So, uh, terrifying story that happened while I was writing this. The HUGE common Plecostomus we have jumped out of the tank he’s in. This thing is like 15" (38.1cm) long. He jumped between the wall and the tank. Thank goodness Dad was awake so he could grab him. He got slightly injured, but he’s acting normal so I think he’s okay. Talk about an adrenaline rush though! (If anyone wants to know, he has a nick in two of his fins. That’s the only visible injuries, but he did thrash about so he might have internal injuries. I hope not. I love him too much, and he’s too young.)
Headcanon that Sweden has social anxiety.
Pairings: SuNor, DenFin, IceMano
Warnings: Cussing, light hearted/joking death threat
Soft reminder that the age of consent is 15 in Iceland, and 14 in Italy. (Yes, this is mostly aimed at any American readers.) Iceland is 16-17, and South Italy is 22-23. I saw talk of a ten-year gap for Iceland, but I couldn’t figure out if it was law or not. Either way, they fall into this rule.
Berwald frantically reaches for his boyfriend’s hand, and squeezes it hard when he has hold of it. Luaks glances at him and gives him the smallest hint of a smile. It’s enough to fill his stomach with butterflies, which does a good job of distracting him from his anxiety. Lukas squeezes his hand back when he sees him relax, a gesture that is as much a reward as it is a show of how proud he is of Berwald. He knows how hard it is for him to be around strangers, even if no one is paying attention to him. “Takk for coming with us, Ber. Mathias insisted it wouldn’t be the same without you.” Said man appears beside them and throws an arm around Berwald’s shoulder. Speak of the devil.
“Of course it wouldn’t be the same without you! We love you.” Tino comes up beside him, rolling his eyes. “But nothing could rival my love for you!” He releases Berwald, and wraps his arms around Tino eagerly. The Finnish man gives a sigh, then pecks his lips.
“Sometimes I don’t know what to do with you.” Mathias grins at him.
“You love me.”
“Fortunately for you I do. So very much.” He wraps his arms around his neck and pulls him down for a deeper kiss.
“Some of us are actually trying to look at the fish. Can you not make out next to them? It’s startling.” Mathias presses closer to his lover and Emil fake gags, turning away from them. He looks into the closest tank, and flinches back when he comes face to face with a Green Moray Eel with an open mouth. Lovino, who was about to take his hand, falls into a fit of laughter. Emil bristles slightly, and crosses his arms over his chest. “Hmph! I see how it is! Well, I won’t comfort you when a shark decides to charge your stupidly handsome face!” Lovino raises a brow at him, then winks. His face turns crimson, but he doesn’t move.
“Are you sure you want a shark to think I’m handsome? They might steal me away.” Emil huffs, grabs his hand, and squeezes it tightly.
“They will not! I won’t let that happen. I will punch and or fight a shark if I have to!” Mathias jerks away from Tino.
“Nej! Don’t you dare!” He lowers his voice so the humans around them can’t hear him. “This is my aquarium, I won’t let you hurt anything living here. And that goes for anywhere in my country. And… I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Fine. Your flirty sharks get to continue on without knowing pain.” Lovino chuckles, then ruffles his hair. Emil sends him a light hearted glare, and grabs his hand. “I won’t let them flirt with you. I’ll show them that you’re my boyfriend.” After a moment of staring at each other they laugh, knowing he’s joking. He may be childish, but he knows acting like he owns someone is a bad thing to do. Lovino brushes their noses together, squeezes his hand, and points at one of the fish coming closer to them, looking curious. Wanting to impress his boyfriend, Emil puffs out his chest a bit, stares at the fish for a moment, then tells him what it is. “That’s a porcupinefish, or blowfish. It can also be referred to as a balloonfish or a globefish. Sometimes they are called pufferfish, but this fish isn’t what most think of when they say ‘pufferfish.’ They belong to a different family.” Lovino stares at him, obviously impressed. Mathias gives him a weird look, and he blushes again. “...Or something like that. Like I would know about a fish.”
“I love your random knowledge, Emmy. Please don’t take it back or downplay it.” Emil scowls at him, cheeks turning crimson.
“I told you not to call me that,” he grumbles, burying his face in his chest. Lovino runs a hand through his hair, smirking. Mathias gives him a high five. Lukas shakes his head at them.
“I won’t ever embarrass you on purpose like that,” he whispers to Berwald. “Not unless you want me to.” The Swede nods, barely hearing him. He’s staring at a different tank, watching an octopus move their arms about. Lukas notices and walks him over there, shielding him from the crowd. “There. Now you can look closer.” Berwald nods excitedly, gives him a bright smile that lasts maybe a second, and focuses on the arms. The octopus waves a few about for a moment, then starts crawling over the rocks on the bottom. They disappear into a crevice, which causes Berwald to frown slightly. “Let’s look at the seahorses, Ber,” Lukas suggests quietly, already leading him toward them. His attention is quickly diverted to them, thankfully.
“Look h’w beat’ful th’y are,” he mumbles. “B’t n’t as beaut’ful as du,” he looks at Lukas. He immediately turns his head away, trying to hide his blush.
“Don’t say that out of nowhere like that.” He scoffs, and Berwald squeezes his hand lightly in apology. “I suppose it’s fine this time. But don’t do it again.” They both know he likes it.
“Ja, okej,” he says to tease him. He doesn’t fall for it.
“Good.” A thick silence falls over them. It’s a matter of who breaks first now, and Lukas knows Berwald’s biggest weaknesses. “Because if you did, I would have to make coffee for you in the morning. Oh, and breakfast. Then we would have to have a Fika together later in the day. Then we’d have to go to bed tangled in the blankets, cuddling fiercely. We wouldn’t want to have to do that, now would we?” Berwald lets out a tiny, nearly impossible to hear whine.
“Nej fair.” Lukas smirks at him. He looks back at the seahorses, trying his hardest to ignore him. It’s not working. His hair clip keeps distracting him. It’s slightly crooked. He has to fix it. He turns toward him, and straightens out the clip. Lukas gets on his tip toes and kisses his forehead in response.
Ja.” Lukas laughs. Mathias bounds over, Emil and Lovino in tow. Tino follows after, smiling at his boyfriend’s antics.
“Berry, there’s a touch tank! We have to pet some of the fish!” He grabs his wrist and drags him to the touch tank. “Look how pretty they are! Oooooh this one is colourful!” He dips his hand in the water, and slowly reaches toward one of the fish. He laughs a bit when his fingers brush against it. They are informed it’s a Japanese Pinecone Fish. Tino puts his hand in the water next, lightly running his fingers over a Thicklip Grey Mullet.
“You’re such a charming fish,” he murmurs. A soft, loving smile plays at Mathias’ lips. Lovino looks into the tank next, curiosity shining in his eyes. He lightly touches a Blackbelt Hogfish, smiling at the big eyes. He beams at Emil, reaching out his other hand encouragingly. The younger man shakes his head quickly.
“I will not touch a fish that I could scare away.” Despite his words, he peers into the tank. After a moment, he caresses a Black Sea Cucumber. “It tickles,” he hums to himself, smiling brightly. Lovino watches him affectionately. Lukas’ eyes dart around, looking for a new fish to touch. Berwald sticks his hand in the water, and a Damselfish willingly swims up to it. He runs his fingers delicately along their body, biting his lip to keep his smile in check. Lukas’ heart fills with joy at the sight. Then, he does the same as Berwald, allowing a fish to come up to him. A Two-Banded Seabream nibbles at his fingers, and he giggles. He pets the fish, who eagerly accepts his affection.
“You’re very cute. Almost as cute as my Ber.” He watches his boyfriend turn red. They stay there until another group comes up, forcing them to leave for Berwald’s safety. Their next stop is the gift shop, which is thankfully mostly devoid of other people.
“Look at all the stuffed animals!” Mathias practically runs to the wall full of them. Tino watches him for a moment to make sure he’s not going to knock anything down, then examines the shark teeth necklaces. Lovino discreetly grabs a Green Moray Eel plush, and shoves it toward Emil. He squeaks, too scared to make any noise. After a few shallow breaths, he’s glaring so hard Lukas wonders if Lovino is losing years from his life.
“You absolute asshole! You scared the shit out of me!” He places a hand on his chest, taking deeper breaths. Lovino puts the eel back, snickering a bit as he turns back to Emil.
“I would apologize, but I’d be afraid you would call it fishy.” He holds up a clownfish plushie.
“I am going to strangle you for that joke,” he grumbles as he pulls him in for a kiss. Lukas shakes his head and saunters over to Berwald, who’s investigating the “An Ocean of Plastic” area. He takes his hand, squeezing it when he feels how stiff he is.
“I won’t let anyone get close to you. I promise.” He nods, relaxing a bit. His eyes catch on an otter plush, and he shuffles toward it. When he’s close enough, he snatches it and hugs it tightly to his chest. “Do you want that?” He nods frantically, hugging it tighter.
“H’s n’me is L’kas.”
“Is it? I’m honored.” Berwald shyly wraps an arm around his waist.
“B’t he’s n’t as imp’rtant.” He buries his nose in his hair. Lukas starts rocking them slightly, knowing it will help his love calm down. “Tack.” When he’s settled down a bit more, he goes to a jewelry display. He picks out a golden seahorse hair clip, and an intricate octopus choker made to look like a baby octopus is clinging onto the neck. Its eyes are made of purple sapphire, and the tentacles are carved silver. He determines they’re perfect for Lukas, therefore he’s getting them.
“Mathias. Decide on one. You can’t take home ten stuffed animals.”
“But I want them all!” Tino raises his brows. “Please?” He sighs defeatedly.
“You can get what you can carry. No more.” He’s too lenient. But seeing his smile is more than worth it.
“Oh! And I picked out a shark tooth necklace for you! I saw you looking at them.” He flushes a bit. “I noticed you didn’t actually get one, so I thought I would make it special.” He holds out one of them shyly. Tino carefully takes it then pulls him in for a kiss, causing him to drop his armful of plushies. “And this pretty violet shark is for you! It’s exactly the shade of your eyes.”
Emil groans loudly when Lovino wraps an alligator plush around his neck. “Absolutely not. You are not getting that. Don’t make me deal with it.” Lovino chuckles, putting it back.
“I was joking anyway. I really want this.” He holds up a Love Pearl kit. “I was hoping we could pick one out for each other.” Emil’s face softens. “This isn’t because I like the idea! I just thought you might.” He blushes hard. “And I picked out a dragon for you too. Because the bastards remind me of you. Fiery and protective.” Emil hugs him tightly.
“I picked out a jellyfish plush for you. They remind me of you. Dangerous if not handled with care.” Lovino’s face rivals a tomato now. Emil kisses both of his cheeks, then starts going through the Love Pearl collection.
As they leave, they discuss how they weren’t kicked out, despite being a bit rowdy at points. When they make it back home, they break off into couples. Berwald puts the jewelry on Lukas excitedly, smiling at how amazing he looks in it. Mathias insists on putting Tino’s necklace on him, and purposefully drops it down his shirt so he can fetch it. Lovino and Emil open their Love Pearls, both complaining about the process and the necklaces they chose for each other; a unicorn for Lovino, and a flamingo for Emil. Lovino gets a white pearl for health, and Emil gets a cream pearl for happiness. They all agree they had a wonderful day.
Gives nose/forehead kisses: Forehead is Ice, because he’s tall. Romano for reluctant nose kisses.
Gets jealous the most: Definitely Romano.
Picks the other up from the bar when they’re too drunk to drive: Either, really. Ice tries not to, but he has those moments when he just gets really drunk, but more often than not, it’s definitely Ice who picks up Roma.
Takes care of on sick days: Romano, sorry, but Ice’s health is really sporadic, hah.
Drags the other person out into the water on beach day: Romano. Iceland would prefer a good book… Or perhaps ranches and pastures, he likes (loves) the sea, but not so much crowded places like beaches.
Gives unprompted massages: Iceland, surprisingly.
Drives/rides shotgun: Drives shotgun is Romano, Ice rides.
Brings the other lunch at work: Romano, because he wants Ice to eat real food… Real food for him being Italian food. [/stares at]
Has the better parental relationship: Probably Romano as much as he tries to deny
Tries to start role-playing in bed: Iceland suggests, Romano complies.
Embarrassingly drunk dancer: Romano. Pft.
Still cries watching Titanic: Both. And they deny so hard in the end. nope, not crying. Go away.
Firmly believes in couples costumes: Neither, shit, Romano would die before he gets seen together with Ice in one of his hideous sweaters, LOL. And Ice doesn’t like wearing flashy, designer clothes that Romano is so fond of.
Breaks the expensive gift rule during Christmas: Romano most likely.
Makes the other eat breakfast: Iceland, much to Romano’s horror.
