Disclaimer: I don't own any of Tamora Peirce's stories or characters, but I DO own the dress.

Author's Note: Hullo! I'm not sure if this one will be embarrassing as some of the others, but it is a little embarrassing, so I figured I'd stick it in here. See, I had a dress that I was going to wear to the Home Coming dance but I bought a new one, but I LOVE the dress I was going to wear, so I decided to write it into this story… kind of a lame reason for writing a story but, then, who cares? Any who, enjoy!

A little Girl Time

Daine sighed as she looked at the dress on her bed. She wasn't really in the mood for a ball. There were better things she could be doing. She began to strip down and pulled the dress on over her head. She looked in the mirror. It wasn't a bad dress, as dresses went. It was a simple dress; light blue and long-sleeved with a low back and a v-neck cut and an a-line skirt that just swept the floor. It accentuated her curves nicely. She didn't want anything fancy and this certainly fit the bill. She had simply gone down to the seamstress and asked for a dress in her size, she had barely looked at it, just so long as it was plain. As she pulled a brush through her hair and swept it up on her head a knock came on her door. She slipped on her high-heeled shoes (the biggest pain of all, in her opinion) and went to the door. When she opened it, she saw Alanna and Thayet standing outside her door. "Oh, hello." Daine said, slightly surprised, "Is… there something you need?"

"We came to help you get ready." Thayet said.

"Oh." Daine said tightly, "Don't you have more important things to do?"

"No. We're both ready. The ball doesn't start for another two hours." Alanna replied.

"Well as you can see, I'm ready and I don't need help. But thank you." Daine said turning back to her room.

"You call that ready? I masqueraded as a boy for 8 years and even I know you can do better!" Alanna retorted.

She was right. Alanna wore face paint in earth tones. Subtle though it was, it looked lovely on her. Her shoulder-length red hair was pulled back and curled slightly. Thayet wore face paint as well, in dark shades that nicely accented her features and her dark hair which was gracefully swept up on the top of her head. Daine sighed. "I'm not wearing face paint." She said.

Alanna and Thayet took that as the best invitation into the room they would get and stepped inside. Only now did Daine notice the boxes and parcels they held. "Oh, no! Oh, no you don't! I am not letting you put any of that on me! Why are you taking this sudden interest in me anyway?"



"This is your first ball with a lover. With Numair, that is." Thayet told her, "We decided you ought to look nice."

"Well I don't want any part of this. Numair thought I looked perfectly pretty without baubles and bangles and face paint and I don't need it now."

"All men like it when you dress up for them. Of course they think you're lovely without all of the extra bits, but you should see their reaction when you dress up." Alanna said.

This was true, though Daine hated to admit it. Numair had always looked at her as if she were some wonderful lady when she dressed up, rather than just the plain Daine she liked to be. Daine sighed. "Are you really going to make me do this?"

"At least look the stuff over." Thayet said reasonably.

"All right, I give up. Let me see."

Daine sat on her bed between the queen and the lady knight as they began to unpack what they had brought with them. Thayet opened a box and began to go through its contents. This is the face paint we brought for you. It's all very light and subtle, nothing outrageous. She pulled out all kinds of colored tubes and containers, brushes of all sizes, and a charcoal pencil. "What in the world do we need all of this stuff for?" Daine asked picking through the things littered on her bed.

"This is powder to go over your eyes, lip paint, eye pencil, powder to give you color, cream to make your skin one tone, and paint and a brush for your eyelashes." Thayet said, as she named various tubes and containers.

"That's just downright scary." Daine said, looking at the long brush meant for her eyelashes.

"It's not as scary as it looks." Alanna reassured her. "Now, I have some perfume for you, which I don't use very often personally, but we brought some for you anyway." Alanna pulled out a few bottles of liquid.

"I don't see why women would want perfume, though. If you're worried about how you smell, just take a bath." Daine said.

"Well, don't animals give off scents when they're trying to attract a mate?" Thayet asked.

"Yes, but I'm not an animal at the moment and I'm not trying to attract a mate. I already have a mate… I mean…"

"No, you're right. You already have a 'mate.' Even though you're not trying to attract one, wouldn't you like to please yours?" Thayet asked.



Daine blushed. "Numair…" Daine mumbled on incoherently.

"What?" Alanna asked, leaning closer.

"Numair… says I smell wonderful all the time." Diane said, blushing.

Both other women bit back smiles. "Still, there's nothing wrong with perfume. Just give it a try." Thayet said.

"I don't see what's so funny about it. Certainly Baron George seems to think you smell alright." Daine said turning on Alanna.

Now Alanna blushed slightly, knowing her husband wasn't opposed to public displays of affection. "Yes, he does, but I still wear perfume sometimes and he likes that just as much. Numair seemed to like women who wore perfume well enough before he met you."

Daine feigned offense. "Fine. If that's the way you want to be. Just give me the weakest one." She said more quietly towards the end.

"Lastly, we have a dress." Thayet said.

"But I have a dress. I'm wearing it." Daine said.

"We have one that fits better." Alanna told her.

"This one doesn't fit well?" Daine asked.

"Not as well as it could."

Thayet pulled out a parcel and ripped it open. "This one is perfect for you."

Daine took the dress and inspected it. "It doesn't look all that special." She said critically.

"Try it on." Thayet urged.

So Daine tried it on and looked in her mirror. She gaped at the reflection. Alanna and Thayet both looked impressed. "It's perfect." They all said.

Indeed it was. It was a dusty purple color that brought out the gray in her eyes, with black glitter swirls and roses patterned all over it. It had a scoop neck that didn't go too low, but showed a fair amount of skin with half-sleeves and a skirt that dropped just below her knees, showing off her smooth calves. It clung to her figure perfectly. In the black high-heeled shoes she looked absolutely perfect. "So, are you willing to let us dress you up?" Thayet asked.

"Goddess, I'll do anything you like if you just let me keep this dress!" Daine said.



Alanna and Thayet laughed as they went to work. "So… your mate?" Thayet asked after they'd been working on Daine for a bit.

Daine blushed under all the paint they had applied to her. "It was just the wording…" She said quietly.

"But for animals aren't mates those they… mate with?"

Daine blushed even deeper. "Not always. It's just a partner. It could as easily be a husband or wife."

Alanna sighed from behind, where she was working on her hair. "What Thayet is beating around is… have you and Numair…?" Alanna trailed off.

"Ah! No!" Daine shouted, appalled at the way this conversation was going.

"Don't move! And it's alright if you have. You're not in Snowsdale anymore. People don't talk as much here." Thayet said, pulling Daine back toward her.

"I know that!" Daine said offensively. "I just don't want to talk about it."

"So you haven't." Alanna said.

"No… you don't have to worry about me. Numair is very honorable." Daine couldn't help keep some slight disappointment from her voice.

"It gets annoying, doesn't it?" Alanna asked her.

"I wouldn't mind if he was… well, a little less honorable."

"All of this will take care of that problem." Thayet told her with a smile.

"You mean to tell me that you're only dressing up so Numair will want to bed me??" Daine blurted it out without really meaning to.

"NO!" Both women shouted back, blushing.

"We just thought it would be nice for you to dress up now and then." Thayet told her.

"Oh…" Daine blushed.

All three sat in silence, still blushing slightly, before one of them finally spoke. "I suppose it would be a perk, though, wouldn't it?" Alanna asked mischievously.

Thayet glared over Daine's shoulder as Daine herself blushed deeper and all three were silent once more. At last they finished and brought Daine to the mirror. "Goddess. Is that really me?" Daine asked, awed. She looked like a court lady.



"IF your accusation WAS really our plan all along, and I'm not saying it was," Alanna said defensively, "It would certainly work."

Daine couldn't help but giggle. "Thank you. I don't think I'll want to do this again anytime soon, but thank you anyway."

"That reminds me. I made this for you, though I wasn't sure if you'd need it or not." Alanna reached into a satchel that had been full of jewelry and fished out a thin gold chain and dropped in Daine's hand.

Daine held it up to the light. It was a simple necklace, strung with a few beads and charms. "Um… thank you?"

"It's a pregnancy charm." Alanna told her happily.

Daine wanted to die.

--

Thayet and Alanna walked Daine out into the main room of the apartment at the palace she and Numair shared. Numair was waiting there for her. "Mithros, Minos and Shakith." He whispered as she walked out.

Daine waited for him to say more, but he seemed to be incapable of saying much else. "Do you like it?" She asked quietly, smoothing her skirt out.

"You're beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. You're wearing face paint too."

"They talked me into it." Daine turned around to see that Alanna and Thayet had slipped out. "Well, they were…"

She was suddenly silenced as she learned just how much her lover really liked her new look.

--

The next morning found Daine out in the stables, talking to Cloud. Alanna walked up quietly behind her. "Hello, Alanna." Daine said placidly.

"Damn. How can you always tell?"

"Animalistic senses come in handy."

"You seem to be in a good mood."

"Yep. Numair liked my outfit. I wanted to thank you."



"I suppose he liked so much you just decided not to go to the ball after all our hard work, hm?"

"Sorry. I took it off."

"Goddess, why?? It took an hour!"

"I decided to go to bed early."

"But I thought Numair liked… OH! Well… uh, good for you."

Daine blushed. "Er… thank you."

The two women were silent for a time. "So, that pregnancy charm lasts for 50 uses, and it'll warn you when it's about to go out. I'm sure you'll need another one soon."

Daine blushed furiously. "ALANNA!" The shorter woman had already dashed out of the stable laughing hard.

A/N: Yeah… that was reeeally long. A lot longer than I originally thought. Hmm… Oh well. Long and silly and a puff of fluff at the end. Those're the best. Enjoy!