Holland hadn’t meant to break Claudia by introducing her to the concept of plurisexuality, but it seemed for a moment that they had. How could Claudia be a teenager and not know that people could be attracted to more than one gender? Marissa had dated Naomi Dubois when Claudia was in school, so surely the Cetus had noticed that, and noticed that Marissa had then dated two boys.

Interestingly, Claudia seemed more confused than disapproving when Holland mentioned dating. Thus far Holland had only dated boys at RMI: Armaan, very briefly, and Ruben. Claudia didn’t seem offended by that, despite the fact that Holland presented as masculine sometimes, and they had hardly been subtle with Ruben. He was really physical, even in public spaces. Holland wasn’t independently affectionate in public, but they didn’t mind having a partner who was. Being flaunted felt special.

“I didn’t mean to imply that you’re going to date a girl,” Holland said soothingly. “Okay, close your eyes and hold still.” They spent a few moments applying Claudia’s eyeshadow in natural tones, and then moved on to eyeliner. They wanted to do the double eyeliner thing, with black on the bottom and turquoise. Holland wasn’t used to putting non-stage-makeup on other people, barring when Emmett let them put makeup on him, and he didn’t usually let them do eyeliner wings. They had a steady hand, though.

They debated whether to apply mascara, but decided to hold off for now. Once they were finished with lipstick they would reassess whether they thought it would look good, and ask Claudia if she wanted it. “All right, you can open your eyes.” In the meantime, Holland moved their focus to the assorted lipsticks, stains, and liners. They had even more lipsticks than they had eyeliners, and most of the counter space was dedicated to them.

Holland was still leaning toward the bright red, but they wanted to consider all the color options first. A pink would go with the outfit and be closer to Claudia’s comfort zone, but they still felt the red looked better. As they browsed, Holland continued speaking in a patient tone. “And you’re right, you shouldn’t blindly accept every behavior that makes your loved ones happy. But there’s a difference between being racist and offensive versus dating someone of the same gender. Marley dating Teal might make you uncomfortable, but it doesn’t hurt anyone.” They were pleased, and just a bit proud, that Claudia had apparently had the moral fiber to break things off with Connor after his outburst toward Drew Tennant. Based on Danny’s behavior, Holland had had no reason to believe the Duboises held prejudices based on race, but one never knew with very conservative people. And Claudia was obviously more conservative than Danny.

“If condemning same-sex relationships is more important to you than your friendship with Marley,” Holland continued, trying to keep their voice neutral, although Claudia could probably guess their opinion based on everything she knew of them, “then no, I guess you can’t keep being friends with her.” Danny had, obviously, chosen to become and remain friends with Holland despite their being non-binary, which was surely worse in their pureblood echelon. They selected a few lipstick options, fanned the tubes out in their hand, and presented them to Claudia. “But it is your choice.”