1964-11-21 - Bibbity Bobbity Boo
Summary: Ladies go shopping for the ball.
Related: If there are no related logs, put 'None', — please don't leave blank!
Theme Song: None
carol-danvers diana jessica-drew kate-bishop stephanie-brown 


There's a pre-Thanksgiving sale at Macy's. While it hasn't drawn in the biggest of crowds, those that may have formal events for the season are already taking advantage of the savings. Among those that is taking advantage of the sale in the women's section, Kate Bishop is already carrying a few bags with purchases. Dressed in a tight purple sweater with blue-jeans, a pair of sunglasses above her forehead, she's currently eyeing some of the more elegant formal dresses on sale and making a small face.


Jessica Drew's collection of formal wear is…Well, it's non-existent. What is she going to wear a formal gown for? Apparently for the Macys Ball, now that she has a date. So she reached out to the only person who's going to go dress shopping with her - Carol Danvers. "I still feel like the agency wardrobe would be better," she grumbles as she goes through a rack. "Just take it out for the night, put it back on the rack in the morning. No many to spend. And it'd probably fit better. Seriously, do they think we're all five feet tall? I'm not five feet tall."


Carol grins at Jessica, "Well, you're shorter than I am, so you might as well be…" She winks, then chuckles, "Besides, I swiped Bruce's American Express card, and I need to get something for tomorrow anyway. So you're getting something nice too." The benefits of dating a millionaire CEO, after all…


While she has no understanding of Macy's nor Holiday sales or their pre-holiday version, Diana has happened by one Emma Frost who advised her to get a less conspicious wardrobe. Macy's just happened to be the store she directed her towards. Diana stands a moment outside the huge store, studying this temple of commerce with awe, before setting foot inside. All it takes is a glance to figure she could take advantage of the sale, seeing how she's pretty much wrapped in a worn cloak and hood, as if she was dressed in costume for a Lords of The Rings party.


Stephanie Brown does not, by and large, shop at Macy's. Among other things, while its prices are not as ridiculous as those of, say, Tiffany's, Steph is more a Discount City sort of girl. Even walking into the store leaves her feeling awkward and poor, as though some matronly lady with a diamond tiara is going to point at her and howl like the Queen of Hearts for guards to drag her out. Off with her head! Clean cups clean cups move DOWWWWWWWNNNNN!!!

Okay, somebody dragged her to see 'Alice in Wonderland' the other day for some reason.

Somebody hinted, though, that they might want to take her to the Macy's Ball, and somebody else offered to buy her a dress, and Steph, while she really isn't into long-term relationships at this stage in her career, is trying to make some effort to fit in before somebody realizes that she is… L'Aubergine!

Right. Nobody knows who that is anyway.

So, long story short, she is dragged into the Lady's Department by a gaggle of college freshmen girls, appropriately squawking like geese, and looking as though she'd like to dive into a changing room and never be seen again.


"By the time I put on heels I am," Jess grumbles to Carol, quirking a brow at the talk of someone else's AmEx. "Do my ears deceive me, or did I just hear the independent modern woman Carol Danvers say she was going to buy something on her boyfriend's credit card?" she teases, shaking her head with a smirk. "I'm starting to think you've got a type, Carol. Tall, dark, and loaded." Like she has room to talk at the moment. She looks over her shoulder, catching sight of Diana and the group of girls. "I feel like a short dress isn't really right for something nice like this, or I'd just go all leg, you know?"


Carol laughs softly, "Independent modern woman Carol Danvers doesn't mind taking advantage of a boyfriend that makes a lot more than she does with government work." She winks at Jessica, "I might be independent, but I'm not stupid either. Though unlike Tony, Bruce is… well, he's not the type to rip your heart out because he's a callous jerk who's afraid of commitment." She looks a bit wry at that, as apparently she's still a little bitter, but it's more in the past.


"The Macy's Ball? Knee length. You know how the paparazzi likes to feed on anything that smells of a scandal." Kate starts to say, just jumping into the conversation as the young woman glances around the rack at the other two women and then her eyes widen slightly at Diana. "Didn't know we were shooting a movie here."


Diana doesn't make it more than a couple of steps into the store before pausing, and turning to look all around, floor to ceiling, she is astounded by the architecture, display, and the very foreign consumer focused hall of worship, where everything leads the eyes towards articles of clothing, and colorful sale signs. The spectacular pre-Thanksgiving sale no less!


"Greta… Greta! Stop!" Stephanie's not far from Jessica and Carol when she says this, trying to fend off a girl with too many freckles and wild red hair who seems to want to shove her into a blue silk dress. "If you rip that, I'm going to have to pay for it. You know I don't have that kinda cash."

"Yeah, but if you like it, I can sew it for you," Greta replies, the grin on her face simply huge.

"Before the Ball? I'd like to see that," Steph grumbles. "Anyway, it's not my color. I don't want to wear blue."

"You're a blonde, Stephanie," puts in a dark-haired girl behind her. "Blue -is- your color."

"It's not my -only- color," then, gripes Steph, pulling away from the pair. "Look, I want something simple with room in the skirt so I can move, okay?" When she gets a confused look she quickly adds, "I am not going to a -ball- and not -dancing.- This! This is good!" She snags a dress off a rack and thrusts it defensively between herself and Greta. It's a deep, royal shade of violet.

<Dear Diary, remind me never to go anywhere again. People want to force me into dresses.>


"Why don't you tell us how you really feel?" Jess smiles ruefully back at Carol, glancing over at Kate's advice. "Knee-length is too housewife," she wrinkles her nose. "I'm going for jaw-dropping here. I met the guy at the gym, so all he's seen is sweats, you know? I'd like to knock him on his perfect ass when he shows up." So graceful. So elegant. "See?" she points out Diana to Carol. "She's tall too. And look what she's got to wear. This is the plight of the modern department store!"


Carol blinks, then grins at Jess, "Thankfully, you have no idea." She then nods, "But yeah, you'll want something that's a bit eye catching, but doesn't restrict your movement." She considers a bit, and looks over at Diana, giving her a warm smile, "Hey there, you look a little lost. Need a hand picking something out?" She tilts her head, regarding the Amazon with a curious expression, as if she looks a bit familiar somehow…


"I'm not planning on going myself, but I got the invitation in the mail - so I'll probably be making a donation." Kate offers a smile to the other women before giving Stephanie a brief wave. "They have a purple number that would look great on you!" She would know, she loves her purple. "I'm Kate, by the way."


Steph looks over at the helpful young woman, eyes begging for help. "Greta, take this," she says, forcing the violet dress into her friend's hands as, moments ago, her friend was trying to force her into a dress. "See if you can match it to a pattern or something. Kate? I'm Stephanie. Though I prefer Steph." Steph is dressed in jeans and a jacket against the chill outside. "What dress is this? Where'd you see it?"


Diana seems to have an uncanny ability to detect when one is speaking about her, because when Jessica mentions her as an example for the ill fate of tall women when it comes to clothing, she turns to look directly her way, a rather measuring sort of gaze. That is until Carol addresses her directly with a warm smile to boot, making Diana more at east as she approaches her and inclines her head in agreement, "you could say that, indeed. I was told this would be a place to look for…proper attire, so as not to stand out, but there's just such huge variety I'm not sure what to even consider."


"You and me both, sister," Jess sighs to Diana, picking up a white dress covered in silver and sparkling beads. "No way," she mutters, hanging it right back up with a shudder. "I'm Jess," she absently waves to the others, adding her own introduction. "I'm feeling like black. I mean, black is classy, right? Long, black, and like…slinky. There's got to be something like that in here somewhere."


Carol smiles over at Diana, "Well, we actually seem to be about the same size… maybe we could find something. Though you have a… well, much better complexion than I do." She sounds a bit envious, managing it well though as she nods at Diana, then looks over at Jessica, "Hey, I was thinking of going with black, figured it's a pretty safe color to go with, and it'd be good for me." She gets a wry thought, looking back at Diana, "I'm Carol, by the way, and is this going to be for the gala tomorrow? Because that's what we're picking out for too."


"Nice to meet you, Steph. Looked like you needed a rescue from the Boppsie twins." Kate offers a grin and gestures to a purple sleeveless dress with a black sash and purple and black vertical stripped skirt. "I think you'd look awesome in something like that."


"Thanks," Steph murmurs as she moves in closer to examine the dress in question. "A guy hinted he wanted to take me to this ball thing, and once Greta and Maisie heard…" She rolls her eyes. "Greta somehow thinks she's going to study the dress for five minutes and replicated it overnight. Without having any kind of budget for fabric." Happily, Greta and Maisie have retreated to inspect Steph's dress of choice in better light — and Steph just hopes they don't attract the attention of security guards themselves. She waves toward Jess and Carol and Diana politely, for all that she looks strained just by being here. And then doubletakes, then pitches her voice low toward Kate. "Is she actually wearing a tiara?"


"Black appeals to darkness, I would advise the opposite," Diana offers to Jess, even though her opinion wasn't called for. With introductions being made, she offers her own, "Diana is my name." Diana tilts her head thoughtfully towards one shoulder as a 'gala' is mentioned, "I have not heard of this gala, but I should like to attend, if I may."

When Steph asks Kate about a tiara, Diana adjusts her hood, pulling it a bit lower down her forehead, as to better hide the tiara.


"Maybe I like the dark," Jess smirks over at Diana, going back to the racks for another round of searching. "I could go green, but green always makes me think of-" She pauses, looking over to Carol and wrinkling her nose. "Well, you know. One head, two take its place, blah blah blah. Could always go red," she muses. "Little more showy than I usually like, but hey. Not like anyone's going to be paying attention to me if you're showing up with the billionaire of the moment," she teases Carol.


Carol Danvers makes a face at Jess, "Yeah, well, I don't know about perfect, but he /does/ have a nice butt too." She wrinkles her nose, as… well, wait, but… no, that would just be silly. "Red isn't bad, or blue, for that matter. I do like a nice sparkling black gown, though. Bit of a guilty pleasure I suppose, plus it looks good with my hair."


"I think so." Kate responds to Steph with a small grin. "I think it's a bold statement. No reason to hide who you believe yourself to be, right?" asks the girl who prowls rooftops with a bow and arrow. When Diana mentions not having an invite, she speaks up. "You're welcome to mine. I don't hobnob as much as I used to, and I wouldn't want it to go to waste. But.. if I could get you to drop off my donation for me, that'd more than make up for it."


"Donations!" says Steph, looking somewhat horrified. "I can't give a donation! I've got negative money!" She pauses a moment, then shakes her head. Probably wouldn't look good to give a check for negative twenty thousand dollars at a charity event, and how could they be convinced to deposit it?

Steph is a good person, but even good people are tempted by money they don't have.

"Forget the dress. You can have my date," she informs Diana. "He's a nice guy. A little bland, but I'm sure he'd be way happier going with you than with me!"


Diana seems to be giving Jess a far too serious a glare for her statement, "do you like to spread it around, or is it just a preference for yourself?" Who knew a woman essentially wrapped in a cloak could care so much for fasion. She squints a bit as Jessica seems to be making light of the Lernaean Hydra, just who is this agent of darkness and how long has she walked Man's World is what is on Diana's mind at the moment.

Then Kate draws her attention away, which allows the serverity of Diana's visage to soften, particularly at such a selfless gesture. "I am touched you would offer me your own, Kate, I will gladly place your donation for you."

Then Steph offers yet another distraction, albeit a far more jarring one, "excuse me?" She asks, not used to 'dates' being a tradeable commodity, "I very much doubt a gentleman courting you would freely elect the company of another woman."


"Nope, I quit that job," Jess answers Diana insouciantly. "Benefits weren't bad, but the pay was crap. And the transparency was definitely lacking. Also, the uniforms were really awful. Though less awful than other agencies." She pretends to cough. "*Cough*AIM*cough*." With a sidelong glance at Carol. "Damned beekeepers. All right, so you've got dibs on black, which is fair enough with tall, dark, and loaded at your side. So maybe I'll just knock him on his ass with something eye-catching and red, then."


Carol Danvers grins, "Maybe with a gold trim, Jess? That'd go well for you. Or you, for that matter." She smiles at Diana, "Though with your complexion, maybe just going the opposite and wearing white would be the thing. Granted, it's after Labor Day, but rules were made to be broken."


"You have looked in a mirror recently?" Steph replies to Diana. "He'd be trading up." This woman wears a tiara. There is little comparison between Stephanie Brown, daughter of Arthur, AKA Scum Lord of Queens, and any person who wears a tiara. Plus, this woman in the tiara is NOT taking it upon herself to have poor, lower-class Stephanie Brown evicted from Macy's, which puts her at yet a more unreachable level in Steph's eye. She has been listening in on the conversation of the others. They're all right there, after all. She hasn't put it all together yet, but she is coming to the conclusion that there is more to this group of chance passers-by than might meet the eye.


The way Diana considers Jess, it seems like she takes Jess for an undercover agent of darkness, and she's got her number, though for now her reply seems satisfactory. At least partially as it suggests Jess no longer serves the dark forces.

Carol grounding the talk back to the matter of dresses, and Diana nods at her suggestions, "a white with gold trim would serve well, if they have such a thing," very reminiscent of the royal robes of Themyscira to be sure, she'd be very comfortable in such a number.

Diana turns to look at Steph with a warm, and somehow…affectionate? smile. "Why do you speak such words of the gentleman courting you? Clearly he has made a choice, why have such little faith in his professed feelings for you?" She takes a step closer to Steph, and looks at her with a deep look of appraisal, "you don't seem to me like a consolation prize, why speak of yourself so lowly? Someone might believe you if you do it enough times."


Jessica Drew is absolutely a semi-reformed agent of darkness. It's okay. She's used to that look from the other SHIELD agents. Which is probably why it rolls right off her back as she picks out a deep crimson strapless number, giving it a pensive look. "I don't think strapless," she muses, hanging it back up. "Hey, we can't all be Carol," she adds over to Stephanie with a smirk and a teasing tip of her head toward her friend. "Some of us have to get by on personality." Or pheromones, but that's beside the point.


Carol rolls her eyes, "Hey, I get by just fine on personality. And as long as our Fearless Leader isn't setting me up on blind dates…" She grins at Stephanie, "And hey, you're no consolation prize, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Especially yourself. Got it?" She glances at Diana, as if sensing the direction of her thoughts about Jessica, "Jess is cool, don't worry. She wouldn't be my best friend if she wasn't."


"Hey, at least you got asked, I had to buy my way in." Kate gives Stephanie a wink at that as she digs around in her purse, and withdraws both the tickets and a check for 5,000 dollars she had written out to the Youth Education and Humanities and Arts Foundation to offer to Diana. "I really appreciate it. I don't go out to these things like I used to." Not since she was attacked in Central Park. "Thank you, Your Highness." Now, her attention returns to Stephanie. "You said he was bland, then you're going to want to stand out, right? After all, you don't want to sell yourself short!"


"I'm not sure, 'If Lu's not busy, you want to do this ball thing with me?' is really a profession of feelings," Steph observes wryly. "He hasn't really asked. I haven't really said yes. I have two friends who have watched Cinderella so many times that they think by going to a ball, I'm going to wind up meeting a prince and becoming a queen. I'm from Queens. I don't need to be a princess." Too late, she wonders if she's said too much.

<Dear Diary: Remind me not to announce my home borough in Macy's. I think it might be against the law for residents of Queens to shop there.>


While she still eyes Jessica suspiciously, Diana seems appeased by Carol's vouching for Jessica, she gets good vibes from Carol. The woman may well have fit on Themyscira judging on character, at least from what little Diana had seen.

With Kate reaching to hand her the tickets and donation check, Diana reaches to accept it, which causes her cloak to part a little, which means those with keen eye or at the very least those who really pay close attention might catch a glimpse of the entirely out of place full Amazonian Battle Armor she is wearing underneath her cloak. Dian is caught a bit off guard at being called 'Your Highness', though what might be weirder is that she doesn't so much refute the glorifying title, but instead asks, "how do you know?"

While Eddie Murphy is bound to play this joke some decades later, unfortunately, in this particular setting, it works all the same with Diana, who turns to look at Steph with surprise, "you live in a town inhabited entirely by royalty?"


"Damn, don't go anywhere with someone whose idea of an invitation is 'wanna go with me if it doesn't work out with her?'" Jess advises Steph, wrinkling her nose. "That's a jerk. I mean, unless you're just using him to get in and then hook up with someone better, which is a totally valid strategy, by the way." Carol can vouch for her all she wants, Jess is an expert at making a terrible impression regardless. "Actually, just do that. Sounds like it's going to be a fancy affair, after all."


Carol grins, "Yeah, it seems…" She blinks as she catches a glimpse of the battle armor under Diana's cloak, and tilts her head, "Wait, um… maybe we should get you some /other/ clothes, besides just the gown, huh?" She gets a bit of a wry look, "I mean, the armor looks good, but it's not quite right for New York." She pauses, "Well, right it may be, but socially acceptable not so much."


"You're wearing a tiara, I was being snarky.. wait, you're really royalty?" Kate asks in confusion, a blink of her eyes. There's a moment of confusion and she chews on the inside of her mouth. "Well, I suppose I know what my foot tastes like plenty by now."


Steph is a bit more gentle than Kate, at least, shaking her head at Diana. "No, it's just named Queens in honor of a queen from the time it was founded. I think." Her nose wrinkles slightly. To Jess she says, "I'm not going anywhere without a decent dress. And no matter what Greta says, she can't spin gold out of straw. Or purple silk, for that matter." She's still fingering the dress that Kate showed to her before. This and a domino mask and she'd be all the Cinderella she needs.


Diana to her credit, makes no further comment about Jessica, despite her giving it her all to appear like an all around terrible person. She quickly puts away the ticket and donation check in an inner pocket of her cloak and moves to shut it tight around her, but it seems too late as Carol already took note of her armor. "Yes, quite," she admits to Carol's suggestion. It's true after all.

She frowns as Kate remarks of the tiara, "I was trying to keep it hidden," she admits, apparently quite badly. "I'm not sure what 'snarky' means?" She asks, looking at a loss, until she sees the surprise in Kate's eyes and she tries to back off, "oh, no, I was just playing around. I was teasing you because you were teasing me." Yeah, that's pretty beliveable.


"Well, I thought I heard Carol volunteering to be the fairy godmother tonight," Jess smiles crookedly over at Steph, winking. "Something about her boyfriend's credit card…" Well, at least she's generously awful? Or something like that. For all her awfulness, though, she doesn't seem bothered by the armor.


Carol chuckles, "I don't know if I volunteered that much, but sure, I can wave a magic wand… or card, in this case." She smiles at the group, then looks over at Diana, "Let's get you some more casual clothes too, huh? So you don't look like you're about to take out all of Mordor by your lonesome."


"We could just turn one of the personal shoppers loose on her." Kate offers with a grin, since they have those here. "She can just tell them what she's used to and whip up a whole wardrobe.." she smirks at Carol. "Does your boyfriend know you have his card? My daddy gets pissed if I spend too much. Then I have to be all smiley and polite for a bit."


Steph quietly shakes her head. Rich girl, princess, gorgeous woman with rich boyfriend, generally gorgeous woman who will probably have a rich boyfriend when she next snaps her fingers. And Steph. She should have stuck with Greta and Maisie! Still, she says nothing about it. "Really not necessary," she says to Carol. "I don't think I have any of the right costuming for a ball, and this assumes that Lu isn't available." She pauses for a moment. "You know, I have no idea who Lu is."


"I'm telling you, kid, go anyhow. You'll find someone more interesting than whoever that jerk is anyhow. And if you don't, there'll be good food. And probably free drinks," Jess muses, tipping her head to one side as if she's just realized that. "I should probably take it easy on the drinks. I mean, I do okay with that sort of thing, but you know. Don't want him to think it's weird how I've had four bottles of champagne or anything."


Carol Danvers smiles wryly at Jess, "Don't look at me, I don't drink." She hmms, and nods towards Jess at her assessment of Steph's date, or whatever he is, "Yeah, you can do better than that. Don't be a consolation prize for anyone."


"Hell yeah, don't just be arm candy to be arm candy, Steph. If you just want to go to this thing, the tickets I gave to the Princess…" Because that's totally what Kate is calling Diana and her tiara now, "..have a plus one on them. I'll even spring for the dress." she smirks. "As long as it's purple." There's a wry grin at that before she glances at her watch. "I should be getting back to the penthouse, things to do, checks to write."


"I can't ask you to do that," says Steph, regarding both Carol and Kate. "I mean, it's very nice of you, but…" She tries to come up with good reasons why not. Aside from the idea she was raised with that Browns don't take charity.

And then it occurs to her that the man who told her not to take charity is a filthy thief.

"Oh." She looks at the dress. Looks at Kate and Carol. "Okay. Thank you. I wouldn't want to wear anything but purple anyway."


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