They seem to do it the same way we do. The two of them prance and shy away, move willingly closer, further, much like the mating rituals of animals pretty much anywhere. Except they and we do it with dissemblance, flattery, persuasion, secrets, promises, half- and whole-truths, and queer but serious flirtation. And yet, again, I am drawn to reiterate the humans' relatively minute lifespan when paired against other galactic civilizations.
Since they have so little time they pursue this dance furtively, sometimes even hopelessly, keeping the institutions of marriage and engagement afloat with a flood of romance and passion that can not--I go so far as to say should not--sustain itself. Again and again I hear the expression "the passion is gone" as if this were some portent of extinction. But even I must give them credit on this point, their options are limited down here amongst the television and the smell.
By the humans' reckoning I was thirty-five before I felt existentially prepared to approach my female in courtship. And even that was reckless by our standards. I had not prepared myself for entering into union, to both sustain the bond and manage my own identity, to care for her well-being individual to the needs of the union. And I certainly failed to appreciate when the union itself was beyond salvaging. We do not look kindly upon mismanaged identity. Courtship is a mature operation, one which cannot be held hostage by a poor self-image or unrequited insecurity. Why, to enter into union without eliminating these faults would render one a very poor mate and a poorer example of health.
Humans do not have the luxury of time and so leap, as young as they feel the urge, into congress with their partner. Scarcely have they even physically matured before this union commences and thus a great deal of identity construction is given over to the party's opposite. This can work out well or horribly (the stories I have heard defy historical dictation) but the humans have yet to learn that in either case it is a very unjust exercise in morality. To give another one's formative years to mold is not a right another can possess. And yet humans are helpless here, as their biology necessitates a swift copulation to pass on what feeble knowledge they've gained to the next generations.
I must say they have done well enough, considering. Whilst I was in my maturing stages I often wondered what the standards were in place for, why I must wait to copulate or even form a union with my gender's opposite. In vain I waited and yet with fire kindled beneath me. Slowly, of course, realizing I had no choice I pushed my lust aside (several years this took) and diverted my attention to other spheres. By the time I came to the age of union I had built a firm foundation, lust but one of several ascending floors.
What pleasures awaited me on that oft-bypassed floor!
Yet it served as an extension of my own pleasure, and I was not so quick to mistake it for abiding care as these humans are so woefully prone to do. Their divorce statistics are atrocious and their ideas concerning who should be allowed to form unions with who is wholly humbug. If two beings wish to copulate then proceed. That the creatures here see fit to make it their business is utterly beyond primeval, especially considering what some of their more learned ancestors have written on the subject. But that's the thing with humans. The case is closed only to be reopened again.
It is the same way they treat their relationships. No door is ever shut, no hearts are ever locked. I would be apt to say it was emotional, somehow, in its way, or, though wrong-headed, passionate. But it is not. It is a tragic state of affairs that ends severally, never concludes. Coupling on Earth is not a union of two whole beings but a frightful brouhaha of two halves desperately trying to fit their square pegs in round holes. That the species has not managed to throttle itself to antiquity is impressive, I suppose.
It is also unlawful to marry animals here, can you believe it? Some of the most contented folks I ever met were married to voles.
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