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Josette held the fabric up to her face. It was mostly soft, save for the sequins. The hems where satin met tulle were so well stitched that not a bit of tulle frayed, leaving a perfectly smooth experience on her cheeks. She breathed in the scent of fresh linen mixed with rosewater.
“Oh, you already found your dress!”
Kloe’s voice knocked Josette out of her fashion-induced reverie better than the whack of any stick. She bundled the dress up in her hands and stuffed it behind her back. A futile effort, because the dress was so poofy that it popped out behind her figure, framing her in a cascade of blues and pinks. She cleared her throat and tried to sound gruff. “Sorry. I saw it sitting there and…” Her voice trailed off as she registered what Kloe had just said. “Wait, sorry. My dress?”
“Why, yes!” Kloe leaned her face into her hand, her smile scrunching her eyes closed. Goddess, she was so cute when she did little motions like that. Josette was already feeling warm, and when Kloe walked up and reached around her to tug at the dress, the accidental brushing of Kloe’s fingertips made her all kinds of dizzy. She let Kloe tug the dress free from her claw-like grasp. Kloe, the princess of Liberl–the princess of Liberl! --held the collar up to Josette’s neck and began smoothing the material along her body. “This looks like it’ll fit wonderfully. Oh, I’m so excited for tonight!” Her warm purple eyes met Josette’s wild, wide-eyed gaping. “Aren’t you?”
Back in the day, Josette would have easily snapped into lady mode. She was well accustomed to having two facades, one of them being a dainty girly girl, holding her teacup with a pinkie extended. But the more time she spent with Kloe, the less able she was to navigate the Lady Capua persona. There was no ease in anything she did. She was always flustered.
After a few seconds of grappling with her beating heart, she found herself able to respond. “Yeah. Yes! I certainly am… excited for tonight…”
Kloe giggled and released her from her tortuous grasps. She swept across the room to the rack of dresses Hilda had pulled out earlier. Josette had been around the castle enough to know the maid’s names. What did that say about her relationship with Kloe?
They were friends now. They were good, good friends.
Kloe pulled a sparkling red dress from the rack and held it up close to her body. “What do you think?”
The dress was a newer fashion. Some new fad along the lines of ‘mermaid chic’. Josette had read about the designer’s vision in a recent fashion mag from Erebonia. The purpose of the cut was to accentuate a woman’s wide hips. Kloe was slender and trim, unlike Josette, who had been filling out more and more (and more than she would like to acknowledge). But with this dress on, she would look very mature, daring, and despite her intentions… sexy.
She cleared her throat. “Looks good. I think it’ll look good.”
“Wonderful.” Kloe shifted out of the sweater she’d been wearing. As Josette’s eyes went wide, she blushed. “Sorry, would you like a partition brought in?”
Weak in her knees, Josette nodded. “I would like that very much.”
There was something about this material that felt cool to the touch, almost wet with slickness. Kloe ran her fingers up her stomach and turned to the left. She had miscalculated in the dress choice. This was far too scandalous attire for a formal dinner party.
Ah, well. At least Josette was here to help her pick another outfit. She felt more than a little shy as she knocked on the partition. “Are you done changing? How’s it feeling?”
From the other side came Josette’s rough chuckle. “Honestly, I feel like a million mira. Are you done changing?”
“Yeah.” Kloe bit her lip as the partition was pushed aside. Her fears were pretty much confirmed as Josette’s face turned about the same color as her dress. “It’s too much, isn’t it?”
Josette averted her eyes. “No! It’s… you look really good. Goddess, I mean!” She cleared her throat, taking a moment to compose herself. Josette was so cute like that, always blurting things out and having to backtrack or clarify. It refreshed Kloe to be around someone with so little filter. “If I feel like a million mira, you look like a hundred million.”
A warmth of affection spread across Kloe’s chest. “Thank you! I was worried it was too daring.” She swept her eyes over Josette. “And wow! You look incredible!”
The compliment was sincere. Josette’s fuller figure was well suited for an empire waist. The dress brought out the femininity of her form way better than her flight attire did. Kloe reached forward and rubbed the tulle sleeve between her fingertips. “You look so soft.”
Josette never seemed fully comfortable with her compliments. This one was no different. She spluttered and tossed her head. “I mean–sure! Thanks! I’m glad I can–I’m glad it looks good! I’d feel bad if you went through all this trouble and it was too small!”
Kloe laughed as she took Josette’s arm, wrapping her fingers around her wrist. “The only thing we need now is to accessorize! I have a bangle that’ll be perfect with this blue. We’re going to have such fun tonight. Oh, I wish Estelle could be here too!”
That seemed to touch a nerve. “Yeah well, she’s too busy romping around the countryside at the moment. She never gives you enough of her time, does she?” Josette raised her nose. “Some friend! It’s a good thing I was in Liberl when you called.”
“Indeed.” It may be a rotten trick, but when Kloe wanted Josette to come out of her shell, it always helped to egg her on with mentions of Estelle. She drew Josette to her side and walked her out of the dressing room. “We’ll have plenty of fun without her.”
Josette didn’t seem to notice how close they were standing, now that she was distracted by her rivalry. It felt good, walking hip to hip with her. “You’ll find I’m a lot better at parties than that bimbo,” Josette went on, because once she got started it was hard to reel her back in. “Besides, you think Estelle could pull off a dress this fancy?”