Chapter 465 A Date with Liesel (3)

"I’d almost forgotten that I sent you that. Yes, the first time I was taken to a shooting range to practice with a laser pistol, I shot myself in the foot. It hurt like hell, but the humiliation afterwards was way worse in my opinion."

While they were talking after eating lunch, Avery brought up the compilation of embarrassing videos Liesel had sent him.

That was what she had used as collateral to win his trust during the competition when she wanted to team up together.

It had been months since then, and it had slipped Liesel’s mind until Avery had reminded her.

She had been very bold to give him something like that at the time, but she had figured then that they probably would never see each other again after the competition and had not felt any real shame about it.

Except, now that she had developed feelings for Avery and had joined his team, she was mortified that the person she liked had seen her during some of her worst moments.

"After that, the other kids onboard the ship mocked me to no end. They came up with names to call me like laser foot, or Lieslipup. It was all very juvenile, but thankfully most of them grew out of it years ago. Although, there are still a couple that have yet to grow up. Also, their teasing was part of what drove me to apply myself to become a better mercenary." Liesel said, a complicated mix of emotions on her face.

She had always been a sort of black sheep of her family due to her father not becoming a mercenary.

It was not as if every member of the Kaizer family was expected to follow in their ancestor’s footsteps, but the ones that did were typically more well respected. It was just how things had turned out over time.

"Well, I’m kind of glad that things happened the way they did. Your childhood may not have been the easiest, but it led you here to me."

"Wow, that was sappy. You’re really laying it on thick today. For months you hardly gave me any attention, and now you’re coming at me with everything all at once." Liesel replied, wearing a wry smile.

"Oh, should I hold back then? I figured that you would want me to be romantic today since we’re finally having our promised date."

"No, don’t stop. I’m certainly enjoying this. Now, how about some praise. I’m always ready for some compliments."

Liesel puffed out her chest and waited for Avery to start listing her good points.

Momentarily he was distracted though, by the sudden movement of Liesel’s twin miracles.

Obviously, she noticed where his gaze was drawn, but she did not say anything about it. Later she planned to show Avery a lot more anyway.

The two of them continued to chat with each other for around the next hour. Periodically they would get up from their seats and walk around the beautiful nature growing in the consortium.

Along the way Avery at some point pulled out some ice creams made from various fruits and milks. Something he had stashed away in advance for dessert.

Liesel was obviously taken by the sweet and rich flavors, so Avery promised to save around half of the Intrepid’s remaining stock for her and to obtain more more when they returned to the Dramid Alliance.

Once the time Avery had reserved the officers’ lounge for was about to be up, he took Liesel to the next and potentially final destination on their date.

"I never thought that I’d actually see a pool on a mercenary ship. And it’s massive too." Liesel said, a look of awe and a hint of fear in her eyes.

"Oh, is this your first time here? I figured that everyone had come to see the pool at least once."

Liesel just shook her head in response.

And while it did take a little coaxing from Avery to get it out of her, he soon found out the reason why.

"I don’t really know how to swim. I spent most of my life on my aunt’s ship, and there was never a real good chance for me to learn."

"I see. Then should we change venues? I’ve got a backup plan prepared for just in case something went wrong." Avery said, wishing to be considerate of his partner.

"No, this is fine. I just figured that I’d splash around in the shallow end with you. And if you wanted, I could cheer you on while you do some laps. Plus, Casey went out of her way to help me pick out a swimsuit already." Liesel said a bit sheepishly.

Since Liesel insisted on not going anywhere else, Avery smiled and directed her to the women’s changing room before heading over to the men’s.

It took him only around a minute to underdress and put on his swim trunks.

Naturally, this meant that he got out before Liesel, so he waited in anticipation.

He had chosen the pool to be the final location of their date for not entirely pure reasons. He honestly really wanted to see Liesel in a swimsuit.

However, what she came out wearing was well beyond his wildest imagination and took his breath away.

"H-how do I look?

Avery was at a loss for words as he stared at Liesel.

She was wearing a very bold two-piece swimsuit that was a striking red the same color as her eyes.

Truthfully, it suited her perfectly. Perhaps a little too well. As Avery was unable to find the words to say and just kept his eyes glued on Liesel’s beautiful form.

Seeing his reaction, Liesel felt a bit more confident. She had been slightly worried that something like this might be a bit too much for their first date but had gone ahead and wore it because Casey had ensured her that it would help bring her and Avery closer together.

"So, is it too your liking? I think it suits me pretty well." Liesel said, taking a couple of steps closer towards Avery and holding her arms under her chest to accentuate her bust.

"Y-yeah! You look amazing! I’m just surprised that you..."

The words got caught in Avery’s throat as Liesel closed in on him to the point where there was only around a millimeter between them. If either of them so much as leaned forward, they would be brushing up against each other.

"Thank you. And you are quite dashing yourself. I knew that you would have some well-defined muscles due to being a mercenary, but you’re even more toned than I was expecting." Liesel said, reaching out and feeling Avery arm.

He was not incredibly bulky like a bodybuilder, but his muscles were far denser than an average human’s.

When she had had her fill, Liesel grabbed Avery’s hand and dragged him towards the pool. They could not just stand there gawking at each other forever. There was a reason that the two of them were here in the first place.

Once they got in the water, Avery sobered up a bit and regained his earlier confidence.

Liesel had pulled one over on him with her daring swimsuit, but he could not let that distract him for too long.

He was the one that had planned this date and was the one with more experienced after all.

For around a half an hour, the two of them splashed around in the water. Just enjoying some mindless fun.

Eventually though, Avery grabbed ahold of Liesel and smiled up at her mischievously.

"You wouldn’t. I told you that I don’t know how to swim." Liesel said in protest.

"Don’t worry, with your enhanced body, surely you can hold your breath for at least five minutes. Of course, I’ll make sure to come and get you before anything bad happens."

"Avery, I’m serious. Don’t you dare throw meeeeeeeee!"

Liesel started screaming as Avery sent her airborne towards the deep end of the pool.

Its depth went down to around ten meters, which was fairly deep for a pool.

Still, this area did serve as a storage area for water used in the ship’s cooling systems, so it had to be a certain size to have any practicality.

There was a massive splash when Liesel hit the water, and she began frantically trying to keep herself afloat.

Had a normal person flailed around the way she did, they would have undoubtedly started to sink quickly.

Yet, thanks to her enhanced physique, every one of Liesel’s movements had a great deal of force behind them that kept her head above water.

Naturally, Avery was not just going to leave her there to struggle for long.

Immediately after he had thrown her, he had dove under the water and swam so that he was situated right below her.

With impeccable dexterity, he avoided her flailing arms and legs and pulled her in closely towards him so that he could support her.

"I’ve got you. There’s no need to worry any longer." Avery said confidently.

After Liesel was certain that she was not going to drown, she angrily slammed her elbow into Avery’s said to let her displeasure be known.

It certainly hurt, but Avery kept calm and did not make a sound. Just letting Liesel get out her frustration. Whatever damage she did was healed in a matter of seconds anyway.

"Don’t ever do that again, please. I seriously panicked there for a second."

Liesel pouted and clearly felt aggrieved that Avery had treated her in such a way.

Fortunately, she seemed to have settled down already, and though she did not show it, she enjoyed the way Avery was holding her right now as he swam back towards the shallow side of the pool.

"I can’t promise that, but I’ll wait to make sure that you know how to swim next time. That way it will be more fun for both of us."

Liesel huffed and grumbled at Avery’s reply, but she did not protest outright. Maybe some part of her actually had enjoyed being launched into the air.

After that, Avery taught Liesel some of the basics of swimming and let her play around how she wanted. Allowing her to throw him a few times as well to make them even. Something that someone of her size would normally find to be impossible but was easy enough with her augmented body.

Eventually, their time in the pool came to an end and Avery escorted Liesel back to her room.

The two of them had both had fun and looked satisfied by their first date.

Still, there was one other potential activity that had been saved for last. Both of them had just been waiting for the other to make the suggestion first.

"I’ll leave the adjoining door unlocked. Come join me in fifteen minutes." Liesel whispered in Avery’s ear before hastily rushing into her quarters.

"I guess I should head back to my room and get prepared. I can’t keep her waiting when she extended me such an invitation."

Avery felt a warm sensation growing in his chest as he headed towards his own quarters.

It was something that he was familiar with and had experienced two times before.

Still, it was not something that he could get used to. The feeling of both excitement and nervousness that was overtaking his mind.

Avery quickly cleaned himself and picked out a set of clothing that would be easy to take off. He was under no illusion about what Liesel’s intentions were.

When he finally crossed over from his own quarters to hers for the first time through the doors that connected their spaces, he found that the lights in the living area had been turned off.

This naturally drew his eyes to the open door of Liesel’s bedroom, where a faint light and the sound of music were coming from.

Confidently, he walked into the room and found Liesel already waiting on her bed.

She was wearing very alluring lingerie that made her earlier swimsuit look conservative by comparison.

"Don’t just stare at me. Hurry up and come over. Otherwise, I feel like my heart is going to beat out of my chest." Liesel said, a mix of nervousness, expectation, and lust on her face.

Smiling, Avery closed the door of Liesel’s bedroom behind him and joined her on the bed.