Jellyfish

Even as you were pulling up in the parking lot, you still couldn't believe Clear had never been to an aquarium. He always seemed to be bringing home sea shells, or other little ocean themed baubles from his aimless wandering around the city. You always assumed this would have been the first place he would come when he had the chance. You guessed wrong.

Clear's pink eyes sparkle with excitement as he pulls you along by the hand with more enthusiasm than most of the children there. He bounced around from tank to tank, never staying for too long. A flash of blight color, or movement in his peripheral vision always distracted him. He lingered near the sting ray tank for a long while, peeking into the shallow water at the slowly swimming, tan colored fish. The attendant listed off facts and took questions from other curious people. But he refused to actually touch one and  inched away at the suggestion. He folded his hands in front of him and fidgeted, staring at the dark blue carpet. "I don't want to hurt Mr. Stingray."

You rolled your eyes at the notion, and rolled the sleeve of your right arm up while Clear looked on, clinging to your left. Clear watched as you reached your hand into the tank and ran your fingers along one of the slimy creatures. Clear gasped, when you pulled your hand away, then flicked some excess water at him. He released your arm and shook his head a few times with a childish pout. You hadn't even finished drying your hand off when he had wandered off to look at something else.

Clear was standing by the sea horse tank when you arrived, gazing mournfully at the small creatures wrapped around the artificial plants in their tank. “Do you think they'd float away if they didn't do that?”

You pause a moment wrapping your arms around his shoulders and watching the small animals for a moment. You didn't know the first thing about sea horses. Or anything else here for that fact. You had expected Clear to be prattling off facts about everything he saw all day, but he had been surprisingly quiet. Of course, in a place like this, nothing had to worry about getting eaten or dying from anything but old age. “ They're just resting. You'd get tired if you had to swim around all day.”

Clear nods enthusiastically, then tips his head back to look at your face and smiles. “Of course! Last time Aoba let me take Ren to the beast I almost fell asleep on the right home...Say, we should bring Tori to the beach!”

Something else caught his attention, and he was already wandering off before you could object. The beach was the last place you wanted to bring Tori. Truthfully, you didn't even want to go yourself. Clear always came back with a bad sunburn and lots of sand in his pockets. Out of all the crap he carried around, sunscreen had never made the list.

Clear had no interest in the seals, or the penguins when passing through the outdoor exhibit. While the bright sun was a welcomed change from the cool air inside, Clear had something else in mind. He bounded back inside through a random door, but stopped as a long tunnel shaped room came into view. The bright sunlight was softened from all the water overhead, and it cast a strange pattern onto the floor. Clear seemed to forget about you entirely when his hand slipped out of yours and he hesitantly approached the side of the tank. It almost looked like he was following one of the small jellyfish floating by as he slowly wandered down the length of the room.

It was quiet here. You could almost feel the water pressing down on your from above. The light had a bluish tint here, giving the illusion that you actually were underwater. Time seemed to have slowed here when compared to the rest of the exhibits. Crowds of people passing through to see other animals was the only way to mark it.

Your mind started to wander as you watched Clear, and somehow ended up to where you had first spotted the little weirdo. There was something about him now that reminded you of then. The feeling you got when you were alone like this. Well, almost alone. He always did move at his own pace. There was always a method to what he did, even if there didn't seem to be.

Clear had been standing in a field, dangerously close to the side of the road, with his umbrella open. There wasn't a cloud in sight, just the stars twinkling over head and the moon lighting up the ground. Yet there he was, huddling beneath his clear umbrella as if it was going to start raining at any given moment. You still hadn't figured out what was crazier, the fact that he had just been happening to be standing there, or the fact that you had actually stopped. He hadn't noticed you at first, but when he finally did he just smiled his usual dopey smile and asked if you were going to watch the stars too. Later he confessed that he didn't usually watch the sky there. There was a better place in the park, but he just felt like going all the way there. He hadn't actually used the word 'fate' or 'meant to be there', but he might as well have.

Since then Clear had stayed wandering in and out of your life. You had never noticed him before, but after that you'd see him wandering around town, or he'd stop by your shop. Even if you couldn't see him, knowing he was close by always brought you some comfort.

Clear  jumps into your arms when he does finally return to you. You take half a step back to balance yourself while wrapped your arms around his slender frame. “This place is amazing! You picked the best place, it's just as fun as out first date!”

“That's good.” You manage a small smile, although you wished Clear could have decided something else was your first date. You had happened to cross paths when you were on the way to the junkyard, and instead of leaving him standing there looking lost, you asked him to come along. You were convinced the only reason he believed it was a date was because you let him bring home a cat that had latched onto him. Thankfully the little demon refused to stay with you, it couldn't be trusted around Tori, but every now and then you'd see it following Clear around. At least it liked someone.

Clear buries his face in your chest and you rest your hand on the back of his head, running your fingers through his soft, fluffy hair. “What's that?”

He picks his head up and glances at your front, left hand pocket. “My wallet.”

“No! Mink always keeps his wallet in his back pocket.” Clear seemed proud of himself to had pointed that out, but you felt a little defeated. Sometimes you wished he didn't latch onto such small details. He pouts when you stuff your hand into said pocket and balance Clear on one arm when he tries reaching for it. You knew you should have taken the ring out of the box, but you were afraid it would have gotten lost. It had taken him all day to notice it. “Mink, let me see! I want to know!”

“It's...my phone.”

Clear sighs, carefully slipping to the ground and darting behind you to reach into your pockets. In one hand he held your wallet, and the other your phone. “Your phone goes next to your wallet. Is it a surprise? If I knew you were getting me a present, I would have gotten you one too!”

Clear pouts, folding his arms over his chest. You sigh in defeat, pulling your hand out of your pocket and reaching for your looted items. Clear beams, and darts forward to reach into your pocket while you were putting everything else away. He struggled a little to work the box out of your pocket. He wasn't going to let this go, so you were hoping to distract him long enough to get it away from him. “Look.”

Clear's head whips around as another large jellyfish floats by, and you manage to squeeze your hand into your front pocket and pull the box out. “Hey, no fair I was...” He trails off as you open the box and covers his mouth with his hands as you drop to one knee. He takes a moment to glance around, almost as if he was expecting someone to pop out of nowhere and yell 'surprise'. The ring itself wasn't traditional. While it was silver, the diamond was pink, it seemed to suit him better, at least you thought it would. Although Clear didn't seem to notice the ring at first. He stared at you for a long moment, then bounced with excitement. “Yes!” He took a step forward to throw his arms around your neck, then shook his head and took another small step back. “No wait, sorry, go. Ask.” He bounces up and down a few more times, and blurts out another yes when you open your mouth. “Please.”

“Clear-”

“Yes.”

His cheeks turn red when you shake your head to yourself, then finally managed to get the words out that he wanted you to say. “Marry me.”

Clear said yes about a hundred more times after throwing himself into your arms again. You hold the box behind his back, and pull him against your chest with the other. You had been afraid that you were rushing things. It hadn't felt that long since he first wandered into your life but...the fact that he didn't say no, must have meant that the time was right. This was better than him finding it on his own, you hadn't exactly picked a good hiding spot for it.

Clear leans back, balancing on your knees while wiping his face with his sleeve. You cup his face in your hands and kiss his forehead, rubbing your thumbs along his cheeks. “You weren't supposed to cry.”

“I can't help it! You make me so happy I could just die.”

“Don't. I don't want you to.”

Clear stares blankly at you while you slip the ring onto his finger. He manages to catch you off guard, and kiss you. Although in his eagerness he almost missed your mouth entirely and nearly smacks his forehead against yours. “I'd never do that. Mink, you can't take care of yourself without me.”

“I was doing a pretty good job before you came along.”

“And now you don't need to! I'll be a good wife, you'll see.” Clear's stomach growls, and he giggles, bouncing to his feet again. He clings to your right arm and starts pulling you towards the entrance. “Let's go home and we can make lunch. Say...” He  gazes back at the jellyfish tank before asking, “can we come back here again?”

“If you want.”

Clear nods, towing you along again, and started thinking about the wedding instead of the jellyfish. He kept listing off ideas as soon as he came to mind and it all made your head spin. Some of it didn't even make sense, it was more something out of a fairy tale than real life. So much for something traditional. “One thing at a time. We have all the time in the world.”

Clear takes a deep breath, then smiles up at you. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Clear.”