Clexa One Shot (the 100)

Fashion Designer AU

 Clarke's sketchbook laid out open in front of her, a picture of the girl she was supposed to be designing for staring her down. Her usually prolific ideas for dresses were failing her at the moment for the first time ever. The paper was completely blank and she had tossed handfuls of her pencils up into the ceiling tiles. Nearly ten of them were lodged into the cheap material. For Clarke, this seventh-grade practice was a source of entertainment. Better than her original reaction of wanting to smash things, she supposed.

For some reason, she just couldn't come up with the perfect dress for this particular actress, Lexa Woods. Clarke could usually come up with at least ten options for each and every client. This girl was just different. After having watched A Simple Favor Clarke had realized she really wanted to be designing women's suits. There was a distinct possibility they were her new favorite thing. Lexa would look good in one of her new creations.

Clarke threw all of her older dress designs together and sent them to Lexa's people. She began to prepare a new suit for Lexa just in case she was amenable to the idea. Clarke though the style of the garment would compliment Lexa's own natural style. However, if Lexa or her team were too conservative, then the mere suggestion could get her fired out of hand without even a look at any of her designs. Still, if Clarke was going to debut a new line like this, she wanted this girl to wear them. She decided to pitch the presentation to Lexa Woods in person. Her opportunity awaited her when she took sizes and got to meet the girl, get a feel for her. Clarke was known for her well-deserved confidence.

-----/////-----

"One would expect a fashion designer, a top-level fashion designer at the least, to dress a bit better than whatever it is you're wearing right now." Lexa said in a tone with no malice and full of amusement. She looked down to the blonde girl who was taking her measurements.

Clarke had a pencil thrust through her messy bun, a hoodie and sweatpants on. She knew she wasn't exactly dressed up, her pants covered in paint, and sweater a bit stained, but she grinned back at Lexa anyway.

"It isn't my job to look good. It's my job to make you look good, Ms.Woods." Clarke laughed. "I don't dress up unless I absolutely have to. I'm not personally a fan of fancy clothes."

"I'm sorry, but I that is hilarious." Lexa replied with the first real smile Clarke had seen her offer. It was cute and shy like Lexa didn't earnestly smile all that often.

"No, it's okay. You're absolutely right. I'm pretty ridiculous." Clarke's smile was good-natured, a smear of chalk o dust decorating one cheek. "Now, do you have a favorite of the choices I had given you or any of your own particular ideas you would like to run by me?"

"Uhm, not really. We... my team and I, that is, we liked them all a lot. I was going to let you choose whichever you thought was the best looking for me specifically. You're the expert." Lexa said as Clarke rolled up her measuring tape and jotted a few things down.

"None of them spoke to you?" Clarke asked just to be sure. "That isn't okay. That isn't how I... or any of this works. Grab a chair and come over here. The two of us still have a lot of time scheduled together. We can go through these until we find something that stands out and you actually want to wear."

"How will I know?" Lexa asked, confusion on her face. She didn't really understand any of what the designer was talking about but she could tell that Clarke meant to include her.

"You'll just know and I'll be able to see it on your face." Clarke promised and handed her the sketchbook; hoping against hope that Lexa would pick the piece Clarke wanted her to.

The blonde sat back quietly and paid careful attention to Lexa's face, looking for the reaction she wanted. After a while, Lexa eventually got there, and her face lit up. Clarke reached out and grabbed her hand suddenly. "This is it." Lexa said, just as Clarke said: "That's the one."

Lexa handed the book back, open, to Clarke on the page with the sketch of the suit.

"It's a good thing you picked this one. This is literally the last one in the book. This is literally my most recent piece. I drew this only a week ago."

"Well, I really... I love this one." Lexa's eyes were still bright with excitement. "I can't be sure of what people are going to think or say, it just feels right. This is going to kill."

"Consider me your murder weapon, then." Clarke chuckled and stood to shake Lexa's hand. "You are going to look like a three dollar pistol."

Lexa laughed back, her smile almost flirty. "That's an old-fashioned line... I like it."