It had been around two weeks since he had really had a conversation with Lily and to be honest he missed having her around to talk to. She was smart and funny and super nice and she was one of the few people he listened to when she told him to do something, just because she gave him that look that he could swear was a look she stole from his mother.

Two weeks since she spotted him and hauled him off to store after store making an attempt to kill him slowly with boredom and while she failed to kill him and then rewarded him with ice cream Carrick swore that he never wanted to relive that nightmare he was for some reason going against exactly what he swore.

Dressed in his flannel with a white undershirt and jeans Carrick slowly walked up to the door he assumed was Lily’s a knocked loudly three times before waiting for a response. Even though he was going to regret what he was about to do it needed to be done. Letting out a sigh his shoulders hung low and he already felt his backbone shriveling up as his wings and tail drooped low to the ground. Turning slightly her turned his back against the door and took a step over and leaned up against the wall waiting for Lily.

For the Mid Summer’s Dance was around the corner and Carrick didn’t have any nice clothing and as much as it pained him to do so all the money he had been ‘Finding’ he had been saving for this occasion. He wanted to look good and the money he had would be put towards it.

"Coming!" Lily carefully put the little brush back into the vial of golden nail polish and hopped over to the door, shaking the hand that she was done with to make the polish dry faster. She was wearing shorts and a tank top, and had been re-doing her nails for the third time in two days our of sheer boredom.
Opening the door, she had to look around before she spotted the gryphon boy. He looked kind of... in trouble.
"Carrick!" she smiled at him all the more cheerful "Hi. Do you want to come in?" she nodded for him, opening the door wider so he could walk in. In the meantime she blew on her nails, and wrinkled her nose at the smell of the nail polish. "Is everything all right? Do you need help with something?"

When the door opened he pushed his back off the wall and turned to face Lily who was in her causal lay about clothes, she smelled like nail polish guessing that it was because she just did or started to do her nails Carrick smiled slightly and scratched the back of his head, ”Well if your not to busy…” she opened the door for him more and he walked in his tail still hanging slightly low knowing he was going to regret his request.

Was it that obvious that he looked troubled? He knew but wasn’t sure others knew him that well then again Lily did seem to have the motherly instincts that could tell her when Carrick was feeling a bit down. Slowly turning to face Lily he nodded his head and reached into his pocket to pull out a wad of paper. After a second he unclumped it and reviled that it was a flyer to the upcoming dance.

”I was wondering if you could take me to get a suit or something nice to wear for the dance…” he asked feeling slightly revealed that he was well on his way for this nightmare of shopping to be over, asking her after all was the first step.

Reaching into his pocket and removing a raggedy wallet he had for a few years that was passed down from his brother who had it for a few years more than Carrick he shook it, I have enough money I think but… I need someone to give me a opinion on what works best…”[/color] Carrick said with a small smile as he looked up to Lily.

Lily arched an eyebrow at the winged boy, and smiled a sweet smile.
"Let me see if I understand it correctly." she started, thoroughly amused by the situation. A few days ago she practically tortured the kid by dragging him along to shop, and now here he was on his own accord, asking her to do the same. All right, so this time they would be buying things for him, not her, but it didn't make much of a difference.
"You want me to go shopping with you?"
The smile turned into a grin.
"The dance, right?" she asked as she started to pick out clothes from her wardrobe "Sure, I'm happy to help you. I have a few ideas where to look for things that would look good on you... So, do you have a date yet?"

He nodded his head noticing the smile and how much she was enjoying this moment it was clear she knew his hatred of shopping and it was clear that she was going to once again enjoy this more than he would. He did want her to go shopping with him however he was going to try and make this a better trip than the last time they went shopping because there was one thing that was going to make this different than last time and it wasn’t the lack of ice cream this time it was for him.

He nodded his head once again when she asked about the dance in conformation, ”Yep” he watched her walk to her closet and picked out clothes no doubt clothes to go shopping in, he just threw whatever smelled the cleanest, which might be his problem when it comes to style and clothing.

When she agreed to take him shopping he smiled and grinned he was happy she agreed to it after all she was one of the only people in the mansion he would request to go shopping with him. Defiantly not Kat… he shuddered no way in hell he would take Haylee less she might take his spine by force.

Carrick was revealed that she had a few ideas of places for him to find clothing it would make things go all the quicker. A breath stopped just as he was about to exhale when she mentioned a date. He blushed and he nodded slightly as he looked to the door making a motion to leave so he could give her some time and privacy to change. He didn’t really feel like explaining who his date was because well he had a feeling Lily would give him a hard time about it. There was a reason why he never had a girlfriend or ever went on a date before, he was terrible when it came to handling girls in a romantic situation and any discussion of it with anyone.

Carrick didn't seem so talkative at all, and he looked ready to run for it when she asked about his date. That told her he had one. Great. Shopping for clothes was one thing, but if she had to find a date for the kid... well, she could have. Fortunately she didn't have to.
"Just take a seat, I'll be ready in five minutes" she smiled at him, then disappeared in the bathroom, just to emerge four and a half minutes later in a summer dress, ready for shopping. She grabbed a few things and ticked them into her purse, slipped on her shoes, and smiled at the gryphon boy. "Ready?"
"We'll have to take the subway" she sighed as they walked outside "I will have my own car soon, but right now, we'll have to walk a bit. Unless we steal Shawn's car." she added with a playful smile. She still remembered how pissed her boyfriend was the last time someone borrowed his baby... "You will have to tell me something about your date, you know." she added, after a while "Otherwise I won't know how to dress you up. It's important."

Before the winged boy could leave the room Lily told him to take a seat and then she vanished in the bathroom, during the time Carrick looked around her room and wasn’t surprised to find it girly after all it was Lily anything else wouldn’t make it Lily’s. Another note he had to make was how clean the room was, it made his room look like a pigsty then again he was pretty sure any room in the mansion made his and Kai’s room look like a mess. After all how many rooms have pizza boxes from a few weeks ago still in them.

The bathroom door opened and Lily’s immerged in a sundress and was from what he could tell thrilled to go. She was so upbeat about this it was only natural that it would affect his own outlook about the situation. It would however be a slow process, and to prove this Carrick nodded his head and returned a weak smile, ”Yep”.

When she mentioned the subway Carrick gave her a look that explained his dislike of the underground system. It was bad enough going into a cramped space with tons of people but underground. Nope, that was where he drew the line. He on occasion could be forced into a situation he wasn’t comfortable with but the subway was a no go.

”Can we take his car?” Carrick said quickly adding a playful smile masking his general fear of the subway. ”Not really big on the whole underground enclosed space thing…” Carrick said as he pointed to his wings.

Lily paused, glancing down at Carrick. It was only natural for a winged creature to not like the underground. She sighed, and winked at the gryphon boy. "Fine, we'll take Shawn's car. But it's our secret, all right?"
She walked down to the garage with him, and in no time they were on the road. Lily drove safely as she usually did, took extra care of the car, and make sure Carrick fastened his seatbelt.
"All right, before we start looking for shops" she glanced at him as she drove "I was being serious, you know. Also, do you have anything in mind that you'd like? Any ideas?" she paused, then glanced at him again "It usually speeds up the whole process if I have something to go on." she added with a sliht smile. She knew that even if he asked her to help, he probably still didn't want to spend more time shopping than it was necessary...

The wink was all it took for the winged teen’s feelings of look and worry to lift and vanish. She was defiantly the greatest person in the world! He didn’t know how this Shawn of hers would react to her stealing his car but he would be more than happy to take the blame if she got in trouble.

After the reluctant buckle up they were off and away the mansion went, it wasn’t as great as flying but it beat the subway and with Lily as company he was sure it wouldn’t be such a bad ride. Looking from the window to Lily he grinned slightly, ”I had a feeling you were serious,” Carrick said as he felt his cheeks blush a bit before he looked away, of course he wasn’t going to tell her he purposely avoided to tell her about Elizabeth. It was weird she would be the official girl he took to a dance.. now that he thought about it this was the official dance he was actually looking forward to even with the awkward forced date.

”I don’t know exactly what I’m looking for, something like a James Bond look though, is a Tux too much?” Carrick asked curiously before he looked down at his hands that were in his lap. ”Her name is Elizabeth… and she is newish to the mansion…” Carrick said as he shifted his eyes upright to the window again avoiding Lily’s general direction. ”And we’re just friends…” he said making sure there weren’t any miscommunications like there was with Haylee who he had a feeling just plain didn’t listen to anything he had to say.

"Elizabeth..." Lily nodded "I don't think I have met her." she chuckled as Carrick added the part about being just friends. She didn't find it amusing because she didn't believe him, not at all. She just noted the haste he said it with.
"Just friends. Got it." she nodded again "That's cool. I always went to dances with my friends. I didn't have a boyfriend till I came to the Mansion." she told him, hoping it would make him feel less awkward about actually having a date for the school dance.
"James Bond" she arched an eyebrow "All right, I'll see what we can do about that." she nodded "And I know a place where they can adjust the clothes you choose for the wings and the tail." she added with a smile.
Lily parked the car and walked with Carrick down the street till she found what she'd been looking for: a men's clothing shop that looked fancy enough for her taste, but not fancy enough to scare the gryphon away. She smiled at him. "Ready?"

Carrick didn’t comment on her not having a boyfriend till she came to the mansion, in fact after he told her about Elizabeth he kept his mouth shut pretty much the rest of the car ride till she touched base about what he wanted to wear. ”Good!” Carrick said grateful that he could his dress clothes tailored for his wings and tail, the last thing he wanted to have to do was make alterations on his own. It was one of the many reasons he only had so many clothes to wear.

With the car parked Carrick jumped out of the car and opened his wings slightly glad that he was no longer stuck in such a small space, even if he didn’t really act like it, he really did hate cars. Walking with Lily don the street he found her stopped in front of a clothing store that despite how some of the suits looked he had the feeling they would be out of his price range. Mentally counting the money on his person he looked to Lily and nodded his head slightly, hoping that she didn’t expect to have him pay as much as she would when she went on a shopping spree, if it came to paying that much he had a feeling he was going in flannel.

”Yeah…” Carrick said not really sure if there was a better way to answer the question she posed for him. Pulling the door open he held it open for Lily to walk in first for two reasons, the first was because that was how he was raised and it was a second nature to him, and two because he had no idea where he should have gone once he entered the store.

Lily chuckled as she watched the boy stretch his wings; as cool as he looked to people used to living with mutants, they got quite a few awkward glances in this part of the town. She understood how it must have felt like for him to sit in a car instead of flying. Or at least she had a fair idea.
The awkward glances continued as they walked into the shop, but they didn't last for long; Lily's presence spelled money and grace, and they knew better than to insult the young man she point out as their customer. Clerks skittered in every direction to find the perfect suit for the gryphon.
"You can't try them on now, of course" Lily smiled at the boy "But that shouldn't be a problem. Just find what you like the most, and we'll make sure it fits in the right places." she chuckled, ruffling the feathers on his wing.

Looking around at all the suits he passed one then another not really deciding any of them fit his personality the best, the ones he were looking at were high end he could tell but didn’t want to pass them over till he could see a few that were in his price range. His hand traced up to the necklace Lily gave him the last time they went shopping. His fingers traced over the familiar markings over the coin and he frowned slightly. He didn’t like any of them, none of them would work. That was when he heard Lily ‘s comment about not wearing them right away.

‘Why not?’ he though mentally then shrugged as she started to ruffle with his feathers on his wings, something he usually didn’t let anyone do without permission something that Lily always had. Nodding his head he lowered it slightly, ”Alright,” Carrick said as he took a step forward and looked at the suits that were more in his price range. There was a blue suit, a black one and a gray one, for the most part all of them were plain something he wasn’t fond of but when he looked at them he mentally counted the amount of coin he had in his pocket again and decided between these three.

His hand reaching up to the black suit turning it over in his hand he looked from the front and the back and felt the fabric eyes trailed over the front and he nodded slightly, ”This one!” Carrick pointed out as he nodded his head slightly then suddenly felt something constricting his arms and legs. Before reactions of panic could set in he struggled and looked to the sources, they were measuring tapes. ”Hey, Becareful!” Carrick said slightly flustered as the tape moved up his leg and then traveled to his waste getting the base of his tail in the measurement.

Giving Lily a look of a small defenseless animal being tortured then turning it into a scrunched up ‘you better not laugh face’. His tail whipped around to the guy measuring his waste letting him know he was serious about being careful. The man gave Carrick a look and he responded with a smirk.

Lily sat down onto a chair that miraculously appeared in the moment she stepped away from the proceedings, and watched Carrick with a smile. Her presence was the guarantee that they would treat him like any other customer, or maybe better. She knew that not everyone likes mutants, but in places like that, money cam before genetics. She suspected that Carrick would want to pay for his own clothes. She'd settle that later.
Once they left Carrick alone for a few moments, she allowed herself a bright smile. "Relax and enjoy, Carrick" she chuckled "It'll be over soon. I know it is not comfortable, but everyone has to suffer through things like this if they want to look dashing at a dance..." she watched people return with the chosen clothes and nodded "I like that one too."
Once they were done with the gryphon boy, Jewel took matters into her own hands. Everyone was very polite to her, as she arranged for the suit to be modified to the wings and the tail, as soon as possible, and paid for when it was ready. Then she turned back to Carrick with another bright smile.
"I think we are all done here for now. Let's go find the rest of the things you need."

”Relax?” he questioned giving her a look as they left him after the measurements, ”Not fond of strangers getting up in my bubble with a tape measure no matter how friendly they are.” he said as his looked turned a bit sour when he wrinkled his nose in her direction. ”Just glad this I only have to get one suit for the dance.” he said as he turned and looked at himself in a few mirrors his tail and his wings catching his attention.

”Do I pay now or later?” Carrick asked holding up a raggedy wallet with a patch or two sown into it. Her next words startled him, ”Wait…” Carrick said his tail flicked behind him as he jumped off the stand he was on a few seconds ago where he was getting his measurements, ”Whatcha mean find the rest of my things?”

The winged child frowned, here he was under the impression all they needed was a suit, little did he know that she thought he needed some more stuff. ”I just needed the suit, right?”