Chapter Text
After setting up all of the cameras and jotting down their locations, Y/N and Namor rowed away a little to ensure that the tracker and cameras were still able to be detected. They had to replace one of the cameras, but other than that, everything was set up well. Namor watched Y/N type away on her computer. They settled in a comfortable silence, outside of the occasional splashing. He did not get out of the water as Y/N was fixing the cameras but held onto the side of the boat. A couple times Y/N would peer over to make sure he is still there. Once he was staring out in the ocean and the other times they made eye contact. Y/N felt like she needed to explain herself.
"Just making sure you didn't float away"
"I think I am going to be okay, but thanks"
Namor sunk in the water slightly as he felt his cheeks getting hotter. It has been a really long day and he was getting worked up over nothing. He felt a camera nudge his hand and lifted himself out of the water to grab it. He felt himself grabbing Y/N's hand and before he knew it, he was pulling her in the water. Normally he'd fly up to balance it out, but it happened very suddenly.
Y/N didn't think much of handing the camera over to Namor, and she was busy typing with one hand so she tapped the camera on his hand. All seemed well until she was drawn overboard. Her head almost hit the side of the boat and her leg definitely snagged it. She fell in head first and the camera plonked in the water somewhere nearby. Y/N let herself fall, waiting to float up, but Namor grabbed her and yanked her out to the surface.
"Can you swim?"
He looked so worried. He was holding her tightly, treading the water a little away from the boat. He was holding both of their weights above water, not even breaking a sweat. She supposed that if he was she couldn't see it but his breathing was more or less calm. Their noses were almost touching and Y/N had to think really hard to not look down at his lips.
"Yeah, I can swim"
"Okay good"
He floated away slightly but not before placing Y/N's hand on the boat.
She grabbed it, wondering how the hell she was supposed to pull herself onto the boat without scrabbling desperately like a cat who just took a dip in the tub.
Namor was floating on the other side of the boat at one moment and then the other moment he was in the boat. She could have sworn that he almost levitated to get inside the boat. But now he was in and was offering her to come up. Boats would usually have a ladder but then they were more sturdy than the one that they were in. Otherwise the researchers would not be getting out of the boat and just remain on the board with the equipment. Even then, those smaller boats had rope steps and relied on the other person to lean back to counteract the weight. Namor just liked to defy the physics of water it seemed.
Y/N grabbed Namor's hands, dipped her head slightly back in and launched herself up. This technique was never great because one person would always awkwardly be splayed on top of the other in the boat. Y/N learned that you had to gently rotate the other person to make sure that both people landed alongside each other. Sometimes there was not enough room or the balance wasn't good, but this boat definitely had space for it. It made Y/N wonder why they were so squished together when there was definitely space on each side of the boat.
All those thoughts disappeared as Y/N felt herself practically flung out of the ocean and into the boat, right on top of Namor. Right at eye level yet again. A droplet of water from Y/N's nose plonked down on Namor's. His nose was quite big. Y/N liked big noses. An extremely long second passed and Y/N decided it was time to roll off as quickly as possible. Namor remained in the same position for a second more. This was clearly an awkward situation. Y/N wiped her face from any stray water droplets. And there was the equipment. Y/N busied herself with staring at the laptop until she realized that the camera was at the bottom of the ocean, probably plonked into the sand.
"The camera.." she trailed off and expectantly looked at Namor.
He was basking on the boat and seemed like he got over the whole awkwardness much quicker than Y/N. For her, alarm bells were pouring in her ears and she felt like she had to scrunch up her face to deal with the embarrassment. For now, a neutral face would have to suffice until Y/N was sure that Namor wasn't looking at her at all. Not from the front, not from the back.
He slowly got up, looked up at Y/N again, and then dove into the water. He looked very elegant. Y/N made the scrunching face several times very quickly to get rid of the embarrassment and then checked whether the camera was in good position.
The rest of the time was spent collecting additional data in the area. Namor would do things like counts and take temperatures in the water and report them back to Y/N.
She almost forgot about the series of stares and the insane proximity.
When Namor started the engine to go back, Y/N didn't even want to make conversation. It was enough for one day. She busied herself staring at the way the boat cut the water in front of them. She barely noticed the familiar island approaching. Once all was docked, Y/N grabbed her supplies and headed up to the lab to finalize the reports for today. Namor wasn't sure what to think and just followed her back up. She was extremely hard to read on the ride back, and did not strike conversation. There was no anger at him throwing her overboard, or at least it did not seem like it. Namor felt himself wanting to make the conversation come back. However, if she wanted to be silent, he would leave her to it and not bother her. Maybe she was tired from it being her first day, and he already was proving to be an unreliable partner.
Y/N tried to swipe herself in but the badge did not work. Those pesky things never did. This one was temporary since she was yet to take a profile photo, but of course it didn't have access. Y/N looked at Namor expectantly. He dug through his own bag, and finally got his own ID out. It was slightly bent, probably because it was dangling all alone, and not in a wallet or a keychain. Unpacking was a little awkward and Y/N was not sure what to do. Her clothing was completely wet and she only had a pair of pants. Not wanting to sit in damp clothing while typing up a report, she went to the bathroom to change.
Namor watched her leave. He definitely noticed how the clothes did not dry up as quickly. He closed his eyes and slumped against the desk. He could only picture himself holding Y/N in the water. Was he seriously so depraved that he was going to chase after the first person that he worked with closely? Well, she wasn't. He just somehow was forming a very strong attraction very fast. Maybe it was Shuri planting ideas into his head again, but being not alone sounded very nice.