Daine pushed a protesting Miri in front of the floor length mirror. Miri froze as she caught sight of herself. Then she turned to Daine, frowning.
"I thought you said yellow wasn't my color," she said in an almost provocative tone. Daine shrugged innocently.
"This yellow is." Miri sighed and returned to examining herself in the mirror.
"It doesn't fit right," she complained after a moment.
"That's easy enough to fix. Other than that, what do you think?" Miri considered herself for a moment longer.
"It's alright, I suppose..." She let her voice trail off. Daine's mouth dropped.
"Alright? You suppose? It's perfect Miri. You wouldn't find something that suited you better if you searched for a hundred years. Dresses like this are one in a million, and..." She stopped as she saw the corners of Miri's mouth twitch.
"You're teasing me, aren't you?" Miri stopped trying to contain the grin that broke out across her face.
"It's splendid Daine. I still refuse to wear it to the party tonight, but it's splendid." Daine flopped back on her bed.
"You're not going to wear it?" she asked in defeat. Miri shook her head.
"I couldn't. What would Evin say? I don't think..." She broke off, her cheeks flushing. Daine rolled over, grinning.
"I knew it!" she exclaimed in triumph. "You do fancy him!" Miri sighed, sinking onto the bed beside her friend.
"No," she began, but Daine rolled her eyes.
"Don't lie Miri. It's written all over your face." Miri flushed.
"Is it that obvious?" she asked in a small voice. Daine grinned.
"Only to those who know you as well as I do." Miri sighed, plucking at the fabric of the skirt. The dress wasn't overly fancy, nor was it poofy or fluffy or frilly, or any of the other numerous things Miri had been imagining. And she had to admit, that particular shade of yellow suited her perfectly.
"Come on Miri. You should wear it." Miri glanced at herself in the mirror again.
"Do you really think so?" she asked hesitantly, tucking a short strand of hair behind her ear. Daine nodded eagerly.
"Yes I do. It's not every day you get to turn twenty." Miri groaned and buried her face in her arms.
"Don't remind me." She stretched out beside Daine. "Are you saying I should because you are my bestest friend in the whole wide world and you really think it's the right thing to do, or are you saying it because you want to see what sort of chaos it causes?" Daine smiled guiltily.
"Both," she admitted. Miri elbowed her in the ribs.
"Well..." Miri began. " I don't suppose it could hurt. Much." Daine grinned triumphantly.
"Besides, tonight will be much more interesting if you do," she said, dodging out of Miri's reach. They both sat in silence for a few minutes.
"Daine," Miri finally said, breaking the comfortable silence. "Yellow's not your color either."
"No, it's not," she admitted. "Where are you going with this?" Miri grinned.
"Why do you own a yellow dress?" she asked. Daine blushed.
"It's from Numair," she said in a rush.
"What?" Miri asked, though Daine knew she had understood perfectly.
"It's. From. Numair." Daine said through gritted teeth.
"You ever wear it?" Miri asked.
"Again, where are you going with this?"
"Have you ever worn it?" Miri asked again.
"No." Daine grumbled. Miri grinned.
"Just think of how disappointed he must have been."