Work Text:
“SHIT!”
Fili is cleaning off the big stack of papers cluttering his kitchen counter when he comes across the photography assignment. The one with a deadline that he had clearly forgotten about. He’s supposed to show up to class in two days, photos developed or printed and ready to turn in.
“Fuck…” Fili groans as he slides the sheet of paper over and reads the instructions carefully. The words “nature” and “wildlife” ring a bell somewhere in the back of his mind. He vaguely remembers making plans for this assignment and now he can’t even remember what he had wanted to do for it.
Why wasn’t this sheet of paper on his fridge? Why hadn’t he put it on his fridge?
Now where is he supposed to get photos of wildlife? He’s in a fucking city.
Fili glances out the window of his little flat, trying to assess the weather without going outside. It’s just a little after eight in the morning and it looks nice enough, but a trip to the zoo sounds massively unappealing. He rules out the botanical garden right after. While he enjoys flowers as much as anyone, he doesn’t want to spend the next few hours taking pictures of them. He certainly isn’t going on any nature walks either. He would prefer not to leave London at all.
Pulling out his phone, Fili absently taps the countertop as he begins to search through his remaining options. He’s scrolling through the first page of Google when his thumb hovers over the link to the SEA LIFE London Aquarium. The aquarium?
That could work.
“Please be open,” he prays as he clicks on the link to check their hours of operation. It’s not a holiday and it’s early so it really should be open. But he doesn’t want to show up at the doors just to find out they’re closed.
As Fili navigates the webpage, he tries to remember the last time he even went to the aquarium. It’s been so long; at least five years. Sure he remembers he had fun seeing the fish and sharks, but they weren’t his favorite things in the world. They’re certainly not his favorite subject to photograph. Maybe if he ever had the chance to visit the Atlanta Aquarium...
He wouldn’t mind taking some photos of a whale shark or two.
“Yes!” Fili pumps his fist in the air as he finds the aquarium opens in an hour. He immediately puts himself in motion, collecting everything he’ll need for the assignment. Hopefully it won’t be crawling with people because Fili needs to be able to get some quality shots. Having to edit someone’s wayward child out of several of his pictures is nowhere near being on Fili’s agenda. He would much rather spend tomorrow lazing around as much as possible like he had originally planned.
It’s a Tuesday morning in the middle of the school year, so not exactly high peak business hours. So he thinks he' might just be in the clear.
After a quick shower, Fili changes into a clean, but lightly faded pair of jeans and searches his closet for something publicly acceptable to wear. He really should own more than just band shirts and university hoodies. Maybe if he'd stop blowing all his money on camera parts. Right. Like that would ever happen. Fili pulls his nicest band tee from a hanger and throws it on before searching for a zip up hoodie.
Aquariums are always so cold.
Fili heads back into the living room and grabs his camera. He checks to make sure it has a proper charge before he slides it over his neck. His hair is getting far too long, but Fili finds himself unable to bring himself to cut it. It looks nice enough, he thinks. Though, it's far more annoying than when it used to be short. He pulls it free from the neck strap of the camera and lets it fall over his shoulders.
Looking through his choices, Fili picks up his 105mm macro lens. He’s never taken pictures at an aquarium before, but he’s heard from his classmates some of the better lenses and techniques to use. Make sure the angle is right, shoot right against the glass. He picks through his things, searching for the rubber lens hood he bought for an assignment a while back. He had shot through several glass windows into abandoned shops. The theme had been about loneliness and emptiness and Fili thinks it might have been his favorite assignment to date. The project had even produced one of his favorite photos he’d ever taken. Though, he sadly hasn’t used the rubber lens hood or the technique since.
He double checks his pockets for his phone and his wallet, before Fili heads out the door of his flat. He’s glad for the warmth of the hoodie when he feels the chill of the weather. Spring will soon be in full swing and it’s not a terribly cold day, but Fili thinks he feels the cold worse than others sometimes. The wind blows the long strands of his hair across his face constantly. Checking his wrist, Fili allows himself to lament over leaving a hair tie at home as he heads towards the underground.
Fili finds a rare seat on the tube and busies himself with snapping low-key photos of his shoes. He does occasionally take an unsuspecting photo of people, but he usually prefers to get their permission first. It’s only fair, he thinks. He wouldn’t want someone to just take a random picture of him.
From the station it's a short walk to the aquarium. Fili finally reaches his destination and heads to the admission window to get himself a ticket. He debates if he should get the Behind the Scenes tour, but decides against it. He wants to focus solely on the animals, so unless they allow him to dive right into the tank, he thinks he’ll skip it.
He’s lucky they appear to be slow today. Fili had completely forgotten about the time slots. He’s allowed into the aquarium immediately, anyways, and it’s seemingly empty when he steps inside the building. It’s as if Fili was meant to forget about his assignment until now.
After picking up the dumbest map he’s ever seen and putting it back down, Fili decides he’ll just stroll through the aquarium and let the perfect shots come to him. He can already feel the inspiration tugging at his mind as he walks towards a tank, drawn to the colors of the fish swimming around inside.
Fili takes the lens cap off of the camera as he watches the fish darting about their home in the tank. He brings the camera up to his eye and snaps a photo. When he previews it, he frowns. There’s a reflection from the tank, making it seem as though the anemone in the photo was moving quickly, instead of the slow back and forth wave it makes in the water.
“Oh, right,” he mumbles to himself, before attaching the rubber lens hood. He steps closer to the tank, pressing the lens directly against the glass. He's glad the rubber protects the exhibit from any scratches. More so, glad it protects his lens from any damage. Fili tilts the camera just a few centimeters, praying he remembered to turn the flash off. When the shutter snaps and there's not flash of bright light, Fili pats himself on the back.
The shot he gets is far nicer than his first. He can’t help but smile to himself as he reviews the picture.
Behind him he hears someone shuffling around, and Fili thinks that someone might be watching him. He resists the urge to turn around, not wanting to lose his focus. Whoever it is probably just thinks he’s weird, or perhaps they’re interested in photography themselves. Maybe they just want him to get the fuck out of their way so they can look at the fish.
Fili takes another few photos and decides he’s bogarted the tank long enough. He'll let the person have a chance to see the colorful fish.
When he turns around, the person that had been watching him is gone.
He hadn’t even heard them move.
Fili puzzles over it for a second, but decides it’s not important. They probably decided the tank wasn’t worth waiting for and would come back later. Fili glances right and then left, but there’s no one in the room with him.
Whoever it was moved fast, that’s for sure.
Fili lets the camera fall back to his chest, making sure it’s secure before he heads to the next tank. This one is far more colorful than the last, and when Fili looks over the shots he takes of it, he can’t help but congratulate himself on the quality.
He’s pretty sure he’s going to get a decent grade, though he vaguely feels like it’s cheating. At the same time, he supposes two days before the due date isn’t that bad. He’s sure there will even be a few who put it off until tomorrow.
As he walks down the hall, Fili finds himself pondering over how empty the aquarium seems. He’s only heard the one person so far, but otherwise, he hasn’t had sight or sound of anyone else. Well, aside from the cranky ticket attendant.
It’s strange to be so alone in a place like this; just him, his camera, and five hundred sea creatures who don’t exactly make good company. When Fili walks into the glass tunnel, he’s struck by how ethereal the whole thing feels.
That’s when he hears footsteps.
He turns around, missing a shot he thinks might have just been perfect. He looks around him quickly, but he finds no one. Not at the entrance of the tunnel, or at the exit either. There’s certainly no one in it, besides him and all of the fish. He’s starting to maybe feel a little bit spooked out, but he’s not willing to admit it to himself.
Perhaps it’s the fact that the sound stops right after he looks away from the tank, as if he’s broken some kind of spell. That’s probably what really creeps him out the most about his second encounter with the mysterious visitor.
Fili doesn’t believe in ghosts and spirits. Just because there’s another patron visiting the aquarium doesn’t mean he’s being haunted. The other person is just too fast to be seen. They’re probably in a hurry, Fili thinks to himself as he brings the camera back up to his eye, trying to put his mind back on his assignment, Nothing fishy about that.
He can’t help but grin at his own terrible pun.
When he exits the tunnel, he checks all of his shots and deliberates on which, so far, he likes the most and which he's likely to use. His head snaps up so fast he thinks he might have pulled something when he hears footsteps again. He winces in slight pain, but he at least catches a glimpse of long brown hair whipping quickly around the corner for his effort.
Fili stands there, just staring, before his mind seems to speed back up. He hurries over to the end of the room, turning the same corner the other person just had.
And he sees no one.
Frustrated, Fili lets his camera go and strains his ears to see if he can catch the sound of footsteps falling away as he tries to quietly walk across the floor. He finds the next room empty and tries to stave off the feeling of disappointment.
What had he honestly expected?
There has to be a logical explanation for it all. The person could be more than one person, for starters. Or like he thought earlier, that they’re most likely in a hurry. Maybe they lost something and are searching for it.
There’s plenty of reasons; and they're all more valid than a phantom in an aquarium. Fili really needs to focus on his assignment, so he turns back to head into the room he had just left. He puts the person, or persons, out of his mind and lets himself be absorbed in his work. He spends a while in both of the connecting rooms before moving on, deciding he has gotten plenty of shots of the all the various corals.
The next area seems like a good place to get some more shots, so Fili dives in before he can let his thoughts wander. With each shot, the enigma of his fellow aquarium guest gets pushed deeper into his mind.
Until he hears the footsteps, yet again. They seem to belong to nobody when he looks up to check his surroundings. Fili doesn’t know why he bothers, really, because he knew he wouldn’t see even see them. If he hadn’t of caught a glimpse of the person earlier, he might have seriously considered throwing his “no ghosts” notion out of the window at this point. He really feels like the footsteps don’t belong to anyone.
When it happens again, within five minutes, Fili’s really starting to feel stalked.
Who the fuck is this person, and why hasn’t he actually seen them? Why are they following him? What do they want?
Fili closes his eyes and tries not to let the paranoia flood him. They’re not stalking him. They’re simply enjoying their visit to an aquarium and Fili really thinks he needs to stop taking it so goddamn personally.
He can’t even enjoy the penguins, which is usually his favorite part. Though, the tiny birds waddling around does put him in a little bit better of a mood.
Even so, he still can’t seem to get himself to focus now. He’s just waiting to hear the sound of feet in every area he visits. Maybe he should just call it quits and head home. He’s got enough to work with, he thinks. Some are really good quality shots, but he feels like he hasn’t gotten the one that he really came here for. Not that he knows what that is, exactly.
It’s the only thing that keeps him from fleeing the building when he hears the person once more, and when he finds the hallway unsurprisingly empty, yet again.
He’s only got one area left that he hasn’t visited and he honestly can’t wait to get there and be done with it. Frustration and annoyance taint the feeling of the day and he just wants to go home and lose himself in the editing and printing process. He never wants to think about ‘spooky aquarium stalker’ ever again.
When he enters the area with the touch pool, he expects to find it just as empty as all of the other rooms. Fili is absolutely shocked and floored when he sees a man standing at the edge of the open tank, watching a ray swimming around with rapt attention. He doesn’t even glance up when Fili stops walking.
Please, God, Fili’s mind races as he stares at the guy, please don’t let him be some kind of apparition.
Fili’s pretty sure he isn’t, though. He’s not blurry at the edges or translucent or anything else to indicate he’s some kind of otherworldly being. But he’s definitely the guy who’s been stalking him, given that his hair is long and brown, and Fili thinks, quite messy. Probably from fucking jogging across the aquarium for the greater part of the morning and into the afternoon.
The guy still hasn’t looked up at him yet, so Fili decides he can continue to stare and gape at him. It’s only fair. The dude spent all morning staring at Fili. Probably.
After ascertaining by his hair that the guy is indeed his stalker, Fili gives him a once over. The dark blue hoodie is a flattering color against his tanned skin; sleeves rolled up really are proof enough of Fili’s judgement. It’s unzipped to show the tight black t-shirt beneath it, which clings rather favorably to the guy’s chest. His skinny jeans are more faded than Fili’s own, so at least he’s not the only one who likes to hold onto a nice fitting pair of pants.
And damn, do they fit nicely on this guy.
Fili can’t help the twitch of his hands towards his camera when the man leans over the tank a little, his hoodie and shirt riding up to reveal the tempting waistband of his briefs. His legs are long and seem to go on forever. Fili finds himself glancing down to the scuffed and beaten up Converse that the guy is wearing. They’re the source of all of his problems today and Fili figures this is why his footsteps were so silent. With as worn as they are, the guy might as well be in socks, honestly.
Fili moves to get a better look at the man’s face. It’s so much more adorable than he thinks he could have prepared himself for. His thick eyebrows are drawn so low in concentration, while his lively eyes follow the singular ray’s path over and over. He’s got this perfect nose that ends right above the softest, pinkest pair of lips Fili thinks he’s ever seen. Even the stubble on his face is cute, rather than manly. Which might be what he was trying to go for, since he looks pretty young.
Oh fuck.
Fili hopes he’s not creeping on some seventeen year-old kid. Maybe he should just leave now. He really should leave. Still though, he can’t make his feet move in any direction other than towards the stranger. His mind rations that, unless he’s being a truant little shit stalking him all over the aquarium, he’s got to be at least eighteen. School isn’t even out yet.
When Fili takes another cautious step, the guy finally, finally, looks up at him. “Oh, it’s just you.”
Oh, it’s just you? It’s just you?
What the fuck does this guy mean by that? Fili can’t help his frown as he looks the guy dead in the eyes; the very pleasant eyes that he thinks would have the most magnificent color in the sunlight. No, he can’t get distracted.
“You’ve been stalking me all over this damn place and that’s your opening line?” Fili can’t help himself. He wishes he at least didn’t sound as bitter as he does. He’s really not that pissed. Maybe a little miffed. Certainly irritated. But his tone is definitely harsher than he intended it to be.
The guy flushes the most delightful shade of pink and Fili thinks that’s proof enough to confirm his suspicions.
“I wasn’t stalking you,” he glances away before looking back down at the tank, his eyes scanning the group of rays before locking onto one once more. Fili isn't sure how the guy knows which is which, they all looked exactly the same, but he’s sure it’s the exact one he was watching a second ago.
Fili walks to the other side of the tank, right across from his apparently ‘not stalking’ shadow. “No?”
“No,” the guy shakes his head without taking his eyes off the animal.
“Then what were you doing? Every time I’d hear you, you’d disappear, like, a half a second later,” Fili tries to squash the growing irritation that this guy is not only refusing to look at him, but seems to be increasingly more disinterested in the entire thing.
“The same thing you were doing,” the guy answers, his voice nonchalant. It just irritates Fili further.
“And how do you know what I was doing, if you weren’t stalking me?” Fili retorts, his arms crossing over his chest and below his camera.
“Well, you’re clearly not here to pick up groceries.”
Fili sighs at the annoying statement. His arms drop to the side before he reaches up to run a hand through his hair, gathering it to pull it over one shoulder. It’s a nervous habit, but he can’t seem to stop doing it.
“I’ll let it go if you tell me how you vanished so fast,” Fili offers. It's what he really wants to know, more than anything. He swears the guy seriously just disappeared into thin air every time Fili turned to look for him.
“Through the doors,” he shrugs with his noncommittal reply.
The doors? The fucking doors? What fucking doors? How is that not the most ridiculously cryptic answer anyone has ever given in the history of ever? The thought that maybe this guy really is a ghost starts creeping into his mind, but he banishes it quickly.
“Are you serious? First you stalk me and then you give me some creepy, mysterious answer?”
The guy lets out the most dramatic sigh Fili thinks he’s ever heard, and he’s the king of those. He straightens up a little, resigned to losing the ray once more before finally looking up to meet Fili’s eyes. “Christ, man. I work here.”
Fili feels his entire being turn bright red in embarrassment and he just wants to drown himself in the pool of water that’s separating them. Why had that thought not once crossed his mind? It made complete sense and yet, based on his appearance and his youth, Fili found it hard to believe. Maybe he wanted there to be something more to it. It certainly would have made a good story to give to his classmates.
“You don’t look like you work here,” Fili counters, running a hand over his beard before letting it drop back down to his side.
“I’m off today.”
Who spends their day off from work at their goddamn job? Not to mention the guy hardly looks old enough to have a degree in Marine Biology or Zoology or whatever someone would need to work here. “How old are you anyway?” Fili asks after an awkward second. He kicks himself, already knowing it’s hardly an appropriate question.
“Twenty, not that it really matters to you,” he answers defensively.
“And you have a degree already?” Fili stares at him, his voice skeptical. Man, he really needs to calm the fuck down. He can see the guy actually bristle.
“No, not yet,” he scowls.
“Sorry, man. I just thought,” Fili starts, but decides to let it trail off awkwardly instead of rectifying his rude question. He’d probably just make it worse.
“It’s fine,” the guy replies with a voice that clearly says it’s not. He looks as though he might just let everything slip away and Fili kind of feels like slinking away with his tail between his legs at this point. “It’s basically just an internship right now. For my degree. I mostly just clean shit.” He doesn’t sound bitter about it, so at least Fili hasn’t rubbed yet another nerve.
“That’s kinda cool,” he tells him, watching his eyes snap to his face. He feels oddly like he’s being scrutinized. This dude’s gaze is just so insanely intense. “I mean, not that you clean fish shit for a living, but the whole job you’re going for. And that you’ve already got your foot in the door.”
“Yeah, it is kinda cool,” he gives a small grin and Fili can just tell the guy probably has the most wonderful smile he will ever see. If he gets to see it.
He watches the man visibly relax and he feels maybe, if he’s fucking careful, he can salvage the situation. Maybe he’ll get to see more than just a hint of the sunshine that small grin holds. “So why are you here today, then? Just because you like fish that much?”
Okay, fuck. That’s probably not salvaging at all. That’s about the dumbest fucking thing ever and Fili cringes internally at his question. Of course the guy likes fish that much if he’s getting a degree in them.
But instead he nods quickly and his lips pull into an even bigger grin. Oh god, it does get brighter. “Yeah, I guess you could say that,” he stops and then looks down for the ray. Fili wonders if he’s dismissing him, and just as he’s about to slip off and forget today ever happened, the guy points at the ray and looks up at Fili. “See this Cownose Ray here?”
Fili moves a bit closer to the tank, trying to follow the creature’s movements around the pool. “Yeah, what about him?”
“Her,” the man corrects. Oh, right. Clearly. Fili keeps his snarky comment to himself and lets the guy continue. “She just gave birth a bit ago and it’s her first day back in the touch pool. So I thought I’d just come in and check on her.”
“Seriously?” Fili asks, his voice incredulous.
“Yeah, is there a problem with that?” the guy frowns, his shoulders drawing tense again.
“No, no,” Fili quickly tries to recover from his newest fuck up. “It’s actually really incredible,” he tells him, trying to shut his mouth against the ramble of words that are trying to come out, but sadly, he’s never exactly been good at that. “I mean, it shows how caring and devoted you are to the animals, that you decided to come in on your day off to make sure they would be okay. That’s just really incredible. And admirable. I just think that’s really awesome of you.”
Fili finally gets himself to shut up with the sight of the guy staring wide-eyed at his rant. “You really think so?”
And there it is.
That smile that Fili was starting to believe he would never see. And it’s brighter than he could ever believe or begin to imagine. He’s floored by it; feels like he’s been punched in the gut and can’t breathe. When Fili thinks he can handle himself, when he can breathe again, he gives him a nod.
“Yeah, I do.”
“Thanks, mate,” he continues to beam at Fili and the overwhelming urge to take his picture is astronomical.
“Fili,” he blurts out, without even thinking about it.
“What?”
“My name is Fili,” he repeats, deciding it is a rather strange name and the guy might have thought he heard him wrong.
“What?”
Okay, well, he certainly doesn’t think he needs to repeat himself again. He thought he was pretty clear on it. But maybe, just once more wouldn’t hurt. “My name – “
“No, man, I heard you but…”
What could seriously be the fucking problem? Perhaps this dude wasn’t comfortable with a stranger giving him his own name. Maybe he thought Fili's name was just too ridiculous to be real and he's pulling one over on him.
“It’s just…” the guy glances around, like he’s expecting someone to jump out from behind a wall, or perhaps from one of those mystery doors. “Kili,” he finally finishes, fixing Fili with a strange look.
“Close but, no, my name’s Fili. With an F.” Fili shakes his head. How could someone fuck it up that bad? The guy scowls at him.
“No, you arse,” the guy starts, “that’s my name.”
“Well, fuck you too, then,” Fili glares back before he realizes what’s just been said. “Wait, what?”
The guy actually laughs. Not just an awkward chuckle to appease the situation, but a full bodied laugh; his head thrown back with that huge smile on his face again. His eyes crinkle in the most adorable way and it's probably the best thing Fili think's he's ever seen. God save him, he tries, but he can’t stop himself. Fili takes Kili’s picture.
Kili stops laughing the second he hears the shutter. “Did you just?” his hand indicates to the camera still in Fili’s hand.
“Oh, god. I did. I’m so sorry,” Fili panics, pulling the picture back up on the screen. “I can delete it. Hold on.”
“Wait.”
“What is it?” Fili stops his fingers from deleting the photo as he looks up at the guy.
Kili shuffles from foot to foot, before jamming his hands in his jean pockets. “Can I…” he starts, his head nodding towards the camera. “Can I see it?”
“That seems fair,” Fili’s lips quirk into a smile and he nods back. He walks around the pool, coming to a stop at a close enough, but still respectable distance away from Kili. He holds his camera out for him to see the picture while it's still attached to his neck. The guy may seem nice enough, if a bit odd, but Fili’s not going to let a stranger hold his camera. No matter how adorable they are.
Kili seems to sense this, or perhaps just knows not to touch someone else’s things without being offered them, as he doesn’t reach for it. Instead, he crowds Fili’s space like no other. Their bodies are nearly touching as he leans forward so he can get a closer look. His face is just a few inches away from Fili’s.
“That’s really good,” he smiles, his voice sounding a bit surprised. “I like it, a lot actually.”
“Thanks,” and Fili almost says something about a gorgeous subject matter but kicks himself before he can ruin the agreeable mood they’ve finally got going.
“Can I maybe…” Kili is still in his personal space and he even steps just a little bit closer. His hands still remain in his pocket but Fili’s pretty sure what he’s asking for.
“You want to see some of the other shots?”
“Yeah, I mean, if you don’t mind showing me.”
“It’s not a problem,” Fili grins, reassuring the guy as he starts to scroll through some of the photos. The sounds Kili is making right next to his ear should be considered illegal. They’re almost pornographic at times. After a few minutes, Fili can’t take another moment longer.
“Anyway, I think you get it,” Fili lets the camera drop back to his chest, and the guy still stays in his personal bubble. He looks down at him for another second before finally sliding a few inches backwards.
“You’re really good at that,” Kili motions to the camera. “Is it for a class or...?”
“It is. It’s for an assignment I totally spaced, so here I am,” Fili shrugs a little, glancing around the room they’re in before down at the touch pool. He still can’t figure out how Kili knows which ray is which as he watches Kili’s eyes return back to the tank. They soften immediately when they fall on the creatures swimming around. Fili’s hit with a sudden desire to take his picture again, and again, and again. He wants to fill his camera up with pictures of that look of pure happiness.
“Hey, I’ve got an odd question. Feel free to say no.” Fili crosses his fingers Kili won’t say no.
“Shoot.”
“Do you mind if I take a few pictures of you? I mean. Interacting with the rays and sharks. For my assignment?” Okay, so maybe it’s not specifically for his assignment. The photos are supposed to be strictly nature. But Fili doesn’t see the harm in taking a few pictures of this guy. He’ll probably never see him again and he’d like at least a few to remember him by.
He thinks it’s the least he deserves for being stalked.
Kili seems to think about it for a moment. “Do I have to do anything special?”
“Not really. Just stick your hand in the tank and ignore me.”
“Yeah? Okay, I can do that,” Kili nods, and it seems mostly for himself, rather than Fili. “Don’t make me look ugly, alright?”
“I don’t think that’s possible,” Fili smiles at him before blushing a little from his words. He needs to chill.
“What?”
“Just stick your hand in the water, please?”
Kili grins at him, lets his slip up go, and Fili honestly couldn’t be more grateful.
The guy is just so stupidly photogenic that Fili could choke him. His words take on a whole new meaning, because he honestly can’t imagine this guy could take a bad photo even if he wanted to. After about ten minutes of unnecessary, self-gratifying photos, Fili finally puts his camera back down against his chest.
“Thanks, mate. I’ve got what I need.”
“Not a problem,” Kili responds before pulling his wet hand from the tank. The rays and little sharks seemed to love him, naturally of course. “Did you want to touch?”
Oh god, he really does. Fili knows the guy’s talking about the animals in the tank, but he lets his mind get carried away anyways. Normally he wouldn’t care to stick his hand in a tank full of unpredictable sea creatures, but he wants to keep talking to Kili. There’s just something about him.
It’s probably the creepy coincidence that is their names. For a minute, Fili thinks maybe the universe threw him here today, but he lets the idea fall from his mind. It’s exactly what it is. A coincidence.
“Yeah, sure,” he finally says, realizing Kili’s waiting on his answer. “They’re not gonna bite me or anything, right?”
Kili chuckles. “Not if you don’t provoke them. Keep your touches light. Just put two fingers in.”
Fili thinks about where he’d like to touch with two fingers as he rolls up his sleeve. “Isn’t this how Steve Irwin died?” Fili groans as his hand hovers above the water he just knows is going to be cold as fuck.
“Well, yes,” Kili admits, but his eyebrows furrow. “But that was by an exceptionally large Australian Bull Ray. These are Cownose Rays. Plus, they’ve had their barbs pinched.”
“Pinched?”
“Clipped. Kind of like fingernails. It grows back after a while, but we clip them to keep them relatively harmless. These guys are docile, though. It’s the Spotted Dogfish you have to worry about. Touch those wrong and they’ll nip your fingers. Stings like a bitch.”
“Wait, those are fish? I thought they were sharks.”
“Sharks are fish.” Kili fixes him with a long suffering look. Fili is torn between thinking it’s cute and thinking it’s really irritating. He supposes it’s mostly cute. Fili knows he gets slightly offended when people think their crappy phone cameras are the same as his professional camera.
“Oh. Sorry. I thought they were just, like, sharks,” Fili gives him an apologetic grin.
“They’re cartilaginous fish. Most fish are bony fish. There’s some 28,000 species of bony fish. Are you going to actually stick your hand in, or…?”
Fili nearly waggles his eyebrows. Instead he reluctantly sinks his hand into the water. Yup, it’s definitely cold as fuck. He grimaces, but keeps his hand submerged anyways. The rays skate away his fingers, unlike when Kili’s hand was in the water. Fili doesn’t know if he should be offended or not.
“Stop trying to jam your fingers at them,” Kili suggests right in his ear. Fili jumps a little when he realizes his personal space has been invaded again. “No one wants to be poked like that.” If the guy were anyone else, Fili would probably be weirded out. But for some reason, it kind of just works for Kili.
Probably because Fili enjoys him being nearly pressed against his back.
“Sure they do,” Fili comments with a little smirk.
“I’m not sure what kind of people you hang around, but if someone I didn’t know tried to stab me with their fingers I’d probably stay away from them, too.”
Fili sighs and rolls his eyes for good measure. “I’m not even trying to touch them. They’re not even near my fingers.”
“That’s because you’re being awkward about it. You’re pretty good at that, I’ve noticed.”
Fili breathes through his nose, trying to keep his cool. He can just hear the smirk in Kili’s voice as he teases him. “Well maybe I’m worried that they’ll disappear if I even look at them.”
“To be fair, I never let you see me.”
Fili pulls his hand out of the tank and whips around. “So you were stalking me!”
Kili blushes a little, but doesn’t step away. “Well, I wouldn’t really call it stalking.”
Fili lets out a quiet laugh. “Then what would you call that? I’d really hate to know your definition of stalking.”
“Yeah, okay. I may have watched you like once or twice. But I swear most of the time I was just checking in on the tanks for my boss. He was on lunch,” Kili tries to defend himself as one of Fili’s eyebrows lifts higher and higher.
“Okay so you weren’t stalking me,” Fili concedes watching the guy nod quickly. “You were creeping on me, instead.”
“If you want to put it that way,” Kili flushes pinker and takes a tiny step back from Fili. “Mostly I was just curious about what you were doing.”
“Was I not obvious? I was for sure the camera was a dead giveaway.”
“You’re kind of mean, you know?” Kili frowns at him.
“Oh no, my stalker thinks I’m mean.”
“I wasn’t stalking you!” Kili’s voice rises loudly over the noise of the aquarium. His face turns bright red and he ducks a little in embarrassment. “I wasn’t stalking you," his voice is a quiet murmur that makes Fili feel instantly guilty. \
“Okay, okay,” Fili soothes him. “I’m really not mad either. It was just kind of spooky.”
“Sorry about that,” Kili gives him a weak smile. “Can I make it up to you?” Kili’s eyes sparkle as he offers and Fili can’t help himself when he bites his lip. There are so many ways he could think of that Kili could make up for creeping him out all day. He watches the guy’s eyes flit down to his mouth and he releases his lip before giving Kili a small shrug.
“You’ve helped me with my project. I think we’re pretty even.”
“I don’t know, when you walked in and saw me you looked like you’d seen a ghost,” Kili smirks.
“Fuck you!” Fili shakes his head. “I was seriously starting to believe I had!” he can’t help but laugh at himself.
“I could give you a tour?” Kili suggests. It’s a nice offer and Fili wants to accept, but he’s seen everything already and while he thinks his opinion on fish has been boosted a little, he’s not that interested.
“That’s really nice, but I’ve already gone through all the exhibits.”
“I meant behind the scenes,” Kili points towards one of the now not-so cryptic doors in the corner.
“Oh, well,” Fili pulls out his phone to check the time. It’s just a little after one and he’s really got nowhere to be. He’s still not that interested in seeing the inner workings of the aquarium, but he is interested in continuing to talk to Kili.
“I mean, if you don’t have the time I could get a voucher or something and you could do it later?” Kili's voice sounds crestfallen and Fili feels some strange sense of duty to put a smile back on his lips.
“Have you eaten lunch?”
“What?” Kili asks, clearly thrown by the simple question.
“Lunch. Have you eaten it yet?” Fili doesn’t think he can simplify it any more than that.
“Oh. No, I haven’t. Why?” he responds with his own question, eyeing Fili suspiciously. Far more suspicious than Fili thinks he really should be. Especially since he was the one stalking Fili all day.
“Come eat lunch with me.”
“Right now?” Kili glances around him like his boss is standing over his shoulder, like he’s actually working today.
“Well, I’m guessing you don’t have to be at work anytime soon,” Fili jokes.
Kili cracks a small smile. “Yeah, okay. Why not.”
“That’s the spirit,” Fili grins at him, reaching into his pocket for his lens cap. A thought strikes him just as he’s about to put it on. “Hey, another weird question, and you can still totally say no, but,” Fili feels embarrassed just asking it.
“What is it?”
“Can I get a picture of your shoes?”
“Uh, sure? I mean that is kinda weird but, I guess?”
“Yeah, I know. I just like them a lot,” Fili provides as he lifts the camera to his eye. It’s half true. There’s something about them that is aesthetically pleasing. Perhaps it’s the fact that they’re so beaten up, but clearly loved regardless. The white of the shoe has been buffed as much as possible and there’s tiny little doodles all over the canvas that Fili just has to zoom in on.
Sharks. Of course they’re sharks.
Fili finds something incredibly charming about the thought as he lowers himself a little to get a better angle. He can’t figure out why he wants the photo so bad, but he has an idea why. It’s Kili’s feet that ended up bringing Fili here. If it weren’t for them, he would have never known Kili was stalking him around the aquarium all day. Not stalking, Fili grins to himself, watching.
Fili gets a clear shot; one he knows he’s going to have to fight himself not to print out later.
“Thanks, mate,” Fili pops the lens cap back on the camera after he straightens up. “About that lunch, though. Is there anywhere good around here?”
Kili gives him another one of those actual sunshine smiles of his. “How do you feel about fish and chips?”
“How can you possibly look all these fish in the eyes after eating their friends?” Fili can’t help himself from teasing the guy.
“It’s not my fault they taste good,” Kili shrugs but his smile remains huge and bright and Fili can’t help feeling like he’s slowly being captivated by the man. He’s definitely one of the more intriguing people he’s met.
What with his watching and his personal space issues, his adorable smiles and the shark doodles on his Chucks. Fili wants to know more about him. He wants to know if he will ramble on about fish the way Fili does about cameras. He wants to know what his favorite shark is, even if Fili doesn’t have one himself. He wants to get to know the guy; feels like with a name like Kili it’s kind of obligatory that he just should.
“You didn’t answer my question, though,” Kili points out, and Fili realizes he’s right. Fish and chips isn’t his favorite thing in the world, but he’s hungry and curious and finds the meal rather fitting somehow. So he nods.
“Fish and chips, yeah. Sounds good to me.”