Public Outcast//Closed

Em grinned when he saw how amazed Atlas looked, pulling him closer to the first tank so they could both put their noses up against the glass and watch the jellyfish swim around. The first ones they saw, moon jellies, were graceful little things, without individual stingers. They were backlit by some kind of blue light that made them look ethereal, like ghosts instead of fish. "Coooooool," he breathed, watching them glide through the water.

Atlas' eyes were wide as he watched the jellyfish. Were these creatures even real? It was absolutely mesmerizing and he was definitely glad they went here first. "These are amazing…" He whispered against the glass.

"Yeah, they're super cool." Emrys watched them swim for a few more moments before he left for a new tank, pulling Atlas with him. There was only one, huge and dark blue with long graceful tentacles that drifted sedately through the water. It looked almost like it was flying.

The single jellyfish was just as amazing as the other ones. It was incredible that creatures like these even existed. Atlas was from a smaller city, at least one without an aquarium and it was not even close to the ocean, so it was strange that these kinds of creatures lived on the earth when he had never seen them in person like this.

They wandered around the jellyfish exhibits for a while before Emrys caught some sort of tropical fish exhibit out of the corner of his eyes and pulled Atlas over to that one to take a look. It seemed like there were thousands of them, each one bright and frilled and uniquely beautiful. A huge school of silver fish darted in the background, making the others stand out even more against their gleaming background.

"Imagine being a fish… life would be so easy and free, even if you were in an aquarium. But I wouldn't have a relationship like we do, so I'd rather be a human." Atlas said softly, the thought just kind of spilling out of his mouth. His eyes were still wide in awe, just amazed by it all.

Em laughed and leaned over to kiss him without thinking. He didn't notice the awestruck girl standing off to the side, camera at the ready, too caught up in how adorable his boyfriend was. "Yeah, I think I'm with you there. I love you too much to go become a fish."

Atlas nodded, thinking about it. "Oh! What about mermaids! They're fish, technically, but also capable of human relationships!" He said, a little louder than he meant too. He too didn't notice the girl. He probably wouldn't notice her unless she came up to them or Emrys noticed her and said something about it.

Em laughed and nudged him on the arm. "Maybe don't yell in the crowded aquarium, Atlas. But… I'd be mermaids with you, I think that'd be fun. Also I was kind of obsessed with Ariel as a kid, so it'd be like living a childhood dream."

Atlas giggled, looking around the section they were in. Most of everyone had turned back to the exhibit they were looking at. "Sorry, love." He said, giggling some more. "You know how there are some companies can turn you into a mermaid for like a day or something? We should totally do that! Maybe a photoshoot with it!… OH! Maybe we could use said photoshoot as a way of telling our fans we're together!!"

Emrys laughed and pulled him over to the next exhibit, a much sludgier tank with two hungry-looking crocodiles sitting in the water, lumbering around with greedy smiles. "Maybe. I think doing a mermaid photoshoot would be really fun, but I'm not sure we can get management to go for it."

"Well, we could do it ourselves, like without management's knowledge. We have enough money to pay for it ourselves." Atlas said, nuzzling Emrys' neck. He watched the smaller of the two crocodiles swim around the tank.

Em laughed, kissing the top of his head. "Yeah, but then we'll get yelled at. I think it's a nice idea, but… maybe we can try it after the tour? Or it can be our backup if dancing with the stars doesn't work out for some reason?" He looked to Atlas, curious to see what he would answer.

Atlas sighed, know Emrys was right. He absolutely hated how controlling management was, he thought it wasn't fair. "Yeah… I'd probably still do it though. But even if Dancing With the Stars works we could still do it because now I'm determined to do a mermaid photoshoot with you."

Em kissed the back of his hand as he sighed, pulling him over to the next exhibit to help cheer him up a little. It was full of otters, chittering happily behind the glass. "And I'd love to do one with you. Oh! Maybe we should take some pictures here, for the Instagram. People're always bugging us to update more."

Atlas let Em pull him to the next exhibit. As he got there, he smiled, the otters cheering him up instantly, they were very adorable. He nodded, "Yes, we should definitely do that, good idea!" He continued watching the otters, swimming, playing with each other, and even jumping a little.

Em laughed at how quickly he lit up, setting his hand down so he could dig his phone out of his pocket. "Alright, pose in front of the otters then!" He finally managed to whip out his phone, grinning at Atlas from behind the camera. "Say cheese!"

Atlas smiled into the camera, his arms out to one side presenting the otters. He moved just doing a peace sign, to make sure they had enough pictures. "Em, get over here! We need to do a picture together!"

Em laughed and obliged, jogging over and tossing an arm around Atlas' shoulders so they'd be close enough to fit on his tiny screen. A few otters peeked in behind him, as adorable as ever with their sweet little faces. He took the picture with a loud 'say cheese!', quickly posting it and then watching the likes roll in. "Jesus, what do these people do all day?"

"Good question. But they probably have notifications so even if they were doing something they'd probably still see it quickly." Atlas explained. He reached his hand for one of Emrys', lacing their fingers. "Where are we going next?"

(Boop~)

"Umm…" Emrys scanned the aquarium, lighting up when he saw an exhibit where you could pet the stingrays. "Definitely here!" He pulled Atlas over as he spoke, excitement sparkling in his eyes. "They used to have these at the aquarium in my hometown, but I was always too freaked out to actually pet one. You have to take a video of me doing it!!"

Atlas excitedly followed Emrys to the stingrays. He giggled seeing Em's excitement to pet them. "Oh I was planning on it already, love!" He said, pulling out his phone. They found one that wasn't already being petted. Atlas wanted to pet it as well, but of course, he'd take a video for Em first. "You ready?"

Em nodded, rolling up his sleeves and flashing a quick peace sign before he reached into the water, slowly moving his hand deeper and deeper to try and brush the stingray. It seemed pretty excited to meet him as well. As soon as he'd brushed the water it had started rising off the floor, so it wasn't long before they met in the middle and Emrys jolted, then turned to the camera with the most brilliant smile. "This is awesome!!"

Atlas' smile grew, Emrys was so adorable. Seeing him so happy and excited made him feel the same way. He kept the camera on Emrys as he continued petting the stingray. It was cool that they let people do that, but it didn't seem to harm the animals, they seemed rather excited themselves. "I want to pet them now!"

Em nodded, giving the stingray one last pat before he rushed over, drying his arm off on his pants and making grabby hands for the phone. "Alright, alright, pass it over then! That one seems really excited, you should give him a pat for me!" He pointed out a smaller stingray a couple feet away who was splashing excitedly in his pool.

Atlas handed the phone to Emrys once he dried his hands off. He rolled up his sleeves as quickly as he could. "They're so cute! I love them!!" He said, going over to the smaller stingray. He slowly reached his arm into the water, breaking the surface. The smaller stingray was already off of the sand before he got his hand in the water. A huge smile was set on his lips, his hand and the stingray meeting.

Em watched him pet the stingray with the biggest smile, waiting for a few seconds before he turned off the phone and rushed over to hug Atlas from behind. "You're adorable, d'you know that? I feel like I don't tell you enough but you do this thing when you smile and it's kind of amazing."

"Awee I would have to say the same thing about you! Your literally the cutest thing I've ever seen, somehow cuter than this little sting ray." Atlas said, turning his head and planting a kiss on Emrys' cheek. His hand was still petting the stingray very softly as he was distraced by Em.

The stingray seemed content to sit still and let the two do their thing, which Emrys very much appreciated. He kissed Atlas back, a soft little kiss on the lips, and pressed himself up against his back with a happy sigh. "This is such a good first date. Whoever suggested coming here is a genius."