Birds of a feather

Joey spent almost twenty minutes rewriting a three-word text.

**Hey Taylor :)**

Delete.

**Hey Taylor, it’s Joey from Burger Chief**

Delete.

**Hey Taylor, wanted to see if you maybe wanted to hang out sometime if you’re not busy or if this is weird then ignore this haha**

Delete immediately.

Cassandra watched from the kitchen counter while sipping coffee with the expression of someone observing an injured raccoon attempt advanced mathematics.

“You fought armed vampire hunters with less hesitation than this,” she noted.

Joey glared at his phone.

“Bullets are easier than flirting.”

“That is profoundly sad.”

“It is *honest.*”

Cassandra slid behind him, cool arms wrapping around his waist while she rested her chin on his shoulder. Her lips brushed lazily against his neck.

“Send the message, handsome.”

Joey sighed dramatically.

Then finally typed:

**Hey Taylor, this is Joey. I survived another Burger Chief shift and thought I deserved a reward. Want to hang out today?**

He stared at it.

“…Too much?”

Cassandra smiled against his skin.

“No. Confident. Playful. Human women enjoy that.”

“You say ‘human women’ like you’re studying them for science.”

“I literally am.”

Joey snorted and hit send before he could panic.

Three dots appeared almost instantly.

Taylor replied:

**YES. Absolutely. Also now I’m curious how dangerous Burger Chief actually is.**

Joey blinked.

“She answered immediately.”

Cassandra looked smug.

“Because she likes you.”

Before Joey could overthink that statement, another message appeared.

**You busy right now?**

Then:

**There’s a zoo downtown I’ve been wanting to visit.**

Joey’s eyebrows lifted.

“A zoo date?”

Cassandra smiled wider.

“Oh, she’s adorable.”

Joey typed back quickly:

**I can do zoo.**

Another immediate response:

**Perfect :)**

Joey stared at the screen for a second too long.

Then Cassandra kissed his cheek.

“You’re smiling.”

“…Shut up.”

“I absolutely will not.”

---

About an hour later, Joey stood in the apartment parking lot staring at a dark gray sedan with visible rust on one door.

“It’s beautiful,” he whispered emotionally.

The car looked like it had lost several fights.

Greta leaned against the hood smoking something that smelled deeply illegal in at least twelve states.

“I cleaned it,” she announced proudly.

Joey peered through the window.

The interior was spotless.

“…How?”

Greta shrugged massively.

“Blood comes out easier than people think.”

Joey froze.

“…Greta.”

“What?”

Cassandra pinched the bridge of her nose.

“The vehicle belonged to one of the dead hunters,” she explained carefully to Joey. “Greta handled the paperwork.”

Greta grinned.

“I am shockingly good at fraud.”

“You’re admitting crimes very casually lately,” Joey muttered.

“I contain multitudes.”

Joey walked around the car slowly like someone approaching a wild animal.

“It runs?”

Greta looked offended.

“Of course it runs.”

The engine immediately made a horrifying coughing sound.

Greta slapped the roof.

“It runs *enough.*”

Cassandra stepped beside Joey, amusement flickering in her crimson eyes.

“It is better than walking home at midnight.”

Joey considered that.

“…Fair.”

Greta tossed him the keys.

“Congratulations. You inherited murder property.”

“That feels legally complicated.”

“It is.”

---

Taylor was waiting near the zoo entrance wearing jeans, white sneakers, and a yellow sundress that somehow made her look even prettier than Joey remembered.

When she spotted him, her entire face lit up.

And Joey almost walked directly into a trash can.

Taylor laughed immediately.

“Strong entrance.”

“I wanted to establish dominance over the environment.”

“Well the trash can seemed intimidated.”

Joey relaxed slightly at that.

Better.

This felt easier now.

Not effortless.

But easier.

Taylor stepped closer, smiling warmly.

“You look good, Joey.”

The words hit harder than they should have.

Mostly because she sounded sincere.

“Thanks,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “You too.”

Taylor tilted her head playfully.

“You survived another dangerous shift at Burger Chief?”

“Barely. Fry-related trauma.”

“Tragic.”

“Thank you for your sympathy during this difficult time.”

She laughed again.

God, he liked that sound.

As they walked into the zoo together, Joey noticed something strange almost immediately.

Birds reacted to Taylor.

Not dramatically.

But noticeably.

A pair of flamingos drifted toward the edge of their enclosure as she passed.

Parrots chirped loudly when she laughed.

Even a massive eagle in one exhibit seemed weirdly calm while watching her.

Taylor noticed Joey staring.

“What?”

“…Do birds always like you this much?”

She blinked in surprise before looking toward the nearby aviary.

“Oh. Yeah, kinda.”

“Kinda?”

Taylor shrugged shyly.

“Animals usually like me.”

Joey grinned.

“Disney princess energy.”

“I was hoping for mysterious forest witch.”

“Nah. Too wholesome.”

Taylor bumped his shoulder lightly.

“You’re making fun of me already?”

“I’m building confidence.”

“Well it’s working.”

That startled him slightly.

And Taylor noticed immediately.

“There,” she said, pointing at him dramatically. “That face.”

“What face?”

“The ‘wait someone likes me?’ face.”

Joey groaned.

“I hate how accurately everyone reads me lately.”

Taylor smiled softly.

“I think you’re just easier to read when you stop hiding.”

That one hit a little deeper.

The date itself turned surprisingly easy after that.

They fed giraffes.

Taylor laughed so hard at a screaming peacock that she almost dropped her drink.

Joey made the mistake of trying to impress her with animal facts and accidentally confused gorillas with orangutans so badly that a nearby child corrected him.

“You’ve been destroyed by a seven-year-old,” Taylor informed him solemnly.

“I’ll never recover socially.”

“You should probably leave the country.”

“I was considering it.”

By the time they reached the large aviary near sunset, Joey realized something important.

He wasn’t performing anymore.

He wasn’t desperately trying not to screw things up.

He was just… having fun.

Taylor walked beside him quietly for a moment before stopping near a pair of massive white birds perched together high in the enclosure.

They were beautiful.

Elegant.

Strange somehow.

The two birds stayed pressed close together, completely focused on each other despite all the noise around them.

Taylor smiled softly while watching them.

“They mate for life,” she said quietly.

Something about the way she said it made Joey glance at her.

Not sad.

Not wistful.

Just… deeply certain.

Like the idea meant something important to her.

“You like birds a lot,” Joey observed.

Taylor laughed softly.

“Yeah.”

One of the birds suddenly spread its wings wide, making several nearby people gasp.

Taylor smiled instinctively.

And for one strange second—

Joey could’ve sworn the bird looked directly at her.

Not at the crowd.

At her.

Then the moment passed.

Taylor looked back at him, cheeks faintly pink.

“Sorry. I kinda nerd out over birds.”

Joey smiled.

“Nah. It’s cute.”

Taylor looked startled by the answer.

Then pleased.

Dangerously pleased.

“Oh,” she said softly. “You’re getting smoother.”

Joey pointed at her immediately.

“Don’t ruin it by acknowledging it.”

Taylor burst out laughing again.

And somewhere far away in the back of Joey’s mind—

through the bond—

he felt Cassandra’s amusement too.