How to Catch a Fish (ManxMan)

Original Chapter Twelve: Swimming with the Fishes

~Chapter Twelve: Swimming with the Fishes~

The sound of splashing water draws my attention towards the open doorway of the room I am being escorted to by my guard. The two soldiers stationed there make no move to stop us as we pass by them to enter the relatively small room. There is not much room to stand, as most of the floor is taken up by a pool of clear, blue-tinted water. It is nothing like the pool of mucky water I had to swim through to escape the witch prison.

It is very well-lit and the lights travel all the way down to the floor, which is – by my estimate – ten or so feet below where I am standing now. There are a few stairs leading down at the front of the pool, which are no doubt there to make it easier to climb out of the pool when returning. Along the small walkway leading along the left side of the pool, there is also a ladder. In every corner of the room, there is a small table stacked with white towels, though whether it is for modesty or drying off, I'll have to wait to find out.

Clasping my hands behind my back, I lean over the edge, looking down at the slightly-blurred shape of my soul mate in the water. There would be no trouble if I fell in, but he has not given his express permission for me to enter the water yet and I am content to wait until he surfaces. Also, I would likely hit Nero on my way down, which would be a bad start to our date.

In the middle of the pool, Nero's head emerges and he regards me with a raised eyebrow. He was probably watching me from below water as I surveyed the only exit-entrance I have seen up-close so far. After our date, he will probably give orders not to allow me anywhere near these rooms.

If all goes according to plan, though, I won't need to worry about those orders.

After a great deal of begging – actually begged, on my knees – I was able to convince Nero to take me to the nearest beach. While we will not be going on the beach – it was the best I could get him to agree to – he will be taking me close enough that I will be able to see land, maybe even feel it beneath my feet if we are close to shore. Hopefully, it will be close enough to carry out my plan as well.

Staring apprehensively at the water for a moment, I cautiously dip my foot in so that I am half-standing on the first step. My nose wrinkles a little. It is not cold, per say, but it is not warm either. Still, I am not sure how patient Nero will be if I take my time getting in the water, so I take a deep breath and jump, diving into the water only a couple of feet from Nero.

When I surface only a couple of seconds later, I do not hide my grimace. It was easy enough to ignore the discomfort of being wet while escaping with Heather since it was unavoidable, but now that I am going swimming for 'fun', it is not so easy to disregard. As I swim a little closer to Nero, I realize that he has silvery patches on the sides of his neck and only recognize them as gills when I am close enough to touch him. Just being this close to him is enough to make the water seem more comfortable, dispelling the chill like it was never there.

"Are you wearing the cuffs I gave you?" Nero asks, taking one of my hands in his under the water. Something about it seems slipperier than usual and I frown a little until I realize that there is webbing between his fingers. This might take some getting used to.

Raising my free hand out of the water, I show off the silver cuff wrapped around my wrist. It has runes on it – it took a great deal of will power to put them on after the last accessory I wore with runes – but he told me they were important for our swim, so I didn't fight him on it. I just hope they do not physically tie me to him during the swim.

He slowly gives me a once over, his eyes lingering on my neck, and stops entirely on what he can see below the water. "Why are you wearing pants?" He asks, probably surprised that I did not wear what he left out for me on the bed.