Getting the dress cleaned had been an ordeal in itself. Most of Marisa's clothes were fine with a rough rinse in a handy body of water, but the dress seemed different. There was no way she was going to risk ruining it. She'd ended up spending ninety minutes in the Scarlet Devil Mansion, pleading with Sakuya to show her the right way to wash it. After several major concessions, Sakuya had finally agreed, and Marisa had learned entirely more than she'd ever hoped to know about hand-washing clothing.
The effort had paid off, though. The dress had looked perfect when she got it home. She'd even pulled the stockings on and taken what felt like an eternity to get them smooth against her legs, then spent a good half-hour in front of the mirror, grudgingly brushing the tangles out of her hair.
When it was all done, she looked, well... presentable. She'd still felt practically naked, stepping out of her cottage without her broomstick or the mini-hakkero, walking across an overgrown path through the Forest of Magic like she'd never read a grimoire in her life.
And now, here she was, standing in front of Alice's cottage. It had only been a few days, but she felt like it already looked a thousand times nicer than the last time she'd visited. The lawn had already managed to grow out just a little, the curtains were open, and a cheerful plume of smoke rose from the chimney. Even so, she still felt a cold little knot of worry in her stomach. "Hey, Alice!" she called as she knocked, rather more gently than last time. "Are ya ready, or what?"
There was no response. Marisa shifted her weight from foot to foot and knocked again; nothing.
"Aaaaaalice?"
Her hand tried the doorknob, the door swung open in front of her, and Marisa uncertainly stepped inside.
Alice's cottage looked like a disaster zone. The corners were piled high with orderly stacks of wood, and several boxes heaped full of doll-sized tools sat in the middle of the floor. Turning the corner into the living room only made it worse—all of the miniature workshops that Alice had constructed had been ripped out, leaving the walls bare and pocked with nail holes. They'd been replaced with three temporary-looking shelves of rough lumber, which extended all the way across a single wall, and had dozens of dolls seated on them in cramped ranks. She was only somewhat relieved to see that none of them were moving. Half-disassembled shelves still leaned against the walls, while the center of the room was completely empty. It gave the whole place an abandoned feeling, and certainly didn't help her apprehension as she moved forward.
The first sign of life she heard was a low rustling from the workshop. Marisa crept closer, pushed the door in just a little...
… and caught a glimpse of Alice's naked back. Blushing furiously, she stepped backward and turned away from the door. "Uh, hey! I'm here!"
"Hmm? You're a little early," Alice said. Fortunately, she seemed oblivious to the peek Marisa had gotten. "I'm almost ready. I hope you won't need to be shown how to brush your hair this time."
"I think I figured it out, yeah," Marisa said, while self-consciously nudging a few strands into place with her fingers. From within the room, she could hear cloth rubbing against skin, and very hurriedly started talking again to stop herself from trying to imagine exactly which article of clothing Alice was pulling on right now. "So! Are you gettin' used to being a squishy human again?"
"Well, I wouldn't say that I'm squishy, but yes, it's been a smooth transition. I was only like that for a week and a half, after all."
"Yeah, I guess. … hehe, just wait until I tell people that you turned human again just because I thought you were cuter like that, though. Totally ruin your whole ice queen reputation, I bet."
"That wasn't the only reason, And I'm not a...!" Marisa could hear Alice take a step toward the door before pausing. "... who calls me an ice queen?!"
"Aya. And Nitori, and Sakuya, and pretty sure I heard Youmu say it once."
"You're making all of this up, aren't you?"
"... yeah, but only because I thought it'd be funny if you tried to beat them all up."
Inside the room, Alice gave an exasperated sigh. In Marisa's opinion, it was a wonderful sound. The rustling of cloth resumed as Alice continued her preparations, and Marisa didn't even realize that the sound was getting closer until she heard the door swing open behind her. She turned around, and—
And Alice was wearing a midnight blue ball gown, which looked like it filled half of the workshop behind her. The skirt was hung with an elaborate pattern of darker lace, and a white ribbon cinched it in around her waist. A pair of matching opera gloves led up to her bare shoulders... bare all the way across, even, with a neckline that teased at just the slightest hint of cleavage.
Marisa didn't even realize she was staring until Alice's voice broke through to her. "Marisa? I said, how does it look?"
"Eh-heh. The big version looks way nicer than the little one did."
"W-well. Um. Thank you." Alice self-consciously smoothed the skirt out as she inspected it. "I normally wouldn't wear something quite so ostentatious, but it felt nice before, so..."
"Hehe. You're blushing so hard it looks like your cheeks are gonna pop."
"Y-you don't have to point it out!"
Alice's blush only intensified... and that was before Marisa pushed her back against the doorframe and kissed a burning cheek. "Calm down. I already told ya it's cute."
"Yes, I remember," Alice said. Her blush only slowly faded as Marisa pulled back from the kiss, and the two lingered in the doorway until Alice cleared her throat and hurried to change the subject. "I wasn't about to ask the tengu to let us on the mountain again, so I made us reservations at a restaurant in the village. We'll probably look out of place, but... I'm sure that you're used to that by now."
"I look mostly normal. You're the one who's wearin' a dress that makes your butt look the size of the moon. … uh, in a cute way! I guess."
Alice sighed, but a slight smile still tugged at her lips. "Yes, well. If you're done insulting my butt, we do have a date to attend to." She offered one gloved hand over. "Shall we?"
