the key to heaven is all mine

“They’re in the oven, what do you want me to do? Stare at ‘em until they’re perfect?” She giggled softly, splashing some water at him as if to emphasize her words. “Besides, you set an alarm, didn’t you? So if this goes wrong I’ll totally blame it on you.”

Truth be told, he looked cute. The water had turned his hair into a bundled mess and all she wished to do was run her fingers through it. The impulse almost as hard to resist as it was to resist staring at his chest. Which she couldn’t -shouldn’t do.

He immediately began to swim away to avoid any possible splashing back.

Now Ariel knew she could hold her breath much longer, still she rose to the surface when she heard someone dive in behind her. Taking a moment to orientate herself before she had found him again. 

“There you go,” she chuckled. Ariel looked happy. Possibly more beaming than he had ever seen her before. Her creamy white skin glittering from the tiny drops of water that had gathered around her physique. “You know, one day we could possibly go skinny dipping in the lake. Not now of course, way too cold.” At least for him it was. “-but once the summer really sets in.”

and there it was, the teasing glitter in her eyes that didn’t quite make it clear whether she was only joking or serious. That especially didn’t make it clear whether he should take her offer or whether he was better off declining. But no matter what, she appeared to enjoying herself. More so than she had done before. 

At least she didn’t seem so hell bend on yelling at him again as their past encounters had often led to. 

She kept saying things that confused him. She had mentioned skinny dipping, and he didn’t think she was being serious, but she didn’t give him any indications that it was a joke. What was she trying to do?

“Well, I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens,” Henry said.

During all this, Henry couldn’t stop looking at her hair. The red locks had tiny water droplets rolling down effortlessly, all pooling down to where it lay flat, tracing the curve of her breast. 

He giggled, in an effort to diffuse the situation... or at least his situation, because she seemed effortlessly unfazed by everything that was happening (or perhaps uninterested). “You know, you’re not doing too good a job at baking right now.”

“Great!”

Before he knew it she had bend over, hastily removing her shoes before the skinny jeans she previously wore followed; revealing creamy white legs and leaving her clad in nothing but laced black panties and a purple bra. 

She cursed inwardly. If she had known it would come to this she probably would have made sure she wore a match. 

“Well then, what are you waiting for? Strip down and get in here!,” she called out before tossing him one last look. Then she was off, twirling around before diving into the pool. It felt natural even when the water was filled with chlorine. Gracefully moving with the curve. Ariel was in her element. Like a fish in water.

She looked so natural swimming. Her hair turned a beautiful dark shade from the moisture. He found himself staring at her despite what his brain had been staying.

She told him to strip down, and he obeyed without even giving it a second thought. he pulled off his jeans to reveal his baby blue boxers. She swam around, and he honestly wanted nothing more than to be near her. He jumped in the water- way less gracefully than she had.

She waited patiently for him to set the timer, twirling her fingers around the hem of her shirt. Something one would recognise as a nervous trait if they knew her well enough. After all, Ariel had suggested going to the pool, yet didn’t know whether they would get around to dip in and, if so, whether she should just go for a swim in her underwear or not. 

At least it was nice to have him show her the way. She knew the way to his room by now, as well as the kitchen and the ballroom they had spend New Year’s at. But for the most part she was still clueless. Plus having him show her the way left her only needing to nod every once in a while as she still silently debated on her debacle.

“I see. So, do you think we can go for a quick swim?” 

She uttered the words without even thinking about it, nor really looking at him. Ariel didn’t want him to take notice of the faint pink blush that had crept upon her cheeks. Didn’t want him to pay too much attention to how her fingers had laced around the hem of her shirt. How she slowly lifted it and then quickly tugged it over her head before he had even given her an answer. Because no matter how shy and nervous it made her, she still enjoyed pushing his buttons and exploring his boundaries. Even if she now did not get the pleasure of watching the reaction on his face. 

“Oh.” His heart began to drop as he thought of a response. “Well, we only have ten minutes, and I don’t have any-” it was too late. She was taking off her clothes before he had a chance to get another word out. He tried to act casual. Don’t stare. But you can’t look uncomfortable. Just be cool about it. Like you see naked girls every day.

“Yeah, uh, let’s go swimming.” He pulled off his shirt as well, giving him a moment to try to hide his blushing. “Yeah, I like swimming, let’s uhhh, get in the pool then.” He stood around. He was being awkward but he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to react, so h just waited for her to make the next move.

“What’s the first thing I should check out?” This boy seemed rich. His clothes were smart-looking and Roger was really used to the cheap, bic lighters that his friends kept on them. He grinned at this stranger. “Name’s Roger, nice to meet you.” He tossed the lighter back.

“Excuse me, have you got a light?” Roger was wandering the town, trying to get a feel of Swynlake. He grinned at the stranger, twirling his cigarette between his fingers. “I’ve just gotten in here. Cute little place, isn’t it?”

“You did archery and football? There’s a combination you don’t hear of very often.” The hint of a smile tugged at the corner of her lips, slowly spreading as she thought about it. Although she would be lying if she said her thoughts didn’t wander off. He had, albeit very subtly, put the thought of Henry in swimwear in her mind. Which didn’t leave much left for the imagination, and which was definitely an image she would like to see some time. Soon. 

“Were you good at those things? Archery and football I mean.. or was it more like, your father made you do it so you put in the least amount of effort, humanly possible?” She chuckled lightly, eyes never leaving Henry’s. “You know, if that’s okay with you, we could check out the pool while we wait for the cookies to get ready?” 

No matter how often she tried to show everyone it was the Mundus world she belonged in, Ariel thirsted for a swim. Even one with legs instead of a tail.

He glanced at the cookies for a moment. “Yeah, I suppose we could go to the pool quickly. I’ll just set a timer on my phone...” he got his phone out of his pocket and set a timer for 10 minutes. 

“Here, we’ll just take the stairs down and it’s too the right...” He led the way, because she clearly hadn’t had enough time to memorize the layout of his (gigantic) home. They got to the pool room and he inhaled the chlorine. Even though it was an indoor pool, he didn’t use it much in the winter. It was warm however, and the smell reminded him of when he was in school and he actually had a social life.

“Here it is,” he said, pointing at the large pool. There was a shallow and deep end, a slide and a diving board, as well as pool toys blown up in the corner of the room.

“You can listen to it at my place, if you’d like? I have a few of their records, and I don’t know.. it could be nice?” 

She carefully eyed him, uncertain whether such a suggestion would be taken the wrong way again. Usually, Ariel didn’t have such a hard time reading people, yet Henry remained an utter mystery to her. True. She had greatly attributed to that herself. Stupid drinking. Even more stupid drunken kisses. 

“Sports? Oh.. I like to swim! I never played any sports though, and I don’t think I would do good on a team either.. although you should watch my sister Aquata. She’s the best swimmer I know, actually got a scholarship for it. That’s how good she is.” 

She couldn’t help but to feel proud. Even if it potentially    and even then the chances were very, very, slim, put their family in danger to have one of their own displaying their abilities so openly. 

He put the cookies in the oven, and stood leaning against the counter as he listened to her speak. “yeah! If you want me to come over, I can definitely do that sometime, I’m not a very busy person..”

He was trying hard not too sound as excited as he actually was. He needed to sound casual, so she wouldn’t get scared away.

Swimming. She liked to swim. Henry had done all types of sports when he was in high school. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been active in quite a while, but it had been bugging him for quite a while, and he really wanted to get back in shape. 

“I used to do play quite a bit in school. My father made me do archery and football. Football was fun. I never swam for competition, but we have a pretty nice pool downstairs. Your sister sounds really talented!” Henry didn’t know what it was like to have a sister, or one that was clearly so successful.