Hi everyone! This is my first entry for Prompt Party 2021 using prompts 251) Olympics AU and 255) marathon. It'll just be a little ficlet, but I used to be on a swim team, so I couldn't resist writing it. Enjoy!

Regina lives for the moments when she can swim. The way the water welcomes her in like a warm hug, surrounding her on all sides but easily bending to her every whim at the same time, is like nothing else. She could be swimming a 1500 meter freestyle race (a marathon, if you ask her, even though she frequently swims that in practice) and though her limbs would be screaming for her to stop, she'd never tire of the way the water moves around her. She was built for speed, for the sprint to the finish that she's here for.

"Here" is the practice pool at the Tokyo Olympics. Her coach, who is also her mother (a scenario she's been trying to rectify for years) had told her to keep her eye on the prize, but right now, Regina's a little distracted. The most handsome man she's ever seen is currently swimming a lap of breaststroke, and Regina can't deny that he does it well. The way the muscles in his arms move in the water, the way his legs glide together at the end of a kick… Regina couldn't look away no matter how hard she tried. And honestly? She didn't want to. She thought she knew all of the athletes on the team representing the States (the swimmers, anyway), but she had never seen him before.

Her mesmerized state ended the minute he got out of the water. She immediately looked away, focusing her attention on wrapping her towel around her. She didn't want him to think she was a stalker- or, God forbid, the paparazzi.

She tried to distract herself from the glorious sight that was the drops of water glistening on his skin, but it wasn't an easy task. She tried to focus instead on her upcoming race, but even that didn't work. He was just so...

Breathe, Regina. Just breathe, she instructed herself mentally. It's not as if you haven't seen a male swimmer before. In fact, men and women for all of the aquatic sports- water polo, swimming, and diving- had all traveled together to Tokyo and the swimmers had practiced together beforehand for the mixed relay. She just hadn't seen anyone who looked that good in swim trunks.

"Who are you staring at?" Mal asked as she plopped down on the deck chair beside hers.

"No one you'd be interested in," Regina laughed. The two had been friends (and at one time more than that) for so long that Regina was well aware that Mal not only preferred the fairer gender, but she also would date a brunette over a blonde any day.

"So you admit that you're interested in whoever it is?" Mal asked, her brow raised. Regina was known for being closed off to forming new relationships of any kind.

"I didn't say that," Regina denied immediately.

"Grinning mischievously, Mal replied in a singsong tone, "If you say so."

"I do say so," Regina replied firmly.

"Fine. But if I'm right, when we get home, you're treating me to a pedicure," Mal proposed, leaning back on the chair and wiggling her toes. "They could use a little TLC after all of this."

"Deal," Regina laughed, shaking her head as they shook on it.

Thanks to their agreement, Regina had to be strategic in how she approached the stranger. She normally would have just gone up to him with some kind of witty comment. If he was able to keep up with her sass she would at least start the internal debate about whether or not she should go on a date, but thanks to Mal, she had to be sneaky about it. She followed her friend to the locker rooms, then she said suddenly, "Oh! I forgot my cap at the pool. You don't have to wait for me, I'll join you later."

"All right, I'll catch up with you later," Mal said, waving over her shoulder as Regina turned and walked in the opposite direction.

She walked back into the room, the all-too-familiar smell of chlorine once again assailing her nostrils. She had allowed her cap to fall out of her bag on purpose so she had a chance to hang back and talk to the stranger on her own. Knowing Mal, there was a very high chance that she had seen through her ruse, but Regina hoped not. She desperately needed a pedicure after all the training she had put herself through over the last year or so, ever since it had been announced that the Olympics would be postponed. While she was thankful she got to compete, represent her country in one of the highest events for her sport, she was also grateful that the Olympics committee had put measures in place to ensure the safety of everyone, preventing the pandemic that had left the world spinning out of orbit from spreading any further. While she loved her sport and had practiced nonstop in the extra year they had been given, she cared about being safe as well, especially given that she wanted to do everything she could to avoid bringing new variants of the virus home to her friends and family, especially her 102-year-old abuela.

She peered around the corner of the entrance to the locker rooms, trying to determine where the attractive stranger had gone. She couldn't see him anywhere. How could he have disappeared that quickly?

"Looking for someone?' a richly accented voice asked.

Regina whirled around. The stranger was standing right behind her, his eyes twinkling and a mischievous smile on his face, the dimples winking at her a pleasant surprise.

Snap out of it, Regina! she scolded herself. "Decided to sneak into the American practice area to pick up some of our techniques?" she asked the stranger. Teams had stayed as separated as possible thanks to the global pandemic, so she was surprised. Did he not care about the disease threatening them all?

"Who says I'm not a Brit who immigrated to the States?" he fired back. Interesting. So not only was he from another country, but he was able to match her stroke for stroke, if you will. Good.

"I didn't see you on the plane ride over," she pointed out. "Or at any point during the team practice times."

He leaned against the door frame, crossing his arms over his chest. "All right, you caught me. What are you going to do about it?"

"That depends," she murmured, inching closer. Was she really doing this? This was crazy. He was a complete stranger from another country, this wasn't going to go anywhere. All of this was completely out of character for her, she had no idea what had come over her. "What are you willing to do to guarantee my silence?"

"Anything, milady," he whispered. They were so close now that his nose brushed hers as he spoke, making Regina's heart beat faster. If she just took that last step…

"Tell me your name and have dinner with me," she requested. "And I'll speak of this to no one, thief."

"Thief?" he repeated, raising a quizzical brow.

She shrugged. "You snuck in here like one, didn't you?"

"All right, fair enough," he sighed. "And the name's Robin Locksley."

"Regina Mills."

"Fitting for the queen of the pool," he quipped.

A slow smile spread on her face. "You're a Latin scholar."

"I was," he responded. "Just one of many things I hope to share with you."

"We'll see," she said.

They exchanged numbers to figure out the details and parted ways. Before he got out of earshot, Regina called over her shoulder, "Robin?"

"Yes, milady?" he asked, blue eyes shining.

"Speak of this to no one."

"As you wish," he agreed.

Dimples flashing, he walked away, and Regina was left to wonder what on earth she had just started. Would she regret her choices? Or could this be the start of something new?

I'll probably finish this ficlet for the winter Olympics in February. Until then, hope you enjoyed it so far and let me know what you think!