Chapter Text
Keith deserved a break. After studying his ass off for a good month in preparation for finals, it was all Keith could think of: going home, dropping his things off, and booking it for the beach. However, as always, there were other responsibilities waiting for him at home. Helping his mom fix up her roof. Catching up with old friends. Meeting new ones (Allura, Lance’s “friend” he met while studying abroad). By the third week, Keith was desperate, and tonight was his limit. With a promise to be safe, he borrowed Krolia’s bicycle to visit the beach at eleven in the evening.
That’s where he finds himself now: jeans haphazardly rolled up to his calves, ankles buried in the wet sand, trudging towards the cove that he, Pidge, and Matt have spent many past summers in. He would appreciate their company tonight, but he really couldn’t wait for anyone at this point.
Keith peeks his head in the cove to make sure it isn’t “occupied”. He’s not too worried there will be people in it at this hour, but he’s seen enough naked couples looking for privacy in the past that he always double checks. The cove is empty, save for an unlucky fish that got washed up and stuck in the sand. Normally Keith would just leave it alone for the seagulls, but this isn’t exactly like every other fish he’s seen in the cove. For one, it’s huge. Keith can’t see the whole fish, with the top half hidden in the shadows, but he’s pretty sure the tail is as long as his own legs. The second thing Keith notes is that the fish is pure white, scales almost iridescent. He’s never seen a fish like this. He’ll have to ask Lance about it later, who’s a marine biology major and a nerd about this stuff.
The last thing Keith notices is that the fish is still alive. Its tail twitches minutely, but it’s hard to miss with the way this fish’s disco ball of a tail shimmers in the moonlight with every movement. Keith sighs, realizing his night’s plans are ruined, because now he has to save this fish. He’s antsy, but not heartless.
Keith rolls up the sleeves of his hoodie with a huff and approaches the fish. He wraps his hands around the tail, right above where it fans out into a rather beautiful fin. It’s thin and delicate, and seems to shimmer just like the fish’s scales. Keith would take a picture, but he’s not sure how long the poor thing’s been beached. Wasting no more time, he gives a gentle tug to test the weight of the tail. It’s heavy, as expected, but Keith’s nothing if determined.
He digs his heels in the wet sand and tugs. It’s slow going, but Keith’s making progress. He watches as more and more of the fish is revealed. The white seems to fade into a tan color halfway through the fish, and --
Keith stops. He squints. He thinks he sees a -- a belly button?
Keith drops the tail, and nearly falls backwards at the sound of a whimper. Keith calls out while he fumbles for his phone.
“Is someone in here?” All he gets is another noise that sounds entirely too weak.
Keith turns on his flashlight, fish forgotten. There’s someone else in the cove with him, and they sound like they’re injured. Keith points his flashlight into the cove.
The noise he makes is not a scream, Keith tells himself fiercely. Because what he sees isn’t a person. Well, it is. But not really. He doesn’t know. The person he was expecting to find is there, but he’s also the fish. He’s a mermaid. Or merman? Keith doesn’t care, there’s a fucking fish-man sitting in front of him, watching him warily.
“What the fuck.”
The man blinks at him from behind his matted curtain of hair, as white as the rest of him. He looks like he’s ready to fall over at any moment. Keith quickly scans the… the man. Calling the creature in front of him a man seems wrong, but he’s not ready to incorporate “merman” into his everyday lexicon just yet.
The man’s skin is littered with scars that look fairly new; raised and baby pink. The only scar that looks old is the one on his right arm, at the seam of what remains of his arm and a gleaming, metal prosthetic.
“You’ve been through some shit, huh?” Keith finds himself saying, unsure if the man can even understand him. It seems like he does, though, with the way he tucks his hair behind his ear to see Keith better, and how he watches him with gentle gray eyes.
But then those eyes close, and the man is collapsing. Right into Keith’s arms, conveniently. With some maneuvering, Keith holds the man to his chest with one arm, nearly cradling him. He frantically scrolls through his phone with his free hand, trying to figure out who the hell he would call in this situation. The police? Animal control? The local aquarium? All of his options don’t seem like they quite fit, and he doesn’t want to subject the man to the poking and prodding he’s bound to receive. Keith isn’t stupid, though. He knows he’s not capable of handling this on his own. So he decides to call Matt to help bring the man over to his house, where he’ll figure out what to do from there. Matt picks up on the second ring.
“Yo.”
“Hey. Uh, I need you to pick me up. From the beach. I found something that’s too big to bring home on my bicycle.”
“I’m kind of busy right now, man. Hunk, Pidge, and I are working on this new water filter for Lance, and --”
“It’s important stuff. Like, the scientific discovery of the century kind of stuff,” Keith looks down at the man, who’s begun to shiver in his sleep. He hugs him closer. “Look, I’ll let you ride my bike when Hunk’s done fixing her up. For a week.”
Matt is quiet for a bit. “A month.”
Keith sighs, rolling his eyes to the ceiling. “Fine. A month.”
“Excellent,” Matt says in a way that makes Keith regret his decision already. “Well, I guess I’ll be there in a few. This better be worth it, Kogane.”
“It will be. See you.” With that, Keith hangs up.
Keith’s arm is getting sore, but he doesn’t want to lay the man down onto the wet sand, especially with the way he’s shivering almost violently now. With some maneuvering, Keith unzips his hoodie and blankets it over the man. Without his hoodie he’s cold, but he’ll manage.
It’s worth it when the man stops shivering.
-
Keith doesn’t know how Matt will react to the man, so when he hears Matt’s voice coming down the beach Keith panics. Maybe he should have prepared Matt a bit more for what was waiting for him. It’s a jarring thing, to realize that The Little Mermaid might not have been a kid’s movie, but a goddamn documentary. That’s when he hears Hunk’s voice and Pidge’s laughter. Keith curses. He should’ve known Matt would bring them. He didn’t want this to become a Thing, but he guesses it’s going to be a Thing now.
Matt rounds the corner with a flashlight. He takes one look at Keith with the man, barks out a laugh, and walks away out of view.
“Fuck off, Keith,” Keith hears Matt say, laughing. He also hears Pidge and Hunk asking what the hell’s going on.
Keith wasn’t expecting this reaction. “What?” he calls out weakly.
“You dragged my ass out here for this?” Matt pokes his head in the cove again. “C’mon, it doesn’t even look real.”
Suddenly, it clicks. “Y-you think this is a prank?” Keith splutters.
“I mean, the tail’s sparkly.” Matt walks over and plops himself down onto the sand beside Keith. “Fish tails don’t sparkle, Keith.” Matt runs his hand over the man’s tail, giving an appreciative hum when he’s done. “I’ll give it to you though, this is high quality.” He nods to the man. “And who’s this?”
“I-I don’t know? Matt, this isn’t a fucking prank.” Keith shifts the man to his other arm. “I came here alone because I missed the beach, and I found… this… man,” he finishes lamely.
“Whoa. Ariel looks different from the movies.” Keith and Matt both look up at the sound of Pidge’s voice. She and Hunk walk into the cove, sitting down next to Matt.
“I can’t believe you brought them,” Keith grumbles to Matt before turning to Pidge and Hunk. “Hi, Pidge. Hi, Hunk. I found this merman. This isn’t a prank. Do you believe me?”
Before they can answer, the man groans and shifts in Keith’s arms before settling. Suddenly, his eyes shoot open and he looks around wildly, scrambling away towards a wall. In the process, Keith’s hoodie slips off, revealing his scars. Keith thinks he hears Matt inhale sharply at the sight.
“Who -- where--” the man pants rapidly, gaze flicking back and forth between the four of them. Keith looks to his friends. Pidge looks intrigued, Hunk looks confused, and Matt’s eyebrows are raised. None of them look like they know what to say. Keith doesn’t either, but he tries. In a low, gentle voice, he introduces everyone. Pidge and Hunk wave weakly, Matt just stares. Keith continues to explain where they are, and what happened.
With each passing moment, the man seems to calm down, but he’s still wary. He clutches his arm where skin meets metal and curls his tail towards himself. The movement is clumsy, though, and seems foreign to him.
“What happened to me?” he asks softly, voice rasping. The man touches his throat, like he’s surprised at the sound. “To -- my legs?”
“Did you have legs before?” Matt asks, still eyeing the man down. Keith thinks he’s finally realized that this indeed was not a prank. Keith’s just glad he doesn’t have to convince Matt anymore. The man’s reaction to their presence did that just fine; too real to be a show. The wild, scared look in his eyes still linger in Keith’s mind.
“I… I think so.” The man’s eyebrows are furrowed in concentration. “I don’t remember. That’s something I should remember… right?”
“Are you real?” Hunk blurts out. Keith doesn’t bury his head in his hands, but it’s a near thing. “Sorry, but I mean -- this is crazy,” Hunk says with a nervous laugh.
The man frowns at Hunk, clearly annoyed. “Yes, I’m real. Are you real?” Keith hears Pidge snort.
“Do you know this dude?” Matt asks, clapping his hand on Keith’s shoulder.
The man looks to Keith, studying him. Keith tries not to squirm under his steady gaze. “He was the one that found me here. Keith, right?” Keith nods. It’s at that point he realizes he doesn’t know the man’s name.
“What’s your name?” Keith asks.
The man thinks again for a moment. “Shiro.”
“Just Shiro?”
The man shrugs with a grim smile. “That’s all that comes up.”
“Shiro. Great.” Matt clasps his hands together with a loud clap and stands up. “Terribly sorry Shiro, but I need a moment with my friends here.” He jerks his head violently to the beach, and they head out. When Keith glances back, Shiro’s slipping the hoodie on.
They walk for a bit to ensure they’re out of earshot. When Matt decides they’re far enough, he whirls around to face Keith. “He’s real.”
Keith blinks. “Yes.”
“Promise.” Matt shoves his pinky in Keith’s face. Rolling his eyes, Keith hooks his pinky with Matt’s.
Matt walks away with his hands clutching his hair. Keith knows to give him his space.
Hunk clears his throat. “So… what’s the plan?” he asks, visibly shaken.
“You called Matt because you needed help moving something,” Pidge states, watching Keith carefully. “... you’re not thinking of taking him home with you, are you? Please don’t tell me that Shiro was the thing you needed help moving.”
When Keith doesn’t answer, Pidge sighs. “Keith, this is way out of your depth.”
“You think I don’t know that?” Keith says, exasperated. “I’m not gonna keep him, obviously. I just -- need to figure out what to do. I don’t want to accidentally give him to the wrong people, you know?”
“That’s fair. I wouldn’t know who to hand Shiro off to,” Hunk shrugs. “Maybe Lance would know.”
“Speaking of which, Lance is going to kill you for using his bathtub.” Pidge says.
“Why would I use his bathtub?” Keith asks, confused at the sudden change in topic. In all the years Keith’s lived with Lance, he’s never used his bathtub.
“Well, I’d assume Shiro needs to be in water, right? At least, his tail. I… I think?” Pidge looks back at the cove thoughtfully.
“That’s why I wanted Matt to get here so soon. I don’t know what Shiro needs, but I know lying in that cove isn’t doing him any favors. You should’ve seen him earlier. He passed out on me.” Keith looks to the cove as well, suddenly worried. “He’s probably passed out right now.”
“Then we should probably get him home, right?” Hunk asks.
Matt returns and walks straight through them, continuing on to the cove. “Yes. C’mon kids, we have a mermaid to move.”
-
Keith’s right; when the four return to the cove, Shiro is slumped over, out cold again. Hunk hooks his arms under Shiro’s armpits, and Keith and Matt hold his tail. Pidge cheers them on.
“You know,” Hunk huffs, hiking Shiro up for the third time in a minute, “when my uncle made me haul around tuna back home I didn’t know it was practice for carrying mermaids.”
Pidge has to support Shiro’s middle when his butt threatens to drag against the asphalt of the parking lot, but they eventually make it to Matt’s Jeep. Keith vows he’s going to start working out again.
Keith and Pidge sit in the back with Shiro laid across their laps. Hunk hops in the front, panting from exertion, and Matt sits at the wheel. They mostly sit in silence. Keith is too occupied with watching Shiro’s face, scared he’s going to stop breathing at any second. He doesn’t know why, but he feels protective over him. Maybe it’s because in his sleep, Shiro is the epitome of peace and innocence. Keith originally thought Shiro was somewhere in his thirties, but now he looks to be around Keith’s age, if not only a bit older. Keith traces over dark lashes that fan over sharp cheekbones, another scar spanning across a strong nose. Shiro is -- he’s unlike any man Keith’s seen before; so unconventional, with his white hair, scars, and metal arm. But it just… works.
Keith realizes he’s been staring at Shiro for the past few minutes and looks to Pidge, hoping he’s not caught. Pidge, of course, looks at Keith with a knowing smile. It’s soft, though, without a hint of her normal playfulness. “He’s pretty,” she says, like she knows exactly what’s going on in Keith’s head. He just nods, letting himself glance at Shiro one more time before watching the road.
-
Lance shrieks when he comes to the door. The boys ignore and push past him, shuffling towards Lance’s bathroom with Shiro in their arms. Pidge hangs back to explain everything.
Keith sits on the edge of the tub by Shiro while Hunk sits on the toilet, testing the temperature of the water as it fills the tub. Matt watches quietly, leaning on the counter. They all look up when Lance pokes head in the bathroom.
“You owe me, Keith,” is all he says.
Keith smiles, grateful for Pidge’s unbelievable ability to explain the situation to Lance so quickly and thoroughly, to the point where that’s all he has to say. “I know.”
Lance inches forward, eyeing Shiro the whole time, who’s still asleep. Then he nudges Hunk from the tap and tests the water himself. “Dude, this water’s way too warm. He’s gonna overheat.” Lance drains the tub and starts filling it again, this time with cold water.
“I guess it’s a good thing you’re here,” Hunk says sheepishly.
Shiro wakes with a start, nearly knocking Keith off the edge of the tub. The collective noise of shock everyone makes is painfully embarrassing.
Before Keith can ask if he’s alright, Shiro speaks up. “It’s cold. My stomach.” He hugs his stomach, where the water has risen to touch his skin. Keith’s hoodie has also started to get submerged, the fabric darkening.
Lance takes a while to recover, but when he does, he nods. “I’ll let the water drain so it only reaches your tail.”
Shiro nods and settles, staring at his tail. The tub isn’t big enough, so a good portion of Shiro’s tail dangles over the edge of the tub. He moves his fin in little jerky movements, like he's testing it out.
"I'm Lance, by the way. If I seem weird, it's because you're proof everything I've ever learned is a lie and I'm trying to process it," Lance says cheerfully, sticking his hand out. Shiro shakes it warily.
"Lance studies marine biology," Keith explains, shooting a look at Lance, who pointedly ignores him.
“Anyway, if you need anything, just let us know. You won’t be stuck here for long, so don’t worry. We just want to make sure you’re all rested up before you return to the ocean, or wherever you came from.” Lance gives Shiro’s tail a gentle pat and stands up. Everyone says their goodbyes and shuffles out of the cramped bathroom.
Keith stands up to leave too, when he feels a tugging on the hem of his shirt. When he turns around, Shiro looks at him with an urgency and clarity that wasn’t present before.
“What is it?” Keith asks, crouching down.
“Uh… I…” Shiro wrings his hands, looking at anything but Keith. “Please -- please don’t return me to the ocean.” His shoulders are hunched, and he looks so small. Keith tries to ignore his heart breaking at the sight.
“Then where do we… return you? Do you know where you’re from?”
“No.” Shiro huffs, frustrated. “Something happened to me. But I can’t even remember what.” He opens his mouth like he wants to say something more, so Keith waits. “My mind is so fuzzy,” he finishes quietly.
Keith nods. “We’ll figure it out,” he says. He’d be surprised if Shiro believed him even for a second. “Until then, you can just stay here. Though I don’t know how comfortable the tub is,” Keith says, eyeing Shiro’s tail where it hangs over the edge.
“Better than dying in the sand, that’s for sure.” Shiro laughs nervously when Keith doesn’t say anything. “Sorry. Too soon?”
Keith chuckles. “You’re handling this awfully well if you’re able to make jokes.”
Shiro shrugs. “It’s not hard if I don’t remember anything.” He fiddles with the strings of Keith’s hoodie. “... thanks for saving me, Keith. I felt really… lost and confused, before. But you made it easier.”
“Sorry all of us kind of freaked out on you. This is all new, obviously. We’re in this together now, though.”
Shiro smiles. His eyelids droop, and it looks like it’s taking incredible effort just to keep them open. Keith tries not to laugh and pats his shoulder. “Get some rest, okay? If you need anything, just… uh…” Keith pauses. It’s not like Shiro can go anywhere if he needed help. Then, Keith gets an idea. “Wait here.” He stands up and gets to the door before turning around. “Don’t fall asleep.” Shiro frowns, his eyes nearly closed at this point. He nods anyway.
Keith goes to his room, rummages through his desk drawer, and returns to the bathroom. Shiro has his arms folded on the edge of the tub and rests his head on them. His eyes are closed, but he perks up slightly when he hears Keith return.
“Here.” Keith holds out his old phone. Shiro takes it and stares. The older model is nearly swallowed in Shiro’s hand. “... you know how to use a phone, right?”
Shiro gives Keith a flat look. “Yes. It’s just… tiny.”
“It’s old. It still has its SIM card, so it can still call and text and everything. I’ll give you everyone’s numbers so if you need something, you can contact us easily.”
“Oh. Okay. Thanks, Keith.” He returns the phone to Keith’s outstretched hand, and Keith gets to work saving numbers.
Keith places the phone on the bathmat, where Shiro can easily reach it. “I’ll leave this here, alright?”
Shiro just nods. His eyes are closed again.
-
When Keith settles into bed that night, he gets a text from a new number. He recognizes it as his old number and smiles when he reads the text.
Shiro (1:06 am): goodnight 🐟
this is shiro by the way
never mind you probably knew that
Keith (1:06 am): goodnight, shiro 🌊