zoo hq: daryl x reader

chapter four

it was the moment that the iready logo flashed upon the screen that your entire life changed. you were entranced in the beauty of this website, and you and daryl spent hours browsing through it, his hand guiding yours on the mouse from each lesson to the next with his gentle touch.

he was such a kind, caring person, giving his time to teach people about literature, language, and math. you aspired to be like him.

weeks passed by. you spent a lot of your free time surfing iready and looking for every single lesson daryl has ever been apart of.

you memorized him. the way his lips parted to pronounce different letters and syllables. the way his long arms dangled by his side, swinging as he walked with his beautiful legs. the way his golden pocket watch jingled in the pocket of his flared denim jeans and how often times the 14 karat gold chain peeped out if he wasn't careful about how he tucked it back into his pocket. his eyebrows. oh, his eyebrows. never had there been an eyebrow more on fleek than daryl's.

you and daryl alternated inviting each other places. the two of you went to coffee shops, where you ordered a frappuccino and he ordered a cortado. daryl could rave for weeks about his sweet, sweet cortado. he would raise the small, clear glass up to his luscious lips and sip it daintily, closing his mouth to savor it. he would then pull out a leather bound notebook from the pocket of his denim vest and write a five page review about the drink.

one day after this experience, when making snickerdoodle cookies to deliver to daryl as a surprise while he was working hard at zoo hq, you pulled out a bag of sugar that was labeled "extra-refined". you smiled to yourself. daryl was extra-refined.

you dreamed of being as refined as that lovable lad.

the two of you also went to get frozen yogurt, pizza, sodas, and every other type of food you could think of. daryl's abundant love for hot pretzels from the mall rubbed off on you, leaving you craving them constantly.

one day, while you were listening to daryl's lesson on citing textual evidence for the twelfth time, you got a text.

hey, Y/N! how about we head to the zoo tomorrow night? there's something special being planned at the bowling alley that night.

whenever you went to visit daryl at the zoo, the two of you usually sat behind a bookshelf in zoo hq and giggled about jokes from his copy of  101 Jokes for Rainforest Lovers: Volume 59. the bowling alley was going to be a new experience, that's for sure.

bowling alley? at a zoo? interesting. let me check my schedule.

you sent the text and clicked resume on your lecture to listen for another minute or two. you obviously had no plans, but you wanted to come of as cool, casual—not clingy and overeager. after a few seconds, you picked up your phone and texted back:

what do you know? i'm free! see you then, bud.

bud? you regretted saying that as soon as you hit send.

splendid! pick you up at 7?

you laughed.

sounds like a plan.

you and daryl weren't exactly dating yet. he wasn't clear if he had feelings for you platonically or romantically, but this kind of sounded like...a date.

you brushed off the feeling, choosing not to believe you had a chance with daryl.

he deserved the world, and what did you have offer? some awkwardness? some insecurity? some blue corn tortilla chips?

•••

the next night, daryl caught an uber and stopped at your house to pick you up. you smiled when he came to your door, and crawled next to him in the back seat of the vehicle. the two of you didn't talk much, but surprisingly, the silence wasn't awkward. it was just comfortable.