Chapter Text
Ariel tells him everything.
It starts with a question, and it tumbles into a story- her father’s disdain with her fascination with humans, and her aunt’s manipulation.
The long way back to the castle gives them ample time to talk. Ariel decides to wrap her arms around Eric’s arm, much to his liking. Partly because it’s dark, she keeps tripping over the front of her dress, and she needs time to adjust to walking with two tails again. But her heart is filled with joy, excitement, and love, and she wants to be as close to him as possible.
“I had a cavern, just like your study, of treasure I found from shipwrecks. My father and sisters thought of it as trash, so I asked Scuttle to tell me what I found, although I’m starting to think she knew as much as me,” she wonders.
“How so?” Eric questions.
“Well, I found a dinglehopper-“
“A what?” Eric looks at her in a questioning fondness.
“It looks like a very tiny trident. A woman gave it to me with a bowl of fruit at the market, and I styled my hair with it, like Scuttle said, and everyone looked at me very strangely,” Ariel describes.
“Oh! It’s called a fork. We use it to eat so we don’t get our hands dirty,” he explains, and she listens intently. Too intently, as she trips over a rock as they approach the gates to the castle. Luckily, with her arms around his bicep, he catches her easily with his other arm before she falls.
“I’ll get better at this soon,” she jokes, and Eric laughs with her.
“Don’t worry, I imagine it’s very different from swimming with a tail. Besides, you’ve seen me in the ocean. I sink!”
It’s bliss, to watch his head fall back as they laugh together. The sound is deep, and very comforting- she knows he’s laughing with her. Despite their dripping clothes, he makes her feel warm, and safe enough to trip over her feet and say silly things.
“So if I ever have lunch with your mother, I shouldn’t brush my hair with the fork?”
Ariel eggs him on, and he chuckles again. It’s better than any siren melody.
“No, but I think you can start a trend. You have that kind of effect on people.”
All he has to do is smile, and she falls even harder.
It’s blissful to talk to him the way she wanted to when she was restricted. If she felt understood without her words, Ariel feels even more in tune with him now. Even better, there’s no time constraint, no rush to squeeze everything in before the third sunset. They have all the time in the world, and she feels no need to finish her story tonight. The two get distracted very easily as they continue to make their way home with jokes, questions, and answers. They talk about forks, Eric’s mother, Ariel’s father, and her oceanic world.
“And how did this dress come about?” Eric asks while detaching himself from her hold, electing to take her hand instead. He lifts her hand and gently pulls it to spin her. Her dress flies behind her, and shines the way the scales on her tail used to. A friendly reminder of her old home, and how she has the freedom to explore and love a new one.
“You look wonderful.” Hands still intertwined, they fall back down to their sides to keep walking.
“I think my father created it from the water and my tail. It has my colors,” Ariel answers, and for a second, she sees his smile falter.
“Right- it does! I suppose I didn’t get to see your tail up close for long enough.”
Eric's voice is strained, and she’s reminded of the time he was with her as a mermaid- in front of a sea witch, and then fighting the roaring waves from her magic. Ariel understands his somber; it makes her feel the same. In an effort to shift his focus, she walks on her toes for a moment to kiss his cheek. Eric’s cheek is scruffy from what she assumes is a few days without shaving. To her surprise, she loves the way it feels on her lips.
“Colors are very vibrant in the sea. No one mermaid has the same tail.”
Ariel watches as he comes back to the moment, eyes widening in interest. He matches her curiosity- of a different world, but all the same. The way he learns about her and the ocean makes Ariel see her home in a whole new light.
Steps in tandem, they eventually reach the castle, and he guides her to the blue staircase where he left her the night after their trip to the market. They stop abruptly at the base, similar to that night. The memory makes her even happier, and she prepares to ask him if he still has the hat when he speaks first.
“Would you,” Eric starts, and he sounds nervous. “Would you like to sleep in my room tonight? With me?”
Before she can respond, he continues, “You don’t have to, of course, your room is still yours, I just-“
“I’d love to,” she interrupts. Ariel finds his other hand and holds both of them tightly in an attempt to reassure him. She loves him for his determination to make sure she feels at home, however unnecessary it may be. If she’s next to him, everything is perfect.
Eric looks into her eyes with what Ariel can only describe as awe, as if he’s been struck by an emotion that rattles him so deep in his soul he cannot look away. A feeling they share. What she feels for him, she feels in her mind, heart, soul, and body. It may seem sudden, to her family, and possibly his. But merpeople have always believed in soulmates, and for once, their tales are something she agreed with. There’s a merperson- or in her case, a man- that’s made from the same sea crystals as her. It connects them, in an undeniable force greater than the strongest waves or the song of a thousand sirens. All of her choices have led her here, the good and the bad- her interest in this world, and the challenges they brought her. Just as Eric’s choices had led him here. To these moments, this future, with one another. Now is not the time to wax these folktales to him, she knows. At this late hour, he must be as tired as she is. But Ariel promises herself that she will tell him the depth of her affection, very soon.
Instead of the right side of the staircase, they make their way up the left, to his bedroom. The train of her dress is absurdly long, and both her and Eric bunch it up so she can see her bare feet. Similar to the rest of the night, they are still hand in hand, as if they’re glued together. Ariel never wants to let go, consumed with how lucky she feels to have found her way to him.
But it wasn’t luck, Ariel corrects herself.
It was a coincidence, to meet him once, and a miracle to be with him again. But Ariel chalks this, their third and final meeting, up to destiny.
———
Ariel wakes up curled into Eric’s embrace the next morning, with Max at their feet, still sleeping soundly. When she untucks her head from the crook of his neck, she finds Eric already awake. The beginning of the sun's rays peeks through their window, shining just so his eyes seem a dazzling ocean blue.
“Hello again.” Ariel takes her arm from his waist and caresses his cheek with the pad of her thumb. Overwhelmed in her affection, she kisses the tip of his nose.
“Good morning,” He says, giving her a sleepy smile, and his face is dusted with blush. “Did you sleep alright?”
Ariel nods. Their impromptu night left her little to wear to bed, and so Eric loaned her a lounge shirt that ends at her thighs. Her mermaid dress was left thrown over the folding screen. When she inhales, she can smell him everywhere; his sheets, his pillows, his clothes, him; and it smells of saltwater, and an earthy scent she has yet to place her finger on. He smells of home, new and old.
The two stay in bed long after the sun takes its place in the sky, basking in each other's warmth. Max eventually awakes too, and he immediately moves up the bed and around Ariel’s backside, resting his head on her hip. He wags his tail with content.
“I’m surprised at how well he’s taken to you. He’s usually very shy,” Eric explains, slightly shifting his hand from her waist so he can scratch behind Max’s ear.
“He has very good taste,” she jests, just to get him to laugh. Their closeness allows her to feel his chest move as he does so.
“Well, I can’t disagree.”
“Besides, I met him before I met you. We’re very close friends.”
Eric quiets.
“At the shipwreck?”
Kissing the side of his mouth this time, she explains, “Yes. I was on that tiny boat below your ship, and he stuck his head under the railing to say hello.”
A puzzle piece clicks in Eric’s mind. “That was you!”
“Yes,” Ariel confirms, grinning. “And while he was swimming to Grimsby, I helped him to his boat. Unfortunately, he’s not a very strong swimmer.”
Eric pauses for a moment, looking between her and Max, still petting his head. When he rests his gaze on her again, he nudges their foreheads together.
“So, you saved me and my dog. Our heroic mermaid.”
Max barks happily.
Not used to such endearment, Ariel goes to change the topic, but a knock on their door interrupts her thoughts.
“Sire? Are you awake?”
Grimsby.
Like lightning, Eric sits up.
“Yes! Yes, I’m awake. Give us a minute,” He answers, untangling himself from Ariel’s hold, much to her dismay, to get out of bed. He rounds the room to a chest, where a green dress is folded neatly, and gives it to her, before rummaging through his drawers for his own change of clothes.
“Us?” Grimsby questions, but they ignore him.
“We’ll get dressed, and then I’ll see what he needs-“ Eric explains, turning back to her once he switches out of his sleep shirt. He’s facing her before the shirt fully falls down his chest, and briefly, Ariel sees tan, smooth skin. She blushes fiercely.
“When did you get this?” Ariel asks, referring to the dress as she pulls herself out of bed towards the folding screen.
“Oh, um- I woke up some time before you, so I fetched something for you to wear. Is it alright?”
She changes behind the screen quickly as she responds, quietly pondering when he left during the night. Ariel doesn’t remember any shifting in the bed throughout the night, but she decides she was probably too tired to wake up from anything besides morning.
“Yes, it’s lovely! I just didn’t know you woke-“
They’re interrupted again by a more insistent knocking. “Eric?” Grimsby calls once more. “Who are you talking to?”
As Ariel emerges from the screen in a fresh dress, Eric is fooling with his hair in the mirror, and catches her eye in the reflection.
“You look-“ He tries, starstruck. “You look like a dream.”
Eric crosses the room, eyes never wavering from hers. Taking her hand in his, he gently guides her to where she can imagine Grimsby on the other side of the door, tapping his foot.
“Come, let’s give him the good news. It may be easier to show him than explain with words.”
“I’ve gotten very good at that.”
Before they open the door, the two share a quick moment to prepare. Ariel loves him, from her head, to the ends of her tail, to her new toes. Although she’s excited to explore, and learn everything she never thought she could, it’s all still very daunting, and Ariel guesses Eric can tell by her quiet demeanor. They don’t know how Grimsby, let alone the Queen, will react. He squeezes her hand in an act of comfort, and a promise to stand beside her while they figure out their blossoming life together. Eric kisses the crown of her head once, for herself, and again, for his own ease, and opens the door.