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Tonight, Ori would be hosting the grand reopening of Dori’s small restaurant. After the fire that started at the grease trap next door, he feared the destruction of the 1900’s historic building his brother’s café was in. He would forever be thankful for the fire crew that not only put out the blaze quickly, but also saved most of the original structure.
Looking around, he suddenly felt thankful that Nori’s security gig paid for his degree in event planning and restaurant management. The small salon now boasted floor to ceiling reproduction windows that showed off the beautiful garden designed by his best friend’s mom. At each tables’ settings were dishes that he and Kili found scouring the flea markets and the effect of the mismatched plates was perfect. There wasn’t a single thing in the rebuild that didn’t come from some kind of Durin family aid.
“Anything I can help with?” Kili’s voice nearly scared the redhead to death. Shaking his head, he looked at his best friend and smiled.
“You are here to enjoy yourself, not put even more work into this event. Anyway, everything now comes down to Dori and the servers really.”
Kili smiled as they hugged briefly before handing him the bouquet of wild flowers and roses his mom arranged. He quickly gave his family’s apologies on why they couldn’t be there with Kili tonight, but with Frodo having surgery first thing in the morning it seemed a little more important to stay with him. Frodo spent most of his time in and out of hospitals to recover from the accident that killed his parents ten years prior.
The sound of a throat clearing from the doorway caught both of the friends’ attention. Standing in the doorway was the most beautiful man that Kili had ever laid his eyes upon. He stood just slightly shorter than the brunet did, but his muscles filled out the shirt he wore very nicely. It took everything in Kili’s power not to walk over to him and run his hands through that gorgeous blond hair. He did a double take and laughed a little when Ori introduced him as Fili Shield, one of the firefighters responsible for saving the building.
“Couldn’t let this gorgeous historical building go up in flames, now could we,” Fili chuckled. “Plus, Dori serves the best Beef Bourguignon that I’ve ever tasted.”
“If you enjoy that dish, you should try his Chocolate Sin cake!” Kili was well and truly captivated by the man. Ori saw that look a lot growing up and knew it by heart. Every time someone caught his friend’s attention that expression would show up. Tonight, for the first time ever, someone truly returned the stare.
Ori watched as the two chatted for a few minutes before excusing himself. He knew how much Kili deserved a little happiness in his life, but it scared him on what would happen if his heart were broken again. Too many people trampled on the brunet’s heart before and it made Ori sick to his stomach to see his friend hurting. Fili would get the lecture about breaking the actor’s heart later.
Whenever he could spare a moment from his duties as host, Ori checked in on the pair. He watched as the two sat at the same table and laughed at stories of their lives. Ori knew he would be having the ‘Don’t you dare break my friend’s heart’ talk with the firefighter after seeing the slight touches they both laughed at, the soft smiles whenever they looked at each other, and by the end of the night, the tender kiss Kili gave Fili’s lips.
The minute Kili left, Ori made his move and pounced. “You better not even consider breaking his heart. There have been too many guys who just trampled all over it.”
Fili couldn’t help but to stare at his friend. The thought of hurting the other man never crossed his mind. He moved the two of them to sit on the stairs that lead up to the offices. “I really enjoyed my time with Kili today, and we both have you to thank for that. We’re going to try out dating and I would never do anything to hurt him. Trust me on that, okay?”
“He’s a gentle soul and has very overprotective family and friends.”
Fili smiled at that, patting his companion’s knee. “Kili is the luckiest man alive to have so many people who care for him. We talked about this tonight and I guess you should know too. We both just got out of bad relationships,” he watched as Ori nodded at that one. “Neither of us wants to jump into a hot and heavy relationship right now and agreed to take things slow. Does that meet with your approval?”
Standing up, Ori smiled at him. A quick nod of agreement and he was off to help Dori start cleanup. Fili smiled and went to lend the two men a hand before heading home to think of the gorgeous brunet that would haunt his dreams.
The End.