"And the cultivar dropped out of fashion in favor of varieties with thicker leaves that had an easier time growing in dark places, which, naturally, but the slight blue-green sheen you get right here on the edges, that's unique to this cultivar, and when the Hybrasilian Seed Archive was founded, we thought that there weren't any more of these around, a hundred-year-old strain gone, [i]until[/i] a hobbyist from Vúlacuar found a bag of seeds in his grand-aunt's shed, [i]but[/i] it had been water damaged, which is [i]deadly[/i] for seeds, so it was a race against time to try and-- huh?"

Dolly blinks like, yes, a barn owl as she's accosted by Angela, mid-gesture at the gorgeous Seastone Fern that they have here, spilling hungrily out of its pot. She takes a step back and bumps into a stool, her tail curling defensively around it as she is accused of, of...? Getting away with something? "Ai! Aiiii mean hello!" Dolly's eyes cross for a moment as she tries to focus on the barrage of accusations and the neurofiber, which has Jade on it and, oh, oh no! Oh no no no no no!

[i]"Oh, hello there, Angela Victoria Miera Antonius," Jade purrs, draping herself over Dolly, hands roving over the dress she'd designed. A nice, tight dress to show off her Dolly's curves, fringed at the collar and shoulders, with a beaded skirt swishing and dangling down her thighs to her knees, disguising the fact that it was dangerously short-- except from the back, where it dipped very low indeed, below her bouncy curls. Impossible to hide that. The use of bright Compass colors in bold arrows was a deliberate Hybrasilian fashion statement, old-fashionedly religious: black, white, red, and blue. Dolly's fur provided the yellow. Her earrings, too, were fringed, with real blue and red feathers. A high priestess for the modern era, a messenger for a goddess, someone who didn't need confidence when she had a goddess pressing up against her bare back. "Fancy seeing you here. Dolly, don't apologize."[/i]

"I'mmmmm," Dolly says, before eating the word [i]sorry[/i]. "Glad to see you made it!" [i]"Oh, Dolly, she's going to assume you thought she couldn't make it."[/i] "I mean, I knew you would! Why wouldn't you?" [i]"Because we trussed her up, Dolly. Remember her squirming on your shoulder? Making such cute noises? Mmmph, mmmph~"[/i] "I'm! I mean! I [i]mean![/i] Hi! Sorrrrr." [i]"Shhhhh. No apologizing, remember? Chin up. Shoulders straight. Look her in the eye, and tell her you don't have a game."[/i]

"I don't have a game... Angela, Victoria, Miera, Antonius!" [i]"There we go. See? Try to remember the name next time."[/i] "I'm just a humble priestess," she says, gesturing downwards at herself. "Really, I'm honored to get to be here alongside the likes of you!" [i]"Flattery. Really, she should be honored. She just doesn't know it yet."[/i] "I'm... not thrilled that somebody wrote that!" [i]"Good save. Good girl~"[/i] "IIIII, think you did good, no, I really did! It's not your fault you couldn't beat Jade, and [i]haughty heiress[/i] is just a dumb headline alliteration. It was fun, and--"

[i]Smokeless Jade Fires flows down Dolly's gloved arm and flicks into the air, resting there at Angela Victoria Miera Antonius's side, putting her chin on the back of one hand. She's mostly like a Hybrasilian, but her tail is huge and brushy and silky; her fur is black, and her cobalt hair is stiff and styled like two wings of a helmet, flanking her goddess mask: a black fox, eyes and ears and upper lip limned with gold. Below it, her teeth are like the fangs of a TC "vampire," or the fangs of a Marshwolf. She lifts her free hand, and Dolly's leash falls neatly into it. She tugs, and Dolly feels her collar stiffen around her neck. "Come on, Dolly. Let me get a good look at her."[/i]

"And, really, I mean, as long as we both had fun, [i]I[/i] had fun, did you have fun?" [i]"Oh, she definitely had fun. She belongs on her knees right next to you, don't you think? What could be more fun than that?"[/i] "Sure, maybe, knees, knees got bruised?" Dolly makes an exaggerated shrug as she starts circling around Angela, trying not to look like she's sweating and flustered. "But you're Angela Miera Victoria-- [i]Victoria Miera[/i] Antonius! Aaaaaand!"

[i]More of Jade's hands pull Dolly's hands onto Angela Victoria Miera Antonius's hips as she's in the middle of turning around, and Jade doesn't care that Dolly's stepping on the train. Jade's leaning in close, drinking in the glittering hair, the swell of Angela's hind end, tail wagging. "Mmmhm, mmmhm~! Just like I thought. Good girl, Dolly. Okay, over here, let me get a look on this side before she explodes~" Tug, tug! Swat, swat! Get moving, Dolly![/i]

"And I think that participating in these games is a good form of cultural interaction and exchange between our cultures and I'm sorry about the...!!" [i]"The mark? Mmmm. No. We're not apologizing for that, Dolly. Do you really want her approval more than mine?"[/i] Dolly, blinking, shakes her head, tail swishing in flustered agitation, as she ends up right back in front of the Haughty Heiress. [i]"Good girl. Now. Go ahead and be your cute self. Win her over. I know it's tough, but I believe in my Dolly~"[/i]

"What I [i]mean[/i] to say is... can I make it up to you? I honestly, [i]really[/i] don't want you to feel bad. No games. I just had to do the circle thing forrrrrr cultural reasons! You know! A friendship thing! I'm so [i]silly[/i], I didn't think to explain, I'm just, the neurofiber was a lot, and I got all flustered, and! Please? I promise, whatever you think of me, I can try to make it right." She dips into an approximation of a TC curtsy that her beaded skirt was definitely not made for.

Dolly stands there, heart hammering, extremely incredibly aware that she's being stared at by everybody. [i]I'm being a quirky little alien[/i] might have a shot at working on Angela, but every single Hybrasilian in the room knows that's definitely not what she was doing, the sleek-furred girl she was talking to about the fern is staring incredulously at her, and Jade is dragging her tongue up her [i]ear[/i], and Jade watch where those hands are [i]going[/i] she doesn't need the encouragement, and she wants to melt into the floor but in a way that can [i]definitely[/i] be seen through her dress. She puts her gloved hand over her bare one and gives it a little squeeze to steady herself as seconds drag out into subjective years, waiting for Angela, Mierida, Victoria, An..gel...os? Her last name is [i]not[/i] Angelos. A...? Aardvark. NO! Anton?! ANTONIUS. And she didn't even need Jade purring it to remember!

[Dolly makes an Entice roll, forced into the role of a manic pixie dream kitten, and barely manages a [b]7[/b], because she's a little flustered cutiepie.]