Five minutes after retreating into the emergency changing area, Neville emerged wearing a merch t-shirt, merch sweatpants, and flip-flops that made a faintly comical slap-slap sound with each step because they were a little big on his feet.

The t-shirt featured the aquarium’s mascot—a cartoonish silver fish wearing sunglasses and giving an enthusiastic thumbs-up (despite not having thumbs).

The text underneath was written as "AZURE DEPTHS: WHERE THE FIN BEGINS!" in aggressively cheerful font.

Neville’s soul had left his body approximately thirty seconds into putting on this outfit.

The aquarium staff was efficient, at least.

While security teams were everywhere, the visitors from that area had been talking to the staff. It seemed that no one was allowed to leave the aquarium yet.

At least they weren’t stifling in one place.

Neville made his way toward the place that the staff member pointed to.

His flip-flops squeaked with every step, but he managed to pull through by ignoring the sound and looking around.

The corridor was lined with holographic displays showing serene underwater scenes, not real fish.

Somewhere beyond that was Grayson, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

He was also wearing the merch, just in a different size.

Neville stopped walking.

And Grayson looked up.

For a long, excruciating moment, neither of them spoke.

Then Neville noticed the faint flush creeping up from Grayson’s neck to the tips of his ears.

His lips twitched, feeling the absurdity of the situation.

"Don’t," Grayson said immediately.

"I didn’t say anything," Neville said, holding back a smile.

"You were thinking about it."

Neville tried, he really did.

He pressed his lips together, focused on a spot just above Grayson’s shoulder, and forced himself to change his expression.

It lasted approximately three seconds before he managed to calm down.

"I was just thinking," Neville said, his voice trembling with suppressed laughter, "that we look like we’re on a very specific kind of family vacation. The kind where someone’s aunt got everyone matching outfits, and nobody has the heart to refuse."

Grayson’s ears turned an even more vivid shade of red, unable to look at Neville.

Neville gave up; he couldn’t stop his smile from showing. It also chased away the lingering tension on his body because of the scale panic.

This was ridiculous.

They both looked ridiculous.

But I kind of like it.

They stood there for another awkward moment, neither moving, neither speaking.

Somewhere in the distance, Neville could hear the muffled sounds. He turned in the direction of the sounds and saw the staff coordinating with the visitors.

Grayson cleared his throat and explained, "The investigation will take several hours. We’ve been advised to move to the other side of the aquarium while they sweep for additional devices."

"Additional devices?" Neville’s eyes dimmed slightly. "Do they think there were others?"

"Just a precaution." Grayson didn’t explain in detail, which told Neville everything he needed to know. But then he continued, "Julius is handling the coordination with security."

Neville’s eyes widened, and he asked, "Is that okay? Shouldn’t we—"

"He’s used to it," Grayson said, preventing Neville from exposing himself to further danger. "Let him do his job."

Neville nodded slowly, reminding himself that if Grayson trusted Julius to handle things, then Neville should do the same.

As if on cue, Neville noticed that Grayson’s glasses had begun to fog up again.

It seemed that they hadn’t fixed the temperature of this place yet.

Grayson also noticed and reached up to wipe them clean.

The moment he did, Neville’s hand shot out before his brain could think. He caught Grayson’s wrist with a particularly determined expression on his face.

Grayson went still. His eyes, slightly blurred without the glasses’ clarity, fixed on Neville’s face.

"Why do you keep on doing that?" he asked curiously.

"Doing what?" Neville said, turning his gaze away, unable to answer since he himself didn’t know why.

"Stopping me from cleaning my glasses." Grayson’s tone had a hint of amused curiosity. "Is there a reason, or do you just enjoy watching me stumble around half-blind?"

Neville’s face burned, flustered.

Why did he do that? What excuse should he say?

If Grayson took off his glasses, someone might recognize him.

In truth, Neville knew that even though they looked at Grayson’s bare face and recognized him, they would just think that he was just someone’s look-alike or that he was handsome.

But his heart felt complicated just by the thought of someone looking at Grayson. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

And he couldn’t actually say that to Grayson, right?

"I—" Neville’s voice came out embarrassingly high. "There was a—I think I saw a smudge—"

"A... smudge," Grayson repeated slowly.

"Yes." He replied firmly, even though he could see Grayson trying to put down his curled lips.

Grayson then said with amused skepticism, "Some that you needed to stop me from wiping away."

"It was a very... specific smudge."

Neville knew that even though he was spouting, he needed to stick to his words.

Grayson’s eyebrows rose slowly, clearly very amused.

In the end, he still took off his glasses.

Before Neville could dig his hole any deeper, by stopping him again, Grayson’s free hand came up to catch his chin.

The touch was gentle but firm, tilting Neville’s face upward.

Without his glasses creating a barrier, Grayson’s silver eyes seemed impossibly close and intense.

"Your contacts," Grayson said quietly with concern. "Are they bothering you? It was a little red earlier."

Neville blinked.

His contacts? Oh, he forgot that ’he had contacts’.

"They’re—" Neville swallowed, stuttering, keenly aware of Grayson’s fingers still resting against his chin. "They’re fine."

"If the contacts are irritating, you should—"

"They’re fine." Neville pulled back just enough to break eye contact, his heart hammering against his ribs. "I just... got some saltwater in them because of the sprinkler. But, it’s fine."

Even though Grayson nodded, he didn’t release him.

Those eyes studied Neville’s face with an uncomfortable level of attention.

It wandered around his face and somehow landed on his lips.

Grayson, as if getting burned, quickly released him and turned his face away.

"As expected, we should find something to cover your eyes." He said and walked away.

What? Why? What’s wrong?!

Neville hurriedly followed Grayson out.