On Sundays, the daycare is open from six in the morning until one in the afternoon. This is mostly so people can go to church and not have a screaming baby interrupting conversations with the Lord. Gender Expression has told Morality their feelings on the subject multiple times. They'd rather have the weekends off. Morality always reminds them to think of other people's busy schedules (and that they don't work at all on Saturdays).
Besides, they usually have a small crowd on Sundays and get to close early. Such was the case today; the last of the kiddos had hopped off with their parents, chattering away about their time at daycare. After tidying up some messes and getting things ready for tomorrow morning, their work was done and it had just turned noon.
"What are you going to do with your afternoon?" Morality asked, turning off the lights behind them. He waited by Expression's side as they locked the door.
Expression shrugged, "I was actually planning on going over to the tattoo parlor."
Morality gasped excitedly, grabbing Expression's hands and squeezing them, "Are you gonna get the kitties today!?"
"No, Morie." Expression snorted, "I'm just going to set up an appointment today. Give 'em a few ideas and put down the deposit. Boring stuff."
Morality pouted. "Oh." Then, brightened up again immediately, "Can I come?"
"Sure." Expression put the daycare keys in their purse and started walking. Morality quickly followed after them. "I've never actually been to this guy before, but I've seen his artwork online and I figured, 'why not?'."
"Does it matter who does it?" Morality asked.
"Yeah, kinda." Expression stopped at the corner, thinking for a second. "You want someone with a good art style, one that matches what you want. You can't go up to a cartoonist and demand a realistic piece."
Morality held his hand out in front of Expression, looking both ways down the street, before allowing them to cross. "That makes sense."
"Plus, he's twenty bucks cheaper than the only other tattoo parlor in the area." Expression grinned, they winked at Morality, who only shook his head, smiling. They didn't get paid very well for their jobs, but that was fine by him. He, unlike Expression, didn't have very expensive hobbies.
"Where are you gonna get it?" Morality asked as they started down another block, passing a flower shop and a winery. He paused to smell some flowers that were sitting out in the sunlight.
Expression waited for him to catch back up, rolling up their sleeves so show a bare spot on their forearm, "I was thinking here, actually."
Morality inspected the naked spot. Yup. That's skin.
He grinned at them, "It'll look great!"
They finished their walk shortly after, arriving in front of a dark building. Expression frowned, peering inside the windows. "That's weird. The hours say they don't close until four…"
Patton moved to look through the glass. It was too dark for him to see anything, but he thought maybe he saw shadows shifting in the dark. Something moving inside there. "Well, they're definitely closed now."
"That sucks." Expression sighed. "Maybe they're sick."
"Maybe their wife just gave birth and their baby was just born today!" Morality said, finally moving away from the glass. Expression snorted again, shaking their head.
"Yeah, maybe, Morie." They tapped their chin, thinking out loud, "I'll have to stop by tomorrow after work. Want to come back again?"
"I can't tomorrow." Morality pouted, "I have to help my neighbor bake a cake for her granddaughter's birthday." He waved his friend off, "I don't really need to be here for the beginning parts, anyway. I just want to see the actual tattooering."
Expression shrugged, "If you say so." They gave the tattoo parlor one last glance, "So, what now? Wanna go home?"
Morality shook his head frantically, "No! We need to make this walk have purpose! We need validation for walking all the way to a closed shop! We need ICE CREAM!"
"YEAH!" Expression cheered, throwing a fist in the air.
With that, Morality lead the charge towards the nearest ice cream shop. They giggled to each other the entire way, trying to decide which flavor they were in the mood for.
"Chocolate, every time." Morality argued.
"Nu-huh." Expression shook their head, their fiery hair whipping them in the face. "Pistachio is the way to go."
They stood in line and ordered their cones. Once they were up at the front counter, Morality patted their pockets, only to discover them empty. He frowned, checked each pocket, then checked them again. He turned to the cashier, genuinely upset, "I am so so sorry, I forgot my wallet!"
"What?" Expression asked, pausing in eating their own cone.
"I think I left it at the daycare!" Patton was worried now, mostly because the poor worker had done such a good job at making that cone. He hoped they felt appreciated.
Expression laughed at him, pulling some bills out of their purse. "Stop freaking out, I'll cover it."
They handed the money to the cashier, taking the cone in return. Then, they transferred the cone into Morality's hands with a grin. With the transaction over, they stepped out of the way for other customers. Morality called one last, "Sorry! Thank you!" to the cashier, who waved at him in response.
"Thank you so much, Express. You're a lifesaver." Morality said, taking a small lick from his chocolate cone. "I'll pay you back."
"It was, like, four bucks. You don't have to-"
"It wouldn't be right." Morality interrupted, sounding almost frantic. "I'll pay you back right now. Do you mind heading back to the daycare? I know my wallet is there."
Expression stared at him for a second, before seeming to realize how important this was for Morality. They nodded and said, "Sure, my apartment is that way, anyway."
Mortality relaxed almost instantly, realizing he'd be able to fix his mistake and repay his friend. They walked in comfortable semi-silence, eating their ice cream in peace. Every once and awhile, Morality would point at an interesting cloud, or Expression would point out a pretty girl. Morality had finished about half his cone by the time they got to the daycare. They slowed down as they got closer, realizing someone was standing outside the front doors. The person was staring into the glass, not unlike they were doing an hour ago. It was weird, seeing someone hovering around his workplace.
Before he could do anything, Expression shouted, "HEY! What are you doing!?"
The person jumped, surprised, and turned around. It was a man; a Side. Morality got a good look at him, and felt his heart stop in his chest.
His ice cream slipped out of his hand, falling to the ground to become a snack for ants later. He felt his mouth go dry as he saw his surprise reflected on the other man's face. On his face.
"Uh-" The guy said, glancing back and forth between Expression and Morality. "I was just-"
Morality interrupted him, speeding up to the other man, grabbing his hand, and shaking it vigorously. "HI I'M PATTON!"
"Holy shit." Expression said, stepping up to look at them. "He looks like you."
"My Side is Morality and I like puppies and I work here and I love you!" Patton said in an excited rush, still shaking the other man's hand. Then, just because he really wanted to, Patton engulfed the other man in a hug. He squeezed his Side tightly and then pulled back, grinning up at him.
He looked almost entirely identical to Patton, except he didn't need glasses. Upon closer inspection, one of his eyes was a different color than the other. While his left eye was a deep brown, like Patton's, his right eye was a bright golden amber. The only other difference between the two was that Patton's hair was darker, while as the other man had a more blond-ish color. Although, his blond-ish hair was hidden under a black fedora, so who knew it's full color.
"What's your name?" Patton asked, taking the other man's hands again. His nails were painted black and yellow. How cute!
"Uh-" The other Side said, then, cleared his throat, and tried again. "You can call me De-"
"Dee?" Patton asked.
The man pulled a hand away to clear his throat once more. His cheeks had darkened slightly, and Patton wanted to cuddle the other man and make him feel better. He took a deep breath, and when he looked back at Patton, he appeared less dear-in-the-headlights.
"You can call me Destiny." Destiny smiled, pulling Patton's hand up to press a small kiss to his knuckles. Now Patton was the one with rosy cheeks. He let out a giggle, unsure of what to say.
"Oh! It's, um, it's very nice to meet you Destiny."
Expression pushed in between the two of them, glaring at Destiny, "Why were you looking into the daycare? Did you want to see some kids? Are you a pervert?"
"Heavens, no!" Destiny said, sounding shocked. He placed a hand on his chest, turning to say to Patton, "I was only hoping to catch a glimpse of you."
"Me?" Patton whispered, his heart pounding wildly in his chest. He couldn't take his eyes off the other man. Destiny. How poetic.
"So you're a stalker." Expression said, crossing their arms. Patton couldn't imagine why Expression was being so mean to his Side, but they were usually right about these things. Patton looked worriedly back at Destiny, hoping it wasn't true.
Destiny shook his head again, calmly, "Actually, little girl, I only just saw -" He smiled pleasantly at him, "Patton, was it? - a few days ago. Suspecting that he was my Side, I wanted to learn more about him. I didn't know anything except that he worked here, so I was looking for a phone number or work hours, where I could stop by to … introduce myself."
Patton felt his stomach dip, like he was at the top of a roller coaster. He was looking for Patton. No one ever looked for him. He was the one who went out, trying to find his soulmates. But this beautiful man cared so much that he was trying to get in contact with Patton. He felt like he was one step closer to being Established already. Smiling, Patton informed him, "You found me."
"That I did." Destiny said, offering up the smallest, most beautiful smile Patton had ever seen.
Expression cleared their throat and said, "Mori, aren't you forgetting something?"
Patton had absolutely no idea what he had forgotten. Which made sense to him. If he remembered what it was, he wouldn't have forgotten it. Then, he realized what it must be, "OH! I should give you my phone number!"
"That you should." Destiny said, smirking at a frustrated Expression. He handed Patton his phone, and he dutifully punched in his numbers. He saved his name with a few emoji hearts, picking his favorite colors. He knew Destiny wouldn't mind.
"No!" Expression groaned, "I meant the wallet!"
When he handed the phone back, Patton realized why they even came back to the daycare in the first place. "Oh yeah! We should do that, huh?"
"Well, I think I should take my leave." Destiny said, slipping his phone back in his pocket. He took Patton's hand again, gently rubbing little circles with his thumb onto the back of his hand. "It truly has been a pleasure."
He pressed another kiss to Patton's knuckles, causing Patton's face to flush once more. Destiny smirked and said, "Morality. Small fire child."
Then, he turned around the corner and disappeared out of sight. Patton pulled his hand to his chest, his other hand repeating the thumb thing on himself. He kept staring at the spot where he stood. He can barely believe it.
He met his other Side.
And he was so nice!
Expression opened the door once more, speeding inside to grab Patton's wallet, which was sitting on the table, in clear view. They shoved it back into Patton's hands, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"I have a bad feeling about that guy." Expression grumbled.
Patton was going to respond, but got distracted by his phone vibrating. He looked down and saw that he had a new message from an unknown number.
Dinner tomorrow? ;)
Patton rushed to respond with a big ol' heck yes! He wanted to have dinner with Destiny right now! He couldn't wait to have Destiny by his side forever. He couldn't wait to become Established with him.
And suddenly, he felt a little more whole.
Tell me what you think!