It was a beautiful day in Pixie Hollow. The sun was shining, there was a light breeze blowing, and everywhere fairies were preparing for the upcoming Fairy Dance. Usually Tadashi would have slowed down to enjoy his flight-take in the sights and sounds, maybe stop to offer assistance to any of the fairies or sparrow men who looked like they might need his help. But right now he was on a mission that involved the bark bound book clutched tightly to his chest and his full focus was on getting to his destination in time.
"Hey!" The fairy swiftly catching up to him had to call his name three times before the distracted sparrow man finally took notice of her.
"Oh, hey GoGo!" he answers when he finally spots her, freeing one arm from its death grip on the book to wave to her.
"Where are you off to in such a hurry?" the raven haired fairy asks, crossing her arms over her chest and easily keeping up with him, even while flying backwards. "Are you planning to try out to become a fast flyer? 'Cause I'm pretty sure that ship has long since sailed, Dashi."
"No!" Tadashi laughs. "No offense to your talent, but I'm perfectly happy being a tinker, thank you very much!"
"Right." GoGo flashes him a playful smirk before asking, "But you didn't answer my earlier question: Where are you headed?"
"Oh, y'know, just the library," Tadashi answers, shrugging and trying to appear casual.
"I see." GoGo's smirk widens. "You're going to see him again, aren't you?"
"What? I don't know what you're talking about!" Tadashi protests although he could already feel a warm blush blooming on his cheeks. Of course he knew what she was talking about-his brother, Hiro, had been teasing him about the exact same thing as he'd prepared to hurry out of their workshop at exactly a quarter to five that afternoon. Even though they'd been born from the same laugh (a rarity, but not something completely unheard of) and were even in the same talent, Hiro had always appeared slightly younger than Tadashi in appearance (the fact that he was on the small side, even for a fairy, probably didn't help) and he often acted like he was less mature than his elder by thirty seconds sibling as well.
"Have fun seeing your boyfriend!" Hiro had told him with a knowing smile as he works to put away his tools for the day (not that his side of the workshop was ever actually clean, but he did take good care of his tools, at least.)
"Neverland, Hiro, he's not my boyfriend!" Tadashi had protested, almost dropping the book he'd been carefully pulling out of his satchel.
"Sure he's not…" Hiro drawls. "So you just stare at him across the tea room and visit him in the library every chance you get because he's not your boyfriend?"
"It's… It's complicated," Tadashi mumbles, knowing that his glow must already be turning pink to match the blush on his face-gosh, sometimes he really hated the fact that being a fairy meant that his emotions were so easily on display for everyone to see. And the truth was that it was complicated, at least to an extent. In Pixie Hollow, the population was mainly dominated by fairies-for whatever reason, the amount of sparrow men just wasn't that large. That said, most sparrow men, upon arrival, were quickly set upon by fairy suitors who were hoping for dates to dances and other special events and, hopefully, long term relationships. It wasn't unheard of for two fairies to become romantically involved-for example, Tadashi's potion making talent friend Honey Lemon and GoGo had been dating for quite some time. But Tadashi was a little different-he actually found himself attracted to other sparrow men, but the longer he'd lived in Pixie Hollow the longer he realized just how difficult it was to find someone who shared his sentiments. It wasn't that anyone thought it was wrong or disgusting for him to be attracted to someone of the same gender, it just wasn't that common of an occurrence and so he had pretty much resigned himself to the fact that it would probably be a very long time, if ever, before he actually found a romantic partner. It would have been easier to just start going out with a fairy, sure-he certainly had a number who had tried asking him out over the years-but he was a strong enough person to not be willing to compromise himself just because he was lonely. Not that he really was that lonely-he had Hiro and GoGo and Honey Lemon, as well as their friend Wasabi (another tinkering talent sparrow man) and so he honestly felt he had all the people in his life that he really needed. That is, until the day that he'd met Fred.
Tadashi didn't get to visit the library as much as he liked-most fairies forgot that the out of the way room even existed, but Tadashi was a major book worm and he loved to visit every chance he could get to borrow books to read. It really didn't matter what the book's subject was on, as long it had words he could spend hours curled up in his favorite nook of Pixie Hollow's only cherry blossom tree just reading away. A few months ago, though, he'd found a shelf in the library filled with books that were something of a rarity on Neverland-novels. Actual novels! Most of the books in the library were filled with history or helpful information for different talents. Books that told stories outside of common fairy lore were few and far between. But here was a full shelf just full of stories-and not just regular stories about fairies, but stories written about Clumsies (humans, if you wanted to use the Clumsy's name for themselves) living on the the Main Land and about the other creatures who lived on Neverland. They had all been written by the same author, signing himself "Fred", and Tadashi had eagerly checked out each volume in turn, finishing every one with his hunger for more stories only growing stronger. It had been with great disappointment that he'd finally finished the last of the books, hating that his world of adventure was over. Still, the stories were so good that he'd decided to read them again. And again. And again. Hiro told him that he was going to wear the ink right off the pages if he didn't stop, but he really didn't care-it wasn't like anyone else seemed to be reading the books, so why should it matter? He was going to enjoy them for as long as they held out. He even considered seeing if he could get one of the scribe talents to copy the stories over for him so that he could have his own copies, but scribe talents tended to be very private and kept to themselves so it was harder to find one than one might think.
Then, one day when he'd was in the library preparing to borrow his favorite book in the set for probably the fortieth time, something amazing had happened-right on the end was a new book. A new book! How amazing was that? Instantly he feels his heart leap in his chest as he reaches for it, only to feel his heart leap again when he finds someone else's hand already on the volume.
"O-oh, I'd fly backwards if I could!" he apologizes, quickly pulling his hand away as he turns to see a sparrow man hovering next to him, looking just as surprised as he felt.
"No, no, it's fine!" the sparrow man answers, blush tinging pink around the edges with apparent embarrassment.
"Were you going to check that out?" Tadashi asks, hating the thought of having to wait to read the new story but not wanting to be rude since the other sparrow man had found it first.
"Oh, no, I'm not checking it out," the stranger answers, chuckling nervously. "I was actually going to take it back for some edits-I thought it was done, but something about chapter five just still doesn't feel right to me… It's driving me crazy, I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong, but I can't in good conscience let anyone read it until it's absolutely perfect. Not that anyone actually reads my work, but I have to appease my imaginary audience, y'know?" He flashes Tadashi a wry, slightly self-deprecating smile, but the other man wasn't really paying attention to the last part of what he'd said, still trying to process the earlier part.
"O-oh my Neverland!" he finally manages to get out. "Y-You're Fred! You're the one who wrote all these books!"
"Yeah, I am," the other sparrow man agrees, expression changing to curious and slightly hopeful. "Have you read any of them?"
"Read any of them?! I've read all of them, like, fifty times!" Tadashi cries, wings fluttering eagerly. "They're amazing!"
"Really?" Fred's glow instantly turns bright pink again even as an embarrassed grin crosses his face.
"Yeah! I was so sad when I finished all of them, so I've just been rereading them over and over again!" Tadashi answers. "I was so excited when I saw there was a new one! Now I can't believe that I'm actually meeting the author! This is pretty much the coolest thing ever!"
"Okay, now you're just trying to make me blush!" Fred laughs, turning even brighter pink.
"No, I'm being completely serious!" Tadashi replies, trying to keep from blushing himself when his brain makes a mental note of just how cute Fred looked when he was blushing-no, he couldn't think like that, there was almost no chance that he was actually into sparrow men in that way, and he couldn't go making this new potential friendship weird!
"Maybe you can help me!" Fred suddenly says, startling Tadashi out of his thoughts.
"What? How?" Tadashi asks, trying to focus on the conversation at hand and not on how he wanted to run his hands through the other sparrow man's hair to see if it was as soft as it looked.
"I can't figure out what's wrong with chapter 5, but maybe since you're a new pair of eyes you could read it and tell me what you think!" Fred answers eagerly.
"Wow, um, sure!" Tadashi agrees just as eagerly. "I'd be honored to help you out!"
"Great!" Fred pulls the book the rest of the way off of the shelf and presses it into Tadashi's hands. "How long do you think it will take you to finish reading it?"
"Knowing how much I've been looking forward to this? Maybe a day?" Tadashi answers.
"Wow, really?" Fred raises an eyebrow.
"Yeah, I'm a fast reader!" Tadashi tells him with a laugh.
"Good to know!" Fred chuckles before saying, "Still, allowing for something unexpected to happen-I know talent stuff can happen, no matter how well intentioned someone is-maybe meet up in two days?"
"Sure!" Tadashi agrees, trying not to sound too eager.
"Epic! Where would you like to meet?"
"Well, um… Do you know the sakura tree out in the orchard?"
"Sure I do! I go there sometimes to sit and get ideas!"
"Wow, really? I'm the same way!"
"No way-you serious?"
"Totally serious!"
"That's so crazy! I can't believe that we haven't seen each other before!"
"Same," Tadashi agrees, knowing that he would have definitely remembered Fred if he had caught a glimpse of him.
"All right, so, we'll meet up there in two days-say, around 5-ish?"
"Sounds perfect!"
"I'll see you then!"
"See you!" Tadashi agrees, holding the book tightly to his chest as Fred waves and flies off into the library before turning and flying out out into the main passageway, determined to finish reading this story in record time so he'd be ready for their next meeting.
After their initial meeting at the cherry blossom tree, whether by design or chance, the two sparrow men fell into the habit of getting together every afternoon at 5. Sometimes they talked books and story ideas-Fred loved having someone to finally bounce ideas off of, and Tadashi was more than happy to just sit and listen to him go on for hours, although he also glad to provide feedback whenever it was requested. But other days they'd just go off and have short adventures together-visiting the gardens, watching the water fairies playing on Havendish Stream, exploring corners of Pixie Hollow that they'd never really had the urge to go to until they had someone special to go with them. Fred sometimes brought Tadashi to his writer's workshop where he wrote and bound all his books and they'd have tea while they talked. Once Tadashi brought Fred by the workshop he shared with Hiro, and the scribe had been so enthusiastic about Tadashi's inventions that the poor tinker's glow had been pink for days. For some reason Tadashi hadn't introduced Fred to his friends yet-he didn't ignore them if they saw him while they were out together, but he hadn't officially introduced any of them. Part of it was that, as selfish as it sounded, he enjoyed having Fred all to himself. The bigger part of it, though, was knowing that if and when he did, the others were going to make a big deal out of it and possibly ruin everything he'd built of their relationship so far-the way that his friends were forever teasing him about his "boyfriend", if they said anything like that in front of Fred he might end up losing the sparrow man he considered one of his best friends for forever, and that was something he couldn't risk happening. Or, he had thought that was something he couldn't. More recently, though, he was finding it harder and harder to be around the other sparrow man without completely zoning out of their conversation, his mind getting distracted with wondering what it might be like to have Fred as his boyfriend-to be able to fly around Pixie Hollow while holding hands, maybe to even be able to kiss him. He didn't want to stop being friends-he never wanted that to happen, this friendship was one of the most important things in his life. He wasn't even sure he wanted the type of relationship that he saw others having with all the big, fancy romantic gestures. Just knowing that he was Fred's and that Fred was his would be more than enough.
That's why, today, he'd decided to finally take the chance. With the Fairy Dance coming up, what better time did he have to officially ask Fred out? It was still scary to think of doing something so daring, and there was the danger that Fred might want to stop seeing him if he knew that he wanted to be with him in a way that was more than friends. But it was tell Fred the truth or risk going crazy, so he was going to finally take the plunge. He knew that he was doing the right thing, but he could only hope to Mother Dove that he wouldn't end up regretting this later.
After finally managing to get GoGo off his tail (still making jabs about his "boyfriend" as she flew off), he heads into the Home Tree, flying through the passageways until he finally reaches the library.
"All right, deep breaths, Tadashi. You can do this," he mentally coaches himself before pushing the door open and flying inside. As usual, the library was empty except for one or two fairies who were poring over ancient looking tomes, so he has no problem flitting his way through until he reaches the back and gingerly knocks on the oak door that lead into Fred's workshop.
"Come in!" the sparrow man's familiar voice calls, and Tadashi takes another deep breath before pushing the door open.
"Tadashi, hey!" Fred grins up at him as he sees him walk in. "Sorry I'm not quite ready to go yet-I'm in the middle of a scene, but I promise it won't take much longer!"
"It's okay!" Tadashi reassures him, wincing when his voice comes out in a slight squeak. "Take your time," he adds, trying to get his voice back to normal.
"Okay…" Fred flashes him a curious if slight concerned glance before going back to scribbling on the leaf pages in front of him. While he works, Tadashi automatically starts pacing in the small space that he had, not even thinking about what he was doing until suddenly he hears Fred's voice asking, "Dashi, what's wrong?"
"What? Wrong? Nothing's wrong! Why would you think something was wrong?" Tadashi asks, instantly knowing that he'd overdone it and made things only that much more obvious.
"Tadashi, you know that you can tell me if something's bothering you, right?" Fred says gently, standing up and coming over to him, making the other sparrow man swallow hard because suddenly he was right there.
"I, um… Y-yeah, I know," Tadashi finally answers shakily. "It's… There's something I want to ask you, but I'm kind of scared too…"
"Why would you be scared?" Fred asks, concern filling those big beautiful blue eyes of his that always made Tadashi want to melt.
"I… I just don't want to make things weird or ruin our friendship, y'know?" he says quietly.
"You could never do anything that would make me stop wanting to be your friend," Fred replies firmly, taking one of Tadashi's hands in his own.
Tadashi nods, finding the fact that Fred was, of his own accord, holding his hand exactly what he needed to give him the courage to say what he needed to say. "I was wondering… If maybe you'd like to go to the Fairy Dance with me?" he finally manages to get out.
"...Like, as a friend?" Fred asks slowly.
"No, I mean as my date," Tadashi answers, swallowing hard as he searches Fred's carefully guarded expression for any sign one way or the other. Oh man, this had probably been a huge mista-
"Oh man, Dashi." Suddenly Fred's grinning, wrapping his arms around Tadashi's waist. "I had no idea you felt the same way."
"W-Wait, does this mean…?" Tadashi asks hopefully.
"Yes, I'd love to go to the dance with you!" Fred answers, hugging him.
"T-This is amazing!" Tadashi cries, happily hugging him back. "Thank you…"
"No, thank you!" Fred smiles up at him before admitting shyly, "I've had a huge crush on you pretty much since the day we met, but I had no idea that you actually liked me back…"
"Same," Tadashi chuckles. "I was scared to ask you out because I thought you'd want to stop hanging out if you knew that I actually liked you and you didn't feel the same way…"
"I'd never want to stop being your friend, even if I didn't return the feelings," Fred reassures him. "But trust me, I totally do, so there's nothing to be worried about now." He contentedly nuzzles against the other sparrow man. "I'm just sorry I didn't have the courage to ask you out myself…"
"Hey, the important thing is that we both know now, right?" Tadshi answers, happily nuzzling Fred back.
"Yeah, definitely!" Fred smiles up at him. "But, since you were the one who asked me out, I guess it's only fair that I initiate the next thing!"
"And what exactly is that?" Tadashi asks, raising a curiously amused eyebrow.
"This." Fred pulls him into a gentle kiss, which, after a moment of surprise, Tadashi happily returns. It was more magical than he ever could have imagined, and he could only hope that every one after this would be just as magical. No-he knew that they would be. As long as he was with Fred, every day would be full of magic, and he couldn't wait to see what the future held for them.