Dress Shopping, It'll Be Fun! (Luke)

Clary laughed at Luke's enthusiastic greeting. "Hi Luke, how are you? Sorry to intrude." Perhaps it wouldn't be so hard to get him to agree after all. Besides, if necessary she could always pull the 'you promised to be my servant' card. She'd rather not use it though, and would turn to it only add a last resort. Pondering the best way to approach the subject, she stepped inside and stopped dead. Wow, his room was a mess, a slightly organized mess but still a mess. And her mom complained about her room being messy, she should see Luke's! Stepping carefully through, her eyes fell on a picture that stood on the nightstand by the bed. It was a group of people who, she was assumed, were Luke's family.

Glancing around the rest of the room, Clary deduced that Luke's two favorite hobbies were reading and science or whatever that lab set in the corner was for. Seating herself in the rocking chair that Luke pointed her to, she turned to face him. Smiling, she nodded, "Yes, it is. However did you guess?"  Well, since he brought up the subject that was one less thing she had to worry about. Clary hesitated before deciding to jump straight in, "So I was thinking about the ball today. You know, what I needed to do to prepare for it and what not. And I had a thought," she paused, trying to gage his reaction, "I don't have anything to wear."

Clary shook her head, "Don't worry about it. You should see mine, drawings, paper and pencils everywhere." She looked more closely at the photograph that Luke picked up. A group of people all smiling so happily at the camera that a smile of her own crossed her face. "It's a beautiful family, Luke. They look like wonderful people."

He felt badly about making her go? Great, now she felt guilty for making him feel guilty. It wasn't like he'd forced her or anything, she'd agreed to come along. But still, he was offering to go with her and she honestly had no idea what to do. "Thank you so much, Luke. I don't know what is typically worn at these kind of things since I've never been to one before. Besides, if you'd said no then my only other option would have been Isabelle." Clary shuddered, she could only imagine the type of dresses that Isabelle would try to force her into. "And don't worry about, I think it'll be an interesting experience. Anyway, Jace is coming so it won't be unbearable."

Clary laughed, "Well you know what they say, it's not bragging if it's the truth." Luke looked so happy in the picture, they all did actually, he must really miss his family. She couldn't imagine losing her mother and Luke, not that she would mind  too much if Sebastian were to die, though she supposed she would feel at least some sorrow.

He was right, perhaps she would find it fun, though privately she seriously doubted that. He'd noticed? She'd have to be a little bit more subtle from now on if she wanted to go through with her plan of getting Luke and Chance together. Deciding to deny everything, she looked at Luke in her best imitation of confusion. "I don't know what you're talking about. What weird look?" She asked sweetly, flashing Luke her brightest and most innocent smile.


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Ok, honestly, Clary would have preferred Isabelle over the girl that was currently flinging dress at her. This was absolute torture, and since when was black not her color? She was immensely relieved when Luke, who looked as irritated as she did, stepped in and finally sent the sales girl away. Clary burst into laughter, "Worse you mean! At least Isabelle actually has a good taste in fashion." Shaking her head in amusement, she looked over at Luke, "So, are you going to help me pick out something, because I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing."

"Monochromatic?" It wasn't a word that Clary was familiar with. It sounded extremely complicated and maybe a little bit scary. "What does that mean?" Oh, it meant wearing white or black. Well, at least she looked OK in both of those colors. She could work with that, but wasn't white the color of mourning? She watched Luke as he walked over to the rack and rummaged through the dresses, he at least seemed like he knew what he was doing. Clary was grateful that he only came back with three more dresses, she didn't think she could stand to try on many more than that. Taking the first dress from him, Clary held it up to her and looked in the mirror. Not bad, she actually liked it a lot, Luke definitely had much better taste than either Isabelle or the sales girl. When he returned with the shoes for the dress, she couldn't help but smile a little. It looked like he'd figured out that she was a disaster in high heels.

The white one was really pretty too, though once again Clary wondered if it would be appropriate considering that Shadowhunters used white for mourning. She did like the longer skirt though, partially because she thought that it would be lots of fun to twirl around in. The heels she was not so fond of, although Isabelle would approve, Clary was sure that she would most likely break her neck. "A little tall?" She asked teasingly. She had to admit that they were cute but she didn't really want to wear them to something that she was already nervous about.

"Well, I certainly don't want to clash." Clary said smiling, she was glad that she'd asked Luke to come and even happier that he'd agreed. What would she have done without him? Probably been stuck with either Isabelle or that sales girl. She really liked this dress too, he had a good taste in clothing. "It's alright for the dress to be a little less formal?" Since she'd never been to one of these things, Clary had no idea what to expect. "How formal is it anyway? You mentioned that Jace would have to wear a suit, right? So does that mean that it's black tie?" Now that she was actually thinking about it, she was starting to get nervous. The closest she'd ever come to something like this was her mom and Luke's wedding. What if she embarrassed herself in front of all these Shadowhunters? Oh God, what if she embarrassed Luke in front of his friends or whatever he called them?

Luke's question pulled her attention away from the sudden attack of nerves. "Hm? Oh, well I kinda like the first and last ones. Though I think that the black one is my favorite overall." She looked up at him, "But you're the expert on all the parties and such, which one would go better with the dress code?" She didn't want to stand out anymore than she had to. It would already be awkward and embarrassing enough.

They didn't? Well that was good to know. "Really? Interesting. You see? This is why I brought you along, to tell me important stuff like that." Clary said smiling at Luke. This would have been so much more difficult without his help. Not that it was easy even with his help but it was certainly much less complicated than it would have been otherwise. She watched him take the white dress and toss it on the bench, the dress wasn't bad she just didn't like the shoes. So guests didn't have to be quite as formal? How formal did they have to be? Ugh, this was so confusing! She was snapped out of her thoughts on whether or not people would care if she just wore a T-shirt and jeans, by Luke thrusting the first dress and matching shoes into her arms. Taking them from him, Clary saluted playfully, "Aye, aye Captain!"

She stepped into the changing room and locked the stall door after her. Swiftly stripping off her normal clothes, Clary stepped carefully into the dress and reached behind her to zip it up. Smoothing out the practically nonexistent wrinkles, she turned to look in the mirror inside the stall. Wrinkling her nose slightly, she surveyed herself critically. Not bad, the black actually went well with her pale skin and it made her red hair really pop. Grabbing the shoes, she slipped them on as well, completing the outfit before glancing in the mirror again. Overall, it was a good choice and she found herself once more admitting Luke's good taste. Deciding that he'd probably want to see it for himself, Clary unlocked the door and stepped out to find Luke on his phone.

"Bored already?" She asked teasingly. He really was being very nice about the whole trip and dealing with her cluelessness about the ball. Perhaps they could do something fun after they finished here, just let loose for a bit and relax. Do whatever sisters did with their brothers, maybe see a movie or go out to eat? She'd ask him what he wanted to do later, for now she'd better focus on the dress. The faster that they picked one out, the faster she could buy it and the faster they would be done. Twirling slightly, she smiled up at him. "What do you think?"

Luke moved behind her and his reflection in the mirror towered over hers despite the heels she was wearing. Standing together facing the mirror, Clary was struck by the physical differences between them. He was tall and she was short, he was darker complected and she was fairer, they didn't even remotely resemble each other. And yet, she felt closer to Luke than she did to Sebastian, who actually did resemble her somewhat. How odd, she mused, that Luke, who had been a complete stranger to her until a few days ago, felt more like a brother than Sebastian, her real brother who she'd known for nearly a year now. Clary was drawn out of her thoughts by Luke's compliment and returned her attention to the dress. Blushing slightly, she replied softly. "Thank you. You did pick the dress though so some credit goes to you."