[ All things considered, that's not the answer he was hoping for. That's more like twenty questions instead, Clary, and he's none the wiser. In fact it might be fair to say that he's less the wiser, and now he's turning around trying to find shoes ad cufflinks and could we focus for a minute, here?! ]

Wh - look, never mind all that!

[ He steps forward, deliberately sitting on the end of her bunk so that he can't be expected to locate the pins that go through these shirtsleeves (also - what's the point of those?). ]

I asked Rikki if she wanted to go to the barbecue with me and she asked if it was a date.

[ A pause. ]

I said we'd be partners. Was that wrong?