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Also in the shop was a significantly less concerned girl. Destiny Dresses also happened to be a pretty alright purveyor of ties and formalwear that was sufficiently girly to keep Tate's estranged mother quiet, while suiting Tate's own desire to not look like the helpless princess everyone had to rescue.

Dear knights: This princess rescues her own damn self.

However, she was not unaware of the upcoming prom. Apparently Dani and Parker had been intending to go, except after Parker's botched proposal that was definitely off. (Honestly: Why was he being such an a** about it? Tate could have told him it was not going to go well. The girl had only been out of a coma for a few months. She had to have, like, a bucket list or something. And Tate hadn't forgotten that he was the one who'd broken up, not Dani.) She had settled herself conveniently near a rack of dresses--they really were pretty, she thought the emerald green of a halter sheath next to her would look pretty against her auburn hair--to watch the fiasco. There were a few styles she thought would face high competition, and she fully intended to watch every second.

Really, it was too bad Grayson's little girlfriend had had her dress picked out for weeks. Poor Elke would get steamrollered.

Her placement was such that a teal-haired girl coming through the door happened to stare at her just long enough to spark Tate's ire. Sure, the shop was dark--she might just be adjusting--but all the same, she snapped, "Can I help you with something?"

It had been so long since Ares had actually stopped to take the time to be Fallon. Prom had been a date marked on the teenager's calendar for months. Organized events were the girl's bread and butter. But then Operation Rota happened and her entire life was thrown out of whack. The nice thing about finding it nearly impossible to henshin without an enraged Nega breathing down her neck was that it forced her to spend more time as a civilian, time that she had not given to that other side of her for awhile.

Apparently, that meant dress shopping.

Being a Crystal Academy girl with a big bank account, Fallon tended to err on the side of designer boutiques. But she had been in the neighborhood of the outlet malls and decided to see what Destiny Dresses might have hiding in its many racks -- a diamond in the rough for her to pluck out, tailor, and then hit the dance floor wearing.

Stepping out from one of the changing rooms in a floor-length ivory gown with embellishments fishtailing all across the skirt, Fallon crossed over toward the three-way mirror. There was a vaguely familiar teal-haired girl nearby speaking with another girl wearing what was decidedly not a dress. The other girl was asking for help -- oh, did this short-haired one work here?

Fallon stepped up beside her, looking something like a gaudy mermaid on her wedding day. "Sorry to interrupt," she said, sliding up beside the teal-haired one. "Do you work here? I was trying to find another size in one of the dresses in my room." Magenta eyes flickered to the girl beside her. There was a spark of familiarity. "Do you... go to Crystal?" she asked the other one.

(( Ravvlet, I hope it's cool that I assume they have seen each other in the halls or something! Fallon would probably be known as an aloof girl who has been missing a lot of school recently and sometimes throws dinner parties. She cooks a lot for people who live on her floor. DUNNO. I'm trying to key in on general things to give you a sense of her. ))

Lily walked into the store, she wasn't a crystal girl, no she attended Meadowview, but their prom was a joint endeavor so everyone tended to shop around the same time. It had been her goal as of late, to go back to some sort of normality. Yes, of course she was still patrolling, but not as often as she had been before. No, now was about upcoming finals and prom. Her sister was surprised to hear she would shop for the dress herself, even going all teary idea and dramatic.

Her parents were happy their child was looking much less like a zombie, even if she still looking tired. It couldn't be helped though and Lily was trying not to think about it. She looked better than she had in weeks past, the dark circles now far less visible.

She wanted something with lace as always. She was was such a creature of habit when it came to such things. Smiling she moved toward a rack of dresses not really paying much attention to who was around her, no she was looking at a lovely little purple dress. Was purple her color? Oh she was so bad at this sort of thing, but the dress was pretty.

Well... this was going to be awkward, Jaimie thought, as he stepped into the shop. He'd been hoping that at least a couple guys would be in here looking for a tux, but then again, most guys who'd probably be going stag probably figured on tossing on an suit jacket and winging it, but he'd always been about adding that extra layer of class.

He rather thought he tended to look good in whatever he was wearing, and didn't mind matching details with his date, but he didn't -have- a date to match, so the color selection was entirely up to him, which was making him a bit more hesitant than he'd actually expected to be.

Fallon blinked slowly at the salesgirl in the suspenders. Why was she so helpful with the other girl and so utterly unhelpful for her? It was very rude. If Fallon had been entirely serious about purchasing her prom dress here, she probably would have prickled at the girl. Instead, she furrowed her brow for a moment and then turned to regard the blue-haired girl beside her.

"Yes, the uniform," she said, laughing politely. "I think I've seen you in the hallway before -- did we take French together? I can't seem to put my finger on it..." The truth was that Fallon remembered pretty girls, and Guen was pretty. The face hung in her mind even if the name didn't. "I'm Fallon," she added belatedly.

The salesgirl who had given her the cold shoulder had given some great tips. Another girl wearing a smock and a name tag brushed by, carrying an armful of dresses. Fallon looked between Tate and the uniformed one. "Oh, you don't work here," she said suddenly. "Sorry, you were just being so helpful, I thought..." The words trailed off. Her attention was still largely on Guen, but she didn't want to let her error go unnoticed.

She hadn't realized that her friend Lily was in the store yet, and since Fallon very rarely paid attention to boys, Jaime had escaped her notice too. She was aware of Bell out of the corner of one eye, but did not recognize her.

Lily pulled out the purple dress and looked over it holding it up and trying to guess whether it would look good on her. Even if she tried it on she needed an opinion. She frowned wondering if prom shopping alone was a terrible idea. She sighed placing the dress back on the rack, it did not have any lace anyway.

She looked around hoping to see someone she knew and was surprised to see three someones she knew. Bell, Jaimie, and Fallon. She decided Bell probably wasn't the best idea. Really she did not wish the awkwardness that was thick between her and the Basterds. Her eyes roamed over to Jaimie, he was most certainly helpful, but she wasn't sure how helpful he would be at dress shopping. Which made her look around, were there tuxes here as well. She bet Fallon would probably be great help, but was a bit wary as Fallon was a little different these days.

Shaking her head she put a smile on her face and headed over to say hi to Jaimie before she made her way over to Fallon. Giving a wave to draw attention to herself as she walked over, she called softly, none to loud really, "Hey Jaimie. Prom shopping huh?"

Lily laughed shaking her head, "no, no luck. When it comes to this sort of thing. I'm hopeless. Shopping is not exactly a hobby of mine, but I am sure I will find something eventually, maybe."

Lily looked around wondered where the suits were, the had never been in the store before so she was sure, "Have you seen any suits? I mostly see dress, everywhere. There are too many to choose from and so many colors. I do not know how anyone does it."

Yes, Lily was a girlie girl and one that utterly failed at the concept of shopping for clothes. She had a weakness for a good shoe, but otherwise, she turned everything around.