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Diary Entry: August 23rd, 2017
Today's been the same as any other day really. The same familiar cycle of guarding the eggs, eating, and maybe doing some practice on the slingshot every now and then. Same old, same old.
But... today's been a bit different, I guess. I've been doing a lot of thinking recently and . . .
There's this guy. He's not someone new, I've known him for years now. But I feel . . . strange feelings when I'm around him. Like, my chest starts to act up, butterflies dance around while my brain locks down. I feel...nervous. Why do I feel nervous? I shouldn't feel nervous! We've been friends for years now!
Why do I feel so nervous? I don't like him! Or, at least, like like him, you know? He's still fun to be around, he's funny, he's charming. His laugh is so contagious, it's like when he's happy, I'm happy. The way his feathers flow in the wind, his smile, his eyes...
Maybe I do like him?
What am I talking about? Absolute nonsense! I'm just tired, that's all. Haven't gotten to properly rest my head in how long? A good rest will help knock all of this lovey dovey crap out of me, I'm sure of it.
Oh, and the eggs haven't hatched today, as you could guess. I wonder if they'll ever come out of those shells?
- Red
Red finished reading the diary entry, the book itself tattered and torn, yet still barely holding itself together despite the frequent use, if only by a few strings. It had been months since he'd written it, yet he still felt the exact same way.
It had been a while since red had been in what you'd call a “relationship”. His last ex had broken up with him on less than agreeable terms, and boy, did it rough him up. It hurt, a lot, and to this day red has solemnly vowed off relationships, believing that they're just… not for him.
So imagine his surprise when he began developing feelings for the bird who'd been by his side for almost a decade. At first, it was just a passing thought. A simple “Oh, he's kinda cute”. But before he knew it, the feelings began to escalate. Now he was at a point where he didn't know what he could do with himself. The pent up anxieties and fears that coursed through his veins were flaring up more than ever, he couldn't think straight. Every thought of potentially asking him out was met with 10 other “what if he said no”s. He didn't want to admit it, but he was running out of rationalisations to keep him in denial.
Red tossed the book aside as he laid down in his nest, looking up at the starry sky above him. He was... tired, for the most part. A pig raid the day before had left him exhausted. Yet… he couldn't sleep. All he could do was think. Think about his stupid little crush. Think about the reasons why he shouldn't make the first move. The embarrassment, the rejection. He couldn't shake the scenario out of his head. Of course it would happen, you'd have to be a minion pig to believe otherwise.
Yet... would it really hurt to try? Even if it might not pan out the way he wanted, could he really ignore the chances of it working? Of things turning out?
Red's stupid sense of hope and optimism persisted through the various scenarios he ran in his head. And he didn't know why. To him, it was frustrating, no, infuriating!
How long has it been like this? How many nights had he had this exact same exchange in his mind? A couple days? Weeks? Months?
Well, regardless, he had had enough. Fine, if he was going to have this pathetic crush, he might as well get it over with. He knew full well it wouldn't work, but if it'll get his brain to shut up, then fine! He was gonna ask him out!
“Gods, what the fuck am I doing?”
— — —
It took Red all day to muster up enough courage. The other birds thought he was mad the way he was talking to himself, trying to build up enough confidence through self pep talks. It, of course, didn’t work. The nervousness was clear as day, the poor bird shaking like a leaf, as if it was a frosty winter’s morning, despite the fact that the weather was more sunny than usual.
Eventually, the bird had enough false confidence to ask the question. Leaving the eggs with Matilda (who was VERY concerned for the cardinal’s health, not knowing the circumstances), the bird wandered off. If he knew Chuck , and he knew him very well, he’d be somewhere around the plateau...
A bit of wandering is all that it took for the bird to find his crush, the yellow triangle darting from one place to another on a ridge in the middle of nowhere, trying to hone his canary karate skills in a makeshift obstacle course made up of wood, stone, and a variety of nicknacks he had found washed up on South Beach.
“Uhmm, Chuck?”
As soon as he said something, Red’s anxieties flared up. The feeling of “Oh god this is actually happening” came over him, the nervousness and stress of not messing up at it’s highest as the poor bird began to sweat. It was a good thing his feathers were red, because otherwise, you would be able to see the poor bird blush from a mile away!
Once he heard the voice of his friend, Chuck came to a standstill, turning in red’s direction, only to see him like he’d never seen him before. Red wasn’t normally this nervous, right? Something was up.
“Geez Red, you feelin’ alright? You look sick!"
“Huh? Y-yeah, I’m fine!”
Red smiled awkwardly, though to Chuck, it seemed less like a smile and more like a cry for help.
“Aaaaaaaaalrighty. You, uhhh, needed me for somethin’?”
“Right! Yeah, uhhh, C-could you come over here for a bit? I need to talk to you.”
In the blink of an eye, Chuck sped right next to Red, maybe a bit too close, as the canary quickly took a few steps back after.
“All ears!”
Red gulped. He couldn’t back out now, he was in too deep. He had to just… say something! Anything! While Chuck was still listening.
Welp… here goes.
“L-listen, I-”
Red froze , his mouth remaining open as his nerves began to tense up. It took a few breaths for him to start back up again, the poor bird nervously stuttering the whole way through.
“I-I’ve been thinking... a LOT, perhaps a bit too much, over the past few months. A-and, maybe it’s just me... b-but-”
Red froze again... the shaking reaching an all new level of erratic. He braced himself, shutting his eyes tight as if he was about to jump off a cliff. The panic, the fear, the stress, it felt like he was about to pass out.
And yet, he still managed to say it
“I may or may not happen to… like you. Like, like you like you. So… if you would let me, I’d like to ask you out. Just for date, nothing more, nothing less. If it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out. Fine, no loss there. But… I’m willing to give it a shot. Just this once.”
A pause. Though it was a few seconds, it felt like hours, days to the red bird, the cardinal still firmly shutting his eyes, expecting an outrage, a disgusted “ew”, some sort of reaction that’d tell him he was an idiot for even asking. Some sort of disapproval that would permanently cement the stain on his friendship he had caused, one that no matter how hard he tried, could never be washed off.
Yet… he still felt… relief? Even if he said no, he still got his feelings out there, right? That’s good, right?
“Oh… yeah I already knew”
The cardinal opened his eyes. Not to the sight of shock, or disgust, or anger. No… instead, it was a look of amusement on Chuck’s face, the canary seemingly blushing , yet not letting it affect his cool, laid back stance.
“W-wha…?”
“Red, have you seen the way you’ve acted around me? All the blushing, the nervousness, the tendency to avoid eye-contact. Like, I don’t wanna dunk on ya too hard bud, but it was kinda getting hard to watch, haha~”
Red froze… though not out of nervousness, out of embarrassment . Was he really that obvious with his crush? Who knew about it? Was everyone in the know? How long was it obvious for? The questions swarmed his mind, it felt almost nauseating.
“W-well? So what? You still haven’t answered the question! I didn’t just spill my guts for you to not answer the bloody question!”
Red’s immediate launch into defensiveness gave Chuck a massive grin, the yellow canary finding the whole situation comically adorable, having to restrain himself from letting out a chuckle.
“Relax, relax, I’ll go out with ya, I’ll go out with ya! ”
“A-alright then! When are you available?”
“Saturday night at the latest”
“Right. 7pm?”
“Sounds good to me!”
“Perfect. Cherry Blossom Fields, 7pm, Saturday. Don’t be late.”
“You know who you’re talkin’ to? I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“Then it’s settled. See you then.”
And with that, Red was off, the ruffled mess of feathers just wanting to lie down, go to bed, and forget this all happened from pure embarrassment.
Yet… he couldn’t help but feel… happy? Somehow, things went his way . He couldn’t understand it, but it felt… relieving, in a way. For once, the universe was throwing him a bone, allowing him to be even a little happy, if only for a while.
“See ya, cutie~”
Just when Red thought he was in the clear, Chuck’ flirty tease caught him off guard, causing the cardinal to blush even more as he began to speed up, trying to get out of these as fast as possible before his date could get the chance to throw more flirty remarks his way.
As Red became just a dot in the horizon, Chuck let out one final remark, this time to himself, before getting back to his training session.
“God he gets so cute when he’s mad…”