Work Text:
There was little Fit dreaded more than working opening shifts. It never got easier, no matter how many times he tried. Getting himself and his two year old son awake and at the pool by 5:45 was a miracle in itself. After getting to the pool it wasn’t half bad, morning lap swim and the water fitness classes were all fairly calm, and the days that he did work opening, he got off work around 4:00, rather than the 8:45 that he’d get done with a closing shift.
Still, it screwed up his whole schedule, leaving him with no other option than to bring Ramón to the pool until his daycare opened at 7:30.
He was lucky he was friends with his manager, and that Phil often brought his own kids to the pool. There was even a collapsible crib in the corner of Phil’s office that Fit always used when he worked his early morning shifts.
Fit had it down to a science by now, park the car, make sure the pool key was on the lanyard around his neck, put his backpack on one shoulder, and Ramón’s on the other, then carefully, carefully pick Ramón up from his carseat, making sure not to wake him from where he’d surely fallen back to sleep on the car ride over.
He made his way over to where Bagi was waiting by the front door, scrolling on her phone.
He took the lanyard off from around his neck, handing it to Bagi for her to unlock the door, “Phil still hasn’t given you a key yet?”
Bagi shook her head, “No, he says he keeps forgetting,”
“I bet it's his old age,”
Bagi snorted, opening the door and holding it open for Fit to get through. Bagi went through, turning on all of the lights as Fit set down the backpacks.
When Fit entered Phil’s office, the crib was already set up, and Fit gently transferred Ramón to the crib, sighing in relief when he stayed asleep, only moving to hug the tattered octopus plush he’d had since he was a baby closer to his chest. The poor plush had been through a lot, losing three of its legs and needing to be sewn back up, but his little boy loved the thing.
Fit quietly shut the door to Phil’s office, stepping out into the main office and grabbing the lunch box with his breakfast and lunch and Ramón’s breakfast and putting it in the fridge. He headed to the computer on the front desk, unlocking it and signing into their sales website, then opening the morning cleaning checklist.
Bagi came back from checking the women’s locker room, holding the door open for Fit as he headed to the pool deck. He stepped out into the slightly cooler room, the faint smell of chlorine filling his nose as he walked past the pool to the men’s locker room. He checked the bathroom stall, the showers, and the main room, before heading back into the office, filling out his part of the checklist.
The rest of their opening duties went quickly, getting the cash from the safe for the register, taking out the kick boards and buoy floats for lap swim, putting out the sign in sheets. By six o’clock, there were already people waiting outside, and Bagi let them in, stamping their passes as Fit grabbed the red buoy sitting by the door, looping the strap around his body, and heading to the tower to start guarding.
Opening was pretty chill if you ignored how early it was. Guarding during lap swim was always easy, and the 30 minutes on stand, 30 minutes off were a lot less demanding than the hour and 15 on, 30 off of rec swim.
Fit was halfway through his first rotation in the office when Ramón woke up. He wasn’t crying thankfully, happy babbles of ‘Dadadadada’ coming from the office letting Fit know he was awake.
He went to pick up his son, giving him a kiss on the forehead and brushing his curls out of his face as he carried him over to the fridge, grabbing out the squeeze pouch of apple sauce from his lunchbox, undoing the lid, and handing it to Ramón, who started eating it happily.
He heard someone walk in as he set the cap on the counter, and he walked back out to check them in.
When Fit came up to the front desk, he was met with objectively the prettiest man alive. He had dark hair streaked through with blue, falling messily over his ears and down the back of his neck. He may have just been wearing a blue hoodie with a gym bag slung over one shoulder, but to Fit, he was stunning.
“H-Hi! Uh, welcome, do you want to buy a pass, or just pay for one entry.”
The man paused for a second, thinking, “How many entries is a pass good for?”
“We have 10 and 20 entry passes available.” He shifted to hold Ramón with his prosthesis so he could write if the man wanted a pass.
The man nodded, “Cool! I’ll take the 20 entry pass.”
Fit nodded, clicking the button on the computer, before pulling out the passes.
“What’s your name?”
“Pac Tazer,” He spelled it as Fit wrote it on the card, filling out the information.
“Okay, that will be $60,” Pac handed over the money, Fit placing it in the register before handing over the card. Ramón tried to grab onto it as Fit handed it to Pac, “No, bud, this is for him,” he bounced the boy on his hip, making him giggle a bit.
Pac smiled, “Hi there!” He waved at Ramón, “What’s your name?”
Ramón hid his face in Fit’s shoulder, peeking out at Pac every few seconds. Fit laughed, bouncing Ramón again, turning so he’d look at Pac, “You feeling shy baby? Can you say hi, Ramón?”
Ramón waved, a tiny “Hello,” coming out of his mouth before he turned his face to hide in Fit’s shoulder again, arms circling his neck.
Fit smiled, kissing the side of his son’s head, turning to address Pac, “His name is Ramón, he’s usually less shy, but he just woke up,”
Pac nodded, “I get it, I have a son that just turned one, he’s a hyperactive little guy except for the first thirty minutes after he wakes up.” He smiled, “How old is he?”
“He’ll be two next month,”
“Oh! You’re so big Ramón! Almost two wow!” He giggled and Fit thought he’d probably die if he didn’t get to hear that sound again, “He is your son then?”
Fit nodded, “Yeah, he’s usually at daycare while I work, but they don’t open until 7:30, so he gets to hang out here for a little bit. Usually he sleeps the whole time but he’s up early today, aren’t you huh?” He shifted Ramón to his flesh arm.
Pac nodded, “Ahh, it’s good that your boss lets you bring him, your partner can’t watch him in the morning?”
Fit shook his head, “No, no partner, it’s just me and Ramón,” He smiled at his boy, “And yeah, Phil is great, he brings his own kids in a bunch, so it’s not too big of a deal.”
Pac smiled, “I’m surprised a guy like you doesn’t have someone,” He glanced up and down Fit, an odd warmth setting over him as Pac continued, “That’s nice! It’s good that you have that then.”
Fit nodded, “How about you? I mean, do you have a partner?”
Pac shook his head, “No, Richas has a lot of other parents, but I am not together with anyone.”
Fit’s eyes widened, “Oh! You’re one of Richarlyson’s other parents! Me and Bagi know each other from,” He gestured around him, “you know.”
“Oh! You know Bagi! Of course! I was actually going to ask if she was working today?”
Fit nodded, pointing behind him, “She’s actually on stand right now,” he glanced at the clock on the wall, seeing that it was 6:58, “Oh, I have to rotate her out in a second, I’ll let you go swim.”
He pressed the button to unlock the door to the locker room, and Pac started walking over, “Alright, I’ll see you around then!”
Fit grabbed Ramón’s apple sauce that had fallen onto the desk, handing it back to his son, then setting him back in the crib in Phil’s office, “Please don’t make a mess buddy, I don’t want to have to clean this thing out later.”
Ramón just looked at him, putting the apple sauce packet in his mouth.
Fit sighed, ruffling his son’s hair before he left the room, grabbing his buoy and moving to rotate with Bagi.
As he settled himself on the tower, he saw Pac and Bagi chatting near the men’s locker room. Now that he was in just a bathing suit, Fit could 100% confirm that the dark haired man was gorgeous. He had strong shoulders, the obvious muscle and build of a swimmer, and as Fit’s gaze traveled down, he was surprised to see that the man had a prosthesis on his left leg.
Fit turned back to keep watching the pool and the swimmers there. After another minute or two, Pac made his way to an empty lane, pulling a towel, goggles, and swim cap from his bag before going to a chair along the wall, sitting down and setting his bag on the floor in front of him. He took off his prosthesis and the liner, setting it in his bag before moving it to the side, standing up, and hopping a few steps to the side of the pool and sitting there. Fit watched as he pulled his hair back, putting on his swim cap and goggles, then slipping into the water gracefully, pushing off the wall and starting his laps.
Fit drug his eyes away from Pac, willing himself to stay focused on scanning the pool.
The rest of that rotation, and his next one passed quickly. Pac had left the pool sometime during Fit’s rotation in the office, though he hadn’t come back through the front and was probably still in the locker rooms.
Fit switched Bagi out again, climbing back up the chair, getting settled for the last thirty minutes of lap swim.
It was boring, but it passed quickly enough, Fit unable to get his mind off of the pretty swimmer.
As the last person left the pool, Fit climbed down from the tower, moving to put his buoy in the office before helping to put away the lane lines.
As he set the buoy down, Bagi chuckled as she stood up, “Fit, somebody left you something.” She had a teasing tone to her voice that made Fit immediately suspicious.
He turned, seeing her holding an outstretched sticky note. He grabbed the small yellow square of paper, reading what was scribbled onto it.
Thanks for the pass, I’ll be back soon. Maybe our sons could meet sometime. Or maybe just the two of us, I wouldn’t be opposed
- Pac XXX-XXX-XXXX
Fit felt his face heat up and heard Bagi laughing as he read it, walking past him to go through the door to the pool deck.
Ramón started laughing too, that baby giggle that make Fit smile no matter what. He forced a frown onto his face, pointing at Ramón where he stood in the crib, visible through the open door, “Don’t you start with that mister!” He put the sticky note into his backpack, turning to go help Bagi with the lane lines as his baby boy kept giggling from the office.