henriettafoxes:

DO Y’ALL LIKE AQUARIUMS? DO Y’ALL LIKE ANDREIL? BOY HAVE I GOT SOME HEADCANONS FOR U

• so. andrew takes neil to an aquarium for his birthday
• neil has never been to an aquarium before so he’s excited because he loves trying new things and figuring out how to Be Neil Josten and live like a normal person
• andrew likes aquariums bc of some sad reasons involving his childhood in foster homes that we won’t get into rn
• his enjoyment of them has kind of been tainted by his trauma but he thinks that with neil he can learn to love them again and reclaim this thing that used to bring him joy
• so they go to the aquarium
• they do the whole thing, stopping at every single exhibit, beginning to end
• neil loves the penguins and the otters, he thinks they’re funny and he spends almost half an hour in front of their exhibits watching them play
• andrew pretends to be annoyed but lbr he’s just happy to see neil laughing
• andrew likes the shark tunnel, it’s his favorite thing in the whole place, followed by the jellyfish exhibit
• when they’re in the shark tunnel, they stand there and watch the sharks swim above their heads and all around them and andrew just feels so calm watching them swim by
• neil is fascinated by them, and even more fascinated by the look of peace on andrew’s face
• andrew makes them wait there until everyone else is gone, and then he kisses neil in the cool glow of the reflection from the water
• it’s a picture perfect moment
• and then neil takes out his camera (because he is a photographer in canon now THANKS NORA) and takes a picture
• he gets andrew’s face framed by the light of the shark tunnel and it becomes one of his favorite pictures in the world because andrew doesn’t even look annoyed, he’s got that soft just-been-kissed look on his face and he looks so calm
• they hold hands the rest of the way through the aquarium
• they stop and look at the jellyfish for a while, and that’s really calming too because everything is kind of glowing and it’s just quiet and peaceful
• it’s also an off-season day so there aren’t a lot of people around to begin with
• they do that thing with the touch tank where they put their hands in the water to feel the backs of stingrays and neil’s eyes just get wide and he goes “whoa, that’s really cool”
• listen i love neil discovering new things that he loves
• and i love andrew showing him these things and helping him figure out who he is
• so then eventually they get to the end, and to the gift shop
• andrew buys neil some cute penguin merch, and neil insists he can buy it himself but it’s his birthday and this is part of his present
• so neil buys andrew a shark keychain for his car keys, and a shark tooth necklace
• andrew wears it every day after that
• when they’re driving home, andrew takes neil’s hand over the glovebox. neil is smiling and happy and just so bright and he says softly, “thank you”
• andrew responds a few minutes later, and he just says “happy birthday”
• after that, they make it an annual tradition to go to the aquarium on neil’s birthday and andrew replaces his old memories of them with newer, happier ones
• the end
• i love my boys and i love them soft goodnight