Not that it seemed to matter to them anymore, but there were still quite a bit of people even in the exhibit they were in. Of course, they didn't mean to do that on purpose, they just got distracted by each other. "I know, it was a really good idea… I really like spending time with you, on a date or not, in public or not."
Emrys hissed through his teeth when Atlas brought up the public, abruptly aware of what they were doing in front of all these people. He backed away, enough that they could be any two friends having fun together. "And I like spending time with you too, Atlas. Um… Let's go find another exhibit, yeah? Maybe somewhere a little less crowded?"
Atlas was then brought to the reality of where they were. It became painfully obvious how affectionate they were being in public, and they were going to try to avoid that. He retracted his hand from the tank and shook off the water. "Yeah, sounds good." He dried his wet hand off on his pants, his other hand taking Emrys'.
Em squeezed his hand gently, towing them over to some dinky bird exhibit that nobody seemed to be crowding around. It was honestly quite secluded, with a private cove for people to crawl into so they could watch the birds flit and wander around them. "Here! Um… the plaque says they're marshbirds, aren't they cute?"
Atlas nodded, "Yeah, not at cute as that stingray though." He giggled a little, planting a little kiss on Emrys' cheek. It was a nice little exhibit, he was glad it was so secluded. "You wanna go see the birds better?" He asked, nodding his head to the cove.
Em nodded, towing Atlas into the cove with a laugh. The birds were very small and very cute, with tiny little beaks and soft black eyes, and he couldn't resist cooing at them as they stumbled past. "Look at them! They're every bit as cute as a stingray!"
Atlas smiled, "Okay maybe they're just cuter close-up. They are actually pretty adorable." He leaned his head on Emry's shoulder, watching the little birds fly and wander past them. "I wouldn't have expected there to be birds like this in an aquarium."
Emrys kissed him gently, leaning into Atlas with a grin. "They're ocean birds, I think that's why they've got 'em. Plus… here! Look at that one!" He pointed out a bird with a little pink to around its ankle and a broken looking wing. "They're rescues. The aquarium's rehabilitating them until they can go back out into the wild."
"Awe that's so sweet! I'm glad they do that!" Atlas said happily, but quietly. Looked at the bird Emrys pointed out, a soft look in his eyes and a soft smile on his lips. He turned to Em and kissed him again. Even though it had only been an hour-ish since they hadn't been in public, he ended up missing Emrys' lips.
Emrys grinned and kissed him back eagerly, pulling away a few minutes later with a breathless bright eyes smile. "Lots of aquariums have programs like that, actually," he murmured, tangling his hands in the bottom of Atlas' shirt to pull him in. "It's really cool of them to do it for birds though! Most ones only do it for actual sea creatures, like seals and fish and stuff."
Atlas wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, holding him close. "Yeah, it is really cool." He said, a bright smile on his lips. He rested his chin on Emrys' shoulder, watching the birds flutter around. He was very glad that this exhibit was not very crowded, at all.
They stayed there for a long time, trading words and kisses, until Emrys heard a girl cooing at the birds from outside, accompanied by the pitter patter of feet running towards their cove. He pulled away from Atlas, taking his hand to pull him back outside before anyone saw anything incriminating.
He let out a small whine in protest but soon realized why Emrys had pulled away. He was glad at least one of the two of the noticed. A soft smile was set on his lips. "That was really nice. Do you wanna go get Dippin Dots next? Since I owe you some and Harley's paying for some?" He asked giggling.
"Oh hell yeah!" He winced when the little girl's parents gave them a dirty look, but soon they were hurrying past to follow their daughter and Em was free to get excited. "I want all the Dippin Dots! What flavor should I choose? Creamsicle? Cookies and cream? Cotton candy?"
They found their way out of the exhibit and out to the main area. Atlas scanned the area for a Dippin Dots stand. He eventually found one and lead Emrys to it. "Ahh I'm not sure! I would buy two flavors now and we could share them. Then later we could share each others again. Then you get a chance to taste more flavors!"
Emrys beamed and kissed him on the cheek, after scanning to make sure nobody was paying attention of course. "You're a genius, Atlas! We should definitely do that, what flavors should we get right now?" He hurried over to the stand, pouring over the flavors like a kid in a candy store. "I think… cookies 'n cream definitely, and whatever else you want."
"Oh I know, love," Atlas said giggling. He looked over all of the flavors debating between two flavors. "Hmmm… What about rainbow?" He asked, looking at Em. There was a line, which was good so they could decide on the flavors.
Em took a second to consider and then he was nodding excitedly, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he anxiously awaited his desert. "That sounds great! We should plan what exhibit we're gonna see next, since the line's so long. How do you feel about taking a look at the sharks?"
"Ah you're so cute when you're excited," Atlas said quietly, wrapping his arms around Emrys with a large smile. "But I think the sharks would definitely be cool. After though, we have to see the octopi, they might be my favorite animal."
Em smiled, setting his hands on top of Atlas' and leaning back against his chest. "Oh definitely!" he agreed. "Octopi are super cool, y'know they don't have any bones? They can fit through any hole bigger than their beak, I heard that in a documentary."
"I want one as a pet, but I feel like it'd be too smart for me. Like, I'd find my phone in its tank but it would be outside in my back yard or something. Or I'd find it hiding in the fridge. They're just so intelligent, it's crazy." Atlas said. They stepped forward in the line, a few people away from it being their turn to get Dippin Dots.
Em nodded. "Oh yeah, they're terrifyingly smart. I'm pretty sure they're going to take over the world once us humans are gone, and I'm not even all that mad about— oh!" The employee behind the stand cleared his throat and he ordered happily, stepping aside so Atlas could pay.
Atlas pulled out his wallet, then his card, and handed it to the employee with a smile. The employee handed Emrys their Dippin Dots and Atlas his card. Atlas thanked him and took two spoons before quickly moving so the people behind them could get theirs. "I'm not mad about that at all either, it's honestly be pretty amazing."
Em nodded and dug into his Dippin Dots enthusiastically. "God, these things are amazing!" He shovelled the treat into his mouth, already about a third of the way through. "I can't believe I get two of these today, can I have a bite of yours?"
"Hey don't eat 'em all! I want a bite of yours." Atlas said, handing his to Emrys before even taking a bite of his own. He took a scoop of Em's before he could say anything against it. His eyes widened a little. He had forgotten how delicious Dippin Dots were.
Em dug into Atlas' cand for a while before he took back his own. "These are great, I can't believe they actually hold up so well!" The last time he'd eaten Dippin Dots he had bee about eight years old and hyped out of his mind.
"I know they're amazing!" Atlas said, mimicking Emrys' excitement. He finally took a bite of his own, eyes going wide. It was honestly such a simple concept, but they were such an amazing and revolutionary idea.
Em was as bright eyes and excited as Atlas, quickly finishing his Dippin Dots and then making grabby hands at his boyfriend. "Can I finish yours off too? Because you love and cherish and treasure me so very very much?"
Atlas giggled, taking one more bit of his before complying with his boyfriend's request. "Of course you can. But only because I love and cherish and treasure you so much… and you're absolutely adorable." He said, smiling. Forgetting to look around, he planted a soft kiss on Emrys' lips.
Em stiffened but couldn't bear to push Atlas away, so he ducked himself, a pretty pink blush warming his cheeks. "Atlas," he whined softly, linking his arm with his boyfriend's as he gobbled down his icecream. "Not in public. What if someone sees us?"
