. She was studying the ground and looked like she had no idea whether or not she belonged here, and Nick could definitely empathize with that. But what really captured his attention were her clothes. She must have gone shopping already, because he hadn’t ever seen her wear that outfit before.

Ella had on a pink top, and she’d paired it with a skirt that was a deep reddish-violet color. Maroon? Burgundy? Nick wasn’t a fashion guy so he couldn’t begin to guess. The clothes were cute, and they suited her caramel skin tone nicely. Along with that, she wore a stylish beige jacket, which gave her a bit of an air of maturity and casualness, which drew a surprising contrast to the hesitant expression on her face.

Nick knew she’d finally noticed him when she raised her head, and her eyes went wide. Her cheeks flushed and she smiled, but it was a nervous smile, like she wasn’t sure what was going to happen.

Which was fair- Nick had no idea what was going to happen on this date himself.

“Good morning,” he said, greeting her with a smile that he hoped wouldn’t send her running for the hills. “Ella, you look great! I love your outfit!” It was a risk, starting with such a bold compliment. But he hoped it would help her relax and feel good about herself, rather than get her flustered or make her even more nervous.

It kind of worked?

Ella’s eyes widened for a moment, but then, to his relief, she nodded. “…Thank you,” she said quietly, smiling a little. “You look great, too.”

That was another surprise to hear. It wasn’t like Nick had dressed up fancy or anything, he’d just put on some pants and a nice button-up shirt. Then again, with Ella’s lack of experience involving men, maybe that was enough for her.

“No, I just tried a little today,” Nick said casually, scratching his hair and giving her an awkward laugh. “I was looking forward to spending the day with you.”

Ella swallowed and nodded. “Same,” she murmured. “Actually…”

She played with a lock of her hair and smiled awkwardly at him. “I… I actually, um, I got Vivian’s help, picking out what I should wear today,” she admitted. “These are her clothes.”

Nick was surprised to hear that, but at the same time, it made perfect sense. If you wanted fashion advice, go to Vivian. He’d only known the heiress for a couple of days, but even he could understand that much.

But the last thing he wanted was for today to be about Vivian. And he could tell that Ella probably wouldn’t like that, either.

“Well, I’m sure she doesn’t look as good in those clothes as you do,” he offered, and suspected that would be true. The outfit went too well with Ella’s whole vibe.

Ella’s face turned crimson and her eyes widened behind her bangs. She audibly gulped, and Nick pretended he didn’t hear to save her any further embarrassment.

Instead, he laughed sheepishly. “You know, it’s too bad you look so good in that,” he said. Before she could react, he swiftly continued, “I was thinking we could go clothes shopping to start our date off, but it doesn’t seem like there would be much of a point if you ask me.”

“Cl-clothes shopping?” Ella stammered. Her brow furrowed as she looked at him in confusion. “Why would…?”

A sheepish look crossed Nick’s face. “It’s not because of your outfit,” he hastily clarified. “It’s because of our last date together.”

Ella just looked even more confused. Nick cleared his throat and tried to prod her memories. “You know, in Dream Alley? When we first spent time together?”

That got it to sink in. After a few seconds, Ella stiffened in realization. “O-oh! You meant…”

“Yeah,” Nick said, scratching his cheek and giving her a sheepish look. “It seemed like you really liked the idea of shopping for clothes on a date, so I thought it would be nice to do it for real this time. But again, if you don’t want to, I totally get it!”

After all, Ella looked great. And that date hadn’t exactly ended on the best of terms, either.

“Of course, if you have something else you’d like to do, that would be fine too!” Nick just wanted her to enjoy herself today, that was his main focus.

Ella considered the idea carefully. It was a very sweet suggestion on Nick’s part, for them to go clothes shopping just because she had wanted to. But that was back when she didn’t have a lot of clothes to choose from. Her wardrobe had expanded slightly, and now she was wearing an outfit that she- and more importantly, Nick- really liked.

But… she didn’t have any better ideas.

“…I think I’d be okay with that,” she agreed. “Clothes shopping, I mean. But, um… I really do like this outfit…”

She glanced over at a full-length mirror that just so happened to be leaning against the lobby wall (thanks, Dakota) and checked out her appearance again. She did look nice.

As she stared at herself in the nice little ensemble, though, she realized something she hadn’t considered before, and suddenly the notion of going clothes shopping actually sounded like a really good idea.

“Okay!” She turned back to Nick, her voice carrying a surprising amount of forcefulness. “I agree! Let’s do it!”

Nick was surprised for a moment, but then he nodded. “Okay, good!” He said. “If you’re onboard, then let’s do it! And it’ll be my treat, so you don’t have to worry about spending any BP.”

He was just glad that he came up with an idea that she seemed honestly excited about.

Of course, he had no way of knowing that she had plans of her own.

Normally, Nick was reticent about using his position as the master of the harem to get girls clothes for free. It wasn’t like he was opposed to it for any principled reason or anything like that, it was much more pragmatic. Because Kim was always working behind the counter, if he used his perks to give the other girls whatever clothes they wanted, it would essentially be screwing her out of a commission, which meant that he’d be favoring other girls over her. And he couldn’t even do the same for her in return, since she was usually locked into a schoolgirl uniform.

But things had changed today- Kim wasn’t working again, as he found out when they stepped into the shop. Instead, her boss, the pink faerie, was behind the counter.

“No Kim today?” He asked.

The pixie shook her head. “Called in sick,” she said neutrally. “Again.”

Nick winced. That meant she had another punishment transformation to deal with, on top of the sweat one from yesterday. Hopefully she’d break the streak and go in for work tomorrow, because if she was really planning a full-day date with him in a couple nights, he would prefer that she wasn’t loaded down with a ton of debilitating transformations.

But that wasn’t what he should be focusing on right now. He was here on a date with Ella, so she should be receiving his attention today.

“I’m going to be paying for some clothes for her, using my perks as the master,” Nick said, presenting the faerie with the card Sylvia had given him at the start of the show.

The faerie didn’t react when she accepted it, she just nodded. “Whatever she wants,” she said with a sigh. “Our stock is limitless, after all.”

Nick had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. Sure, limitless, right up until it came time to shop for something modest, and suddenly they were “Out of stock” or some other nonsense.

He didn’t say anything about that, though. He just let Ella go and pick out whatever she wanted. He did note that she was acting a little shifty and uncomfortable, however. He was tempted to ask if she wanted a second opinion on anything, but that might come across as a little too forward and creepy at the start of a date.

Then again… Ella was really trying hard to make things work out between them. Even if she did get embarrassed, maybe she would still appreciate it.

He decided to give it a try.

“Ella, do you want my help in picking anything out?” He asked. “I could give you my perspective if you want.”

The way she jumped when he asked that wasn’t a promising sign.

Ella spun around and looked at him with wide eyes. She was definitely hesitant, but at the same time, he could see she was seriously considering it.

“N-normally…” Her voice cracked, and she took a deep breath before trying again. “…Normally I would be okay with that… but things are a little different today,” she admitted.

“Oh? Why?” Nick asked automatically, before remembering that maybe this wasn’t something she’d be interested in sharing.

Ella winced. “Because… I’m not buying clothes for myself,” she informed him with a quiet whisper, and looked down at the floor.

It took Nick a moment to figure out what she was talking about. Not buying clothes for herself? Is she buying something for Vivian, then, as thanks for giving her that outfit? Or maybe… wait, it couldn’t be, could it?

“You’re gonna buy something for Cinder?” He was **** to ask, given the obvious strain that Cinder put on Ella’s mental state. He didn’t want to ruin the date by bringing it up too early. And just as he was thinking that he’d completely screwed up and should have kept his damn mouth shut, he saw her nod softly.

“I… last time I went shopping… I bought clothes for me,” she said, looking longingly at some of the flowing pink dresses on the shelves, so conveniently placed right where she would see them. The Boutique had a tendency to attune their selection specifically for individual customers, after all. “But… it wasn’t really fair. And Vivian, she gave me some outfits too, but… just for me… Cinder, she… she doesn’t really have a lot to wear in our closet, so…”

Nick wasn’t sure how to respond to that. It seemed sweet of Ella, to spend time buying clothes for Cinder to wear, and if it were anybody else, he would consider it a very touching gesture.

But with Cinder, it was a little muddier. Because Ella was buying clothes for her alter, and it clearly made her feel a little uncomfortable. Was this really the best use of her time? Somehow, he doubted that was the case.

But he held his tongue. After all, it was Ella’s date, and it was Ella’s decision what she wanted to do on that date. Even if she was hesitant, she’d still made her choice. Nick was just here to be the source of the money, after all.

He nodded, and smiled. “Okay, then!” He replied. “If that’s what you want to do, well, that works for me! I think that’s very sweet of you, Ella!”

Ella’s eyes widened for a moment, and then she smiled.

Then her smile faded, and was quickly replaced by a flustered expression.

“Um, so… with… with that in mind… Cinder and I… we-we look identical, more or less, so… um… if you wanted to… then… maybe, maybe we could… oh, mess!”

“THWAP!” She swiftly snapped her rubber-band, and Nick fought back the urge to wince. It was obvious Ella was trying. He just wished he could help her somehow…

She looked hopefully up at him, and he hesitated.

“Ella, how about, um… I could just step out, you know?” He wanted to do whatever he could to make her more comfortable with this. But the look of alarm in her eyes told him that wasn’t what she wanted at all.

“No!” She shook her head quickly. “Actually, I… I wanted… could you maybe… help me choose?”

That was certainly not what he’d anticipated.

“Huh?”

“Like I said before…” Ella fidgeted with her rubber-band, hoping she wouldn’t need to snap it again. Cinder was definitely having a bit of a fit in the back of her mind right now, but Ella didn’t want to let her other self ruin this date prematurely. “…Cinder and I look the same, because duh. So I hoped… maybe… maybe if I pick out some clothes, and then I dress up in them… you could tell me which ones looked the best?”

Nick was surprised to hear her actually ask for something like that. It seemed so strange, and yet it was definitely something she wanted. She didn’t look hesitant at all, just really, really embarrassed at the idea.

“…If you’re okay with that, then yeah,” Nick agreed with a small nod. “I’d be willing to help you pick something out!”

Ella had a look on her face that was a mix of relief and cringing despair. Nick wasn’t sure he wanted to look any further into it, but at the same time, he was glad that she seemed to be onboard with this whole idea.

Hopefully it would go well. And Cinder wouldn’t take over.

Ella went to go pick out some clothes, and Nick found a couch to relax on. It was the one set up in front of the stage, where the girls sometimes did their fashion shows.

For a moment, he considered whether or not Ella would do something similar, but then he reminded himself that it wasn’t just about showing off to him. Those images would be used in promotional materials for the shop to all the different multiverses… or something.

Nick wasn’t exactly sure how that would work, or what the difference was. But he knew that Ella was shy and hesitant enough as it was, and she didn’t need more things to make her feel uncomfortable, that was for sure.

So he decided that it would be better to have a more traditional presentation ceremony, like they had on their date in Dream Alley.

…Ceremony. As if wearing new clothes was some big fanfare event.

Wait, how is she even going to get my attention, anyway? He realized. Ella was in the changing room, after all, so unless she actually stepped out to come greet him, this would be a rather pointless endeavor.

He got the answer to that question very quickly.

“Um… what… what do you think?”

Nick turned his head, not realizing that Ella had already come.

What he saw was even more of a shock than the outfit she’d been wearing this morning.

Nick knew that Ella was a very modest person. And from what he remembered of Cinder’s choice in outfits, her alter was not.

What he saw her wearing was a strange cross of their usual styles. As if Ella had somehow taken the loud, boisterous clothes that Cinder wore, and combined them with her more modest sensibilities. Which only made sense, after all.

He doubted that she would even be willing to wear something sleeveless!

Instead, she’d worn a shirt with long black sleeves, so long they went over her hands a bit, leaving just the tips of her fingers poking out. For bottoms she’d gone with a pair of ripped jeans, which didn’t suit Ella’s austere and careful personality. To finish the outfit, she had on a studded collar, the kind that Gina liked to wear. And of course, she was blushing up a storm, clearly not used to wearing clothes like this at all.

“Do… do you like it?” She asked again, even more hesitantly when she saw his look of shock. “…Oh, I know, I look so weird in this!”

“No! You don’t look weird at all!” Nick assured her. If anything her clothes looked incredibly normal, actually. Lots of people wore ripped jeans because they were stylish, and what was wrong with a black shirt? He was wearing a black shirt right now!

Not to mention… the clothes were really nice. Pretty casual, even if they weren’t as stylish as what she’d been wearing before. What really surprised him was what they did for her chest. Ella had a very slight figure (not that Nick was looking) but this particular shirt seemed to emphasize what few curves she did have. Maybe it was due to the shadowing? It was hard to tell, but it looked like her breasts were a lot bigger than they actually were.

...That was one of those things he was smart enough to know not to say out loud.

Fortunately, Ella looked relieved when Nick told her that they didn’t look weird, so she didn’t look any further into his probing gaze. “So… do you think that Cinder will like them, then?” She asked hesitantly.

That was the real question, wasn’t it?

Frankly, Nick wasn’t sure if Cinder would like anything. In fact, he had a good feeling that Cinder could like something, and the moment she heard that he liked it, she would immediately despise it. It just seemed like she was that sort of girl.

But he didn’t want to say something like that, so he refrained, and just smiled.

“I think you look really nice,” he said instead. “I don’t know if it suits you, but I think that Cinder would definitely like clothes like that.”

He didn’t see a problem in saying that the clothes wouldn’t suit Ella, because it was obvious she felt the same way. In fact, she even looked relieved when she heard him say that!

“Oh, good… I-I don’t know much about Cinder’s tastes,” she admitted.

“…I don’t either, to be fair. I mean, it’s not like I’ve had a lot of opportunities to talk to her, or anything,” Nick pointed out.

Ella looked alarmed for a moment there- but then she realized that Nick wasn’t saying that he wished he HAD more opportunities to talk to Cinder, and quickly relaxed.

“Well… okay, I guess,” she nodded, and tried to smile.

Ella had more clothes for Cinder she wanted to try on. Hopefully, her other self would like them.

The fact that she didn’t feel Cinder pushing at the back of her mind had to be a good sign, right? Ella chose to believe it was.