Chapter Text
Despite their paper map and their combined years of military and police training, they had gotten lost.
Somehow, in their subpar navigation to the aquatic area, they had found themselves at the elephant enclosure.
“Bit larger than penguins,” Jill commented, though she couldn’t help but laugh. The map of the zoo was terrible—that was the only reason for it. It definitely wasn’t that they had both been so nervously distracted they hadn’t properly paid attention to where they were going.
“How does RC even have such a big zoo? Who wants to send their native animals here of all places?” Chris stood beside her, hand raised to shield his eyes from the sun.
Jill snorted, smirking at the comment. “Hell if I know.”
“You’ve got a dog, right? The golden retriever? I saw the picture on your desk?” Chris asked, still shading his eyes.
“Yeah, Sandy. She’s a good dog, but she’s not mine—not really anymore. I had to give her to my cousin when I moved to RC a few years back. Felt cruel to keep such a big dog in my cramped apartment.”
“Ah, that sucks. Sorry.”
“It’s fine. I get to see her at holidays, and she’s got an abundance of outdoor space at my cousin's place. Just one of the things you have to do, right? Sacrifices to be made?”
“Yeah, I get that. I moved here to join S.T.A.R.S. too. Before that my sister and I lived out East. Mom and Dad died when Claire was still a kid. I was damn lucky I was old enough to look after her. She’s six years younger. I practically had to drag the poor kid through puberty.”
“Sorry, Chris. I didn’t know about your parents. I knew you were close with your sister, but I didn’t realise—well, shit. Sorry.”
“Nothin’ to be sorry about, Jill. Happened years ago. We’re good. Must have done something right. She’s in college.”
“You sound like a good big brother. I always wished I had siblings. My cousin and I were close, but never that close.”
They stood side by side in silence for a moment, the awkward air evaporating into curious exploration. They lingered longer than either of them meant to.
The elephant enclosure stretched out in front of them, dusty and sunlit, with a small herd lazily moving around the paddock. Near the shallow mud pit, a calf stomped enthusiastically in a puddle, splashing muddy water everywhere while an older elephant watched with what looked suspiciously like patient annoyance.
The small elephant stomped enthusiastically in the mud, spraying brown water in every direction.
Jill watched it for a moment before chuckling.
“That’s you on a mission.”
Chris blinked at her. “Excuse me?”
“You see a problem and just—” she mimed stomping dramatically, “—charge straight through it.”
Chris folded his arms.
“At least I solve the problem.”
Jill grinned. “Didn’t say it was a bad thing.”
The calf splashed again, slipping slightly as it tried to turn around.
Jill laughed unexpectedly, the sound quick and bright.
Chris looked at her in surprise.
“What?”
“You don’t laugh much at work,” he said.
“That’s because you’re usually throwing paper at people.”
“Hey,” Chris said. “That was one time.”
“It was yesterday.”
Chris shrugged.
They watched the calf wobble around the mud pit again, determined and messy.
After a moment, Chris nudged her shoulder lightly.
“…So,” he said. “Not the worst Saturday?”
Jill considered that.
Then she glanced over at him with a small smirk.
“Not the worst.”
“We need to keep going straight after the meerkats to get to the penguins, not left. You’ll get us lost again,” Jill chided, holding the map up dramatically for them both to see.
“How can I trust you? You got us lost!”
“No I didn’t. You wanted to head east, which led to the elephants. I said we should have gone straight.”
“You obviously don’t know how to read the map, Valentine. We’ve got to head left after the meerkats, it’ll get us there faster.”
“No, you’ll get us lost again, we go straight. Give me that.” She snatched the map away, keeping it hostage.
“Typical only child behaviour,” Chris teased lightly, letting her take the map. That earnt him a glare from Jill before she started leading them on.
The long way round took them past the aformentioned meerkats, as well as the flamingos and the giraffes. But most importantly it took them past a snack cart. Despite her protests, Chris bought them both lemonades, swatting her away as she tried to slip enough cash for hers into his pocket. She complained at first, trying to admonish him for spending his money on her, but really under the heat of the sun, an ice cold lemonade really hit the spot.
They finally found the penguins.
Jill stopped in front of the exhibit and folded her arms triumphantly. “There.”
Chris looked from the sign to the enclosure, then back at her.
“I’ll admit it,” he said. “You were right.”
Jill raised an eyebrow. “You’re admitting I’m right? I should mark the date.”
Chris ignored that and leaned on the railing. Inside the enclosure, a small crowd of penguins waddled around awkwardly, one sliding straight off a rock into the water with a splash.
Chris pointed immediately.
“That one’s Frost.”
Jill snorted. “No way. Joseph would’ve made a bigger scene. Got to be the center of attention, right?”
Another penguin waddled straight into a different one and knocked it sideways.
Chris nodded thoughtfully. “Okay, that one’s Vickers.”
Jill laughed, shaking her head.
They stood there for a moment watching the penguins shuffle around, bump into each other, and dive into the water like clumsy torpedoes.
Chris rested his elbows on the railing.
“Okay, which penguin are you?”
She contemplated for a moment before pointing to one of the penguins watching over the others.
“That one, watching all the other penguins being idiots. You’d be the one jumping into action the second you could.”
“Ouch, Valentine. Not wrong though.” He laughed, looking down at her with twinkling eyes.
After the penguins they wandered towards the monkeys wherein Chris had his sunglasses stolen by an overly curious primate. Somehow the sharpshooter’s reflexes had been bested by the monkey, his attention obviously elsewhere. Jill had burst into laughter to the point her eyes watered, Chris turning beet red before awkwardly asking the zoo assistant to retrieve the stolen item.
Hurrying of shortly after with Chris thoroughly embarrassed and Jill grinning, they made their way into the blissfully air conditioned reptile house.
The dim lighting and glass tanks created a quieter atmosphere, one that also thankfully hid the pink still staining Chris’s cheeks.
Jill stood in front of the cobra tank, peering in at the slumbering snake. Chris watched over her shoulder, eyeing the reptile warily. “Not a fan of snakes?”
“Not really, they’re kind of freaky, right? Silent and deadly.”
“They’re behind glass, Chris, the big snake won’t get you.” She teased, shoving him lightly.
“You wouldn’t be so chipper if you saw one outside of the glass enclosure,”
“No, probably not.”
“Look, this one spits venom. Creepy right?”
Chris peered over her shoulder to read the plaque, face white.
“Fuck that, no thank you.”
In that little moment they stood shoulder-to-shoulder reading the plaque. Jill realised just how close they where. She could smell the aftershave Chris had put on that morning, felt the heat of him warm her shoulder. Her cheeks flushed at the realisation but she didn’t move away.
“Barry knew exactly what he was doing setting this all up, didn’t he?”
“He may have dropped some not so subtle hints to me before all of this. I think he knew there needed to be a bit of a push in the right direction, hence the scavenger hunt turned zoo day.”
“You didn’t have to go through with it. Surely Barry could have used the tickets on his daughters?”
Chris shrugs, a lopsided smile forming. “I guess I figured hanging out with you didn’t sound like a bad way to spend my Saturday.”
It was late afternoon when they wandered towards the gift shop. Without even realising it, they had spent hours at the zoo. That initial awkwardness was long gone, replaced with easy conversation and playful teasing.
Jill stood by a stand of magnets when Chris came up to her, depositing a stuffed penguin plush in her arms.
“Bought and paid for, Valentine. That means you’ve got to keep it.” Chris inserted quickly, knowing she would try to rebuke him.
“In that case,” She held the plushy up, mockingly presenting it as if it was courtroom evidence. “Proof we solved the case.”
Chris grinned at her, looking smug. “At least you’ll have proof of the ‘hunt’ if Barry asks.”
She grinned back at him, shaking her head slightly. “You’re an idiot, Chris Redfield.”
“Guilty as charged, Valentine. I don’t hear you complaining.”
Jill rolls her eyes, but she can’t wipe the grin off her face.
They stepped out of the gift shop together, the late afternoon sun hanging low over the zoo entrance.
“So… if this wasn’t a real date… do you want to go on one sometime?”
Chris’s grin widened.
“I might just take you up on that, Jill.”
They walked off together, already arguing about where they should go for dinner.