Work Text:
Working at an aquarium has a pretty predictable routine to it. Keith likes that about his job. Every day, different people come through to marvel at the sealife housed within it - different families with small children, screeching and running through the halls, different couples on first dates shyly holding hands - but after as long as Keith’s worked here, they all sort of start to blend together.
One day, though, there’s a break in the pattern that catches Keith’s attention.
First thing in the morning one nondescript weekday, a man comes through the front doors and heads straight for the huge open sea tank by the aquarium’s lobby, one of their most popular exhibits. Its window is a soaring 90 feet tall, behind it more than a million gallons of water, and staring into it, it seems to go on forever. The man sits down on the bench in front of it, leans his elbows on his knees, and just watches.
The next day, the man is back. And then the next day.
Keith gets curious, of course, about the handsome man with a shock of white in his fluffy forelock and a gleaming metal arm. Every day, without fail, he’s there, coming in shortly after the aquarium opens, heading straight to the same bench, and sitting there, staring off into the deep blue.
He stays there for an hour, then gets up and leaves, always dropping some money in the aquarium’s donation box on his way out the door.
But curiosity isn’t what finally makes Keith approach him, not really. Curious or not, he can tell when someone wants to be left alone.
But after a while, he starts to think that maybe the man doesn’t want to be left alone at all.
He looks so lonely there, dwarfed by the huge expanse in front of him, cast in a glowing blue by the tank’s reflection. He looks like he could use a friend.
Then, one day, he catches Keith’s eye and gifts him with a small smile, and it feels like a sign.
The next day, Keith moves his schedule around so that in the morning, he dives into the open sea tank to do a health check. Sure enough, when he swims over to the glass wall, he can see the man in his usual spot. He’s distorted by the rounded glass, but Keith can still see his shocked smile when he floats there in front of it and waves.
When he finishes and dries off, he grabs a granola bar from his locker and heads back out into the exhibit, where the man is still sitting. He’s perked up a little bit, not seeming as lost in his head as he usually does. He smiles at Keith again when he comes over.
“Mind if I eat my lunch here?” Keith asks, gesturing towards the empty side of the bench. It’s too early for lunch, but he’s hoping he won’t be called out on it. The man shakes his head and scoots over.
Keith doesn’t say anything, just unwraps his granola bar and starts eating. He doesn’t want to force his company if it isn’t actually wanted. But the man speaks up first.
“Aren’t we not allowed to eat in here?”
Keith smirks and shrugs. “Eh, the rules don’t really apply to employees.”
The man snorts, taking Keith by surprise. It’s pretty cute. They’re quiet for another minute, before the man speaks up again.
“That was, uh, that was cool.” He nods towards the tank.
Keith smiles. “It’s a pretty fun part of the job,” he mumbles around a mouthful of granola bar.
Another minute of silence, then- “I know it’s weird that I come in every morning just to sit here, sorry.”
Keith shakes his head. “It’s not weird.”
“I just - it’s just...calming. Peaceful. Helps my brain quiet down.” The man’s looking down into his lap. Keith misses seeing his eyes.
“I get that. Helps me too. One of my foster families lived near an aquarium and going there got me through high school.”
Keith doesn’t know why he’s sharing this. It isn’t like him. But the man ventures a glance back at him, and he’s glad that he did.
“Oh. Thanks, uh…” his eyes find Keith’s nametag. “Keith.” Then, after a pause, “I’m Shiro, by the way.” He offers his right hand, then grimaces and moves to pull back, but not before Keith can grab it and shake it firmly.
“I won’t bug you if you’d rather be left alone - and believe me, I get that - but...if you want, I could show you some other good spots in the aquarium?”
Shiro blinks at him for a moment, surprised, but then he nods.
Keith leads him to some of his favorite tanks, telling him in quiet tones about the sea life occupying them. Shiro seems interested, opening up more and more the longer they spend together. He asks questions, and listens carefully when Keith answers them, like he really does want to learn about what he’s seeing. He especially likes the jellyfish, and Keith agrees that their movement is mesmerizing. They stand side by side in front of the comb jelly tank for a long few minutes, watching in silence as the little translucent jellies swim past the glass, the rows of plates along their bodies shimmering in almost alien-like rainbows.
It’s early enough that they have the aquarium pretty much to themselves, and there’s something magical about it - the quiet, the blue light surrounding them, the soft glow of the tanks. They hover close to each other and take their time, lingering at each tank and speaking in soft, private tones, even though there’s no one around to hear.
When Shiro says goodbye, his smile is bigger than it has been before, his eyes a little brighter.
“Thank you, Keith,” he says before he goes, and it echoes with a sincerity that makes Keith want to curl into himself and hide, but he can’t tear his eyes away.
The next morning, when Shiro walks in the front door, he heads to Keith first, instead of his bench. After greeting him, he goes over to his bench and watches the tank for a while, while Keith takes care of some of his morning duties.
When Keith notices Shiro watching him, he gets up the courage to ask if Shiro would like to tag along while he works. Shiro takes the invitation eagerly, and for the rest of the morning Keith has a companion, watching curiously and asking questions, never getting in the way. It’s nice. Really nice.
It goes like that the next day, too, and the day after that, until Keith starts taking his lunch breaks early every day to spend them with Shiro. He tells Shiro he can bring something too, since it’s not exactly fair to eat his lunch in front of him while he can’t have anything.
During their lunches, they start talking about more than just the aquarium. Trivial things at first, and then less trivial. Keith starts learning more about Shiro, and, to his surprise, sharing more about himself as well.
One day, Shiro offers Keith a bite of his sandwich. It’s delicious, too delicious for him to hide his reaction. The next day, Shiro shows up with two. And the day after that. Eventually, Keith just stops bringing his own lunch.
He always makes sure to give Shiro time alone in front of the tank, doesn’t approach until he can tell he’s ready. But slowly, Shiro starts spending less and less time there.
Eventually, Keith asks him about it, hesitant, but wanting to make sure he’s not pulling Shiro away from his needed peace. Shiro assures him that’s not it. Things are getting better, he says. Therapy is working. “And other things,” he mumbles under his breath, not meeting Keith’s eyes. He just doesn’t need it as much anymore.
One day during their morning chat, Shiro mentions a new coffee shop in town he really likes, right on the water.
“Mmm, that sounds great,” Keith sighs, longingly. They share a love of sweet, sweet caffeine, which Keith assumes is why Shiro’s telling him this.
Shiro gets quiet for a minute. He stares at his hands in his lap, and his cheeks seem a little pink.
“I could...I could maybe take you, if you want?”
Keith blinks. He’s not sure if that means what he thinks it does. But either way, there’s no chance of him passing up on the opportunity.
“I’d love to.”
It’s the best date Keith’s ever been on.
By the end, he’s left with no question that that’s what it is. Shiro’s lips are soft, and his chest is warm against the sharp sea breeze as he tilts Keith’s chin up and kisses him at the end of the pier.
Keith may not have much experience with this, but he thinks he’s got something special here.
From there, life seems to fly by. Keith learns to be in love, and Shiro learns to find peace in himself. They both learn how to let someone take care of them, which is harder than it may seem. Keith gets a higher position at a different aquarium, and they say a tearful see-you-later to the place where they met.
It’s not a goodbye.
Because when the time is right, it’s in front of the deep blue glow of that open sea tank that Shiro gets down on one knee, and asks the man who saw him when he barely saw himself to spend a lifetime together.
And they do just that.