The Sweet Brown

Event:

Libbier had been caught by surprise when she heard the news that a chocolate factory was sponsoring an event where the goal was to enjoy their services. And no matter who you are, the moment you hear that a factory that makes chocolate products want you to test their stuff that can only mean one thing. ALL YOU CAN EAT CHOCOLATE BUFFET. Or at least that would be the first thing that came to Libbier's head when she heard it. And by the first thing that came to her head, let it be known that that thing stayed a full ten mins in her head leaving her frozen looking at the flyer, that she managed to take from the hands of the person that was talking about it, while Nero apologized to its original owner and drool make it mostly unreadable at the end.

After recovering from her chocolate dream stupor, Libbier began to gather information on the said event that would, on her own words, feed her enough chocolate for a month, although anyone that knew her would be able to tell that such statement was seriously overestimating Libbier's self-control when it came to chocolate desserts. After a few rounds of overly excited interrogations of nearby vict... nearby people, Libbier was able to summarize everything that she wanted. All she needed to do was show up with a partner and even if she did not have an appropriate outfit, she would be able to acquire one on-site which made things far easier.

Considering everything, the most important part would be of course to chose who to bring along. If it had been a few months prior her only choice would be Nero, but now Nero wasn't even an option, not to mention that she could not even imagine Nero going anywhere near the appropriate clothing that would fit the dress code of such event. The sheer thought of getting into a suit sent shivers down his spine. So of course, Libbier sent a message to her best friend Lily to meet up at the event, mentioning the important parts only, like there being no need for special clothing, it being a two-person only group and most importantly, being prepared for a lot of chocolate eating. There could be no other option than Lily.

The memories Libbier made during Christmas were still with her, and she still remembered the hot chocolate tasting, the sculpture contest, and most of all the late-night ice skating alone with Lily. At this point, it was very likely that if Lily would not be able to attend the event for any reason, never mind finding another partner to get in, Libbier would completely lose the will to eat any chocolate at all for a month, and this time, even Nero could imagine such statement turning into a reality. In his eyes, Libbier had already let her guard down towards her female friend, and he could only hope history didn't repeat itself, for everyone's sake.

On the appointed day, Libbier made her way to Rose Garden as soon as she was able, rushing early to the spot she had planned to meet Lily at. It was a large plaza, right next to the entry of the event, and there were quite a lot of people going in and out, but mostly going in. There Libbier sat on the granite side of the center fountain, which was the main attraction of the plaza. Many others were there seated as well since it was large and the beautiful water sprouts added a lot to the charm. The entire area surrounding the fountain was a wide area of white marble that extended to the flour gardens that surrounded the plaza. It was indeed a place worthy of a marriage ceremony and one could only imagine the kind of view that awaited inside the venue.

There Libbier waited for the arrival of her friend, wearing her usual clothes and her signature white blue scarf, both excited and nervous by the idea of spending time with Lily.

"I wonder if we will be able to see some nice dresses.", Libbier wondered as she recalled that the event would include some make-believe marriage ceremonies.

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Lily was rather surprised when she received a letter from Libbier explaining that, of all things, she wanted the dryad to attend what apparently was a fake marriage event. Of course the slayer's letter focused more on the fact that participants could eat lots of chocolate, which made the dryad giggle as she knew what that meant. When it came to chocolate Libbier would eagerly eat her belly round, and given her strong metabolism as a slayer that took some real effort.

She still fondly remembered that christmas event where the two of them spent the day together. It started out with chocolate tasting, and Lily had never eaten chocolate before. It had been an experience she couldn't have forgotten even if she wanted to, both because of the miraculous sensation of hot chocolate and how much she had enjoyed Libbier's company. The leafclad girl was an outsider, someone with zero connection to civilization, and while the entirety of nature was her home she didn't have a lot of fully intelligent friends. Basin was one but at the same time ze was alien towards most other lifeforms due to having been formed of stone rather than flesh. In a way Libbier was Lily's first close friend who was fully an equal.

There was no other response possible than that she would come. Apparently attendance required one to be together with a partner, which meant that if Lily didn't come then Libbier couldn't go either. Given how much Libbier loved to gorge herself on anything sweet the dryad would have felt rather guilty if she'd denied her friend the opportunity to attend this fake marriage. That and she had to admit to being curious what a marriage was like for the civilized folk. She'd heard stories but she didn't think they did the entire business justice, given that it all sounded big and important to them. Out in the wild there were courting rituals, but if there was one thing Lily had learned about civilization is that once it decided to do something it almost always tried to do it bigger and better.

And so it was that Lily arrived at the location of the event, dressed like always although she'd put some effort into at least cleaning herself up so she wasn't trailing dirt everywhere. Wandering for days on end through jungles and forests meant that under normal circumstances keeping yourself squeaky clean was a fool's errand, but Lily could understand that in civilization things were a bit different. Although she didn't think Libbier really minded if the dryad was touched by mud and dirt: the slayer tended to care little about those things.

Walking towards the plaza were the two of them were supposed to meet up Lily looked around at the people in the streets. It looked like a normal day in Rose Garden, although there was also an air of excitement. Aside from this big event apparently today was a day where people celebrated the phenomenon of love, which meant that everyone was doing their best to find something nice for their mates, partners and loved ones. Maybe Lily should get something for Libbier? She hadn't really thought about it beforehand because she wasn't very familiar with the custom. Maybe she could find or make something before the day was over.

Speaking of Libbier, Lily reached the plaza and quickly spotted her friend, the short (although still taller than herself) woman sitting at the edge of the fountain in the middle of the open space, clearly waiting impatiently. Smiling brightly Lily raised a hand and called out even as she got closer, eager to reunite with her friend as well. "Hey Libbier!" Basin wasn't here this time around, as the event was meant for couples. That and despite her attempts at making the event sound interesting the earth guardian didn't seem to care much: while ze shared Lily's interest for exploring civilization ze seemed quicker to accept that there were parts of it that zir didn't have anything to do with.

Hastening her step Lily would walk up to Libbier and then give the girl with the multi-coloured hair a big hug, regardless of whether Libbier was still seated or not. "I'm so happy to see you again! Did you wait long for me?"

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Immediately looking around after hearing someone call out to her, Libbier found Lily amidst the crowd and raised her hand in response.

"Lily!", Libbier shouted back. Seeing that Lily arrived made her extremely happy, and as soon as Lily hugged her, albeit slightly surprised, Libbier returned the hug as fiercely as she received it, before replying to Lily with a wide smile, "I'm happy to see you too Lily. And no I haven't been waiting for long, don't worry."

Libbier had recently become accustomed to Lily's highly physical greetings and became able to at least act normally thru them, which also allowed her to enjoy the moment a lot more. For Libbier it seemed that every time she looked at Lily, she found a new small detail she loved. Her tanned skin, tail, hair, eyes, the flower growing on her head that fit her name, and so on. Even so, if she had to pick some characteristics that stood out the thing Libbier enjoyed the most would be Lily's scent, or to be more precise Lily's hair scent. Albeit sweet, which Libbier also liked, it reminded Libbier of the quiet wide grass fields she loved to sleep on while basking under the sun. Of course one could argue that flower fields were prettier but with Libbier's heightened senses the flowers' smell and the noise from the flying insects were a distraction. As such the simpler grass fields were perfect for Libbier, and she enjoyed them immensely.

As such just being near Lily allowed Libbier to feel calm, even if her heart was pumping at a faster rate due to the hug. Still, despite wishing to stay like this for longer, they still had a full day ahead of them so even if they had the time, there was no point to spend it doing the same thing. So Libbier gently let go of Lily's embrace, very reluctantly and moving Lily to sit beside her.

"How have you been? Hope you have not been getting randomly teleported around without me.", Libbier joked, her cheeks slightly rosed.

The plaza was certainly crowded, so it's unlikely that no one was hearing the two's conversation, but that hardly really matters as everyone was focused on their own conversation. Again, if this had happened some time ago Libbier would probably have been extremely aware of it, but right now she is starting to get used to it, and although she is still not sure what she thinks about other people's opinion, she can say for sure that Lily's opinion matters to her.

"Hope you do not mind but this is supposed to be an event that requires us to go in properly dressed.", Libbier said while holding Lily's hand, "I didn't tell you that on the message cause I thought it would be interesting. I hope you don't mind getting our attire together with me at the entrance.", Libbier asked as a slight wind picked up.

Maybe by reflex, or because she was distracted, but when the wind died down and Libbier saw Lily's hair slightly of place, Libbier instinctively reached out her hand and combed it with her fingers. Or course she realized what she did almost immediately and her cheeks shade turned into a brighter and brighter red before she hastily retreated her hand and got up from her seat on the fountain.

"Shall we go?", Libbier quickly asked as if trying to ignore anything that had just happened, before adding with a smile, "We need to talk with one of the event managers at the retreat of the event to gather our clothes."

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"Good to hear!" Lily would have felt a little embarrassed if Libbier had been waiting for her for a while already. Once the hug was broken up she came to sit next to the slayer, smiling brightly and giggling when Libbier referenced the time that the two of them were whisked away to the world of youkai. "Don't worry, nothing of the sort has happened. I think they won't be abducting people for no reason any time soon." It had been an adventure, of that there was no doubt, but the results had been satisfactory for the dryad.

She blinked as Libbier informed her that she'd have to wear a proper dress for this event. The leafclad girl glanced around at the kind of clothes the other people in the plaza were wearing, then back at Libbier. She looked a tad nervous. "Uhm... Is that really necessary? I'm not good with civilized clothes." Of course she usually wore leafs and the like because it suited the wilds better, but there was a deeper reason to it than just that. Although she couldn't blame Libbier for not being aware of it, since she'd never explained it. It had never really come up before.

When Libbier leaned towards her and brushed her hair the dryad blushed a little, but didn't pull back or anything as she let her friend run her hand through the foliage-like mess that adorned Lily's head. Given how it was unkempt and chaotic it was somewhat surprising that Libbier saw anything as being specific as being out of place, but Lily didn't exactly have objections to letting the slayer touch her hair.

Standing up together with Libbier Lily nodded, although she also had a slight frown as she tried to think of how to best explain this. "Okay, so... the clothes you see me wearing are kind of like part of my body. They're separate and I can remove them if needed, but they're grown from my own body and I can feel through them, at least as long as I'm wearing them. Wearing the clothes civilized folk make makes me feel shut off from the rest of the world, which is not a very pleasant sensation." Lily was used to being in full contact with her surroundings. She could feel the wind brushing against the leafs that made her appear decent by civilized standards. Even if most clothes were made of fibers and fur it wasn't really the same.

The dryad considered this, then hastily added. "However I can take a look at the kind of clothes you're supposed to wear and try to imitate them." To demonstrate she stretched out the arm which wasn't holding Libbier's hand and focused. The leafs that covered her shoulder multiplied and moved over her arm, forming a long sleeve which widened at the end. Bending the arm a couple of times to check the result Lily made some minor adjustments to make sure the sleeve would work properly, then looked at Libbier. "What do you think? I can't make a perfect copy but it should be good enough for their standards, right?" She didn't really know what the civilized people expected of events like these, but as long as it looked good enough she couldn't imagine them really having any complaints.

WC: 551
PWC: 1,268/4,000

Libbier was imagining how Lily would look with high-grade clothing, that they were about to get when she heard Lily point out that her own clothes were part of her. This statement kinda made Libbier blank out for a moment, the delusion of Lily being naked crossing her brain like a high-speed train. This lasted but a few moments as the idea was ludicrous to an unfathomable level. Still, Libbier was rather happy to learn something new about Lily, even tho her wish to see Lily in a good dress kinda went out the window faster than she would ever imagine. "I see.", Libbier said, trying to hide her disappointment that she wouldn't be able to see Lily in a fancy dress, as a response to Lily's statement of feeling uncomfortable with normal clothes. Thankfully Lily gave Libbier hope as she explained that she could pretty much copy whatever style of clothes she wanted just by looking. This caused Libbier's brain to quickly catch the escaping wish, reeling it back into while Libbier closed the window to prevent a second escape.

Looking at Lily's example Libbier couldn't but feel amazed as Lily's bare arm grew a long sleeve. It was rather impressive in a lot of ways but it left Libbier thinking that it was actually better this way, as the leafy theme suited Lily. The random thought of what kind of underwear Lily was using did cross her mind, but Libbier quickly shook it off.

"I understand.", Libbier replied to Lily with the usual smile, hiding the storm going inside her head, "You don't need to dress with our type of clothes if you do not want to. In fact, if it makes you uncomfortable then I think you shouldn't regardless. We came here to have fun so forcing yourself to do something like that would be contrary to what we came here to do. Besides, I think that your clothes look good on you regardless, so you will most likely look better with a dress you make yourself than one that would be given to you anyway.", Libbier then started walking towards the venue where she would get her own dress, while gently pulling Lily along by the hand she was still holding, "I had a great idea just now in fact. I will get my dress, and you can just copy it so we go in as a matching set. What do you think?"

Arriving at the entry, which was just a few meters away, Libbier talked with the man at the entrance and explained her wish to have her dress made for her before going in as stated in the flyer that she had seen about the event. She was quickly pointed towards a small tent next to the entry. Going in, while bringing Lily along, Libbier found a woman sitting on a chair with a few catalogs placed on a table nearby.

"Welcome.", the woman said, "Are you two here to pick a dress for the event? Please do pick what you like from the catalogs in the table over there, or if you have any other request we will try to get it done for you."

"It won't be necessary.", Libbier replied, "I'm the only one that needs a dress, but I'm not used to this kind of thing so I would like that you would give me something that would look good. Is this possible?"

"Certainly.", the woman replied before beginning to chant her magic.

[Strong Roll Edit]

The magic did its job, as Libbier felt her attire change, even if it was just illusion magic, it was still rather impressive. Moments after it was done Libbier managed to get a good look at herself in the full-body mirror that was on the side. When she saw herself in the mirror, she was left speechless. The dress had a greenish-blue color scheme that she liked very much and the theme seemed to be something to do with snow, which even tho was a little out of season, it still looked nice. But there was one thing that stood out.

"This dress is extraordinary, that is without a doubt.", Libbier said to the female magician that had cast the spell on her, before adding with a smile, "But why exactly do I have cat ears?"

The woman initially tried to avoid eye contact, but eventually decided to let the truth out, "Well, the spell we use is a special one that randomizes the attire given to avoid people participating with too similar clothes, and although it is set to give party dresses in this case, it sometimes has a little extra stuff randomly thrown into it."

"Well, can you fix it?"

The woman winced before answering, "This spell cannot be removed from the person it was cast on the same day, so I'm afraid that if you do not like it there is little more we can do."

Libbier almost felt like facepalming, as she thought this was something that people should be told before having the spell cast on them. Wait did the woman say it can't be removed for the entire day? What would happen if it had completely given her something absurd? Letting out a sigh, Libbier looked at the mirror.

"Well, I guess it's not that bad. It does give a certain charm to the dress.", Libbier said while checking that the ears could not be indeed removed even by hand, before turning to Lily, "What do you think? Do I look good?"

Libbier Dress:

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The member 'LibertyGear' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

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'Monster Dice' :

Lily was grateful when Libbier assured her that she wouldn't have to change her clothes to something manmade, and it showed clearly on her face. The dryad didn't want to cause trouble or disappoint her friend but it'd be very uncomfortable to be wearing something other than the things she grew herself. It would be a bit like cutting all the leafs off of a tree so you could instead cover it with a layer of fabric.

"Thank you." There really wasn't much else she could say at this point, so instead she gave Libbier a grateful smile and squeezed her hand lightly. "I'll do my best to make my clothes fit the occasion as much as I can. I could even try changing the colours of the leafs if you think that would help." That last part was a bit trickier since leafs were generally green but that wasn't universal. Some colours would be harder to achieve than others, but as long as the outfits didn't get too crazy the dryad was confident that she would be able to cope.

The suggestion that she'd just make her own outfit match Libbier's was a great idea, and Lily was quick to say as much. "I think that's a great idea! That way I'll know for sure that I've got the style right at least!" If the people who were part of the event were the ones who supplied Libbier's dress they couldn't possibly have objections to Lily creating a plant-based imitation.

She was silent as she entered the tent together with Libbier, not wanting to get in the way as she looked around. There didn't seem to be any dresses in the tent, which surprised her at first before the words of the woman made her aware of the fact that the outfits the people were supposed to be wearing for the duration of the event would be applied magically. That was definitely a useful application of magic, since it meant that people didn't have to worry about the clothes being of the wrong size or anything else worrisome. It also might mean that they didn't have to worry too much about making the clothes dirty since they were only temporary anyway. Not that Lily was planning to make a mess but as someone who spent all her time in the wilds it could be difficult to keep up with the standards of cleanliness that the civilized folk often upheld.

As the magic began to change Libbier's appearance Lily watched carefully, although she couldn't make anything of the magic. It wasn't nature based magic, that much was certain, which meant it was completely outside the dryad's field of expertise. However it definitely was interesting to watch how the magic hid Libbier's own outfit while seamlessly covering her body with a fake outfit. Civilized folk liked putting on different clothes from time to time, so it probably was a very popular type of spell.

When the magic ended and Libbier admired her own appearance the leafclad girl tilted her head, the same question going through her head which her friend then voiced out loud. The answer from the woman sounded like she was rather embarrassed that she had to admit that the cat ears were accidental and that there was no way to get rid of them before the event was over. "That's a bit strange." Was there a special reason why someone would design a spell like that? Maybe it was meant as a prank, give someone an appearance they couldn't get rid of for a while.

Fortunately Libbier didn't mind it too much. Instead of spending time complaining the two might as well just go along with it. The dryad quickly nodded when Libbier asked for her opinion "I think it looks good on you! Can you also hear things with those ears?" They were surely fake... or were they? Lily wasn't sure how deep this magic went.

Although that wasn't the most important thing right now. "Okay, hold still for a moment so I can get a good look..." Lily gave Libbier's new appearance a good look-over, then closed her eyes as she focused. She wanted to replicate the dress as closely as possible, so she had to know exactly what she was copying. The leafs that formed her clothes rustled before they changed and multiplied, some of them also shifting colours as within moments the dryad was wearing a leaf-type version of Libbier's dress. Most of it was made out of leafs of various shapes and colours and sizes, but the golden decorations on Libbier's dress were mimicked with woven yellow grass and the soft white fuzz was imitated with thick, fluffy, pale moss.

In addition Lily's own ears had shifted upwards and grown larger while developing a layer of soft fur, turning into proper cat ears while the dryad's usually naked tail had also developed a fur coat. Twisting her new cat tail behind her and twitching her feline ears Lily looked at herself, then at Libbier. "Did I do a good job?" The imitation wasn't perfect: it was clear that Lily's clothes were made out of various types of plants interwoven to create a similar effect, making it look a bit less refined. On the other hand it was definitely Lily's kind of clothing, grown and carefully given shape rather than processed and woven.

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Despite the weird look caused by the ears, the outfit itself didn't seem to displease Lily, which left Libbier happy she had chosen to do this, even if it turned out to be a gamble she was not aware of. Still, Lily approved it and that was all that mattered to Libbier.

"Thanks, Lily.", Libbier replied to the compliment, then added the answer to the question, "It doesn't seem like the ears are real, at least I can still feel my real ones hidden under my new hairstyle and I don't really hear any different than I did before so it should also be some kind of accessory."

Lily seemed satisfied with the answer as she asked Libbier to stay still so she could, what Libbier could imagine being, making her new clothes. This made Libbier slightly aware that her new attire did show a lot of her legs from the front but then again it's not like she would feel embarrassed by skimpy attires. At least not normally, but having Lily stare at her as intently as she was made Libbier blush slightly, as she hoped that her dryad friend would finish things quickly due to both the embarrassment it caused and because Libbier wanted to see the new attire. Libbier was amazed by the entire process, as it was the first seeing it, and she couldn't but wonder how Lily could do something like that so easily. Surely it was something that had to do with her nature as a dryad, and Libbier would definitely not be able to mimic the detailed parts of the dress even if for some reason she was to try making it out of ice and snow.

"Wow!", Libbier was amazed how similar the finished work looked, Lily even went as far as to mimic the cat ears with her own. The attention to detail was amazing, and even if the colors were not exactly the same, the difference was neglectable, as, despite the green colors being near spot-on, Libbier's clothes had a more pale gold in the details, while Lily's seemed far more vivid, which combined perfectly with her darker skin, against Libbier's,

"That is honestly very amazing.", Libbier said in awe, "You even did a splendid job replicating the ears. Although I bet you can actually move your's as a cat would."

Libbier's eyes were glued to Lily taking every single detail they could of the image they were seeing while storing it in the brain with the highest quality possible. Suddenly Libbier felt a slight twitch coming from the female mage that had used the magic clothes spell on her. Libbier looked at her with a suspicious look, to which the woman slightly looked away.

"Ok.", Libbier sighed after a few seconds, "Out with it."

"Well. Actually, despite the ears being fake, it was part of the magic and as such was given functionality.", the woman eventually said, "The ears will react to abrupt eye movement and sudden noises automatically, pretty much mimicking a real cat's."

"That... That's an oddly specific ability for a side effect of magic that supposedly only changes clothes isn't it?", Libbier asked but the woman simply adverted her eyes, "Ok, fine! It looks good so there's nothing to complain about."

"If so, then, please.", the woman immediately moved to show the girls the way towards the event area, trying to skim over any problem, "By all means do enjoy the services provided during this day."

Libbier would normally have a lot so say about the way she was being treated but there was no reason to push the subject and she was here with Lily to have fun, not nitpick the small stuff.

"So she says.", Libbier sighed, before turning to Lily and offering her hand, "So shall we move to the main event?"

Bringing Lily out of the back end of the tent, Libbier found herself facing a whole area filled with tables and people as far as the eye could see. She was amazed at the number of people that could fit such a place, and to be honest she did not understand how they were not making any noise what so ever. It looked weird having so many people together and it still feels like an empty area. Suddenly, as they walked forward, the noise appeared out of nowhere, as if it had been suppressed by something until then. Surprised was clearly shown on Libbier's face to which a nearby waiter quickly responded.

"It's normal to be surprised.", the man said, "One of the services provided by our company includes a noise-canceling barrier to allow the party to go through the entire night while providing peace and quiet to those that wish to rest outside."

Libbier was amazed that they went that far, but once again it was not the time to be impressed, so still holding Lily's hand Libbier turned to the dryad, "So. what should we do first?"

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For Lily changing her clothes to match Libbier's wasn't very difficult. She was by nature an observant person, and beyond that given that her clothes were effectively an extension of herself she could very accurately tell what details still needed some work and which were fine as they were. Combined with the fact that as a dryad she had control not only over plants but her own body as well and it was a rather straightforward process. In some stories dryads were also known to be shapeshifters, although they weren't exactly known for being able to mimic others exactly.

Then again, Lily wasn't quite your average dryad either. The fact that she controlled not only flora but earth and water as well was enough evidence for that.

When Libbier said that Lily could probably move her ears like an actual cat's the dryad giggled and answered by twitching her ears and swishing her tail behind her. She then doubled down by also giving a soft meow before breaking into another fit of giggles. "I know what cat ears are like so copying them is ease. But thank you for the compliment, I'm glad you like it." To further show off her outfit she spun in place, the long back-end of her plantgrown dress swirling around her. Although she calmed down when her friend returned her attention to the woman responsible for Libbier's dress. It turned out that the fake cat ears were supposed to mimic the behaviour of the real deal even though they didn't actually replace the slayer's own ears. Lily had to agree that was a bit of an odd thing to add to a spell supposed to dress someone up, but she didn't really see any problems with it.

She followed Libbier towards the exit leading towards the party, giving the woman a smile despite all the oddness that had occurred inside the tent. It wasn't like she had wanted to make Libbier's dress come with such odd additions, after all, and it looked like she did actually feel rather embarrassed about the entire incident. "Thank you for your help."

Once offered she eagerly took Libbier's hand, the dryad having gotten rather used to that gesture. "Of course!".

As the two of them exited the tent the leafclad girl's eyes roamed freely, taking in the sights before her. It reminded her of other festivals that she'd seen from a distance, but it was also a lot fancier than that. Everyone was dressed up in a manner similar to Libbier or even more so, although for some reason vivid colours and the like were largely avoided. It made Lily stand out a bit, although even if her colours matched the shades and vibrancy of what everyone else was wearing there'd be plenty to make the plant woman stand out. Being a dryad who didn't hide her true nature meant you always were an outlier.

She noted the silence, and the way that the sounds of the party suddenly hit them like a wall of noise the moment they stepped further into the scene. Blinking several times at the way that the sound suddenly popped up as if it had always been there, at full volume, she nearly missed the waiter's explanation that there was a magic barrier keeping the sound from escaping the wedding so the people in nearby homes could get their well-deserved rest. "That's a very thoughtful spell." It also apparently worked a lot better than that dress-up spell that the woman in the tent used. Of course there was less creativity involved... But Lily wasn't one to linger too much on things like that. It wasn't like Libbier looked bad or anything: she wondered what Libbier would be like with actual feline features.

Her brow furrowed in thought as Libbier asked her what she wished to do, but then her expression cleared up as she remembered why they'd come in the first place. "I think I can smell where the food is!" All you could eat chocolate... and cake! That's why the two of them were here after all. The dryad pulled Libbier along as she followed the scent of sugary goodness towards the source, her tail flicking behind her and curling around one of the slayer's legs once or twice. If Libbier looked at Lily a bit closer she'd also see that the dryad's eyes had developed slitted pupils and that her canines were a bit sharper than before. Her nails, as well, were a bit more prominent than before: apparently when the brown-skinned child of nature had decided to mimic Libbier's cat ears she'd also decided to go the extra mile.

Lily's senses weren't quite as sharp as Libbier's, but they were still significantly sharper than those of most people. As such it didn't take very long for her to home in on the buffet, her steps lively and her eyes bright as she walked straight towards it. The chocolate tasting that Libbier had pulled her into during the christmas festivities had infected Lily with a strong love for chocolate and other sweets.

WC: 850
PWC: 3,017/4,000

Libbier was amazed that Lily would be immediately drawn in by the smell of food, and while Libbier could not argue with the idea that eating was certainly one of the major points of the event, she wondered why was that Lily could smell it so easily and why were they going towards the deserts. Lily had shown to be capable of finding exactly where she is according to the general area and Libbier always assumed that it had something to do with her magic, but for someone that had no interaction with... how did she call it, civilization's eating habits?... to pinpoint the exact place of the desserts by smell... could it be that she had realized, as Libbier had, how amazing sweats are?

Libbier allowed herself to be pulled by Lily, amazed by both her enthusiasm and her very accurate feline looks... or she would if Lily's tail hadn't curled around her leg. At this point, Libbier was grateful for her mastery over ice as she was able to cool herself off and avoid looking like a steaming tomato, as she as made well aware of how the clothing spell had left her legs completely exposed and were now in contact with Lily. Her brain struggling to split processing power between managing her magic to avoid overheating and archiving the memory of the skin contact with Lily for posterity. Even if Lily's tail now had a fur-like cover, the feline aesthetic only increased the destructive power on Libbier's mind.

Soon enough they arrived at their destination, and while Libbier was still blushing, her mind had managed to organize itself and she was able to compose herself somewhat. The sight in front of her was amazing in so many ways. Mind not the number of people sitting around speaking, what caught Libbier's attention was the number of different chocolate desserts amongst the other non-chocolate desserts that one would expect to be in a wedding. Then again, this was an event sponsored by a chocolate factory so in a way, it was to be expected. Still, if Libbier were to start eating everything it took a long time to taste everything around. But as she looks around she spotted something that caught her attention. There was cake, and not just one, quite a few actually, it seemed to be some kind of area to try the different cakes, but the number of people around it was somewhat surreal. Surely there was something else going on.

"Hey, Lily.", Libbier called out to her partner, before retaking the initiative lost a few moments ago and pulling Lily by the hand, "Something is going on there, let's check it out."

Sure enough, when they arrived there was something posted right next to the first table. It appeared that there was indeed some kind of special activity going on.

"What is this?", Libbier wondered as she approached to get a better look, "Eh? 'Cut off a piece of cake, then spin three times before immediately feeding it to your partner' it says... what?"

Libbier then took another look at what was happening around the place, and indeed there seemed to be people spinning around for no apparent reason. Still, the idea looked funny, even if a tad silly.

[Edit: Dice Roll 5]

"Looks odd, but fun.", Libbier noted, as there had been already a good amount of odd things going on around here, before going to a close-by cake that seemed to be a classic cream cake with strawberry on top, to immediately cut one slice and return to Lily. But before she could one of the people spinning landed on the cake with a vengeance splashing the cake into everyone in the close vicinity. Libbier, of course, was not spared from this disaster, and because she was leaning in to cut a piece of the cake, it could be said she took the worse part of it.

Libbier froze as her mind tried to understand what had just happened. Everyone was spinning so it was normal to feel dizzy. Yeah, that's right it was something normal, he might have tripped and fallen onto the table. Or that would be what Libbier thought before smelling the strong stench of alcohol.

"This drunkard...", Libbier began to think on how a pretty fun event for her and Lily had been ruined by a piece of trash that can't control his own intake of alcohol, her eyes and hair were even beginning to turn red, but then she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, "Everyone is having fun. It was just an accident. Deep breaths. It's ok."

Libbier stood there in place trying her very best not to make things worse.

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The member 'LibertyGear' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

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'Normal Dice' :

Lily spent most of her time in the wilds, surrounded by a myriad of different scents, most of them organic yet subtly different. Even if her senses weren't quite as sharp as Libbier's her ability to discern between different smells was quite good, allowing the dryad to pinpoint one particular set of scents and follow it to its source. The fact that it was a scent she had grown to love definitely helped, but at the same time one simply shouldn't underestimate the plant girl's ability to find whatever she wished to find, especially if no special measures had been taken. As one who was one with nature there were few places where Lily didn't have an innate understanding of her surroundings, and she tended to avoid those places as they made her acutely uncomfortable.

While she definitely had stroked Libbier's legs on purpose with her tail as a sign of affection and because she thought it was funny Lily wasn't aware just how strong an effect it would have on her friend. If it wasn't for the fact that she was the one leading the two of them towards the buffet she probably would have picked up on it and realized that such lighthearted teasing was too much for the heart of her poor partner, unused to such things. As it was Lily just continued on as before, oblivious to how her actions caused Libbier's mind to go into overdrive while at the same time the only thing preventing the slayer looking like she was about to melt was her frost magic carefully regulating her temperature.

Reaching the area which had been set apart for eating and feasting rather than partying and celebrating Lily looked around at the wide variety of luxurious foodwares on display. None of it was cheap, and nearly none of it was in any way healthy. This wasn't the kind of feast which was meant to fill the belly and serve as a giant source of fuel for the organic machinery called life, this was the kind of feast meant to be a form of indulgence, for one to gorge themselves on and enjoy the various different tastes even if many of them boiled down to various types of sweet. The dominant foodware was chocolate, in all its different shapes and forms: dark chocolate, light chocolate, white chocolate, coloured chocolate, liquid chocolate, solid chocolate, simple chocolate, chocolate with filling, chocolate with nuts and fruits... It was the kind of sight (and smell) which could leave you drooling uncontrollably. However before Lily could get lost in this barrage of enticing sweets Libbier was already pulling her along towards a specific set of tables, one where cake was being served and which was absolutely crowded with people.

If you were aware of the poverty that some people lived in this kind of extravagance might seem unfair, but Lily in her rather naive and optimistic mindset was too busy enjoying the moment to worry about that.

"I wonder why there's so many people here? There's enough food on the other tables." The answer would come soon enough as they happened upon the placard explaining that these cakes weren't meant to be eaten normally, instead being part of a game meant to test your sense of balance and hand-eye coordination... but mostly just intended to provoke moments of laughter. The idea was quite silly, leading to Lily giggling. "That sounds quite fun! Shall we do it?" She knew that Libbier was quite good with her hands, so she didn't doubt that the slayer would have little difficulty finding her mark...

She looked on eagerly and with excitement as Libbier began to cut free a slice of cake that she could then offer to the enthusiastic dryad, but that was the point where someone who clearly had overextended himself both with drinks and with spinning ended up making a mess of the cake by landing on top of it. Strawberries were sent flying, bouncing on the ground before rolling away. Cream splattered in all directions, some of it landing on Lily both most of it either staining the table or hitting Libbier. Lily's eyes widened as she saw this, both out of shock at the sudden interruption and because she saw that the slayer didn't take this well. She knew that Libbier couldn't always control her anger, but she didn't know just how bad it could get. Still, she wasn't going to just stand there and find out what might happen.

"Hey, Libbier?" Lily stepped closer, placing an arm on her friend's shoulder. She scooped up some cream which had landed upon her cheek, laying it out across one finger as she held it in front of Libbier. "Don't worry, he didn't waste all of it. See?" She took another step, pulling Libbier into a one-armed hug with her feline tail curling around the slayer's waist as she held her cream-covered finger up between their faces. She lowered her face as she kept talking, "I didn't do the spinning but I'm sure nobody will mind. I think it's really tasty so you should try it." She gave a soft giggle, her (currently) feline, vivid green eyes warm and caring as she tried to help pull Libbier out of her anger. "Don't worry, my finger is very clean so you can just eat it as it is."

As she talked she also silently used her magic to make some roots crawl out through the stone pavement, picking up the drunken man and carrying him away. More roots would slither through the cracks to take over the load, the previous roots disappearing back underground to create the semblance of movement as the man was slowly carried further away... until finally he was dumped into a pond inside the celebration's boundaries. It wasn't as big as the fountain outside but it was large enough that the dryad could just throw the man in, making him sputter and cry out as suddenly his drunken stupor was abruptly ripped out of his mind by the cold water.

Of course Lily didn't exactly have any ill intentions in doing this: she just figured it would be better to get that man as far away from Libbier as possible at the moment, and give him something to sober up as well.

WC: 1,054
PWC: 4,071/4,000 (Completed)

Due to the single moment where Libbier lost her composure, she could feel her consciousness being pushed aside by her other-self. It was not the first time this had happened, and there was never a good outcome when it did, as being forced to join a dark guild at the time to keep some income going was the only thing Libbier could do as to avoid the authorities while the issue cooled down. Of course, since that time, Libbier has learned how to avoid it happening again, but for the most part, it was about how to prevent it from reaching the point she was now at. After all, no matter how well one prepares there is always something that can easily throw even the most perfect plan out of track. That is were Nero would usually come in, blocking any other 'spark' that could ignite the tensions while allowing Libbier to force herself back to normal. And yet, Nero was not here now, and Libbier had been completely caught by surprise. Still, she could not allow herself to turn on this place, not today, not with Lily there.

Libbier closed her mind, trying to block her senses, hoping no one would instigate her. She blocked herself out until she could regain control, so she could see and hear what was going on around her but at the same time she couldn't, her mind completely focused on calming down. And yet, for some reason, she couldn't. Doubt started to appear in her mind, followed by guilt. "What if I can't control it?", "What if I end up hurting Lily?", "What if... what if...". Her mind raced, her left eye had already completely turned, her hair almost looked purple from all the different blue and red strands of hair mixed together. Libbier realized these thoughts were making things worse but she couldn't stop them. She began to panic, "Why did I think this was ok?", "Why did I forget what would happen?", "If only Nero was here."

That last thought lingered. What would have happened if Nero was here, how would he avoid the situation? As her mind raced to find an answer, trying to find anything to cling on, Libbier smelled something. Even blocking her senses, her smell was still strong enough to detect the food she loved the most. "Nero would give me sweets!", her mind concluded, and as to grab on to it, Libbier unlocked her senses, saw something carrying something sweet in front of her face and immediately got it into her mouth. It was definitely something sweet, but unlike what Libbier expected, it wasn't what pulled her back to normal.

With her senses back, she could see, hear and feel everything again, and in the few moments, after the placed that sweet thing in her mouth, it all came to her. Lily's face in front of her own. Lily's tails wrapped around her. Her hand holding Lily's hand while Lily's finger was inside her mouth. Needless to say, never mind the sweet taste, the shock of this situation caused her eye and hair to turn back from red to their normal blue instantly, and her face to go from white to deep red just as fast.

Libbier's head went into overdrive. So many questions, so many thoughts. But first things, first. As Libbier could feel her mind imploding, she slowly took Lily's finger out of her mouth.

"Thanks for the meal.", Libbier says slowly and as calmly as she could, before adding as she felt her mind giving away, "I think I need sleep now."

And like that, Libbier fainted, with the happiest face one could ever have fainted with. Her final thought was hoping that Lily would forgive her later and not ask too many questions as to why she fainted, lest she dies of embarrassment.

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Lily could see that Libbier was struggling. She didn't know all the details, but it was clear that for her slayer friend it was difficult to calm down once she got riled up. The fact that her hair was changing colour emphasized this, as that definitely wasn't usual for mere anger. the dryad would have to inquire about that later on to get a better idea of what she was dealing with, but for now she had to focus on helping her friend as best she could.

Unfortunately there wasn't a lot she could do other than what she was already doing. The drunken man had been deposited somewhere else so the target of Libbier's rage was gone, and with some luck Lily's own close proximity and the promise of sweets would help calm the slayer the rest of the way down. The leaf-clad girl at least was confident that the girl with the multicoloured hair appreciated her presence, given how much fun the two of them had when they were together. And the fact that Libbier would invite her to such an event out of nowhere even though Lily knew nothing about this kind of thing and hadn't even known about the wonders of sweets before Libbier introduced her to them.

As she stood there, offering the cream, she carefully observed the colouration of Libbier's hair. The red was definitely spreading but it wasn't doing it very quickly, which she interpreted as Libbier doing a decent job of fighting back. If Libbier lost that fight Lily would have to try and evacuate everyone else as quickly as possible: her friend was normally harmless, but as a tree woman Lily was all too aware of how dangerous the powers of fire and frost could be when unleashed. Fleshlings weren't exactly resistant towards those powers either, and if Libbier really let her rage take over the dryad couldn't just assume that she wouldn't lash out at everyone present. In the wilds a cornered, scared or enraged creature became reckless and highly aggressive, and so far Lily hadn't seen anything to suggest civilized folk were any different when it came down to it.

Fortunately it looked like her plan was going to work, as she could feel Libbier's lips wrap around her fingers and lick up the cream that the plant-dressed woman had been offering. Lily didn't pull away, instead letting Libbier enjoy the treat at her own pace even as she saw some of Libbier's usual spark return to her eyes. And then she switched all the way back to normal, aside from that face which looked so red that Lily worried that the woman's body might stop functioning due to all the blood having been focused on the one body part.

Which was... kind of what happened. Lily was sighing in relief when she saw Libbier's rage disippate, but then blinked in confusion, which was then quickly replaced by some measure of alarm when the slayer fainted. Her tail formed more branches to help catch her friend, the dryad looking around. Other people were staring, but that wasn't important. More important was any indication that they had to stick around for any longer... it looked like some stuff was still going on but nothing that she registered as very important.

Picking Libbier up with her tail Lily walked out of the enclosed area, finding a place where she could let her friend recover from the entire ordeal. At the very least they attended the celebration, so that should count for something, right? It wasn't their fault that the drunken man had to go and ruin the entire thing.

WC: 608
PWC: 4,679/4,000 (Completed)