~ { Authors Note: Hi! I'm Mochi. These chapters are usually longish, so if you like short stories, I'm probably not for you! Thank you for checking it out, though! Anyway, enjoy my gay fan fiction. } ~

Title: ~ { 1 } ~ A Blue Jay Named Babs

Word Count: 1,948

The small male dressed in black attire steps through an automated sliding door to enter a drugstore. An echo of the employee's greeting went in one of Fumikage Tokoyami's ears and out the other. He waved sluggishly out of instinct. He never wanted to be mean to any workers-- let alone the incredibly unappreciated retail workers. Tokoyami moved through the aisles, and a particular Squishmellow caught his eye. Sure, he loves the macabre, but he was a sucker for everything soft and squishy. Especially birds-- they were always his favorite. He didn't notice he was staring at the blue jay stuffie, but he most definitely was.

~ ~ Love at first sight ~ ~

But, he had to break his gaze from the fluffy stuffed animal to get what he originally came for. There was only enough money in his wallet for his medications, so he went to the back of the store, where a large sign read 'prescription medication.' Soon enough, the artist was broke once again. However, when he walked out of the automatic sliding door, he heard a gruff, deep voice call for him, "Excuse me . . . ?"

Tokoyami turned around, expecting to see an employee telling him he dropped something. But to his surprise, he saw a tall, muscular male with white hair and black eyes holding bags full of what looked like children's toys. He thought it was adorable. Maybe strange, depending on what they were for. But he decided to give him the benefit of the doubt since he found him attractive. The gruff voice continued, "I was um . . . buying a present for my daughter's birthday and I saw you looking at this so . . . " He handed him a bag with the exact blue jay squish mellow he was staring at before. Of course, the trim emo was undoubtedly in shock.

"I-- uh . . . " Tokoyami was at a loss for words. He stuttered as he tried to find any vocabulary in the depths of his brain, his eyes blinking rapidly. But soon enough, the shock settled. Once it did, pure excitement rose out of him. "R-Really?? Thank you!" he exclaimed, slightly squeezing the blue jay with a luminous smile. The shy male's smile was like a crescent moon: delicate, bright, and enchanting. He internally scolded himself to snap out of it. His fair skin flushed from embarrassment. After brain-wracking, he figured he should introduce himself to the sweet stranger. "Oh, I'm Tokoyami by the way." He offered his shaky hand to greet him. He was never too fond of physical contact, but Tokoyami felt obligated to.

"I'm Shouji . . . " the not-so-stranger said and took his hand. The other nodded, "Well, thank you for the surprise, Shouji. I feel like I should repay you but I don't exactly have anything to give. Unless you want my meds--" he awkwardly joked. He was never good at small talk. The white-haired male waved it off, "That's okay. Uh, you . . . you could, uh, repay me with a date? You don't have to obviously." His bashfulness made the shorter one hold in a laugh. Typically, Shouji wouldn't be so nervous. He was known for being cool, calm, and collected. But that did not make him smooth when it came to flirting. Generally, Tokoyami would be the one stuttering. Though, for some reason, he felt secure. "Smooth. I'll go out with you. Can I have your number?" Shouji pointed to the tag on the squishy. "It's um . . . " Tokoyami looked at the inside of the tag and smiled slightly, "Another smooth move. I'll text you, swear. But I have to get going now. I've got to meet a friend for lunch. See you soon?" He started to walk in the opposite way to meet the one he had plans with. He would've kept talking to Shouji if his friend wasn't paying for his lunch.

Tokoyami soon met his best friend at a local cafe named Brewed Beauty for lunch. They sat at an iron garden table and chairs outside since the weather was stunning. Both of them loved cold weather and hazy blue skies. "So. I have news," Tokoyami began. The other would quickly chime in. "You have news? What is it? Did you get a new sketchbook again to add to the pile of unfinished ones?" Hitoshi Shinsou asked. Tokoyami would roll his eyes. But it did get a small smile out of him, which was his friend's goal. "Nooooo I don't have the money for another one. If you would've let me finish-- I met a cute guy. Almost ditched you for him." Shinsou nodded and sipped on his third coffee of the day. "For real? What's his name? Is he hot? Of course, he's hot you're a shallow emo." Tokoyami laughed a little and shook his head, "What? I'm not shallow. But . . . Shouji's beautiful. He has white, fluffy hair and is super muscular and tall. And tan! Plus he's so sweet. He gave me this cute stuffie." He looked at the blue jay squish mellow the other had and smiled. "That's why you have that. That is a sweet gesture though."

Tokoyami gave him a side eye, seeing an opportunity he always took. "Yeah. We gotta get you a dude soon." The other rolled his tired eyes. The black-haired one always tried to hook Shinsou up, and though he appreciated it, the consistency of the conversations annoyed him. "Please, don't talk about this again--" The purple-haired male's words were cut off, "Shinsou you need to get out there. It's been four years since your last girlfriend." Shinsou shook his head a little as he looked at the menu. "Not a girlfriend-- my wife. You don't get it. I mean, I have a kid I can't just get a partner. It's like running a whole background check before they can come to my place. I don't have the time or energy for all that nonsense." The noiret frowned a little, and his eyes softened, "Sorry-- I forgot you two were married. But I'll run the background check if you don't have the time. I can babysit Celeste while you're off on a date. I work from home anyway. I just want you to be a happy little family. Plus, Celeste wants you to be happy too." The other would smile-- the corners of his mouth only raising a tad-- it was barely noticeable.

"I know that's why I'm not mad at you. But I'll try to make more time for it, you don't have to Tok. You've got a cute guy now. You should text him," Shinsou razzed. Tokoyami would blush at the thought of Shouji. Even the thought made his stomach fill with butterflies, but he'd convince himself it was simply hunger from not eating earlier. He shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck, "Maybe later. I'm talking to you right now. Plus, I'm hungry." He looked at the menu and began to look for something to suit his complex palette or what others would call his pickiness.

"Ya coward."

"Shinsou, I swear--"

After lunch, Shinsou drove Tokoyami back to his apartment since they lived in the same brick building. Shinsou walked the other to his apartment, and Tokoyami smiled at him as he unlocked his door. "Say hi to Celeste and the kitties for me." Shinsou nodded as he began to walk away to his apartment. "Say hi to Jimmy Talon for me." Tokoyami shook his head, "That's not his name and you know that." The other one would smile and wave bye to his friend. "Yes yes bye, emo." Tokoyami would snicker and enter his apartment. "See you later, Gengar." The green door creaked shut, and Tokoyami locked it. He twisted the knob a few times to be sure, then waved at his bird. "Hey there, Virgil." The black vasa parrot would chirp in response, flapping his wings with excitement once he saw his owner. Tokoyami opened the cage and let him stretch his wings out as he gently petted the top of his head with his finger.

But before Tokoyami could relax, he remembered he was supposed to text Shouji. "Crap!" He gently sat the bird on his small stand before he read the number of the squish mellows tag. After he checked the number 10 times, his shaky hands typed a message. He tended to be anxious talking to-- or even texting-- new people, especially someone like Shouji. He got nervous texting people he'd known for years, let alone someone he just met. Tokoyamis breath was short as he fidgeted, scratched, and practically bounced across the room. His cat, Obsidian, followed him all over. After an hour of typing drafts in his notes app, he sent nearly a paragraph to Shouji.

_

!New contact created: Shouji!

Unknown: 'Hey this is Tokoyami. The guy you gave a squishmellow to earlier? That better not be a move you do a ton ha. Anyway, I just got home and remembered I should text you, so I'm texting you. Hi. Sorry.'

Shouji: 'It's okay Tokoyami. I genuinely hardly make moves in general. Let me save your number.'

!New contact created: Tokoyami!

Shouji: 'So the only time I have relatively "free" is my daughter's birthday party. I know that's a bizarre first date but the rest of my month is kinda jam-packed because of the Holidays.'

Tokoyami: 'Honestly that sounds kinda cute. I'm not a party kind of guy but kid parties are cute. Weird but I mean neither of us seems normal.'

Shouji: 'Yeah, no, definitely not normal but I'll see you there. It's next Saturday at 2:00 pm.'

Tokoyami: 'Sure. I'll see you then for sure. What stuff does your daughter like? And how old is she turning? I don't want to be the only person that doesn't bring her a gift.'

Shouji: 'You don't need to bring anything.'

Shouji: 'If you wish, Cordelia likes the rainbow a lot and black. She has Monster High dolls she also likes. Her favorite is Lagoona. She's also getting into painting recently. She's turning 4.'

Tokoyami: 'Okay, I'll see you then.'

_

Tokoyami smashed his face into his new Squishmellow. "I agreed to go to a party?! What is wrong with me?!" He hit his face into the stuffie a few times before his cat stopped him, creating a barrier between him and the stuffie. Tokoyami sighed and took a few deep breaths, petting his black cat. He talked to himself, trying to play out everything beat by beat in his head. "Maybe you just really wanna see him . . . or maybe you're insane! Well, either way, you know you can't cancel . . . so you're in it now." He stood and began pacing in his living room. "Where are you even gonna get the money for a present you dummy?" This sequence lasted for a few hours before he realized he could make something for her. He had tons of fabric, paint, yarn, etc. Whenever he told people he was an artist, that was forever his label. Thus, most birthday or Christmas gifts he received were art-related. Sometimes it sucked, but at least they came in handy for last-minute gifts he didn't have to buy. "Well . . . Time to get to work."