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<°((((>< Batterie: Fish Out of Water ><((((°>

Tap.

His blazing red eyes batted left and right as they followed the constant movement of the decorative koi in the clear, glass tank.  During his trance, he must've pressed his whole body up against the container, and his finger tips made the glass fog up beneath their touch.  It wasn't until his view of the fish decreased, due to his breathing upon the sturdy prison, that he finally moved away and relied on his own strength to stand upright. 

"Sir-"
"Batter."  He said this without turning around, as if he already knew who was addressing him.
"Oh, I beg your pardon, but we don't allow loitering."

Boorishly, the Batter spun around to meet the eyes of the employee, but he didn't find a set of eyes; he only saw two black, haunting circles painted onto a plastic mask, with an even more mortifying smile. 

"I'm gonna have to ask you to leave if you're not buying anything.  Sorry, it's policy. No fish watching."  The employee twirled his dark, curly hair between his index finger and thumb. 
"Five more minutes?" The Batter's attention returned to the red and black koi.  
"No.  You can either buy something or leave."

".... fine.  I'll buy the fish.".  The taller male's brow twitched in anticipation of the price, since he didn't especially want to in the first place. 

The mask showed no indifference, but from the way that the, supposedly younger, male's body jumped back with his arms in front of his chest, the Batter could tell that he was shocked.
"Oh, that was quite sudden. Are you able to care for it?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm not supposed to tell anyone this, but the manager told me to offer it for free, since no one had ever shown interest in buying such an ugly koi. I don't think it's ugly, but most people want a koi with white, orange, red, and black, not just a koi with red and black."
"You sure it's free? It's too pretty to be worth nothing." He considered what it would actually be worth.
"Yea, I wouldn't be kidding."

Biweekly, the Batter would stop buy the lonely pet store to pick up fish food or ask for help with the fish, to which Zacharie would happily oblige and visit his home.  Sometimes, they would sit outside on the hills and stare endlessly at the stars.  Tonight just happened to be one of those nights.

Slowly, Zacharie placed his hand on the batters thigh, grabbing his attention like he had intended, but when the Batter shot him an inquiring look.  He continued on to what he was to say. 
"You know, I still don't fully understand why you'd me or that ugly koi."
"Hm?  Oh, black and red are a nice combination.  Sounds senseless to hate a fish with no control over its genes."
"Yeah, that's true... but I suppose I think of myself as that koi."
"You're even better than that fish.  Don't you think otherwise, either, or I'll smack you with my Ashley bat."
"Ahaha, okay.  I'm glad i met you.  And that koi."
"Same, and I wouldn't have it any other way," the Batter concluded as the sun rose for another country, and the pair entered their homes without a care in the world.