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Kiri giggled as she took another swig of the coconut-flavoured liqueur, passing it to Rotxo. Tsireya wrinkled her nose when the bottle was passed to her. “No thank you. I do not like it, it smells strange.” Kiri rolled her eyes. “S’better if ya don’t smell it. Tastes real good though,” She grinned. Tsireya hesitated. “Aw, c’mon sis! S’good,” Ao’nung grinned, throwing an arm around Rotxo. Tsireya sighed heavily. “Ok, I’ll try a little,"
Twenty minutes later (and two bottles of Malibu), the intelligent conversation had dwindled down to truth or dare and spin the bottle. “If… if you could have any-“ Kiri snickered as Ao’nung hiccuped loudly. “-power, like Eywa, what would it be?” Kiri passed the bottle to Lo'ak as she answered. “To fly. I’d love to have wings like our Ikrans,” She grabbed the bottle when it was thrust back into her hands and passed it to Rotxo.
“Breathe underwater,” Said Rotxo.
“Transform into any animal so I can bond deeper with them,” said the soberest of them all, Tsireya.
“A mermaid,” Said the drunkest of them all, Ao’nung.
“What about you, forest boy?” Ao’nung slurred, swaying as he sat. Tsireya pulled the bottle away from his lips, snorting when he tried to grab it back like a baby. “Ah, s’nothing. I dunno,” Lo’ak mumbled, rubbing his eyes. Kiri narrowed hers. “No, we’ve all said ours, what’s yours? Don’t be a wuss,” She played. Lo’ak looked away. His face sobered Kiri up somewhat. “Lo’ak, how much have you drunk?” She asked. He glanced back, displaying a bottle by his leg. “Holy shit, you’ve drunk an entire bottle?” She exclaimed. He pinched. “No, not the whole bottle,” He slurred. “Just from t-th-ere,” He pointed to around a quarter in. “Shit, come on. We need to get you home to Dad.”
Lo’ak whined, batting away her hands. “No, I like it here!” He grumbled. Kiri huffed angrily. “Lo’ak, move!" She hissed. "Kiri, wait." She spun, making Tsireya jump. "Let me and Rotxo take Ao'nung home, and we'll come back to help." The boys complained loudly. "If you can walk in a straight line, I'll leave you alone,"
They didn't even get to stand before they were passed out on the ground. Kiri glanced back and was both relieved and worried that her brother had also passed out. "I'll help you take these knuckleheads home. I'll get Rotxo," Tsireya grinned widely as Kiri flushed.
What? Sue her, he was cute.
Safely (but harshly) dropping the boys in their huts, Kiri and Tsireya made their way back to Lo'ak. "Do you think he's doing ok? It's been a month," Tsireya asked softly. Kiri shrugged. "Are any of us?" The girl fell quiet. Kiri huffed softly. "I'm sorry. It... it's just hard. It's been a month officially and the... it's only just really set in," Tsireya made a noise. "Has he visited the tree yet? I saw his mom go this morning," Kiri shook her head. "Everyone but us. I can't, which sucks big time. But Mom and Dad go every day. Tuk goes every few days when they let her. But no, Lo'ak hasn't been yet. Not that I know of,"
Tsireya stopped at the walkway. "I think he needs it," Kiri stopped a few feet in front, glancing at her obviously black-out drunk brother. "I think so too. But if he won't go, we can't force him." Together, they hauled him up and began the trek back to their hut. "Earlier you seemed worried that he'd drank... is the juice bad for us?" Kiri shook her head. "Nah, not what we drank. They'll be hella hungover tomorrow and probably be puking everywhere, but they'll be fine. This dumbass drank a near bottle on his own. That'd probably kill a sky person," Tsireya's eyes widened and Kiri retracted her sarcastic statement. "It was a joke. He'll be fine. My dad'll watch him, but he'll be fine,"
Bidding thanks to her friend and entering the, once again, empty hut, Kiri deposited Lo'ak just outside at the back on his bedroll. She dragged her own out to sit near him, bringing one of her covers for him to lay under. Their mom and dad would go straight to sleep, either in tears or angry. Neither of which she was up to dealing with.
They all lost Neteyam: when would it be their turn to grieve publicly? Before she fell asleep, she twisted her younger brother to his side so, if he did puke in his sleep, he didn't choke. Her eyes drifted closed just as her mom crawled into the hut.
~
Kiri woke the next morning to snoring in the hut and the lack of her younger brother. She shot up, panic setting in. Peering in through the cracks, she saw her mom and dad curled up with Tuk asleep. She jogged around the hut, desperately trying to locate her wayward brother. A few feet up, away from the huts, he stood overlooking the sea. "You're not hungover?" She asked instead of a greeting. He just blinked slowly. "Very," He croaked. "Then come sleep it off. You should be better in a few hours." She grabbed his arm and began gently pulling. "If I move, I'll puke," He warned. Kiri shrugged. "And? I helped Mom take care of you when you were a baby. I'm sure I can manage,"
A few more moments passed before he conceded to walking slowly back to the hut. "How's the head?" She asked. He grunted. Kiri snorted. "I have no sympathy for you. You drank way more than the rest of us. This is Eywa's punishment on your ass," He grunted again.
~
A little while later, Kiri found herself being shaken awake by her dad. "What're you doing out here baby girl? Nightmares?" She wiped her eyes, deflating at her brother's passed-out form. "Kinda... it's complicated," She lied. Her dad raised an eyebrow. "Wanna try that again?" He asked. As if on cue, Lo'ak answered the question with a lurch at the railing and a wretch. "Funnily enough, Norm was moaning that some booze he had was missing," Her dad said, idly walking over to Lo'ak and patting his back. "Now: either that's a coincidence," He continued, pulling Lo'aks braids out of the way as he vomited some more. "Or you guys snuck on and took it," Kiri looked away with a grimace.
"I'm sorry," She tried. She pulled a face when her younger brother threw up loudly. "I-I just thought it'd be nice for everything to relax and forget everything for a night... it was all my own idea,"
"I concur," Lo'ak gagged again. "You shut up and get it outta ya, I'll deal with you later," Jake rolled his eyes. He turned to Kiri with a soft glare, he'd dubbed the "You're gonna fold and tell me everything Dad glare"
"You know you're gonna be grounded for this? Somebody could've been hurt. Na'vi bodies deal with alcohol differently to ours." Kiri looked away. "I know... I'm sorry." Jake patted his son's (only son) shoulder firmly. "Any better?" He asked in vain. Jake knew first-hand that a hangover would ruin at least the first 24 hours after a session, if not longer. "Maybe," He answered. Jake placed a hand on his head. Not warm. "Wanna go back inside? Or lay down?" Lo'ak said nothing. "Still feeling sick?" He asked instead. "Maybe," He answered softly, practically falling onto the railing. Jake grabbed under his armpits. "Ok. You can stay out here and lay on the bedroll. I'll be out soon,"
"Dad?" He turned. "I really am sorry... I didn't think it'd get this bad." Kiri said quietly. Jake sighed. "It's ok baby girl. We all make stupid mistakes in our teens. I'd be more worried if you didn't," He teased gently before bracing himself to deal with Neytiri.