//------------------------------// // Lost Chapter '3': The Dress // Story: The Princess and I (The Lost Chapters) // by Flanagan //------------------------------// It had been nearly a week since my parents made their little unannounced visit and I believe that the Princess and I had subconsciously agreed to put the little emotional outburst we shared in the past. However there was something else that recently came up, Larry had been pestering me about that party he and his girlfriend was going to week before Luna had even arrived, I decided I couldn’t take his nagging anymore and finally said yes to his invite. Larry was ecstatic; first I get him a job now I’m going to a party because he asked me to come. (Next he’s probably going to think that I’ll help him move into a house.) What I failed to realize was that when I had finally said yes to him the event in question was going on that same evening. Fortunately for me, Mrs. Burns had already given me this week off because she believed that Luna and I needed to ‘relieve’ our mutual stress. Granted, yes something along those lines would’ve nice, but rule seventy six along with rule thirty one (while entertaining guests, no more than three shakes) prevented me from doing what I so desperately wanted to do. The other thing was I didn’t really have a nice suit in my wardrobe, (Well I did, but those were my old Marine Corps uniforms) so I needed to go out and grab something really quick. I could’ve gone to the big and tall store, but they didn’t open until ten and that was still three hours from now. Furthermore, I never recalled buying Luna a dress for any reason, so I also had to go to a Macy’s or some other fancy shop so my wallet could once again be torn asunder. “Aedan!” Luna’s voice echoed through my thoughts as I pondered our plans for the day. “I believe you know what I require from you.” “Coming…” I sighed getting off the couch. (It’s been nearly three weeks, she should’ve already gotten used to putting a bra on… maybe I should stop helping her all together…) I walked in to the room to see Luna in all her glory, white lace panties and matching bra to boot. At this point I really didn’t care what state of undress she was in, all I knew is that she wanted my help putting the damn bra on. However that was the one thing I found odd, Luna already had the straps in her hands, she could’ve latched them together without so much as a flick of the wrist. Taking my usual place behind her I took both her hands in mine and smiled. “You’d think you’d be used to this by now…” I said slowly guiding her hands to where they needed to be. “You sure you can’t do this on your own?” “It’s Difficult!” She said quickly turning around before I could help her latch the bra. “Have YOU ever had to get used to a new body so quickly?” “No…” I said chuckling at her ‘menacing’ glare. “But I think you’ve gotten the hang of it, hell you sleep in this body.” “Y-you WATCH me sleep?!” Luna gasped backing away slowly. “Wha-what else have you done while I rested under your care?” “Easy there Luna I never watched you sleep.” I said throwing my hands up passively, “Besides you know you sleep looking like that, why would you be surprised to know that I’ve seen you sleeping? I wake up a good two or three hours before you anyway.” “I-I suppose you’re right…” Luna said gaining a noticeable blush, “I guess I’m not used to being on the other point of view…” “No big deal Luna,” I said shaking my head, “Now let me just… wait… did you say ‘from the other point of view’?” “Yes.” Luna said casually turning around so I could strap her up. “I’m the one who normally watches other’s sleep.” “YOU watch other people in their sleep?” I asked, not really believing what I had just heard. “No,” Luna replied to my relief, “I watch other ponies in their sleep, now if you’d please hurry up with helping me, I’m sure you have plans for us before we attend the gathering Larry had invited us to.” “Let me get this straight…” I said pinching the bridge of my nose. “You watch other ponies sleep and that’s ok… I mention that I’ve caught a glimpse of YOU sleeping and you get upset?” “I’ve already stated an apology to you.” Luna said spinning pack around shoving her finger in my face. “And furthermore I don’t physically watch them; I go into their minds, keeping watch on their dreams.” That just opened up a completely different can of worms. Now not only had I been taking care of someone who controls half of a country, but now I learn that she actually CAN look into someone’s head. (Oh God, I pray to all that is holy that she hasn’t been looking inside my head.) “I haven’t,” Luna said suddenly. “It’s considered impolite to gaze into one’s thoughts without certain consent.” “I didn’t…” At that moment the two of us realized what had just happened. Doing a complete one eighty in Record time Luna’s eyes were directly on mine. The silence between the two of us would possibly make Barney Stinson utter his most famous line. “I-I didn’t… I didn’t mean to…” Luna said, suddenly turning away, hiding her face behind her hair. “I wasn’t trying to-“ “You were just in my head…” I growled, frozen in place. “How many other times have you done that…?” “I said I didn’t mean to!” Luna replied, looking back to me with welling eyes. “It was an accident! I swear I’ll never do it again!” I really didn’t know what to say, I felt a little violated, no one’s ever been inside my head. (Well, not like that at least.) I also felt the slightest bit betrayed, she had been keeping this side of her away from me, she may have even gone into my head before now and I’d be none the wiser. The last thing that rushed through my head was trust, knowing that now my most private thoughts weren’t safe from her, could I really let her stay? The feeling of Luna’s arms sweeping around my back derailed my train of thought, followed by an embrace that mirrored the one she had given me after I was released from jail. “I’m sorry… I’m SO sorry…” she whimpered, burying her head into my chest, “I swear to you that I’ll never-“ “It’s… alright Luna.” I interrupted, slowly wrapping her up with one arm. “I know you didn’t mean anything by it. I overreacted, that’s all.” “Are you sure?” she asked looking up to me as I ran my fingers through her hair. “I could understand if you were angry with me for going into such an intimate-“ “I’ll live Luna…” I said smiling while my hand traveled from her head to under her chin. “It’s not like anything bad happened.” “That still doesn’t mean I should’ve done it…” Luna replied, sinking her head into my hand. “For what it’s worth I apologize.” “You did that already.” I said with a smile, “no need to keep doing it.” At that moment I slid both my hands behind myself, intertwining Luna’s fingers with my own. A small squeak came from Luna, but that seemed to be the only objection to what I was planning to do. Taking a deep breath I slowly maneuvered our hands from my back to her sides, Luna’s eyes hadn’t left mine the entire time, but the amount of red in her cheeks certainly had doubled . “Something wrong?” I asked with an amount of charm that even surprised me. “Uh… no…” Luna answered, quickly looking away, “I… I was just wondering what you were trying to do…” “Well…” I said slowly moving our hands behind her back. “Maybe if I do it this way it’ll be easier for you to remember how to put these damn things on.” And with that I continued, slowly enough that hopefully Luna could figure it out without my help next time. Making sure that I guided Luna’s hands to the straps I let go of her, the action caused my hands to slightly run down the small of her back, it may have been a second or two, but it was enough to make her whole body shutter. Inadvertently my hands flew up in the air, I really didn’t know why I did that, but all it really did was leave me in yet another awkward position with Luna. “W-why did you stop?” she stuttered, looking back to me. “Well… You kinda shivered when I accidently touched you.” I replied, “I thought you didn’t like it…” “N-no!” Luna said quickly, grabbing my hand. Her reaction startled me a bit. In fact I can’t recall her ever reaching for me that quickly, seeing my expression she slowly pulled the hand she held back behind her and placed it just below her shoulder blade. “I mean… I just want you to teach me this way…” “Okay…” I said raising my eyebrow placing my other hand behind her back, causing her to shutter again. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?” “Yes.” Luna replied, quickly placing her hand in mine. “Let’s begin from where we left off.” My mind was full of I don’t know what at that point. First off, I really didn’t know why I decided to put her bra on while she was staring right at me, second the instant I let her go she shutters, causing me to throw my hand up in the air like that stupid ‘badass’ meme and finally, she actually guides my hands back to where they were behind her. My head was a spiral of junk swirling around the fact that she had kissed me not a week ago. (Now where the hell did THAT come from? I wasn’t even thinking about that until now!) “Aedan…” Luna said calmly to bring me back to the task at hand. “Are you going to help or not?” “Uh… yeah,” I said shaking my head momentarily, “where were we?” “You were about to guide my hands to the straps.” Luna said with a smile. “That’s right,” I said awkwardly guiding her hand to the center of her back. “Now you’ve got the straps and… done!” “Wonderful!” Luna said cheerfully, doing a spin for some reason. “How does it look?” “Beautiful…” “What?” Luna said pausing just before she was done with her spin. “I don’t believe I heard what you said.” “Good!” I said quickly (Where the hell did that come from?) “Now get something else on, we need to go to out in a few hours.” “Why can’t I just walk around like this?” she asked, pointing to her flawless physique, “You never complained about it before.” “We might get company.” I answered, “And most people I know aren’t really ready to see someone like you dressed like that.” “I guess it’s understandable…” Luna sighed looking to her chest, “Especially given how Gordon reacted…” Luna then made her way to the dresser that had all of her clothes. She didn’t know it, but it was taking nearly every ounce of my willpower to keep my eyes on the back of her head. She didn’t know that the clothes thing was more or less for me, (at least I hope she didn’t know) I couldn’t risk having anymore thoughts read, especially if all she was wearing was lingerie. I was actually about to take my leave when Luna did the one thing in the world that could break my will, she bent over. Suddenly and unwillingly, my eyes went straight down, fixed on her perfectly portioned posterior. I really shouldn’t have been surprised. She was technically a goddess, so it would stand to reason that she would have the body of one. But I had rules, (some, if not most, unnecessary) and right now, they were in serious danger of being broken. Using every ounce of willpower I had left and then some I tried to look away, but it was no use my eyes demanded that I soak the image in, despite every objection I made. The only thing that made my eyes break away was the sudden rise of the rest of her body, allowing me to look at the back of her head once more. Relieved that my ordeal was over, I let out a loud sigh, prompting her to look in my direction. “Why are you still here?” Luna asked, tilting her head sideways, “I require no more assistance.” “Just taking in the view…” (DAMNIT!) “View of what?” Luna asked, “The blinds are down and you and I are the only ones in here.” “Just forget I said that.” I said shaking my head, “I’ll leave you to getting dressed.” Before I could hear her rebuttal I excused myself from the bedroom and practically slammed the door behind myself. My thoughts were racing, passing through every trial I had to face since Luna and I had met. (What’s getting into man? You’ve known she’s attractive this whole time, why are you acting like this only now?) My thoughts were cut short however by a sudden pressure building up below the waist. A pressure that all men know and one that most welcome, but given where my thoughts have been the past few minutes I wasn’t about to let it go any further. “Oh, HELL no…” I said pointing downward, “Stay right where you are, you know the rules…” It obviously wasn’t listening. In fact it was straight up ignoring me. Flustered I decided to storm my way to the couch, there was only a few things that could bring it down, and on account I didn’t want a cold shower at the moment it left me with no choice. “Last chance…” I said grabbing the remote, and turning the T.V. on to T.V. Land. The instant it was done reading the information the screen showed one of the few things that could get me out of my current situation, an episode of The Golden Girls. (Bea Arthur, smite my foe and break his will) It didn’t take too long, maybe a minute, but it did the job and my ‘issue’ was no longer between a rock and a hard place. At that exact moment Luna stepped out of the bedroom, mostly clothed and slightly confused. “What was that all about?” Luna asked, pulling her shirt over her chest. “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you act that way.” “Nothing much…” I said casually shrugging my shoulders as I changed the channel to the morning news. “You hungry?” “Now that you mention it yes,” Luna said with a smile, “What shall we have for breakfast?” “For you I’m guessing the usual?” I asked with a smile that only grew when I saw Luna nod her head. “For me… Cheerios will be just fine.” And with those words I made our breakfasts, not mentioning a single word of the minor skirmish I had with myself. We decided to pass the time with a combination of T.V. and mostly video games. (Granted her skills far surpassed mine by now, but I did my best to put up a fight.) We continued to play around until the clock finally struck ten and I decided to take Luna on yet another (expensive) adventure. It didn’t really take that long to get to where we needed to go. I got a suit at Big and Tall that seemed to fit the overall look needed for the event. It even came with a bowtie, which alone was reassurance enough for me when the price tag on the damn thing rang just fewer than two hundred dollars. (I had to keep telling myself that so I wouldn’t have an aneurism as I kept looking at the receipt.) Luna however, was much more difficult. I obviously couldn’t get her what she needed in a Big and Tall and the amount of oversized men staring her up and down for unnatural amounts of time didn’t really help. So we decided to make haste to the only place I could really think of, Macy’s. “Let’s just get this over with…” I grunted, putting the car in park. “You seem upset…” Luna said with concern, “Why?” “Well because of you I’ve spent nearly two thousand dollars these past few weeks and close to eighty percent of that was all for you.” I replied stepping out of the car. “And I seriously doubt that what we’ll be looking for here will be cheap.” “Couldn’t I just wear what I have on now?” she asked, pointing to her ensemble. “It has done wonders thus far.” “I doubt that hip hugging jeans and a form fitting yellow tank top would go over very well with the crowd we’re going to be in Luna.” I said shaking my head, “Besides aren’t princesses supposed to like playing dress up?” (Then again women love playing that too.) “My sister is the social one Aedan.” Luna answered. “I’m the one who keeps to herself when it comes to social gatherings.” “It’s a wonder why.” I said, “Given the way you look I’d say that you’d be the desire of every guy and the envy of every girl in attendance.” “I doubt that much.” Luna said trying to hide her blush, “I’m sure you’re just being kind.” “Hardly,” I said opening the door for her. “You’re drop dead gorgeous. I’m still flabbergasted that no one in your universe other than that one bastard you talked about has tried to make you theirs.” “As I said I don’t get out much.” Luna said walking into the store, “besides I’ve never really been able just to be me, I’ve always had to give the public a façade…” “It that what you’re doing to me?” I asked. “Because if you are I might just have to try and figure you out again.” “Oh absolutely not.” Luna replied turning around. “In all my years you are the only one other than my sister I feel I can be myself around.” “Glad to hear it.” I said with a nod, “Now let’s get you that dress.” Luna nodded and we were off to the one place that no man in their right mind ever wanted to go, the Dress section of Macy’s. My anxiety began to grow with each step as the horror of approaching our goal became more and more a reality. Numbers flew through my thoughts, two, three, four even five hundred dollar increments appeared in my head as my wallet shed many Jackson colored tears, but this was something that needed to happen. No matter how much both my gut and wallet begged me not to. About a minute later the two of us had finally arrive at our destination, but given the fact that I’m a man and really don’t care much for fashion other than if it looks dirty or not, I decided to get one of the ‘experts’ to aid us in our mission. Moving to the cashier’s booth I managed to gain the attention of a very nice looking woman on the other side. Her looks (Though very admirable) weren’t that important, what was important was her fashion sense, and by the looks of it she knew what she would be talking about. “Can I help you?” she asked in a slightly condescending tone. “Why else would I flag you down?” I asked, adding a bit more sarcasm than usual. “Do I look like the guy who would know Gucci from Prada?” “Well if you didn’t check the label I suppose not.” She said peering over her glasses to take a good look at me, “But I must say that I wouldn’t mind seeing you as a Calvin Kline model…” (Okay… that was weird…) “Uh… thanks?” I said shrugging my shoulders, “But I’m not really the problem.” “Oh?” she replied, her interest peeked. “And what exactly IS the problem?” “She is…” I said stepping to the side to reveal Luna, who had somehow been hidden behind me perfectly. “She needs a-“ “My… STARS!” she exclaimed rushing Luna without a second thought. “You are simply PERFECT!” suddenly and surprisingly the woman pulled out a tape measure and started wrapping it around Luna with abandon. “Amazing complexion… Perfect bosom… perfect waistline… the hips to DIE for… Backside beautifully shaped… Legs that go on for miles! I must say, you-“ “Excuse me!” I said placing myself between Luna and her tape measure. “If you would be so kind quit treating my friend like an object.” “I-I’m sorry sir…” She said regaining her composure. “It isn’t very often that I encounter a work of art.” “A work of what now?” “Surely you’ve noticed.” She replied trying to push me aside, to no avail. “But she is as the very definition of beauty!” “Sure, but that’s not really important at the moment.” I said slowly pushing her away. “Right now we need to get her a dress...” “A dress you say?” She replied with eyes lighting up. “Well look no further my good sir I’ll have a dozen ready momentarily!” And with that she zipped off to God knows where leaving me alone with Luna. “Y-you weren’t lying when you said people thought I was attractive…” she said sheepishly holding her arm, “But… I never expected to be treated… like that.” “All part of the curse Luna.” I said shaking my head, “Sorry I didn’t act sooner. I was just as shocked as you were.” “It’s alright,” She replied looking to me with a cute smile, “I know that you’ll keep me safe as long as I’m here.” “That’s right Luna.” I said placing my hand on her back. “I’m your personal guardian angel.” “I’m quite thankful for that.” Luna said brushing her hair behind her ear. “More than you’ll ever know.” “I think I have an idea,” spotting something coming our way from the corner of my eye. “Looks like my undoing has returned…” “What are you-“ “I have returned!” the woman said rather triumphantly placing over a dozen dresses on the counter. “Now… let’s get started…” Several minutes later the three of us were standing in front of the Dressing room, dresses in tow. (Granted I was the on carrying them, but I digress) The lady looked to them and took in a deep breath before turning her attention to Luna. “We must be quick!” she exclaimed. “What’s she talking abo-“ Before Luna could finish her question she was pulled into the dressing room, leaving me to stand alone, covered in dresses that I didn’t even want to imaging how expensive they could be. I was alone with my thoughts for a few moments, wondering what was taking so long, until finally the woman burst through the dressing room and made a blind sprint in my direction. “Quickly!” she said outstretching her hand, “Time is of the essence!” “Uh… alright…” I said blindly handing her one of the dresses. “Now how about we-“ the sound of a slamming door cut me off and once again I was alone. That didn’t last long however, because soon I was knocked onto my ass by an unseen force. (Though I could probably guess who it was.) I tried to get up, but a sudden and violent increase in weight forced me back down, blowing away one of the dresses that covered my eyes I saw that the cause of my time on the ground was yet again Luna. Only this time her shirt was gone and her jeans had been unbuttoned. “AEDAN!” she yelled clinging to me like a crazy person. “The woman…. She tried to UNDRESS ME!” “Wha-what?” I asked before a second figure appeared behind her. “There is no time to waste!” the woman said grabbing for her arm, “We MUST create ART!” Luna’s squeak followed by the feeling of her body desperately trying to hide behind me was reason enough for me to get up, but now this crazy lady was trying to whisk Luna away for ‘art’ as she called it. Granted I don’t know much about fashion, but I don’t like it when people upset my friends and I really don’t like it when Luna makes the squeaking noise. “Now hold up…” I said placing my hand forcefully in the center of the woman’s chest. (Unintentional I assure you.) “What the hell are you trying to do?” “Sir…” she said condescendingly as she smacked my hand away, “I am trying to craft a masterpiece.” “Then why did you try to rip her clothes off?” “I assure you I wasn’t trying to force anything on her.” the woman said still trying to get to Luna. “If she didn’t struggle so much then I’d already-“ “Lady, all I’m hearing is force and struggle.” I interrupted. “And the way my friend here’s acting around you I don’t think we’re in the right place.” “NO!” She exclaimed backing away, “I only meant to help in making her truly perfect! You’d think given her beauty she’s been a model once or twice.” “Well she hasn’t…” I said coldly, clinching my fists, “And as you can see she doesn’t really like being manhandled by complete strangers.” “How foolish of me…” she said burying her sorrows into her hand, “I should’ve been more considerate instead of jumping to a conclusion… now I’ve gone and made a scene…” “You aren’t lying…” I said looking around to see both confused shoppers and the occasional man staring directly at Luna’s assets. “But I think we should go.” “NO wait!” she cried grabbing my arm. “We can still make this work! She can put the dresses on herself. I will stand by you and judge them accordingly.” I turned my attention to Luna. She was still trying to use me as a meat shield between herself and the crazy woman. (Very understandable, given the situation) “Well…” I asked, “Whacha think?” Luna looked to me for a few seconds before sneaking a peak over my shoulder. I really didn’t know what the look on the ladies face was, but something told me it was sincerely apologetic because Luna looked back to me with a smile and nodded. “I think I can manage that…” she said shyly. “Alright then…” I said walking her back to the dressing room, keeping her covered and making sure I was between her and the fashion woman. The second she stepped into the dressing room the waiting game began, leaving me alone with Ms. Fashion. We didn’t say anything to one another in an attempt to make it less awkward, but it didn’t really work. So instead of standing their like idiots we took a nearby bench and push it closer to the dressing room, so we could sit down and look like idiots. (They are completely different things) About ten minutes later Luna walked out of the dressing room, wearing a very nice, dark blue dress that covered her very nicely. It stopped just under her knees, meaning that not many people would take notice of her when we went to the party. That was a good thing, there were enough people gawking at her when she was covered up and I didn’t want to go back to the precinct just because someone thought they thought they stood a chance with her. “Looks good,” I said nodding. “Looks like we’re done here, time to-“ “NO!” the women exclaimed. “This is NOT the right dress.” “I said it was good.” I replied looking to her, “Besides it’s-“ “If you need to speak for the dress then it’s not the right one…” she interrupted, grabbing the second dress, “next!” And so my time as a fashion critic began. Dress after dress looked just fine to me, but the woman (who I had later come to find out was named Iris) continued to say no. The two of us even got into heated debates from time to time, she being on the side of fashion and I standing for price and practicality. That still didn’t stop Iris from running off and grabbing dresses from the lord knows where. I personally never knew that there were so many styles, some I liked, but others I was actually on Iris’s side. An hour passed both Luna and I were getting frustrated, but Iris insisted that we continue until she arrived with the final wave of formal wear. “These are the last ones…” Iris said placing them on the bench. “If the right dress isn’t in this pile then I recommend you go somewhere else.” “Thanks for the honesty…” I said dragging my hand down my face, “I’m ready for this to be over…” “Me too…” Luna grunted from inside her booth, “Can you just give me one of those things already?” “Here you go…” I said reaching my hand into the booth, the instant I felt a tug on the dress I let go and walked to my space next to Iris. “Which one did you give her?” she asked as I sat down. “I don’t know; the one that’s a dress.” I said smugly shrugging my shoulders. “You’re SO descriptive…” Iris said rolling her eyes. “But either way I hope this is the one.” “You’re not the only one Iris.” I added, “This party happens tonight.” “Well I’m sorry that perfection doesn’t come easily.” Iris said sticking her nose in the air. “We’ll just have to see how THIS one looks.” “Agreed.” I grunted, crossing my arms as I waited for Luna to step out. Some ten minutes passed and Luna was a no show, leaving Iris and myself confused. She was getting quicker with every dress, but this one was taking her longer than the first one she put on. Growing understandably impatient I turned to Iris expecting an answer. “What kind of dress did I give her?” I asked, pointing to the dressing room. “Like I’m supposed to know.” Iris said rolling her eyes, “YOU gave it to her in the first place.” “Well maybe if you actually LOOKED at the damn things before you gave them to me!” “Well I NEVER!” Iris said in shock. “How DARE you say that I didn’t examine those dresses before I gave them to you! I know every designer, every price even the amount in stock! And you tell me that I-“ “Um… I’m done…” a voice from the dressing room said. “Finally!” I replied letting out a sigh of relief, “Now we can get on with-“ I froze the instant my eyes fell upon Luna in that dress. It was straight black, save for the dark blue edgings sparkling across the dress’s tips, but that wasn’t even the half of it. The dress itself looped around her neck, traveling down her body until it split right above her bust line, giving a tantalizing peek at her chest in the process. As the dress continued it split once again at her stomach, the only thing covering her being a transparent sparkling blue mesh. The gown part of the dress slid all the way down to her feet, covering her minus the slit the went straight to her hip. Last, but certainly not least were the things she wore on her arms, elbow gloves, wrapping around her middle finger and traveling all the way up until the halfway point of her bicep. “Uh… wow…” I managed to utter in my trance. “You… uh… you look.” “Amazing!” Iris finished standing up and applauding. “I believe that we have finally found the perfect dress!” “Really?” Luna asked looking to her ensemble. “I found these things rather difficult to manage.” She replied pointing to her gloves. “That simply adds to your mystic.” Iris said walking towards her to get a better look. “Now all you need is Ardency Inn Midnight Blue lipstick and some blue eye shadow to take the entire town by storm.” “I doubt that I would be able to do that…” Luna said with a cute smile. “Right Aedan?” At that point and time my brain was somewhere else. I just couldn’t get over the fact that Luna was beyond any describable word when it came to beauty. Gorgeous wouldn’t do her justice, amazing would’ve been an insult and beautiful would’ve been a combination of both. I don’t know how long I would’ve been staring, maybe until she was out of sight, but Luna’s voice yet again brought me back into the real world. “Aedan?” she said again. “Did you hear me? “Uh… yeah I heard you…” I said scratching the back of my head. “And the lady’s gotta point… that dress… it… it really suits you.” “You think?” Luna asked, her eyes lighting up. “I meant every last word…” I answered, nodding slowly with a smile. “Then it’s settled!” She exclaimed rushing me to wrap me up. “THIS will be my attire for the evening!” “That’s great Luna…” I said returning the embrace, only to notice that there was no back to the dress except for some blue mesh that started just below her waistline. “Glad to see you so happy.” “I shall be with you both again momentarily.” Luna said letting me go and walking back into the booth, not knowing that my eyes followed her the entire way. “So…” Iris said standing next to me with a smug grin. “Am I right? Or am I right?” “You know your stuff…” I said looking to her, “I’ll give you that…” “Oh darling of course I know my stuff.” Iris said patting my shoulder. “Now all you need to do is accecpt her.” “What?” “I said now all you need to do is pay for her.” Iris said walking off to her cahs register. “I’m sure you wouldn’t want a lady to pay for something like that.” “Don’t you think we should wait until you can scan the price tag?” I asked, “I’m sure that would be helpful.” “I’ll just be here then.” Iris replied giving me a dainty wave, “Don’t take too long.” “I’m sure she won’t…” I said taking a seat again, waiting for Luna to pop out of the dressing room. About a minute later Luna did just that with a huge smile and the dress in toe. After grabbing the things she said Luna would need the two of us finally made our way to Iris. My wallet shuttered, but I had to do this for Luna, her heart was set on wearing that dress to the party. (That and I wouldn’t mind seeing her in it again.) “Alright…” Iris said looking to her register “With everything here it looks like your total is… just over five hundred fifty dollars.” “Saywhatnow?” I said quickly blinking like crazy. “Well it’s actually five fifty one and twenty eight cents.” Iris said with a smile. I could feel my legs buckle, but the counter prevented me from falling flat on my face. Luna was the first to react, placing one hand on my back and the other on my side in an attempt to reassure me. “Are you alright Aedan?” she asked gently ribbing my back. “Are you feeling ill?” “Only in my wallet…” I sighed, pulling out a piece of plastic and handing it to Iris. “Credit or debit?” she asked smugly ready to swipe. “Just get it over with…” “Credit it is…” And with that another pile of money that I had saved up was gone. Sighing to myself I took my card back and placed it in my wallet and grabbed the small baggie for Luna’s cosmetics (As if she needed them in the first place) and the hanger that held her dress. “Thank you for shopping at Macy’s today sir.” Iris said waving. “I hope to see you again soon.” “Don’t count on it…” I grumbled under my breath before making my way to the exit. We left the store without so much as a word. I think Luna understood that I really didn’t like spending a lot of money unless it was necessary, but even if it was that didn’t mean I’d be happy about it. “You know you’re going to make me broke…” I said opening the car door. “Why would you say that?” Luna asked, “You’re wealth seems near infinite, especially when you wield that small square.” “A lot of people think that…” I said shaking my head, “And now everyone’s in debt.” “What?” “Nothing really…” I said getting inside. “I hope this party’s worth it.” “Well it IS in several hours… is it not?” Luna asked getting into the car herself. “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t get ready now.” I answered turning it on. “So let’s go home, get ready and try to have fun.” “I couldn’t agree more.” Luna said with a nod. “I eagerly await this event.” “Luna…” I said putting the car in drive. “I’ve got a feeling that however this thing turns out… it’ll be big.”