KHRrarepairweek 2021: Mistaken Identity Courting
It took ages to get everything together. Talking with their boss to get the day off, talking to Verde's professors to make sure he has the day off from any labs or under-graduate lecture halls, double and triple checking Verde's class schedule to make sure it didn't magically change to having a class that day despite it being the same Monday/Tuesday/Thursday schedule it's been all semester. The amount of side-eye Viper's gotten from their boyfriend the past week or so could fill a pool.
Everything's set though. Viper even has the tickets printed out, placed in a green folder, and in their messenger bag hanging by the door already. All that's left is… waking Verde up.
Verde, once again, was sleeping slumped over on his desk. His laptop open and long since gone to sleep. Empty coffee cups are tipped over onto pages of calculations. His glasses askew, and his face is stuck on the pages of his physics textbook.
Viper picks up the pencil on the floor and places it back in the overflowing pen cup. Tapping the center of Verde's shoulders, they lean down and whisper, "Myu, I'm going to eat your cake and leave nothing for you."
Viper backs up with a laugh as Verde jolts up into a stretch. "You won't," he yawns. "It would be a waste of both time and money to get or bake a cake specifically for my birthday and then eat it by yourself."
"Myu," Viper tips their head, considering. "Would not. I'd still get cake out of it."
Verde snorts but gets up, running a hand down his wrinkled button-up. "Anything I must know?" he asks.
"Dress comfortable," Viper shrugs. "Myu, Indoor walking shoes. Doesn't really matter." They gesture at their jeans and over-sized hoodie.
"Your usual and my usual are not the same, but I understand your point." Verde squeezes Viper's wrist as he passes by.
When Verde comes out of the shower twenty minutes later wearing his usual khaki pants and button-down shirt, Viper's waiting with a breakfast burrito and a travel cup of coffee for him. Verde takes both with a smile, his sleeve riding up enough for Viper to glimpse the rainbow watch band they had made for him.
They busy themselves with checking the location of everything in their messenger bag, but Verde's quiet chuckle says that he saw their blush anyway.
Verde, tactfully, doesn't flip through Viper's messenger bag which spends the drive sitting at his feet. They do catch his fingers drumming on his thigh out of the corner of their eye. "Thank you," they say.
Verde hums. "Illogical. You've clearly gone to lengths to make this excursion a surprise."
Viper huffs. They take the next left and spares a glance at the battered GPS. "Myu. Like that's stopped you before." They're not actually bothered by Verde's habit of digging through their bag, just like Verde simply rolls his eyes when they uncover his class schedule before he prints it out. None of this negates the fact that they appreciate Verde's restraint despite the fact they didn't explicitly request it, which is the agreed upon boundary for both of them.
"We're almost there."
Verde makes an interested noise and straightens in his seat, flipping his phone face down on his khakis and looking out the window. Viper smirks and shakes their head. He's undoubtedly trying to figure out where they are and guess their destination.
When they pull into the aquarium's parking lot, Verde looks almost ready to bolt out of the car before the engine's even off. Viper reaches over the center console and retrieves their bag before getting out themselves. "Myu. Shall we go in?" they ask, tugging their hood down.
Verde snorts and loosely grabs Viper's wrist, tugging them towards the entrance.
Sometimes Viper wonders why Verde decided to double major in chemistry and physics instead of going for marine biology when he clearly loves marine animals so much. They spend much of the day at the aquarium playing eager listener as Verde rambles on about clown fish and the theories about why they can survive sea anemone poison.
"The mucus coating of clown fish may be sugar-based and so the anemones simply fail to recognize them as food. However, it could also be a coevolution of the two that simply allowed the clown fish to develop an immunity." Verde pushes his glasses higher up his nose before his hands starting to move in box-like shapes again. "It is all really quite fascinating."
It's only long-time exposure and frequent Google searches that allows Viper to keep up with the semi-scientific lectures, but they find it all worth it to watch Verde's green eyes light up and a small, soft smile to appear on his face. The aquarium staff's eyes light up just as much whenever Verde asks about specific animals and projects they're working on. Verde spends almost an hour leaning on a glass information counter near the coral tanks just talking with a staffer about the aquarium's efforts in revitalizing coral reefs.
"Hippocampus hippocampus, or the short-snouted seahorse," Verde says, pointing at a tank filled with brown seahorses clinging to their tall, leafy seaweed. "It is found primarily in the Mediterranean and North Atlantic, specifically around Italy and the Canary Islands." Viper leans into his side, and Verde pauses. He wraps an arm around them and continues with his lecture, hands waving all the way. Huffing a quiet laugh, Viper watches two seahorses chase each other through the seaweed forest.
It's when Verde quiets in the tunneled pathway with sharks and fish swimming all around them- apparently nurse sharks can be found in reefs and rocky areas which lead to further discussion about the importance of coral reefs- that Viper wraps a gentle hand around his wrist. Verde immediately looks away from the shark swimming above them and to Viper. "Myu, was this good?" they ask.
Verde smiles. Reaching into his jacket pocket, he pulls out a small sheet of multicolored star stickers. He peels a gold one off the sheet and places it on Viper's cheek without ever breaking their grip. "It was perfect," he says and kisses the star. Viper flushes, pulling their hood down with their free hand.