I don't need another friend. I already have two.

[socialhexperiment]

The Sleepover meme

You all know how it goes.  Maybe its a group of teenage friends at someone's house, maybe its adult strangers snowed in at the airport, maybe its a camping trip of kids but for some reason, you're all going to end up spending the night together.  Sleep is for the weak and distractions are needed.  Will lifelong friendships be forged and broken or will everyone just end up covered in silly string and hungover?  Your choice will decide your fate.  Better grab your overnight duffle, your favorite pillow, some people to hang out with and choose wisely. 

options:

1.  Games.  Truth or Dare, Spin the Bottle, Settlers of Catan or a vicious game of Uno.  Ice breakers, social stand-ins, conversation starters: these are the games we play that bind us together against a common enemy or tear us apart.  Is it fair play or can there be only one?  Find out who your friends are and keep them close.  Nations have gone to war for less than this.

2.  Pranks.  Get enough people together in a group, add alcohol, or just insane levels of tiredness, and it's bound to happen.  Maybe you were dared to or maybe you just got stuck with the phone when it was already ringing but its time to break out the TP and find a house with trees in front or figure out if your neighbor's refrigerator is running.  Can things go wrong?  Oh yes.  Oh yes, very.  Hope you wore your running sneakers when Old Man Griminch catches you with those eggs.

3.  Scary times.  Because really, what's a sleep-over without some fear?  Whether its a horror movie in a room with no lights, Bloody Mary dares at midnight or campfire stories about true events that happened on a night just like tonight, a night together with friends doesn't end right if no one's screaming or in tears.  Grab those batman snuggies, its time to get creepy.

4.  Food!  No party is a party without food.  Maybe its making chocolate chip cookies at midnight, maybe its a food run, maybe its marshmallows over that aforementioned campfire.  Whatever it is, its time to break out the grub and play fluffy bunnies until someone pukes.

5.   Make-over!  Break out the glitter nail polish and hot irons.  This old sleep-over staple is sure to create bonding moments and only mild scarring.  Learn to braid hair, learn to apply eyeliner, learn which of your friends has the fashion sense of a 1930s clown.  Did someone fall asleep before the rest of the group?  Well, that's what sharpie pens, shaving cream and firehouse red lipstick was invented for.  The 80s are calling and they're not taking no for an answer.

6.  Snuggle pile!  That's right.  After a hard night of pixy stix and jello twister it was only a matter of time before everyone ended up crashing.  Hard.  Whether you wind up in a puppy pile or just using a stranger's shoulder for a pillow, at some point one of you is going to wake up enough to steal a blanket.

7.  Soul searching.  It's five in the morning and everyone else has gone to sleep.  Now's the time for deep thoughts, deep conversations and utterly life altering questions.  Like 'do seagulls ever get sad?' and 'why are they called 'styrofoam peanuts' if you can't eat them?'.   Someone's got the answers.  You might have to wake them up to get them but its now or never.  Universal truths aren't going to wait for reasonable hours.

8.  Grab bag!  you do what you want!

you know the routine.  Put your character, series and any prefs in the header.  Tag around.  Have fun.  And don't fall asleep first whatever you do.

Comments

[unfaltering]

[To Lance, everyone could use a good romance, but that was in his M.O. He doesn't think Shiro's incapable of finding someone, but that he just isn't trying--after all, Lance has heard some of the inhabitants of the planets they've arrived on, and from what he knows about Shiro, and his own thoughts, Shiro is a bombshell. But to have someone this amazing not even try?! It feels almost like wasted potential to him.

But he doesn't push it. He never does, especially when it comes to Shiro. So instead he laughs, lifting both hands up in peace. He'll let you out of it this time, Shiro.]

Hey now, I was at least gonna wait until you left the room before snooping through your stuff! Give me some credit here!

[Lance just watches Shiro go, but even when the older paladin leaves the room, he makes no move to dig through anything. After all, part of his utmost respect for his other paladins, especially his hero, also includes not digging through their room for something so personal as a journal. He opts instead stretching his back, lifting his arms into the air until he can hear his back muscles pop in relief. Lowering them, he then pokes through the items in the kit again and looks at the labeling until Shiro returns.]

It's nice, right?

[And with that, he slides from the bed and hops off to the bathroom, where it takes him a considerable time longer to wash his face. And even so, once the mask is off and his face is dry, he spends an extra minute or so longer just examining his pores in curiosity. He has A Process when it comes to face care.]

[headspacedad]

[Lance isn't wrong in the fact that Shiro's not even trying. In fact, in a very subtle, most subconscious way, Shiro is probably actively avoiding. He's pretty sure he missed that boat already and by 'boat' he doesn't think of a person so much as mental stability. He can get his social fulfillment from his interactions with his paladins and the Alteans and, in no small part, to his bond with Black as far as he's concerned. And when Lance goes trundling off to the bathroom, Shiro reaches over to open a drawer on the desk next to his bed and pull out a notebook and pen, shutting it again to settle in, legs crossed, back propped against the wall to write down a few of the poems he remembers and that he thinks Lance might like. His eyes do drift up a few times though, just to make sure Lance hasn't fallen in the sink or anything. He's taking a bit but as long as he doesn't start screaming Shiro figures its part of the beauty routine he's got and far be it from Shiro to interrupt something like that.]

[unfaltering]

[Lance appreciates that Shiro doesn't seem to have a problem with Lance micro-examining his face in the light. He finally towels off, heading out of the room with a new observation to express, rubbing the towel still gently across his cheek. The material is soft, he appreciates it.]

Hey Shiro, did you notice these things had pore minimizers--

[And that's when he spots the notebook, and his eyes widen a little. He glances at Shiro, then the notebook, then squints towards him.]

The elusive diary... so it does exist!

[headspacedad]

[Shiro glances up as Lance strolls back in, aware of what 'pore' and 'minimizer' would be and making what he hopes is an educated guess on why those two words together is a good thing when Lance cuts off and gives him the squinty eye. Which - has one of Shiro's eyebrows going up, pen pausing halfway through writing out the 'A Wolf is at the Laundromat' poem he remembers.

He blinks. And then one side of his lips hook upward and he suddenly looks down, eyebrows low over his eyes, at the paper to start quickly scratching out - and reading outloud - ]

oh my gawd! Coran wore his hair the same way I did today. As if! Everyone knows spiked bangs are my thing. He's just doing it to get Lance's attention since Lance said he liked my hair that way last Tuesday when he asked me to borrow my abso-favorite Hello Kitty pencil for the pop quiz on saving the galaxy from Zarkon that Professor Allure gave us. If I hadn't been tall enough to look over the top of her head and read Pidge's answers I'm pretty sure I would have failed.

[unfaltering]

[Lance has to clamp a hand over his own mouth to stop from laughing too loudly as Shiro did his best impersonation of a teenage girl. There's just something absolutely amazing of the jokes coming from their superior, especially with how into it he seems, but it's just wonderful to witness. He drops back on the bed, holding a hand up to stop Shiro while he just cackles.]

Stop, stop, I can't--I'm gonna explode!

[headspacedad]

[Shiro pauses as he looks at Lance - and then goes back to the notebook and scribbles in:]

Shiro + Black

[And draws a few little hearts around it for good measure. Then he finishes up the last lines of the 'wash and wear wolf' poem with a slightly neater hand and closes up the notebook. Grinning. Because its not often Shiro gets to be anything but the straight man and getting Lance of all people to crack up is a huge feather in his cap.

He... hasn't felt this good - and this relaxed and happy in a really long time. And Lance busting up on him feels like an accomplishment he can be unreservedly proud of. He waits until Lance can breathe and holds out the notebook.]

I'd hate to disappoint.

[unfaltering]

[Lance barely calms down as he catches his breath, still grinning from ear to ear. Shiro is the actual best, like the actual best he's ever met. He's glad for the breather though. It's been a while since he's laughed that hard, and it feels great every time he gets to.

Sitting up properly, he watches as Shiro finishes up his note, then opens it. Poems, he'd asked, and there's a moment of surprise on his face--until he flips to that note, and he drops back, laughing as he holds the book to his chest.]

Shiro! You're just--I can't--! [He'll be coherent in a few, just give him a few moments.]

[headspacedad]

[They don't get to laugh nearly as much as they should and Lance provides most of the reasons for laughter when they do. It's a talent of his and one he uses well but - it doesn't Shiro's heart good to see the other paladin able to cut loose and laugh himself.

It also feels really good to be able to be the source of that laughter and his smile is wide and crooked, happy himself on many levels at Lance's laughter. He shifts a bit, letting his back relax against the wall at the head of his bed.

A much better evening than just a cup of tea and a book.]

Well, if word about my super secret crush gets out, I'll known who to blame it on.

[unfaltering]

Your super--

[Lance stays lost to his fit of hysterics for a little, trying to force himself to calm down by pressing a hand to his chest. He takes a dramatic breath in, but releases it with a chuckle as he brings a hand to his eyes. Actual crying from laughter?]

Shiro, you're the actual best. Your secret's--[And he actually has to bite his bottom lip to stop from laughing again; this will probably always be funny]--it's safe, I swear!

[headspacedad]

I knew I could trust you.

[His grin says it all. He hasn't felt this relaxed in ages and, for the first time in a very long time, there's no niggling feeling at the back of his head that he's missing something or isn't doing something he should be. It's - nice. It's really nice. And he sits forward to slap his hands lightly on his knees and ask eagerly:]

So what's next?

[unfaltering]

Of course ya can! I'm taking this to my grave!

[Lance can't help but feel grateful for the evening. As he sets the notebook aside and finally sits up properly, the grin doesn't leave his face when he realizes it seems like Shiro's enjoying himself too. He's an absolute dork. This day is going down in history for Lance as one of the best days in the history of space. What's next?]

Toner, then moisturizer. And then hands! [He picks up the next item, a small bottle, then glances over to Shiro and smirks.] Gotta keep you all nice and handsome for Black, huh. But uh, toner here is supposed to help keep up your pH balance. [He holds out the bottle for Shiro.] I'm not even sure what that means, but it seems healthy?

[headspacedad]

[Shiro really is enjoying himself.

And he's also an absolute dork.

Neither one of which bring him shame. So he takes the bottle curiously from Lance even as he chuckles about 'looking good for Black' and takes off the cap so he can look inside and then smell it before replacing the lid. He can't read the writing on the label but the four eyed face on the front looks happy about things at least. Absent, some old vestige of his time as a guest instructor at the Garrison kicks in and he answers:]

pH is how we measure something's acidic and alkaline levels. 0 to 14, 7 being true neutral. Anything above 7 is alkaline, anything below is acidic. Human skin is usually about a 5.5, so slightly acidic. That keeps in moisture and helps kill off germs. Human blood is about a 7.4. Alkaline. Water is a 7. [He hands the bottle back to Lance with a smile.] So as long as alien pH levels are close to our own we should be fine. Too much alkaline and it would just give us really dry faces.

[unfaltering]

[That was too smooth. Lance listens carefully, nodding with interest as he explains it. Chemistry was also never one of Lance's strongest suits, but he's also sure they hadn't gotten into that before getting whisked into space. It's interesting to know, and Lance actually reaches for the pen and writes down a little note at the bottom of one of the pages in the notebook before setting it aside again.

Lance, being studious? Weird.]

So I guess it's good, then! They didn't give any specifics on it but I'm guessing if it's balanced then it's probably near that 7, I guess? It feels nice, though. You just wipe it on your face.

[headspacedad]

[Weird maybe but Shiro was always under the impression that if Lance was interested in something, he'd pick it up quickly. The key word there was interested. It was hard to pay attention to something you never thought you'd apply to your life. Something that you could? It was much easier to pick that up. And right now they're talking about skin care and Lance obviously has an interest in that and pH is applicable. So while Shiro might be a little surprised Lance is taking notes - its gratifying as well. He really had enjoyed his times as an instructor at the Garrison, even if he's just been there as a guest lecturer.

And he can take instruction too. Lance is pretty much the teacher currently.]

With our fingers and palms?

[unfaltering]

[Perhaps later, Lance might ask more about scientific things related to face care. He has a fondness for it, but Shiro's also very easy to understand. But probably later, when he goes through the notebook again and finds himself with a hundred questions to ask. For now, though, this part is easy.

Lance just shrugs. That's the answer.] Yeah. Or these cotton pad things in here. Whatever you prefer really. I usually just use my hands. [He holds the pads out too, in case Shiro does opt to use one.]

[headspacedad]

Hand is fine.

[No cotton pads, they put on their toner with their hands like men. Or... something like that. Shiro holds out his human hand, cupped, not sure how much he should be expecting but willing to let Lance call the shots.]

So tight pores are a good thing?

[unfaltering]

Alright! And yeah. Pores help your skin breathe, but if they're too big then they take in dirt and gross things from the air and clog them up. Tighter and smaller pores mean they can still breathe without all that extra junk. Keeps ya nice and blemish free.

[Lance sets the pad down, then opens the bottle and begins trying to shake the liquid out. Nothing comes out... Frowning at it, Lance holds it up, checking to make sure he's opened it, and it seems fine.]

...huh.

[Turning it around, he shakes at it, then gives it a harsher squeeze. And out pops... a round, solid orb, squishy but approximately the diameter of a dime lands right into Shiro's palm. Lance stares at it.] Well, that's new. [When he pokes at it, though, the bubble disappears, leaving a small handful of toner. It's creamier here, but... a very decently-sized amount. Lance stares.]

...huh.

[headspacedad]

[blemish free huh? Shiro could have appreciated that when he was younger. He knew that he'd gotten off pretty light in the acne department as a teen but he'd still had his share of break-outs and the ones that had stayed deep under his skin, refusing to rise to the surface to relieve the pressure had been a real problem for quite some time. He'd gotten one in his ear once! And twenty-five was not far enough away from his teenage years to have forgotten that kind of pain.

He could have used a Lance in his life back then apparently. Now he watches curiously as Lance messes with the bottle and the number of huh indicate something unusual. He looks down at the liquid in his palm once Lance has popped the bubble, feeling a little on the leery side -

but still game. Still...]

Can you - put it on my face for me? Otherwise I think I'm just going to waste it by accidentally putting it all on one cheek or something.

[unfaltering]

[Lance got lucky. Being a little vain on his own, and his sister, spared him for quite a few pimple problems, but it didn't spare his allowance for trying out and buying products. Skincare was a costly investment, that was for certain. But it's been long enough for him to be devoted to it, even if it comes off as excessive sometimes.

At Shiro's request, Lance nods, although he takes a moment to just squint at the liquid. Seeing as it seems just fine in the palm of Shiro's hand and hasn't tried to eat through his flesh in any way, he figures it's fine. Shrugging, he just goes for it.] Well, it's not destroying your hand, so you should be okay. Doesn't seem particularly cold either. You'd probably end up with more of it on your clothes than your face if you tried to slam it all on one side though.

[Dipping his fingers into the liquid, Lance uses his hands to gently smear it on, using longer strokes and going more slowly to cover without missing any spots in his face. He smiles as he does so.] Smells a little fruity. How's it feel?

[headspacedad]

[Shiro's eyebrows have time to go up at the idea that, unaware, he might have ended up with a handful of acid - and while he's aware of Lance's sense of humor... apparently that is also a possibility. Still, nothing eats through his skin and he closes his eyes obediently as Lance starts to put the stuff on him. Lance is right, its not a bad smell, no underlying chemicals to set off his alarms. Lance has got a nice touch too and... and its just nice to be touched in a way that didn't involve pain...]

Lighter than the mask. Like... tacky water. A little. How often did you and your sister do this whole routine?

[unfaltering]

[As much as Lance would like to admit that he didn't actually consider the fact that there could be a handful of acid in Shiro's hand... it's still a possibility. Maybe like a one in thousandth chance, though. The ones he'd been dealing with hadn't really steered him wrong, but the toner was weird--he'd begun thinking of things with that possibility of it ending up badly given how many bad encounters he's had.

But it's good, works the same, feels the same to his hands too. Lance smiles. Still a success. He just continues to apply it as Shiro questions him, actually a little jealous of Shiro's skin. He still looks so dang great.]

Well, toner's usually a once- or twice-a-day thing, but I usually just do it at nights. No idea on my sister though. Toner, then moisturizers, then your face is usually pretty good, or night masks.

loooook at that pretty face, boy's got genes!

[headspacedad]

[Good skin runs in the family. It's a crime that Shiro's not appreciative enough of that fact. His skin will appreciate Lance's efforts on its behalf though, even if, to Shiro, this is more about simply spending time and unwinding with the other pilot, with the very nice, and the unadmitted to secret, that he craved human touch after his year without it in space and Lance playing with his face feeds it in a very safe, very nice kind of way.

Eyes closed, his eyebrows still do go up at that.]

That - sounds like a lot of work. Every day?

LOOK AT THAT FACE, ISN'T IT NEAT.

[unfaltering]

[Although Shiro hasn't said anything, Lance is pretty tuned into his body language and the fact that Shiro looks the most relaxed that he's ever seen him in one go. They're definitely going to have to do this again.

Sure, toner really doesn't require that much effort, but Lance takes his time with it. After all, Shiro seems to be enjoying it, and it'll make his face not age drastically before he reaches the big 3-0. He has to chuckle at that response though.]

Yep. You don't always have to get too into it, but... yep. It takes time to be this flawless. Usually it just takes maybe ten, fifteen minutes max? Face wash, toner, moisturizer, move on with the day.

don't we wish we could make our collection complete?

[headspacedad]

[If asked Shiro won't even pretend he's not up for doing this again. Regularly in fact. Though... every night seems extreme.

And Shiro listens too. He's aware that both his mother and grandmother have nightly routines that they hold to religiously but those are mysteries he's never been invited to share in beyond his grandmother dabbing some of her lotion on his sunburned nose as a child or the occasional dusting of scent across him when he'd be late getting to bed as a kid and his good night kiss would end up smelling sweeter. Ten or fifteen minutes every night seems -

seems just about as sensible as any of his waking up routines he supposes, thinking of the pushups and the stretches and the breathing exercises. And... it does feel nice... His smile comes again.]

Flawless, huh? So whos prettier, your sister or you?

and this accidentally takes a 360 into being part of Shiro's world again, lmao

[unfaltering]

[When Lance finishes with the toner, he merely sets it down and opens the moisturizer. It's got a creamier feel to it, but still the same soft scent, and he dabs it on in small bits before smoothing it in just as gently. If Lance had to drop out of the Garrison for any reason other than terrible grades or Voltron, he'd take the Grease method and go straight to beauty school.

But Shiro's question has him choking, and he pauses, sulking for a moment.]

What an awful question! If I don't pick her, she'll actually murder me. She will find whatever space quadrant we're in with her sister genes and she'll throw the closest heel straight to my head! You never come between Sophia and beauty. She's like... reigning beauty champ unless you're under five.