Good morning friend, good morning friend

Nick found himself in a very weird position after Kim excused herself from the Master’s Suite. She’d rushed through breakfast in a hurry, stuffing her face with as many eggs, sausage, and hash browns as she could cram down her gullet without ****, and was out the door in a flash.

She hadn’t even wanted to stay for breakfast, in fact, but Mary had been very insistent when she woke up. And since Mary was the one doing the cooking, Kim could hardly argue. Especially when Mary popped a sausage into her mouth and plopped a full plate down in front of her, and Kim’s 100% Completion transformation kicked in.

Nick wasn’t sure how he felt about his wife taking advantage of another woman’s transformation, even if it was ostensibly to help the tomboy. He was concerned that it was the result of the compounding effects of some of Mary’s own transformations, but he wasn’t sure how to bring that up.

Besides, Kim didn’t really seem to mind; maybe he was just making a big deal out of nothing.

“This is delicious, Mary!” Holly chirped. Unlike Kim, she was savoring every bite of her meal. “Still, are you sure you’re okay with her doing the cooking, Dani?” She asked, looking across the table at the blue-haired tomboy. “I woulda thought, since you cooked such delicious food for dinner last night…”

Mary glanced warily at Holly and raised her eyebrow. “Dani cooked dinner, but I made breakfast.” She said it with the certainty of a woman who refused to negotiate. “I think that’s perfectly fair, don’t you agree, Nick?”

She looked to him for confirmation, and what was he supposed to say to that? “I’m happy any time I get to eat your cooking,” he responded with a smile, and Mary turned red.

“Ehehe…” Mary beamed at him and cradled her cheeks. “You’re so sweet…”

Dani rolled her eyes and smiled in amusement. She hadn’t argued when Mary had insisted that she cook this morning, and this was one of the reasons. As someone who had recently discovered the joy of cooking for other people herself, Dani could hardly deny Mary the opportunity to cook for the man she loved, not after Mary had already let her cook one meal for him.

Also…

“If I cooked breakfast, then my I’ll Have What She’s Having transformation would trigger,” Dani reminded everyone. “And as fun as last night was, I’d prefer not to deal with that much arousal this early in the morning.”

Nick looked at her in bemusement. He wasn’t used to Dani being this forward about sexual matters. But over the last few days, she’d really gone through a change. It was like she was becoming her old self again, the girl who used to joke around with him about helping him find a girlfriend. Before it all went bad.

I wonder if she’s no longer so defensive now that she knows things are good between us. Since she can trust me not to do anything, she’s not completely opposed to sexual topics like before, since she’s not standing up for herself against the rules of the show on her own.

They were in this together, all of them. It seemed like Dani finally understood that.

“I didn’t even think of that,” Mary said, her eyes widening. She looked down at the meal she’ cooked, and wondered if maybe it would have been better to let Dani do the cooking after all.

Wouldn’t it be better if Dani got to experiment with her transformation more? If Dani was getting aroused by cooking, I should be encouraging that! She’ll be happy, Nick will be happy, it’s perfect for everyone!

After a few seconds, she quickly shook her head. Those intrusive thoughts were the result of her transformations! She should be respecting Dani’s wishes, not trying to turn her into some sexy chef for Nick’s pleasure!

…That was her job!

“Anyway, you’re completely right, Dani, getting all aroused over breakfast would turn into a serious mess!” Mary asserted firmly.

“Yeah, I guess that’s true…” Holly rolled a sausage back and forth on her plate with the tines of her fork. “What was I thinking?”

The way she couldn’t even look Dani in the eye made it abundantly clear exactly what Holly had been thinking when she made that suggestion. But as much as Nick loved Holly, the way she always tried to turn simple things sexual could get really exasperating at times.

Still, it was one of the many things that he found cute about her.

“Anyway, I’m done,” Dani said, setting down her fork and standing up. She stretched her arms over her head, making her breasts bounce slightly. Not only was she more comfortable talking about sexual topics, but she was a lot more comfortable about displaying the casual sexuality of her body. “Gonna head down, maybe see how Carly’s holding up.”

“Oh, with the whole Emmy thing?” Mary looked at Dani with concern in her eyes. “Good luck with that… she must be going through something very rough, having to care for her daughter the way she is. Tell her I said hi.”

Mary couldn’t imagine what Carly had been through up until now. The baby growing inside her was barely over a month old, but already she positively treasured them. The thought of losing her baby… the fact that Carly could keep smiling after that was a miracle.

“Will do,” Dani nodded.

“I’ll go with you,” Nick said, standing up as well. “I want to go see how Carly is doing, too.”

He moved to follow after Dani but she stopped him with a finger in the chest.

“No… I don’t think so,” the tomboy said, shaking her head.

“Huh?” Nick stared at her for a second, confused.

“Remember? You promised Kim that you were going to take it easy today and rest up for your date together this afternoon,” Dani reminded him.

Nick blushed. “So? Hanging out with Carly and you guys is relaxing.”

Dani crossed her arms over her chest. “Not right now it isn’t.” She shook her head. “Look, Nick, I know you’re concerned about Carly too. And that’s wonderful! It’s because you’re such a nice guy. But I’m not blind. Right now, tensions are high, and the less pressure on Carly and Emmy, and you, the better. Don’t you think?”

She was afraid that this whole thing would be immensely stressful on Nick. Not that she wanted it to be. But Dani knew how sensitive Carly must be right now, and she didn’t want to add even more to her plate. Or Nick’s.

So maybe it wasn’t her place to say anything, but someone had to be the voice of relaxing and de-stressing.

Dani was just surprised that, for once, it was her.

Luckily, Nick didn’t push the issue. He could see where Dani was coming from, and privately he agreed. While he was concerned about Carly, he also acknowledged that those same concerns might just stress her out.

“Okay,” he nodded in agreement. “You take care of her then. Make sure she’s feeling okay. And I’ll focus on myself today. Sound good?”

Dani grinned from ear to ear. She nodded. “Yeah, sounds like a plan,” she agreed, holding up her fist to fistbump him. He returned the gesture and watched as she headed out.

“…Man, I love watching her leave,” Holly said loudly, making Nick jump. He turned and looked at the smirking little gremlin, who wiggled her eyebrows playfully.

“Come on, you know it’s true,” Holly teased.

“I wasn’t even looking,” Nick replied, sitting back down and returning to his breakfast. “That was the last thing on my mind.”

“I know,” Holly said with a laugh. “I got quite an earful last night.”

Nick twisted his face in surprise and stared at her. His mouth dropped open.

“You… you were listening!?” He sputtered.

Holly rolled her eyes. “Do you have any idea how loud the three of you were? I bet the other girls in your harem could have heard you in their rooms!”

Nick didn’t really have a response to that. He remembered the moaning very vividly. But the smug, satisfied expression on Holly’s face was still grating.

“You were listening, though,” Mary pointed out.

Holly turned and glared at her. “Not helping!” She sniffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

Nick rolled his eyes. Same old Holly. He wasn’t even fazed at this point. Then he realized something that hadn’t even crossed his mind until now.

Nola was sitting at the table with them, enjoying her breakfast. That wasn’t the unusual part. The unusual part was that, for once, the leprechaun wasn’t saying anything. She remained silent, eating in peace with a smile on her face.

It was surreal.

Nick decided not to say anything. After all, if Nola wanted to be quiet, he didn’t have any complaints. And he wondered if she was doing that out of consideration for Mary. Oh, how wonderful would it be if THAT were the case?

Just the thought of it brought a smile to his lips.

While Nick was enjoying his breakfast, Dani was heading back to her room. Sure she wanted to check in with Carly and Emmy, but before that, she really needed a change of clothes. The ones she was wearing were kind of…

…

Well, just because they had dried out, that didn’t mean it wasn’t abundantly clear what she had been doing. All that cooking, and the subsequent dinner, had turned her bottoms into quite the canvas of sexual fluids that, while dried now, painted a very vivid picture.

Dani shivered and shook her head. Oh yeah. Next time I’m going up there, I’m bringing a change of clothes. I know better now.

She still smiled. Messed up clothes aside, last night had been amazing. She just hoped that no one would notice.

“Oh hey. You’re back later than I thought. Have a fun night last night?”

Dani jumped slightly as Vivian stepped out of their room just as she was about to reach the door. Her eyes widened and she looked at the smirking face of the heiress. She wiggled her eyebrows playfully.

“Hey… uh… it’s not really that late,” Dani said, shaking her head. She tried to play it off. “Just wanted to get some breakfast.”

Vivian blinked. “…Well, okay then.”

She didn’t push the issue, which Dani appreciated. Especially since Vivian’s transformation meant she knew full well just what Dani had been through last night.

“Where are you going so early?” Dani couldn’t help but ask as she stepped aside to make room for Vivian to pass. Seeing the heiress up and alert this early in the morning was somewhat surprising; normally Vivian was a pretty late sleeper.

“Oh, just gotta check in on some plans,” Vivian hummed. “…With your girlfriend.”

Dani did a double-take.

“Wait, what!?” She exclaimed, her eyes widening. She grabbed Vivian by the arm and spun her around. “Vivian? Are you serious?”

“Hmm?” Vivian batted her eyelashes innocently. “Of course I’m serious, Dani,” she cooed. “Why do you ask?”

Dani didn’t know how to respond to that. She stared blankly at the heiress for a second. “…Sorry, just… a little confused, that’s all. You have plans? With Carly?”

“Something like that,” Vivian said with a nod. “Didn’t Kim mention it last night? We’re going to do something of a clothing drive. For her daughter, Emmy? That’s the plan, anyway. Go out early and buy her all sorts of outfits, since she only has the one.”

Well, that explained why Kim had been so adamant about not taking a Sick Day today. It wasn’t just for Nick’s sake, apparently, she also wanted to get a commission on the clothes that they bought for Emmy. Dani could respect the hustle- especially if it let Kim do something nice for Nick, as well.

“Kim didn’t say anything,” Dani said, shaking her head. “Must have slipped her mind. But I’m surprised Carly would go for it! When did you have time to set this up?” Dani would have never imagined Carly would be willing to have a conversation about something like that yesterday, considering how focused she was on Emmy and how insistent she was about spending the day alone with her daughter.

“Oh, Carly doesn’t know,” Vivian clarified. “That’s why I’m going so early! I want to catch her right now so we can plan it out.”

Dani blinked. “…Ah.”

Well, this had “disaster” written all over it.

“Wait, let me get this straight…” Dani pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. “You and Kim were planning out a shopping trip for Carly’s daughter, and you didn’t run it by either of them first? Is that what you’re telling me?”

Dani just couldn’t with Vivian right now.

“Well, to be completely accurate, it’s less that Kim and I planned it out, and more like I posed the suggestion to Kim and she seemed to think it was a good idea,” Vivian clarified once again.

It seemed like every time she gave more context, the inevitable mess that was coming got bigger in Dani’s mind. So much for Kim being some master strategist who’d planned this whole thing out, maybe she really was only concerned for Nick.

“I think Carly might shut you down hard,” Dani warned. “She was pretty concerned about Emmy yesterday.”

“I know, but I still want to try,” Vivian said. Her tone was playful but Dani sensed a firmness in her voice. Like the other girl really felt that this was the right thing to do.

Dani could understand how she felt that way, but she still wasn’t sure Carly would.

“…Also, Carly will definitely go for it,” Vivian said confidently. “She loves shopping! You can see it in her eyes. Plus, you know, cosplayer, so you know she loves clothes.”

Dani wished she could argue with that, but she could definitely see where Vivian was coming from. It was incredibly easy to picture Carly dressing her daughter up in all kinds of precious outfits and gushing over all of them.

“Hey, you should come!” Vivian said excitedly. Her eyes sparkled. “Come on, just think about it! We’ll get to do some shopping together!”

She looked practically ready to explode. But then she hesitated. “I mean… unless… you’re still doubting whether or not your interest in shopping is a good thing…?”

All the perkiness from the heiress seemed to deflate, and now she was looking at Dani with an expression filled with concern.

Dani shook her head and sighed. “You know… maybe it would be fun,” she admitted. “You don’t mind if I tag along?”

What a stupid question. Mind? Of course Vivian didn’t mind! She was ecstatic!

“That would be great!” She gushed, nodding eagerly. “Yes, yeah, let’s do it! Excellent!”

Dani expected a more subdued reaction, to be honest. She laughed and nodded. “Okay, glad to see someone’s excited,” she giggled, shaking her head. This was for the best. Dani could at least make sure that Vivian didn’t cause too many problems with the other girls. Someone needed to be there to rein in her worst impulses. And hey, she’d been planning to go see Carly and Emmy in the first place, anyway, so what was the harm in Vivian tagging along?

Plus… there was a good chance that Carly would shut them down anyway. And at least then, she’d tried, right?

“Oh, but first thing, you need to change,” Vivian said, giving Dani’s outfit a once-over and clearly not liking what she saw. She shook her head and clicked her tongue like a disapproving stepmother. “I mean, you’re pretty, Dani, anybody can see that, but… in those clothes? I don’t think so.”

Dani immediately got defensive, even though she had come back to their room to change in the first place. “And what exactly is wrong with what I’m wearing?” She asked, crossing her arms over her chest and scowling.

Vivian pinched her nose. “Dude. Your clothes smell like sex.”

Dani turned scarlet. Hearing Vivian’s posh accent say “Dude” in such a matter-of-fact way made her want to die of embarrassment.

“Okay! I get it!” She groaned, shaking her head. “Sor-ry.”

Vivian shrugged. “I wasn’t going to bring it up, but you asked,” she pointed out. Dani detected a trace of anxiety leaching into her voice. “Um… you… you’re not upset, right?” She asked, biting her lip. “You know, about what I just said? With your clothes?”

Dani shook her head. The last thing she needed was Vivian getting all panicky and ****. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. I was going to change anyway.”

Vivian sighed in relief. “Oh, good. I was worried!” She scratched her head. “So, do you want some help picking out an outfit, or…?”

“No, I can handle that myself,” Dani said. Vivian was just trying to be helpful, she knew that, but the problem was that the heiress’s “helpful” was overbearing.

She didn’t want to deal with that right now.

Vivian nodded and let Dani go. “Well, if you change your mind, I know what would look great with those blue feathers!” She called after the tomboy as Dani slammed the door shut behind her.

Once she was alone in the hallway, Vivian slumped against the wall and let out a sigh. “Darn it. What are you doing? You were going so well, too, but you just had to blow it at the last second!” She muttered to herself.

To Vivian, it didn’t matter that Dani had agreed to come shopping with them or even that she saw eye to eye when it came to changing her outfit. She’d messed up, and she knew it. Saying that Dani needed to get changed? Pointing out that her clothes smelled like sex?!

What was the matter with her? That was no way to make friend!

“Okay… deep breaths.” She stood up straight and inhaled, then exhaled. “You can do this. Just be normal! Just be a good friend. You can do that. Don’t push, don’t cause any problems, just… normal. Nice. Friendly. Not… the way you usually are when you think you’re right.”

By the time Dani stepped out of the room, the heiress was all smiles again. She looked at Dani’s choice of outfit, a nice blue top that went with her feathers and a short skirt that showed off her long legs.

“There you go! You look great!” Vivian chirped with a beaming smile. “I knew you could do it if you tried!”

In the back of her mind, she screamed at herself, “Why did you have to include that last part, you idiot!?”