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Lance woke up slowly, the sun streaming through the attic window and landing on his face in a warm glow. He stretched out his limbs, pushing off his blanket to admire his long, tan legs. He noticed they didn't have hair on them- neither did his arms- and he supposed that was actually pretty nice. He didn't have toned calves like Shiro- his legs were actually pretty weak, but they were long and his endurance was good so he bet that he could probably run pretty fast. Running. That was an idea.

Lance yawned and got up from the bed, anxious for the day. Shiro had told him that he'd have to find a job, but Lance was socially inept in the human world- he didn't even know how these jobs worked. However, in order to live with the boys, he knew that he'd have to "pay rent", whatever that meant. He was realizing just how much his Human Studies teacher had missed.

He pulled on one of Matt's shirts that the teen had left in the attic (Matt was Lance's size so his shirts fit better than Shiro's) and a pair of 'boxers'. Lance climbed down the ladder from the attic and looked around. Matt had given him a tour the night before and Lance recognized the Holt siblings' doors, closed.

Lance slipped into the bathroom and relieved himself, something that wasn't taught in Human Studies but what his classmates chattered about anyways, laughing among themselves. Lance thought that the whole toilet thing was weird, but he guessed that he couldn't really blame the humans if he had no better suggestion. He fussed with his hair and poked around the cabinets, finding nothing of interest.  The sink was pretty cool, and he spent a good amount of time running water over his hands.

Lance quietly walked down the stairs to the first floor and startled when he saw Shiro sitting on the floor, stretching out his legs in the living room.

"Morning, Shiro," Lance said and plopped down next to him on the floor. He mirrored Shiro's stance and flopped over his leg, flexing his foot. Shiro looked up in vague awe.

"Morning. You're super flexible," he commented, "it's kind of unnerving." Lance smiled. "We have a lot to do today- I'm glad you're not a late sleeper. First, clothes. You can't keep wearing ours. Do you have a credit card...? Or savings...?"

Lance nodded, "I have an account. I don't really know how to use it though. And I have the card thing in my bag." Lance looked over to his satchel, slung over a chair.

"That's fine, I can help. Breakfast first, though." Lance trailed after Shiro into the kitchen, all white surfaces and shining pots and pans. It was orderly and neat, and Lance looked again at the odd butter machine from the night before. "What would you like, Lance?" Shiro said, presenting the fridge to the mer.

Lance was lost for words. He had no idea what anything was. A large white jug, colorful round foods with green stems, a container of several large, brown eggs, the only food Lance recognized. "Ah..." Lance started weakly. He pointed to the eggs. "Those are eggs, right? May I have those?" Lance knew how to make hard-boiled eggs, seagull eggs at least, and he assumed he could try and replicate them if he could find a way to boil water.

"Sure! Scrambled, fried, sunny-side-up, over-easy...? How do you like them?" Lance blinked. There was more than one way.

"Um." He bit his lip, conflicted.

"Here, you go sit down and get out your card, I'll make you eggs, okay?" Lance nodded, relieved. He walked over to the table and sat, pulling his satchel up on the table. It was lumpy and light, packed with things from home. Lance made a mental note to place everything in the attic later that day. Pouring the contents out onto the table, Lance felt his heart tug.

Chapstick. Scale tape. Blue nail polish. Lucky conch. Sea glass necklace from Carmen. A picture in a ziplock bag of the family- from the one time that the group of five had traveled on land together. The twins were newborns, Lance a child, and their parents were genuinely smiling, everyone freckled and happy. Lance smiled sadly.

Also in a ziplock, the strange card with a series of numbers on the front. Lance examined it as a strange noise came from the kitchen, everything foreign. Lance inhaled through his nose and his stomach growled. He shouldn't have skipped dinner yesterday- he was starving.

As Lance mulled over the other knick-knacks in his satchel, Shiro moved busily around the kitchen, filling the house with the sounds of cooking.

"Breakfast is served," Shiro joked and set a plate in front of Lance, who couldn't help but gasp. Light, fluffy eggs with some sort of red sauce crisscrossed over them, a slate of brown something with green paste... it looked more delicious than it sounded. "Scrambled eggs with cheese and ketchup, avocado toast, and," Shiro set a mug of something in front of Lance, "Freshly, brewed coffee." He handed Lance a small, odd-looking trident- "Fork." Shiro demonstrated. Lance mirrored and closed his eyes in bliss. Flavors upon flavors... blissfully fluffy eggs, crunchy toast with salted avocado on top... everything tasted delicious.

"Shiro, are you a fucking god?" Lance asked, chugging coffee. It burned his tongue and he loved it.

Shiro laughed, deep and gravelly. "It's just eggs."

...

"Okay, Shiro. You're the beauty guru here, lead the way." Shiro laughed, and Matt turned to Lance as they walked down the busy California street. Shops on both sides of the street, the sounds of cars and people talking filled the city, embracing Lance in the feel of community. "I'm serious. He has a beauty channel on YouTube with one million subscribers." Lance figured he'd learn what YouTube and subscribers were soon, but he looked to Shiro for confirmation instead.

"You into beauty? Like makeup and stuff?" The image of a boy with painted red lips and black-lined eyelids had stuck in Lance's mind for years, someone he saw on the beach one day.

"Yeah, I'm really into it. Do you want me to do yours?" Shiro's eyes lit up at the opportunity. Lance imagined Shiro chasing Keith around their apartment shrieking, "IT'S ONLY EYELINER!" He grinned.

"Totally." Shiro practically melted.

He pointed straight ahead at a storefront reading 'Sephora'. "We'll have to stop here then." Matt rolled his eyes and branched off to the GameStop next to the store. Shiro was ecstatic as they entered the store, brightly lit. Lance heard a strange rhythm and looked around, over the rows and rows of makeup, to large boxy speakers suspended to the ceiling. He felt his steps fall in time with the beat and smiled to himself. Of course, they had music under water, but Lance always loved listening to the radios that humans brought to the beach sometimes, hearing the heavy bass and the thrum in his heart as he craved to sing along. He'd always been self-conscious of his voice though, so singing wasn't really an option.

Lance looked around at the sparkling shelves of eyeshadows and foundations and pens and brushes and everything was so clean and bright. Shiro was like a toddler in a candy shop, ooh-ing and ahh-ing at a new highlighter and a new eyebrow set. Lance trailed behind him, watching his new friend chat with some of the employees (maybe they were friends?) and then turn to Lance, excited. "Monsieur Lancelot, please sit right here and let me give you a makeover!" Lance, exhilarated and surprised by Shiro's giddy persona, carefully settling down into the poofy stool.

In a moment, Shiro was back, cupping a dozen cosmetics in his big hands, holding brushes between his teeth. "Stay still," he muttered, leaning forward.

Lance was a statue as Shiro flitted around him, brushing this and that over his soft skin. Lance wasn't allowed to look in the mirror, but the lingering gazes of passing customers made him feel confident. Shiro chattered away as he worked, talking about his YouTube channel, his dream of becoming a pilot, basic knowledge that Lance would need to know.

Apparently, YouTube was this internet platform where people posted videos. Shiro showed Lance a video from his channel on his phone and had to explain the workings of a phone as well. Lance had only known of house phones, but he'd always wondered what the boxy rectangles the humans always carried were. In the video, Shiro appeared as Lance saw him, without makeup, smiling at the camera enthusiastically.

"Hellooo~ beauties. Shiro here, today I'm going to be trying out the new Naked palette, so let me know in the comment section your favorite shade!" Poppy, bass-boosted music played in the background as Shiro applied his base layer of makeup, and Lance watched in awe as his skin smoothed over into clean, bright tones of beige. His eyelids popped with color, and long, thick fake lashes brought out his dark eyes. Lance watched every blend, every brushstroke, and soon enough Shiro (the real one, not the one on the screen) was standing back proudly, tipping up Lance's chin with his pointer finger.

"You look fucking hot," he said confidently, and Lance grinned in anticipation, scooting his chair over to the mirror. Woah. His skin was smoothed over with the perfect shade of caramel brown, rosy pink and highlighter on his cheeks. His jaw and cheekbones were made to look sharper with contour, but it was so well blended that Lance wouldn't have even known Shiro had used it unless he'd asked. His eyes were framed with dark falsies and eyeliner, the shadow a blend of blues. On his lips was a light pink, pretty and soft. Lance remembered it was called matte.

"Oh my Alfor, I love it. So much." Shiro danced a circle around Lance happily, pulling him up from the seat.

"Good, because you look flawless." He scooped up all of the makeup he had used and deposited it onto the check-out counter, joking with the girl who worked at the register about Lance's new interest in makeup. Lance winked at the girl flirtily, and she giggled, handing Lance the black-and-white-striped bag packed with his new cosmetics. "But we're not finished yet. You have to get clothes, too."

...

As it turned out, the credit card was accessible and was loaded with enough money to start Lance off. Shiro agreed that it wouldn't allow him to have his own apartment, but that was fine since both of them liked the fact that Lance had moved in. Matt had met up with the two after they had exited Sephora, and now they were walking to Target, Shiro's apparent favorite store.

"I shit you not, this is the best store you'll ever go into, Lance," Shiro commented matter-of-factly as they walked through the doors, unveiling the loud, bright center. Lance was dragged everywhere, Matt in tow, Shiro shoving outfit after outfit at him for a solid two and a half hours. Lance loved the humans' style, especially at this store.

T-shirts, shorts, fishnets, tank tops, socks, boxers, sandals, rompers, headbands, barrettes, face wash, moisturizer, fruits and vegetables that were all new and foreign to Lance, along with a shitload of 'junk food'. Shiro said that he wanted to film a video with Lance as soon as they got home and have a taste test. Lance wasn't very good at all with money yet, but he didn't have to be a human to know that the amount that they spent at Target was obscene.

However, he walked out feeling happy and confident, wearing new clothes, a new face, and basically a new body. He wore short overalls that skimmed his thighs over a striped shirt, and women's sandals which had delicate straps that crossed over his ankles. He felt gorgeous.

As the three loaded the groceries into Shiro's Subaru, Matt spoke up. "We should also find you a job today, unless your bank account can cover your part of the rent." Lance paused unloading the cart, thinking to himself. What was there to lose? Yeah, it might be hard, but how difficult could it be? Plus, learning about the human world included learning how jobs worked.

"That sounds like a good idea. I'm not experienced in anything, though."

Shiro smiled thinly, "I have the perfect job for you then."

...

Hi guys! Sorry this took a bit longer than expected, I'll update again this weekend :)) hope you all have a lovely friday!