AN: Written for the Summer Fandom Raffle Exchange on Tumblr. Here's the prompt: You live upstairs and left the bath water running, now it's leaking through my ceiling. I had fun with this one, so the result is probably a bit silly all around.
Pairing: Fili/Kili
Water under the Bridge
The door of his apartment slammed shut and Fíli threw his car keys across the room, missing the ottoman entirely and hitting a mug instead. It smashed, the porcelain pieces scattering across his coffee table, and Fíli stared at the mess emotionlessly. It was just another thing to add to a long list of annoyances. All in all, it had been an absolutely terrible day.
He knew from the moment he first opened his eyes to see the glowing red lights on his bedside table. He'd forgotten to set his alarm the night before, and slept in nearly an hour late as a result. And of course that meant he had to rush to wake up and skip breakfast in an effort to get dressed and ready. He hadn't had time to trim his beard, and the wiry hairs were all over the place and driving him nuts. The traffic was terrible, his car's air conditioning stopped working, and he spilt his hasty coffee purchase all over his lap on the drive to the office. He spent the rest of the day in and out of meetings, sporting pants stained a disgusting brown colour and feeling uncomfortably…wet. On top of that, it seemed like nearly everyone in the office was in a bad mood. His boss snapped at him and piled a bunch of work on his desk so he was forced to skip lunch, the receptionist blamed him for the death of her office plant, and some lady he'd never met before told him off for being a pervert. It might have been the stained pants.
Work sucked, life sucked, what was a broken mug in the grand scheme of things? Even if it was his favourite mug. His eyebrow twitched slightly but he sighed in resignation, throwing off his jacket and letting it drop to a clump on the floor. He sauntered into his tiny living space, falling heavily into the pleather armchair, and then he allowed his body to sink fully into the cushions. A lock of blond hair flopped into his face and he blew it away exasperatedly. He felt like a slug, slouched and frowning, and it seemed like his butt was nearly dragging on the ground.
Slowly his eyelids began to lower and his chin tilted forwards just slightly. The day's events were finally catching up to him. He drifted for a moment, in and out of sleep, but flinched and jolted back in the chair when something cold and wet hit the tip of his nose. Fíli scrunched up his brow and rubbed his sleeve over his face, looking up in confusion. He blinked several times, staring at a discolouration on his ceiling that he'd never noticed before, until another drop fell, nearly landing in his eye.
"What the hell?" Fíli muttered, squinting as he studied his ceiling. And right before his eyes the strange stain began to spread, and the drips increased in frequency. He frowned, and his teeth clenched together tightly as the dripping became steady, leaving large wet spots on his already ruined pants.
"Oh fuck no, not this. Not today," Fíli growled, and he pushed himself up from his seat and strode towards his apartment door. Fíli wrenched it open, glaring down the hallway towards the elevator he already knew was out of order. He took the stairs two at a time, stomping heavily on the cement blocks. When he reached the floor above, he hurried to find the apartment atop his own, and stood in front of number fifty-three with an annoyed expression on his face. He could hear music blaring through the heavy door, some sort of power metal, and Fíli slammed his fist against the surface rapidly. No one answered, and his nostrils flared before he knocked again, even louder and harder than the first time. Finally he heard a muffled shout beyond the door and moments later it opened. Music blasted from inside the room, and Fíli found himself face to face with a surprisingly cheerful looking brunet.
"Hello!" The man chirped, his hair tied up into a messy bun so that several stray pieces hung about his face. He was wearing sweatpants, and a loose tank top, sporting an admittedly cute cat print apron tied around his torso. Fíli felt the air leave his lungs as his gaze locked onto deep brown eyes and appealingly flushed skin. He swallowed, trying to remember why he was there at all, but his overworked mind seemed to have shorted out at the sight of such a drop dead gorgeous guy. He'd been expecting an old man, or some rambunctious teenager, not the heavenly creature that stood before him.
"What can I do for you?" the man asked, his eyes roaming Fíli's form, pausing to take in his rumpled appearance. Fíli followed his line of sight which was clearly taking in the disgusting coffee coloured shapes all around the crotch of his pants, and he felt his face pale. He crossed his arms defensively, looking away as he reminded himself why he was there.
"Uh…I think…you may have left your bath running," Fíli muttered, and the other man tilted his head slightly to the side. A loud guitar riff echoed from inside his flat.
"Eh?" he sounded, looking beyond confused, and Fíli pointed gracelessly to the floor, trying to indicate his apartment below.
"There's a leak, coming through the ceiling. Water's dripping into my apartment from yours," he explained in irritation. Several seconds passed during which Fíli saw no recognition in the other's expression, but suddenly the brunet's eyes widened and his mouth fell open in horror.
"Oh my god!" He gasped, lifting his hands to the sides of his face.
"Oh my god I completely forgot!" he repeated, and then the brunet was off, running down his hall towards what Fíli assumed was the bathroom.
"Shit shit shit!" echoed through the apartment, and Fíli couldn't help but lean through the door and peer around the corner. The brunet was standing before his bathroom door, both hands entangled in his hair as he began to hyperventilate.
"What do I do? What do I do?" he chanted and Fíli frowned and scampered towards him, gaping at the overflowing tub beyond the door. A mess of bubbles was pouring out over the ridge of the bathtub, and a substantial amount of water covered the entirety of his bathroom floor. How anyone could let the water run for so long was beyond him.
"Well it might help if you turned off the tap," Fíli grumbled and then jumped into the puddles of water coating the entire floor to turn off the water. The brunet opened his mouth and shrugged his shoulders embarrassedly, flushing even deeper than before. He pulled up the lower edges of his sweats above his knees before stepping cautiously into the room, his feet splashing in the puddles as he moved. Fíli eyed him curiously for a moment, taking note of the absolute look of defeat in the brunet's posture. He seemed at a complete loss as to what to do, his dark brown eyes looking at the flooded room in despair. Fíli sighed and scratched the back of his neck, feeling just a bit bad for the guy. Besides, the sooner he helped him clean it up; the sooner water would stop dripping down through his ceiling.
"Have you got any towels? We can try mopping up the excess," he suggested, and the brunet looked up in surprise.
"Oh…yeah! One sec," he mentioned, a cute little smile forming on his lips, and Fíli leaned against one of the walls in the bathroom as he skipped away. His heart was beating a little bit faster, just from that tiny grin alone and he chastised himself for letting it affect him so easily.
Just a few minutes later and the two were on their knees, pushing towels around the floor and wringing them out in the sink. It took a long time, and Fíli's back was beginning to ache. He briefly regretted offering to help but looked up and caught a glimpse of the brunet's very nice rear as he bent over to pick up the sopping bathmat. Fíli held in a groan, and wondered if he was being further punished or rewarded for having suffered so much in one day. He looked down at his thoroughly soaked knees and decided the jury was definitely still out on that one.
Fíli moved to stand and he leaned over slightly to wring another towel out into the tub. The water splashed into the still full bath, and he figured he should pull the plug. By the time they finished cleaning up it would be stone cold and the brunet would have to refill it anyway. But a screech sounded behind him before he could grasp the faucet's handle, and Fíli turned, catching sight of a mess of brown hair and wide dark eyes just before he was knocked backwards full force.
The blond staggered, reaching out to grab the other man on instinct, and then his feet slid out from under him and he fell. He reached for the shower curtain and managed to grasp hold of the flimsy plastic, but it wasn't quite strong enough to keep him from falling over the side of the tub. Water splashed out around him and Fíli winced as he was wedged into an awkward position, his legs strewn over the edge of the bath and his rear-end completely submerged in water. He got a face full of hair as the brunet slumped on top of him and the blond's hand gripped the other man's waist tightly to hold him in place. Fíli squirmed as lukewarm water drenched his backside, and then immediately stopped as his groin rubbed against the body entangled with his own. His face reddened, his legs stiffened, and he stopped breathing in a matter of seconds. He was pretty sure the temperature in the room had gone from slightly uncomfortable to unbearably hot.
Fíli gulped, looking down into the other man's eyes, and the brunet turned his head slightly, pressing a rosy cheek into Fíli's now transparent shirt. The action made the blond's skin tingle, and the hairs on his arms stood up all at once.
"What is love…baby don't hurt me…baby don't hurt me," the familiar dance tune soared through the halls, incredibly loud even though the speakers were a few rooms away. Fíli felt his eyebrow twitch as he contemplated the entirely bizarre situation he'd gotten himself into, and smiled slightly at the hilarity of it all. He was unable to stifle the slight chuckle that sounded low in his throat and felt rather gleeful at the deep red hues rising up the brunet's neck to consume his ears.
"Dun. Dun. Dun. Dun-da...," Fili closed his eyes, tempted to start singing along, opening them quickly when he felt the other man shift against him.
"S-sorry," the brunet stuttered, and he moved to prop himself up on the edge of the bathtub with shaking limbs. The tank top now hung low on his body, and even with the apron tied around his waist, Fíli could clearly see the defined outline of his spine through the see-through fabric. He was definitely being rewarded, Fíli decided, and he settled back into the water to hide his body's reaction. He didn't need more than one person to accuse him of his perversion in a single day, even if it would be a legitimate claim the second time around. The brunet jumped off of the ceramic lip, and quickly held out a helping hand, which Fíli grabbed after taking a few seconds to gather his wits.
"You're soaked now!" The other man gasped, raising a hand to nibble on his knuckles. He looked adorable, and Fíli just couldn't find the will to care much about his sopping clothes. Instead he was fascinated by the way brown eyes lingered on his chest, and hoped he wasn't imagining the flicker of interest he thought he saw within them.
"I'm so clumsy," it was little more than a whisper, and Fíli reached up to push his hair off his brow nervously as he steadied his breathing. The steamy room was making the blond strands frizz up into a messy clump, and he was sure he looked completely ludicrous. But as his eyes drifted down the other man's drenched form, he realised they both looked pretty outrageous. That thought comforted him…slightly.
"Don't worry about it," Fíli assured with a slight shake of his head. He shared a shy glance with the other man, and the two stood there looking at each other awkwardly for far too long. Eventually Fíli's nose pulled his attention away, and he sniffed curiously and turned to look at the bathroom door.
"Do you smell burning?" he asked, and the other man gasped loudly, shaking his hands wildly in the air.
"My brownies!" the brunet shouted, and he tore down the hallway once again, leaving wet footprints in his wake. Fíli didn't think it possible that someone else might be having just as bad a day as him, but when he saw the other man, oven mitts over his hands, an expression of anguish on his face as he stared down at the crispy blackened remains of his precious brownies, Fíli knew he'd finally met his match. The brunet turned teary eyes towards him, and Fíli felt his face crumple at the sight. He approached, looking at the still smoking brownies tentatively.
"You might be able to salvage some of them," he suggested. The tiny glimmer of hope in the brunet's eyes urged Fíli on, and several minutes later he ended up sitting on a stool beside him, gnawing on the overdone baked goods. The music was down in volume, just a nice melodic background to fill the space, and Fíli felt himself relaxing in the other man's presence.
"Hey…thanks for your help," the brunet mentioned, crunching on his own brownie and throwing a doubtful look in its direction as crumbs fell down the front of his apron.
"I really am sorry for putting you through so much trouble," he added, gesturing to the still messy hallway and somewhat water-laden floorboards. Fíli leaned forwards on the counter, resting his elbows on the edge of the wooden surface.
"No worries, it actually, odd as it may sound, made my day a little more enjoyable," Fíli admitted, and Kíli eyed him curiously, glancing again towards his stained pants. Fíli groaned and rubbed at his brow, setting the brownie down on his plate. Several pieces fell off of it and it made a loud clink against the china.
"It's coffee, had a mishap on the way to work today," Fíli explained and the other man's expression morphed into one of sympathy.
"Oh! Do you…do you want a change of clothes?" he offered, but Fíli shrugged it off.
"Oh there's no point really, not now," he chuckled, clenching his hands in the still damp fabric.
"I'm Fíli by the way," he uttered, reaching out to shake the other man's hand.
"Kíli," the brunet said eagerly, and his palm slid against Fíli's, fitting inside it like it was meant to be there. The blond stared at their joined fingers, refraining from letting go, and when he looked into Kíli's eyes he saw a mutual expression of awe within the dark irises. Without thinking Fíli ran his thumb across the back of the other man's hand, tracing some imaginary shape against the soft skin.
They sat there in silence, hands joined, eyes wide, nothing but the sound of Kíli's stereo and soft breathing to accompany them. The brunet nibbled at his lip and Fíli's gaze dropped to watch. A dark hair clung to the side of his mouth, where a few stray crumbs still lingered, and Fíli felt himself leaning closer. He sat up and forced himself to stop before he managed to do something stupid. The blond relaxed his grip, and Kíli's hand slipped from his own, but they remained next to each other on the countertop.
"The least I can do is make you dinner, to thank you for your help," Kíli spoke up, and at Fíli's raised eyebrow he ducked his head shyly. His eyes strayed to the still airing out oven, and then the pan filled with charred remains, and he tapped his fingers against the countertop and rocked back on the stool.
"Or…maybe I could order us take out?" he asked quietly, and Fíli smirked then elbowed him gently in the side. Caught off balance, Kíli staggered atop the stool for a moment, but he braced himself on the counter and the blond laughed at him heartily.
"I'd like that," Fíli said between his chuckles, and the two threw several sidelong glances at one another while discussing options. They settled on pizza, both feeling the urge for grease and excessive quantities of cheese. After the call was placed and the two had settled back into light-hearted conversation, Fíli began to wonder what state his apartment was in. Had water continued to leak in after he'd left? Was there a giant puddle in the middle of his armchair? Probably. He wouldn't know until he returned. A thought suddenly struck him and he began patting down his pockets worriedly.
"Damn it," Fíli cursed under his breath, but it was still loud enough to attract the other man's attention.
"Just realised I locked myself out of my apartment," Fíli groaned, tilting his head to the side wearily. The head office was long closed for the night, and he wouldn't be able to get back inside his room until morning. He let his head fall into the palm of his hand and slouched forwards on the stool, listening to the other man as he laughed cutely at his side.
"Well…you can stay here for the night if you like?" Kíli uttered lowly. Fíli opened his eyes wide, sensing when the brunet moved closer, slouching next to him on the counter.
"I wouldn't mind…," Kíli murmured, and this time Fíli felt the other man's breath brush across the side of his face. He turned slowly, looking into startlingly close brown eyes, and then he glanced at the brunet's lips again, noting that a strand of hair still clung to them tantalizingly. It was endearing, the way the other man's cheek was squished against the cool surface, and how his eyelashes clung together slightly each time he blinked, and the little freckles scattered over the tip of his nose. Fíli reached out, dragging his finger along the edge of the other man's jaw, and he tucked the stray hair behind his ear, not breaking eye contact for a moment. He was sure he wasn't imagining things. There was definitely interest there, and Fíli returned it wholeheartedly.
"Maybe I'll take you up on that change of clothes after all," Fíli drawled, and he was rewarded with a gorgeous smile. His heart swelled at the sight, and he thought that maybe, just maybe, it was working out to be the best day of his life.