And look up smiling at you

Nick didn’t have a problem with Kim stopping by her room to grab some new clothes. While he had no problem with her going around with buttons flying off her top, he understood why she might have an issue with that.

It also gave him an opportunity to check up on Gina, and see how she was doing. Mainly, she was lazing around the lounge outside, not doing a whole lot.

“Kim kick you out?” He asked, raising his eyebrow.

She snorted and rolled her eyes. “Her? Nah, no way. Just can’t stand it in there for too long,” she said, waving her hand dismissively. “Never been a huge fan of overpowering sweet stuff. It makes me feel like I’m stuck in Candyland or something.”

Nick laughed. “You hated that game,” he remembered.

Gina rolled her eyes again. “It’s a stupid game!” She protested. “If you don’t land on the shortcut and someone else does, well, that’s it! There’s no strategy it’s just draw the cards and hope you land on the shortcut.”

“Oh, so you like strategy games?” Nick leaned forward on the couch, smirking. “Because I know a couple board games that are way more strategy-based than just drawing cards from a deck, if you wanted to try.”

Gina scrunched up her face and gave him a dirty look. “…Don’t you have a date to be getting back to?” She said snippily. Nick knew full well that she didn’t like games that made her use a ton of brainpower. The rock-paper-scissors of Pokemon was about all she could muster without just giving up out of sheer boredom.

Gina, at her core, was a woman who valued simplicity, even as she went and made things harder for everyone else.

“Thanks for lending Kim a bra, by the way,” Nick said, changing the topic suddenly. Gina raised her eyebrow for a second, surprised.

“Uh, yeah, no problem,” she replied, shaking her head. She reflexively moved her fingers like she was smoking a joint, one of the common behaviors she used to delay responding to something, only to remember that she didn’t smoke anymore. Blushing, she lowered her hand. “She agreed to wash it, so…”

“You should be doing your laundry regardless,” Nick pointed out, looking at her sharply.

Gina scrunched up her face into a scowl. She knew he was right, but she didn’t have to like it!

“Well… just don’t tell your stepmom, please?” Gina begged. “I’m trying, dude! But remembering to do your laundry every day? What am I, a robot?”

“I… don’t think you need to do it every day,” Nick told her. “Amelia can be a little overzealous about that kind of stuff. That’s a massive waste of water.”

Gina blinked. “…Oh. Um… well, right on,” she said, sinking back onto the couch and kicking up her legs onto the table. She nodded slowly. “Right on…”

Nick stared at her, wondering why she was acting so weird.

“Gina… are you high right now?” He asked cautiously.

The punk girl nearly fell off the couch. Gina kicked her legs up wildly and scrambled to sit upright, staring at Nick with wide eyes.

“Wh-what!? No, no, I’m not-! How would I even get high!?” She exclaimed, her face heating up. “It’s not like they have that kind of stuff around here!”

Nick held up his hands. “Sorry!” He hastily apologized. “I just… you were acting so weird and distant, I just thought…”

Gina swiftly shook her head from side to side. “No! I’m not high, I just, well…” Her blush was getting stronger and her voice was losing some of its firmness. The more she spoke, the more she started to trail off slowly.

“I… I don’t… really… know what to say…” she mumbled out slowly, her face practically glowing crimson. She looked warily up at Nick, who stared back at her, stunned.

“…Gina?”

The dark-haired girl fidgeted with her hands in her lap, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. “You… Nick… it’s… we don’t… we don’t do this, you know?” She mumbled out. She refused to look Nick in the eye, much to his surprise.

“…Do what? Talk?” Nick’s eyes widened as Gina nodded slowly, sending her tangled locks bouncing around her head.

“…I’m not always the best company,” Gina pointed out quietly. “Usually, it’s like… people are talking to me, but I’m just kinda… cracking jokes, or whatever. And when it’s just the two of us, well, we’re fucking, but it’s Kim’s night with you, so I just… haaaah…”

Gina slumped over, her shoulders sagging with annoyance. She tilted her head up and looked Nick in the eyes.

“You get what I mean?” She mumbled.

Nick actually did understand that word salad. Gina was right- they hardly ever got one-on-one time anymore. Certainly not like this, where it was just the two of them talking like old friends. No wonder Gina was so uncomfortable, this was so far out of her comfort zone…

Holly’s face came to mind. He was reminded of their discussion this morning, about how it sometimes felt like he was taking her for granted, and that he needed to be more mindful of how he treated her and remember that she should be cherished too.

“Well… that doesn’t have to always be the case,” Nick said encouragingly.

Gina’s eyes widened.

“What I mean is… we should hang out more often,” he explained. “You know, just… chill, or whatever, I guess. Without sex having to be involved.”

Gina threw back her head and laughed. “Dude… you forget where we are, or something?” She cackled, shaking her head. “Come on now. What would we even have in common?”

“We could find stuff to do together,” Nick said, not about to let her weasel out of this. “Maybe play Candyland or something.”

That got her busting up her sides, as he knew it would. And that helped Nick relax. Seeing Gina like this… it was refreshing. He was glad that he could still bring a smile to her face.

“I take my eyes off you for five minutes, and you start hitting on my roommate? What a guy, gotta say…”

Nick jumped when he heard the amused, exasperated voice of Kim behind him. He turned around, eyes wide, and saw her approach him with a grin on her lips.

She was wearing another schoolgirl uniform. This one seemed to cling even more precariously to her figure, which alarmed him.

Gina whistled. “Looking good there, Kim,” she hollered. “You look liable to bust right out of that thing!” She reached down and cupped her own breasts for emphasis.

Kim scrunched up her face in a dirty look before turning back to Nick. She batted her eyelashes and did a twirl.

“It’s not that bad, right?” She asked hopefully. “I know it’s a little tight on me…”

“I think you look great,” Nick assured her. He shot Gina a look that practically ordered her to say something nice rather than a snarky, cutting jab.

“What do you think I am, a word-smith or somethin’?” Gina sank back in her chair and stared patiently at Kim. Deprived of her snark, she had little left in her limited linguistic skills. But disobeying a direct order went against everything she knew to be true as a sub, even if she was a smart-ass masochist by trade.

“I… like the way it looks like your buttons are gonna fly off again,” she said with all the sincerity she could muster.

Kim sighed and slumped her shoulders. She **** a smile to her face regardless, though, and rolled her eyes.

“That’s gonna have to be good enough, huh?” She said in exasperation.

Gina offered her roommate a crooked grin in consolation. “Did my best,” she teased.

Nick felt like he was getting a little peek into their dynamic as roommates. It called to mind a little of the dynamic between Dawn and Gina, with the diligent, hard-working no-nonsense girl paired up with the free spirit who went at her own pace. Only in this case, Kim seemed to have a little more tolerance for Gina’s nonsense than Dawn did, which was a good thing.

That being said, her tolerance definitely seemed to be wearing thin. And it wasn’t because Kim thought Nick was “putting the moves” on her or anything like that, she had just been joking.

He stood up and turned to Kim. Even if it was just a joke, Kim was right- he should be focusing on her for their date.

“Well, I guess we’ll have to end our affair here, Gina, I’m sorry,” Nick apologized, giving her a “sincere” look of apology.

Gina’s mouth fell open and she clasped her hand against her breast. “Ahhn… oh…”

Kim grinned and rolled her eyes. “I’d invite you to come with, but… where we’re going, we need a bit of intimacy.” She looped her arm around Nick’s and hugged him close, pressing her chest against his shoulder.

“ZIP!”

Gina had to duck from flying buttons as Kim’s face went pale with mortification.

“Fucking damn it!” She cried, quickly covering her chest and turning away before Nick could see her in this state. Her face burned with shame. “I… darn! This was the last one I could actually fit over my boobs!”

Gina popped up from under the table with a cheeky grin on her face. “Well, I’m not a word-smith but I’d say it couldn’t actually fit.”

Kim gave her a sulky look that Nick was relieved to see was more playful than actually angry. Gina may have liked pushing Kim’s buttons but there was a back and forth in their relationship that Kim seemed to enjoy- unlike with Vivian, who Kim clearly disliked in a way that was not fun and games.

“When I get my hands on that billionaire bimbo…” Kim muttered venomously, confirming Nick’s suspicions that Vivian was somehow related to Kim’s sudden increase in breast size. The irritated tomboy still covered her breasts and stomped towards her room as Gina sat back down on the couch.

“Too bad Carly’s MIA,” she said, shaking her head. “She coulda asked to borrow one of her cosplay outfits. I’d bet my whole stash back home that she’s got some skimpy schoolgirl costume in that closet of hers,” Gina said with a snort. “Can’t exactly break in and take it, though.”

“You should probably throw that stuff out when we get back,” Nick advised her.

Gina gave him a stunned look. “Oh… yeah, right, when we get back, uh-huh…”

It was obvious at a glance that the punk girl hadn’t given the first thought to what their situation would be when they left the show, which wasn’t a surprise to Nick. The punk girl was very much a “live in the moment” kind of person. That had been the case ever since they were kids. Unlike Dakota who was always thinking about the future, Gina had always enjoyed just enjoying the time they had together for what it was, and didn’t spare a thought for what would happen next week, let alone the possible months from now when they were finally released from this place.

Looking back, that was probably why things between the three of them had gone down the way they did. If Gina had thought through the possible consequences of kissing Nick instead of just going with her heart, maybe none of them would be here now. But Nick would never blame her for that.

“Why don’t you buy the clothes for her?” Gina asked, raising her eyebrow. “You can get her anything she wants for free, right?”

Nick nodded. “I brought it up with her, but she turned it down, said something about not wanting to set one foot in there if she’s off the clock.” Kim had seemed kinda squirrely when he mentioned it, too, so he didn’t press the issue.

“Sounds rough,” Gina said, nodding sympathetically. “Super rough…”

“We can always ask Carly to lend us one next time we see her,” Nick said. Personally, he was very interested in what Kim would do for clothing now. She was making a way bigger deal of it than she needed to; couldn’t she just tie her shirt like Mary did, instead of trying to button it up? For whatever reason the usually-level-headed girl seemed to be focus on the impracticality of buttoning up her blouses over a set of boobs that seemed to want to defy being contained.

“Should be a fun conversation,” Gina said, cracking a grin and nodding in approval. “Gimme a call when you have it, I’d love to see Kim go begging hat in hand.”

“Not on your life.”

Gina and Nick turned to see Kim poking her head out behind the corner, her cheeks red and her eyes narrowed in fury at the punk girl.

“Found something already?” Gina raised her eyebrows in surprise. “That was fast. You better not have raided my closet!”

“Like I could!” Kim scoffed. “Your clothes are all so grungy, none of them would fit the criteria I need!” She shook her head. “No… this… this was the best I could do. But you two better not say anything, okay!? I hate this outfit enough as it is!”

That got Nick’s attention. As far as he knew, Kim didn’t have very many things that could be considered “outfits”. Her transformation restricted her to schoolgirl uniforms only, and any other school-related clothing that would apply to specific situations, like a school swimsuit for the beach or bloomers for the gym. But while the white shirt she wore yesterday when they were working out would be fine with her new figure, they’d already exercised for the day so he doubted Dakota would let that fly.

Sighing, Kim stepped out from behind the corner and showed her date what she meant when she said “outfit.”

Nick’s eyes widened in surprise

“Don’t say it,” Kim hissed, glaring furiously at him, and then at Gina. As much as she hated wearing this, it was really the only thing she had in her closet that could preserve her sense of modesty. Normally she would have just bitten the bullet and dressed in underwear if she had to, but she was trying so hard for this date… she wanted to wear something nice.

Her qipao may have been about as much of a slap in the face as you could get when it came to cultural sensitivity, but at least it covered her, even if her newly-enhanced figure made the damn thing practically skintight.

“I think you look… just great…!” Gina was clearly holding back her laughter, not wanting to upset the poor girl. Which was actually very thoughtful by her standards.

Kim wasn’t exactly in the best mood to appreciate that, though.

Sighing, she turned and looked at Nick, feeling as if every hair in her body was standing on edge. She really, really hoped he would be decent about it.

“Kim, I think it looks fine,” he said gently. He understood why she didn’t like to wear it, but he was proud that she had. “You look beautiful.”

Her face was ablaze. She averted her eyes, fidgeting. “B-beautiful, huh? You know I’m not Chinese, right? So wearing this, it’s like… so fucking gross.”

“Please, white girls wear that shit all the time,” Gina scoffed.

Kim glared at her.

“Gina might be a bit out of line, but hey, it’s whatever,” Nick said, gently turning her shoulder so she was facing him again. “I know you don’t want to wear it, though. Are you sure? We were just talking about how we could ask Carly to borrow something.”

Kim sighed. “Yeah, that might be… a long-term solution,” she supposed. “Right now though… I guess we’ll go with this.”

She let her arms fall to her sides and stood up straight, not trying to hide herself from Nick’s appraising gaze.

He appreciated that, given what he got to see from her.

Kim’s breasts really did look amazing against the red fabric. They pushed forth insistently, almost obscenely, a look that was only enhanced by the fact that she seemed very embarrassed by what she was wearing. Even if that embarrassment had nothing to do with the costume itself.

At the very least, her nipples weren’t pointing out. So it just reached the level of being suitable to wear in public, at least by Kim’s standards. Although, after working so long in the boutique, Kim’s standards for public decency had become a little more… malleable.

That was neither here nor there, though. And Nick certainly wasn’t about to complain about her choice in wardrobe either way.

“So let’s just go?” Kim asked urgently. Her eyes slid over to Gina for a second, feeling how much the punk girl wanted to laugh. She appreciated the restraint but it still made her feel really gross and objectified. “Please?”

“Yeah, of course,” Nick agreed, taking her by the hand. “Where do you want to go?”

“L-let me lead the way.” Kim stumbled forward, nearly falling over. The qipao was already tight on her slender figure; with her breasts as big as they were it felt like the rest of her body was vacuum-sealed in the damn thing!

“Stupid piece of…” she muttered under her breath, shaking her head as her face turned hot. “How were women supposed to walk in these things?”

“I think the one you’re wearing is more for showing off than anything,” Nick informed her.

She couldn’t really argue with that. Nature walks and garden strolls were definitely off the table now. But Kim at least managed to make it to the elevator.

“So what’s the plan?” Nick asked as they stepped out into the hotel lobby. Well, Nick stepped out. What Kim did could be more considered toddling.

The redness in her face did nothing to alter the determination in her stare, however. She held her head up high and pressed forward, heading towards the hotel exit.

“You’ll see,” she simply said, leaving Nick little recourse other than to follow her and hope for the best.

It was quite hot outside, and Kim didn’t appreciate being in such a thick garment, even one pulled so thin. As if she needed more reasons to want this thing off of her! But it was fine.

“You remember our… what was it, our second date?” Kim turned and looked at him seriously. “When we went for a walk on the beach?”

Nick nodded. He remembered their last date, too, which had ended with sex on the beach. Wait, Kim wasn’t suggesting…

“I thought… well, look, I don’t exactly have a lot of experience dating,” Kim mumbled, her face burning as she looked him in the eye. She took Nick by the hand and looked down the hill towards the glowing white sand. “But I thought… we could have some fun together on the beach again. Just the two of us. Not a big party like last time. Maybe even go for a dip in the water.”

Anything to get out of this stupid dress. But this had been Kim’s idea even before several wardrobe malfunctions had **** her into her last resort.

“I think that’s a great idea!” Nick nodded in agreement. The smile of relief that stretched across Kim’s face tugged at his heart and made him giddy. “The beach sounds perfect, Kim. Let’s do it!”

“Yeah!” Hearing Nick agree made Kim feel like a massive weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She took him by the hand, and they headed down to the shore.

Even if she was stuck like this, it didn’t matter. Kim was just enjoying spending time with Nick again. Some real one on one time, without having to worry about anybody else interrupting them.

As someone who had to spend half her day behind the counter, she knew how precious that was.