"I hope you don't mind coming along with me today," Feliciano said quietly as they got out of the car, smiling softly at the older man and reaching out to hold his hand as they walked towards the shopping centre.

He thought it would be a good idea to bring a guy with him on this expedition, just to help him out, make him feel less self-conscious, give him someone to hide behind in case things did begin to go awry.

"I don't mind," Ludwig said with a smile, "I like shopping, I can help you pick things out. Have you ever gone shopping for masculine clothes before?"

Feliciano shook his head, still feeling a little mousey "No," he said quietly before forcing his smile a little wider, "I wanted to save up my wages and come on a proper trip."

"I thought you were unemployed?" Ludwig asked. Feliciano had explained him at the gallery that he'd just left, and that's why his painting was on display.

He shook his head, "No I'm not, I have a job at a new company that organises artwork being moved, I mean, I know I won't get to be around the art anymore which is sad, but it's a higher up job and I get paid more, and if I work really hard I could be a curator one day."

Ludwig nodded along as he rambled on about his new job, "And you want to be a curator Feliciano?"

Feliciano felt himself blush at the sound of his name, after almost a week it was still felt almost like a shock when he heard it. He glanced at him and nodded, "Si I do, more than anything. I'm not good enough to be in a museum myself yet, and I love all the old pieces and if I work at a museum I get to study them for my job," he shook his head, letting out a small sigh, "It would be so amazing."

"Then I hope it works out for you," Ludwig said, still smiling softly.

They walked into the shop and Ludwig let Feliciano browse the clothes, following and observing him but not saying anything unless the smaller man prompted him.

Soon enough Feliciano had a small pile of clothes.

"You need to try them on first," Ludwig prompted him, he nodded and smiled, taking Ludwig's hand and leading him towards the dressing room, he was surprised by how well the trip had gone, by how few weird looks he'd gotten, though he supposed it was possible that everyone who'd seen them had thought Feliciano was picking out clothes for Ludwig.

Feliciano suddenly felt timid as he shut himself in one cubicles, letting out a soft exhale as he began to change, he felt himself shake slightly as he looked at himself in the mirror, he looked so…

He let out a small sob, smiling as he sat on the bench, he wiped his eyes, looking at himself in the mirror.

He looked amazing.

He jolted as he heard a knock at the door, Ludwig's voice coming muffled through it.

"Feliciano are you ok?" he asked softly, Feliciano could hear soft scratching against the door which meant Ludwig had pressed himself up the door, he felt his smile grow slightly.

"Yeah I'm fine," he said shakily, wiping his eyes and stepping forward to open the door, letting out a tiny sob as Ludwig looked him up and down.

"Y-you look great," he stuttered, reaching out to rub his arm.

Feliciano nodded, smiling and wiping his eyes again, "I know, I look so pretty," he squeaked.

Ludwig nodded, "Yeah you do," he let out a soft chuckle, "Do you want to try the rest on?"

Feliciano shook his head, "No I got everything the same size, if I don't like it I'll just bring it back."

"Ok," Ludwig cooed, "Do you want to wear these out?"

Feliciano nodded again, picking up the rest of his clothes and taking Ludwig's hand. As nice as it was having him here it felt almost like he was a child out shopping with his father, a small part of him wished he'd had the courage to come on his own.

He used his card to pay and watched as the woman bagged his new clothes, he'd overspent a little but he could live with eating only pasta for a week or so.

He was getting more strange looks now, and he couldn't help feeling a little shy as he felt eyes pin on him.

It was no problem, he told himself, they were just admiring him, he had nothing to worry about.

He forced the smile to stay on his face until he sat down in the car, still shaking slightly.

"Are you ok?" Ludwig asked, his voice filled with concern.

Feliciano nodded, "Yeah," he said, trying to sound cheery, "Just, people were staring at me."

"Of course they were," Ludwig said with a soft, genuine smile, "You look amazing."

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