"It isn't the first time it's happened," Luke answers with a soft huff of laughter, although Simon and Clary had been more prone to dragging him into comic book stores than malls. It amounts to the same thing in the end and he's long since grown used to it. Given the number of times he had stood watch in a toy store while Clary begged for something and Jocelyn had said no over and over again, this is actually infinitely easier. Derek isn't going to have to beg him for money, for one, though Luke is already finding it difficult not to just fold some bills into his hand. He's done that all his life, passing money to Clary without thought, not because she ever asked for it but because he wanted to make sure she was taken care of.

Money is really the last thing in the world he ever worries about. His bills are paid, he feeds himself, but he has no need for superfluous purchases. He prefers to spend his excess money on others.

"A friend of mine has a daughter. She's fifteen... sixteen now, I guess," he says, correcting himself. "I spent a lot of time being dragged through comic book stores by her and her best friend."