more mer!aerion dunkaerion shenanigans, as a treat
dunk's taken to keeping red-and-white striped blankets and sailcloth around his sailboat to provide cover for aerion when the merman comes to visit. and really, it's more a gesture of thanks to aerion, since dunk was able to upgrade and get a boat big enough to not only have a cabin for overnight stays on the water, but also sturdy enough to support aerion's weight when the merman decides he wants to come aboard and sun himself on the deck, all thanks to aerion's treasure diving and fish-herding.
and it's really easy to let aerion on the boat lately, the merman is always sure to approach with what dunk now notes is aerion's signature burbling greeting. most times aerion's circling the boat underwater and picking off barnacles as a snack, but on particularly warm days, the merman is not particularly shy about clambering aboard and stretching out like a cat in a beam of sunshine. aerion's always mindful of his spines, though - dunk's seen that patterning on fish before, none he's ever caught, but he's seen pictures and heard stories about how painful their spines are, how they could kill weaker folk.
aerion's also been getting a little touchy lately. not that dunk minds, the merman's innocent enough and aerion is rather pretty if he's not trying to shred dunk's clothes or sniping at his little brother when egg comes around on very limited time (egg's still grounded for the whole potions fiasco). at first, it was aerion leaning against him to see how fishing worked. then it was aerion just leaning against him and not paying no mind to the lines at all, even if dunk had given him a fishing pole of his own to try out. aerion's skin is always pretty cool and clammy to the touch, while people have always said that dunk ran very warm. it's really kinda nice on those hot days, having a water-cool body leaning against dunk when he's sitting and fishing.
sometimes dunk just lies down on the deck for a breather. aerion used to just watch him from the water and splash him, but lately the merman's taken to flopping down next to dunk - not quite touching him but close enough that dunk can feel the chill off aerion's skin - and resting his head on folded arms along with dunk, keeping his tail spines rotated out of range.
dunk thinks that sometimes aerion might want to properly cuddle, given how the merman blinks at him with half-lidded violet eyes, but then dunk doesn't know much about merfolk and their body language. blinking and swishing his tail gently is one thing. stretching out those long, pale arms and flexing the sharp claws at the end, might mean something different. dunk's not about to chance it - if aerion wants cuddles, aerion can close the gap himself.
but dunk is still gonna look at aerion - properly, not sneaking peeks like he used to do, which got him laughed at by the merman. now dunk is confident enough to just watch aerion as the merman makes himself comfortable on the boat, or as he plays with coils of rope or pokes at everything that catches his fancy. most often he watches when aerion's napping, making soft noises in his sleep.
dunk's worried about aerion napping in the sun before, has done things like poured water on the merman to covering him up with a wet blanket. none of that was received particularly well - usually with hissing and sharp chattering and aerion sliding off the boat with a particularly weighty knock at the edge, just enough to put dunk off balance. the most accepted form of moisturization came in the form of a wet light sheet draped over aerion's upper half, the more human half, at least to keep him cool and keep the sun off him directly. it was probably the issue about the fabric getting caught in the tail spines that aerion had been hissing at before.
otherwise, dunk might just use those striped blankets and sailcloth to create strategic pockets of shade just in case aerion wants to nap under there. or as a sort of nesting material that aerion can tug and pull and dampen to his heart's content in the process of arranging a cushier place to nap.
regardless, it's usually a lovely day when aerion comes and naps. the sound of the ocean waves lapping against the boat, some birdcall overhead. smell of good wood and salt and fresh fish, a little bit of earthiness from the baitbox and the dirt and worms. gorgeous, uninterrupted views in all directions with land in comfortable range.
plus a pretty merman napping on the deck, curled halfway around a pile of striped blankets, sunlight glinting off the scales of the merman's tail and the ones sprinkled across his shoulders, cheekbones, down his arms. sunlight also glowing off long, braided, decorated silver-white hair and the jewelry and beading around the merman's wrists and neck and waist.
aerion looks a little like a treasure chest and a lot like a fairy tale.
might be a time where dunk decides to go swimming off the side of his boat. aerion's very happy in those instances, goes sliding off the deck to join the man in the water. if aerion was a little touchy above water, he's a lot more tactile in his home element - swimming around dunk, poking at the man and swimming away, cool hands pressed to dunk's back or arms to push him in one direction or another, disappearing and then coming back to yank on one of dunk's ankles.
one of aerion's favorite games is having dunk hold on to one end of a rope while aerion just takes off through the water with the other end, dragging dunk behind him. the first time, dunk let go out of sheer shock at the speed, tumbling around a little in the water and getting disoriented until aerion dragged him to the surface. the second time, dunk figures that maybe little egg might have tugged him along a lot faster and with a lot fewer anxious glances over the shoulder. they find a good rhythm and pattern eventually, and dunk and aerion learn what certain tugs on the rope mean. sometimes faster, sometimes slower. but always fun!
at some point, dunk might make something for aerion - he's picked out glass beads at market, glass and metal beads, ones that can stand the saltwater. he's also gotten hold of some strong but flexible threads or yarns or somesuch. as many times as aerion has ordered him around to help take off necklaces and such, and as many times as dunk has eyed the merman's slim waist, he's reasonably certain he can make a matching set of jewelry for the merman. as a token of friendship, or at least that's what egg's said. make aerion a gift for his upcoming nameday, he's got ever so many necklaces and belly beads, that's what aerion likes as gifts.
and it takes a while, doesn't it, for dunk's fingers to figure out how to knot beads up nicely so they don't slip around too much. tying off fishhooks and lures is one thing, it's a whole other animal to deal with trying to come up with pretty patterning and making sure the distance stays consistent. there were many, many failed attempts.
when the day comes, egg's almost vibrating out of his skin with excitement for the few minutes he's appeared - dunk's gotta be the one to give the presents to aerion himself and put them on himself, it's only proper.
and so, late at night, when dunk assumes the festivities are done, aerion comes over to dunk's boat and slides on with all the grace and ease of someone who's done it a hundred thousand times before. there's color high on his cheekbones - dunk didn't know that merfolk could brew something like ales and wine but then again, there's a lot he doesn't know about merfolk - and a lazy, open smile on his lips. those half-lidded eyes track dunk's movements as he fumbles around and unearths the box he's keeping the gifts in - and aerion and dunk have come to an understanding about what the word "gift" means in each of their languages. aerion doesn't speak dunk's tongue, but he certainly understands when dunk offers him the best parts of the fish guts - liver, head, heart. and dunk understands when aerion's brought up a fistful of something that used to be shiny from the bottom of the ocean, clearly seeking approval for the finds.
so, dunk tells aerion this is a gift for him, for his nameday. egg had taught him the word, some combination of a guttural sound starting in his throat and ending in a high note exiting from his forehead or thereabouts. aerion laughs softly and must say the word more properly, more clearly. less clumsily, at any rate, it sounds prettier in general.
and aerion watches, quite pleased, as dunk opens the box. that pleased look turns more into violet eyes widening and the merman pushing himself up into a more seated position as dunk pulls out the necklace and the waist beads - and he'd had enough material left over to make a bracelet as well.
dunk makes the gesture of offering to put them on for aerion, and the merman is silent as he nods, sweeping the hair off his neck so dunk can go behind him and help put it on. same with the waist beads, aerion holds very still as dunk carefully brings the beads around to fix the clasp and ties properly. then the bracelet last of all, aerion holding out his arm, scales almost glowing in the light of the full moon overhead as dunk fastens the bracelet on, giving a gentle squeeze to the merman's wrist when he's done.
aerion is still silent when everything's done, then dunk hears what could possibly be called purring - a deep, vibrating hum from the merman's chest as aerion gently pets over the bracelet, the beads around his belly, the necklace. given that the merman hasn't ripped the jewelry off and tossed them into dunk's face, the man can only assume it's been well-received.
and dunk did try to find colors that would look nice on aerion. he'd originally thought to go with red and white, to match his coloring, but then he'd seen the prettiest blue and green glass beads. something about them, the depth of color, the patterning - so he grabbed those instead, along with some gorgeous purple beads in different shades. and dunk was right about those colors going well with aerion's coloring - the green and blue just set off the reds and browns of aerion's scales so nicely, and even if the purple didn't match aerion's eyes, they still gave some reminder of that pretty violet color.
the purring goes on for quite some time, aerion's looking like he's counting every bead and every knot as dunk tries to ramble and explain what he's done.
then aerion goes and shoves his face into the space between dunk's neck and shoulder, purrs again, but quite loudly this time, and dives off the side of the boat.
dunk doesn't see him for a few days, but that's alright. aerion's visits were hardly on a daily basis anyway, and it seemed the present was well-received at any rate. so dunk goes about his days, happy and oblivious.
aerion, for his part, is back in his chambers trying very hard not to do the merfolk equivalent of kicking his legs on the bed and screaming into the pillows, because how did the big human know what courting presents were??? and after all the time aerion had spent shamelessly displaying himself????? if his father knew, he'd be very disappointed and probably try to ground aerion as he'd grounded egg, but what maekar doesn't know won't kill him, and aerion's spent ever so long trying to flirt with dunk and get the man to put those big warm hands on him and this is what it took? man didn't even start out with holding hands, he went straight for courtship presents? no, someone had to have told him a lie, a falsehood, something, the presents are too nice and too fine, and aerion is reasonably certain that dunk wouldn't have deliberately given him a gift of intention.
but the gifts are so very pretty, and with the smoothest beads aerion's felt against his skin, and they're not just the same old gold and silver that he's always getting, these are genuinely very very pretty, and if these had been gifts from anyone else, aerion would have taken them apart and restrung them to hang in his rooms, but they look so good on him! he's keeping them for sure! everything else can go! granted, that signals to other suitors and people trying to court aerion that the prince has made his decision to narrow his affections down to one suitor, but aerion does not care one little bit. dunk's presents are too nice to be seen with everything else.
so. a few decisive claw strokes and the bulk of the beads and necklaces and bracelets fall to the ground. the only ones that remain are the ones that were gifted to him by his family and his few close friends. and dunk's, sitting proudly amongst them all.
what is everyone else's reactions to this? does dunk ever find out that egg lowkey tricked him into essentially proposing to aerion? what is the gossip going around the merfolk realm when they see that prince aerion's shed most of his courting gifts save one?
find out in the next installment of mer!aerion shenanigans!
read the previous installments here
part 1 - aerion gets stuck in a net bc egg wanted to play ariel
part 2 - aerion's scissors shenanigans
