[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/dGFSkqO.png[/img][/center][hr]

She winced at the sight of Astrelle hitting the mattress - not an airy hit, like the grace of a child bouncing on their mattress, but like a...like a [i]wet sponge,[/i] hitting the sink. Or a bug on a windscreen. Nicole stretched out her left arm and pushed her extended index finger into the unoccupied mattress, testing it for any sign of flex. 

[color=ec008c]"Oh my God."[/color] She pressed her finger deeper into the mattress, and although it wasn't firm enough to stop her once she put a little pressure on it, she could almost hear the squeak of a spring inside. A tiny exhale blew through her pursed lips in displeasure, an unbidden little noise that reminded her of the beauty of the human body - all those different systems, working in tandem and unison, to keep people as different as the five of them, Victoria, and all their guards grooving the exact same. Her displeasure must have been a cry for help from her skeletal system that had thrown a little switch in the nervous system, then come out through respiratory...the beauty of the human body, indeed. [color=ec008c][i]And hey, speaking of beautiful bodies...[/i]

"Ha, y'know what?"[/color] She looked back at Astrelle and laughed, impish amusement in her eyes. [color=ec008c]"You look [i]prrr-etty[/i] comfy where you're at, and you're already going to hate me enough when I start leaving skincare stuff out. So why don't I bite the bullet on the first shower and tag you in when it's at Goldilocks temp?"[/color]

After Nicole walked into the bathroom with her chosen set of towels - surprisingly [i]not[/i] starchy enough to have recently cleaned up a crime scene - a clean set of clothes, and a music player on medium volume, the classic sounds of a girl a new shower for the first time started to ring out, muffled, through the walls.

[color=ec008c]"[i]Porca miseria![/i]"[/color]

A few seconds passed. The faucet made a squeaky sound, followed by a squeal of anger and shock.

[color=ec008c][i]"Ma [b]che cazzo[/b] fai!?[/i]"[/color]

Twenty minutes later, Nicole walked out in her chosen sleepwear - a faded black t-shirt commemorating the release of the Sancho Stromboli action classic [i][color=#99F1FF]Be[/color][color=A6E4FF]he[/color][color=#B3D7FF]mo[/color][color=#C0CBFF]th[/color][/i] (a collector's dream that Nicole's dad had gotten for attending the premiere back in his day) and a pair of short emerald shorts - and a forced grin on her face. Her long legs, as well as her forearms and what parts of her collar were showing, had turned salmon. She plopped down on the mattress; the springs squeaked again.

[color=ec008c]"Found Goldilocks,"[/color] she said, grinning through gritted teeth. [color=ec008c]"Watch the cold faucet. That one sneaks up on you."[/color]