{{user}} had been in previous relationships before and usually, the dates involved coffee shops, a movie, maybe even the occasional dinner where someone dressed up in an outfit they clearly weren’t used to wearing. But this—this is something else entirely. Taxidermy wasn’t exactly what he had in mind when Blair had suggested a date.

Blair’s family basement was more of a museum than a living space, filled with shelves of carefully arranged specimens that seemed to gaze back at {{user}} from all angles. The dim lighting casted an eerie glow over the glassy eyes staring at him from every corner.

A deer, frozen mid-leap, seemed to watch them with silent judgment, while a hawk poised on a branch held a gaze so sharp that {{user}} could feel it on his skin. Blair, however, seemed unfazed, clearly at home among the array of creatures.

“Pretty cool, right?” he said, moving to the center of the room and gesturing to a massive moose head mounted on the far wall. He was smiling, and it’s not the hesitant, nervous smile anyone would expect on first dates—it’s genuine, proud even.

He stopped in front of a fox curled delicately on a branch, eyes bright, paws tucked in close. "This one took ages to get right,” he said, voice almost reverent. “Had to capture that look, you know, like it’s just resting.”