Meche had been expecting this kind of grumpy response and so wasn't bothered at all by it. She was trying to figure out exactly what made a dress that expensive-looking too casual for a ball, but she had to admit defeat pretty quickly, since her expertise in clothes mostly just extended to neatly-tailored work clothes in decent fabrics and good stockings. Maybe that wasn't enough frills for a ball gown?

She, for one, didn't remember anything about a princess, but maybe she just hadn't been paying enough attention. Meche didn't comment on the revelation in case Alita was touchy about that too, but she did pay closer attention to the dress after that. Bibi would love it if Meche could work the details of a real princess dress into one of her stories.

Since Alita was going for her sword, Meche stuck to business--mostly. "Want to come on a medicine run with us, or do you need to get somewhere before midnight?" she invited. All right, she promised herself, that was the last joke she'd make about the dress. Unless she thought of a really good one.