(Surely it's getting too long now)
"How did you manage to get seaweed in your braids?" Neteyam's mother asked him as she undid the many beaded braids he had done messily the morning before. When he was younger, Neteyam and his mother would sit for sometimes hours in the mornings or evenings while she did his hair. The lack of humidity in their new home was helpful for the volume, but his hair was still a long project everytime they did it. As it was wet most of the time, Neteyam rarely worried about it looking nice, but he had been invited by Ao'nung to visit his Tulkun brother. The Tulkun had returned yesterday, and Neteyam had insisted that Ao'nung go alone first, even though his boyfriend wanted to introduce him straight away. Today, Ao'nung had told Neteyam that he was going to visit his brother again after he finished his work around the island, shadowing his father. Immediately, Neteyam had found his mother and asked her to do his hair. The braids he always wore were practical and allowed him to incorporate the decorative beads he loves, but he wanted to do something special for Ao'nung.
Finally, what must have been an hour later, his braids were undone and his mother rested her hands on his shoulders, resting her fingers for a minute.
"What shall I do?" Neytiri asked. Neteyam realised he hadn't worn any other style for quite sometime, and was unsure what to say. He thought about how Ao'nung always favoured a bun, keeping his hair out of the way. Thinking more, he came up with something.
"Can you braid it down my head into a bun, but leave some out at the back, so half in a bun half down?" He asked, turning to look at his mother.
"I can certainly try." She shook her head, raising her hands once more. "Is this for Ao'nung?"
The question jolted Neteyam. Of course she would have known, what else did he want a special hair style for?
"Yeah, he, um, wanted to introduce me to his brother, Neykina." Neteyam told her, fidgeting in his lap. "I wanted to make a good impression?" He tried to come up with some justifiable reason he needed to impress Ao'nung.
"I see," Neytiri sounded knowing as she hummed absent minded, pulling his hair here and there. Neteyam thought he was in the clear when she spoke again "You love him, don't you." Neteyam knew she wasn't asking, more so confirming.
"Yes, I do." Neteyam didn't nod, as his mother still held his hair.
"Good." Neytiri concluded, seeming satisfied. After some more silence, Neteyam worked up some courage.
"Mother?"
"Yes, ma Neteyam?"
"How long did you and Father court each other, before you..." Neteyam's voice became small. Luckily Neytiri just laughed softly.
"Your Father and I did not have a traditional relationship either," Neteyam could hear the smile in her voice "He and I, we bonded and mated a few months after we met." Neteyam now winced slightly at the information, but looked past it. "Even though I was arranged to mate with a warrior from the forest, your father was too good to let go." She was speaking very fondly as she gathered his remaining hair at the back of his head. "Why do you ask?" Now she sounded suspicious, but caring too. Deciding she wouldn't let it go if he tried to change the subject, Neteyam told her.
"I'm anxious about where this relationship is going, or supposed to go." Neteyam said, holding his breath for his mother's reaction. She didn't change the pattern of how she was softly tugging his hair, and stayed quiet for a little.
Eventually, she asked "With Ao'nung? What do you mean ma Neteyam?"
"Yes, I'm worried about where it's supposed to go next."
"Where it's supposed to go? Is Ao'nung suggesting things?" She now sounded suspicious again.
"No!" Neteyam quickly came to his boyfriend's defence "He wouldn't suggest anything to make me worried or put expectations on me." Neteyam knew he was right, regardless that Ao'nung had never explicitly said that.
"Then what do you mean?" Neytiri asked, slightly patronisingly.
"I only meant, now that we're courting each other, and we're bonded..." He hoped his mother would take the burden of the next words from him and speak it herself, but no such luck of course. "I worry we are expected to... mate. Before I'm ready-" Neteyam's voice cracked.
"Oh, Neteyam." Neytiri ceased her work on his hair, and wrapped her arms around his stomach. He used every drop of his will not to gasp or cry, he stayed silent. "Ao'nung would never make you do anything you are not ready for, surely you trust him that much?"
Neteyam nodded.
"So why the worry? You don't have to take steps you don't want to. Your relationship is young, as are you. You have all the time in the world to be ready." She told him, hands rubbing his stomach softly. He only nodded. "Do you want to mate with him?" Although he was nearly crying at the topic, he knew what she meant. He strengthened his voice before answering.
"I..." He considered what he was about to say and who he was saying it to before continuing "Yes, I do." He noted her silence. "Not now, obviously, but I do." He took her silence as approval as she continued working on his hair.
After Neteyam's hair was finished, he had thanked his mother both for the talk and her handywork. Now, he was standing in the sand beside a small rockpool a small ways from the village. He was admiring his new hair style, delicately feeling the intricate braiding from the front of his head to the back, coming into a bun on the top of his head, and the rest flowing out to his back. His tight braids were deceiving, making it look as if he had much less hair than he did, so he looked very different with the voluminous section at the back. His reflection in the water was almost perfect, the rockpool providing an undisturbed pool of water.
Then, a second reflection came up behind him, a head coming to rest on his shoulder. Neteyam's soft smile became a stretching beam, now showing his teeth too, glinting in the sun. Ao'nung wrapped his arms around Neteyam's waist, and Neteyam closed his eyes and reached his arm across his chest and behind him to rest on Ao'nung's shoulder. They stayed like that for some time, listening to the other's breathing and feeling the warm, safe feeling of their embrace. When Neteyam opened his eyes, he saw Ao'nung's eyes were open too, and he turned around to face his boyfriend, head tilted up to make eye contact.
"How'd you know I was here?" Neteyam asked, arms linking loosely behind his boyfriend's waist, just above the rise of his... nevermind.
"I saw a suspiciously good-looking man (yes yes ik they arent human get over it) on his own, apparently overthinking. Who else could it be?" Ao'nung smiled, his own arms resting on Neteyam's shoulders, hands playing lightly with his hair. Noticing this, Neteyam asked
"You like my hair?" Neteyam smiled even wider, pleased he had succeeded in impressing Ao'nung.
"I do, what's the special occasion?" Ao'nung asked, which confused Neteyam.
"I thought you wanted me to come meet Neykina, didn't you?" Now Neteyam wondered if he had gotten ahead of himself. But Ao'nung nodded quickly, in a very cute, earnest way.
"Yes! I just didn't expect you to look so..." Ao'nung couldn't find the word, so he settled on gently holding Neteyam's face and leaning down, meeting in a soft kiss that conveyed everything Ao'nung thought about Neteyam's appearance.
"I aim to please." Neteyam said, pulling himself closer to Ao'nung.
"And you excel my love, now, shall we go?" Ao'nung asked, and Neteyam nodded, feeling himself burning at the name. Ao'nung moved to Neteyam's right, lifting his left arm behind Neteyam's neck, resting along his shoulders. They walked together towards the rock flat jutting out to the edge of the reef. As they walked, Ao'nung said
"You remembered."
Neteyam was very confused "Remembered what?"
"His name, Neykina." Ao'nung seemed surprised.
"Yeah, is that..." Neteyam trailed off, unsure what his boyfriend was talking about.
"Nothing." Ao'nung told him, shaking his head and continuing in silence. Approaching the edge of the rock, Ao'nung let out a loud call of some sort, assumably to get his brother's attention. It worked, a huge grey back breaking the surface of the water before the massive fin lifted from the water in a sort of wave. Ao'nung laughed loudly, waving back and jumping into the water; Neteyam followed quickly. When the bubbles cleared, Neteyam saw Ao'nung sitting on the fin below Neykina's eye, gesturing with his hands in what Neteyam knew to be the sign language the Metkayina used to communicate underwater. The lessons in the mornings with Ao'nung and Tsireya had now become recreation and leisure opportunities for them all, learning now coming as they went. Because of this, Neteyam had been practicing his signing with Kiri whenever he could, communicating over the dinner table or behind their parents. Now, he looked at Ao'nung to see what he was saying.
"This is the boy I was talking about," Ao'nung told Neykina, and Neteyam felt himself warm at the realisation Ao'nung had talked about him the day before "my boyfriend, Neteyam." Neteyam felt himself blushing now. Neykina's eye moved to look at Neteyam now, and he was careful to make the correct gesture.
"I see you Neykina." The following click-whistle sound gave Neteyam the ok to sit on the fin alongside Ao'nung. As he pulled himself up from where he had been floating to the fin, Ao'nung grabbed him under the shoulders and brought Neteyam into his lap, facing him. The motion was elegant underwater, but Neteyam was dumbfounded for a moment when Ao'nung just rested his arms around Neteyam's waist, chests together. Because of their differing anatomy, Neteyam's torso was taller than Ao'nung's, and the boost of Ao'nung's thighs beneath him allowed Neteyam to look down slightly at Ao'nung. A long whistle and low horn sound from Neykina had Ao'nung laughing, raising his hands and signing
"I like him too." Neteyam realised what Neykina had said and smiled at the tulkunm before turning back to Ao'nung.
"'Like' me huh?" He teased, now resting his own arms around Ao'nung's shoulders. HIs boyfriend grinned back and said
"I thought I'd spare him the details, didn't want to be too graphic." The change in tone at the end of Ao'nung's sentence had Neteyam stunned and silent. This reaction seemed to please Ao'nung, who winked and rested the side of his head on Neteyam's chest, ear flattening against it. Neteyam felt heat in his lower abdomen but tried to ignore it and settled for relaxing in the company of his boyfriend and his soul-brother.
After rising for air twice, Neteyam and Ao'nung had begun signing, as practice for Neteyam. Kiri was an effective teacher so he was fairly good, but far better at understanding than doing it himself. Mostly general and mundane things for the sake of practice, they talked about their chores, Neteyam asked about and pointed things out on the nearby coral bed. Eventually, Neteyam feigned ignorance to a question, pretending to misunderstand.
"Anything on your mind lately?" Ao'nung had asked. Not invasive, but Neteyam didn't want to lie or hide things from Ao'nung, and being honest would probably put worry on him. When Neteyam pretended not to understand, Ao'nung jokingly rolled his eyes and repeated the gestures, nodding his head encouragingly. This time, Neteyam couldn't handle the awkwardness of sitting there doing nothing again, so he responded with
"Nothing." But Ao'nung clearly wasn't convinced with the obvious hesitancy. He gestured up, and pulled Neteyam to the surface. Each time they did this, Neykina rose to provide a platform for the two to stand or sit on. Laying down next to each other, the boys enjoyed the sun and light breeze.
"So, what's on your mind?" Ao'nung asked again. Neteyam breathed deliberately, trying not to reveal anything that might worry Ao'nung.
"Nothing, I said that." Neteyam tried to laugh it off.
(Ao'nung's pov)
Raising himself up on an elbow to look at Neteyam who was lying next to him, Ao'nung forgot what he was going to say for a moment. Neteyam was smiling softly, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. Regardless, the glowing of his eyes was highlighted with the golden light glancing off his skin. Neteyam's loose hair fanned behind him like a halo, the braids shining in the light. Coming back to himself, Ao'nung asked the question again.
"And I don't believe you, so, you going to tell me or are we going to play a guessing game?" Ao'nung was half joking, but Neteyam said
"Oh, I like that idea, let's see how long it takes you." Neteyam grinned and raised himself up on an elbow to bring himself level with Ao'nung.
"OK, fine." Ao'nung sighed and came up with something to ask. "Is it about your father?" Neteyam chuckled and shook his head slightly. "Is Lo'ak getting you in trouble again?" Neteyam laughed louder and shook his head again. "Are you missing home?" Neteyam nodded, but said
"That's not it though."
Alright then. Ao'nung guessed again, anxious about the answer this time.
"Is it about us?"
This time, Neteyam was silent, and his head stayed still.