dark; au
When it came to clothing, Lightning didn't really have a preference. She wore what fit her well, end of story. Honestly, she couldn't fathom how so many women could find the art of playing dress-up so amusing.
Serah seemed dead set on convincing her otherwise.
"Oh, come on, Lightning!" Serah shifted through a bunch of hangers with outfits she'd selected for her sister. "At least try to act like you're having fun. Most girls would kill for a personal shopper!"
"You're my sister." Lightning rolled her eyes. "There's a big difference."
"Not much of one," Hope piped up, some of the first words he'd spoken since they'd arrived, which just made Lightning feel a little guilty. Why had Serah insisted on dragging him along? Oh yes, to 'get his opinion.'
Even though, naturally, Serah of all people should have known that dragging boyfriends along on shopping outings was a very bad idea.
"Point taken," was all Lightning replied, sighing as her sister thrust a pale blue dress in her arms. "Another one?"
"This is a different style!" Serah huffed with Lightning rolled her eyes. "Don't you want to wow everyone at this reunion?"
"Not really."
"But you still need the perfect dress!" She practically shoved Lightning back into the dressing room. "Which you can only get by trying it on, you know!"
Honestly, how many times today had she rolled her eyes? At least Hope seemed to be on her side. At first he'd looked rather interested, but as time ticked on, he looked more and more bored and was practically slumping in his chair, occasionally scrolling through his phone.
It was only when Lightning emerged in what felt like the hundredth dress she'd tried on, her face still in an unamused frown, that Hope spoke again. "You know, Serah, all of these are really nice, Light doesn't seem to like any of them." His eyes went to the pile of rejected outfits. "And you keep picking out pastels."
Serah flipped her hair over her shoulder. "But she looks really good in them. They compliment her hair and skin." She kind of smoothed out the one her sister was currently wearing, ignoring the extreme frown that was being sent her way at the fact that she and Hope were basically talking about her like she wasn't even there. "See?"
"She does," Hope agreed, quirking a bit of smile at the slight flush that appeared on his girlfriend's face, "but I've always liked her in darker colors, myself."
"Really?" Serah took a step back and tapped her chin, as though trying to imagine it. "Hmmm…I don't know, but I guess it couldn't hurt to try something on. I'll be right back!" She went back into the store, presumably to find fitting outfits.
Lightning just stared at Hope, honestly a little flabbergasted. "Since when do you pay attention to what I wear?"
He looked faintly amused. "Since when do you let Serah get away with playing dress-up? Especially since when she had you in and out of outfits for your maid of honor dress, you claimed it was going to be the last time."
….Damnit. He had a point. For once.
Before she could think of a retort, Serah had returned with an armful of new dresses. "Here you go!" She handed Lightning a black one. "Darker colors are a lot more popular, I guess, so it was easy to find a bunch in your size. Now get to trying them on before we're here in the dark."
Even though all she wanted to do was toss all of the fabric aside, Lightning obeyed and began to strap and zip herself in. It was only when she emerged wearing a fairly simple one - a sleeveless, knee-length, wrap-around, dark blue number - that she noticed Hope's expression had gone from bored to totally intrigued. His eyes roamed over her with a soft little expression of approval.
"I like it," he said quietly.
She couldn't help but smile. "The dress?"
"More like…the dress on you."
Serah smiled to herself, watching as Hope stood up to gently turn Lightning to face the mirror, his hands lightly rubbing her arms. They both looked relaxed and happy - almost like they'd forgotten they were in a fitting room at all.
As she quietly gathered the rejected dresses to hang up, leaving those two in their own little world for now, she made two mental notes - one, that Lightning did indeed pull off dark colors well; and two, that Hope would most definitely have to come along on their shopping trips from now on.