Chapter Text
Spider always wished he would be able to leave the lab, to finally venture out into the forest he had grown up hearing about. But no, he was stuck inside a metal box with a group of scientists who never batted an eye toward him, other than when he got into trouble, of course.
He knew the rules, and he followed them. Day after day, week after week, year after year. He followed them. He watched the clock tick by from inside the labs, he peered over Norm's shoulder as the older man worked, he even began to study astrology. Max began to call him the Man Of The Stars.
Life fell into a steady rhythm after his sixteenth birthday. He'd wake up and hit the old RDA-made gym, shower, do his long list of chores, and head to work. The rhythm never, ever changed. And he was finally okay with it. He stopped looking out the window, he stopped wondering what mysteries the forest held, and he stopped thinking of the yellow-eyed girl who haunted his dreams.
That was until the rhythm got absolutely fucked up the day Jake Sully walked into the labs. The behemoth Na'Vi entered through the airlock and scared the shit out of Spider, causing him to drop all of his astrology books.
"Dang it. Can you watch where you're fuckin' going, dude? Norm's gonna kill me if I damage these." Spider bent down to pick up the books, flicking his curly hair out of his face with a huff. He flinched slightly as a heavy hand came to rest on his shoulder.
"What did you just say to me, kid?" The human boy's eyes widened as he looked up at Jake. Spider swore that if he had a tail, it would be between his legs at that very moment. "Might want to watch your mouth 'round me."
Spider opened his mouth to reply but it was cut short as he looked at his watch. "Oh for fuck- I'm late for work!" He sprinted off in the opposite direction, leaving Jake alone in the entranceway. The boy leaped over the stray carts and tables, sliding underneath some of the scientist's legs as he made his way to Room.
'Room' was the word he used for the massive gym building that housed everything he needed. There was a jungle gym, a rock-climbing wall, rows and rows of bookshelves, a telescope, and a desk.
On the farthest side of Room, was his art wall. It was covered in colourful paintings that he'd crafted over the years, most of them were of the stars he saw.
Spider set his books down on his desk before walking over to the art wall, setting his hands on his hips as if deep in thought. Over the expanse of his lifetime, he only ever drew the stars, never actually seeing them. He wasn't ever allowed outside of airlock, even on his birthdays. Sure, Norm and Max promised to take him on their supply runs, but every time they left him alone in Room. It was starting to feel like Room was his only friend.
Even though he had left the life of wonderment and curiosity behind, a small part of him still wanted to get out of Room and see the stars. Or see anything, for that matter. Anything but Room, or the labs, or airlock. He wanted to climb something other than the rock wall, he wanted to study something other than the stars in his books, he wanted to be on the other side of airlock.
He wanted to be outside.
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Spider.. Spider- SPIDER! SPI-
Spider rolled over and smacked Lo'ak over the head with a scowl. His legs were still very much tangled in his sheets, so when he attempted to get out of his bed, he ended up banging his head into the wall with a grunt.
"Hey monkey boy! Dad said we could visit you today." Kiri lifted him up by the back of his neck with a grin. "You sleep in awfully late."
Spider grumbled angrily. He walked over to his chest of draws and pulled out some of Norm's old jean shorts that he had cut himself, pulling them on quickly. They reached just below his knees and were so loose he had to tie a shoestring around his waist. He then donned his tank top to replace it with yet another tank top. But oh- This one was so different! It was just one shade darker than the other! Score.
He then pulled on his shoes and military-issued boots. Nothing seemed to work to cover his teenager stink, so he ended up over-spraying his lynx deodorant. Next was his hair which had been cut into a very unruly mop of curls, which Kiri tied into a man-bun atop his head.
"C'mon bro, show us your life in this.. Shack!" Lo'ak grinned.
Spider rolled his eyes before opening his bedroom door, setting off in the direction of Room in silence. Lo'ak and Kiri were nice and all, but they didn't seem to understand the differences they had. Spider was human, while they were Na'Vi. And to be honest, he didn't really like being around them. All he wanted to do was work and chores, so he could play in Room. That was literally all he needed to do before he got sent back to earth on his eighteenth birthday. He could finally be back where he belonged.
"Uh. This is Room. I work in here most of the time, don't touch anything." Spider pulled the curtains covering his paintings down, inspecting the newest set of stars he'd painted the night before.
Kiri's jaw dropped open in awe. Her thin fingers skimmed over the paint, feeling each groove and dip of the concrete wall. "You painted these all yourself?"
Spider nodded.
"They are very good, Spider. You should keep up with it. Maybe some of the village Elders might want some?"
That drew a pretty loud snort from Spider. "I can't give them away, they're literally etched in stone." He walked forward to stand beside Kiri, his voice lowering to a pained whisper. "There's no real talent here anyway."
Spider, who always saw himself as nothing but an unwilling addition to the humans, never had someone to praise him or congratulate him when he did something good. Spider spent his entire life alone in Room, and at first he told himself that he was worth something.
'Don't worry Spider, Norm doesn't hate you. What he told Max wasn't true!'
'Don't worry Spider, Jake wasn't lying when he said your paintings were good!'
But Norm did hate him, and his paintings were crap. So there was no point convincing himself that he was worth something.
"C'mon bro! These are awesome, definitely better than Tuk's." Lo'ak snickered, slapping Spider on the back. The human boy gritted his teeth together and turned away from the Na'Vi teenagers. They didn't get it, they never could get it. They had parents, they had siblings, they had friends. He had nothing.
"Can you fuck off for once?" The words had left his mouth before he could stop them.
Lo'ak's grin dropped, and Kiri flinched away from him.
An incredible silence settled over the three, and it stretched on for way too many minutes before a voice spoke up on the other side of Room.
"Lo'ak, Kiri. Your mom says its time to go home." Norm poked his head through the double doors. Spider stomped toward the man and shoved him out of the way. He had no clear idea of where he was going, but he knew he couldn't be around them anymore.