Archive of Our Own

"Hey, Micah?"

"Yes babe?"

“We've been in the car for an hour..."

"That is true, we have been."

"Soooo...are you going to tell us where we're going yet?"

"Not a chance."

"Oh come on man!" Rain groaned, flopping dramatically onto his side, taking up the entirety of the backseat up with his flattened body. "You've been hyping up this mystery date for ages, and now that we're finally on our way, you still won't tell us?"

Micah bit back a snort of amusement, his mouth curling up into a small smile at his boyfriend's impatience. The "ages" in question had only been a week, but for someone as nosy as Rain, that week might as well have been a year. He had tried every possible way he could think of to find out where they were going, even going so far as to try and get Natalia to hack into Micah's computer to see what he had bought tickets for, but he had no such luck. Still, to his credit, he hadn't given up on pestering Micah for answers, something Leo had stopped doing as soon as it was clear Micah wasn't going to budge. "It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you, now would it?"

Rain sat back up, his eyes narrowed with mock annoyance. "Don't patronize me!" He huffed dramatically, his cheeks puffing out slightly. He turned his head to look out the window, his eyes scanning the horizon as he checked for any indication of where they were going. "I'm not a child who must be placated... but I wanna know where we're going!"

"You sure you're not a child?" Leo whispered under his breath, his eyes twinkling with humor. He had turned to Micah from his place in the passenger seat, but his head quickly snapped towards Rain when his seat suddenly lurched forward, sending his body flying as far as the seat belt would allow. "Hey! What was that for?"

Rain gave another fierce kick to the back of Leo's seat, his body slouched down so his knees rested against the seat in front of him, sending both Leo and Leo's glasses jolting toward the dashboard. Rain let out a sharp bark of laughter as he watched Leo try and retrieve his glasses from wherever they had fallen, Leo's hands waving wildly under his leg space as he searched the floor for the very thing that would have made it easier for him to locate something. "I can hear you, you know. Don't insult me!"

"Boys, boys!" Micah scolded, rolling his eyes as far as they would go. He loved Rain and Leo, he really did, but sometimes, they sure were rowdy. Still, he couldn't help letting the grin on his face grow larger, amusement reflecting in his eyes. "Behave yourselves. Rain, don't kick any chairs back there, especially mine. I don't want to crash my car." He turned towards Leo. "You find your glasses ok?"

Leo's head popped out from between his knees, his glasses balancing on the bridge of his nose. "Just got 'em back. I really need to get these things tightened." He turned back towards Rain, a glare stamped across his face. "Fuck you asshole."

"Man, is that how you talk to the love of your life?" Rain sighed, toppling back over in his seat. Micah was trying his hardest to keep his eyes on the road, but he couldn't deny how comical it was to see his too-tall boyfriend try to lay down straight on the seats behind him and Leo. "How rude. To think I call you my boyfriend!"

"...I'm gonna shove you into oncoming traffic."

"Uh, excuse me-"

" Boys ." Micah said again, this time louder. He didn't continue on, both Leo and Rain shutting up immediately at his call out, their little quarrel temporarily forgotten. Rain sat back up slowly, as if afraid of making any noise, while Leo turned back around to face the front window, a small smile spreading across his face as he hunched into himself. Finally, quiet. Micah could focus on driving without distraction. 

"...Are we there yet?"

Or not.

"Are we there yet?"

"Almost, Rain, almost." Micah sighed, resisting the urge to close his eyes in sheer exasperation. "We have fifteen more minutes until we get there. Can you survive that abysmally long drive?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be fine." Rain groaned, turning back to stare out the window. He kept to himself for another couple of minutes, before he spoke again, his tone more genuine this time around. "Hey, without giving it away, what made you choose to take us wherever we're going? It can't be somewhere we've gone before, because you wouldn't be so secretive about it, but I can't really think of any super special place we haven't been that's near us. So, what made you choose this?"

A small smile found its way back onto Micah's face at the question. He supposed he could answer that without giving the location away, and maybe his answer would satisfy Rain enough to keep him from prying at Micah for the rest of the car ride. "You're right, we haven't been here before, not together, at least." He paused his words as he approached a stop light, focusing on slowing down before continuing his thought. "I thought this would be a nice surprise. Something I think both of you will like a lot. In fact, I think you'll both be excited enough once we get there, so I figured I'd make it a fun little surprise. Leo's talked about wanting to go here sometime before, and so I figured why not go now? Trust me, you'll be excited when you see where we are, it'll be worth the wait."

"I have?" Leo asked, looking at Micah quizzically. His brows furrowed in contemplation, a sign that he was wracking his brain for any location or event he could have possibly mentioned recently. "I can't remember talking about a place that we haven't been to already. How long ago did I mention this?"

"A couple months ago." Micah flicked his turn signal on, taking the next exit on the road they were currently on. "But this place wasn't open then. It just opened up a couple weeks ago, so I thought I'd bring you when all the hype died down and it would be a little less busy. That way, we could take our time and explore at our own pace, and not have to worry about crowds."

"Hmm." Leo's brows were still pinched together, but he accepted the answer, turning back to face the window shield of Micah's car. "If it was months ago, then I'm not gonna try to figure out what it could be. But thank you for bringing us, I'm sure I'll remember when we actually get there."

"Oh, you will." Micah chirped, taking a left before continuing straight. "I think you'll both love this. And we can stay as long as you want."

Rain had considerably perked up at Micah's words, his ever present smile still slapped across his face. "Ok, so it's new, and it's somewhere Leo wanted to go, but you think I'll like it as well. Interesting..." His hand inched towards his phone, almost as if he didn't want anyone to see what he was going to do with it.

"Don't google it." Leo ordered, his voice deadpan. "The map says we're only three minutes away, I don't want you ruining the surprise when we're this close."

Rain's hand slowly dragged itself back towards his body, leaving the phone laying isolated on the seat next to him. "I wasn't gonna google anything, I was just reaching for my phone..."

"To google it."

"No!...Maybe..."

"Your impatience knows no bounds, does it?" Micah sighed, taking another left before getting to another stop light. It didn't matter too much, he could see the strikingly blue building they were headed for from here, but it was still a little frustrating that Rain couldn't just sit still and enjoy the ride. Maybe he shouldn't have given them any hints, no matter how slight they had been. "Look, see that blue building? That's where we're headed. We're almost there."

Rain's eyes shifted until they were looking at the building, it's abnormal color hard to miss in the sea of drab, average buildings surrounding it. "Is it really? Huh, that's cool! Why's it blue?"

"You'll see." 

"Oh come on! Is even that a giveaway?"

"Yes."

"...Fine."

The rest of the car ride was mostly silent, with Rain sitting up expectantly as the car got closer and closer to their destination. Leo was still hunched over in his seat, leaning his head on the window beside him, but when Micah turned his head to look at Leo, he could see the excited twinkle in his boyfriend's normally half-lidded gaze. They were both clearly excited for what was to come, even if a certain someone was trying to be more subtle about it. 

Well, he was trying to be more subtle about it, until Micah pulled into the parking lot, passing a sign that had the location's name plastered all over it, as well as a picture of a sea turtle swimming happily underneath.

Micah had been surprised when Leo let out a large gasp, his body shooting up from the lax position it had been in moments before, becoming more rigid as he looked at Micah with wide, excited eyes. "Really!? You brought us here !? Is that actually where we're headed!?"

There was no point lying about it now. Micah could have tried to deflect, but it would have been a little unbelievable, considering the large, uncontrollable smile spreading across his face at his boyfriend's happiness. He turned back towards the road, navigating around people and other cars as he searched for a free parking spot. "Yes, that's where we're heading. I told you you'd like it!"

"Wait what?" Rain looked around him quizzically, searching for any indication of where they were. It was too late though, the sign was behind them, and the bigger logo on the front of the building wasn't visible from their position in the parking lot. "Where are we? How'd you figure it out? Is there a sign or something?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Micah could see that Leo was practically vibrating with excitement, his feet tapping erratically on the floor of his seat. "It's an aquarium! Micah took us to an aquarium! Now I remember mentioning it to you, but I didn't realize there was one being built so close to us! This is so cool!"

"Wait, really?" Rain asked, leaning forward as far as his seatbelt would allow. "Is that really where we are? That's awesome! Do you think they have eels?"

This is what Micah had been waiting so patiently for. Normally, he didn't like keeping things from his boyfriends, but on an occasion like this, it was well worth it. He knew how much both of his boyfriends loved animals, even when Leo was the only one to mention an aquarium by name, but even so, he was happy to see just how delighted they both were at the realization of where they were. To see his boyfriends so excited, almost leaping out of their seats with anticipation and joy? That was one of Micah's favorite things to see. He loved when Rain and Leo were this happy, especially when he was the reason for their smiling faces. "Don't worry, I checked. They definitely do. They have a lot of things here. See? I told you it was worth the wait!" He turned to look at Leo briefly, an apologetic look crossing his face. "Although, I don't think they have that sheep thingy you like so much. Sorry about that. They do have jellyfish though, so I hope that makes up for it."

Leo's smile never faltered, his legs kicking back and forth with excitement as he met Micah's gaze. "You mean leaf sheep?" He asked, his voice thick with happiness. "Don't apologize for them not being here, they aren't in any aquariums anywhere. They aren't suited for them. I'm just as excited for everything else here as I would have been for those little dudes!"

That was good to hear, at least for Micah. "I'm glad then. Leo, can you grab my phone and pull up the tickets while I find a parking spot? I don't want to hit anybody by accident."

Leo nodded, grabbing Micah's phone and opening it up. Rain remained leaning forward, looking at the phone while Leo pulled up the tickets. Micah found a spot, pulling in as neatly as he could while his boyfriends were occupied with his phone before turning the car off, making sure he wasn't too close to any of the cars next to him. "You found them?"

"Yup," Rain confirmed, grabbing the phone and handing it back to Micah. "We found them. Are we set to go in?"

Micah looked around him, nodding in confirmation when he found he had all his stuff. His wallet was in his pocket, his keys and phone were in his hand, and the most important things, his boyfriends, were right next to him, ready to follow him into the building. "I'm all set if you two are. Just make sure you have all your stuff before I lock the car, ok?"

Both men beside him nodded, unbuckling their seatbelts in frantic movements. They had no sooner opened the doors and hopped out of the car when Leo started bouncing on his toes, his hands flapping wildly with excitement. Micah rounded the back of the car, immediately getting tackled by the ball of joy that was his smaller boyfriend, who had wrapped his arms securely around Micah's torso, bringing him into a tight, inescapable hug.

"Thank you for bringing us here," he whispered, burying his face into the crook of Micah's neck. Micah could feel Leo tense up briefly when someone pressed themselves close to his back, but quickly relaxed when he realized it was just Rain, who had eagerly joined the hug, his own arms wrapping around Micah's body. "It means a lot that you wanted to surprise us, and you remembered that I was interested in going. This is gonna be awesome!" 

"Yeah," Rain agreed, squeezing Micah and Leo tightly to himself before plopping a kiss right onto Micah's cheek, smiling widely. "It is going to be awesome. I've never been to one of these places before. So, thank you. Sorry for being so impatient, you're right, this was worth the wait. Thanks for being so considerate, I love you!"

Micah smiled at Rain, his eyes squinting almost completely closed in the face of the sun's bright light. He leaned in slightly, pressing his lips against Rain's for a couple seconds, before pulling away, a grin still present on his face. "Don't worry about it. I get it. I love you too, both of you." He moved to release his boyfriends, kissing Leo lightly on the head before pulling away fully, holding out his hands for Rain and Leo to grab. "I'm happy you guys are so excited to be here, but we'll never get to see any of the fish if we keep standing out in the parking lot. Come on, let's go in!"

He didn't need to tell his boyfriends twice, because they both immediately grabbed onto his hands, holding them tightly in their own as they set off for the aquarium entrance. Rain and Leo began chattering about the different types of fish they might see, both with massive grins plastered across their faces, Rain practically swinging his and Micah's arms back and forth like a hammock. Micah listened in, soaking in the joy radiating from his boyfriends. This is what he did this for. He was convinced he could live off his boyfriend's smiles and nothing else, content to bask in their presence and listen to their conversations forever.

It wasn't until they were about to enter that Leo frowned, his eyebrows knitting together as he looked over at Rain. "Hey babe, have you really never been to an aquarium before? Is this your first time?"

Rain nodded, smiling along as he pulled open the door for them to shuffle through. "Oh yeah, it is. I've never been here before. Or well...any aquarium. You know my parents, they were never really into doing fun stuff with me. They never really took me out anywhere actually, not unless they had to. And well... I never really had the opportunity to go to one in my adult life since most of them are so far away, so this is the first time I've gotten the chance to go." 

His tone was nonchalant, a content expression still settled across his face, but that didn't stop his words from gripping Micah's heart and squeezing it. He hated Rain's parents, he really did. How could they have possibly deprived Rain of so many amazing experiences while he was young, when he still had childlike joy? Why couldn't they have loved their son enough (or at all really), to take him out to do fun activities every once and awhile? He would have been more understanding if they hadn't had the money or means to go out all that often, but he knew that wasn't the case, not with Rain's parents. They had simply never cared for him, for what reason, Micah could never understand. Rain had been deprived of so much during his childhood because of them, although thankfully, he didn't seem all that aware of what he had missed out on most of the time. 

Well, even though Rain was an adult now, he could still go out and experience new things. His parents had no hold on him anymore. He could do what he pleased, and Micah would make sure that his boyfriend got to experience what he had missed when he was too young to make his own choices. They'd make the best of it, even if the childlike wonder was already gone.

Leo squeezed Micah's hand. His expression was dark, but his face lightened up when Rain looked back at him, already chattering on about something completely different. Leo hated Rain's parents just as much as Micah did, but he must have come to the same conclusion as Micah himself. They would make this experience as lighthearted and fun for Rain as possible, even if it was hard for them to forget his parent's negligence. 

"Hey, you said you were looking forward to seeing the eels, right?" Leo asked, his voice bright with curiosity. Micah couldn't tell if he was putting it on for Rain's sake, or if he had genuinely decided to move on from Rain's words so soon after he said them. "Which eel do you want to see the most?"

Rain paused, looking back at Leo. They were at the front of the line now, so he took the opportunity to scan their tickets while his boyfriend conversed. Rain was already looking at Leo with excitement, his mouth opening up to respond. "They have multiple species here?"

"Yeah! They have a ton! They should have a couple types of moray eels, and maybe some others too! I don't know much about eels though, so I wouldn't be able to tell which is which."

Rain looked beyond excited at that information. "That's so cool! I mean, moray eels are probably my favorite, but there's so many of them that it's hard to choose which type I like best. Oh, and I like those really ugly fish you showed me a while ago. What are they called again? Wolf eels or something? They're cool, do you think they'd be here?"

"They might be, although they wouldn't be with the eels. They could be in the larger tanks though!"

"Awesome!"

"Where do you two want to head first?" Micah interjected, he and his boyfriends walking out of the line and into the wider aquarium. It was a really spacious area, with multiple different areas mapped out and labeled above their designated rooms and hallways. There was a shark tunnel to their left, a jellyfish attraction to their right, a gift shop directly in front of them, a stingray tank somewhere above them, and multiple other sections below and above them, advertising different types of fish, shrimp, lobsters, and other fun sea creatures. It was a lot to take in, especially when there were so many, but they had all the time in the world to meander through the different attractions at their own pace, Micah had made sure of that. He didn't really care where they started, as long as his boyfriends were happy, he'd go along with them. 

"...Can we try to find the eels first?" Rain asked, looking around at all the attractions with wide eyes. It must have been a lot for him, to see all the different things the aquarium had to offer for the first time. 

Micah smiled fondly at his boyfriend. Anything for him. "Sure, they've gotta be in at least one of these fish sections. Let's take a look."

Micah turned towards one of the sections labeled for smaller fish, and with that, the three got moving, heading off to the first section of the aquarium.

When Micah first came up with the idea of going to an aquarium for a date, he had been under the assumption it would be a calm, relaxing experience. He had thought that he, Leo, and Rain would go through the building, attraction by attraction, holding hands and talking together peacefully as they looked at all the different fish.

Of course, he should have known better. He knew his boyfriends too well to not know better.

"Dude, look at this! I found Mikey as a fish!"

"No, look at this! I found you as a fish!"

"...Not funny, didn't laugh."

"Well, I'm laughing!"

"...I'm gonna throw you in the shark tank."

"Hey!"

Micah let out a long, exasperated breath, watching from afar as his boyfriends flitted from tank to tank, looking at all the fish with rounded eyes. Almost the second they had entered this specific fish attraction, Rain and Leo had both darted off, leaving Micah to watch in bewildered amusement as the two shouted at each other while they looked at all the cool creatures in each tank. It was almost comical, how they ran around like a pair of children, too excited to contain themselves from weaving around the crowds of people to look at each tank. And of course, they had to take the opportunity to mock each other.

Currently, Leo was standing in front of the lionfish, his back turned to the tank as he mock-glared at Rain. Rain was a little farther from Micah than Leo was, standing diagonal to Leo, which just so happened to be where the clownfish were located. 

"Micah, back me up here! Doesn't Leo look exactly like these fish?"

"What the fuck are you talking about? What part of me is orange?"

"You're right, you're not orange. Micah, however-"

Yup. He should have expected this. And if he was being honest, he wouldn't change it for the world.

"I think Rain's found his people." Micah chuckled, walking forward until he was next to Leo. Quickly, before Rain could move, he whipped out his phone, snapped a picture of Rain with the clownfish, and put it back in his pocket, laughing silently as Rain started huffing, his arms crossing over his chest. "He's found a new home. Maybe we should leave him here to be with his siblings."

"Hey! I don't look anything like these guys!" Rain huffed, his good natured grin never leaving his face. "You're the one with orange hair!"

"And you're the one who's acting like a clown." Leo muttered, although Micah wasn't sure Rain could hear him from that distance. 

Micah snorted at that, watching as Rain crossed the hallway towards them, until he was back within their little bubble. He turned around to look at the lionfish, slinging one arm around Rain's shoulder, hugging him to his side. Rain returned the gesture, standing next to Micah's right, with Leo on Micah's left. No hard feelings. "Hey, Leo, what did you mean when you said you found Mikey as a fish? You think he would be a lionfish?"

Mikey was Leo's cat. He was an older kitty, and a big one at that, being some sort of big breed, which exact one, none of them were sure of, including Leo. He was large, orange, and very, very fluffy. He was a sweet kitty, although Micah definitely learned the hard way that even sweet cats bite occasionally. Still, he was a good cat, and Leo loved him dearly.

Leo rolled his eyes, grinning fondly as he watched the fish swim slowly around. "Have you seen him? I call him a little lion for a reason." He pulled out his phone, opening it up and scrolling through his pictures until he found one of Mikey with his neck fur all fluffed up, giving him the appearance of a very odd looking lion. "He has the mane and everything. He's kind of the same color...ish, he's fluffy, and he's very, very fierce. These guys are kind of fluffy too, in a scaly, finny way. He'd definitely be a lionfish."

"You're so called 'fierce kitty' screams whenever his water is even the slightest bit warm." Rain commented, his eyes trained on the fish in front of him. "Although he is as lazy as most male lions, I'll give him that."

"Shut up. He's so fierce. Remember that time he chased you around the apartment because I was giving you attention and not him?"

Micah snorted. He remembered. It had been a sight to see, watching his tall, lanky boyfriend try to outrun an old, annoyed cat as he chased his boyfriend out of Leo's room and onto his couch. He even tried to bite Rain at one point, although that hadn't panned out super well. It was funny to look back on, especially since Mikey had warmed up to Rain over time. "He would be a lionfish, wouldn't he? And look, they even move pretty slow. I'd say that's accurate. Mikey takes his time doing anything, unless it's chasing Rain around the apartment."

"It was one time, man!" Rain exclaimed, crossing his arms back over his chest. "He loves me now, he wouldn't chase me anywhere!"

"Hey, look at that lobster!" Leo suddenly exclaimed, his attention no longer on the lionfish in front of him. Instead, he was gazing at the tank beside it, which housed some of the biggest lobsters Micah had ever seen. They were practically as big as his forearm, with claws so large that he could only imagine the damage they could do. It was a little freaky, if he was being honest. "He's huge! I didn't know they could get that big!"

"Neither did I," Micah agreed, moving closer to the lobster tank. Upon getting closer, he could see there wasn't just one lobster, but well around seven or so of them, mostly hidden behind large rocks and in crevices supplied in the tank. They were all black, with little spots dotting their bodies here and there. None of them were moving much, save for their eyes, which wiggled around leisurely from the antennae-like socket on each side of their face. There were also a bunch of fish swimming around with them, but they weren't nearly as flashy or interesting as the lobsters were. "Freaky."

"He's looking at us funny." Rain moved to stand next to Micah, Leo following not far behind. Rain walked to the front of the glass, his knees popping slightly as he bent down next to one of the lobsters, who was sitting on a rock, unmoving. Its giant claws looked almost as big as Rain's head, which was a little frightening to think about for more than a second. "Hey, take a picture of me with this guy! I wanna see how we look next to each other."

Micah laughed as Rain held up his hand in a claw-like motion, pulling out his phone to snap a picture of his boyfriend's poor attempt to mimic the creature beside him. Leo stood beside him, watching as Micah's thumb moved to hit the screen of his phone, capturing several photos of Rain's smiling face beside the unbothered lobster. As soon as he was done, Micah brought his phone back down, pulling up the pictures he had just taken for inspection. "How's this?"

He tilted the screen towards Rain, allowing him to look at the photo's while he stood back up and shuffled farther from the tank. A giant grin was plastered on Rain's face as he squinted, looking at the screen from a distance. "Awesome! Can you send those to me?"

Micah hummed in agreement, putting his phone back in his pocket for safekeeping. He could do that later, for now, he just wanted to enjoy his time with his boyfriends.

"Hey, there's more tanks up ahead. You wanna go check those out?"

"Yeah! The eels might be there!"

...Or at least, enjoy his time watching Leo and Rain run around like unsupervised children in a supermarket.

Either way, he was content. He followed close behind them, occasionally stopping at certain tanks to observe the fish inside while Leo and Rain oohed and aahed over every little organism. If Micah was being honest, he wasn't all that interested in the normal, almost mundane species in this particular section, but he had known when he had first come up with the idea that he wasn't much of a fish guy anyway. He had expected to be a little disinterested in the actual creatures, but that was ok, because he got to watch Rain and Leo enjoy themselves and talk excitedly about all the different animals, which was really what the whole trip had been about, at least to him. As long as they were happy, he was happy. Their bright smiles were more than enough joy for him. 

To be fair though, there were a lot of cool creatures around, they were just outnumbered by the different types of fish. There were seahorses, for a start, which Micah thought was pretty cool. They were funny looking things, and it was entertaining to watch them rock back and forth as they swam, all while Leo yammered on about male seahorses and pregnancy. A little unnerving if Micah was being honest, but hey, at least Rain was laughing. 

(And if he had to suppress a snort when Rain had asked if that made Leo a seahorse? Well, they didn't have to know, especially when Leo didn't dignify that question with much more than barfing noise and a side eye.)

There was also this massive octopus in a different tank, which was really interesting. It wasn't doing much, sticking itself to the side of the glass with barely any movement to be seen, but it was still awesome to see such an intelligent creature up close, especially with all the weird looking tentacles reaching out in various directions. Micah wondered how often the octopus actually moved, if at all, but after five minutes of staring at the tank with no results, he moved on, giving up on finding out.

Eventually though, after about twenty or so minutes of wandering around aimlessly, they struck gold.

"HOLY SHIT I FOUND THEM!! I FOUND THE EELS!!"

Micah's neck nearly snapped from how quickly his head whipped around, completely startled by the loud screeching noise Rain had just let out. He almost scolded Rain for being so loud, they were in public after all, but his complaint died in his throat when he saw how giddy his boyfriend looked, standing in front of a smaller, more rectangular tank as he practically vibrated with excitement. He wouldn't ruin this for Rain. Besides, if the random kids in the aquarium could scream at the top of their lungs, why couldn't Rain?

Leo was quick to scamper to Rain's side, a bright smile lighting up his face as he saw how happy his partner was, and Micah followed close behind, his own smile growing on his face. "Where is it?"

"In here! There's two of them! One of them's got his head sticking out of a pot!"

Sure enough, when Micah got close enough to the glass to look in, he could see the two eels clear as day, their bright greenish color hard to miss. One of them had its tail turned toward the glass, its face impossible to see, but the other was indeed inside a decorative pot, his head sticking out from the tipped over entrance, making it appear like it would swim out at them at any moment. Its eyes were glaring, its teeth razor sharp as it opened and closed its mouth in what sort of looked like a threatening motion. It almost looked...stuck. Completely stuck in the pot, with nothing but its head sticking out.

Leo leaned closer, his eyes narrowing as he watched the eel's jaw move up and down. "He looks like he's talking, kind of. You think he's ok in there?"

Rain nodded, smiling softly at the glaring eel facing them. It was a beautiful smile, one Micah wished he could see more often from his normally eccentric boyfriend. "Yeah, he's fine. He can get in and out of there no problem. They like small spaces. And I think that thing he's doing with his mouth is just him breathing. See those holes on the side of his head? They're opening and closing with each movement. He's just chilling!"

That made sense to Micah. he tried to look around the tail of the eel facing away from them, attempting to see that eel's face, but it was no use. All he could see was the little fin on the top of where its head was, as well as the rest of its long, slimy looking body. "What type of eel is this? They aren't as big as I would have thought them to be."

"Really? I think this is about as big as most eels get." Rain answered, still gazing intently at the breathing eel. "I'm pretty sure this is a type of moray, right? There's gotta be a sign that tells us around here somewhere."

Micah looked up above the glass tank, and sure enough, there was a sign there: Green Moray Eel

"You're right, it is." He said, looking back at the tank. "I didn't realize there was a green type. I thought they were all gray, or black, or, I don't know, monotone colors."

"They're pretty, aren't they?" Rain murmured, his eyes flicking from the eel in the pot to the backwards eel next to it. "They come in a lot of fun colors."

Micah turned his head to look at Leo, only to find his eyes transfixed on the eels opening and closing mouth. He looked almost hypnotized by the movement, not even reacting to anything either Micah or Rain had said. What could he be thinking about?

"Leo, what're you thinking about right now? You have a really intense look on your face."

"...I really wanna stick my finger in his mouth."

Never mind. He shouldn't have asked.

Rain snorted, his eyes breaking away from the eel to look at Leo's face. "Babe, he'd bite your finger off so quickly if you did that." He put his finger against the glass, pointing at the top part of the inside of the eel's still gaping mouth. "Look, you can see his teeth from here. They're super sharp, it would probably take your whole finger off in one chomp!"

"...Eh, worth it."

"Good grief." Micah dragged his hands down his face, his words muffled by his palms. "I brought you here to have fun, not to lose fingers. I would like it if we could avoid ending this date with a hospital visit."

"It's not like I'd be able to anyway," Leo defended, poking the glass with his pointer finger for emphasis. "There's too much glass in the way. And I'm not that impulsive...I think..."

Micah wasn't entirely sure about that one, but he didn't comment, choosing to believe that Leo really wouldn't be so careless as to stick his finger in an eel's mouth if given the chance. "Ok, are there any other eels around here? Surely there's more than just these two, right?"

Leo's brow furrowed as he contemplated Micah's question. "I would think so. They might just be in other areas. I remember there used to be a section for them near the sharks at the aquarium my parents used to take me to when I was little, but obviously this is a different place, so I can't say for sure. They could also be in the bigger tanks, you know, the ones that are like, a wall long and have a million fish in them, but again, I can't be certain about that.”

"All the more reason to explore the rest of this place!" Rain chirped, his signature grin plastered across his face. It seemed to Micah that Rain had been reenergized by the sight of the eels in front of them, bouncing on the balls of his feet excitedly as he looked around the room they were currently in. "We're almost at the end of this attraction anyway, so I doubt we'll find any more eels here. Do you guys want to move on?"

Both Leo and Micah nodded, the former scanning the room quickly, just to confirm there was really nothing else there that they hadn't already seen. "I'm ready if you are, I just don't want to break you away from these eels if you still want to look at them." Suddenly, he turned to Micah, a quizzical look creeping across his face. "Hey, is there any animal you want us to find? You've kinda just been letting us run around and drag you wherever we want without any input, but there's gotta be something you want to see, right?"

"Oh...uh..." Micah stalled, wracking his brain for an answer. He didn't want to kill Leo and Rain's fun by implying that he didn't really care for fish that much, but at the same time, he truly didn't really know what he wanted to see. 

...Well, actually, he did want to see the sharks, but he had no idea if his boyfriends were interested in that. He had loved the shark tunnel as a kid, and it still seemed cool to his now-adult brain, but he didn't want to force them to go see the sharks if that wasn't as interesting to them. Besides, the shark tunnel was long, and they might get bored after a couple minutes of standing there, looking at the same sharks swim by repeatedly. He didn't want to bore Leo and Rain, this was more for them than it was for him anyway. He was fine with whatever they wanted to do. 

Micah was snapped out of his thoughts when Rain gave a loud, dramatic sigh, his arms crossing across his chest. "What?"

"Don't do that." Rain scolded, giving Micah an uncharacteristically stern look.

"...Don't do what?"

"The thing! The thing you're about to do!" Rain rolled his eyes, looking at Micah with an affectionately annoyed expression. "I know that look, I know what you're about to say. you're gonna tell us that you're fine with going wherever we want to go, and you just want to do what we want to do, right?"

Wow. Was he really that predictable? Did he do that so often that Rain was able to pick up on it just from a glance? "I mean...I do want to do whatever you guys want to do. I brought you here so that you could have fun and enjoy yourselves, remember?"

"I'm not accepting that answer." Rain sighed again, this time walking closer to Micah, until their chests were nearly touching. He put his hand on Micah's arm, caressing it gently as he tilted his head up slightly, his gaze still stern. "You may have brought us here because we wanted to go, but that doesn't mean you can't also have fun! You should be able to see what you want to see too. Your happiness is just as important as ours, so tell us where you want to go before I physically drag you across every square inch of this place and force you to stare at every single tank we can find."

Micah highly doubted Rain had the muscle power to drag him anywhere, let alone around an entire building, but the message was clear, so he conceded. "I mean..." he paused, looking back towards the eels for a split second. Neither of them had moved, save for the breathing motions the moray in the pot was making. "The shark tunnel seems pretty cool. I'd like to go there, I guess. But if you don't want to see them, or go through that long tunnel, I understa-"

"Shark tunnel it is!" Rain chirped happily, a bright grin shining on his face as he suddenly grabbed Micah's hand and yanked, forcefully pulling him in the direction of the exit to that particular section. "C'mon, let's go!"

Micah almost fell over at the motion, caught completely off guard by the surprising amount of force behind Rain's tug, but before he could topple to the ground, Leo grabbed his other hand, steadying him enough to keep up with Rain's incessant pulling. "You ok?"

"I'm fine," Micah puffed, planting his feet firmly on the ground. Rain was still tugging at him, but he was using a lot less force this time around, allowing Micah to walk without tripping over himself or falling flat on his face. "Just caught me off guard, is all." 

"Understandable." Leo pressed his shoulder against Micah's, making sure he was fully steady before carrying on. Much to Micah's dismay, Leo walked ahead of Micah until he was next to Rain, keeping a firm grip on his hand as he began to join Rain in dragging Micah behind them, forcing him to walk in the direction of the shark tunnel. "Now come on, let's go see the sharks!"

A small, exasperated breath came out of Micah's nose as he stumbled along, dodging people and little stands as he was led across the lobby of the aquarium by his arms. He was certain that they must be getting weird looks from other visitors, it wasn't every day you see a six foot six adult man getting dragged across a building by two other adult men, but neither of his boyfriends were letting up on their grips in the slightest, keeping their gazes fixed firmly on the entrance of the shark tunnel exhibit, which was growing closer with each step. The giant shark sign beamed down at them, still a million miles away, at least, in Micah's eyes.

As soon as they made it halfway across the lobby floor, Micah tried tugging his arms back, desperately attempting to loosen Leo and Rain's grips, but to no avail. "You guys know you don't need to pull me along, right? I can walk just fine, let me go!"

"...No."

"...Nah. Not till we're in there."

"...Is this really the hill you two are gonna die on?'

"Yes."

"Yeah."

Micah gave up on tugging, fighting the smile threatening to spread across his face as he stared hopelessly at the entrance to the shark tunnel. He hoped this wasn't inconveniencing anybody else, but he couldn't deny how nice it was to know his boyfriends cared about what he wanted to see, despite this being for them. Still, his arms were beginning to ache, and he was having a hard time balancing with two people forcibly guiding him along.

He sent another despairing look towards the shark tunnel. They couldn't get there soon enough.

Despite the advertising, the entrance to the shark tunnel didn't lead directly to the tunnel itself. Instead, it led to a giant room, the lights inside dim and gloomy looking. It almost felt like they were underwater themselves, minus the lack of water. 

On one side of the room, there was a massive fish tank, the biggest they had seen by far. Micah could see a whole bunch of fish inside, dozens of species of multiple shapes and sizes swimming around together, hiding behind giant pieces of coral and rocks. He could see a couple hiding in the crevices of the larger rocks, and in front of those crevices, he could see a different group of fish fighting for what looked to be a pile of food on top of a piece of coral, what exactly the food was, he couldn't tell. It was peaceful in a way the smaller tanks hadn't been, and far more beautiful. Micah would have been content to sit there for a while, watching the fish swim by with Rain and Leo beside him. 

Before Micah could stare at it more, his boyfriends began tugging on him again. 

"Look!" Rain pointed, removing one hand from Micah's sore and aching arm. There's the entrance to the shark tunnel! Doesn't it look cool?"

He was right. On the other side of the room, the side across from the tank, there was the entrance to the tunnel, the doorway narrow and blue from the water reflecting above it. The exit to the tunnel was also present, further away and on a different wall, so the tunnel must have created a loop they would go around before ending up right back where they had started. Micah couldn't see any of the sharks from where they currently were, but he wouldn't have to wait long, because he was once again being pushed forward by his two boyfriends, who had not made good on their promise to release him once they got to the room. 

"...Can you guys let go of me now?"

"Oops, sorry." Leo dropped Micah's arm, but before Micah could bring it back to his side, Leo's hand landed in his, wrapping his fingers around Micah's knuckles. "Can I still hold your hand though? I won't pull you around, I promise."

Micah smiled softly down at him, gently kissing Leo on the forehead. "Of course you can. You don't even need to ask. C'mon, let's go see the sharks, yeah?"

Leo smiled up at him, tightening his hold on Micah's hand as he moved to stand next to him. On Micah's other side, Rain repeated the motions Leo had made, releasing Micah's arm before grabbing onto his other hand. Without another word, the three progressed forward, walking around the giant couch-like seat in the middle of the room as they made their way towards the entrance of the shark tunnel.

The tunnel itself was much better lit than the room behind them, the animals and floor much more visible than anything else had been near the giant tank. The carpet of the room behind them changed to a moving pathway, its progression slow as it made its way through the tunnel and around several different turns. Beside it, there was a regular path, one that didn't move, which allowed guests to progress at their own pace, instead of relying on the path to carry them around. There were a couple people on the path, but there was more than enough room for the three men to hop on, their feet immediately being moved in time with the path's slow motions. 

Almost as soon as they got on the pathway, the shark tank became visible, spanning for what was probably meters and meters of the aquarium, the tank twisting and turning in various directions so nobody could see the would tank all at once. The path was at least seven or so meters below the surface of the tank, although it was hard to tell with the shifting water, the moving path, and the glass archway above the dry patch of land. There was a solid rock wall on the left of them, marking where the tank actually began, but the rest of the tank was free, open space, save for the decorative shipwrecks for the fish to hide in, some medium sized rocks, and the shadow of a further part of the tunnel that was barely visible from their current position. The shifting water's patterns danced across the floor of the tunnel, coating every dry area in sight with a wavey, ever moving pattern of white light. 

It was more beautiful than Micah had remembered it to be. 

At first, the only animals to come close to their little group were schools of colorful fish, all swimming together as they avoided the much larger, scarier creatures that feasted on them. Their scales shone in the eerie light of the tunnel, flashing brightly as they swam by, occasionally blinding Micah though no fault of their own. There were larger fish too, ones that weren't swimming in a school, their forms almost as hulking as the sharks swimming hazily behind them. They were cool to look at, Micah had forgotten how big some fish could get, but they weren't what he wanted to see. No really, anyway.

It took a minute for the sharks to swim by the glass, most of them seemingly avoiding the massive walls surrounding their home, but as soon as the path had carried the trio farther from the start, the sharks came closer, their skin nearly bushing against the glass as they swam, seemingly unbothered by the people who were watching them from a safe, dry distance. It was mesmerizing, watching such large creatures move around so gracefully, especially when they looked so intimidating. 

Micah quickly noticed that there were many different species of shark swimming around in the tank, more than he could possibly put a name to on his own. There were a ton of saw sharks, some laying on the sandy ground, some swimming above the tunnel, their mouths flapping open and closed in a ridiculous looking manner. Some of the sharks had fins tipped in black, their unnatural color easy to see as they swam by, sticking out immensely amongst the regular looking sharks. There were a couple with small eyes that seemed to bug out of their sockets, the pupils rolling around in a goofy motion as they swam around. One even looked Micah dead in the eyes, staring him down for an uncomfortable amount of time, before moving on, as if it had lost all interest in him. There was even a group of smaller sharks swimming around nearby, one of them scaling up the wall, swimming over Micah's head and down to the other side of the tank. Micah had tracked it with his eyes, watching intently as it swam away, burning the image into his brain as best he could, until it was well out of sight.

But by far, the scariest looking shark was the one with jagged looking teeth pointing every which way, it's eyes wide and yellow, it's mouth agape as it swam. It looked menacing, a much more dangerous aura following it compared to the other sharks it was swimming with. 

Micah decided that that one was his favorite. 

Along the pathway, there were little cards with pictures of each of the sharks and fish, their names and special information listed about them on the side. Micah found the one that matched best with his mystery shark, the one he liked so much, for some inexplicable reason: Sand Tiger Shark. So that's what they were called. He'd have to look up more about them later.

Micah went to look back up at the tank, mesmerized by all the beautiful creatures, but as he lifted his head, he caught Leo staring right at him, a small, happy smile gracing his features. His eyes were filled with a lovesick warmth that Micah recognized well, because he often caught Leo looking at him and Rain that way when he didn't think they were watching. It was a look Micah recognized well, because he often looked at his boyfriends the exact same way. It was an expression Micah didn't think he could possibly get enough of, both from Leo and Rain. 

Micah squeezed Leo's hand, smiling gently at him. "What're you thinking about?" He paused, suppressing a sudden laugh. "Please don't tell me you want to stick your finger in one of the shark's mouths."

Leo snorted, his grin growing a little wider as he rolled his eyes at Micah's comment. "No, that is not what I was going to say." He looked back towards the shark tank, avoiding Micah's eyes and swallowing nervously. "I was just thinking about you. You have the most beautiful smile when you look at something you love. I could stare at it for hours."

Heat rushed to Micah's face, no doubt turning it a slight shade of pink. Leo was rarely ever so bold with his compliments, usually hiding his face when praising Micah or Rain, so that, plus the compliment Leo had given him, was catching him off guard. Had he really been smiling that hard while looking at the sharks? He hadn't noticed, he had been so wrapped up in looking at them that he had forgotten about everything else around him, including himself. "Was I really smiling?"

"Mhm," Leo confirmed, shuffling close enough to Micah to rest his head on his shoulder. Micah leaned back, placing his head on top of Leo's and staying there as they gazed at the tank in front of them. "You were. It was really cute. You should do that more often, I love seeing you enjoy yourself so much, especially when you think nobody's looking." His eyes drifted from shark to shark, staring intently at one of the saw sharks that was laying on the ground. "Hey, which one of these sharks is your favorite?"

"That one." Micah pointed at one of the sand tiger sharks, its ominous form lurking near the top of the tunnel. Its mouth was clearly visible, its eyes moving every which way as it swam across the top of the tunnel, until it became too hard to follow anymore. "It's called a sand tiger shark. I think it looks the coolest of all the sharks here, especially with those janked up teeth they've got. They're freaky, in a weird, charming way. Which one's your favorite?" 

Leo hummed, his eyes watching a different saw shark swim around above them. It was already fairly obvious which shark was his favorite. "I like the saw shark. They're so goofy looking, but also kind of cute. Plus, they look so unique, with that big nose. It's really cool how sharks can come in so many shapes and sizes. And look at its mouth! It just kinda flaps along, like a stingray's."

Hey," Rain chimed in, looking at Leo. "Not to burst your bubble, but there's a reason it looks like a stingray. It's because it is a ray, not a shark. It's called a Sawfish."

Leo turned his head, surprise showing on his face. "Is it really? But it looks so much like a shark!"

"That's what the card on the railing says." Rain shrugged, tapping one of the cards passing by them. "It does look like a shark though, I didn't realize it wasn't until I read the card."

Both Micah and Leo looked down at the passing card, and sure enough, in bold letters, was the name sawfish, right next to a picture of the ray. Truthfully, Micah hadn't realized that it was a ray, even referring to it as a saw shark in his head, so he couldn't really blame Leo for assuming it was a shark. The only real part about it that seemed ray-like was its mouth, but even so, he had just assumed its anatomy was a little different from other sharks.

Leo looked back up, finding one of the rays and watching it as it swam by. "Oh. Well, I'm standing by my answer. There aren't any whale sharks here, so I'll just stick with the ray. The actual sharks look cool though, especially the one with black fins." 

"Is it your favorite because you like it, or does it just remind you of Saw?"

Leo glanced at Rain, fake annoyance shimmering in his eyes. "Oh come on, I like it because it's cool! How often do you get to see a fish that looks so interesting?" He looked back at the fish, chewing on his cheeks in a suspicious manner. "Completely unrelated, but I did name that one John, and that one Amanda, and that one Mark, and that one-"

Micah chuckled to himself, looking down affectionately at his boyfriend as he pointed at different sawfish in the tank, listing off different names with a certain common naming pattern. He watched as the water's bright pattern danced along Leo's head, painting the normally brown strands white wherever they happened to land as his boyfriend smiled happily at the rays. Micah wasn't the only one with a beautiful smile, especially when looking at something they loved. He guessed that's what happened when you mixed one of Leo's normal interests with his most recent hyper fixation...

"I like that shark there." Rain pointed upward, snapping Micah out of his thoughts and commanding his attention. It was one of the ones with funny looking eyes, the ones that looked like they were bulging out of the shark's head, despite being perfectly natural. "I think they're called Sandbar sharks. I just like the way their eyes look. Don't they look so stupid?"

"I was thinking the same thing." Micah agreed, staring up at the specific shark Rain was pointing to. "They've got a funny looking body shape as well. I wonder why?"

"Who knows," Rain shrugged again, nudging Micah with his shoulder. "Who knows why anything looks the way it does? it's all one big mystery, right?" He smiled, giving Micah one last glance before he turned his head, looking to their right. "Hey, I think we might be at the end! There's another, smaller tank, and then the path ends. That was fast!"

Surprised, Micah turned his head to look where Rain was looking. Sure enough, the path's end was almost upon them, the newer tanks coming closer and closer. Had they really gone through the whole tunnel? That felt way too fast, had he just been so wrapped up in what he was doing that he didn't realize how much time had passed? "Wow, I thought we were only halfway done. What's in those tanks?"

Rain squinted, trying to see past the dark, murky waters enveloping the other tanks. His eyes flicked upwards, and suddenly, he gasped, rushing off the moving path and towards the tank, until he was standing directly in front of it, his nose touching the glass. "MORE EELS! THEY HAVE MORE EELS! AND THEY'RE HUGE!"

"Told you there were more!" Leo said, letting the path carry him forward, until he was level with where Rain was standing. Micah followed suit, careful not to bump into anyone on his way off, walking until he was stood next to Rain's shoulder, looking into the tank alongside him. At first, he couldn't see anything, only spying a rock wall with a weird spotted rope spanning it, as well as occasional crevices and coral pieces growing from the cracks, but he slowly realized that the spotted rope was actually the eel itself, it's body pressed firmly against the rock in a straight line, it's head turned toward the glass. 

Micah tensed up, a small, irrational thrill of fear shooting down his nerves. The eel was looking dead at him. 

"He's so cool," Rain breathed, his breath fogging up the class in front of him. He didn't seem to care that the eel was looking directly at them, or that it wasn't really moving, simply basking in its presence as long as he could. "He's so pretty too, I've never seen an eel that looked like a dalmatian before!"

“Neither have I.” Micah turned his head, trying to push down the uncomfortable feeling of something watching him, even if it was just a harmless eel. It probably wasn’t even paying him any mind, it just happened to have his head turned in his direction. "They don't move much, do they?"

"Not really." Rain was already moving on to the tank across from the eel he had just been looking at, his phone pointed in the direction of another eel, this one more gray in color compared to the eel facing Micah. Part of its body was hidden behind a rock in its enclosure, but the top half of the eel was fully visible. Thankfully, its eyes were not set on Micah, or any of his boyfriends, for that matter. "Not when they aren't hunting, at least. Most sea creatures just kinda sit around, but that doesn't make them any less cool! I wonder how they feed these guys. Do they just drop food in?"

Leo walked up beside Rain, peeking behind him to check out the eel himself. "Probably," he answered, his eyes scanning the contents of the tank. "I don't see any live fish in here, besides the eel. They probably just get some meat and throw it into the tank. I imagine that would be enough to sustain them."

"You ever think a poor kid got traumatized by watching them eat?" Rain suddenly asked, turned back towards Micah. "Like, they're just standing here, watching the eels, and then all of a sudden, boom! There's a clump of fish meat floating in the tank, and the eel darts out and grabs it? Wouldn't that be freaky, if you were little?"

Micah chuckled, moving away from the creepy eel behind him to stand back next to Rain. "Something like that happened to me once, actually. When I was little, like, six or seven, my parents took me to an aquarium by the beach we were visiting. I remember we went into the shark tunnel, just like this one, and there was a ton of fish in the tank along with the sharks. It was really cool to see all the big fish together like that." He paused, smiling as he recalled the events that transpired moments afterward. "At least it was, until one of the sharks decided it was hungry, and chowed down on a fish right in front of the part of the glass I was standing by. It was still cool though, I had never seen a shark eat before."

"Yikes." Leo said, his eyes still on the eel. "That would have freaked me out as a kid. I was already scared of the shark tunnel when I was little, I used to hide my face in my dad's leg whenever we would go in. Seeing a shark chow down on a fish would have kept me away from aquariums for years." 

"You don't seem to mind blood all that much anymore though." Rain pointed vaguely at the shirt Leo was wearing, some horror movie shirt with the killer front and center on the fabric. It was a far, far cry from the fearful child Leo seemed to have been. "It seems like you've done a complete one-eighty since then. What happened?" Not even a second later, Rain's mouth snapped shut. "Sorry, dumb question. I think I know the answer."

Leo smiled. "Nah it's fine. I don't care. Anyways, I'm sure some kid has been unfortunate enough to witness these guys eating. It would be cool to see now though!"

"For sure." Rain hummed, looking back at the eels. He stood there for another minute or two, studying the patterns across the eel's skin, before he swiftly turned towards the exit, looking back at his boyfriends. "Hey, maybe there are more eels in the big tank outside! You want to go check that out real quick? We can sit down for a little too, I think there's a couch there we can rest on!" 

"Sure!" Micah grabbed onto Leo's hand, gently pulling him along as they walked towards the exit. He gave one last glance towards the eels they were leaving behind, staring apprehensively at the staring eel (who was no longer staring right at him) before turning back around, leaving the slippery creatures behind. The lightish blue lighting turned into a gloomy, shrouded darkness as they crossed the threshold of the tunnel and into the room they had entered from. The massive fish tank stood before them, crowds of people passing to and fro in front of the glass, the fish swimming peacefully behind them. It was quite lovely, if Micah was being honest. Maybe it was because of how much there was to look at, but this tank was much more interesting than the smaller tanks on singular species they saw before. 

Rain walked ahead of them, turning back every once and awhile to make sure his boyfriends were following close behind him. They got to an open spot on the couch, Rain collapsing dramatically on part of the open spot before scooching over, giving Micah and Leo some room to sit down next to him. Once all three were settled, Rain wasted no time in cuddling up to Micah, placing his head in the crook of Micah's neck. Leo hesitantly followed suit, his body pressed awkwardly against Micah's, relaxing slightly as Micah slung an arm around his shoulder. The way Micah's boyfriends reacted to public displays of affection were vastly different, but Micah loved them both all the same, determined to remind them that he cared for them, no matter where they were. 

"...Seeing any eels?" Leo asked after a moment of silence, looking over at Rain with interest. "All I can see from here is fish."

Rain shook his head, his eyes scanning the tank intently as the blue hues of the water reflected over his face and clothes. "No, I don't see any. I thought there would be some in the cracks of the rocks, but I guess not. It's still cool though, look at how beautiful all the fish are!"

And they were. There were so many colorful fish swimming by, their scales shining brightly as they moved about, eating from the coral, playing around under rocks, some even resting around the sand at the bottom of the tank, barely moving. There were urchins and coral, big fish and small fish, rocks for creatures to hide, and plants growing at the bottom of the floor. It was an amazing scene, and Micah felt a sense of calm envelop him as he stared out into the water, a nice peace settling over him. This was good. This was a nice place to take a break from walking. Just him, his boyfriends, and the fish. He could stay there forever.

"...I love you guys." He whispered suddenly, his arms wrapping themselves tighter around his boyfriends cuddled up forms. "I'm glad we could do this."

"Me too," Leo murmured back, relaxing further into Micah's warm body. "Thanks for bringing us. I love you both so much."

"I love you guys too." Rain replied, his head leaning back against the head of the seat. "This has been awesome so far. I can't wait to explore the rest of this place together. I never realized how cool aquariums are!"

They fell silent. Nobody spoke, and that was alright. It was nice to sit in silence. They were together, and that's all that mattered. They could get up and look around more later, but for now, it was just them, and the tank in front of them. And that was perfectly ok.

“How long has he been standing in front of that tank?”

“Mmm, about ten minutes.”

“…Should we pull him away?”

“…Maybe.”

“He’s just…standing there. I don’t think I’ve seen him move since we got in here.”

“He probably hasn’t. It’s been years since he’s been able to see these things in person. I guess he’s just soaking it in while he can.”

“…He really, really likes jellyfish, doesn’t he?”

“He does.”

Rain stopped asking questions, turning his head away from Micah and fixing his gaze back on Leo’s still form, which was planted firmly in front of the biggest jellyfish tank the aquarium had to offer. He’d been there for a while now, but despite that, he refused to move, even when Rain had wandered off, exploring some of the other jellyfish tanks on his own. Rain had eventually found his way back to Micah and Leo after he had had enough of looking at the other, smaller jellyfish, hoping Leo was done looking at this particular tank, but to his slight dismay, Leo was still there, seemingly in the exact same position as when Rain had left. 

Micah had been content to watch Leo as he soaked in the sight in front of him. After all, it wasn't everyday he got to see such magnificent creatures in person, nor was it everyday that he got to watch Leo become so invested in anything. If this was something that Leo wanted to enjoy, then who was he to pull him away from it?

Without making any noise, Micah began walking slowly towards Leo, until they were side by side, both standing as physically close to the glass tank as possible. The glass wall was pretty large, stretching far above both Leo and Micah's heads, immersing both of them in the gloomy, cloudy blue waters that housed the massive jellyfish swimming around inside. Nettle jellyfish, he believed they were called. The biggest species of jellyfish this aquarium had to offer. 

And to be fair, they were absolutely stunning to look at. There were quite a few of them within the tank, all of them a beautiful orange color, their lacey looking tentacles flowing gracefully through the water as they swam around, going seemingly nowhere. The tops of the jellyfish pulsed steadily, widening slightly before propelling them small distances forward. It was amazing to watch, especially since they were such large, yet such elegant creatures. Especially with their tentacles. Micah couldn't wrap his head around the idea that something so beautiful could sting so badly.  He could understand why Leo was so wrapped up in watching them, he too would have been hypnotized by their movements, if not for the attention he was placing on Leo and Rain.

Micah reached out, grabbing one of Leo's hands gently in his own. "You enjoying this?"

Leo's eyes never left the tank as they tracked a particularly large jellyfish's journey across the water, but he nodded slowly, his hand moving to grip Micah's tighter. "They're beautiful," he breathed, the reflection of the jellyfish shining clearly in his green eyes. "I don't think there's a more graceful animal on this planet."

There was movement in the corner of Micah's peripheral vision, but before he could turn to fully look, Rain had already snuck up behind Leo, wrapping his arms around the front of Leo's chest before leaning on him, practically using the shorter man as a body rest. Still, Leo didn't react much, the only movement from him being his free hand, which came up to hold one of Rain's hands on his chest. 

The three spent a moment in pure silence, all invested in watching the jellyfish twist and flow in the tank before them, when Leo spoke again.

"I don't really believe in reincarnation," he said, still focusing solely on the jellyfish, "but if it is real, if we really get to live another life once we die, then I hope I get to come back as one of these guys."

Rain leaned forward a little, moving Leo's body with him as he rested his chin on Leo's head. "They are beautiful," he agreed, his eyes trained on one of the jellyfish swimming near the top of the tank. "But they don't have brains, remember? Wouldn't you miss thinking if you came back as one?"

"I can't miss thinking if I can't think at all." Leo replied, a small smile on his face. He tilted his head up a little, Rain's chin messing up some of his already messy brown hair, his eyes finding the exact same jellyfish Rain was looking at. It had curled itself around in a loop, going from swimming up to swimming down, until its tentacles had begun to look tangled up together. "But that might be a good thing, to not think. Thinking's overrated. I've thought enough in my life to last ten different lifetimes. Maybe it would be nice to live a life without thoughts. No anxiety, or worries, or fears. Just me, the open ocean, and maybe other jellyfish." 

Micah rubbed circles on the back of Leo's hand with his thumb, a reassuring gesture he had come to adopt. Leo wasn't exactly wrong, he certainly lived in his head a lot more than he should, but still, it was a little disconcerting, to hear Leo talk about becoming thoughtless. He was probably reading too much into it, but with Leo, he could never be sure. 

"Well," Rain began, seemingly soaking in Leo's words for a moment, "If you were to become a jellyfish, then I'd come with you. I'd come back as...I don't know, maybe an eel, or a shark, or something like that. And I'd find you, and we could swim around together for the rest of our second lives, just us, hanging out in the waves and the water."

"Really?" Leo's smile grew wider, his head moving backwards, until it was leaning against Rain's cheek. "You'd stay with me? Even if I stung you?"

"Even if you stung me." Rain agreed, kissing the top of Leo's head lovingly. "And I'd keep you safe from all the different animals that would try to eat you. I could be like your bodyguard!"

Micah had to suppress a snort at Rain's proposal. That would be a sight to see, a jellyfish being followed around and protected by an eel/shark creature. He could only imagine eel-shark-Rain biting at some other sea creature, chasing them around angrily while jellyfish-Leo swam around beside him, completely oblivious to everything that was going on around him, just happy to be in the ocean and next to the creature he loved most. Still, if those two were going to find each other in the next life, there was no way Micah was going to be left out, alone and on his own. They were going to need him if they wanted to stay sane. "I hope you wouldn't try biting at me, because I'd be coming with you two. You don't just get to leave me on my own!"

For the first time in fifteen or so minutes, Leo looked away from the tank, instead fixing his gaze on Micah, his happy little smile still present on his face. "He won't, I'd make sure of it. What would you come back as?"

Micah thought for a moment. He needed to be something with a brain, something that would have enough intelligence to watch over his boyfriends and make sure they wouldn't do anything stupid. "Maybe...an octopus?"

"...An octopus?" Rain repeated, a skeptical look on his face. "That was not what I expected you to say. Why would you come back as an octopus?"

"Well, they're pretty smart right? I could keep you two out of trouble, and I could make sure you don't do anything stupid, like get into fights with other animals, or get eaten, or something. Plus, they have a lot of limbs, which could be useful for getting food, and grabbing things."

"I guess so." Rain nodded along, closing his eyes as he considered Micah's words. "I bet with all those limbs, you could ride pretty securely on my head while I swim around. You could be like a little hat! Ooh, and I'd finally be bigger than you! That would be awesome!"

A small snort erupted from Leo's nose, his head tilting back to look Rain in the eye. "What a sight. You've got a big shark with an octopus riding on his head, and next to them is a giant jellyfish, just swimming beside them." He paused, and then his eyes widened, his expression growing radiant with glee. "Hey, if I came back as a nettle jellyfish, I'd be bigger than Micah too! He'd be the short one in the group!"

"You can dream," Micah sighed, smiling at his boyfriends while they laughed at the thought of his height being diminished. This conversation was growing very out of sorts, but Micah didn't mind, not one bit. He was having a great time, and so were his boyfriends, so did it really matter how nonsensical their conversations were? "I'd just make sure to come back as the biggest octopus in the world. Bigger than you and Rain. Then you'd be back to being the shortest, wouldn't you?"

Leo released his hand from Micah's, using that hand to swat at Micah's arm lightly. "Hey! Let me be tall for once! You had your turn, now it's mine!"

A small chuckle rumbled in the back of Micah's throat, barely audible, but still there. "Speaking of turns, do you want to give the other jellyfish a turn to be looked at, or do you want to stay here for a bit? There's a couple other tanks around here with other types of jellyfish in them."

Leo sent one last wistful look over at the nettle jellyfish, whipping out his phone and snapping a couple pictures before nodding, turning back towards Micah. "Yeah, I'm ok with moving on. I've probably been standing here too long anyway, haven't I?"

"Nah, you're fine." Rain detached himself from Leo's torso, instead moving to grab at one of his hands. He tugged lightly, not nearly as hard as he had when guiding Micah around, his expression soft as he gazed at Leo's happy face. "We're just glad you were able to enjoy one of the creatures so much. Now c'mon, there's some really cool ones over here I want you to see!"

Without waiting for a response, Rain headed off, tugging Leo along with him as he set his sights on some of the other jellyfish tanks. Micah followed close behind, taking one last look at the creatures Leo loved so much, before heading off himself, making sure his boyfriends were always within eyesight. He debated teasing Rain about his sudden switch-up, seemingly forgetting about his previous impatience, one look at Leo's excited expression shut that idea down real quickly. He wouldn't risk making Leo feel bad for taking so long, even if the jibe was going to be aimed at Rain specifically.

"See? Look at these ones!" Rain chirped, stopping at a big, dome-like tank, the glass of the enclosure shaped in an unusually circular form. There were jellyfish inside, all of them much smaller than the nettle jellyfish had been, their color more beige in appearance than any of the previous jellyfish had been. But by far the oddest thing about them was where they were swimming. They were all swimming downwards, sticking the soft, gelatin potion of their bodies one could call a head into the smooth, black rocks that made up the bottom of their enclosure. Even upon making it to the bottom, they continued to pulse and flow, driving themselves as far into the floor as possible, their tentacles waving around behind them in the open water. They almost looked like coral, except for the weird bases their heads made up, and the fact that they were actively moving.

"...Why are they all swimming towards the bottom?" Leo asked, peering into the glass dome with a quizzical look on his face. His eyes were scanning the bottom of the tank, watching intently as each jellyfish swam themselves into the bottom, remaining there for seemingly no reason.

"Because they have no brains." Rain snorted, leaning down to take a closer look at the jellyfish. Micah did the same, bending down so his face was closer to the glass, but no matter how well he could see the jellyfish, their actions were still very unclear to him. "But seriously, I'm not sure. Do they all do that?"

Leo looked at the card near the enclosure, reading the words printed on the front. "No, I think it's just this specific type. I guess this is just what they do. Interesting!"

If Micah was being honest, he couldn't understand what purpose they served, but he was sure there must be some reason they were like that, even if he didn't fully understand. Maybe it was an adaptive behavior? Who knows, certainly not him, that was for sure. "Huh. Sometimes I wonder why certain animals are the way they are. I guess this is going on that list." 

"Agreed. Still, they're very pretty." Leo said, the jellyfish reflecting in the frames of his glasses. "They look very edible."

"...I also sometimes wonder why you say some of the things you say. Another one of life's greatest mysteries, never to be solved."

"No no, he's got a point." Rain argued, placing a reaffirming hand on Leo's arm as they looked at the jellyfish. "They do look yummy. And chewy. I bet I could swallow one of them whole, if I was allowed to eat them."

Micah really wished he was able to peek inside his boyfriends heads, he really did. Maybe if he could, he would be able to understand why they had such wild thoughts. "You would die though? They'd sting you so bad your windpipe would close up. You'd suffocate before you'd even be able to call for help."

Rain paused, seeming to consider Micah's words carefully. "...But...chewy."

"Right, ok. Chewy." Micah sighed. this wasn't really a battle worth fighting, was it? "Hey Leo, what's up with that booth over there? It looks like there's some sort of interactive activity you can do, or something."

Leo turned around, looking towards where Micah was now pointing. Sure enough, there was a little booth set up, a bored looking employee standing behind the counter that was placed in the middle of the room. It looked like there was water sloshing around in the counter, leading Micah to believe there was something in there. Maybe it was another petting exhibit? Like the one for stingrays, only for a smaller creature? he guessed they'd have to see. "I'm not sure. I didn't even realize that it was there. Wanna go check it out?"

"Sure!" Rain broke in, turning away from the glass dome, his weird hunger seemingly forgotten. "It looks like another petting exhibit! But why would it be in the jellyfish exhibit?" He paused, squinting at the booth, trying to read the sign that was unreadable from the distance they were at. "...Wait, can you pet jellyfish? Is that what that is? Are we about to pet some jellyfish?"

"Are we?!" Leo asked, his voice suddenly much louder than it had been moments ago. His eyes were shining with excitement, his arms stiffening up and flapping up and down in a happy little manner. He looked absolutely elated at the prospect of getting to pet a jellyfish, although Micah wasn’t sure that was the best idea. 

“Is that even safe?” Micah murmured, walking in step with his boyfriends as they approached the booth. The sign was becoming clearer now, and it was pretty apparent based on the now-legible rules that it was, in fact, a booth to pet jellyfish. Moon jellyfish, to be specific. “Won’t they try to sting you if you touch them?”

Leo shook his head, still grinning from ear to ear. “Not if you touch their heads!” He sped up, walking faster, until he was ahead of Micah and Rain by at least a meter. “They don’t ’try’ to sting anyone! If you keep yourself away from their stingers, they can’t do anything to you.”

The prospect of his boyfriends (especially Rain) putting their fingers anywhere near a jellyfish’s stingers still perturbed Micah, but he didn’t say anything more. His boyfriends were adults, so he could only hope they would be smart enough to curb their impulsive thoughts and keep themselves from doing anything stupid.

Leo had reached the booth by now, his eyes scanning the rules printed on the sign. He turned back around as Rain and Micah approached, pointing excitedly at the water within the little booth, where small, nearly invisible creatures could be seen swimming around inside, the water lit up just well enough to see them. “Look! They’re so cool! They’re completely clear!”

“Don’t touch the stingers.” The employee standing behind the booth’s voice was monotone, as if they had repeated this exact line thousands of times before. “Only touch the top of their heads, and only use your fingers. Don't grab them, take them out of the water, or pinch them. Got it?”

“Got it.” Leo echoed, paying the employee no mind. If he had heard the annoyance in their voice, he didn’t care. He was too busy watching the jellyfish swim around in the small tank in front of them, one of his hands slowly coming up towards the edge of the tank.

“No shit.” Rain muttered under his breath, his own hands going to grip the edge of the booth. “I would hope we have some common sense, we aren’t five.”

Micah sighed, giving Rain a small whack to the arm. “Give 'em a break, they’re just doing their job.” He looked towards the bored employee, letting out a small breath of exasperation when he noticed the employee wasn’t actually paying them any mind, instead trying to check their phone in a not-so-discreet manner. “They’ve probably had to say the same thing a hundred times in the past hour alone.” 

Rain didn’t bother replying, instead bending over a little to better see the jellyfish swimming around inside the booth. “So we can only touch the heads, right?” He shook his head, a finger hovering above the water hesitantly, before retracting again. “I gotta wait for them to flip themselves over before I pet them. All the ones on this side are tentacle up right now, I can’t touch them.” 

Micah looked over. Sure enough, all the jellyfish on Rain’s side were either swimming sideways, or completely upside down. None of them had their heads accessible enough to touch. “Bummer. Leo, how’s it going on your side?”

Leo was already reaching into the water, his fingers barely dipping below the surface of the booth, waiting to strike. Suddenly, without warning, his hand splashed down, his outstretched fingers going completely under the water, scooping forward in a small petting motion. He did this a couple more times, small ripples of water rolling out from where he was moving, before he pulled his hand out of the water again, droplets of water dripping off of the tips of his fingers. “I got it! I pet one!”

“Did you?” Rain scootched over to where Leo was standing, peering over the smaller man’s shoulder as he gazed into the water. There must have been some right-side-up jellyfish on his side, because Rain immediately dropped his own hand into the water, splashing much more aggressively than Leo had. “Dude, lucky! You got all the pettable fish!” He was silent for a moment, seemingly concentrating, and then he yanked his hand out of the water, shaking it aggressively. “Ooh, they feel so weird! They’re squishy!”

Leo snorted, rolling his eyes while focusing his gaze on where Rain’s hand had just been moments ago. “Dude, it’s a jellyfish. They’re gonna be squishy. What did you think they would feel like?”

Rain rubbed the tips of his fingers together, his eyes squinting in an uncomfortable manner. “I don’t know, I mean, I thought the head would be a little more…hard? I guess? I thought it would feel like cartilage or something.” 

Leo looked like he wanted to say something more to Rain, his eyebrow furrowing as he opened his mouth, but whatever he wanted to say would remain unknown, because he closed it again, removing his glasses from his face and rubbing it in exasperation. “...Ok,” he mumbled, placing his glasses back on his face. “I’m just gonna move on from that.” His face suddenly lit up again as he turned to face Micah, walking towards him and grabbing his hand. “Hey Micah, do you wanna pet the jellyfish! It’s really cool, I’ve never been able to pet one before!”

A small pit opened up in the bottom of Micah’s stomach, nervousness and a tiny drop of dread spreading throughout his gut. “…I’m good, I'm fine with just watching you two pet them. I’m not much of a jellyfish guy anyways.”

“Oh come on!” Rain whined, grabbing onto Micah’s free arm and tugging him closer to the booth. “It’s fun! Look at how cool they are! It’ll only take a second.”

“Rain, let him go.” Leo flicked his hand, forcing him to drop Micah’s arm. He had been dragged right to the front of the booth, but thankfully Rain let go before he had forced Micah’s hand into the water. “If he’s too scared to do it then he doesn’t have to. Let him watch in peace.”

“Hold on, wait a minute,” Micah shot Leo an offended look, his cheeks growing red from embarrassment. Scared? Him? Of jellyfish? He couldn’t be! They were just small, squishy looking blobs swimming around in a tank of water, they couldn’t hurt him…right? “I’m not scared of them! I just don’t want to get my hand wet, is all. It’s more fun watching you two do it, you care more about this than I do.”

Rain said nothing to Micah, instead leaning towards Leo with an amused look on his face. “He’s totally scared of the jellyfish.”

“Oh for sure.” Leo whispered back, leaning closer to Rain himself. “I think he doesn’t want to get stung.” 

“I don’t care about getting stung.” Micah huffed, giving his boyfriends an unimpressed look. “It’s just a little sting, it’s not that big of a deal. I just want to watch you two pet them from the side, that’s all. It's just not something I think I'll enjoy much."

Rain smirked. "Because you're scared."

A small snort escaped Leo's mouth, his eyes gazing at Micah with a small amount of amusement. "It's ok if you're scared babe, there's nothing wrong with that. Everybody's scared of something. You don't have to pet them if you don't want to."

Micah sighed. Leo's words were kind, but he wasn't scared! Why couldn't they understand that? "Thanks babe, but I'm really not afraid of them. Plus..." he trailed off, looking into the depths of the jellyfish tank, watching the ghostly figures as they swam around each other with no path in mind. He wrung his fingers together, fidgeting with them as he watched. "Do they even want to be pet? They're all swimming in a way that makes it hard to touch them the way you're meant to. I think they just want to be left alone."

"Ah yes, the brainless creatures are so adamant that they shouldn't be pet by you." Rain snarked, rolling his eyes in disbelief. Suddenly, he lunged forward, nearly catching Micah off guard before waving his arms around, tickling Micah's arms and torso with his fingers and slapping him around with his limbs. "Ooooooooh, look at meeeee, I'm a big scary jellyfish, and I'm gonna sting you! Look at me, hitting you with my tentacles! This is what happens when you stick your hand near my heeeeeaaaaaadddddd! Be afraiiiiiiddddd!"

Leo's hysterical laughing rang out as Micah shoved Rain away, trying his hardest to catch his boyfriend's flailing limbs as he waved them around, still poking and prodding any part of Micah's body he could access. "Stop that! We're in public! And I'm not afraid!" 

A sharp bark of laughter left Rain's mouth, a giant grin spreading across his face. "Babe, come on, you're totally afraid. It's ok, you can admit it! Leo's right, everybody's gotta be scared of something, right?"

Micah grabbed onto one of Rain's flapping limbs, holding it in place in an attempt to keep him from continuing with his ineffective jellyfish impression. "I'm not scared! Do I look scared to you?"

"Yes, yes you do. The big bad stingers are gonna get you!"

"No they aren't, because I'm not stupid enough to touch the stingers! And I'm not scared!"

"Yes you are!"

“I am not!” Micah didn’t mean to sound as defensive as he did, but he couldn’t deny how his voice heightened slightly, indignation and embarrassment flooding his veins. His boyfriend's doubt over his bravery wasn't making him feel all that great, especially when he was normally the calm, rational one during anxiety inducing moments. “Look, I’ll pet the jellyfish if it’s that important, ok?”

Without waiting for a response, Micah raised his hand, turning to stare down into the deep, poorly lit water below. He was fully prepared to dip his hand in, reaching out for the nearest upright jelly, but something about their phantom-like appearance made him hesitate. Were the heads really all that safe to touch? His boyfriends hadn't gotten stung, but what if he ended up petting them incorrectly? What if a jellyfish swam by while his hand was underwater and stung him? What if he accidentally flipped the jellyfish over? Would there even be a right-side-up one for him to pet?

Micah shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. Leo was supposed to be the anxious one, not him. He didn't understand why this was such an issue. They wouldn't offer such an attraction if it was that dangerous. He just had to bite the bullet and get on with it, right?

He could feel his boyfriends staring, peering over his shoulder as they watched with bated breath to see what he would do. He couldn't chicken out now. He was a grown man, he would be fine. Just do it, just do it, just do it-

Micah's eyes scanned the tank, searching for a jellyfish with its head pointing upwards. He found one pretty quickly, only a few inches from where his hand was hovering, and without waiting another second for his anxieties to catch up with him, Micah stuck downwards, splashing the water with a little more force than he meant to. He held his fingers underwater for a second, not moving them in any direction in particular, but the sight of a different jelly swimming towards him put enough panic into his system to make his joints move, his fingers going towards the jellyfish he had his eyes on. He inched closer to the jelly, watching swim mundanely around, getting closer, closer-

The tips of his fingers brushed the jellyfish's head, and he flinched back, taken by surprise. He did it. He touched it. 

Tentatively, Micah reached out again, extending his now slightly curled fingers back in the direction of the jelly he had touched. His fingertips brushed the head again, but this time, he didn't pull away, instead slowly dragging the pads of his fingers down the gelatin that made up the jellyfish's head. The stingers streamed out behind it, but they didn't come any closer (could jellies even move their tentacles willingly? Micah wasn't sure), floating in the exact same position they had always been in, behind the jelly's top. It didn't seem to notice he was there at all, still trying to swim into Micah's fingers, its top pulsing steadily underneath his skin. It felt...weird. But also nice. Like a squishy, non-sticky jam. 

...Maybe his boyfriends had been right to clown on him. This wasn't nearly as bad as he thought it could be. 

“See? It was fine. Nothing to be afraid of.” Micah removed his hand from the cold water, shaking it lightly as he rid himself of the water droplets clinging to his skin. “Do you two want to keep petting them, or do you want to check something else out?”

Rain was squinting at Micah suspiciously, his jaw chewing on his tongue contemplatively. Leo was biting on one of his cheeks, a smile trying to peek out between his lips, despite his greatest efforts to bite it back. Neither of them said anything.

“...Guys?”

“...I think we’re probably done.” Rain finally responded, his words slow and methodical. There was a twinkle of humor in his eyes, but whatever he was amused by remained unshared, because he turned away, facing the exit to the jellyfish exhibit. “Unless you want to stay a little longer, Leo.”

“Nah, I think I’m good.” Leo turned towards where Rain was facing, wiping the remaining moisture from his fingers on his shirt. “Although, I’ve been keeping a mental map of all the places here, and I think this was the last actual exhibit they had to offer. The only place we haven’t gone yet that’s here is the gift shop. Is that somewhere y’all wanna go?”

“Sure.” Rain shrugged, grabbing onto Leo’s hand. He turned his head back towards Micah, jerking it in their direction, ushering him on. “You coming?  I'm sure we can find a little jellyfish toy to hang over your bed!"

Micah rolled his eyes, picking up the pace until he was side-by-side with Rain and grabbing his hand firmly. "I'm good, thanks. Maybe we can find you something to distract you enough to get you off my ass. Seriously, I wasn't scared!"

"Whatever you say!" Rain teased, pulling Micah and Leo along with him, until they walked through the exit and into the main lobby of the aquarium. Leo had been right, there wasn't an actual exhibit they hadn't seen yet, which meant that their visit was probably coming to a close. That was fine though, they had been there for quite a few hours, and he was sure they would end up spending another thirty or so minutes in the gift shop, simply walking around, browsing the items, and throwing things at each other. Rain was already pointing excitedly at something in the shop, tugging on his boyfriend's arms until they quickened their pace to match his. "Hey they have a bunch of plushies in there! I wonder if they have an eel?"

They crossed the threshold of the store, immediately being hit with the sight of tons of different pieces of aquarium merchandise, all coming in different shapes and sizes. There were shirts, hats, stuffed animals, jewelry pieces, ceramic figures, cups, nameplates, and a ton of other random objects around. There was certainly a ton to choose from, although Micah wasn't sure he was going to pick anything out. Rain however...

'Woah! There's so much stuff here!" Rain's voice was filled with wonder, his eyes wandering around the large room, flicking from object to object with keen interest. He let go of his boyfriend's hands, immediately beginning to wander around the store on his own, picking up objects and examining them while Leo and Micah watched. "'I'm gonna go see if I can find an eel plush! You guys wanna come with?"

Micah shrugged his shoulders, his head swiveling from place to place. Even though he wasn't planning on buying anything, it couldn't hurt to look around and see what he could find, right? "I'm gonna walk around and see what's in here," he responded, giving Rain a small smile. "But I'll still keep my eye on you. Let me know if you end up finding that eel plush, ok?"

"Sure thing!" Rain chirped, and with that, he turned away, rushing off to the stuffed animal section to see what he could find. "I'll come back to you guys when I'm done, ok?"

"Ok," Leo replied, already pulling away to explore the place. "I might find you before then. Either way, we'll find each other again. We can't really leave without you, can we?"

He seemed to wait for an answer, but Rain had already run off, on his way to find eel merchandise. It was just Leo and Micah now.

The two stayed together for the most part, simply running their eyes over all the items in the store, occasionally picking something up to look at it closer, before putting whatever object it had been down again. At one point Leo had gravitated more towards the jewelry, while Micah had ended up taking more of an interest in the little ceramic animal statues, so they had spaced apart a bit, although not by much. Micah had figured the jewelry stand would be where Leo ended up, he had never been a big souvenir guy, so if he ended up buying anything, it would probably be a necklace or something. They were mostly cheap looking, but Leo wore a lot of necklaces, so if he bought one, he'd probably end up wearing it. At least the were close enough to see each other, because the same could not be said for Rain. He had dashed off somewhere, probably suffocating himself in the plushy piles as he tried to find an eel to buy amongst the sharks and dolphin stuffies.

Looking back at the ceramic shelf, there were a lot of options to choose from. There were statues of seahorses, octopuses, different fish, sharks, rays, even a couple of animals that hadn't been at the aquarium, such as otters and penguins. All of the statues were made with a decent amount of quality, surprisingly so for a regular gift shop, and Micah found himself drawn to them, looking each and every one of them over carefully to study all the details in their mold. He was especially drawn to the shark ones, not for any particular reason besides his fondness for the animal, looking them over with keen, undivided interest. They were all great whites, despite the fact that there were no great whites in the aquarium, their bodies riding on top of a big, deep blue wave that was splashing all around them. It was a cool figurine, well painted and beautifully sculpted, and Micah would have picked it up to buy, had it not been for the forty dollar price sticker attached to it. 

"You like the figures?" A voice behind Micah spoke out, Leo's form materializing out of practically thin air. He was clutching a necklace in his hand, a jellyfish charm attached in the middle of the thick, black string that made up most of the necklace, the silver charm shining brightly under the fluorescent lighting. Micah hadn't realized he was there, he must have been so wrapped up in looking at the statues that he didn't notice Leo had finished browsing. "I think the otter ones are kind of cute."

"Mmm." Micah hummed, picking up one of the shark figures and showing it to Leo. "They look really well made. I like this one the most, although I don't think I'm gonna buy it. It's super expensive, and I've been meaning to cut back on how much I spend. I don't really want to waste any more money."

Leo took the shark figure out of Micah's hands, smiling softly as he looked at the figure that had captivated Micah so much. He glanced over it for a couple more minutes before handing it back, but before Micah could go to put it away, Leo gently rested his hand on Micah's arm, keeping him from reaching out. "Nah, don't put it back. Keep it with you. If you want it, you should be able to have it."

Micah glanced at him in confusion. "I mean, I would love to, but as I mentioned, I don't really want to waste more of my money. I'm sure I can find a better way to use those forty bucks."

Micah's confusion only grew when Leo shook his head, letting out an amused snort as he went to take the figure back from Micah, who handed it to him hesitantly. "You're not gonna be wasting any of your money," Leo stated matter-of-factly, holding up the statue, "because I'm paying."

"No you're not." The reply was so instantaneous that Micah hadn't even realized he was saying anything, not until the words were already out of his mouth. He blinked, taken aback by his own words, before shaking his head and staring directly at Leo. "I can't ask you to do that. That's your money, you should do what you want with it. I don't want you to waste money on me."

Leo rolled his eyes, keeping a firm grip on the statue as he met Micah's gaze. "So it's ok for you to spend your money on the tickets for me and Rain, but not for me to buy something for you?," he asked, his gaze unwavering as Micah floundered for an answer. "And besides that, I'm not wasting my money. I'm spending it on you, because I love you, and I love when you're happy. You deserve to be spoiled every once and awhile, especially with how much you treat us. Let me do this for you...and Rain, because I'm paying for him too. Assuming he finds that eel plush."

"But-"

"No arguing, let me do this for you." Leo's words were certain, his decision final. Micah wouldn't be able to argue against him. "If you won't let me buy this for you, then I'll buy it for myself. And then one day, it'll end up on your doorstep mysteriously. So you can either have it now, or have it later. The end result is the same. Take your pick!"

A small, exasperated sigh left Micah's nose, but despite his annoyance at being unable to convince Leo not to spend money on him, he couldn't help the smile that was spreading across his face. It was nice to know that his boyfriend cared enough about him to fight for his ability to treat him. He had gotten used to being the primary provider in most of his other relationships, and he still couldn't fully shake his previous beliefs, so he greatly appreciated that Leo (and Rain, just in other moments) was willing and wanting to show equal care to Micah. It was nice to be loved.

"Ok, ok." Micah threw his hands up teasingly, his chest glowing with love when Leo's smile grew brighter at his acceptance. "I'll let you pay for it. But I'm gonna get you back for that. The next date is on me."

Leo used his free hand to smack Micah on the arm, holding his necklace and Micah's figure steadily in the other. "Absolutely not," he said, mock annoyance shining in his green eyes. "You already paid for this one, or did you forget that already? If anything, I'm paying you back by buying you this. Either way, this is a gesture I don't want you returning. Let me be nice."

"No."

"Yes." 

"No."

"Fuck you. Yes."

"No."

"Ye-"

"I FOUND IT!"

Rain's yell could be heard from half-way across the store, but Micah and Leo didn't get the chance to go searching for their rowdy boyfriend, because seconds after his voice sounded out, they could see him running down the isles of the store, a giant green moray eel plush slung over his shoulders like a scarf. It was so long that the tail and the head were both nearly touching Rain's hips, an impressive feat, considering how long Rain's torso was. He was rushing towards them, a look of utter glee plastered over his pale, slightly flushed face. His black hair was hanging over his face, his bangs pressed directly against his forehead as he ran in his boyfriend's direction, the eel's ends bouncing heavily against his sides as he ran in his boyfriend's direction. "I found the eel plushie! It was the last one, and I got it! I win!"

"He sounds like he wrestled a child for the eel." Leo whispered, watching as Rain approached them, his feet skidding on the floor as he slowed himself down, stopping completely once he was in front of them.

"I got it!" Rain repeated, lifting the eel from around his neck and holding it up like some kind of trophy. "I got to it first! I heard some kid start to ask his mom for it, but I got it first! It's mine!" He hugged the head of the eel to himself, squishing it happily between his arms, as if he were a young child with his favorite plushie. "First come, first serve baby! It's mine!" 

"I was joking..." Leo mumbled to himself, looking at Micah with slight horror as the red-head chuckled uncontrollably, holding his sides with mirth as he laughed. "I...I was joking."

"He wasn't!" Micah got out, breaking back out into a fit of giggles immediately after he spoke. Sure, why not? Why not add stealing (well, not really) from a child onto the list of stuff they did that day? Why not let Rain be selfish, why not let him get the eel plush that he had never been able to obtain as a kid? Why not let him be happy, why not let him have his whimsical, childlike joy? He deserved it, and if that kids mother ended up having a problem with it, well, she could shove her complaint right up her ass. Rain deserved to be happy, and if this was what was making him so excited? Well, screw everyone else!

"Come on," Leo urged, grabbing onto the tail of the eel and pulling Rain in the direction of the checkout area. "Let's go pay for this stuff before we get an angry parent trying to take this thing away from you."

"Ok!" Rain chirped, skipping alongside Leo as they skirted around isles of stuff, his stuffed animal wrapped securely in his arms. Micah followed suit, bringing up the rear of their little line as he looked out for a potentially angry parent out for revenge on the grown man who took the last eel stuffed animal. Luckily, there were none in sight, and besides Rain's protests when Leo pulled out his credit card, there were no incidents to be spoken of, none at all. Even as they departed, walking out of the store and eventually out of the aquarium, no one approached them, allowing them to end their visit completely drama free. 

"That was awesome!" Rain announced, a slight skip in his step as they perused the parking lot, trying to find Micah's car amongst the sea of cars all parked together. He didn't seem to mind how dark it was getting outside, or how his stuffed eel was beating against the sides of his body with every step. He just looked happy to be there, and that's all that Micah could really ask for. "I didn't realize how many cool looking fish there were, and I got to see a bunch of eels! I'm so glad we got to go, thanks for bringing us Micah!"

Leo nodded along, grabbing onto each of his boyfriend's hands. The car was in sight now, but he didn't seem to care how close they were, gripping on to both men tightly, the little gift bag containing his and Micah's things swinging from his left wrist. "Yeah, thank you for bringing us! That was probably one of my favorite dates we've ever been on! We should come back again sometime, maybe every year or so?" He paused as they approached the car, looking towards Micah, a question in his gaze. "Did you have fun? I know fish aren't really your thing, other than the sharks, but was it at least a decent time for you?"

Micah smiled. How could he not have enjoyed himself?? he got to see some of the brightest smiles he had ever witnessed on his boyfriend's faces while they were there, and there were some pretty cool creatures there, despite the less-than-interesting species mixed in with them. He'd count that as a very successful date, at least in his book. "Of course I had fun. It was amazing to see all the different animals. And seeing your faces light up with joy every time we passed a new tank was reward enough for me. I'm so glad you two enjoyed yourselves. Although," he turned to face Rain, who was claiming the passenger seat as they spoke, his massive eel struggling to stay on his shoulders as he clambered into the car. "I could have survived without you two teasing me for being scared of the jellyfish, because I wasn't."

"Oh sureeeeeee," Leo snorted, pulling open one of the back doors to the car. "I bet you weren't. That's why you're still thinking about them, even after we already left the booth. Someone as big as you  couldn't possibly be scared of those tiny things, right?"

"I am not scared of jellyfish!" Micah pulled open the driver's side door, sitting down and gripping at the steering wheel while starting his car. "And I'm only stuck on it because you two kept making fun of me!"

"Hey," Rain interrupted, looking up from his phone. It looked like he had some sort of map open, although no directions were showing. "Do we want to get dinner? I'll pay, since you two already paid for everything else. It would be a nice way to wind down, don't you think?"

Leo and Micah hummed in agreement, neither of them trying to argue with Rain about the bill. Last time they had tried to convince him not to pay, he had gotten extremely pouty, complaining left and right that they never let him take care of their date expenses, that he should be allowed to help, that it wasn't fair that they always paid for everything. It had ended with Rain tickling Leo until the man couldn't breath, and after that, they all decided it would be best not to argue with Rain about payment ever again. They learned their lesson, although there would probably end up being a day where the argument started up again. Today, however, was not going to be that day.

Rain shot off some restaurant ideas, and they eventually settled on one, plugging the directions into the GPS. It was a fairly new area for all of them, so it was cool to look out the window and see what was around, Micah making a mental note of all the places he could bring his boyfriends in the future, if they wanted to come back to that area. It was mostly fast food chains, as it was with most other places, but there were some other cool spots every so often, and Micah reminded himself to write down everything he had taken interest in when he got home. 

“Hey, what ocean creature do you think I would be?” Rain suddenly asked, breaking the near silence that had fallen over the car. He had moved the head of his eel to his lap, petting the head softly with one hand, while using the other to mess with the tail, smacking it around, occasionally brushing Micah’s right arm with the fabric. “We talked about what we would come back as, but what do you think I’d actually be?”

“Mmmmm,” Leo hummed behind them, looking up from his phone, which he had been fiddling with since they had started driving. “I mean, I could definitely see you as an eel, but I don’t think they’re as playful or mischievous as you. Maybe…” Leo paused, looking up as he thought. “...Maybe a sea lion? Or a dolphin? They’re pretty carefree, right?”

“Dude, dolphins are so evil though!” Rain explained, turning around to look at Leo with an offended look. “Do you know how much terrible shit they do? They torture their food before eating it! I’m not that bad, am I?”

“No, no, I didn’t mean it like that! I just meant they like to play around, like you! Forget about the dolphin, I’ll just go with sea lions. Does that work?”

“..Yes.”

Micah smiled, turning to look briefly at Rain’s pouting face for a moment before turning back towards the road. “To be fair, playing with your food seems very in character for you. You could be a dolphin, just a slightly less evil one.”

Rain’s head whipped around, his glare now set on Micah. “I would not! I don’t like seeing living things in pain!” He huffed, turning to face the window shield, cuddling up closer with the stuffed eel. “You guys are the evil ones, accusing me of such cruelty. Why are you guys so mean to me?”

“...Payback for the jellyfish.”

“Oh, come on!”

“What about me?” Leo asked, cutting through Micah and Rain’s argument. He was sitting up fully now, bending his body as close to his boyfriend’s seats as possible in an effort to feel present in the conversation. His eyes were watching Micah through the rearview mirror, shining with a keen curiosity. “What do you think I’d be?”

“Oh, that’s easy.” Rain waved his hand, looking back at Leo with a mischievous grin. “Seahorse.” 

Now it was Leo's turn to be offended. “Why though? How am I like a seahorse? And I swear, if you say it’s because male seahorses can get pregnant…”

“I mean, that is something you have in common!” Rain laughed, looking at his boyfriend’s unimpressed face with a poorly concealed glee. “But they also don’t move a lot, and they’re lazy, so it sounds a lot like you!”

“...I take it back. You are a dolphin.”

“I think you’d be that one fish.” Micah turned left, cutting off whatever argument Rain was about to spill out of his open mouth. “I can’t remember the name, but it’s one of the ones you like. You know, the one with the big teeth that are shy, but sometimes cuddle with divers for warmth? I think that’s accurate. You’re cold all the time, and you like to cuddle. What was it called again?”

“Oh, wolf eels!” Leo’s eyes shone with excitement, his fingers rubbing together with excitement. “I love those guys! I’d be fine with being a wolf eel!” He placed one hand on Rain’s shoulder, and  another one on the side of Micah’s seat. “Although, they do mate for life, so I guess you’re stuck with me!”

“Oh no, the horror!” Rain teased, removing a hand from his eel and grabbing onto Leo’s. “It wasn’t like we were planning to stay with you for the rest of our lives already, nope, no way! What a tragedy!’

The three of them laughed along, Micah briefly bringing Leo’s hand up to his mouth to kiss it before placing it back down again. “Ok, my turn. What about me?”

“Shark.”

“Big shark.”

“Ok, good to know you two are on the same page.” Micah responded, slowing the car down to stop at a red light. “Want to elaborate on why?”

“You’re big, and you’re scary. But you also only get into hostile situations if provoked. Pretty shark-like to me.” Rain replied, brushing over Micah’s skin with the tail of his eel. “That’s not a bad thing though. Sharks are cool.”

Leo nodded. “Same reasoning. Protective, friendly unless provoked, and intimidating.”

 Micah nodded along. "Ok, I'll take it. Being a shark could be cool. Not a lot of natural enemies, and I would be pretty strong."

"Hey what about Mikey? Still think he'd be a lionfish?"

"Of course I do, he's a lion! Kind of..." 

"But he could be a lobster too! He has claws, right? Lobsters have claws, and they're pretty big!"

Yeah, but they're claws are so much more different from Mikey's, and besides-"

Micah flicked his turn signal on, smiling fondly at his boyfriends as he merged into the right-most lane on the road. The restaurant was in sight now, but his boyfriends didn't seem to notice, too caught up in their bickering to pay much attention to what was happening outside their window. Despite their arguing, they had massive smiles plastered across their faces, their eyes shining with happiness as they debated a completely meaningless topic. Rain had curled the eel he held closer to his chest, snuggling happily with it as the car ride progressed. All and all, they seemed content, tired, but pleased after a day of exciting sights and activities.

Micah's free hand found its way to Rain's eel, snaking up the plush until it found one of Rain's own hands. He tangled them together, the soft fur of the stuffed animal tickling his fingers, and sighed happily, the smile never leaving his face. The aquarium idea had been successful, just as he had hoped it would be. He had done a good job. The people he loved most were as happy as they could possibly be, and the day wasn't even done yet. They still had dinner.

Micah looked ahead at the road, his heart light as he listened to Leo and Rain chatter on. He hoped the next date he took his boyfriends on would be just as successful.

Bonus scene:

Message from: Raindrop

Raindrop: Hey, check this out.

(Image attachment (1))

Leo: lol did you take that when Micah was petting the jellyfish?

Raindrop: Lmao yeah, look at his face!

Leo: Not scared of them my ass, he looks so tense in that photo

Raindrop: I know, right?! He was definitely afraid of them. Kinda feel bad for pushing him to pet them now.

Leo: I mean, I told him he didn't have to pet them. Ig he just wanted to prove us wrong. 

Raindrop: Well, I guess we learned that Micah isn't as fearless as he likes to pretend he is. Still love him tho

Leo: I would hope so. You cannot show that photo to him ever, he'll kill you

Raindrop: Lol dw, I won't. Just like you won't tell him about the glow in the dark jellyfish I bought that I'm gonna hide around his house!

Leo: Hold up, what?  Wait, when did you get those? I don't think that's something I paid for, is it?

Raindrop: Nah, I paid for them. I just bought them online. I was trying to find something like them at the gift shop, but I couldn’t find any. Not gonna stop me though!

Leo: That's awesome, can I help you hide them? I have a couple of good spots in mind

Raindrop: Sure, just gotta wait until Micah's not in the room. You think he'll like it?

Leo: I think he's gonna kill you, and then kill me because I knew about it

Raindrop: Worth it

Leo: For sure

Raindrop: Gonna shut my phone down before he sees what I'm typing, Love you!

Leo: Lol, love you too Rain