#I wanna do that at the zoo so bad I hope its not insanely busy

[plushie-lovey]

I'm going to the zoo in about a week!! Literally been saving up a lot of money so I can buy a bunch of plushies at the gift shop

[thank-you-for-the-vampire-money]

LOOK AT THE FISHIES

This is for @soldatbarnes writing challenge!!!  Thank you for letting me participate, love! <3

A/N: also, this is kind of an AU where Chase hasn’t died and he’s settled down with his SO.

Chase Collins x reader

Word count: 1733

Summary: you’ve had a really bad week, so Chase decides to make it better.

Warnings: sad reader, work stress, Chase being a jerk (but he fixes it)

(GIF not mine)

This week had been absolutely AWFUL.  You started out hopeful and optimistic about the new work week and were ready to tackle any task your manager could throw at you!  That was until after lunch on Monday.

You thought you were getting a bunch done!  You had already budgeted out the next couple months, made your reports about expected profits, and even got started on your marketing presentation!  Then you got to your desk and realized… “HOLY SHIT, THESE ARE THE WRONG FILES!”.  You had used the budget for June and switched it with July, accidentally wrote the profits from the holiday season on the spring term sheets, and your computer crashed, getting rid of all your presentation research and company statistics!

Tuesday was no better, you had to get your computer fixed, meet up with your supervisor to turn in your reports for the past quarter, and you had an interview to conduct with a potential new intern.

Your entire job depended on your laptop and the internet, but your computer wasn’t going to be fixed until Monday of the next week!  That meant you’d be struggling with good ol’ pencils and calculators for the next three days.  After that, your train was late and you nearly missed your meeting!  You were over twenty minutes late and your supervisor was not happy.

The interview with the intern was a NIGHTMARE.  It was a punk kid, fresh out of college who thought the world owed him everything… and that he could get in your pants with some disturbing hip gyration and vulgar pick-up lines.  Needless to say, he was not getting that job.

Wednesday was a shit storm.  You had to pick up the slack of your co-worker who was on maternity leave.  Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem…. Except you were still working like a KINDERGARTNER WITH A CALCULATOR!  At this point, you had to start skipping lunch to actually get things done.  And you normally don’t have time for breakfast so you’re only eating a cold dinner when you get home.  That was also the day that your heel got stuck in a vent grate and you nearly got run over by a taxi.

Point is, you had a horrible week and were ready for it to be over.  Luckily, it was finally Friday, seven o’clock, now you were officially allowed to go home.  With how much work you had and how slow you were progressing through it, your boss told you, “it would be in the company’s best interest if you work overtime to get your workload done,”.  You know he didn’t intend to be harsh or mean to you, he was just wanting this busy time to pass smoothly, but it still hurt and frustrated you.

You lugged yourself onto the train, plopping down on the seat with a huff.  You were exhausted, frustrated, and about ready to cry by the time you got home.

You walked the six blocks back to your apartment, your feet aching as your shoes rubbed blisters into your feet.  You opened the door, dropping your things on the floor, kicking off your heels, and plopping down on the couch.  You cringed, remembering you promised your boyfriend/ roommate, Chase, that you would wash the dishes when you got home.

“Welcome home baby,” Chase smiled, quietly walking into the room in his comfy looking pajamas.  You smiled as you saw he was wearing the pajamas you got him last Christmas, the duck ones you got as a joke.  “How was work?” he asked, rubbing your back soothingly.

“I never want to go back,” you groaned, sitting up to take your blazer off, “that weird, creepy coworker, Randy, he wouldn’t stop flirting with me!  I had to yell at him to make him go away, and he got petty and decided to drop another stack of paperwork on my desk!”

“That sounds really sucky, I’m sorry babe,” he sighed, sitting you on his lap as he crawled on the couch, “why don’t you get yourself something to eat, then get to bed, I’ll finish up the chores,”

“You’re the best, baby,”

The next day, you didn’t wake up until almost noon.  You had been waking up at four in the morning for the past couple days and you weren’t getting to sleep until eleven each night, so a good sleep on a full stomach was exactly what you needed.

You wandered into the kitchen, following the wonderful smell of cheap macaroni and cheese.  “Mmm… lunch is ready?” you asked, hugging Chase from behind, resting your head in between his shoulder blades.  He was always so cuddly and soft.

“You betcha!” he smiled, moving your hand so he could kiss your palm, “I know how much you like this stuff, and you’ve been so stressed, so I thought you could use a treat today,”

“You’re wonderful, you know that?” you smiled, kissing his cheek.

After a deliciously cheap meal and a few colas later (burping contest included) Chase wanted to take you out for a “special surprise”.  He insisted you wear comfy clothes and walking shoes because “you’re not wearing that wretched monkey suit to our magical destination!”.  His words, not yours.

You decided to wear some shorts and your favorite Batman shirt, and of course, your high-top converse.  Once you were all ready, you tried walking out the door, but Chase wouldn’t have it!  “You’ve been on your feet enough, I’m carrying you,” he said.  Before you could even protest, he had you on his back and was giving you a piggyback ride to the train.

He took you down to the city and hailed a taxi to take you to your “magical destination”, and that’s when curiosity started to take over…

“So, where are we going?” you asked casually.

“You’ll see,” he smiled, turning to tell the driver where he wanted to go.  And he did so quietly, just so you wouldn’t hear him!  Sneaky little bastard.

“Please tell me?  I just have to know!” you begged like an impatient child.

“You’ll see when we get there,”

You looked out the window, hoping you could guess where Chase was taking you by what you saw.  “Are we going to… the zoo?”

“Kind of,”

“How do you ‘kind of’ go to the zoo?  Do you stand outside the gate?”

No matter how much you guessed, he wouldn’t tell you, and that was really frustrating.  But, you didn’t bug him about it too much, because he was trying to do something nice for you.

“We’re here,” he smiled, paying the cab fare and helping you out of the taxi.  You excitedly looked at the huge building in front of you.  There was a huge gate, decorated with shells and sea creatures, and the facility itself looked like Poseidon's palace!

“The Aquarium!?” you gasped, jumping up and down

“Yeah, I thought this would be fun!” he answered, holding your hand and kissing your cheek.

And it was fun!  Chase showed you the jellyfish exhibit; it was his favorite part.  And then he wanted you to see the turtles!  There was even a tide-pool exhibit where you could pet horseshoe crabs!  You pointed out that they looked like Darth Vader’s face with legs coming out of it.

You were waiting in the bleachers for the dolphin show to start when you noticed Chase wasn’t sitting next to you anymore.  As a little twinge of panic set in, you saw that he was coming back, this time with a big, plastic bag in his hands.  “What’s that?” you asked

“Nothing,” he shrugged.  He was hiding something…

After the dolphin show, you asked if you could pet the stingrays, of course, he agreed.

“It feels like a wet hotdog,” you giggled, brushing your fingers against the back of the sea creature’s body for the third time.

“Or a slick kiwi slice,” Chase giggled back, placing a kiss on your temple, “hey, they have an underground fish observation room if you want to see that,”

“Ooh!  Yeah I wanna see that!” you cheered, grabbing his hand and rushing towards the door.

“Uh, babe, you might want to disinfect your hands first,” he reminded, pointing to the hand sanitizer by the wall.

You two were some of the only people down there; guess people didn’t find this interesting.  But you thought it was amazing!  You could look in the tank from an underwater view and watch the fish swim around!  How was this not entertaining?!

Chase saw how mesmerized you were and smiled; you were finally relaxing and having fun!  You deserved that after the week you had.

“Chase, look at the fishies!” you whispered, pointing to the multicolored school of fish passing by.

“Did you just say ‘fishies’?”

After a long day of learning about the ocean and its magnificent creatures (and street-vendor hot dogs), you and Chase were finally home.  You plopped down on the couch, kicking off your shoes with a content sigh of happiness.

“Thank you Chase, this was wonderful,” you smiled, leaning up to peck his lips

“You’re welcome baby, I’m glad you had a good time,” he smiled, letting you lean on his shoulder to rest, “by the way, I got you something,”

“Chase, you shouldn’t have!  You’ve done enough already!” you playfully scolded, sitting back up straight

“Nonsense, I wanted to do this for you,” he smiled, getting off the couch to grab the big plastic bag you saw earlier.  He handed it to you, a wide smile on his face as he waited for you to look inside.

You took the large, soft object out of the bag to reveal it as a giant stuffed octopus!  “Aww, Chase!  This is so cute!” you whimpered, hugging the pink plushie to your chest, “I love it!”.

Chase kissed your forehead and sat back down with you.  “You really like it?” he chuckled, wrapping his arms around you.

“It’s perfect!” you exclaimed, laying your head on his lap, “though... “

“Though… what?”

“How can you get me a pink, stuffed octopus and still think it’s fair to poke fun at me for saying ‘fishies’?”

TAGLIST:

@buckyshattergirl  @bitchy-tacos  @paranoid-borderline-insane