365 Days of Starshipping (Part 2)

Seal Exhibit

11/13/19

Outside, they got to see all the animals they'd seen inside in the water, but this time they were out on land and doing their own thing. Judai was quick to make a few more jokes about the penguins when they ended up seeing them first again, but didn't stay too long doing it as only one or two were actually out of the water right now.

Yusei found himself really liking the seals next, though. He'd never gotten a close look at them, and they'd timed it once again on accident where they got there right when the caretakers fed them, so they were active and out doing tricks both in and out of the water for everyone to see in order to get food. They were just so... squishy looking? Like pillows, and they just looked so happy.

"You like seals, huh?" Judai noted a while after, seeing as they were still sitting in the little viewing area for that part of the exhibit - it was shaded and the show had ended a few minutes ago so lots of people had cleared out, but Yusei had really wanted to watch them interact with each other more and waddle around on land after jumping out of the water.

Yusei tore his gaze off the two seals currently flopping around and looking incredibly happy, giving Judai a sheepish smile, "I guess I do. I've never seen them so close before, just far out in the water - I never realized just how... big they are."

"Yeah, they're pretty cute with all that blubber, aren't they?" Judai agreed, hitting the nail on the head pretty easily and causing him to smile even wider in sheepishness, "Aw come on, don't be embarrassed. Honestly, that fat of theirs is the breaking point for whether a person loves seals or hates them."

"I don't see how anyone could hate such a happy looking animal."

"I'm sure plenty of them have legitimate reasons, but you know as well as I do that some people just suck."

"True enough..."

They stayed a little while longer until both of the seals that were still up on land decided they wanted to go swim around in the water to play, which effectively made the exhibit pretty much empty. Thus they moved on, looking at a few other animals until they finally got to one specific area that had Judai lighting up with a grin, which meant that whatever this was would be either awesome or make Yusei want to hold his head and sigh in exasperation.

"Ooh, we finally found it!" Judai cheered, pulling him over eagerly and tapping at his hand quickly once they were next to the edge of the raised pool of shallow water, "Yusei, take off your glove for this - it's time to pet sting rays!~"

Sure enough, a quick glance at the pool revealed that there were several sting rays swimming around the edge next to the wall, bodies waving in ripples as they went. There were a few other people there, all sticking their hands into the water and carefully running two fingers along the backs of the sting rays as they went by.

Well, it seems safe enough, Yusei mused, doing as Judai asked and tugging his glove off as he continued to observe the rays with interest, They wouldn't have it here if it wasn't, at least.

Besides, he didn't call himself a daredevil for nothing - he had a reputation to keep here and doing this was hardly nerve-wracking to him; it was just a bit odd to him that anyone had looked at a sting ray, known how badly they could get injured by their stingers, and thought 'Hey! Let's pet it!' like it was perfectly safe and normal to pet a wild animal.

"Here, I'll do it first. You just do it nice and soft, barely skimming the back in the middle with two fingers," Judai explained, waiting for a ray to come around and pass in front of him before reaching in and doing just that. He turned to him with an encouraging smile after, shaking his hand off a little bit as he continued, "See, easy as that!"

Yusei hummed with a slight shrug before doing it himself, seeing that a ray was about to pass by again, and startled just a little bit at the feel, "They're... oddly soft but slimy. I thought it'd be rough or something."

"I thought that the first time too, but nope! Kinda cool, isn't it?" Judai agreed, reaching back in again next to him as they both pet the next one that came by. They shared a look and chuckled quietly with each other, doing it a few more times before finally having enough of it and going to wash their hands at the nearby sinks.

"I'm still curious as to why anyone would think to pet a sting ray, but it was fun," Yusei said, grinning when he accidentally flicked a little water and soap at Judai and got a playful glare in return, "Oops."

"It's like you want a repeat of that one time we did the dishes together and I let you wash them instead of drying them," Judai stated, raising an eyebrow at him, "My poor kitchen was water-logged."

"I'm not the one who took a handful of water and chucked it at me," Yusei defended, drying his hands and making sure not to get Judai with any water droplets in the process.

"You started it by flicking water at me."

"Touche."

There wasn't actually much left for them to see after that, so thirty minutes later they found themselves back at the beginning, deciding to forgo re-visiting anywhere and just head home. They had to stop and check out the shop first though, of course, since it just wouldn't be a complete outing if they didn't find something to commemorate Yusei's first time going to the aquarium.

Judai's words, not his, but Yusei was quite happy when they both saw the massive harp seal plush that was pretty much a body pillow at that point and Judai didn't even have to ask to pick it up and bring it to the register to check out.