Arria shook his head, blinked and scrunched up his face a few times, adjusting to the tightness of the goggles, "Nope. Just them, all alone. What's a plane?" He asked, squinting at Carter as the goggles had fogged up and he couldn't see great.
Carter laughed at the goggles fogging up, then started to explain, “A plane is this machine that humans make. We use them to fly,” Carter laughed a little bit, “My friend even got a license to fly an airplane since he loved it so much. I think you would probably like flying, too.”
"What like up in the sky?" Arria looked up, "No, way to high." He said, shaking his head and loosening the goggles so they fell to his neck and he could see much better.
“Really?” Carter laughed a little bit, he had definitely thought Arria would be interested in planes and flying. But he couldn’t blame him, Carter didn’t care for flying either, “Flying is cool, I guess. I always get a little sick when we go up in the airplane, but,” Carter shrugged, “You can see a lot from way up there.”
Arria nodded, "Yeah. I prefer being down here, where it's safe." He let out a sigh and smiled, leaning back onto the water to just float, "Why would you want to go up there anyway? It doesn't make any sense."
“For faster travel. When people go from country to country, we take big planes so we can fly over everything and go directly to our destination,” Carter explained with a smirk. It was strange to explain things that were so simple, he never realized how much technology humans had. “What kinda stuff do you have?” Surely, there had to be some kind of innovation only in the merman world…
"I mean," Arria sat up to look at Carter, "Crystals power most things, it's like a light source I guess. You should see them on the solstices, the sunlight shines on these four crystals which connect to this main one and produces power until the next solstice."
Carter raised his eyebrows, “Crystals? Really? I wish I could see…” He whined a little, frowning, “If only I could just breath underwater…” Carter huffed a breath, looking down at Arria’s tail. A merman. Carter found he had to keep on reminding himself it was real.
“There might be…” Arria muttered looking down at his tail and smiling a little, “If I can find…”
“Wait, what‽” Carter’s eyes widened, “Are you really saying there could be a way for me to go see?” He couldn’t help the grin that started on his face. If he was on land, he’d be bouncing on his feet.
Arria shrugged, “I mean… yeah, there is a way. You can breath underwater from it but that fact of giving you a tail… maybe there’s something for that too…” Merman magic is what he’s mother had called it years ago.
“Wait…” A tail… Carter’s breath caught in his throat. Then he gave a little laugh, “This is the Little Mermaid, isn’t it? Just reverse. I’ll have to give up something, like my voice, right?” Carter laughed, “It’s impossible… yet oh my gosh… A tail!” He planted a kiss on Arria’s lips, “What do I need to do?”
Arria cocked his head to the side, “What’s the little mermaid?” He shook his head, “No, you don’t need to give anything up. I’ll make the potion tonight and give it to you tomorrow. It won’t last long, maybe an hour or two but long enough for me to show you the city.”
“Really? Wow, no strings attached…” Carter laughed, “The Little Mermaid is a cartoon movie about a mermaid who falls in love with a prince, and she gets feet in trade for her voice. They end up falling in love and all that cute stuff. But in the original version, Ariel, the mermaid, was turned down by the prince because she was different and she turned into seafoam,” Carter let out another laugh because he was explaining a mermaid cartoon to a merman.
“Yeah, no strings attached, and that’s stupid, mermaids don’t turn into sea foam.” Arria muttered, frowning, “What kind of movie is that, they got their facts all wrong.” He huffed and crossed his arms.
Carter laughed, hanging an arm around Arria’s shoulders, before remembering something, “Hey, I brought you something this time,” Carter felt through his pockets, pulling out a small trinket. It was a little fish made of glass, tiny and elegant. The color matched Arria’s tail, and when he spotted it in the store… “It’s just a little something, and it’s okay if you don’t like it or anything,” Carter said bashfully, looking away.
Arria grinned and gentle took it from Carter, “It’s beautiful,” He kissed the human on the cheek, “Thank-you.” He said gently, resting his head on the others shoulder, “Now I feel bad that I didn’t bring you anything…” Arria muttered.
“You’re letting me get a tail and breath underwater, Arria,” Carter smiled, “That’s a pretty amazing gift.” Carter kissed the merman again, curling one leg around Arria’s tail, “And I’m happy to just have you~”
Arria blushed, “I’m happy to have you, too,” He said quietly, kissing the human back, wrapping his arms around Carters neck.
Carter brushed a hand down Arria’s face gently, as if in a daze as he drawled, “Arrrrrrria… Gosh I love you…” This was ecstasy, this was perfect.
Arria smiled, “I love you too.” He murmured, his blush deepening.
“Tell me this still real…” Carter whispered, kissing Arria again, “Tell me this isn’t a fantasy…” Carter pressed his body flush against Arria’s, running his hands through the merman’s hair.
"This is definitely real, and definitely isn't a fantasy," Arria replied, trying not to groan as he hair was played with, "I-I'm completely real…" He said a little quieter.
Carter kissed down Arria’s jawline, murmuring, “Good… I want you… to stay around…” I love him so much… Carter moaned against Arria’s skin, then let his tongue flick out and taste Arria’s salty neck.
Arria only moaned in response, hoping it was enough to indicate the same as words wouldn't form in the present moment. One hand grabbed at Carter's back and another running through his hair, hoping to steady himself slightly.