Back at Midas’ house, the creature feels both excited and unsure stepping into the unfamiliar territory of wearing those weird futuristic things for the first time.

They even had to buy a lot of small pieces of clothing that Midas had called underwear, they chose some with very hilarious patterns though, so it would be more fun than embarrassing.

They pull on a pair of flowy pants of a creamy white color. The fabric feels soft, loose and relaxed, draping elegantly from their waist. It flows against what remains of their legs, not all that different from the gowns they are used to.

The deep purple sweater rests on their shoulders, the intensity of the color contrasts beautifully with white, the texture complements the airy fabric of their trousers. This one feels slightly more suffocating, with its little neckline.

There's something curious in the way these clothes contain them, not uncomfortable, but it's new and their thoughts can't help but flicker from one uncertainty to the next.

Midas, seemingly lost in her own world, scrolls through her phone on the couch with the ghost of a smile on her face, when Dubhra goes to stand in front of her, she barely looks at them.

"They don't look too bad on you." It’s a casual comment, as if it doesn't matter much to her.

Dubhra stands there, stiff. For some reason, now they feel like changing back to a white dress.

"How does it feel to wear underwear?" She finally lifts her head from her phone and puts it away, Dubhra's heart beating fast.

"It's slightly… weird but not all that unpleasant." They want to say more, that the pattern they had chosen really made them laugh so it made it all less awkward to wear a piece of clothing in direct contact with their private parts, but they couldn't say anything or their embarrassment would have them fuming through their ears.

"You can see my underwear?" The question rings in their mind, they regret it soon after. An observation not fitting to the context, that's what they're thinking.

Midas doesn't seem to mind, if they’re lucky she didn't notice their awkwardness since she decides not to dig much into it. "I can't, you put them under those clothes, didn't you?" She is keeping herself from laughing. "Or do you want me to try and guess which ones you're wearing?"

Here it is, she definitely noticed.

Dubhra feels a weird sensation in their stomach and chest, tightening it, lighting up a match in their brain. "Are you making fun of me?"

She tilts her head. "No, I was just joking."

"I didn't like that joke, I wouldn't tell you even if you guessed right."

She looks as confused as ever. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you." It doesn't feel quite sincere.

"Or do you go around guessing what strangers wear under their clothes?" They add, in spite.

She can’t help but laugh. "And what if I do? Do you plan on stopping me?"

Dubhra doesn't have any of the reactions she probably would have expected, they simply give her an annoyed look and go sit on the floor right behind the couch.

She turns around, lifting herself up and looking at them intensely, waiting for them to say something. Yet nothing happens, the creature sits still, hugging their legs, like any person that had been mocked and now was giving her the silent treatment.

"Oh, come on," she says, after a while. "You look really good in those clothes, come here, sit on the couch with me." Still, to see them sit all alone on the floor with a frown seems to amuse her and her eyes say that she's hoping they would keep the act for a bit longer.

But they don’t, they simply sigh and get up from the floor, going to sit pretty far from her.

Her phone rings again, breaking the moment. Dubhra hears the constant buzz of notifications, the sound of her social life pressing in on them.

They can't hold their curiosity, as usual their lighted match dies within an instant and they're moving closer to spy on her conversations. She looks at the screen, barely acknowledging it as her fingers swipe away at the messages.

"Are you coming to the party tonight or are you going to ghost us again?" One text says. "Don't act like you can keep it a secret, Jorge saw you today, who was that foreigner he talked about?"

It's all about her, everyone wants to know where she is, what she's doing, who she's with. The rumors about them have already spread and Dubhra doesn't understand why it matters, they just know that the noise of it nags them.

And that archived conversation, something's notifying that there would be something to read there too, yet Midas doesn't open it.

"I'll eventually buy you one of these too at some point, so maybe you'll stop looking through mine," she says, Dubhra's definitely too close, scrolling with their tentacles on her screen, when did that happen? They were on the other side of the couch.

"Sorry, I suppose these pigeon messengers never get lost in the way, do they?"

Midas doesn't correct them, even though she can't ignore the weirdness of the question. "Sometimes these letters are private."

They ignore her completely. "Are you attending a ball as a guest? They are all asking if you'll go to a party tonight."

She shrugs. "Yes, I get constantly invited to parties, but I don’t think I’ll go."

Dubhra seems thoughtful. "It feels important, there are so many people trying to persuade you."

"It's because I've been ignoring them quite a lot today. And yes, they're always very insistent because their identity is so insignificant it only has meaning if they throw parties every weekend."

"What exactly is a weekend?"

"A week is a portion of time that's seven days long," she feels like she needs to explain. "Two of those days after five of them, are days where people don't work or go to school so they usually throw parties."

"So they have a two days break and instead of resting they throw parties? Aren't they tired?"

"Kind of, but if everyone just rested at home every weekend then where would be the fun?"

Dubhra nods, condescending. "So you're going to that party tonight?"

Midas exhales loudly, like she'd rather not talk about it. "If I say I don't think I'll go, it means I won't. My plans have changed and so have my necessities. I told them I'd go on Thursday but I changed my mind."

She types on the chat at last. "Dunno if I'll come, I'll let you know after lunch."

An answer comes right away. "And that's how we know you're not coming".

That makes her let out half a laugh and Dubhra is back to hugging their legs sit on the couch.

"I planned to spend this morning hiding your corpse, so I would have had time to go out tonight," she says, like it's the most natural thing in the world.

The creature gives her a smile, one that shows all their teeth. "You're too funny."

She shakes her head, sighs and turns off her phone, finally putting it on her side.

"So," she says, "do you have any other plans for tonight?"