“I want a pond.”

Jongin, balancing on one foot as he removes his shoe, looks up in confusion. “Excuse me?” Did he hear correctly?

Seated on the sofa, his boyfriend tilts his head to look back at Jongin but makes no attempt to get up. He's been embracing laziness and milking his ankle injury for all it's worth. “I want a pond.”

So Jongin did hear correctly. No greeting. No ‘Hey, how was your day?’ or ‘I missed you so much I was beside myself.’ He feels so loved and appreciated.

But Sehun’s just like that, sometimes. He doesn’t verbally express himself but rather shows his emotions through action, such as turning to kiss Jongin’s cheek when he leans over the back of the sofa and wraps his arms around the other man's neck.

“You want a pond.”

“I do." Sehun nods as much as he can in the embrace. "We need one.” Before Jongin can ask the obvious, he continues, “Go look in the bathroom.”

Which is decidedly not what Jongin wants to hear after getting home from four back-to-back classes. Thankfully, he showered before coming home.

Because sharing a bath with turtles is not his idea of a good time.

“Oh Sehun, what is going on?!” Crouching beside the tub, Jongin gazes in dumbfounded wonder at the blissfully paddling terrapins. “I leave you home alone for one day!”

“My options were limited: I could’ve gone for a walk—which the doctor did say I could do, remember, so don't get mad—and found turtles or called a repairman to the house and let out all my neglected househusband frustrations.”

Jongin snorts softly and dips his hand into the water. The turtles scatter but turn to watch him curiously. He's not mad, per se, but he's definitely frustrated and confused, although this really is just like Sehun."You know our landlord doesn't allow us to have pets, right?"

"No, they allow small pets!" Sehun replies dismissively. He chuckles as the aquatic reptiles stretch their necks out to snatch the floating shrimp he shakes into the tub. Nice to see he was so prepared but couldn’t text his live-in-boyfriend-who-shares-the-same-bathroom about the situation.

"No matter how small the turtle is, I don't think she'll allow us to have...one, two three, four—fifteen." With a sigh, Jongin falls back on his and stares at Sehun. “Babe...why? We can’t keep them.”

Sehun perches a cheek on the lip of the tub, reaching into the brace around his ankle to scratch an itch. “I know. When I went for a walk earlier, someone was selling them in the convenience store parking lot. I figured I could take them to a friend at the university.”

“What kind are they?” Jongin can identify a dog’s breed from a considerable distance, but his knowledge of turtles is limited to pointing one out and saying, ‘that’s a turtle.’

“Pretty sure they’re sliders of some sort.” Jongin chews a hangnail, watching his boyfriend watch the rest of the turtles as they paddle in the bathtub. He resembles a cat watching a pool of goldfish. “They’ve been banned since the new millennium, but people still like them as pets. And you just know that whoever got there before me thought a turtle would just be the coolest thing and is going to keep it in a fishbowl or something.” Sehun catches a tiny turtle by its shell. Little feet try to push his fingers away, but it gives up the struggle when sat in the center of Sehun’s palm.

“Never trust a person in a parking lot offering turtles.” Jongin understands Sehun's desire to help them all, but they simply can't.

“Exactly.” Setting the turtle on a bucket barely standing out of the water, Sehun stands and offers Jongin a hand. “I thought they could stay here until I got a reply from my friend. Better than letting them go to someone who can’t care for them or would just kill them or release them.”

“But you still want a pond.”

“Yes.” Sehun follows Jongin back into the living room, laying out his case to a reasonably willing audience. “Wouldn’t it be cool? Our own koi or legal turtles.”

“Imagine the mosquitoes.”

Sehun frowns, unimpressed by Jongin’s lack of enthusiasm. They sit on the sofa, nearly hip to hip; Sehun crosses his legs and lightly bumps Jongin’s shin with his injured foot. He’s found proximity can wear his boyfriend down. “It can be treated to prevent bug breeding, y’know.”

“I don’t know, so I hope you’ve done the research to back up this dream.” They’ve felt as though they’ve outgrown their apartment for a while, checking out listings now and then with no immediate intention of moving. But they've only looked at city apartments. Something with a pond would be a house in the country, meaning a longer commute, or it would be a community pond with neighbors who abuse the greenspace or, more ideally, would pitch in to care for it, like the senior living apartments Sehun’s grandparents live in.

Jongin’s main criteria is finding a place that allows pets larger than small animals. He misses having dogs.

“Just think of it," Sehun wheedles, making 'calm down' motions with his hands as though sensing Jongin's thoughts, "creating a calm and beautiful environment to enjoy. Hang a hammock between some trees nearby. Naps in the sun or shade. A safe haven for wildlife...”

“Just how far are you thinking of moving?” Jongin interjects. They both glance at the open bathroom door at the sound of a plunking splash. A turtle must have fallen off the bucket.

“Conserving water.” Which is also Sehun’s reasoning for showering together.

“I am not bathing in pond water.” Jongin has his limits. He’ll swim in ponds, lakes, and oceans, but he wants clean water to follow, and that’s not asking much.

“Something big enough to swim in,” Sehun wheedles. He nuzzles Jongin’s jaw. “Maybe skinny dipping at night, hiding in tall reeds from the neighbors. Increasing the property value.”

“And what you pay for it as well as the taxes.”

“You’re sounding like a real spoilsport,” he mutters, biting Jongin’s ear lobe, “but I’m not hearing ‘no.’”

“You’re not,” Jongin hums, catching his mouth in a kiss. "I'll at least consider it."

When has he ever been able to say ‘no’ to Sehun?

a/n: Written for round two of Domestic SeKai. (prompt no.CS2-32 "You know our landlord doesn't allow us to have pets, right?" "No, they allow small pets!" "No matter how small the turtle is, I don't think she'll allow us to have fifteen.")