The puffer fluttered after the movement, round and ridiculous and absolutely fucking perfect.
Tobias was silent for several seconds, then said, “I find that a strange nickname.”
I glanced over briefly before returning my attention to the cutest ball of fish known to man. “I know. You’ve made it clear.”
He looked back at the tank, his brows drawn together in faint concentration. “Why do you call him Daddy?”
My finger stopped on the glass.
The puffer bumped his little face toward it like he was also invested in the answer.
I turned my head very slowly. “What?”
Tobias looked at me with perfect seriousness, which, as usual, made the entire thing worse. “You call him Puff Daddy,” he said. “I understand the first half, as he is a pufferfish. The second half is less clear.”
I stared at him. “Tobias.”
“Yes?”
“Please tell me you know who Puff Daddy is.”
“I know now that it is apparently a name associated with a person.”
“Oh, my God.”
“I researched it.”
“Of course you did.”
“But that does not answer my question.”
I looked back at the puffer, who was now hovering near the glass with a face that, if I were being generous, could be called curious, but if I were being accurate, looked like he wanted me to explain why I had stopped entertaining him.
“It’s just a nickname,” I said. “It’s a pun. A cultural reference. A very stupid one, admittedly, but still. It’s just something I came up with on my first day working here, and it stuck.”
“The cultural reference does not fully eliminate the other implication.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What other implication?”
Tobias’s gaze shifted to mine, and for once, there was something almost cautious in his expression. Which should have been my warning to shut up and move on.
Unfortunately, I was me.
“Tobias,” I said slowly, “what exactly are you asking me?”
“I have learned that Daddy can be sexual terminology.”
My face went so hot it was a miracle the glass in front of me did not fog over. “I’m sorry,” I sputtered. “You’ve learned?”
“Yes.”
“Like recently?”
“Yes.”
“From where?” I asked, picturing Tobias on some hookup app and a horde of twinks in his inbox addressing him as Daddy.
He paused. “It doesn’t matter. I was only attempting to clarify whether you were using the term in a sexual context.”
