Moonchild | Neteyam

40

Erìhe opened her mouth to say something but then she hesitated. Instead her gaze drifted down to her hands and the bracelet she had made that hung loosely from her wrist. Neteyam seemed to notice what her eyes had been glued on as when she looked back at him, his mouth was shaped in a small "o".

His other hand made its way to hold the bracelet that he'd made while looking at her. He was sort of trying to figure out her thoughts and what she wanted to do - what she wanted them to be.

But Erìhe did not know if she was ready to let the whole clan know of her feelings. She was not embarrassed - of course not - she was just.. unsure. Insecure - stupid.

"What are you thinking?" Neteyam whispered.

For some reason the two teenagers had adopted hushed tones - even when there was no one around to hear their conversation anyways.

Erìhe's hand trailed to hold one of her braids. The one that had her own assortment of beads. "I was just thinking that I like you," she replied in just a quiet tone as him, "I like you a lot."

The corners of Neteyam's lips lifted upwards, "Yeah?" When the girl nodded, her cheeks turning the slightest bit pink, he shuffled ever so slightly closer, "I like you too."

Erìhe nodded once, breathing out a chuckle as she looked down - suddenly a tad bit shy. "But all the others would know that if we exchanged these," she held up her hand to showcase her poorly made bracelet.

"Does that bother you?" Neteyam asked her gently as he nudged her.

"No," Erìhe denied quickly, letting out a frustrated sigh. She wasn't angry at him for misunderstanding. Anyone would misunderstand when she's so bad at expressing herself. No - she was upset with herself for being so shit at all of this. "It's just - well.. I don't know."

"I know," Neteyam smiled at her. Erìhe was having trouble forming sentences - expressing her feelings. He knew she'd get better at it if he gave her time. And time he would give her. "I understand," he assured her while placing his hand on hers, giving it a light squeeze, "We don't have to tell the others anything."

"Is that what you want?" Erìhe asked him as she turned her hand over in his, returning his squeeze.

Neteyam shrugged. "It doesn't matter," he told her, "I'd love to tell everyone that I like you, but I'll wait." He thought of Ao'nung. He thought about how badly he wished for him to find out that Erìhe liked him, Neteyam.

Erìhe hummed. He'd never been this considerate toward her back in the forest - she marveled the fact that they'd come this far from hating each other.

"How about.."

Neteyam raised his brows in curiosity as she trailed of, "How about?" He urged her to speak.

The girl twirled her beaded braid between two of her fingers, "Do you know how to braid hair?"

The brightest smile crept on Neteyam's face as he nodded quickly, "Yes - as a kid mum made me learn how to braid so that I could do Tuk's hair," he explained. He mentally grimaced at himself as he realized he did not need to explain that. A very simple yes or no answer would have sufficed.

Erìhe found his excitement adorable, "Do you want to exchange beads with me?"

"Yeah," Neteyam did not hesitate for a second. Quickly, his fingers sought for one of his braids that held more beads. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that he'd gotten the braid he wanted. "This one," he grinned.

"Alright," Erìhe laughed as she reached out to replace his hand with hers, holding onto the braid before starting to unravel it.

Neteyam would not stop smiling as he turned his back toward her so that she may undo his braid in peace.

As Erìhe got the first bead free, she nudged him, "Hold out your hand," she told Neteyam.

Neteyam did as instructed and held his hand out so that she could easily drop the beads into his open palm. He smiled as he felt her leaning into his back as she undid the braid, every once in a while brushing his shoulder with her warm hands as the beads slowly but surely all ended up in his hand.

Erìhe leaned past his shoulder to smile at him as she held her hand out to take the beads from him. "You undo mine now," she told him as she sat cross legged in front of him.

Neteyam chuckled quietly as he gathered her hair and placed it over one of her shoulders as he held the braid she wished to undo, "This one?"

Erìhe glanced at the braid in question and nodded, "Yeah. That one," she confirmed. She held out her free hand to hold the beads.

As he unraveled the braid, he would purposely brush his fingers along her shoulder - just as she had done to him. He wished to know if he had the same effect on her that she had on him. A proud grin split onto his face as Erìhe shivered at his touch. "You cold?" He teased.

Erìhe rolled her eyes though he could see, "Freezing," she replied.

Neteyam laughed and leaned over her shoulder to tap her hand that contained the beads which had come from his hair. He'd unraveled her braid and collected all her beads into her palm - now he would work on redoing the braid and adding his beads within, after which she would do the same for him.

"Of course you are," he laughed, "Its so cold out here."

"So so cold."

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A/n:
So they're official but like yk?

Also y'all - I had to get a 5- from my math exam to pass and guess what I got? 5- 🫡🫡 so proud of myself rn