A Date to the Zoo

Abbie noticed the blush on Joseph's face, wondering to himself if it was even possible for the demon to be any more endearing. He swung his hand with his date's and started leading him to the reptile exhibit.

"Yeah I think they're cool too. Snakes are actually my favorite animals. I like how they're powerful and feared and yet they don't have any limbs or anything like that. I think it's pretty remarkable. Plus they're very... what's the word... adroit creatures. Everything they do is done with precision." He smiled down at Joseph. "Sorry if I ramble." He apologized lightheartedly.

They walked up to the big building with large letters labeling it as the reptile house, as well as a few sculptures of snakes, lizards, and frogs decorating the area around the location, tropical like plants and vines lining the area as well. It was clearly a popular attraction.

Joseph smiles listening to Abdullo talk about the reptiles, he likes hearing about what he knows about them. He finds his knowledge comforting to him, since he wasn't very smart himself on these things, and plus, even if he was he loves the company.

"Whoa really?" He smiles bigger. "Yeah I've seen a few snakes but I always had to get rid of them so they didn't get to our food... But I always thought it was cool how they slithered around!! I don't really know a lot about them like you do though." He laughs softly. "And I like it when you ramble." He gives Abdullos hand a little squeeze then looks up at him.

Joseph looks at the reptile house once it comes in vision, a big grin on his face. He takes in all the details, wondering what a few things are. Hes also never seen the tropical plants around it, and appreciates their beauty.

Abdullo looked down at Joseph while they waited in the line of people crowding in and out of the reptile house.

"Hehe good, but if I ever get annoying just tell me okay? My brother always jokes around that I should write a book or something so only people who give a shit will have to listen to me." He laughs.

"I'm sorry Joseph, I'm sure you probably all ready told me this... but my mind is drawing a huge blank. When and where did you live on Earth?" He asked, feeling kind of bad he didn't remember. He was almost positive Joseph had told him all ready but it was slipping his mind.

He placed his free hand in his pocket, subconsciously getting a tiny bit insecure because his hand that was holding Joseph's was getting a little sweaty. What if that really grossed Joseph out? Yeah it was a hot day but he still cursed in his head that it was happening. His mind swirled around in insecurities, stressing about it more then he should have. He wiggled his fingers between Joseph's, his cheeks hot.

Joseph's smile grows as he listens to Abdullo talk, again, finding his voice nice and relaxing.

"I really like hearing you talk!! You're so smart and interesting and your voice I think is really nice and deep and I like it a lot!" He blushes and laughs. "Your brother sounds funny." Nods his head a couple times, thinking that he would like to meet him soon.

"Oh!! Well! I lived in Prussia and it was a.. uh.. A long time ago." He feels slightly nervous about telling Abdullo his technical age again, because the last time he was really shocked. "But yeah.. Around the 1700s." He blushes, wondering to himself why he told him that again. "I mean it wasn't the exact 1700s I mean it was pretty late, then again I don't even know for sure what year I was born because we didn't keep track of things like that when I was alive, so I'm really not completely sure at all because its really confusing and I'm sorry for not knowing that well I mean I kind of do but" He continues on in a flustered ramble, blushing brightly.

Abdullo smiled, glad to hear all the compliments Joseph was giving him. He was the kinda guy that could both give and receive compliments really well. He decided to stop stressing about his palm and solve the matter by simply letting go of Joseph's hand and wrapping his around Joseph's waist, pulling him in close so their hips were touching.

"Oh that's right I remember now. Tell me more about your home in Prussia Joseph, if you want." He said, the little smile never leaving his lips. He caressed his thumb up and down Joseph's hip bone as he listened, walking them closer to the building in the slow moving line.

Joseph blushes when Abdullo wraps his arm around him, and in return he wraps his arm around Abdullos waist as well. He leans his head on the tall angels shoulder again. He loves being this close to him.. His mind wanders to what Abdullo would look like with out a shirt.. Without any clothes for that matter. His blush brightens.

"Well~ It was really nice, I think. My dad had a little church there actually.. I mean, only a few people came.. And it was kind of in our house.. but.. It was nice. I fished a lot for my family because there was a lake around our house. I knew the best spots." He nods his head a couple times, agreeing with himself. "My mom was really sweet too."

Abdullo rested his head on top of Joseph's, glad that the water demon had moved in closer. He listened to Joseph's words, imagining the life he must have had.

"That sounds really nice." He said softly. "What kind of church did your father run? My parents were both Muslim but I'm not really anything specific myself." He said, still rubbing his thumb against Joseph's hip.

"Did you like fishing?" He asked as well. He'd never gone fishing before but it was something he'd always wanted to try. "Because if so then maybe one of our next dates that's what we can do." He suggested, really loving Joseph's company.

Joseph gets a little churning in his stomach from Abdullo rubbing his hip, the same hip that has the scarred branding on it. Everytime he looks in the mirror he tries to cover it, because looking at it made him sick to his stomach. It makes him remember. It scares him.

"Yeah it really was.. And he ran a baptist church I think.. I wasn't around for a lot of what he said. I was working most of the time. Yeah.. I don't think I'm really religious though." He moves his head so that his cheek is resting on Abdullos shoulder instead of the side of his head, making himself more comfortable.

"Yeah! I really liked fishing!!" He nods his head, thinking back. He realizes he hasn't gone fishing in a very long time.. He doesn't even know how to use the modern rods. "You think you wanna?" He laughs softly. "I'll probably be as new as you at it.. I have no idea how to use the rods... But.. I really think that would be fun if you wanted to do that." He smiles as he talks.

Abdullo's eyes widened a little.

"Baptist? Really?... Wow I hope you don't take offense to this but I would have never guessed you came from someone who ran a baptist church." He said, genuinely surprised to hear this.

"Ah well, I've never gone fishing but it's always something I've wanted to try. We didn't have a lot of good places where I lived though. It was mostly desert there. And for the record I vote that if we do, we do it the old fashion way, like how you used to do it." He suggested with a smile as they finally were able to walk into the building.

A wave of cool air breezed over them from finally entering into a place that had AC. It was a darker building, with lots of different snakes, lizards, frogs, and even turtles in lighted exhibits.

Joseph looks up and Abdullo and nods his head, smiling. He didn't get what he was implying about baptist people, but then again even if he did he wouldn't understand it.

"Yeah~ I mean I didn't really go to all his preaches and stuff so I don't know a lot about it but.. I guess my parents were pretty religious huh?" He smiles bigger, his tail wrapping around Abdullos elbow and hanging off it loosely.

"Wow... Desert? My friend told me about those but.. I've never seen one in person. Where I lived it was mostly forest and stuff like that. And I think the old fashioned way would be awesome!! Though it wasn't the easiest... I usually used my moms sewing strings and just tied it to a branch, and when I couldn't find a good one to use I just stepped off a ledge and held it in the water with my hands!!" He smiles, remembering a lot of funny situations he got himself into when he was a kid. Most of them include him falling into the water and having to climb his way up the rocks and out.

Joseph grins when he feels the cool air, his tail wrapping a little tighter around Abdullos arm, then loosening.

"It feels so nice in here!" He wiggles around.

Abdullo pondered this, wondering if Joseph's parents knew he was gay. He didn't think that the zoo was a good place to talk about it though, so he decided to not bring that up.

"Yeah my parents were... mildly religious. They weren't really fanatics about it, and politics were more what they were interested in." He said. "Deserts aren't that great. Just really hot and sandy." He laughed. He loved imagining Joseph back before modern equipment was made, how he would have made due to survive back in that time. It really interested him.

"You know that sounds pretty cool to me." He said, referring to the make shift things the water demon would have to use in order to fish. "I like the simpler things you know?"

He looked down at his arm as he felt Joseph's tail wrap around it, a crooked grin coming to his face. He didn't mind it at all, he thought it was adorable.

"Yeah, definitely." He agreed, looking around the place. "What do you want to see first?" He was perfectly content to let Joseph lead the way.

Joseph nods his head as he usually does when his date talks, listening intently. Politics? He tries to remember that that is... He thinks hes heard it last year but.. Hes not sure. Whatever it is, hes still happy to listen.

"Ooohh.. Well.. Still. I think the world is really interesting.. I wish I could have seen more places you know?" He looks back up at Abdullo, smiling. "I like the simpler things too.. But maybe thats because the other things confuse me huh?" He laughs softly at himself, knowing he gets confused a lot. He looks around the dark exhibit in awe.. Wondering which one they should check out first. He spots a sign that says turtles from across the room and grins, thinking back to the giant snappers where he used to fish. He used to always catch them and take him to his mother, proud of himself, though most of the time it would end up with him getting in trouble.

"Can we look at the turtles?" He says up to Abdullo.

Abdullo put both of his hands in his pockets as they walked around, still happy to have Joseph's cute tail wrapped around his arm. He thought how in his own life he'd never seen anything outside of his home in the Leninabad Province. He too had always wanted to see more. Sometimes as a kid he and his twin brother would climb up some of the large mountains that surrounded Khujand city, trying to see what else was out there. But all they could ever see was the Leninbad land, covered in tree's, the occasional lake, but mostly just rock and dirt.

Once a group of Christian Missionaries from America came to Tajikistan before the government had started to place a ban on such things. One of the members, a young man who Abdullo couldn't quiet remember his name, had befriended him. Though the young Tajik hadn't had much of an interest in getting to know about Christianity, he found the man's life traveling the world to be fascinating. Ironically enough Abdullo had developed a bit of a crush on the Christian Missionary, the first time he ever started wondering if he was homosexual.

"Yeah I always wanted to travel the world too Joseph." He smiled down at the demon. "And don't worry about that, you get the important things in life so that's all that really matters." He laughed, not being able to help but remember the first time Joseph had a ride in his car, and how awestruck and confused the water demon had been. He tried not to laugh when he remember how Joseph had thought he'd broken his window when he rolled it down.

"Of course we can see the turtles. In fact I think they're feeding them around this time." He said, escorting his date towards the turtle section of the building.

Joseph smiles as he tries to rule out what Abdullo means about the important things in life.. What was important to him? His friends for sure. He can't image where he'd be without them.. Hes had a lot of fun times with them. He smiles, thinking of all their faces. Cam, Harper, Maui, X, those are his very best friends. Rachelle is important to him, he knows where he'd be without her, he swallows. His... Lifes important to to him I guess? He tries to think harder, he honestly enjoys everything so its hard for him to think about the things he enjoys most, being those the most important. Abdullo is important to him too, defiantly.

"Yeah.. I guess I have the important things." He nods, still mildy confused. He grins when Abdullo mentions the turtles. "Feeding??" He wiggles around, finally realizing that Abdullo's arm isn't around his waist anymore. He furrows his brow slightly, wondering why his hands are in his pockets now... Maybe its because of the angel woman from earlier.. But he said he didn't mind.. But... He tries to think, and lets his tail uncurl from his dates arm in fear hes uncomfortable.

"Yeah, where the zoo keepers feed the fish to the turtles. It's kinda cool to watch" Abdullo said as he walked. He looked down as Joseph uncurled his tail from his arm.

"Oh hey, I don't mind when you do that Joseph." He said, making sure that the little demon knew, but not wanting to force Joseph if he didn't want to.

Joseph tries to think of the turtles eating the fish at his home in Prussia. He remembers when he saw a bigger of the snapping turtles eat one of his fish that he was pulling up, already on the line. He was so scared he dropped it! For the rest of that week he had to try and catch fish with his hands, and having to bring the same amount of fish home each day, he got pretty good at it. Though he'd probably have a lot of trouble with it now if he tried.

"Whoa.. Yeah I bet!!" He looks up at Abdullo. "Oh.. Are you sure you don't? I wasn't sure.. I probably should have asked." Gives him a small nervous smile.

"Yeah I think it's really cute." He said, offering his arm out again for Joseph's tail.

"Don't worry, I'll tell you if something bothers me okay? But you gotta just promise that you'll do the same for me, deal?" He said, his tone very lighthearted.

They walked up to a large tank filled with a few Alligator Snapping Turtle's. The large 250 pound creatures swam around slowly, eating up the fishes and fruit that was being poured into their tank. Abdullo flipped out his camera phone, snapping a few pictures.

Joseph smiles, happy that Abdullo likes it. His tail gladly wraps back around the tall angel's arm and wrapping around it loosely. He blushes, wanting to already ask Abdullo if they can hang out at one of their houses next. He really wants to watch another movie with him... But this time he can snuggle up against him.. He lets out a dreamy sigh, smiling at his fantasies. He really wants to lay with Abdullo, see his house, meet his brother. He realizes hes getting ahead of himself and blushes brighter.

"Really? Thank you.." He nods his head. "I promise I will." Joseph says as he turns towards the big tank. "Those are... Really big snapping turtles." He looks at them in awe, with a grin on his face.

Abdullo looked over at Joseph, smiling big, holding the camera phone up and taking a picture of his cute date admiring the turtles.

"It says on the sign they've been on Earth for about 20 million years." He said, holding his phone down just a little so Joseph could see his face better. "And since were all dead here there's a pretty good chance that these guys are millions of years old." He mused, his eyes bright as he spoke. He put his phone back in his pocket and pet Joseph's tail again as they looked at the large creatures swim about.

Joseph blushes as soon as he sees the camera get taken out, hes always nervous around them for reasons already explained.

"Millions of years? Thats really a lot!! I.. I can't even imagine being alive that wrong!!" He puts his hands on the glass, looking up at the turtles. "I wonder if they have families, I mean, they must right? How can you go that long without loving someone? What if they haven't seen their family in a long time and they miss them a lot? I wonder if they have kids too and maybe they're looking for them too, or maybe these two are actually together and they have a family too but their babies are in the back because they're still growing, you know? I wonder if they'll be the ones out here like their parents someday an they'll be looked at by someone too and" The demon continues in a ramble, his eyes full of wonder about the turtles.

Abdullo put his hand over Joseph's on the glass, staring at the turtles but listening intently to the demons words. He'd spent a lot of his time studying different types of animals behavior, habitats, facts, all of that. But he never really gave a lot of thought to them having emotions and feelings like humans did. His brow furrowed a little, but a smile rested on his lips, loving the new perspective that Joseph offered.

"Those.... Those are some really good questions Joseph." He said after listening. "I'd never really thought about that before. I mean... I know there are demons and imps that draw roots back to different kinds of animals and reptiles... but I don't really know what goes on with these guys... I hope whatever it is though they're as happy as they can be." He added, genuinely meaning it. It was clear he loved and respected animals from how much he admired them, them being his favorite things to photograph and all.

Josephs heart almost skips a beat when he puts his hand over his, a blush spreading across his face. He thinks this moment is very romantic, he looks over to Abdullo as he talks. The ripples of the water can be seen reflecting on the two through the tank. He stares at Abdullos lips as he talks, he bites his own bottom one, then looks back into his eyes. He listens to his date tell him about the turtles, his tail wrapping around his arm slightly tighter.

"You think so?" He smiles, feeling slightly embarrassed for talking so much, but Abdullo did say he liked it so... I guess it couldn't hurt huh? "I hope they're happy too." He nods his head a little, and looks back at the two giant turtles. He feels a comfort wash over him, because though they aren't the same turtles he saw long ago, they're like bigger versions of them. He smiles and looks back to Abdullo, the light blush still on his cheeks. "Thats really at--" Was about to say attractive, his face turns tomato red as he quickly corrects himself. "Smart that you know all this stuff."

Abdullo continued to let his hand rest against the demons, noting how soft it was, especially for another guy. He really did love Joseph's feminine qualities. Everything about him was attractive to Abdullo honestly. In a way he sort of reminded him of the Missionary he knew long ago. They both had light skin, hair, and eyes. Both were of slimmer build, and had similar voices. Josephs personality was much different though, Abdullo finding him to be the most endearing person he'd ever met.

"Yeah I really do." He said, looking from the tank to Joseph's face, his eyes taking in the demons features. He loved looking at that face and knowing the person behind it. His heart fluttered a little, suddenly wanting to be somewhere alone with Joseph. Somewhere he could lay him down and hold him close, to just feel his body next to his.

He tilted his head a little, catching Joseph catch himself. Not the type of person to try and nose in on people's thoughts though, he just smiled.

"Thank you Joseph." He said, leaning in and kissing the top of his head again.

Joseph turns his hand over to entwine his fingers with Andullo's, smiling. He finds himself looking over Abdullos body, wondering whats under his shirt, is he strong, muscular? He sure does look like it.. Joseph blushes, wondering if he'll find out soon.. He thinks on to when his date sees him without his shirt off.. Will he get freaked out by my scars...? My branding? His stomach twists, really hoping he won't. Joseph already has just.. A need to tell Abdullo things about him but.. He wonders if thats okay.. I mean.. He seems really okay about a lot of things so.. Maybe it would be.. He nods his head subconsciously, making up his mind that he would probably tell Abdullo about his scars sometime.

"No problem.. And.. Yeah..." He blushes again, wondering if he should tell Abdullo he thinks hes attractive.. His thoughts swim around the subject. He decides against it in the end.. Because the result would probably be his date thinking he was weird.

Once their finger's were entwined he let their hands drop down so that they were hanging by their sides.

"Wanna see something else now?" He asked, giving Joseph's hand a tender squeeze. The air conditioned building helped solve the sweaty palm problem, Abdullo actually forgetting he was stressed out about it at all. He was a perfectionist when it came to himself though, and he really wanted to be perfect for his dat.