Work Text:
jimothy: oi man, wanna go drink tonite? im bored :(
stabley: Srry man, in town for a date
jimothy: oh come on you guys go on dates constantly, where is stajim time anymore
stabley: It’s the third date
jimothy: :(
jimothy: man can i 3rdwheel u theere
jimothy: promic I will be a menance
stabley: I have time tomorrow, if your boredom would still stay
jimothy: >:)
jimothy:: >:) fine but u paying
stabley: When was the last time u paid
jimothy: >:(
jimothy: when u where deaddrunk
jimothy: so last tuesday
jimothy: u just don remember
stabley: Sure, mr president of post drunk amnesia
stabley: Ok gtg Nigel is here
jimothy: ask if if he wants to go drinkin with me
Stanley snorted at that and turned off his phone screen and looked straight ahead.
It was a bit windy that day but still quite warm and the wind felt nice, softly stroking his hair. The clouds seemed to move a bit faster than usual, the white and blues softly drifting away, sailing through the celeste sea.
He tried to dress casually but also a bit more elegant. He had been trying to work through his wardrobe so he could match the wonderful suit collection.
But with the salary of an office worker, his blue melange shirt tucked into his pants, together with his hair gelled back and a small blue envelope in his hand, he hoped his monochromatic look - welllll, maybe not counting the non matching green and orange socks that were hidden behind the pants and his dark blue loafers.
Narrator looked so elegant as he walked towards him. The wind made the few strands of hair dance around his head.
As he came closer, his soft smile was even more visible, prompting Stanley's heart to skip a beat. He still couldn't believe that he met his soulmate and that it's not just some plant or a pencil. Stanley had no clue if those could actually be soulmates but, if it could, it would mean that pencils have souls and sharpening one is equivalent to decapitation and that implication would probably keep him up that day.
He returned from his make believe scenarios with a touch on his hand. He blinked two times to completely return and he looked Narrator in the eyes, feeling his own upper eyelids fall a bit down as he raised his eyebrows, adding authenticity to his smile.
The two of them stayed like that for a while, staring into each other’s eyes with the gentleness of a spring day. Nigel’s eyes were still that same forest green as before, and twinkling with both love and excitement. Stanley’s were soft caramel.
Unsurprisingly, it was Narrator who broke the silence. “Good morning, Stanley.” The softness of his voice almost made Stanley’s heart skip yet another beat. Honestly, he really should get that checked out.
Stanley signed a ‘good morning’ back and opened up the app. He stared for the moment into Narrator’s eyes and then checked what he wrote. Yeah, that was fair, he thought, so he just smirked as he wrote just a bit more and then clicked play.
[Gorgeous eyes. That’s what my hands wrote when I was looking at you. Anyways, how was the traffic?]
Stanley felt truly blessed as he saw how light in his soulmate’s eyes flickered. Narrator coughed awkwardly and looked a bit to his side as he came a tad bit closer, holding the other arm in a way that seemed like he wanted to grab the other man's hand.
“It, it was not too bad, though I would have arrived earlier if not for the parking lot being completely packed. But that’s beside the point, Stanley, I hope you won’t catch a cold from waiting for me here. I would know to come inside to check if you already came or not.”
Narrator’s expression was now one of concern. How long had he kept Stanley waiting here? What if he had arrived first, and Stanley had arrived second! He would have been waiting outside for a long time.
The TTS voice snapped Narrator out of his thoughts. [It was fine, I didn’t wait long.] Stanley held up a finger, indicating there was more, then went back to typing. [You want to go in?]
Narrator nodded but, before he could do it again, his gaze locked onto the hand he was about to touch not too long ago. He noticed an A5 size powder blue envelope with something written on it and after a second, he looked back at Stanley’s face that was slowly turning in the direction of the entrance
“Stanley, is, is that for me?”
Stanley looked back at the Narrator and followed his gaze. He shook his hand, showing off the back of the envelope and pointed at it.
“Yes, yes I meant that.”
Stanley grinned and handed the envelope to him.
[It is but, you can’t open it until the date is over.]
Narrator floundered. “Ah- Wha- I-“ He felt his face turn pink at Stanley’s silent laughter that soon followed.
More typing, then [You’ll see! It’s worth it, I promise.]
Narrator mumbled a fond ‘better be’ before tucking the envelope into his suit’s inside pocket with a chuckle.
It was Tuesday morning so there weren’t many people in the aquarium. Stanley got himself a day off during the work week specifically for that reason - he wanted them to have a chance to peacefully walk through the rooms and enjoy their time together.
They walked across the entrance to the gates and Stanley handed the worker their tickets. He was the one who bought them this time and he beamed with confidence and happiness when he got them back, now with the exact time stapled on top of them. He handed one of them to Nigel and looked at the signs.
He typed on his phone again.
“What would you like to check first?”
He looked up at Nigel to see the man staring around in wonder. The space inside the aquarium was impressive, true, but Stanley didn’t think it was something to gawk over. He quickly tapped a message and tapped on Nigel’s shoulder. [Have you ever been here before?]
Narrator seemed to start at the text-to-speech voice, and looked over at Stanley. Goodness, he hadn’t realized he looked that in awe.
He shook his head. “I’ve never had the time.” Narrator looked back around the aquarium lobby, continuing to shake his head. “It’s quite impressive.”
Stanley smirked slightly, but there was no malice in his expression. The TTS rang out again. [Yep. If you really haven’t been here before, we should check out the tropical fish first.]
Narrator nodded and walked through the first left entrance with the correct sign over it. He kept throwing glances at Stanley because the other man walked behind him, since the funnel was too tight for them both to walk side to side.
The first thing he noticed when he finally walked out of it was a small informational display. Behind a glass wall, there were some fish models surrounded by text, describing the region they come from and some basic facts about certain types of fish. It seemed that this part of the exhibition was focused on marine life in a coral region. As typical as it was, seeing the clown fish being described wasn’t at all surprising for him. He didn’t know about some of the other types, like rabbit fish or sweetlips but, he focused on reading about the nuances of the clown fish’s gender.
“Stanley, did you know that in the whole Where is Nemo story, due to the mother passing out, Martin’s search for his son could be interpreted in a horrifying matter? Since they are hermaphrodites, his father would probably change his sex and-”
Narrator noticed how Stanley was leaning against the wall and put his hand on his mouth, covering his puffy cheeks to try to not burst out his silent laugh.
“W, what’s so funny, Stanley.”
[You truly know how to set the romantic mood.] Stanley signed ‘romance’ as the voice played the lines.
Narrator floundered yet again. “Well I- I thought it was an interesting fact!” Even in the low light, Stanley could see his face flush again. It was one of the things he was coming to love about the man.
And yet it was also the thing that sent him over the edge. Stanley spiralled into silent laughter, clutching his sides and gasping for breath. It was apparently so funny that a rasping sound began to worm its way out of Stanley’s heavily damaged vocal chords, then devolved into frantic coughing.
Through his eyes wetting, Stanley could see Nigel’s confused and concerned expression. His voice cut through the hazes of coughs. “Stanley? Stanley are you alright?”
He took a deep breath and exhaled strongly which resulted in Stanley coughing once more but, after he composed himself, a hoarse, barely audible ‘fine’ came out of his mouth.
Nigel still wondered if their bond somehow made the larynx regeneration progress happen. He still remembered when during their second date, he heard Stanley’s very quiet ‘bye’ and how both of them couldn’t believe that it happened. It sounded like wind’s whispers, a scratch on a recording, a splash of ink that looks like a word. Stanley started going on his voice rehabilitations and now, it seemed the sound was a tad bit stronger yet Stanley still rarely tried to really speak since it was a bit of a painful experience.
Trying - but failing - to hide his excitement from getting another glimpse at Stanley’s voice, Narrator extended his hand towards the younger man that accepted the help in standing up. Once he was back on Narrator’s level, he didn’t drop the hold of his hand and just pretended to read through the information on the wall and then just decided to softly move them deeper into the room, where they could see the real attractions of this place. Stanley looked at how some of the previously mentioned Nemos were swimming around and pointed at them, a smirk slowly growing on his face as he faced Narrator.
Stanley wiggled his eyebrows as he signed. It felt a bit better to sign at the moment, as during the coughing fit he had put his phone in his pocket. ‘So, about those fish?’
Narrator’s thinly veiled expression of excitement fell immediately to one of friendly annoyance. He rolled his eyes as his smile returned, softer and smaller this time. “I still think it was interesting, Stanley. It could have been a very different movie, you know.” He retorted, voice holding no true malice.
That was true, Stanley thought, but it really wasn’t what the two of them were there for. It was Stanley’s turn to roll his eyes. ‘Let’s get back to the fish.’ He turned towards the tank containing the clownfish, partially ignoring how Nigel murmured a ‘well, you brought it up’ as he moved into place next to him.
Stanley really was a cute man, if it wasn’t a social crime to call a 35ish years old man cute , Narrator thought. The instant the younger man noticed something hidden in the coral reef, he bent his knees and seemed to deeply focus on how the - damselfish, from what Narrator recalled - peaked at him from it. He seemed so excited when the fish seemed to be getting closer to it and even waved at it but, that motion made the fish scared and swim even deeper, hiding from him.
Whoever thinks that calling an adult man cute is stupid probably had never seen Stanley before.
Narrator himself noticed some mandarin dragonet swimming in the opposite tank. Their colours were mesmerising - oranges and blues, entwined with each other in a chevron like pattern, with some yellow stripes on the mouth and the pectoral fins. He never knew exactly why but this exact combination of colours seemed to be his favourite. Especially now, as he watched a group of them swim together in somewhat of a group dance, he couldn’t take his eyes from them.
Or well, he could, just to see why Stanley had gasped.
One of the clownfish swam over to the glass and just stayed in a spot close to Stanley’s face.
Stanley pointed at it and grinned at Narrator, who seemed to not expect the other man to watch him since for a moment, a somewhat unreadable expression popped up for a second.
If Narrator could see how the light from the water was bouncing on his face and shift, if he could see how it made him look angelic, maybe he would have understood.
The slight fuzz of his hair was illuminated by the water as well, causing almost a halo effect to appear around Nigel’s head. The confused flicker that crossed the older man’s face as Stanley stared was the cherry on top.
Stanley reached for Nigel’s open hand, and intertwined their fingers before changing his hand shape to one meaning a specific expression of three little words. It was obvious Nigel understood, as his expression softened.
“I love you too, Stanley.”
The pair paused. Had they ever actually said that to each other before? Narrator thought back. No, he didn’t think so. The first ‘I love you’. A momentous occurrence. He wished he could stay in this moment forever.
It felt right to just look into each other’s eyes. The bouncing lights made Narrator notice how Stanley’s eyes weren’t purely brown. It seemed he had some lighter, somewhat green lines hidden here, all pointing towards the iris.
Stanley also noticed that there seemed to be some more of some yellow around Nigel’s iris. Stanley felt himself mouth ‘sun’ as he gazed at the halos.
He then realised that they still haven’t even tried kissing. Stanley started to move his head forward, slowly, to check for Narrator’s reaction once he would notice what Stanley would want to do.
But the moment Narrator noticed, he quickly took his free hand and put it on Stanley’s lips. He turned his face to the side and his eyes wandered around, not being able to focus on one place. Then, Nigel took a step back and Stanley let go of his hand while the one on the lips lingered on the bottom lip.
The nerves were momentous. It wasn’t that Narrator didn’t want to kiss Stanley. Quite the contrary, as a matter of fact. But for whatever reason, now seemed like the wrong time . His nerves must have shown on his face, as Stanley took a small step backwards as well.
He should have known. Stanley should have known. It was too soon, and he hadn’t even asked! All he could do was sign a ‘sorry.’
Narrator though didn’t want to leave the man in sorrow so, he took Stanley’s hand and kissed it instead.
“I…” apologise? I am sorry for not feeling it’s the right time? Please wait for me? Let’s take things slow? I want to kiss you but not right now? Narrator didn’t know exactly what he wanted to say, what would be the best thing to soothe the man but, before his mind could set on anything, he felt how their hands got rotated and felt the warmth of Stanley’s slightly dry lips.
That sensation wasn’t bad though, not by any bit. The sensation of the torn skin felt nice, grounding, it felt personal, real, just like Stanley was real, just like Nigel truly could feel that he had a soulmate, his soulmate, here, next to him, finally, finally after all this time. He still sometimes couldn’t believe it, wondering if all this had been a very long, wonderful dream but no, there was no way his mind would give Stanley those little details that really made him… real.
They once again stared into each other's eyes but this time, for a way shorter period of time. Stanley turned his gaze to the mandarin dragonets that still swam so gracefully and Nigel soon followed.
It really felt as if they were stargazing with how wonderfully the lights flickered off the fish.
The two of them stayed like that for a while, staring at the way the fish moved through the water like shooting stars through the night sky. Eventually though, it was Stanley who moved to the next few tanks. He was surprised to find resistance.
It seems that while he and Nigel were fish-gazing, they had unknowingly linked their hands together. Neither man pulled away, however. In fact, Narrator followed along as soon as he realised that Stanley was moving.
Feeling like they spent enough time in this room, Stanley walked them through the rest of this part of the exhibition and gazed upon a small ‘reef sharks’ sign and looked at it through the glass, trying to find any present in the water. Once he saw two come from the above, he squeezed Narrator’s hand stronger and pointed at the fish.
Narrator truly couldn’t believe just how adorable this man could be, especially just because he saw the one thing you could expect to see in the aquarium. The sharks didn’t look too different from the most generic image you could possibly have of them in your mind but, somehow, this was exactly the creature that Stanley got so excited for. Or maybe only one of many, after all, this was just the first part of the whole thing.
After a while, they finally walked out from that hall and went through a funnel with ‘Shark Walk’ written on top of it.
It was Narrator’s turn to get excited. The funnel opened up to a semi-circle hallway almost entirely made out of glass, save for certain parts of the floor. It seemed that this was the main draw of this particular aquarium, as there were small groups almost everywhere. It was entrancing. So many different types of sharks, all in the same tank.
A shadow passed over the part of the tunnel the couple was in, causing a child to squeal and point. Stanley’s head snapped upwards, and his mouth opened into an awed expression. A whale shark. Directly over him and Nigel.
Stanley truly loved sharks. He didn’t like how they were mostly thought as murderous and bloodthirst creatures - even if he himself liked some good grotesque - when it was only a smark portion of sharks that would even try to hurt a human. Stanley would really kick the person responsible for destroying these beautiful wonders of nature’s reputation! Look at it! Look how it gracefully moved, how it- wow, it even did a full 180! Such a good thing, 10/10, he would really want to belly rub it or just throw it a ball - wait was that something they liked? He would have to check later on the-
He looked at Narrator and how soft his expression was. Of course his soulmate would share the sentiment towards these bad boys, there was no way that this man didn’t! Stanley reminded himself of one of Narrator’s stories where a subplot was about a shark that lost its teeth and how another shark, a whale shark - what a coincidence! - as one of few ones that naturally don’t have them was the one who accepted the disabled one and helped him find ways to leave without them.
Stanley truly loved Narrator’s stories. He adored how much research he seemed to always put in anything he created and how the works were so easy to read and sucked him right in, to a point that he always pulled a few all nighters in a row to be able to read the new books in one go.
And to think that such a great mind was his soulmate? He truly won the highest prize in this lottery of life.
Narrator gazed around the tank, watching as each shark made its path through the water. They were beautiful animals; it was such a shame that most people were terrified of them. Each shark had a story to tell, some bearing scars, some with interesting coloration. Some even had different food sources entirely!
Perhaps humans and sharks were alike in that way. From the outside, human beings must seem like an evil species of ape. They tear down the homes of other animals, even going so far as to actively kill some of them, and for what? Personal gain? Perhaps, humans were more of an evil species than sharks were.
Narrator was shaken from this train of thought by Stanley excitedly tapping him on the shoulder.
“Hm? Yes Stanley? What is it?”
‘Hammerhead!’
Nigel’s eyes followed where Stanley’s finger was pointing, and when he got to the destination of the point, his mouth dropped open.
A huge hammerhead shark, covered in scars, was swimming slowly in front of the glass.
Ah, yes, just the scars that Narrator had thought of just a second ago. He wondered what stories were hidden in each one of them. Did this shark have any near death experiences? Did it have to hide from a predator? Were they after fighting scars, as they tried to resist capture? Or maybe the long for their home was so big that they ended up trying to get out, trying to be free?
Wasn’t it how life often went? That during childhood, you have a sense of freedom, of the world being so open but as you grow older, you get caught up in a cage that you got put in, or that you walked into yourself.
Narrator’s mind showed him memories of the long nights he spent, typing away articles he really didn’t want to write but couldn’t stop writing, just to not think of how he felt damaged and broken, feeling not worthy of love.
They disappeared as he noticed Stanley crouching a bit and pointing on the ground. He looked at the nurse shark that slowly moved diagonally under them. Narrator felt Stanley’s hold on his hand lessen and he let it go.
Stanley turned his face, puffed his cheeks and put both of his index fingers under his nose, as if to mimic a moustache.
Narrator looked at the caudal fin of the fish that was now far away and then back at Stanley and snorted.
“You really are a joker, Stanley”
Stanley playfully stuck out his tongue at Nigel, then silently chuckled at the face his soulmate pulled. He loved this experience so far, and he was sure that his date was loving it too. The two of them could stay in that tunnel forever.
However, fate had other plans. A teacher’s voice, ringing over the rumble of tens upon tens of children, tumbled into the tunnel. Oh no. A school trip. Stanley had completely forgotten about that possibility.
He watched how the clear view of the fish disappeared with all the kids getting their little paws everywhere, not really following the teacher. While they were all short, not covering the upper glass views, Stanley still felt a bit frustrated that he couldn’t see the fish under them clearly anymore.
Narrator really found the pouting adorable. He really didn’t mind all the kids too much, he spent quite a good chunk of time in his house getting mentally prepared for such an occurrence but he himself felt a tad bit irritated that his vision of an ideal surrounding for the date was ruined.
They both looked at each other and felt their faces melt. Wow, they were both feeling annoyed? Well, not anymore, as they traded knowing smiles at each other and started walking again.
They got bumped a few times by kids that didn’t notice them, so Stanley moved them in a way tha Nigel would be closer to the glass wall. He didn’t want him to have a chance to get bruised in case some kid would run into him.
Each and every spot in the tunnel was taken by these little snots, and Narrator found himself still having to push through the ocean of children just to move. He leaned over to Stanley, lowering his voice in volume.
“Stanley, as much as I enjoy watching the sharks, I do believe we must continue onwards.”
Stanley looked the slightest bit disappointed, but nodded. They’d have to leave soon if they wanted to stay ahead of this tour group. And so it was that the couple of Nigel and Stanley left the tunnel, and entered into yet another funnel. Stanley pointed to a sign on the wall that read ‘Deep Sea Creatures’.
As they walked further in, Stanley’s eyes seemed to get used to how this place had even less light than the previous rooms. Narrator’s face was but a shadow now yet, that only made Stanley more conscious of how warm and soft Narrator’s hand felt. The little shifts in the grip, how uncertain the little brushes on his knuckles felt, how it seemed it had gotten a bit sweaty throughout their journey.
Realising he had been staring at the back of Narrator’s head - or, overall, the silhouette of it - Stanley moved a bit to see little white creatures with some orange glowing things in them. They gracefully flapped their wing-like flaps, slowly moving in a straight line. After they nearly reached the ground, these slugs made an U turn and once again, moved straight ahead, getting further and further from the glass.
“They’re called sea angels, Stanley. A funny fact is that they like to eat sea butterflies. When I learnt about it, I started researching if in any culture, somebody thought of giving angels an ability to eat and if so, what would they prefer. An angel, stopping the butterfly effect to happen, felt like an intriguing concept to me. Just imagine Stanley, the workers of the universe, trying to repair a timeline that just one single flap of wings could have destroyed. But also, who would say they would only work on trying to make the timeline better? And, even if, to whom would it be better? What if the butterfly was a hero of the story, trying desperately to change it, for their loved ones, for the people that would never even notice that this one creature’s sacrifice would let them live their life normally. Ah, pardon me, Stanley, I got lost in my mind again. What I wanted to say is, is that, while they, they are sea angels, youaremyangel okIwillshutup ”
Stanley blinked as he heard the quick voice change in Narrator’s tone. He felt the grip of his hand also getting once again stronger.
Was the man embarrassed? Stanley felt his face turn up in a confused expression. Then, realising that Nigel most likely couldn’t see his face- and, by extension, his hands, he cleared his throat. A breath. He was doing this. He could do this. The tightness in his vocal folds ebbed and flowed.
Narrator tore his gaze away from the sea angels, still glad that it was too dark for Stanley to see his flush. Even in the low light, Narrator could see that his date- no, soulmate - had his eyebrows turned up in an expression of nerves. He felt the urge to comfort him. To say anything that might help. But he was beaten to the punch by the other’s raspy tone.
“It’s, ok.” Each word was ended with a pause, like a staccato. “I, like, hear..ing, you, talk.” As the sentence drew to a close, Stanley was again overcome with small coughs. This time, however, he could only smile through them. Progress.
He tried to hold the smile some more as Stanley felt his lips start to twitch. It was so hard to tell what expression Narrator was making.
Was his voice too quiet for the man to hear? Stanley didn’t feel confident enough to try to repeat or even say one more word at the moment. The chance of Narrator not hearing him were quite low, considering how close there were yet it felt like the easiest and least painful scenario.
Before he could think of another one though, he heard a soft sob. He saw how his soulmate’s head silhouette bounced and saw light bounce through the tear that fell from Nigel’s chin.
Stanley put his palm gently on Narrator’s cheek and gently rubbed his thumb over the wet trail. Then, he felt Narrator’s free hand brushing his own softly.
“I, I know it’s not exactly true but, I, I like to think I am the one who gave you back your voice, Stanley. That in some way, I shared my voice with you, that I added feathers to your melted wings. But no words I say will tell you how much you mean to me. How much of this, everything, you, gosh, how much you talking, wanting to spend time with me, existing, you, just, your existence, makes me happy.”
Narrator took a shaky breath before continuing. It was time for Stanley to know everything about his past, no matter how much he thought the other man would hate him for it.
“I had given up on finding a soulmate of my own, Stanley. I had- I have dated before. I even married once. But I- well, I don’t think I was ever, truly, happy. That’s why I found refuge in writing, in a fiction. Why am I telling you this? Well- I suppose my point is tha-”
He was cut off by a sudden warmth on his lips, forcing him to shut up.
He let himself melt in the sensation, letting his eyelids fall as they started to feel heavy. Yet, to contrast that, Narrator’s head and chest felt so light, his shoulders relaxed, as he let himself feel.
Stanley turned his face quite a bit to let that kiss happen so, Narrator shifted his own to a side so they would be in a comfortable position. His grip on Stanley’s hand become stronger while his other hand cupped the man’s cheek.
This was real. This warmth, the feeling of Stanley’s not perfect shaving leaving some longer hair still there, the air hitting his cheek as it flew out of the nostrils, and, and the kiss. Oh, the kiss! It felt like something soft on his own lips, sucking on them just a little bit, with a bit of chapped texture nearly tickling Narrator. Oh and just, to know that, it was Stanley, his Stanley, his soulmate, doing all this, it just felt, wonderful. Amazing. Magical, unbelievable. But no, it truly was…
Real.
The moment Narrator felt Stanley’s free hand embrace his back, he just felt like they were gonna become a marble statue, of lovers frozen in time, forever connected.
That unfortunately wasn’t the case since a kid didn’t notice them and ran into Stanley, making both men fall.
A strangled ‘ah-!’ escaped Narrator’s mouth as the two men were rather unceremoniously dumped onto the ground. He instinctively reached one hand up towards his face to protect his glasses as he fell backwards and to the side.
Stanley reached his arms back to brace himself, but still, the fall knocked the wind out of him anyways. Luckily, he wasn’t hurt badly, just a bit shocked from the suddenness of the fall. Thank goodness. A sudden jolt of panic surged through it. Of course he was fine, he was still on the younger side! But Nigel? Stanley’s eyes darted over to his soulmate, desperately hoping he wasn’t hurt.
While not hurt, Narrator had squeezed his eyes tight as he could as if that could make the potential damage any lighter. His glasses were fine and Stanley seemed close, based on both the shirt piece that one of Narrator's hands was clenching and the fact that he felt the younger man on top of him.
Feeling the other man's hands on his cheeks and the weight disappearing, Narrator finally opened his eyes.
Oh, why did it have to be so dark here? He wished to see Stanley's expression, to see exactly what the man thought but, with just how gently the fingers rubbed on his face, one thing was clear.
Stanley cared for him, just as much as he cared for Stanley.
Nigel used his forearm for support while raising his upper half of the body. It seemed fortunately that even if his body hurt, he didn't feel any spike up in that sensation. While it still didn't mean that everything was fine, he really didn't want the aquarium date to become a hospital one.
Stanley gave him a hand and tried to support the man as he was standing up. Yeah, it did seem everything would be fine, maybe except for some bruises that surely had already started to form. He felt some parts being more sensitive as he brushed off the, possibly imaginary, dust of himself.
He looked at Stanley and saw how concerned the man looked.
Damn, he really cared, huh?
Narrator remembered his little confessions from earlier and felt his face warm-up. Feeling Stanley's face getting closer made Narrator feel like he would melt with how much he was burning up.
"Ah, um, I am fine, Stanley, I think I'm fine, thank you."
Stanley’s face melted in relief. Thank whatever was controlling this universe, his soulmate was alright. Acting against all of the voices screaming in his head, Stanley pushed a little kiss onto Nigel’s forehead. He then held up a finger as he went searching his pockets for his phone.
He found it within a few seconds, and quickly opened it to his Text-To-Speech app. His fingers moved quickly across the keypad as he typed a one word message.
[Good.] He smiled, to offset the robotic nature of the TTS voice.
A pinch of disappointment could be seen in Narrator's smile. He knew he couldn't ask for his soulmate to keep on talking to him with his normal voice and not in this lifeless, toneless one yet, since the first time he heard the actual voice, he just wanted to hear more.
But, he knew he had to be patient and didn't demand or ask Stanley to try - Narrator wanted it to be his own free choice when he would feel comfortable to try to speak.
To take his mind from everything that just happened, he returned to looking through the glass. A pair of spider crabs gazed at him back, as if they had been already staring at the disaster that happened just a second ago.
Statler and Waldorf, Narrator thought.
Stanley in the meantime focused on different jellies. There were two species: one that he was somewhat used to, blue water midwater jelly on the left side while on the right, blood-belly comb ones. He couldn't take his eyes off the moving red blobs. They kinda reminded him of those long skirts that one could twirl in, even if the motion wasn't even close. It was probably due to the folds or just the shape but, he really couldn't gaze away. Especially due to the yellow crown and little pearl like shapes that complimented the main mass.
It was absolutely entrancing. Stanley could probably stare at this jellyfish for hours and hours upon days upon days and never get bored. The slow movements of the jellies were calming, but the ambient music in this part of the aquarium prevented the calm from being total. Stanley couldn’t believe he was only noticing it now. There was the drone of a cello -or was it an upright bass?- playing a note that was most likely the lowest on the instrument. The note was covered over with the noises of water bubbling, and overall it gave off quite the unsettling mood.
Stanley supposed it was only right for the deep sea creatures to have this type of dark theme. He did wish they weren’t as feared, however. Ever since he was young, Stanley had an affection towards the weird and wonderful. He always loved leaning over the abyss in the hopes that maybe, maybe something in the abyss would stare back.
Narrator had a chance to experience that a few times - Stanley’s eyes, when light didn’t shine at them, could look as if they were pinch black - they sucked him in, made him feel he was deep in the sea, so deep that nothing was visible yet, he saw the world, the universe in them.
But not at the moment - he was not looking at them. He was looking at a squat lobster and wondering how it would be to hug such a creature. Or even, to be such a creature when you would like personal touch but you just bring pain whoever touches you. To be a creature who didn’t choose their form and were stuck in it, forever.
Or maybe, it enjoyed itself. Maybe it liked not having to touch anything, maybe it liked its boundaries, or maybe it would find something that would maybe not feel pain due to the sharp edges, or maybe it would enjoy it.
Or maybe, he was starting to project onto a lobster.
“Stanley, do you want to still stay in this section or go to the next one?”
Stanley was snapped out of his hazy flashback to his youth by the voice of his soulmate. His eyes came back into focus as he turned his head to where the sound was coming from.
Narrator’s face was tilted to the side, eyebrows tilted upwards. “Stanley?” Has the man even heard him? Goodness, Narrator hoped he had. He took a few steps towards Stanley, and even went so far as to rest a hand on the other man’s shoulder, which seemed to snap him out of the trance he was in fully.
A hoarse ‘hm?’ sound came from Stanley. He practically saw Nigel’s face fall into an expression of annoyance but no anger. Guess he wasn’t fully paying attention to exactly what the older man was saying. Oops.
“I said, would you like to stay in this section or would you like to go to the next one?”
Oh. Well at least it was an easy question to answer. Stanley took out his phone again to use his TTS app and quickly tapped out a response.
[Could we go to the next one?]
Narrator softly nodded and already started walking towards the entrance to the seahorse section. Stanley waved at the abyss and just assumed that the zigzag pattern one of jellyfish had done was a wave back.
Narrator stayed to read the informational exhibition while Stanley ran past it when he saw something he didn't exactly expect.
In the water, there was a diver. They were probably feeding the animals but Stanley focused on another detail - how the seahorses entangled the diver's fingers. It was so intriguing to see them getting closer to the figure as it the already fed ones swam away and to see how their tails just curled.
Stanley wondered how it felt - were they smooth, squishy? Or maybe hard? Were they ticklish? Did they laugh like horses? Wait, could horses laugh? Stanley did remember hearing of a laughing horse but were they an actual thing?
Stanley started looking it up while Nigel came over and gazed at the same scene Stanley was looking at just beforehand. He noticed that Stanley was watching some horse videos and chuckled - of course he would check those. Was he checking if the heads of the sea versions were similar? Was he just reminded of the existence of such creatures?
No matter the cause, Stanley seemed very focused so Narrator just stood next to him and watched the feeding process.
It was quite an interesting process. The diver would hold some small shrimp called krill in their hands, and the seahorses would go crazy, each ducking and weaving to get their own lunch. Narrator never thought that seahorses could move that fast. Especially with them being underwater. He wondered how they did it. Obviously, every different type of sea creature was evolved to move quickly through the water for survival reasons, but he just couldn’t wrap his head around the science of it. He was an author after all, he was never good with science in school.
The feeding wrapped up after a while, but Stanley and Nigel stood there for just a little bit longer.
As Stanley realised cartoons lied to him about horses laughing - well, at least he assumed so since his GlueTube research didn’t bring any results, Stanley decided that it was time to see if his soulmate really was his soulmate.
Narrator broke out of the trance of watching the feeding process and looked at Stanley when he heard the TTS voice speak.
[Do horses laugh.]
Narrator blinked two times.
He opened his mouth but then closed it and covered it with his hand.
Did they???? Could they laugh? He felt like the answer was yes but also, was it a trick question? Was it some sort of test?
Narrator took his own phone and wrote ‘Can horses laugh’ in Bling search box. He scrolled a bit and after reading a bit, said:
“So, from what I’m reading, they do show their teeth and I think whinnying kinda mimics a laughing noise but it seems it’s not that exactly? Oh, it also says that they do have a sense of humour and, oh my, it seems they can’t sleep exactly when they stand up! Fascinating, I thought that they did? It says they can’t get to REM stage of sleep and-”
Narrator’s stream of consciousness dried up when he felt a kiss on his cheek.
And then, dumbfounded, he looked at Stanley and felt his ears getting warmer as he watched Stanley mouth some words.
‘You’re so perfect.’
He had to cover his eyes with his hands as he spoke to avoid looking at Stanley’s mushy expression.
“I- Well- Th-thank you, Stanley I really appreciate that compliment-“
He took a sharp breath as he brought his hands back down from his face. Payback. Yes, he would have to get a special kind of payback. Demeanor suddenly turning suave, Narrator leaned close to Stanley and lowered his voice both in pitch and volume.
“You are more than perfect.”
Stanley felt his own face heat up as a blush no doubt spread from his nose to his ears. This wasn’t fair! Truly unfair! He had to turn to hide his expression as well, which caused Nigel to erupt into a cacophony of laughter.
“Got ’cha! Oh I would say you should see the look on your face, but I do believe you’ve already seen it on mine.”
Revenge. A dish best served as a side to love.
But, of course, it wasn't as good as the main dish.
They were about to leave the spot when the diver seemed to start swimming up. Stanley quickly raised both of his hands high and waved at the man.
To their surprise, the diver noticed it and waved back.
As they disappeared, Narrator watched how Stanley finally unfroze and lowered the hands and started to jump in place, at first softly, and then started moving his forearms, just to end with looking at Narrator and pointing at the glass.
Someone stared at them but, Narrator just shot them a quick death gaze and warmly smiled once again at Stanley.
"Yes, Stanley, I saw it, I was there, good job, you got noticed by them!"
Stanley, who had stopped jumping while Narrator spoke, had the biggest smile the latter man had ever seen plastered across his face. He even began to do some sort of quiet clapping. It was charming, and seeing Stanley so happy, so joyous even, warmed Narrator to the very core.
He ended up taking Stanley’s hands- after he was done with his little clapping thing of course- and warming them in his own; act slowly evolving into a sort of odd slow waltz.
Stanley himself didn’t exactly know how to dance it properly so, at first, he let Narrator guide him.
His right arm was straightened while Narrator put the left one on his own shoulder. Nigel’s hands somewhat mirrored the gestures, with the only difference being that his right hand rested on Stanley’s back.
Narrator first moved his left foot to the front and then took three steps back as Stanley followed his every move. At first, he kept missing the right timing, having to do either two quick steps or a bigger one to keep up with his partner but, after a while, as they were on their fourth cycle, he corrected his grip and let himself make the moves on his own. It wasn’t perfect, the tempo kept constantly changing as he kept trying to avoid stepping on Narrator’s shoes.
However, that didn’t really matter - not to Narrator, not to Stanley. Maybe to the people walking around them it did but the pair was too into the moment to really focus on that.
After a short while though, it seemed that Stanley completely got the hang of the dance, only slipping up once or twice as he listened to Narrator’s soft humming, helping him get the movement just right. They kept swirling around, smiling at each other. As Stanley felt more confident, he looked into Nigel’s eyes, as they reflected the blues of their surroundings, as he wondered if he was seeing themselves in them or just was getting lost in how beautiful his dance partner was.
As they both started to feel a bit tired, they finished off the dance with first Narrator spinning Stanley around in his arms and then, Stanley returned the gesture.
But, just one spin wasn’t enough for the man so, he spinned Narrator again, and then again, and then just one more and a half because the man hit the glass window, making Stanley cover his own mouth and quickly go to check on the older man.
Narrator really had a day full of concussions but he didn’t really mind that, if it meant that his soulmate would keep on softly touching him and checking if he was alright.
He groaned as he got his bearings once again, but Stanley was still hovering over him. Checking for an actual concussion, no doubt. After a few seconds, however, it seemed that everything was ok and Stanley backed up.
‘Sorry.’
Narrator tilted his head.
“What do you mean, Stanley? What do you have to be sorry for?” His voice was incredulous, but still warm. On the verge of a laugh, perhaps.
It was Stanley’s turn to tilt his head.
‘I twirled you into the glass?’
“Oh, that. I don’t blame you for that.” Narrator looked around to see that there were most definitely people staring at the two of them, and his features swallowed into a glower.
Conversely, Stanley’s face turned up in confusion.
Once Narrator saw Stanley’s expression, he quickly glanced back at the crowd and gave them one last stare before relaxing his furrowed eyebrows. He bent to the front and and, using his hands as support, he started standing up. He didn’t exactly plan the movement though since his head soon hit Stanley’s abdomen, making him lose a bit of balance. To quickly regain it, Narrator put his hands on the stomach’s sides and shoved himself backwards, making himself hit the glass once again.
When he realised Stanley, instead of being a sweetheart he had been most of the time, decided that this time he would not only snicker at Nigel but also, clap his lap and then point at the older man.
The audacity!!! Narrator just gave someone a death stare for them judging his and his partner’s fun and this was a ‘thank you’ he was given?
He gave Stanley a pouty expression but when he saw that only threw Stanley further into the laughing spiral so, he quickly dropped the act, took Stanley by his wrist and stormed out of the section, getting them into the next section - the open seas.
As they passed the entrance there, Narrator finally dropped Stanley’s wrist and turned to face the man.
Stanley was brushing his finger on his eye to clean up the last tear and then once he noticed Nigel staring at him, he smiled.
“It seems you’ve been falling for me plenty lately.”
Stanley saw Nigel’s expression switch from one of exasperation to one of shock and awe as both men processed what had just happened. Stanley had spoken. Not just a single word, or a staccato marked phrase either, but a full sentence. Neither of them could believe it.
Stanley put a hand to his throat, looking down in wonder as he did so. He even let out a wheezy chuckle as he looked back up at Nigel, who was…crying again? Stanley tilted his head to the side as his face changed into an unreadable expression of affection and care, perhaps mixed with a bit of worry. Was Nigel okay? Stanley stretched out his hand that had already moved prior towards Nigel’s face.
Narrator’s shoulders shook as he leaned into Stanley’s hand. This was the most momentous of momentous occasions. He had just gotten to hear his Stanley’s voice, in an actual sentence, for the first time ever. He had gotten to hear his soulmate’s raspy tenor tone pronounce each word in a cadence shockingly similar to his own. Maybe his thought about lending Stanley his own voice was more truth than he had thought originally. The first sentence wasn’t anything dramatic either, no big orchestral movement. It was a joke. About falling, and by extension, about Narrator’s own clumsiness. Narrator felt his face turn up into a smile. It was perfect. That first sentence encaptured Stanley perfectly.
Stanley though, was for a moment oblivious for how important this moment was for both of them - he could only think how Nigel still was crying and hadn’t responded to him yet, which felt a bit uncharacteristic for the man.
After all, he was The Narrator - wait, actually, narrators did stop talking when there was dialogue, right? It depended on the audiobook and- focus, Stanley, focus!
Your date is crying, he had been leaning onto your hand, what’s his body temperature? It feels a bit cold but - oh, oh no it’s just your too warm fingers, so that’s not useful to know at all. What if he hurt his head too much and now won’t talk anymore? What if I won’t be able to ever again hear his laugh or his Being Encyclopedia Mode? What if-
“Stanley, you talked.”
The younger man looked at Narrator’s face, watched the man blink and then looked to his side to watch one turtle slowly swim up higher and higher, soon disappearing from his sight of view.
He then gazed upon the wrinkly face and blinked very slowly once, twice, three times, his brain cogs clearly needing some oiling.
Narrator knew what Stanley’s dumbfounded expression meant and chuckled, which soon started changing into a giggle that in the end, evolved into a guffaw so strong, Narrator tried to cover his mouth to silence out a bit of the sound.
Stanley didn’t exactly understand what was going on exactly but hearing the other man laugh made his anxieties disappear. Watching the other man just let himself laugh felt like a reward for something and well, when his own act of talking a whole sentence registered to him, he himself started audibly laughing - or well, wheezing. Coughing unfortunately got in the way again just like before, this time however it wasn’t as bad.
Soon, it subsided and Stanley was back to his normal state yet, Narrator was still coming back from all the laughing. Once he opened his teary eyes and saw Stanley looking at him, he smiled.
“Stanley, no matter how many more years I would yearn and make love stories, I could never come up with something as beautiful as this. Sure, I was waiting for this daaaaaa- meeting, and we had already been spending time but I would have never expected us to not only share so many laughs but also dance and for you to already let me hear more of your wonderful voice.
I was ready to hear the first full sentence later in the year, upmost in like a month or so but here we are! And it was perfect, it was just, it was you! Stanley, you can’t imagine just how much joy you bring me in life, how I wait for another Stanley Special, how just - you, how you make me feel. Stanley, I cannot wait to see what you wrote in that mysterious envelope and as much as I adore planning and making deductions, you are just always bringing something unexpected in my life. And I would have never thought how exactly that, that spontaneous nature of yours would make me fall in love.”
That was quite the speech. It was in-character, Stanley supposed, and it was sweet. So so sweet. He smiled. Love, falling and all things romance were foreign to the both of them, and yet this was familiar in a way neither one had known an experience could be.
A cry from a child snapped Stanley out of his thought process, causing him to blink and fumble for his phone.
[That was a beautiful speech.]
Narrator’s face softened, even farther than it already had.
“Thank you, Stanley. I think it’s time we leave this section, hmm? As much as I love being with you, I don’t want to be in this aquarium all day.”
Stanley nodded and soon enough, they were in the last part of the exhibition - penguins.
The younger man marched right past the educational boards and went quickly to the first glass window and instantly stopped as he saw no penguins in. He turned to face Narrator who playfully shook his head as he noticed his partner staring and just returned to reading the information plates.
Not really feeling in the mood for joining the activity, Stanley came closer to the glass and looked again. As expected, nothing had changed in the past 10 seconds so, Stanley started to wonder if maybe the exhibition was closed or something.
Realising that if that were the case, there would be something written anywhere - which meant that Narrator would have told him already since he was a quick reader - and since it weren’t, this only meant one thing.
Penguins were having a secret party that nobody got invited to.
Of course that was the solution and the truest answer to this thing, not that the penguins were asleep or just hiding -nah, there was some disco party.
It made sense since together with Nigel they showed the world their amazing dancing skills - penguins couldn’t do anything but start preparations for the showdown of the century.
Pleased with this absurd theory, he came over to his partner and he quickly typed a message.
[We cannot let Kowalsky win the disco fight.]
Nigel’s face immediately scrunched up in confusion. It made Stanley smile.
“Wh- What? Whatever do you mean, Stanley?” The older man asked incredulously, eyebrow raising a few centimetres.
Stanley sighed, and bent over his phone to type his explanation.
[The penguins aren’t here. Obviously, they are preparing for a super-secret dance battle, after they saw our own skills.]
It took a moment for all that to register with Narrator, but when it did he practically bent over in laughter.
Seeing such a reaction made Stanley feel so proud of himself - this was exactly what he wanted to achieve with all his crazy talk, with his silly ideas, with just some nonsense getting out of his mind - to make someone smile.
Especially someone that kept bringing a smile to his own face, too.
He grinned as watched Narrator put one of his hands on abdomen and the other one on the wall in the act of giving himself any support. It seemed to not work well since he kept lowering himself, one of the knees touching the ground, face touching the wall, making the glasses slide up higher and with some delay following the motion of everything else.
While the visual part of the scene was wonderful, sound added more spark to everything - the incomprehensible mumble of words constantly stopped by wheezes and cackles as Nigel was trying to regain his composure but failed with each new breath that just added more power to the laughing machine.
And Stanley adored it.
Finally, finally, Nigel got out something that wasn’t intelligible. Well, first he stood back up to his full height and centred his glasses on his nose, but still.
“A- A dance battle? ” He almost collapsed into giggles once more, but maintained his composure this time. Narrator brought a hand up to his mouth to stop another onslaught of laughter as Stanley nodded vigorously.
“I- I must say, your imagination is like no no other.”
Just like there was no one like Nigel.
Stanley, in response, just grinned and did an over the top bow and let himself stay in the position for a moment. As he wanted to straighten his back, he started hearing soft, quick clapping noises and opened one eye to see the other man’s fingers bounce quickly off each other.
Truly, there was no other like him.
As the claps stopped, Stanley quickly typed a message and let it play.
[Of course, the shrimps must have told them! They not only fry some rice, they also gossip a lot! Have you seen their little eyes? Those are some spies stare, I tell you!]
“Stanley, you’re telling me that shrimp fry rice?” Nigel raised an eyebrow. “Well, I have to add that fact to my Shrimp Fact Collection!”
Stanley tilted his head, almost prompting Nigel to continue. He found it endearing how the man’s eyes practically lit up at the encouragement. It seemed his message got across without the need for words.
“You want to know what facts I have so far?” Narrator continued, ecstatic to share, when Stanley nodded. “Did you know that the Peacock Mantis Shrimp is not a peacock, mantis, or a shrimp? It’s actually a crustacean, closer related to a crab! What next? Oh! Shrimp lifespans vary wildly from species to species, with some species living almost six years!
Hmmmm…Ah, yes of course! When you first think of shrimp, you think small, yes? Well, some are rather large! In fact! One invasive shrimp species, the tiger shrimp, can grow to be as long as a human male forearm! Shrimp are also omnivores, eating both plants and animals!”
Stanley kept nodding and stroked the chin through Narrator’s speech, making very exaggerated thinking expressions. Some of the words sticked to him, some flew out of his head but one thing kept constantly popping in his mind -
Narrator was just as dorky as him.
So of course, he would answer Stanley’s smart question he just typed on his phone and let it play.
[Who would win a fight though, a tiger or a tiger shrimp?]
Narrator looked at Stanley, looked at the glass, with no signs of penguins even existing in the first place and then looked back at the other man.
“In what sort of fight?”
Stanley only raised one of his eyebrows and smirked in response. Narrator stared at the other man, seeming to wait for anything else but when he realised this was all he would get, he straightened his posture, came over to Stanley and whispered in his ear:
“You mean an Ultra Disco Rice Frying Fight of the century?”
Bingo.
Narrator leaned back again, unconsciously mimicking Stanley’s pose by putting his own hand on his chin. You could practically see the gears turning in his brain.
“Well, first of all, would the battle take place on land or in water? The tiger shrimp would suffocate on land, but the tiger would drown in the water. Much less the problem of neither of them having opposable thumbs.”
Stanley had a spark in his eyes, like he was about to burst out laughing.
Yet, he had to know just how further in could they go in.
[Tigers are actually good swimmers so they wouldn’t drown that easily, my dear Watson. And while shrimps can’t survive long, they could quickly mass attack the tiger, letting them win.]
“Those are some fair points, Stanley, but you should realise that a whole army of shrimps, even as powerful as they are with their frying rice powers, could be overpowered by just one single bite! Do you know, Stanley, that tiger’s bite force is six times stronger than humans? People associate lions with power but even their bites are two times weaker than tigers!”
[So what you are telling me is that you are team tiger.]
“No, I mean maybe, I mean- Stanley, you cannot just make me choose without letting me know the conditions! Is there a storm so strong that the land overflows and shrimps can survive, does the tiger have a ski mask, is, is, is -oh what are we doing, Stanley!” Narrator couldn’t keep a straight face seeing how Stanley had to rest on the other man's shoulder, not being able to take anything more after the ski mask comment.
The way Stanley was laughing, the way his shoulders were shaking and the way he had to bring a finger up to his eye to wipe away a tear, caused Narrator’s heart to flutter. The man was adorable . At this point, he didn’t even care if that was weird to think. A few chuckles emerged from his mouth too, causing the passerby to stare yet again.
What a weird couple they were, he thought. Talking about the logistics of tigers and shrimp fighting each other. Staying at the aquarium until…
What time was it?
Stanley, even through teary eyes, saw Nigel look at his watch then felt him tense.
[What is it?]
“Ah, well. As much as I wish this…date would never end, it’s getting rather close to the aquarium’s closing time.”
Stanley stared at him blankly, then looked at his phone screen and - yep, just like Narrator said, they had around 30 minutes before closing time.
Which meant that they had been there for 5 hours.
‘Impossible.’
“Oh, Stanley, it is not only possible, it’s a fact and truth. And while I do enjoy this I think we should-”
[We just got here. It’s too soon.]
Narrator looked at the other man at first with confusion but when he saw his genuinely sad expression, he felt his heart ache.
Narrator quickly understood what Stanley meant by ‘too soon’ - all the times the younger man had to focus on work and couldn’t message him anymore, all the times they just couldn’t say goodnight without a desperate try to find a topic just to keep talking for a bit longer, all the times they just couldn’t break the last touch before he watched Stanley’s back get further and further away, all the times they video called on Stanley’s breaks and the 15 minutes passing in just a blink-
“It’s never enough.” Narrator said under his breath.
‘Never enough.’
Hearing the sploshing sound, they turned to see that two of the penguins showed up and started to swim around in their pond.
They both didn’t exactly understand but somehow, that view mattered to them so much but they just couldn’t say a word for a moment, focusing on the view in silence.
One of the two penguins dove under the water, causing the other to look around for where their partner had gone. But all the while, the diving one had never left, it simply had gone out of view. When the one who dove under the waters resurfaced, there was much celebration and joy from the one who had not.
What a short attention span these penguins had, Stanley thought. How silly they were. Their partner was right there, no matter what! How could they not see that? The water was clear enough.
But that’s the magic of being an outside observer. Things seem plain to the observer that may not be plain to the ones being observed.
Narrator had been turning over an idea in his mind the moment he realized that their time together was running out. But to say it would be to spoil the moment, or would it. He took a breath, and softly started to speak.
“Stanley?”
Stanley’s attention was grabbed immediately, looking away from the penguins and towards Nigel. He made a strange little hum indicating he was listening.
“Well, I just thought,” Nigel continued, his eyes darting all around Stanley’s face, “Why end here? There are other places we could go, no? Why not go…well, let’s see…out for dinner?”
Stanley blinked a few times, only then realising how that was a brilliant idea - the two dates before this one, they often just stayed in one place and with how the talk went, they had to part their ways. He didn’t know how they had never done so before but, feeling his stomach rumble made him realise just how long it had been since both of them had eaten anything.
Before he could answer though, Narrator started talking again.
“I, I actually thought of proposing for today earlier but I didn’t know what hour to get a reservation for us, especially since time seems to bend when you are around. And well, I do not know exactly what food do you like and if you would like some things I did and just, I felt so nervous Stanley, I don’t know why, I just couldn’t bring myself to ask but, but I do want to keep the date going, to keep spending time with you and having your attention focused on me, being able to be close and just talk about anything and everything, it’s, it’s, gosh Stanley maybe I am a bit too hungry since I am just rambling and talking and talking and please make me shut up-”
And Stanley did.
With a kiss.
Narrator could see how the penguins put their heads together, with their backs exposed to him, not letting the man see exactly what they were doing.
That didn’t really matter to him however - it was the warmth on his lips, the hand on his arm, the feeling of hair on his forehead - it was those little things, those details that made him close his eyes and focus on it, on Stanley, on them.
After a moment though, the kiss was broken.
But, the hand that was on the arm was now enveloping Narrator’s.
[Let’s go.]
Before they could leave that section of the exhibition, Narrator walked in Stanley, not noticing the man stopped walking.
“What is it, Stanley?”
[We won the disco battle.]
A bright laugh rang through the air as Narrator’s head snapped back. The smile was apparent on his face when he finally looked back at Stanley. Complete and utter adoration was mirrored between the two.
“That we did.” Narrator responded, squeezing the hand of his Stanley tightly, which made something crinkle in his jacket’s inside pocket. “Oh?”
He took his hand away from Stanley’s for just a second to check his pocket. Stanley, however, knew exactly what had made that noise.
[Oh, right! I guess, since this part of the date is over, you can read the letter now.]
Narrator pulled the blue envelope out of his pocket, now crumpled a bit from falls and dances. Through all of this he had completely forgotten about the envelope Stanley had given him at the start.
He looked towards Stanley, stalling for time. “Should I…?”
[Go on, open it.]
Stanley’s smile was apparent on his face, though it was masking a bit of nervousness. What if he didn’t like it? Stanley was never a good writer; Nigel was the award-winning-author here!
Stanley was jolted from his thoughts by a small gasp from his date. He looked up to see Nigel covering his mouth with his hand, fighting back tears of joy as he read the poem Stanley had written.
The first time I looked through your eyes
World felt different, alien, blurred
But I’m glad I quickly had have realised
How much of a blessing that was
Now, you share your world with me
Your ideas, thoughts and dreams
But I can touch you, hear you and see
How wonderful your face looks in pinks
I hope as I share myself with you
You feel as blissful and happy as I do
But if not, that’s alright, mon dieu
How could I be mad for that when I love you
I love you like the sun loves the moon
Like the day and night; evening and afternoon.
I love you like the ocean loves the shore
Always together, never truly far
And although we never have enough time together
I hope, that one day, you will truly be mine forever
And the need for more time will melt away
We’ll see each other at the end of each night; the start of each day
You are an author, but right now dear I am a poet
Although my meter may be wonky
And my rhymes may not quite work
It shouldn’t matter, should it?
The ending may approach
but the love we share has no end
Each end of a day a new beginning
Each goodbye leading to a hello
All I have to say at the end of this little poem
Is what I have already said before
Yet cloaked in simile and metaphor
Perhaps the message is not known
I love you I love you I love you
I love you I love you I love you
“It’s… It’s wonderful Stanley, thank you.”
Stanley waited a moment but not hearing anything else made him feel a bit disappointed. He had spent a good chunk of the last month reading more about poetry making and reading his favourite ones and asking his friends and coworkers for theirs. He still had a whole stack of papers laying in his flat full of previous versions and his typical handwriting and attempts in cursive and different lettering techniques and all that was for that ‘wonderful, thanks’ and a soft expression. For sure, Stanley did enjoy both but it just felt a bit-
“Stanley, you can’t believe how much this means to me.”
Stanley felt his heartbeat fastening.
“You told me multiple times that you are a fan of my work and I have to say, I wonder if you wrote things yourself and I, I cannot believe I never asked before. For sure, like every creation, this one could get even more refined but to think you spend time to write it for me, to think that you, you, pardon me-” Narrator took his material handkerchief and quietly cleaned off his tears and nose, “-where was I, ah yes, the metaphors of lovely nature pairs, of how just like me, you want to spend more time together and to sometimes not say a goodbye, how you understand it Stanley, you get it, you feel, you know how much I want to hold you constantly and how sometimes the house feels empty when I am unable to talk to you, how I long for your smile and how I feel warm but also, gosh Stanley, you call me the author but you are author too, of this, you make my heart sing tales about you and about your hair, about your hands, about another goofy thing you will come up with, another one of your lovely stares, and how this, all this, how you refer to me as your God - unless you wanted to write mon cheri but that’s not important- how, how-”
“I love you.”
Narrator covered his mouth again, not quick enough though to hide the sob
“I love you too Stanley, you can’t even-you can’t imagine just how much you mean to me, just how much affection I feel towards you, how I sometimes still wonder if this isn’t just a dream but as I said before - you are more than I could ever wish for.
I love you Stanley, I lo-”
Narrator quickly put his hands on stomach, to try to hide the rumbling sounds.
“Pardon me, Stanley, it does seem that my stomach had catched up and heard that dinner proposition from earlier. I know that around here is a fine Italian restaurant but there are some others around, too. Would you give me the pleasure and join me?”
Stanley extended a hand towards Nigel as he nodded. Narrator found himself staring into his soulmate’s hazel eyes and found them staring right back.
Slowly, Narrator took Stanley’s hand.
The raspy tone of Stanley’s voice seemed to be getting stronger as he spoke more.
“Of course. Let’s go, dear.”
—
jimothy: oi man, want to do sth together tomorrow?
stabley: Today is date day, what bout Sunday?
jimothy: :o
jimothy: : D
jimothy: yesss sire, stajim tiiiiime finally
jimothy: dancing_cat.gif
stabley: I’m so hyped tho dude, we will go to museum and eat dinner and go on one book author meeting he really wanted to see
jimothy: hold your horses man aint that a lot to do on one date
stabley: fuk u man
jimothy: >:)
jimothy: i still can’t believe u thought you could only do one task at the same time
stabley: :I you could have told me man
jimothy: it was too funny
jimothy: will u give him the new poem too?
stabley: Ye ye, I have it here in a new envelope
jimothy: extra steps
jimothy: i like that
jimothy: have fun man!
stabley: thx, and typical time on Sunday?
jimothy: >:) heck ye
stabley: alright, gtg
Jimothy: ask if he wants to join
Stanley saw Nigel coming over and noticed a yellow envelope in his hand, matching the colour of the handkerchief tucked in his front pocket.
Once the older man was close enough, Stanley couldn’t help himself and said:
“I’m glad I’ve fallen in love with you.”