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~Neteyam~
Initially, Neteyam thought he was just homesick. The small migraine building behind his eyes suggested so; and the new environment. According to Uncle Norm, they might be sickly for up to two weeks living there. Na'vi bodies were habitual; and designed to live, survive and thrive in a specific environment. Plucking them out of their home roots with no other environment to slowly adapt to would most definitely throw their bodies into a spin. An example of this would be the sun; they didn't get as much sun in the first as they did here, and as such, had to slowly build up their tolerance. Mom slightly more as she had been in the forest for nearly 20 years longer than they all had, including Dad. Tuk adjusted the quickest, followed by Dad, then Kiri, then Lo'ak, then himself, then Mom.
So, after a week of feeling sickly, Neteyam decided to broach his siblings with it. Tuk was fine and Kiri was fine. Lo'ak was not. He felt crappy as well. Apparently, he had a migraine rumbling around as well; and judging from his mood, he was right. Lo'ak was a horrid person to be near when he was sick, depending on the bug that was ailing him. If it was a pain-related problem, like migraines or broken bones, then he wouldn't sleep. And when Lo'ak didn't sleep and was in pain, he made it everyone's problem. However, on the reverse side, if it was a flu of some kind, he'd be emotional and clingy. Usually to mom, or Neteyam himself, but a lot of the time, he'd lay by himself, snapping at anyone who tried to approach.
~Lo'ak~
After eating fish bean broth (which was horrific) both boys lay wide awake. His mom and dad had long gone to the blissful painless land of sleep, with Tuk smooshed tightly in between. Kiri was sleeping silently in the farthest corner. Lo'ak's stomach was hurting something fierce, preventing him from dozing, even slightly. He twisted oddly, keeping his legs straight, but his side pressed into the ground. It pulled his abdomen tightly, almost painfully, but it seemed to ease the pain ever so slightly. "Bro, are you possessed?" He groaned as he faced his older brother. "Nah, man. This is the only way I can sleep," He grunted. "What's up with you?" Neteyam let the arm that was wrapped around his middle fall. "Feel sick," He grunted softly as he sat by Lo'ak's feet. He groaned in agreement. "Don't say that man," Lo'ak groaned, twisting the other way. "You too?" Neteyam asked softly. "Uh-huh."
His stomach cramped again. "Ewya, I hate this," Lo'ak grumbled. It felt like he was being stabbed by a thousand needles. "Think it was the broth? It didn't taste or smell great," He asked. Neteyam hummed. "Maybe. Could be disagreeing with us," Lo'ak sat up and brought his knees close, hoping to squeeze the pain out. "Maybe we're allergic," He offered quietly, shutting his eyes tightly. "Dad's allergic to stuff, he said," Neteyam hummed. "Peanuts though. He also said allergies usually pass down to the kids." Neteyam argued. "Well, I'm going with the allergy. Because we've never eaten fish broth before, and suddenly we're as sick as pigs? Nah,"
~
The following day landed the pair of them in hot water. Lo'ak was eating with Tsireya by the firepit at lunch, while Neteyam sat with Rotxo. "So, do you guys eat anything other than fish?" Lo'ak asked, pushing it around. Tsireya paused with the fish halfway to her mouth. "Um... sometimes we eat seaweed and fruit. Not together, obviously," She began chewing the fish. "But usually no, most people eat fish. Why?" She began to slurp the liquid out of the bowl. Lo'ak gagged softly, covering his mouth with his hand. Neteyam seemed to have a similar reaction. "No reason. Just we had loads of different meats and fruits back home," When both Metkayina leaned close to the bowl to drink the rest of the liquid, both boys tossed their fish into the sea.
"Is our food a problem, boys?" Neteyam coughed quietly, turning to face the Tsahik. Lo'ak sighed softly, his shoulders falling. "No ma'am," Neteyam answered. "Then tell me, son of Toruk Makto, why did you throw it away?" Lo'ak still said nothing. "We aren't hungry, is all, ma'am. We didn't share food back home that our skin had touched, instead burying it, or in this case, throwing it back to the sea, to prevent disease spreading,"
Lo'ak stared in shock. That was such bullshit! Neteyam shrugged a shoulder as Ronal hummed. She turned her gaze to Lo'ak. "You... forest dwellers... continue to confuse me every day. We do not do that here. We simply scale off whatever you touched and pass it to whomever is hungry. The fish was dead, boy. It could not swim anywhere; so it was a pointless waste of time and energy." She glared. "Do it again, and you will be punished,"
~
Later that night, both boys were sick behind the huts. Neither were near each other; both were too prideful to admit that a tiny little fish had resulted in the stomach pains from Na'ring or the tears that the endless need to vomit brought forth. Lo'ak had collapsed, exhausted, a little after the moon hit its peak. He lay there, too exhausted to do anything else until the sun rose hours later. All in all; he'd had maybe three hours of inconsistent sleep.
It seemed Neteyam had a similar night judging from the black circles and pale complexion of his skin. Nobody else seemed to notice, thankfully, leaving the two to wallow peacefully in the hut. Mom and Dad were hunting and training all day with Ronal and Tonowari. Kiri was due to help Tsireya with Tsahik stuff and Tuk was playing with a few of the village younglings. Neteyam had suggested using a leaf bowl that mom had made (around 50 in her anxious state) to keep by their heads in case they fail to make it out of the hut quickly enough. Thankfully, it hadn't needed using. Neither had the boys thrown up any more that day. They just slept. Until dinner, where Mom and Dad forced them to eat together.
Neteyam had been the first to throw it back up, rather spectacularly, behind the hut. Lo'ak followed suit a mere ten minutes later. After they got up to be sick again for the fifth time that night, Mom and Dad followed them out. Dad helped Neteyam, while Mom helped Lo'ak. "Ugh, Mom, please leave me to die," He groaned, retching as Mom pulled his braids out of the way. "Why didn't you two clowns say you were feeling sick?" Dad berated, because that's all he did. "Ma Jake," Mom warned. "Because it's not a bug, Dad," Lo'ak said before puking some more. Mom rubbed his back gently in circles. "No, we think we're allergic to fish," Neteyam added softly, white-knuckling the railing. Dad was silent before he barked a laugh.
"Boys, you're not allergic," He said after a while. Lo'ak spat over the railing, desperate to get rid of the taste. "How do you know that? We've only been sick after eating fish," Neteyam asked. "Because, well, when you were born, and when you were toddlers, we had Norm run an allergy panel. My peanut and dairy allergy passed to my Avatar, and I wanted to see if it had passed to you guys as well. Kiri and Tuk have had one as well. None of you have any allergies," Dad explained. "It's true; everything was as it should be," Mom confirmed, tucking some of Lo'ak's stray braids behind his ear. "You've got a stomach bug, kids," Dad snorted.
"Oh Eywa," Neteyam groaned. "That makes it so much worse," Lo'ak finished.
Both boys vomited painfully once more.
