Ariel frowned slightly at his response to her question about his hand. She knew that all too well. "I paid for my freedom, too, but this place gave it back to me," she said quietly. "At Christmas," she added awkwardly. She still found herself wondering whether she would be a mute again should the Seal find her useless and send her home. She wondered if she would remember this place or her friends; if she'd remember Jimmy or if she'd fall back in love with Eric the way she was supposedly meant to according to the story.
One moment, he was asking questions she was unsure of how to answer and the next, Maedhros was telling her not to fear because Heaven existed. He seemed even to know more about it than he had let on and she found herself wondering why he'd asked to begin with, if he had. "I don't know what to believe anymore," she admitted softly, knitting her brow slightly as she looked out in front of her again. "But that sounds nice."
At his next question, Ariel looked back at him, a little confused at first. He clarified what he meant and Ariel gave a weak sort of smile, nodding. "There's a pond in the park," she replied. "...there's also the pet store, but that place is horrible," she added, wrinkling her nose with distaste. To have seen so many fish confined in one tiny space when they were meant to be free in the ocean or the fresh water sources around the world made her sad. She might have even been more understanding of it all if there had been one tank per fish, but to have dozens crammed into one...it broke her heart.
Ariel looked quizzically at Maedhros. He said all they needed to do was wake the creatures and teach them. "I don't know how," she admitted. "I came from the ocean...we all spoke freely. I didn't have to teach them; I used to be one of them..."
[ooc: lol uh I just read over my previous post and shall we go ahead and pretend she said she hadn't been a HUMAN forever, rather than a mermaid? Cuz that's what I was going for lmao]