"Ohh... I just don't know," Rose sighed, looking at her reflection in the hallway
mirror. She had picked out her dress almost two years ago, and it had hidden in
the back of her closet, as she quietly worked up the nerve to participate in the
Beauty Contest. It was made of blue satin and hung from her shoulders in thin
straps, trailing down into a long gossamer skirt. "I'm too old," she complained
with a sigh, turning her back to the mirror and looking over her shoulder in an
attempt to see what it looked like from behind. "I can't compete with all those
younger Unis," she lamented.
"Rose, are you going somewhere with this?" Dr_Death asked in exasperation
from where he sat on the edge of the couch in the living room. "You told me
you needed me to come over because you needed my help... and so far all you've
done is make me sit here while you whine and stare at yourself in that mirror."
"I'm sorry..." RoseMadder whimpered, her ears drooping. "I'm just nervous.
I don't know what possessed me to fill out that application to be in the pageant
in the first place this week."
"Do you need my help or not?" the Techo asked, his tail beginning to lash
impatiently against the back of the couch. "Because I've got things to do at
home, and this is my only day off."
"Well, it's MY only day off, too," she argued, straightening her skirt a little.
"You just want to check your mail and see if that horrid Zafara Girls calendar
you ordered came yet or not?" Dr_Death flushed a bit in embarrassment.
"No, I don't," he muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. Actually, he
did, but that was only one of the reasons he was interested in going home. For
one, he had planned on watching the Deckball Finals to see if he had won the
five hundred neopoint bet he had made with Hubert on the victor, and for another,
Rose's house made him uneasy. The air held a low aroma of potpourri and dried
flowers that had begun to give him a headache and, lord, it was so PINK! He
had never seen so much pink in one place in his life.
Beside him on the couch, an angel Chia plushie grinned stupidly up at him
through its permanently-stitched smile, and nearby had carelessly been tossed
a valentine's Bruce plushie that she had gotten as a gift from the Employment
Agency on her birthday. Feh... he needed to get out of here. Just sitting here
made him feel like his teeth were rotting from all of the sweetness and light.
"Fine, go then," Rose huffed. The doctor cocked a brow.
"Are you sure?" he asked, not expecting her to have given up that easily.
"Yes, go on," she said, making a dismissive motion at him with her hoof. "I
should have known better than to ask you for help anyway."
"Well, for crying out loud, Rose, how often do you think I go out and buy
frillies?? If you think the dress makes your rump look big, then it probably
isn't the dress's fault... don't ask me!" Dr_Death snapped in exasperation.
"You're horrible!" Rose groaned, wrapping her arms protectively around herself.
He snorted in annoyed contempt, getting up from the couch and leaving. She flinched
as he punctuated his exit with a slam of the front door. What a grouch... even
away from work he didn't lighten his attitude. She supposed it wasn't really
his fault, given all he had to put up with from the hordes of abandoners they
got daily, but she really wished he'd learn to control his temper.
She gave a final look at her equine features in the mirror before sighing
and slinking back into her bedroom to wriggle out of the dress and put it back
on its hanger. What was she doing? Why did she ever think she stood a chance?
Oh well... she supposed it would take learning the hard way to satisfy her curiousity.
She sat on the edge of the bed after she had put the dress away, sighing and
staring off into space.
The contest was three days from now, which left her with very little time
to prepare and even less time to notify people that she would be participating.
It dawned on her that, with no one to vote for her, she would be a laughingstock
in the final ballots. She began to run through a mental checklist of people
she could weasel a vote out of... there was Dr_Death, of course, if she could
get him off his tail and out to the ballots in time... and Hubert would likely
help, if she caught him before all his lunchtime customers had approached and
begged him to vote for their pets. But who else? Nobody, as far as she could
tell.
Rose sighed and leaned back on the mattress, sprawling out and staring at
the pastel pink ceiling. What a huge mistake.
To be continued... | 
