Aquarium Time

[riderculous]

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Description!

[riderculous]

[ More shrimp? Pass through the tall double doors to wander past tanks containing marine habitats filled with fish and small aquatic creatures of all sorts. Here and there, you might even see a group of eels, an octopus or a large shark swimming in the depths. One pitch dark room has a tank filled with glowing jellyfish, and another has a tank filled with piranhas. There’s also a tide pool area where you can touch stingrays, starfish, shellfish, mollusks and sea urchins.
In the back, a staff only door seems to have been left accidentally unlocked, permitting guests to walk upstairs to the level where they can add food to the tanks or even go for a swim.

image. image. ]

week 5, wednesday evening

[riderculous]

[ Some time after the party, Astolfo is going to lead Rin over to the Aquarium! Once they are there, they are going to brush off imaginary dust off of him ]

Right! This is where I leave you, Rinrin! Have fun.

[damp]

[ ...? He is dressed up like you asked, Astolfo? ]

What are you going?

[riderculous]

Don't worry! There's someone else here for you.

[ Giving him a pat. ]

Come find me later, okay?

[ They are going to go! Bye bye ]

[damp]

[ ... ]

[squirt]

[ shows up just barely in time to see astolfo zooming off

... ]

[damp]

[ ...

Looks over at Haru. ]

[squirt]

[ ...

looks at rin. ]

[damp]

[ ... ]

Is this a blind date?

[squirt]

...Did Astolfo not tell you...

[damp]

No? What did they tell you?

[squirt]

[ slow blink, like a cat. emotions are indecipherable. ]

...They suggested we go on a date for that milestone. Basically.

[damp]

[ astolfo you are the smartest person in this entire game

Getting... embarrassed... ]

And you said okay?

[squirt]

[ astolfo is the hardest working twink here

he shrugs, like it doesn't matter, though his emotions are restless. ]

...Is that a problem?

[damp]

No! [ Ugh. He's getting nervous. And a little sad. ] No, it's not, but...

You don't have to do everything around here yourself, Haru. You've done a lot.

[squirt]

[ oh, no. don't get sad. there's very little more distressing to him than rin's sadness. ]

—It's fine. [ quickly grabs his hand. ] Really.

It's been a while since we could just hang out.

[damp]

[ Stop. Just ignore his sadness, he feels emotions so much.

Oh. Embarrassed again... A little afraid. ]

And the achievement?

[squirt]

[ he cannot ignore rin's big emotions, this is why they keep giving each other depression.

there's trepidation in him too, though he's better at not showing it. or worse at being able to show it, rather. a nervous, fluttering feeling. his words come out a little stilted, like he's not sure what he wants to say. ]

...I don't mind trying. But not if it makes you uncomfortable, Rin.

[damp]

[ Haru... He really is so much kinder and considerate than he pretends to be. Mr I Only Swim Free. Rin can't help the affection that blooms.

He squeezes Haru's hand. ]

It doesn't make me uncomfortable. Why would it? [ He looks a little more serious for a moment. ] But I don't want to go on a date for the sake of this game either.

[squirt]

[ haru is selfish, don't be nice. but rin is his precious friend, of course he cares how he's going to take this.

though his reaction seems to get haru to relax, still very cautious, but willing to take tiny moves forward as long as rin is okay. little steps, testing the ice beneath them, making sure it doesn't break. ]

I just thought... [ well, let's not get into it. ] ...What do people usually do on dates?

[ he agreed but doesn't even really know. ]

[damp]

[ Let's get into it, Haru. ]

Dinner... Movies... Zoos, amusement parks. Those kinds of things.

[squirt]

[ he nods. those all seem sensible. he is a modern and has consumed media before even if romcoms aren't his usual fare. after some thought, ]

...We could start here?

[ the aquarium is nice. he doesn't know if it's date material or romantic but it's something they'd both like. ]

[damp]

[ He nods... Even though Haru didn't acknowledge that he said he doesn't want to go on a date for the sake of the game, and now he doesn't want to bring it up again.

But he can't just leave.

Takes Haru's hand. Surely this will fix everything. ]

Astolfo picked a good spot.

[ Ignores that people died here... Walks around, peering at the fish. ]

[squirt]

[ it's because he doesn't really want to talk about it. there's something scarier about not doing this for a milestone. even if he should just be acting for himself—and for rin? did he just take rin hostage.

let's look at fish. ]

...You must've seen a lot of these in Australia already.

[damp]

[ He is a hostage, but it's fine. Can Haru feel the affection there? If he thinks it's for the fish I'm going to slap him.

There's still a bit of nervousness too, a bit of shyness. ]

Sydney does have a great aquarium. [ Walks over to the jellyfish exhibit. It's all dark and glowy. ] I should've taken you that time.