Killian and Ariel are ass-to-ankles with everyone else in the bar. It's hardly a pleasant experience, but Storybrooke doesn't have much else to offer in the way of nightlife. Killian feels sort of bad about the whole thing, especially since Ariel looks so forlorn. It's their first real date since he came to Storybrooke; he had hoped for better than this.
The speakers overhead are playing what Ariel had referred to as "smooth jazz". Killian doesn't know what jazz is, or how this could be considered smooth, but it gives him an idea. He rises from his seat and reaches for Ariel's arm. He pulls her through the throng of people until they find a space where they can stand comfortably and move a few feet in any direction.
"What are you doing?" asks Ariel.
Killian grins in the way he always does when he has a plan. Ariel's expression tells him that she's wise to his mischief, but she goes along with it anyway. Killian grabs her around the waist and reaches for her hand. He begins to step side to side in time with the music. Ariel does so too, but her brow is furrowed in confusion.
"I've never danced with you before," explains Killian, "I believe your tail quite crushed any plans I may ever have had of doing so."
"Did you really want to dance with me so badly?" asks Ariel.
"Among other things," he says.
He doesn't let his usual lecherousness slip into that sentence, but the unspoken possibilities hang in the air between them. Ariel blushes. She mumbles something about "only the first date."
"All in good time, love," Killian says with a laugh.
Ariel can't help but smile at the sight of him laughing. At that moment, the song changes to something vaguely more upbeat. Killian begins to move faster. He twirls Ariel around. Her red hair fans out around her, as does her green skirt (the same color as her tail, he notices). He has never seen Ariel twirl before; he is captivated by it.
"You're lovely," he says.
"Thank you," replies Ariel.
"No need to thank me. I don't say it as a pleasantry. I say it because you truly are," he says, "Completely and utterly lovely."
Ariel says nothing. She wraps her hand tighter in Killian's, though, and she steps closer to him. Their chests are almost pressed together; Killian can feel the body heat from Ariel's skin. He can see each and every freckle on her pink skin. He grins.
"What are you smiling at?" asks Ariel.
"You," he says.
Then he kisses her. Not passionately, nor does he even use tongue. They are, after all, in a public place. He'll save the more heated kisses for later. This isn't even about passion, really. He's kissing her just to say "I love you", because he can't say the actual words yet. Judging by the way Ariel kisses back, she seems to get the message.
"Don't leave again," she says.
"I won't," promises Killian.
It's not the first promise Killian has made her. But he's kept every other one he's made so far, and he intends to keep this one, too.