So I just stand here, sorry, searching for something to say

Nick’s heart was pounding in his chest. And while part of him thought it was because of Morgana, and how the conversation involving the goth girl had taken a very awkward and highly intense turn, another part of him wasn’t so sure about that.

He wasn’t just feeling nervous or awkward after having confessed how he felt about Morgana and her change in appearance. He was also feeling really aroused. And he knew exactly what the culprit of his arousal was.

The awkward silence hanging between the two of them provided a bit of reprieve, but Nick knew it wouldn’t be enough. So when Morgana opened her mouth to say something, and try to get the date back on track, he had to interject.

“J-just wait a second,” he said quickly, startling the goth girl. Morgana looked at him for a moment, confused. She saw his flushed face and felt a sinking feeling in her chest as her eyes widened, and she realized why Nick was suddenly looking at her like that.

“O-oh…” she gasped out, covering her mouth with her hands as her face burned. “That, um… you’re right…”

She shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other, knowing the problem but too embarrassed to say anything… especially when that would just make the problem worse!

“…Sorry.” It ended up being Nick who awkwardly apologized to her. He knew he was ruining the flow of the date, but he still had to acknowledge it. “To tell you the truth, um… I had a really awkward encounter this morning with… with your roommate.”

It was too embarrassing to actually refer to Amelia by anything else, including her name. But Nick had maybe been a bit too circumspect, because it took Morgana a second to realize what he was talking about.

“My roommate? But my roommate is…” When she did, her eyes went wide and her mouth fell open. As she stared bulgy-eyed at Nick, he felt his face burn hotter. “Y-y-y-you… w-with Amelia-?!”

Lucky for Nick, the high pitch of her shriek of surprise was distinct enough from Morgana’s natural speaking voice to not trigger Sotto Voce. That allowed him to keep a cool head at least.

“It wasn’t like that,” he said, his face heating up regardless. “It just… it was unavoidable. Sylvia boosted one of her transformations yesterday and the effects were a little stronger than she expected, and it got out of hand. But it’s fine! It’s just… it got me worked up a little.”

Logically he shouldn’t be feeling this awkward about the topic of conversation. After all, he and Morgana had engaged each other physically on multiple occasions by this point, it wasn’t like she was some blushing virgin who couldn’t hear about Nick’s sexual experiences. But he still found himself uncomfortable with the whole situation, especially since it was Amelia he was talking about.

Morgana also looked really awkward. But that was just her normal.

“And I guess, y-you, um… you didn’t do anything… last night, either…” Morgana bit her lip, her eyes inadvertently flickering down to the front of his trousers before shooting back up to meet him in the eyes again. Only for her to realize that he’d caught her staring, which led her to immediately look away once more.

Yeah. Definitely awkward. Especially since Nick knew she was right, and his date with Cinder and Ella yesterday had not resulted in any sexual activity given the nature of the complicated girl he’d gone out with.

“…Right,” Nick mumbled. “So… I’m a little… not handling this as well as I could.”

He felt like a complete jerk. Why even say anything? Why find ANOTHER reason to make today so awkward and uncomfortable? Things were finally starting to get into a good mood again, and he’d just gone and messed it up by saying that!

But… what was he supposed to do? Try to power through it even as Sotto Voce kept making him feel aroused, without addressing the problem? That seemed like a really bad move on his part, and he could easily imagine making Morgana really uncomfortable later in the date.

She wanted to go out on a date with me just the two of us, to get to know each other as individuals. Without any sexual elements involved. And look at me… look at what I’m doing… I can’t believe it, I’m making a huge mess of things. Nick wished he could have just dropped it. But sadly, life wasn’t so sweet to him.

“I shouldn’t have said anything,” he said quickly, shaking his head. “It’s just a transformation… I mean… it’s fine, I’m fine with it, so-”

“No, it’s alright!” Morgana shook her head. She understood why Nick was embarrassed, and honestly… she was glad he was so worried. She raised her head and gave him a dewy look, her eyes sparkling slightly. “I’m… I’m actually really happy,” she confessed.

Nick’s eyebrows rose. That wasn’t what he expected to hear. “You… you are?” He asked curiously. “Why… no, never mind, it’s okay,” he said, realizing that this was probably pretty private for Morgana and prying wasn’t going to help anything.

But Morgana wanted to clear the air. They couldn’t get this date back on track until everything was resolved. “You’re so concerned because you’re worried about me, right?” She said softly, gazing up into his eyes. “You’re afraid that… that if you start getting… h-hor- horn… …aroused because of me, that… I’ll feel bad, right?”

She tugged on her collar and looked down. “And that… since I… since I don’t want to be seen as just a sex doll… that… that you would… wouldn’t… would… I…” Why was this so hard for her to say? Why couldn’t the words come to her? Morgana felt so weak and exhausted, like she’d just run a marathon or walked up a moderately-sized flight of stairs at a slow pace. But she powered through her wariness with all the strength she could muster. “…I’m not a sex doll. But that doesn’t mean you have to feel guilty about… getting aroused. I’m not going to think it means you’re only with me for sex… I know it’s because of my transformation… okay?”

Morgana raised her head and looked sweetly up into Nick’s eyes, and saw the relief flashing across his face.

“…I’m glad,” he sighed, relaxing a little. “Sorry, it’s just… I was really worried, you know? Sorry.”

Morgana giggled and shook her head. “No… it’s okay, seriously,” she assured him. She walked over and gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder. “It really is, Nick. I mean it.”

Feeling her touching him like that set something off in Nick. He was already being bombarded with sexual feelings just hearing her talk, and now for her to touch him as well…

…There was definitely one thing Morgana didn’t have to worry about, and that was her fear that the only value she had was in her sexy body. She was doing a great job right now of proving that Nick could be just as aroused by her original figure, even if a transformation was doing most of the legwork there. Still, Sotto Voce or no, Nick was definitely imagining picking up Morgana’s spindly frame and laying her on the ground and-

He pulled away, embarrassed. The straining feeling of his erection in his pants was occupying his thoughts, and the longer Morgana touched him the harder it was going to get.

Morgana’s eyes widened as she realized why Nick had shied away from her, and she pulled her hand back as her face burned with embarrassment.

“L-l-let’s… let’s… um… n-not,” she stammered out finally, shaking her head. “Not… right now, I mean… that’s…”

“Yeah, I agree,” Nick said slowly, even though his penis had other thoughts.

Morgana and Nick (well, his brain at least) were on the same page here. They wanted to have a nice date where sexual desire wasn’t at the forefront. If they couldn’t do that, if their time together kept being clouded by sexuality, then it was like a tacit admission that their relationship was purely about sex.

And neither one of them wanted that to be the case.

So even though it was killing him, and his penis would probably hold a grudge for a good long while, Nick **** himself to not focus on having sex, and to put aside those desires for later.

Morgana chewed on her lip, her face aflame. She appreciated how hard Nick was struggling to accommodate her, she really did. At the same time, she felt incredibly guilty. After all, he was going through this because of her, wasn’t he? That’s right, it was for her sake. And she couldn’t do anything for him? How fair was that?

“N-Nick…” her voice cracked and she raised her head, looking him in the eyes. Her face was burning even brighter.

Nick swallowed and fought back his urges brought on by her bewitching voice. “Y-yeah? Um… w-wait, could you… make it short?” It felt like a rude thing to ask, but given the circumstances…

Morgana nodded, understanding where Nick was coming from even as embarrassment burned across her face. She took a moment to compose herself and focused on him. Then she lowered her voice into a deep whisper, trying to get as far away from her natural tone as she could to avoid the effect of her Sotto Voce transformation.

“I don’t think I was clear… before…”

Nick tried to focus on what she was saying, but honestly, the husky tone she was using kind of sounded hot in its own way, even if it was distinct enough to not trigger Sotto Voce. But at least with this he was able to keep his head cool.

Whatever it was Morgana planned to elaborate on, it clearly looked like it was putting pressure on her. She looked up at Nick with wariness in her eyes, and then **** herself to keep talking.

“…I do want to have sex with you,” she said finally, letting that statement hang in the air for quite a while.

Nick wasn’t sure how to respond to such a blatant admission. Especially considering the façade she’d constructed around the purpose of this date in the first place!

Then, slowly, Morgana’s eyes drew wide, and she realized that she’d forgotten to explain the most important part. Leaving that out made it sound like she wanted to-!

“N-n-n-not right now!” She blurted out, shaking her head so wildly her twintails smacked against Nick’s chest and her hat nearly popped off of her head. “I-I just meant-! …Eventually! Tonight! If-if you want, then, then I want-! I mean-!”

Morgana was so mortified she was just about ready to call the date here and now. Or scream at Dawn, asking for a rescue. But she didn’t do those things. Instead she balled up her hands into tiny little fists and stood her ground. Luckily, Nick was giving her all the time and space she needed to compose herself, and she couldn’t thank him enough for it.

Finally, after several tiny breaths to try and calm herself down, Morgana raised her head, and attempted to explain herself better.

“…I know what I said before about not wanting you to just see me as only being good for sex,” Morgana said, forgetting about Sotto Voce in the heat of the moment. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to have sex later… tonight… like… like normal. Does… does that make sense?”

She hoped it did… but she couldn’t see how. It hardly made sense to herself! The two sides of Morgana’s brain were at war with one another- the side what wanted to be seen as more than just a sexy witch girl who Nick wanted to sleep with, and the side that also really, really liked sex because it felt really good.

How could she balance the two!?

Luckily, it looked like Nick understood where she was coming from. Which was a surprise, because she didn’t understand fully herself until she heard him explain his thoughts on the matter.

“I assumed that was the case, don’t worry,” he assured her. “And I was planning on having sex with you tonight, too… if you were willing to do that, I mean. I would understand why you wouldn’t want to, after what you said before, but… I’d really like to show you that it doesn’t matter what you look like to me, Morgana. I still find you sexually desirable, even like this.”

Sotto Voce had done a real number on him. Normally he would NEVER say something that blunt about sex around a girl as easy to fluster as Morgana. That kind of bluntness was better for someone like Carly, who primarily enjoyed a physical relationship with him. But with his self-control being whittled down by Morgana’s arousing words, he couldn’t keep that side of himself restrained.

But that bluntness was like a smack of reality upside Morgana’s skull. She felt like the whole world was turned upside down for a second, until she realized… shit.

Her mouth fell open in amazement. “That… that’s-! That’s exactly right!” She gasped out, not realizing how badly she wanted that very same thing until Nick said it. “You mean it!? You… you really-?!” Her eyes bulged out of her skull.

Did… did Nick really want to have sex with her even though she looked like this? Sure, it was because of Sotto Voce, but…

“I’m sorry, that was too direct of me, wasn’t it?” Nick’s face turned hot. “I just…” It felt wrong to blame Morgana’s transformation for it, almost like he was blaming her. So he found himself momentarily at a loss for words.

Morgana shook her head rapidly from side to side. “It’s fine! I don’t… I don’t mind. It’s just, um… we… we need to… find a solution, I mean…”

She reached up and rubbed her neck, gulping. “I need to know that’s how you really feel… about me… not just my transformation doing its thing.”

That was the fear that still burned in her chest. That Nick was only saying this stuff because he was aroused by her voice, and that with a clear head, he wouldn’t even look at her. Nick was concerned that was where her mind was going as well, and he wished there was something he could say to convince her otherwise.

“Aww, how sweet. Are you two done yet?”

Nick and Morgana both jumped in surprise. They turned to see Dakota standing in the middle of the street, cane in hand, arms crossed over her chest.

She looked rather impatient.

“D-Dakota?” Nick frowned. “What are you doing here?”

“On my date?!” Morgana sputtered, her eyes rolling in her skull.

“I could ask you two the same question,” Dakota huffed. “What are you two doing here?”

They both stared at her, unsure how to answer that.

“…We’re on a date,” Nick replied, as Morgana nodded timidly in agreement.

Dakota raised her eyebrow. “Oh! You are? Sorry, I wouldn’t have guessed. Because you two have done nothing but stand here on the sidewalk talking to each other and getting embarrassed, rehashing the same issues over and over again. And the audience is getting pretty impatient!”

She waved her cane and summoned up a screen for them to see.

“Rip the goth titty dream”

“Morgana so cute”

“TITTIES WHY”

“She was great… what a travesty.”

“Biggest blimp disaster since the Hindenburg.”

“#GetMorganaPreggers”

“I think it’s sweet! They’re trying their best together!”

“Morgana is a Morongana. She shoulda just left it alone”

“Agreed, boobs were better.”

“New pic cute I would smash”

“Same”

“What a waste of 9000 BP”

“I think the real problem is that she’s boring.”

“I preferred when she was a witch girl”

“MORE SPELLS!”

“Yes, #SpellsForMorgana #MorganaCoven”

“#MorganaCoven”

“Get her 1000 ccs of cactus, STAT”

“Rip chat lmao the booby dream gone”

Morgana stared at the string of comments flying past, mortified by how many people were upset at her change in breast size. Embarrassed, Dakota quickly withdrew the screen and cleared her throat.

“…Okay, well, most of the comments are actually on your change in physique, not necessarily the impact of the discussion,” she conceded. “But still, is this really the date you two are after? Just standing around talking?”

Her eyes shot to Nick’s crotch and a mischievous grin pulled her lips wide. “Although… I definitely see the merit in that, as well…” She insinuated, earning her an embarrassed look from Nick.

“Yeah, I get it,” Nick muttered, his face getting hot. “That isn’t the point though, right, Morgana? We’re just going at our own pace. Sorry if us having to talk about our issues before we can get this date going is too inconvenient and boring for you.”

Dakota held up her hands. “Look, do whatever you like, all I’m saying is that if our little witch friend here wants to stand out and recapture the audience’s favor, just chatting isn’t going to do it. Let’s get this date started, Morgana! Don’t you have a ton of things you were hoping to get to today?”

Morgana’s eyes widened as Dakota’s words sank in and she nodded quickly. “A-actually, that’s right, I d-do,” she admitted sheepishly, shooting a furtive glance towards Nick. “If… if that’s alright… …I’m really okay now.”

She was going to work on not trigger Sotto Voce as much as she could, and hope that would be enough to keep Nick from a state of perpetual arousal on their date together.

Dakota smiled, pleased that Morgana seemed to be listening to reason. “Excellent! Then there’s nothing to be concerned about! …Oh, but since you were talking before about having fun tonight, I thought I would pass something along to you…”

She waved her hand and pulled out a bounty poster from the board.

“I offered this to Kim first this morning, but she shot me down, said that I should give it to you instead, since it’s your date night with him,” Dakota explained. “I figured there wasn’t any harm, since Kim has first dibs anyway. Referrals are fine with me.”

Her eyes twinkled.

“Oh, and before you ask… YES, it must be done within the next 24 hours.” She shot a look at Nick as she said that, and he rolled his eyes.

Morgana read what it said and her face went as white as it used to be.

HAVE ANAL SEX WITH THE MASTER

REWARD: 5000 BP

“Th-that much!?” She stammered. It was over half of what she’d spent today. She’d be able to pay Dawn back, and have a little bit left over for a rainy day! And all it would take would be… anal sex…

She gulped and her eyes shot to Nick. He stared back at her, slightly alarmed, but mostly just unsure of what to say.

“Well?” Dakota tapped her cane on the ground like a ticking clock. “Going once…? Going twice…?”