Chapter 28: Chapter 28: The Sidekick and the Aquarium (Part 2)

“Ah~ the stingray was so adorable with that little smile on its tummy. Maybe I can order one online somewhere?”

I shook my head at the sheer ridiculousness of her statement. “Somehow I doubt that.”

“Eh, worth a shot,” Rika argued.

It really wouldn’t be, but who was I to crush other people’s dreams? I also thought the stingray was adorable. Not enough to try and snag one off of some black market, but still. On an unrelated note, Bonnie would have enjoyed this. Last year, for about a week straight, she wouldn’t shut up about all the animals she had seen on her school trip to the aquarium. A good portion of her stuffed animal collection was composed of aquatic creatures too, but I couldn’t recall there being a stingray present among them. I’d have to see if the gift store sold something like that. 

“Anything to add, Nora? You’ve been awfully quiet,” I asked, realizing she stopped grumbling a while back.

“Not much. You can still eat shit and die.”

“And there you have it, loyal viewers. ‘Not much. You can still eat shit and die.’ And we’re back to you, Rika. What do you think about what your co-host so eloquently said?”

“I think she better watch her mouth now that we’re going to be around kids,” Rika said.

The glass tunnels finally gave way to brick walls and opened up to a larger room where the fish were contained to the domed ceiling. True to Rika’s word, groups of children and their parents were gathered around the touch tank. The smallest kids stood on stools, reaching over far enough that their parents fretted about them falling into the exhibit. This only encouraged them to stretch out their hands for creatures even farther out of their reach, and I couldn’t help but chuckle.  

Rika had no qualms about immediately rushing over to the touch tank, while we stayed back to observe. It felt like we were on safari, watching Rika roam around in a new, unknown habitat. The adults moved aside for her, most of them amused at her enthusiasm, allowing her to easily reach the tank. If she didn’t tower over those kids, I would have thought she fit right in.

“She’s a big kid…” 

“You read my mind,” I quipped back. “You think we should head over?”

Nora swept her bangs aside. “We better. Before she trips and drowns or something.”

I laughed but wondered whether that was a possibility I should be concerned about. She was known for being a klutz, but surely she was steady enough on her feet not to cause a scene. When kids began clutching onto her sleeves and pant legs, I worried that was not the case.

“Be careful you don’t fall in, dearie.”

An older woman warned Rika, but she could merely give her a thumbs-up in return. This was because her other hand was gripping the edge of the tank so tightly her knuckles had turned white and her arm shook from supporting all her weight. The girl bent over so far that her long hair hung mere centimeters above the water, as she continued to brush her fingertips over a stingray.

“You’re going to fall in!” one of the little girls scolded her. “Wait until the stingray comes closer to pet it.”

That older woman must have been related to her. They looked similar, and both had greatly overestimated Rika’s common sense. 

“I got it. Don’t worry about me,” she replied.

I shook my head. “This is painful to watch.” 

My remark went unanswered since Nora was no longer beside me. She had moved behind Rika and grabbed her around the waist. With a grunt, she managed to haul her away from the touch tank. The kids removed themselves from her, realizing she was no longer a danger to herself, and returned to fawning over the wildlife.

“Any reason in particular you’re doing this?” Rika asked.

“You’re ruining the experience for those brats.”

“I am not. I’m enhancing it.”

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“How do you figure that? They’re so focused on making sure you don’t hurt yourself that they’re losing out on getting to play with the animals,” Nora said.

“Fine, but I want you to know you’re a party pooper. You literally go around pooping at all the parties.”

I caught the woman from earlier approaching us out of the corner of my eye. She struggled to keep her energetic daughter–although it could have been her granddaughter for all I knew–from running off, forced to steer her by the shoulder. It looked like I was correct about the two of them being related, though. Her other hand also fell to the girl’s shoulder, grounding her to the spot in front of us but doing nothing to stop her from bouncing on the balls of her feet. “Hello, sorry to interrupt. Kailey wanted to talk to you, and she won’t settle down.”

“No, by all means, go ahead. It wasn’t like these two were discussing anything useful anyway,” I said. 

The other two weren’t pleased with such an assessment but held their indignation back because of the others around us. 

“Sorry for earlier,” Rika said, addressing the girl. “I got a little too carried away.”

She didn’t seem to care much for the apology. Instead, she slipped out of her mom’s grasp and latched onto the sleeves of Rika’s sweatshirt once more. “C’mon! I’ll show you where the big stingrays are.”

We had already seen the stingrays, but it would be difficult to turn her down. Rika undoubtedly agreed, grinning ear to ear. “That sounds fun. Why don’t you lead the way?”

Her mom gave us a weary smile, her bowed shoulders further making her exhaustion clear. Must have been tough for her dealing with someone who had such limitless energy. At least Rika would be able to keep up with the girl and give her a bit of a break.

I yawned. “We’ll be waiting on the bench for you, Rika.”

“Sounds like a plan. See you in a little bit. Woah”–She tugged back slightly on the girl–“don’t pull me too hard. I don’t want to trip and hurt you.”

Nora and me started over toward the bench. It was a narrow, wooden bench, no backside, and no armrest on either end of it. That wasn’t a problem in and of itself. The real problem was that Nora felt the need to lay across the entire thing, leaving me a tiny space at the edge by her feet. 

“Got enough room?”

“I guess. It’s not too comfortable though.” She pointed up at the glass ceiling. “That one kind of looks like a whale.”

Craning my neck to search for it, I sighed. “That’s because it is a whale. We’re not stargazing.”

Nora looked the part, however, gazing up toward the dome above. One hand rested behind the back of her head, while the other traced the fish like they were constellations. 

“That’s a minke whale if you didn’t know.” 

“I’m impressed,” I said. “You did your research. Must have been pretty excited about coming here, huh?”

“Be quiet. You're just making excuses for being an idiot.”

I laughed but gave in to her request, listening as she listed off the various animals she saw. Half the time, I wasn’t certain whether or not I was even watching the animal Nora was talking about, but that was ok. She was speaking softly, and eventually, I stopped looking. My head lulled to the side as her voice washed over me. 

My eyelids fluttered shut.

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