Being on land was wonderful. Usually it was a welcome change, getting away from the crew, having some freedom. But now more than ever Ariel cherished every moment– solely because of Ella. It wasn’t just when they made love or when she smiled up at him. It was the mornings he woke before her and saw her peacefully beside him, wrapping his arms around her and slowly drifting back to sleep while smelling the salt in her hair. It was watching her eat food that wasn’t hard tack and seeing her face either light up or curl in confusion. It was how she clung to him when they walked the streets during the day… it was everything.
He awoke to her lips all along his face. Kissing him awake as she often did– sometimes along his face and neck and sometimes other places. He told himself he didn’t have a preference but in truth the first time he awoke to find Ella under the sheets with her lips wrapped around him was a time he would never forget. He’d happily beg on his hand and knees for her to do it again and again but she did it without his prompting– like she could read the deepest, dirtiest parts of his mind. But that morning the kisses along his jaw were just as wonderful and he wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her body closer to his.
With her face not so far from his own he watched her lips form a request. Swimming. He really should say no. Letting her return to the sea could mean her escape– the last thing he or his captain wanted. Though their desires to keep her close were wildly different. Though Ariel recalled a cove along the shore, one where he was almost sure she could not swim out to the wider ocean. He felt a pang of guilt, realizing he was teasing her with freedom, but that was what she wanted. The pair dressed and left town, heading to the cove.
“A little. Maybe,” he told her, a soft smile along his lips. He didn’t smile because of the shore but because of her own wild grin. “We don’t want people seeing you. Might make a fuss.” He hadn’t considered what might happen if a random person saw her. In some places it was customary to kill a siren on sight– for fear they might drag them down to the depths of the ocean if allowed to live. “I want to watch you swim,” he added. “It’s been some time since I’ve seen your tail…”
They had never been so close. Or they were never afforded the opportunity to be this close, not with all the men in the ship’s crew always somewhere nearby when they were sailing. This was the first time that the both of them actually had true privacy. Ella didn’t have to put up with hearing those snarky remarks or insults thrown at Ariel when they were just walking to the galley, nor the bitter glares while going back to their small bed in the brig. Selaerys had somewhat caught on as to why the rest of the men were so bitter. They were jealous of Ariel for his new job. But there was a pre-existing hate for the man that she never understood. Being away from that sort of atmosphere was far more freeing than anticipated to say the least.
Each morning, she woke to Ariel’s arms wrapped around her waist and his chest pressed against her back. No longer were they surrounded by the smell of wood rot, instead being awoken by the sea breezes and flowers just outside their window. This wasn’t a fancy inn by any means, though Ella thought the world of it. Most of all, she wanted to live and die on that bed... It felt far better when he fucked her on this bed rather than the slab they had in the brig, and her drive heightened given the comfortability. And after the two had finally slept together, it opened up a whole new list of possibilities - - including her waking him up with her beneath the sheets and between his legs.
But she’d woken him with sweet kisses that morning and they found themselves at the cove shortly after despite the somewhat nervous look on his face. While she had thought about what her life used to be with her own kind, only one thing was keeping her from returning. It wasn’t the fact that the captain had one of his men watching her at all times, but it was because of Ariel himself. If she didn’t feel so strongly for him, Ella would have been gone by now... It wouldn’t have taken mush, after all. She could have ran off in the middle of the night if she wanted to, but in all her years, she’d never felt this sort of love for another being.
They arrived at that small, enclosed cove that was concealed from the rest of the world and her eyes seemed to light up instantly. “Not since we first met-” she added, noting how she hadn’t seen her tail for a while either. At times it was uncomfortable, and she felt like she needed to stretch out without an outlet to do so, but it was bearable. “Sit near the water then. So I can see you too,” Selaerys spoke, taking his hand and tugging him close to the edge of the water before slipping off her clothes. First her shirt, and then her shoes and skirt until she was completely bare. Nudity now had a different meaning after being with Ariel - - it usually meant that he would be taking her to bed, but this was different. A one-off.
And before she could say another word, the siren was getting into the water, stepping down into it before diving beneath the surface. Within moments, that golden tail emerged and it felt like she could finally breathe again. Ella stayed beneath the water for another minute, taking everything in and making sure to savor the sensation of the tide at her skin before swimming back to the edge where she told Ariel to sit. The look on her face exuded comfort, though she felt happier than she was in that candy store when they first arrived. “Come in with me...” she asked again, reaching out to take his hand and kiss at the tips of his fingers. “You can see me closer if you are in the water too-” she attempted to explain, though she hoped that her pleading was assisted by her pushing herself up on the rock to kiss his lips before lowering herself back in the water.
