The tea party is almost good to go.

The tea is hot and ready, and the bite-sized sandwiches and dessert treats are now laid out. The cups are arranged neatly on the table and the pixies did a good job on the folded napkins. Everything is ready for Mimi and Rize’s arrival.

Aside from their lovely host, it seems.

Kaname looks at her dresser, still unsure of what to wear for this month’s party. She’s already worn her favorite dresses and it’s a habit of hers to not wear the same thing twice. But none of her favorites even fit today’s occasion.

She shifts further into her closet but finds nothing good for the occasion. The pixies soon find her waist-deep inside her grand closet, searching for that one dress that will complete the whole tea party.

“Um, mistress?” one of the pixies says. Kaname makes a grunting noise that almost sounds like a muffled ‘Yes?’ “The guests are here.”

Kaname jolts and crawls from her closet. Her hair is now tousled across her face while her underdress is bunched up and wrinkled. She tries to smoothen it out and fix her hair back on its place.

“I’ll be there shortly,” she says. “Tell them that they can partake in some biscuits while they wait.”

“Yes, mistress,” the pixies say before they return to the tea party.

All alone, Kaname faces her wardrobe with a disgruntled sigh. While a good dress is important in any tea party, being an accommodating host is far more important. So she just pulls a regular long-sleeved shirt and skirt and settles for a mediocre outfit for the day.

* * *

Rize glances from her teacup to Kaname, who’s sitting quietly and sipping her tea at the front of the table. Meanwhile, Mimi is staring shamelessly with a confused look on her face, as if saying ‘Are you looking at this?’ The pixies hover above them, looking uncomfortable. Rize wishes that she can spare them from this weird awkward tension.

“How are you liking the tea so far?” Kaname asks.

Mimi still can’t speak, so Rize answers instead. “It’s good, as always,” she says but stops herself as she decides whether to address the elephant in the room or not. “You look very…tame today.”

“You mean underdressed?” Mimi finally speaks.

“Mimi!” Rize says, but Kaname shakes her head and shushes her.

“It’s alright, Rize. I do admit I’m overly undressed, if there’s such a word for it,” Kaname explains. “It’s just… I think I’ve run out of good dresses to wear for our tea parties. I don’t even know what to wear for this month’s party.”

Mimi smiles. “Oh, Kaname, it’s all the matter of patterns. You just need to miss and match the patterns of your dresses with the parties,” she explains. “Though it works if you have a lot of good pattern-printed dresses.”

“You can always get more from lolitain.com,” Rize adds. “Hm, I think I know which dress would fit you for this occasion.”

With a snap of her fingers, Kaname’s outfit changes to a pink Lolita dress with an Alice in the Wonderland print. It’s soft to the touch and decorated with lace and bows, quite fitting to the theme of this month and Kaname’s style. Kaname twirls her skirt.

“It looks so cute on you!” Rize swoons, but Mimi has a look on her face that tells otherwise.

“It’s good, good, but not quite enough,” Mimi says. She waves her hand and another dress replaces the other one.

Now, Kaname is wearing a black and red Lolita dress with a black corset-style top with a lace choker. The skirt is decorated with red frills and print patterns of cute animals wearing Victorian-style dresses. While the previous dress is cute and soft, this dress is bold and alluring. Rize even tops the whole get-up with a red bow in Kaname’s hair.

Mimi nods appreciatively at Kaname’s outfit. “It brings out your eyes,”

Rize doesn’t look convinced. She stares at Kaname’s dress before her eyes light up and she turns to Mimi. Mimi doesn’t get what Rize is trying to say, but then her eyes light up as well. They snap their fingers at the same time and Kaname’s dress changes at one final time.

Now, Kaname is wearing a blue frill Lolita dress with a printed pattern of colorful assorted hats and accessories. While the dress is simple in its design, it is topped with neat stitching and ribbon bows – Kaname’s favorite. Kaname takes a look at her dress and feels the softness of its skirt.

“It’s perfect!” Kaname says. “Thank you.”

Rize beams at her while Mimi gives a brief grin before sipping her tea.

The rest of the tea party goes well, now that the missing piece of the party is complete.