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[When I First Met You]

Edmund Eyris.

“Hello, Welcome to Blue Fin’s Bar and Diner.” I turn my head towards the voice, but I see no one, so I look down. “Hi. I’m Claud. I’ll be your waiter for today. Would you like to be seated at the bar or tables?” His voice is soft and quiet, like a gentle breeze from the ocean.

The blue-skinned boy looks up at me, waiting for an answer. He has green spikes sprouting from his hair and underneath his collar are cuts, like gills of some sort. He has a kind of special-looking glasses. 

Perfect person to talk to while I drink myself away...

“Oh- Bar please.”

Claudio’s smile is modest and small.  I wonder what species he is. He nods at me, then gestures me to follow him. I do so curiously. 

We enter a large hall. Everywhere you go, you see blue. Fish swimming in a tank, waitress wearing a blue dress, and... the walls. Might as well fit the whole god damn ocean here! I’m quite surprised I never seen this place downtown before, since it’s so grand. But it is by the edge of the city, where I rarely go to drink. 

As we walk around some blue tanks and wall paintings, he talks about the history of the place. I nod along, walking behind him. There aren’t many people here, but I figured because it was getting late. We finally get to the main room. It is drastic change of scenery. The neon lights hanging from every corner, and two straight lines of light cross the entire place. I look towards him, but he already walked to a marble counter to prepare. As I walk over to sit down, my eyes wander around, really taking a good look at this place. It is a wide and open area, like the size of a soccer field. There's a stage with stereos playing slow jazz music. With those neon lights, this place looks more like a club. 

“May I get you a drink sir?” 

I turn to face him, but once I do, there’s something that catches me. He takes off his glasses and reveals a beautiful pair of tired, rainbow eyes... He looks back at me.

“Sir...?” 

I’m enchanted. 

“Sir?” He taps me on the shoulder, and I blink, suddenly looking down at the menu he hands me. “Yes, Ah-“ I look down at the menu, trying to focus. “Blue Fin, please.” 

Right there, he rushes to get some bottles from blue, neon shelves and grabs a cocktail shaker and a fancy looking glass. 

He works incredibly fast, mixing and shaking different wines and whiskeys with utensils I’ve never seen before. I've never seen someone work at a bar quite efficiently like him before. Claud finishes making the drink in a minute and pours it in the fancy glass on the countertop. He puts a napkin underneath it and a smooth two blue hands sliding it over to me. 

I look at him right in the eyes again, smiling. A smooth move to grab my attention, you know. 

The drink itself looks blue and sparkly, like how the ocean sparkles on a sunny day. I taste it at the edge of the glass. Wow! The flavors are colorful, being a mix of sweetness from fruit and tart from whiskey. “Mm... This is great!!” I’d exclaim to him. 

“Thank you, Sir. It’s one of my favorites.” He smiles, going over to the sink to rinse the shaker. 

Possibly... because you make it right... Hmm? 

"Would you like more after you finish, Sir? Or a different-"

"Please, call me Edmund.” I smiled at him again. My cheek rests on my hand. I hope these misty eyes catch his attention. But the look on his face makes me giggle at him. His cute face confused, raises an eyebrow.

"S-Sir Edmund..." His voice fades slightly.

I chuckle. “No, just Edmund. And this is enough for now." Claud nods and smiles, but this time it was a brighter, happier smile. This smile makes him more lovable. He’s quite cute. Then he looks away, resting his arms, leaning on the counter. His body bends a little bit, showing a slight curve towards his bottom. He’s gorgeous... Maybe he isn't male, or maybe it's better to drink less tonight, right? 

He begins small movements, and I can hear his foot tapping to the beat of the music. He looks over at the jazz band about to play the evening shift. People begin to come in, sitting near the stage. I look at his body, and he playfully moves his ass with the music. I’m tempted to look below his hips, but it ends at the countertop. To get my head out of the gutter, I look over at his glasses near by. They’re black and in between each lens is a rainbow connector. It looks like it was especially made for him. “Nice glasses”, I tell him. 

"Thanks." Claud grabs them and puts them on, sliding the band around his head and his spiky horns. I watch him, but I notice there’s something missing. Oh, he has no ears!

I sit there staring at him for a while, trying to find new interesting features about him. Sipping my drink slowly. Claud continues watching the jazz band. I think of something to say. 

"So uh..." I exclaim, "How many days do you work here?" Maybe I’ll stop by sometime again. 

"Six days a week except Sunday, Edmund." He says, shifting his attention to me.

"Ah, I'd like to come here more often." These chilly eyes can’t stop staring at that luscious face. 

Claud leans over to the edge of the counter and grabs a card. I peak at his blue collarbone as he leans over. He hands the card to me, and it has his name, email, a phone number, and a link. "If you'd like, there's a survey online for our waiters that you could give me five starfish on bluefin .com, pretty please!" That smile again... It radiates his innocence once more. My face feels hot and I melt in overload as I stare at him. “Ah... of course.” I take it without looking down from his eyes, touching the tip of his fingers. “I’ll give you more... maybe ten stars? How about twenty!” Claud’s eyes light up, and his smile turns into a laugh in excitement, exclaiming, "H-ohh!!! You don't have to do that!! That's too much!! Ahahaha~!!!"

That laugh... the softest, most unmanly one I’ve ever heard. 

His looks, his charisma, just everything he was... He pleases me. 

And so the rest of the evening goes by, and he leaves for the night. I continue to think about him so much.

I’ll see you around, Claud.