“P’Inn?” Lion panted. The larger boy had dragged him all the way over to the other side of the street to Siam Square One without pausing for breath. To be fair, it wasn’t far, but Inn definitely had longer legs than Lion and Lion had almost had to jog to keep up.

“Ballet Shoes,” Inn declared, gesturing to the small boutique with pretty window dressing.

Lion blinked as he took a tentative step towards the store. He always got his shoes and leotards from the market, or bought them second hand from the studio. He knew of this place though, this was where Nin and Pink shopped.

The shop was gorgeously decorated with a mannequin in the window wearing a pale pink long ballet wrap skirt, the hem embroidered with plastic glittery jewels.

“Oh wow,” Lion breathed out as he looked through the glass at a teetering wall of shoes.

“P’Inn,” Lion shook his head. “I can’t spend any more of your money, please. I already have a leotard and –“

“I can see through your leotard,” Inn replied in bored voice.

“What?!” Lion exclaimed, wheeling round on the other boy. His heart was hammering in his chest and his face felt like someone had just flooded his veins with hot water.

“When you bend over,” Inn shrugged, “I can see your skin, especially your lower back and buttocks.”

“That –“ Lion floundered, “that can’t be true.”

“You have a birthmark just above your left buttock,” Inn replied lazily, his gaze sweeping down Lion’s body, causing the smaller boy to shiver. There was a group of teenage girls coming out of the shop, pausing as they heard Inn and starting to giggle to each other.

“It’s shaped a bit like a –“

“Oh my god, stop!” Lion cried, darting forwards and reaching up to slam his palm against Inn’s mouth. He hid his head behind their huge bounty of shopping bags until he was sure the girls had left.

Lion tried to steady his breathing as he moved his hand away from Inn’s warm lips. The larger boy was looking amused as he peered down at Lion curiously.

“Maybe we’ll just get a leotard then,” Lion swallowed. The humiliation of having inadvertently flashed the great Lord Hanuman was coursing through his body and Lion was glad of the chilled AC of the shop as he pushed open the door.

“Welcome,” an older lady in a yellow wrap dress beamed at them. “What can I help you with?”

“I’d like a leotard please,” Lion shifted awkwardly, he wasn’t sure how to behave in these kinds of stores. He waited until the lady brought him a selection of different types to try on.

“Which colour do you think?” Lion asked Inn, turning round to find the other boy looking at one of the racks. “It’s not for performance, so I can choose what I want.”

Inn frowned at the cream Lycra in Lion’s hands. Lion wondered if Inn would notice it was the same colour as Hanuman’s fur, he blushed a little at the thought.

“Not that one,” Inn replied dully. Lion dropped his eyes down. Maybe Inn was going to grow tired of Lion’s obsession with him being the hero Hanuman, maybe he was going to start seeing Lion as the needy, annoying human who brought him to the human world against his will.

“This one,” Inn announced, plucking the same style leotard from the saleslady’s arms and handing it to Lion. This one was a pale, pastel green, not something Lion would have ever normally gravitated towards.

“Oh,” Lion cocked his head curiously, “I didn’t even know they did this colour.”

“It would go nicely with your skin tone,” the saleslady smiled.

Lion nodded politely before taking the outfit and going into the changing room. He heard a knock on the wall outside a few moments later.

“P’Inn?” he asked, opening the curtain, but it was the saleslady. She held up a shoebox and a frothy pile of green fabric. “Your friend says he would like you to try these slippers, I guessed your size.”

“Oh, thank you,” Lion said in surprise as he cracked open the cardboard box to see a pair of stunning green silk ballet slippers. He chewed on his lip as he turned the box sideways to read the price tag sticker. Lion couldn’t let Inn continue spending his money on him like this, even if he was able to make the emeralds using his magical blood, it just didn’t feel right.

“He said you might worry about the cost,” the lady nodded with a knowing smile, “but he told me to tell you,” she paused as if remembering something, “that it was the shape of a bunn-“

“Thank you!” Lion shouted, grabbing the box and the strange mass of fabric and yanking the curtain shut before his face became a furnace.

He grumbled as he pulled on the shoes, secretly relishing at how they weren’t held together by tape and actually seemed to fit his feet properly. Lion smiled softly as he waggled his toes up and down and moved about the small space to properly try them out.

“Wow,” he grinned as he caught sight of himself in the mirror, everything he was wearing looked so shiny and new. Lion looked back in confusion as he caught sight of the pale green fabric still on the bench. He bent down to shake it out and stared, wide eyed at the romantic style tutu with little crystals at the hem.

Lion wondered if Inn knew that these were traditionally meant for girls to wear? He jumped as, if on cue, he heard the other boy’s voice by the curtain.

“Are you ready to show me?” Inn asked.

Lion frowned, listening closely to hear if there were any of the usual traces of mockery or derision that he was used to from the boys at school.

“P’,” Lion began carefully, “the shoes are beautiful, but um, the skirt..”

“It is not the right size?” Inn asked.

“Ah, no it is but, you know boys don’t normally wear tutus,” Lion shifted uncomfortably on the spot.

“Nin was wearing one at the studio,” Inn explained, “I think it would look better on you.”

Lion had to slap his hand over his mouth to stop himself from making any responding noises. He could see a red flush peeking out from the neckline of his leotard, vivid against the green.

“I want to see it on,” Inn huffed. Lion could imagine the impatient expression on the other boy’s face, his large arms folded across his chest.

“O-okay,” Lion called back, steeling himself as he pulled on the tutu and fluffed out the edges so it sat symmetrically. He reached up to the curtain and before he lost his nerve, pulled the metal hoops across to the far side.

“Well,” Inn grinned, wide and almost dangerous seeming, “look at you.”