Red wakes up and looks at the clock. 1:20 P.M. This was actually pretty early for him. He really didn't want to get out of bed. No reason at all, he'd just rather stay here than do anything else. He could stay there in bed for a few hours, but it was already noon and he wasn't sleepy.

He gets out of bed and does his morning routine. Sometimes that routine involved wearing make up. Not because he wants to look "presentable", mind you. Sometimes he'd wear it even when he knows he's not leaving his house. He just likes how it feels. He didn't wear it today, though. He doesn't have the energy to.

Making his way to the kitchen, he was immediately greeted by the color yellow invading his personal space.

"Hey, Chuck."

"Good morning, Red! Well, noon since it's noon, but morning to you since you just woke up, so good morning!" Chuck zipped out of the room for a second and came back in, putting a star sticker on Red's hand and then hugging him.

Red still hasn't fully processed what just happened, but he just has to ask. "A sticker?"

Still not letting go of him, Chuck answered gleefully. "Yeah! I got thiswhole sheet of stickers and I wanna used them so badly!" Chuck has one arm around Red and shows the sheet with his free arm. Finally taking notice of Red's grumpy demeanor, Chuck's mood deflates a bit, but he continues. " …It's the star sticker isn't it? I knew I should've given you the gold one! Or is it just stars in general? Because this one row has flower stickers th-"

Red rolled his eyes. "I meant like what is it for? Am I some star student or something now?"

Chuck blinked a few times and nodded. Red raised an eyebrow. He explained that he's going to reward Red for every time he does something that might seem minor, but it's a big thing for Red. In his boyfriend's eyes at least.

Red got his first reward today for getting out of bed. He started to get mad because he doesn't understand how that's remotely an accomplishment and started feeling like this reward was ironic. Chuck reassured him that he'd never do that. It's an accomplishment to Chuck because he knows well that Red could've slept more and that he could've just stayed locked in his room all day. It's happened before and Chuck gets worried.

/

It's been a week since Chuck started giving Red stickers for minor things he did. There was something… weird about being rewarded for stuff like not staying in bed an extra few hours or eating a full meal.

Red would be covered in stickers by the end of the day. He takes them off before he leaves the house if he has to. There was one day where forgot to remove some, but thankfully only one bird noticed. Or at least, noticed and was an ass about it. ("Rainbow star stickers? Pfft. Gay." "Thanks, it's what I'm going for.")

It would be embarrassing to walk around with them all over his arms and sometimes even his face. It would be even more embarrassing explaining that he got all these for doing the most basic of things.

He thought of a scenario where a bird, almost crying from laughter, asks if a teacher gave him all those. And then he'd have to explain it was his boyfriend. He quickly shook his head, trying to get that thought out of mind.

He doesn't have the heart to throw the stickers away, though. He pastes them to his nightstand.

Despite everything, there was something about being rewarded for minor things that was starting to become weirdly comforting. Not that he'd ever admit it.