Arria nodded, "I love you too." He gave Carter the barest hint of a smile before wading out into the water a little before his tail came back and he swam out to meet his friends. He turned back to the shoreline for a few moments before swimming under the water.
Carter stared out to the water until Elecia tugged at his arm again, “C’mon, I called an uber. We’ll have you back at your cave in no time,” She told him with a light laugh, and Carter followed her to the curb. An uber came a few minutes later, and before he knew it he was on in way back home, staring out the window to the direction of the ocean.
Arria and his friends made good time swimming back to the cave. Arria barely spoke the entire time and when he did it was in one or two word answers. Eventually, they made it back and he pushed himself up onto the rocks and leaned against the wall. He closed his eyes and released a breath. He knew his friends wouldn't leave him alone until Carter got back in case he did something stupid.
Carter tapped his foot anxiously the entire time, but by the time they got the entrance of the cave he walked -he would’ve been running if he didn’t have crutches- straight into the entrance. “Arria? Are you here?” Carter called as he walked in. I just need to make sure he’s alright.
Hushed shushing noises came from the water, along with a couple annoyed frowns when Carter was in view, "Be quiet," Gallion said quietly, "Arria is fine, he's just asleep." Sure enough, when Gallion gestured to the side, Arria was there, fine and sleeping somewhat uneasily.
Carter still rushed over, earning a disappointed glare from Elecia, and sat himself beside Arria- though trying to be as careful as he could to not wake his love. Carter wanted to be there, at least, when Arria woke up. He wanted to support him in every way that he could.
"We'll leave you guys," Herla said, giving Carter and Elecia a small smile, "See you round." All three mermen said their goodbyes before swimming away.
Shortly after they were gone, Arria blinked his eyes open groggily, taking in their surroundings and starting to panic before he noticed Carter sitting next to him, immediately relaxing into him a little, "How's your foot?" He asked quietly.
He didn’t even bother to glance at his foot, “It’s a little achey, but I’m okay.” Carter heard footsteps signaling Elecia leaving but he didn’t care. His focus was wholly on Arria. Carter intertwined his hand with Arria’s, “Are you feeling okay? What about your tail?”
"I'm okay, my tail is fine, why wouldn't it be?" Arria frowned a little. He rubbed his thumb over the back of Carter's hand slowly before turning his gave on Carter's face. He scanned him quickly for any sign of injury or discomfort for… anything.
“You’re the one who swam all the way back here,” Carter pointed out, managing a tiny smirk on his face even though pain shadowed in his eyes becuase of the constant ache in his leg from doing all that work to get Arria out. But still, there was something else nagging at him more than his still recovering leg. He glanced at his love’s wrists, “If you want to… if you want to talk to me about anything I’m always here for you.”
"I know," Arria whispered, leaning his head on Carter's shoulder. The question was, did he want to talk? After a few minutes of silence, questions and doubts and thoughts swimming through his mind, did Arria finally speak up again, "The first time," He started quietly, "Yuri forced me to make that bond with him, that's how I got the scar on my left wrist…"
Carter’s heart stopped. Then started again, a new hatred in him for that b-stard prince. Carter waited to see if Arria would go on, but he slowly -cautiously- wrapped his arms around Arria. He tried to be as gentle and hesitant as he could in case Arria didn’t want to be hugged right now.
Arria wrapped his arms around Carter tightly, closing his eyes and letting himself calm down before he went on, "I… I don't know how long we were bonded for. I didn't bother keeping track of the days. Herla might tell you if you ask," He inhaled shakily, "But they found a way to get me out of it but… sometimes it's like it's still there that… that nagging. Like I'm being forced to go to him even though I don't want too. To… to subject myself to his words and thoughts and him," He released that breath, "I hate it so much…" He whispered.
Carter wrapped his arms tighter around Arria, hiding him from the world. He hated it, he hated Yuri with every fiber in his body. “Arria…” Carter began, barely more than silent, “You deserve so much more, this isn’t right. That merman is evil.” No one, especially Arria, should be forced to be subject to that prince. That why Carter continued, “Do you want me to kill him?” Because Carter hated Yuri so much -and he would do anything for Arria- he was very much willing to go and murder that prince for all that he did to his Arria.
"Wh-what?" Arria was so surprised that he pulled back from the hug a little, just so he could see Carter's face. He took a moment to think about it, the offer Carter had just put out. For him. He frowned a little in thought before eventually, shaking his head, "N-No. I hate him as much as you do but… but killing him isn't right… don't stoop to his level."
“Alright,” Carter nodded, taking Arria’s hands in his. His finger grazed over the engagement ring there as he added, “I want you to know I’ll do anything for you, okay? I want you to feel safe, to feel okay.” Carter placed a gentle kiss on Arria’s forehead.
"I know you do," Arria gave Carter a small smile and snuggled into him, "And I can't thank-you enough for it. And I'd do anything for you, too." He gave Carter's hand a squeeze and sighed through his nose, a small amount of his worries lifted.
Carter wrapped his arms around Arria and laid back, gently pulling him closer against him, “How about we relax for tonight, we both did a lot in the past twenty four hours.” Carter kissed Arria on the forehead again gently, brushing a hand through his hair.
Arria nodded, drawing circles onto Carter's skin with his fingertips, "Yeah, relaxing sounds good," He rested his head on his fiance's chest, "Maybe we're being haunted… that's why we keeping having so much bad luck."
“Yeah, I’ll have to hire an exorcist some time,” Carter joked, brushing his hand through Arria’s hair gently, “We’ll definitely never be going on a date at night alone anytime soon,” He let out a small laugh, closing his eyes.
Arria huffed a laugh and tried to stifle his yawn, "You got that right," He, too, closed his eyes with another yawn, "I wonder if this place is haunted and has any ghosts… that would be cool…"
Carter chuckled, but exhaustion pulled on him. He tugged Arria closer against his chest protectively just as sleep dragged him into the abyss. His body demanded rest, after all that had happened.
Arria sighed through his nose, curling into Carter and his tail wrapped around his legs. It didn't take long after that for sleep to take him. Even though he really didn't want to sleep, he knew he needed it.
Carter was up only hours later, when the morning sun was filtering in. He snuggled closer to Arria, so, so grateful to feel that tail wrapped around his legs. Safe, they were both safe and home.
Arria sighed in his sleep, his eyes fluttering open with the very little morning sunlight shining on his face. He breathed in deeply, sitting up a little with the little effort he had, just so he could admire the man underneath him.