Oneshots

Valentines Gifts

New store, same dilemma. Basil holds a pink candle to his nose and inhales. The sweet cherry-lemon scent can barely cure his frown, but it's still nice anyway. Too bad Jax wouldn't be a fan. Basil absentmindedly lets his hand guide the candle into his basket as he scans the other scents.
Honey grass, peach tree, berry cobbler, cotton candy- he smells them all, barely reistsing to take each candle. So many great smelling candles yet he's not at all confident Jax would even like a single one. He doesn't even think Jax uses scented candles- but what does Jax use? Like, in general what does Jax use or want or think about?
A long and irked sigh barely escapes his lips as he keeps on down the isles of random items. Basil's going to have so many questions for Jax when he gets home: number one being, where do you shop?

Online.
Online is where Jax shops, which is why on the other side of the same Walmart Jax grits his teeth in annoyance at a box of chicken nuggets, just as lost as his boyfriend is. Online shopping is just way easier than doing it in person. You see, online Jax could've simply looked up "vegan chicken" and plenty of options would've popped up, but now he has to search all around each package to attempt to see some sort of "animal cruelty free" label. Being a vegetarian must suck, Jax doesn't know how Basil puts up with it. All the packaging for everything is so confusing.
Jax throws the bag back into the freezer and slams the door shut, stomping past a fearful employee that must've been watching him as he goes. Jax can't pay her any mind, he's already been consumed by the racing in his mind. This trip has come to the point of having to plan dinner just to distract himself from the fact that he CANNOT think of a single thing Basil would want and doesn't already have.
They have a system, a simple system- and it's been like this for years and it works! Basil finds something he wants, he gives it physically or sends a link to Jax to buy, and that's it. Jax hasn't had to try and guess what Basil would want as a gift since they first got together- and even then Basil was never subtle about what he wanted. Why couldn't this time be the same?
Jax furrows his eyebrows as he thinks back on a few days ago, staring off into space and not noticing the many people he passes who mistakenly think he's giving them all the stink-eye.
Three days ago it was six days until Basil's birthday; if Jax were to look at his bank account he'd see a hefty purchase made for his boyfriend's birthday present, but unluckily for him Basil's birthday falls on the day before Valentines, so he has to get him a little something else too. Basil is very passionate about not letting his special day get overshadowed by Valentine's Day, and Jax can respect that. Unfortunately this year picking out his own presents seemed to bore Basil, so he came up with an alternative: Basil would pick out his birthday present from Jax, he already knew what he wanted, and Jax could pick out his Valentine's presents himself.
Back then this plan seemed sound. How hard could it be to pick out a gift when practically every store is shoving their Valentines selection down your throat the second you walk in? This seemed obvious until Jax actually walked into this same Walmart two hours ago. It took him throwing a ton of random gifts into his cart and heading straight to checkout for him to come to the realization that Basil probably wouldn't like any of it.
Now Jax's jaw begins to ache as his teeth grind into each other in frustration. Doesn't matter that this was all Basil's idea, he isn't a "it's the thought that counts" kinda guy; if he gets a present he doesn't want he will return it. Until now Jax thought this was a good practice, why keep a bunch of trash you don't want? But now that it could be him Jax can't get him just anything. If Basil returns something Jax got him he's sure it would feel like a stab in the chest.
He doesn't hear himself as he grumbles bitterly, the sound coming out like a low growl as he snatches up a box of heart shaped pasta. An older woman who must've approached him moments ago jumps back nearly a foot,
"I never- young man-! Kids like you are the problem with this political-" She speaks and sputters in his direction but as Jax takes a single step nearer and she shuts right up. He walks past her, confident she wasn't even talking to him in the first place.
What does Basil like? Jax tries to rack his mind. Considering he buys Basil so many gifts one would think Jax would know exactly what kind of things he'd want- but the thing is his taste varys. Two weeks ago Basil wanted a themed card deck to correspond with every show or game he's ever liked; this was in favor of learning some card tricks and shuffling strategies, but Jax has been to Basil's house pretty much every day since and these past few days he's noticed those cards have gone untouched.
Jax could get Basil a gift to match one of his interests, but the chances of Basil still being at all into it are slim.
A glass bottle clashes with metal suddenly with an obnoxious CLANK. Jax is ripped out of his thoughts and flinches at the sound. His eyes fall onto a bottle of pesto sauce that now sits broken in his cart. Jax blinks at it, his jaw finally relaxing. He must've thrown it down without thinking. The jar is barely cracked, but beads of green have started to poke around the edges.
Jax takes a quick look around, no one is within eyeshot. Either they all ran after hearing the sound or he just got lucky, but either way he takes the broken jar and tries his best to keep it in one piece as he sets it back onto the shelf, taking another jar more carefully and keeping that one.
Dinner is planned, he'll make pesto pasta, frozen garlic bread, and premade salad, so now he has nothing to do to procrastinate from his gift giving.. Fuck it. He'll find something- he'll look through every damn aisle and he'll pick everything pink or black or shiny if that'll work. It's gotta be good enough. If he just buys a ton of presents then surely at least one will be to Basil's liking. When he bags it all he'll just have to make the receipt part of the gift too.
With newfound determination and a plan Jax speeds off to the jewelry section, not yet knowing the pain of trying to recall if Basil wears gold, silver, or both kinds of rings.