Parker's POV
I let go of Hardison's hand as we cross the street to the aquarium and skip ahead to look at the seals. You can get right up to the glass where the seals are. It would be easy to take one, but then what would I do with it, I wonder. Deciding against it, I feel Hardison tap me on the shoulder as he has finally managed to catch up to me.
"Come on, let's go buy our tickets" he says to me.
As we walk into the building together, he holds the door for me again. I don't really get why he's doing it. I can get the door for myself. I always have before, but I vaguely remember Sophie telling me something about expecting a good man to do certain things for you, to make your life easier and I'm pretty sure this was one of those things. I think she also mentioned carrying my bags, but have no idea what else she said. I guess I'll have to ask her to remind me what they were again.
While Hardison buys the tickets, I look at things in the entryway and refrain from pick pocketing anyone. I mean really, it's just to easy. Not much fun in it when everyone is distracted by other things. You don't even have to provide the distraction. Luckily, Hardison gets the tickets and we enter the aquarium so I don't think about stealing from the tourists anymore.
As soon as we walk in, there is a giant sea turtle. I had never seen one of those before and I start to leave Hardison behind, but think maybe we're supposed to stay together since this is a date. It's hard to think about all these things. I wish there were just some rules to follow. I look back at Hardison, waiting for him, but he just smiles and winks at me, "Go ahead, just don't disappear on me. I don't want to lose you."
I take off, looking in the various tanks and weaving through all the people with no real effort. The sea turtles were big and cool looking, but when I get to the next room I finds seals and sea lions playing together in a large tank. They look like they are having such fun. It would be really useful if I could glide through things the way they do, but I wouldn't want to be stuck in the water forever. I look back to see where Hardison is and catch him snapping a picture of me. I don't know how I feel about that. I don't think I've had many pictures taken outside of con needs.
I wait for him to come up beside me and point out how much fun the animals are having. "I wish we could just have fun like that all the time." I tell him. "Hurry up, we are almost to the shark tanks." I tug on his arm lightly before heading off to the next area. It's not so hard making sure not to lose Hardison. He keeps up if I just slow down a little. He just can't quite get through all the people the way that I do.
We walk through an exhibit of tropical fish. I love them. They are so bright and colorful. I know some people have fish like these. I wonder if we could get some fish and ask Hardison about it when he walks up beside me.
"Maybe, I mean they don't require a lot of work compared to some other pets, but they can be pretty hard to move" he responds. " I'll have to think about how to work it out if you really want some."
I smile and nod at him before taking off to se the penguins. They are super cute. I didn't know that there were so many kinds. Big ones and small ones. Blue ones and black ones. Some lady is talking and feeding them a bucket of fish. I hop up where I can watch and listen to her explain about them. I look for Hardison thinking he would like her explanation of things and catch him taking another picture of me. I wonder how many of those he has taken and why he is taking so many.
Finally, we get to the touch tanks and see a small shark and some large rays. I flit around from pool to pool, looking at them and touching them when they swim by. They are smooth and wet. Not really how I thought they would feel. I'm having the most fun here. I skirt into the crowd when I'm done and come up behind Hardison. I lean over his should and whisper, "this is fun. I'm glad you brought me here. Do you want to take a picture together?" I ask him. I'm pretty sure that this is something people do together. I've seen it in movies I've watched with Sophie.
He nods yes and I lead him through the exhibits looking for a good spot for a picture. When we get to the amazon exhibit, I stop in front of some colorful eels and tell him we can take one here. It will be a good backdrop. I turn around standing next to Hardison while he holds up his phone for the picture. I'm surprised when I feel his arm settle on my shoulder pulling me in close against his side. "Smile" he tells me. And I feel myself matching his grin. This has been a good day.
I walk through the last few exhibits staying closer to Hardison. I wonder if every date is this much fun and if Hardison will go jumping with me, but figure it's kind of like when I started having friend dates with Peggy. You can't just jump into asking someone to steal something or jump off a building with you. You have to work your way up to that with the normal things first. Whatever, that is.
When we walk outside the building, I find I don't really want to leave Hardison. I don't have anywhere I have to be at.
"Do you need to go by your place before dinner with the team?" He asks.
"No, I don't have anything I need to do" I answer.
"Great. I dropped my laptop at the office this morning. We can just head there together if you want" Hardison says.
"Ok" I start walking in that direction with Hardison following. After a second, I reach back and take his hand lulling is together. It's easier to stay with him when I'm holding onto him. Plus, it's nice holding his hand. It's warm and soft. It feels good wrapped around my smaller hand.
We walk in silence for a while, getting close to the offices before I ask, "will you send me a copy of the picture of the 2 of us?"
"Yeah, no problem"
I can feel him fidgeting with his phone with his other hand. I don't know how he's able to do so much electronically while I'm using one of his hands, but I guess it's probably like what I do. I could usually do it in my sleep, the simple things like lifting items from people. As we enter the building, I think that I would do this again with him. I fell sad that the day is over. I would spend more time alone with Hardison if I could, but I don't want everyone to wonder where we are. It's bad enough that everyone except Nate probably knows what we did this afternoon. I don't really feel ready to talk about this with everyone else.
"I wish the day was longer" I say softly.
"Don't worry, Mama, we'll do something again soon" Hardison answers squeezing my fingers.
"It's just...I don't really want to talk about this with everyone else yet. If we had more time before we saw them, maybe I would feel more ready." I'm worried people are going to ask me questions I don't know the answers to yet, I think to myself.
"No one is going to bother you about what we did today. Only Sophie knows and she won't ask you in front of Nate and Eliot so just don't end up alone with her and you'll be safe. We don't have to tell other people what we are doing until you want to Parker, but they will all be happy for us. They just want us to be happy" Hardison explains. "Just relax. We're just watching movies together like we do all the time. Just sit next to me and I'll keep you out of trouble."
"Ok, I can do that" I reply. "Don't be alone with Sophie and sit next to you like normal. Got it." I reach to open the door, but feel his hand on my shoulder. I turn back to him.
"Parker," Hardison says looking into my eyes.
I'm standing pretty close to him now because he stepped forward. Closer than even I normally get to a person. I look at him and then I look down at his lips. I'm pretty sure he wants to kiss me. I lick my lips vaguely recall another lesson I've been given. " 's ok" I say following his eyes as he leans down. I feel his lips, feather light on mine. Nothing like our pretend make out kisses. Not sloppy and wet, but purposeful like he knows what he wants this time. I lift my head up towards him moving in closer and sliding my arms around his neck as he deepens our kiss. I'm surprised by how good this feels. I have little jittery butterflies in my stomach and tingles on my sides where his hands are holding my. He kisses me for a second more before pulling his head back.
"That's how you end a good date Parker." Hardison says. "Not just walking away. Of course, you can do it other times to." He winks at me before letting me go and walking inside leaving me standing in the hallway. After a second, I realize that he also told me not to use the front door it I didn't want questions from Nate or Eliot and I turn around to enter the room another way. He's right I never come through the front door unless the team comes back together. It would be weird to do it now and I need a second alone to think about what just happened. I never felt like that during a kiss before. I think that's the way it's really supposed to be and I can't wait to do it again