Elemental, Chapter 8: Stroll
Gah, why is it so hard to get to the good stuff? This chapter sets the stage for the scene drawn by artisticFlutter, and we will actually see that scene next chapter.
No, I really mean it this time!
Seriously, how has it taken me EIGHT CHAPTERS to set up ONE sex scene? For crying out loud, this is ridiculous. Oh well. Thanks for your patience while I worked through my writer's block! I hope you guys like it!
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Read it on AO3
So, to recap: Adrien and Nino have joined the girls for a sleep-over. They had dinner and a video game tournament, and are now watching Star Wars. In this chapter, Nino and Alya get side-tracked during the movie, and retreat to Alya's room for some privacy. The walls are thin, though, and Adrien and Marinette decide to take a walk to escape their friends' rather vocal enthusiasm.
Since Adrien was completely new to Star Wars, and had somehow managed to avoid picking up on the biggest “surprise” of the series, there was some debate over how, exactly, to introduce him to it. Marinette saw no reason not to watch them by order of release, but Nino insisted on something called the Machete Order. Marinette had conceded gracefully, though now, at the end of A New Hope, she glanced at Nino in irritation.
Or, more specifically, at Nino and Alya.
Adrien had traded places with her, claiming the bean bag chair for himself so that he could sit closer to the TV, and Marinette now sat in his spot in the corner of the couch. Nino still sat in the opposite corner, but now, instead of sitting next to him Alya sat on him with one knee on either side of his hips and her tongue down his throat.
Marinette poked Nino’s side with her toe. “Stop snogging, you’re distracting me,” she hissed, trying not to disturb Adrien’s enjoyment of the movie. “I thought you wanted to watch this with him?”
“S-sorry,” he sighed as Alya moved her attentions to his jaw.
“They’re not bothering me,” Adrien said as Princess Leia briefed the Rebel pilots on their attack plan.
Alya shot her a coy glance. “You’re just jealous that you’re not snogging someone right now.”
“No!” Maybe. “I just think you should stop dry humping and actually watch the movie. Or get a room.”
“Perhaps we should.” Alya kissed Nino again, and tugged his lip gently with her teeth. “What do you think, babe? Finish the movie? Or say ‘good night’ now and go get more comfortable?”
She raked her nails over his nipple, through his shirt, and his breath hitched. “Uh…com—comfortable sounds good.”
“You’re shameless, Alya.” Marinette rolled her eyes, aroused in spite of herself, and focused her attention back on the movie. It was either that, or imagine herself snogging with Adrien. In all honesty, that was what she wanted, but their relationship was too new for her to just attack him out of nowhere, and he really was enjoying the film.
Alya pushed herself off of his lap and stood, then threw a glare at Marinette as she held out her hands to pull him up as well. “Don’t you slut shame me either, M.”
“Oh, no, slut it up, girl,” Marinette grinned. “Just try to do it where I can’t see you.”
“Spoil sport,” Alya laughed, leading Nino to her room. “’Night, guys.”
Marinette giggled, and waved somewhat enviously at their retreating forms. “Goodnight!”
“’Night,” Adrien called absently.
“Later dudes,” Nino replied, just before he disappeared into Alya’s room and the door clicked firmly shut.
By that point, the Rebel fighters were desperately trying to bullseye the exhaust port before the Deathstar came within firing range of their base, and Adrien was riveted. When the credits began to roll soon after, Adrien stood from his place on the bean bag chair and joined Marinette on the couch while she picked up the remote to shut off the movie. In the absence of the music, however, they could now hear the sounds coming from Alya’s room, and their eyes widened.
“Well,” she chirped, desperate to fill the void with something to distract from their friends’ noises, “what did you think?”
He chuckled, recognizing her over-loud question for the distraction it was. “It was good! The special effects are obviously dated, but it’s a good film regardless.”
Marinette gave him an amused look. “Those dated special effects were revolutionary at the time it was released.”
“I’m sure.” He shrugged. “But that was what, forty years ago?”
Marinette returned the shrug. “Doesn’t matter. It’s a classic.”
“I can see why.” Adrien smiled. “When can we—” There was a particularly loud moan from Alya’s room, and he stopped abruptly. “Not subtle, are they?” Adrien remarked, giving up on trying to avoid the topic and tossing a look at the closed door. “Are you sure she’s not Mer?”
“Definitely not,” Marinette snorted. There was another moan, even louder than the one before, and she cleared her throat awkwardly. “Would you want to go for a walk, or something? They’re uh, they’re going to be like that for a while.”
“If you want to, but they’re not really—” He was interrupted by a muffled obscenity in Nino’s voice, and an accompanying feminine moan. He cleared his throat. “Actually, yeah. A walk sounds really nice.”
Marinette laughed. “Come on, we can walk to the beach and back.”
“The beach?” He stood, and pulled her to her feet. “Want to go for a swim while we’re out there?”
“In the middle of the night?” she asked, frowning.
“Why not?” he shrugged. “I do it all the time.”
“You…do? Isn’t it dangerous?”
“No more dangerous than during the day. At least, not for me.” He chuckled softly. “I grew up there, remember? A midnight swim for me is no different from a midnight walk for you.”
“Oh,” she blinked, and ducked her head sheepishly. “Right. I um—just, let me go and put on my suit, then.” She walked backwards towards her door a few steps, and at his nod, turned to hurry through it. She stuck her head back out long enough to say, “I’ll only be a moment,” and then shut herself inside.
Marinette opened her drawer to see that she had only one clean bathing suit: her oldest one. She grimaced, but began changing. She’d acquired several bathing suits over the last few years, since she’d started swimming daily, but all of the newer ones were either hanging in the bathroom or waiting in the hamper. This one would do; it was still in decent shape, and it was the loveliest shade of rose that complimented her skin well.
She grabbed her dress and pulled it on over her bathing suit, slipped into the bathroom for a couple of towels, and then met Adrien in the living room.
He’d changed, too, she saw. “You brought swim trunks?” she asked, pointing at his shorts and passing the towels to him.
“I wasn’t sure what I’d need,” he admitted. “I wanted to be prepared.”
“Well, it worked out.” She grabbed her beach bag, tossed her keys and phone into it, and then held it open for him to add the towels. “Ready?”
In Alya’s room, the headboard began to slam rhythmically into the wall, prompting blushes to bloom on both their faces. Adrien nodded his head emphatically. “Absolutely.”
They were quiet as they made their way down to the street, trying to be respectful of the other people in the building. Just because they were still up at midnight, didn’t mean that everyone else was. Under normal circumstances, Marinette herself would have been in bed hours ago, and she knew the frustration of being woken by inconsiderate neighbors.
Outside the building, though, they relaxed.
“I’m sorry about Alya,” Marinette offered, her cheeks warming. She hoped he wouldn’t notice, strolling as they were down the darkened street. “They’re always kind of noisy, but I can usually tune them out. They only get like that when they’ve had a bit to drink.” She shook her head ruefully, a wry smile tugging one corner of her mouth. “I should have anticipated it, honestly.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he laughed, slipping his hands into his pockets. “It was a bit awkward, but I’m not scandalized. My people are not shy about their sexuality. Honestly, it was just the noise. I’m definitely not used to that.”
“The Mer aren’t, uh…vocally expressive?”
“Not as much, no. And sound is different, underwater.”
“That makes sense,” she allowed.
He glanced at her assessingly. “It really does make you uncomfortable, though, doesn’t it?”
“No!” He raised a skeptical brow. “Well, maybe,” she amended. “It’s just so…private, you know?” Then she frowned. “Or maybe you don’t. You keep saying Mer are a lot more open about sex.”
“More open, yes, and far less shy. But most of us do prefer some degree of privacy.”
“Well, at least there’s that,” she teased, bumping playfully into his shoulder. Before she could shift away again, he caught her fingers in his and twined them together with a gentle squeeze. “Oh!” She glanced up at him in surprise, and he met her blush with a warm smile.
“Is this okay?”
She nodded, and they lapsed into a comfortable silence as they walked through the darkened streets towards the beach.
Adrien enjoyed their quiet camaraderie as they walked to the beach, their hands linked and arms brushing as they moved. Marinette was a restful companion; she didn’t find it necessary to fill the quiet with incessant chatter, as Chloe did. It was wonderful to simply enjoy the night, breathing in the scent of the ocean and soaking in the presence of the woman beside him.
Wonderful—and torturous.
In the absence of conversation, his mind was free to wander. Given the explicit sounds they’d left behind in the apartment, and the svelte body brushing his, his mind was fixated on the erotic.
He had wanted her days ago, from the time she’d first touched the delicate skin between his fingers. As they’d spent more time together, his interest and desire had only grown. And now, with the sounds Alya had made fresh in his mind, he was hard pressed to think of anything else. Would Marinette make the same noises? Could he draw those sounds from her? Arousal rippled through him anew. He glanced at his companion, who was strolling beside him with a distant expression and a faint blush on her cheeks.
Were her thoughts running along the same path as his? Was she thinking about him making the same low, primal sounds that Nino had made? Was she thinking about being the one to elicit those sounds?
Gods, he hoped she was. Aside from a brief, impersonal liaison with an acquaintance the one time he’d been home since coming here two years ago, he’d only had the company of his own hands during that time. He ached for the touch of someone else. But, he wanted it to be someone he cared for. He wanted someone who cared for him, and wanted him as badly as he wanted her.
He wanted Marinette.
He swallowed thickly, and looked down at her again. They’d reached the sandy path leading to the beach, and out here there were no more street lights to pollute the night sky. The undiluted moonlight limned her skin, making her look ethereal. Soon, she would have water droplets clinging to her body, refracting the light, and already he itched to kiss the water from her skin. When he’d kissed her before, she’d tasted sweet, like coffee and cream. How would she taste with the salt of the ocean on her lips? He wanted to know, wanted to know that and more, but it didn’t matter if she was interested only in a midnight swim.
Adrien took a deep, steadying breath. He wasn’t sure how this kind of thing worked, here. He’d already indicated his interest in her, and he knew that she returned his interest. At home, with another of the Mer, he’d address the question directly, and receive just as direct a response. But here? From what he’d observed, it was taboo to issue a frank invitation to have sex. He shook his head in bewilderment. Humans made things unnecessarily complicated.
“What is it?”
He started at the soft question, and looked at her with his brows raised in question.
She stopped, and pulled him around to face her. “You shook your head, and you’re frowning.”
“Oh. It was nothing.” He smiled gamely, grateful that she wasn’t privy to his thoughts. Then again, it might make communicating with her a lot easier…
She looked as if she wanted to press him, but shrugged and slipped her bag from her shoulder to clutch it in her hands. “This is where I usually leave my things when I swim. Did you want to go in the water, or just keep walking?”
“Low tide, it looks like. It’s a good time for a swim.” He looked back at her hopefully. “I’d like to go in, at least for a few minutes, but that doesn’t mean that you have to.”
“No,” she replied, smiling. “I’ll go in with you. I rarely come out here at night, but it’s beautiful. Do, um, do you want me to go in first, so you can, um…?” She trailed off, blushing furiously, and gestured to his shorts.
“Oh! Ah, yeah, that would be—um, yes. Thank you.”
Marinette giggled, and tugged her dress off over her head, revealing a bathing suit that he hadn’t seen her wear before. It was simple, but the lines of the suit complemented her figure as if it had been designed for her. She bent to stow her dress in the bag, and he forced his eyes back to her face as she stood and began to walk backwards, towards the water.
“I’m not going to go far, until you’re able to join me. I love swimming at night, but I’m not ashamed to say that it frightens me.”
Adrien smiled at her admission. Smart girl, he thought. Aloud, he said, “I won’t be long.”
“Okay.” She turned around and jogged to the gently lapping water, shrieking a bit when the chill water splashed up her legs.
Adrien waited until the water reached her waist, then shucked off his clothes and left them piled atop her bag. He almost forgot to grab the leather thong for his ring, but remembered only two steps away from their things. With the thong in hand he ran to join her in the water, anxious to conceal his nudity beneath its surface.
Even though it was late spring, with summer right around the corner, the water was cold. It was no wonder that Marinette had squealed; without the warmth of the sun on his skin, or the protection of his natural form, the chill of it was a shock on his skin. He, at least, could revert to his Mer form and be comfortable, but Marinette would not be able to stay in the water long without becoming chilled. With that in mind, Adrien removed his ring as soon as he’d moved out far enough. The warm tingle of his transformation washed over him and he sighed in relief.
“That was…wow. Your transformation is an incredible thing to watch.”
Adrien spun in the water with a start, and saw Marinette treading water only about a meter away from him. His eyes widened. “You saw—”
“Only your transformation!” she rushed to assure him. “I didn’t see, uh, anything else. I promise.”
“Right.” He relaxed, then wondered why he cared so much. Hadn’t he just been thinking about being naked with her? He gave himself a mental shake, and told himself to say something, anything to banish the sudden awkwardness between them. “What…um, what did it look like?”
Her expression blanked in confusion. “Look like?”
“My transformation. I’ve never seen myself change.”
“Really?” Her eyes widened, and he shook his head.
“Nope. I always close my eyes, no matter my intention to keep them open and watch.” As he spoke, he carefully looped the thong through his ring, and slipped it on over his head. Losing it wasn’t an option. Without it, he couldn’t leave the sea.
“Oh. Well, it’s…otherworldly. You glow, with this subtle light. It’s…it’s like…oh, damn.” Her brow furrowed and her lips puckered in thought as she searched for the word, and Adrien felt his lips curve. Her expression was adorable. Then her expression abruptly cleared, and she snapped her fingers in triumph. “Bioluminescence! You looked almost bioluminescent. Then the light intensified at your head and kind of moved over you in a wave, changing you as it went. It was amazing.”
Adrien looked at his webbed hands wonderingly, trying to imagine what she’d described. “I wish I could see it happen.”
“Maybe I could record it happening sometime, and you could watch the video? We could delete it after, just in case, but at least you’d get to see.”
Adrien blinked, and then shrugged. “Maybe.” He wasn’t sure how they could do that, since cell phones and water were generally not compatible, but they could figure that out another time. She was shivering, so they either needed to start moving around, or get out of the water entirely. “Do you have Tikki with you?”
Marinette nodded and touched her earrings, which he now noticed were darker than they had been. She tilted her head in question. “Shall we head down?”
In response, Adrien only grinned and dove into the waves. He sought and found the little eddies in the water that told him she was following, so he continued, leading her both farther from shore and deeper into the water.
“Slow down, you crazy fish!” Her mental voice was tinged with laughter, nullifying any sting the words might have carried. “Not all of us have fins, you know.”
He slowed and turned to wait for her, smiling in apology. “Sorry about that. I’m still getting used to swimming with a human. I forget that your underwater breathing does not come with a fish tail.”
She swam closer, grinning at him girlishly. “I wish,” she returned, projecting an image of herself with a shimmering red fish tail.
Though it had been intended to be playful, the image hit him, hard. If she were a mermaid… His eyes drifted over her body, filling in the details of the image she had sent him—her breasts unbound, strands of shells and pearls draped over her hips, coral combs anchoring her beautiful dark hair out of the way, a mother of pearl necklace at her throat and rose red scales against her fair skin…
Marinette must have sensed the change in his mood, because her smile fell. “Adrien? Did I do something wrong?”
He jerked his gaze back to hers, and in answer, projected her updated image back to her. Her eyes darkened, and her cheeks flushed. “No. Not at all.” He flicked his tail lazily, drawing closer to her still-shivering body, and caught her hand in his. “I quite like the thought of you as a Mer.”
“O-oh.” Her wide eyes searched his, and the fingers of her other hand sought his. “So do I.”
Another flick of his tail brought him closer, until her cloth-covered breasts brushed his chest and her knee bumped his fin. Her breath caught, and he groaned. “I want you, Marinette. I don’t know how to court you as a human male would—“
“Then don’t.”
Her mental voice was laced with both desire and assent, and Adrien’s blood surged in his veins. He bared his teeth in a growl, yanked her fully against him, and seized her mouth in a kiss. He felt a tremor of nascent fear run though her, and immediately gentled. “I’m not going to hurt you, Mari.”
“I know,” she replied. “This is just a bit new, for me.”
He pulled back to look at her face, cupping her cheeks in his hands. “We can stop at any time.”
“I don’t want to stop, Adrien.” She grasped his neck and pulled his lips back to hers. "I want you, too."