A true seer | Neteyam

21. The first (official) date

Neteyam eventually woke up from his sleep.

It had only been some minutes after I finished cooking, and he had a wide smile, his teeth showing. Neteyam walked closer to me and wrapped his arms around my waist, lifting me off the ground and spinning us around.

"Stop, you-" I couldn't finish my sentence and groaned. He chuckled at my vain efforts and put me down.

"Good morning," he said.

"Not so good now, I think I'm going to throw up." None of it was true.

Neteyam shook his head and pulled me closer by the straps of my warrior top. He kissed my cheek for a short second and thanked me for the fish. We ate together, accompanied by some of his slurping noises. How I hated those sounds, but they came from him. He made them sound cute.

After we finished the food he asked me about the day.

"So," he began, "what are we doing?"

I smiled. "It's a surprise." It was truly only swimming around the reef, but there was a special part that had the calmest waters, and they were fun to ride in without preoccupying with getting carried away far from the village.

On our way to the ilu dock, we saw Lo'ak and Aonung from afar. They were walking in the opposite direction to us, somewhat slowly, and laughing with sly grins. I couldn't imagine what they must have been talking about, but through my certain despise towards the Metkayina I was glad that he had begun to change. He had never, not even in a decade of interacting with my family, acted so nicely. Sure, we had shared good times, when he was younger up until he turned sixteen. It hadn't been the same.

"Boyfriends?" Neteyam laughed.

I nudged him. "Please, not in a lifetime. Lo'ak would cut two fingers before that, and Aonung is most likely to have a crush on you!"

"Me?" He raised his eyebrows and furrowed them slightly, he had a small smile on his lips. "Why would you think that?!"

"It's not such a puzzle, you know. He has this face when he looks at you that's like this," I said, and lowered my face until my chin touched my neck, made a small smile, and looked up at him.

Neteyam put his right arm over my shoulder, pulling me closer, and covered his eyes with his free hand. "Oh, Eywa, make it stop!"

We kept cracking up until we got into the water. We dove into the sea, riding our ilus. Neteyam used signs to ask for a race, his face lit up. We swam around, one in front of the order and switching places, back and forth. The water, as clear as always, allowed us to keep from bumping into other animals. We could even see the Tulkun crowd somewhat far away from us, and we quickly moved back to not get involved with them. Neteyam and I got deeper into the ocean, swimming up in a spiral way, never leaving each other's eyes.

We were both out of breath from the 'exercise' by the time we reached the place I had planned. We let our bodies rest and we swam in no particular direction. The passing of time was easily noticeable by the position of the sun; from being my right in the center of the sky, it was now more downwards.

Lítzy and his ilu were fetching some food while Neteyam was floating on the water, in a star position. I was on top of him, barely managing to not sink the both of us, my back to his lower chest while my head rested on the place his heart was. My arms were extended to the sides, touching the water with the tips of my fingers while I moved them up and down the surface. The water wasn't cold, but neither it was hot, it was lukewarm, just the perfect temperature. The sun shining above us, without cover of any kind, almost made me feel sweaty. My eyes were closed, my mind fully immersed in the moment. I only parted them slightly when Neteyam whispered into my ear.

"I want to give you something," he said.

I smiled. "What is it?"

Neteyam used one of his hands to grasp my one that was closest to his. He rubbed his thumb on my last finger. "A ring, it's a ring," he continued.

"A ring?" I questioned.

"Yeah, you know, a circular object that-"

I cut him off with a splash of water to his face while chuckling. I closed my eyes once again. "I know what a ring is, skxawng, I meant why?"

Neteyam cleared his throat and kept tugging on my hand. His fingers were a bit rough in texture, given the callouses formed by archery and constant handwork, but he put so little pressure it almost felt like nothing.

"Well, my dad once told us that the Sky People had this custom of putting rings on the people you marry, that's mate, right on the fourth finger of the left hand. They said that it had a vein that was directly connected to the heart. They called it 'the vein of love'."

His words made my heart pump blood faster, even though I thought I'd managed to get used to the way he talked. There was only one answer that my half-working brain could think of after I smiled more than before and raised my head enough to kiss his chin.

"That's sweet, but may I remind you I don't have a fourth finger," I said.

From beneath me, I felt his shoulders shrug. "We can make it work."

Neteyam raised my hand he was holding so he could see it, and put a ring on the last finger. It was small and was made of a very detailed pattern of dark brown thread and some colorful, small, and round beads. I took it closer to my face, covering the sun and letting me adjust my vision.

"Are these the beads from your hair?"

Neteyam passed his thumb through the ring. "Yes, I cleaned them. Nothing to worry; they don't stink, if that's what your asking," he answered. I snorted. "In all seriousness, it was just so you could have a part of me. There's basically nothing on me apart from the loincloth, so the beads are the next best thing."

"I love it, it's truly beautiful."

"So are you, so are you," Neteyam added.

I was about to turn around and kiss him, but I remembered something. "Now, that's just unfair. I made all this date so you could be the one receiving the special treatment, and you come here with a whole speech and a ring! You stole my spotlight!"

"It's not a competition, my wife... but even if it were you'd always win."

"How are you so sure?"

"Because you don't have to do anything when you already have me. For life."

"For life."

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Author's note:

My people, my people! How are you? What have you been doing? For some reason, I was able to write this chapter with such ease, but it still took me the normal amount of time to publish it. Any thoughts on it? My goal here was to deepen not only the romantic relationship between the characters but also to get to know them better. I hope you feel like you now know more about them!

So, life has recently been a kick in the ass, even when school has been relatively light, and I've been having some trouble keeping my attention focused on writing. I'll make sure you get the other chapter (the second date) and maybe then take a four-day break. How does that sound?

By the way, sorry if there are any grammar or spelling mistakes, I'll correct them soon.

Don't forget to vote, it's the biggest support I can get!

Happy Tuesday, cheers.

Sincerely, Dina.