Chapter Text
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[Underlined text indicates dialogues spoken in English & bold text indicates dialogues spoken in Omatikaya Na'vi]
A slender silhouette.
Supple, dark brown skin.
Long, black hair styled in thin braids that freely flow down the slope of dainty looking shoulders and to which are randomly strung colorful wooden beads that swing around and melodiously clink against one another at the slightest movement.
Pretty plump lips. Prettier radiant smile.
A smooth, raspy voice laced with a hint of an unfamiliar accent calling his name—'Ao'nung?'—followed by soft, taunting giggles huffed right by his sensitive ear.
Lean, muscular arms circling his waist.
Burning amber eyes pinning him down in place.
Ao'nung isn't sure of where they are. The room is dimly lit with just enough light for him to distinguish the pretty features of the boy facing him. That boy being none other than Neteyam Sully.
Gorgeous, mysterious, enticing Neteyam.
Ao’nung is being pushed against a sturdy wall by the darker-skinned boy who firmly presses the entire length of his body against him. Neteyam is so close to him that Ao'nung could probably count how many lashes are framing his pretty eyes. Their closeness offers him a perfect view of his smooth, unblemished skin which golden undertones almost have for effect to make him glow in the dark. Neteyam moves and a waft of his perfume reaches Ao'nung's nostrils. The curly-haired boy takes a long, deep inhale of it as if he had come up from underwater and was taking his first inhale of fresh air after a long dive. The saccharine tartness of the scent clouds his senses, leaving him feeling intoxicated by its pungency.
"Ao'nung?" Neteyam rasps his name once again, those intense eyes staring deep into his soul.
Ao'nung can feel the other's warm hand gently caressing his cheekbone then slide down the side of his neck, stopping on his pulse point to feel the blood rush by as the islander's heartbeat spikes up. There’s a dark, hungry gleam shining deep into Neteyam’s eyes. Ao’nung audibly gulps. The dark-skinned boy looks like he could eat him alive, and Ao’nung knows he would gladly let him do so without uttering a single complaint.
The hand pursues its way down his naked torso—naked? When did he even take his shirt off?—oh so slowly, leaving a trail of goosebumps to awaken in its path. A shiver runs down Ao’nung’s spine when the hand pauses right on his sternum, taking a second to let nimble fingers lightly flick and twist at the perked up brown nub they run across on their way down. The sensual touch sends zaps of pleasure coursing through his veins, like sparks of electricity that set his skin on fire and leave him feeling all kinds of hot and bothered. The hand eventually keeps lowering down along his stomach—Neteyam’s blunt nails gently racking against the soft flesh and making Ao’nung’s abs twitch and flex in reaction—until slender fingers reach the hem of Ao’nung’s pants which officially marks the end of their little exploration.
Neteyam slightly leans forward, body pressing more firmly against his as he whispers something in his ear but the sound of Ao'nung's heartbeat is pounding so loudly inside his skull that he doesn't get it. He feels a hot puff of air hit his ear as Neteyam huffs out a chuckle, probably in reaction to the confused face he is making. The darker-skinned boy repeats himself, plump lips brushing over the shell of his ear, tongue flicking out to teasingly lick a stripe along the skin, yet Ao'nung still can't make out the words.
"H-Huh?" Is the only coherent thing he is able to stutter out, throat suddenly feeling extremely tight.
It seems to be the wrong answer to give given how Neteyam briefly bites down on the fleshy piece of cartilage as punishment. The curly-haired boy lets out a surprised moan and he feels Neteyam's lips stretch into a satisfied grin.
Ao’nung bites down on his bottom lip to suppress a whimper as Neteyam ducks his head down, planting a couple kisses down the column of his neck before he eagerly starts lapping and sucking on a patch of skin right at the juncture between his neck and shoulder. The blue-eyed boy lets his head fall back against the wall with a dull thud, glassy eyes staring into the void as he basks in the myriad of sensations the other’s mouth arouses in him.
While he is busy marking his skin, Neteyam’s hand gets into action. Ao'nung hears the distinct clicking sound of his belt getting unbuckled closely followed by the sound of his zipper getting pulled down. The curly-haired boy can’t help but muse about how deft Neteyam’s fingers are as he realizes that he managed to undo his pants with just one hand. He takes a sharp inhale when Neteyam bites down on his skin. It's like the other had sensed his thoughts wandering around instead of being solely focused on him.
"Neteyam—" Ao'nung chokes out a mewl and the other boy hums in appreciation at the sound.
He presses his clammy hands to the wall behind him to keep himself grounded. The air around him is suffocatingly hot. He can feel himself sweating buckets, droplets of perspiration running down his temples and causing strands of dark curls to stick to the sides of his face. Ao’nung doesn't even remember how he ended up in this situation in the first place but what he knows for sure is that he just can't get enough of the other's touch. It's driving him crazy. He can feel his arousal straining in his boxers and he hopes with all his might that Neteyam isn't going to leave him hanging—that he'll finish what he started. Just as this thought crosses his mind, Neteyam pulls back from his neck to wolfishly smirk down at him—down? Since when is he taller than him?
“I'm not a quitter.” Neteyam affirms with a chuckle before gliding the hand busy stroking the islander’s sides down to gently cup his bulge and press his palm against it.
Ao'nung lets out a strangled squeak as his hips jerk forward in reaction. More snickers reach his ears.
Neteyam leans back just enough to give him a pointed stare, leaving Ao'nung unable to look away from those sultry, hypnotizing golden eyes. Then, he starts to sink down on his knees in a slow, deliberate way; his amber eyes never drifting away from Ao'nung's light blue ones, pinning him down in place. Even if he wanted to, the curly-haired boy physically can't look away from him anyway. He is trapped in the boy’s piercing gaze. But he doesn’t mind it, although it is a strange feeling. Like phantom hands are firmly holding his head in place, not allowing him to turn away from the two burning pools of molten gold.
Time seems to slow down as he watches the dark-skinned boy, now on his knees, carefully tug the elastic waistband of his boxers down. While doing so, Neteyam leans forward to place a wet kiss on the taut strip of tan skin right below his belly button. He follows the thin trail of trimmed black hairs, placing another kiss lower than the previous one, then another one lower, and another one lower until his warm mouth reaches Ao’nung’s—
.
.
.
His eyes snap wide open, a gasp of stupor falling from his parted lips.
He blinks a few times as he takes his surroundings in, mind mired in a fog of confusion. It is dark, but he can still make out the silhouettes of the furniture surrounding him. It’s only when he makes out the shadow of the traditional Metkayina spear his family had carved for him as his coming-of-age gift that Ao’nung realizes he’s in his bedroom. He is in bed, lying on his stomach, shirtless, with his face pressed down on the plush mattress. He smacks his puckered lips a few times, mentally wincing as he feels a sticky, cold pool of drool smearing all over the cheek that is smudged down against the wrinkled sheets. His skin feels uncomfortably clammy, like he'd been sweating profusely seconds before. In fact he is still feeling quite hot right now. He thinks about getting rid of the blanket covering him but then he registers his hardness awkwardly pressing down on the sheets as well as the uncomfortable wetness spreading to the front of his boxers.
In a split second, all the memories come crashing down on him.
Neteyam. Neteyam pressed up against him, Neteyam caressing and kissing his body, Neteyam purring filthy words into his ear, Neteyam getting down on his knees and—
Neteyam.
He just had a wet dream about Neteyam. The guy whose family moved into town barely three days and a half ago.
Fuck.
Ao’nung chokes on his saliva as realization dawns on him. He immediately starts coughing violently all while scrambling up to get on his knees. The memories keep rushing clearer and clearer in his mind. He dreamt about Neteyam Sully giving him a blowjob. How the fuck did his brain come up with this scenario?!
The islander is struggling to find his breath as he coughs his lungs out, body hunched over the stain of drool he had been lying in. Three knocks on his door followed by a worried ‘Ao’nung, are you ok in there?’ is what pulls him away from the onslaught of lewd memories flooding his mind.
It’s his mother.
“Y— Y-Yes!” *cough* “I’m—” *cough* “F-Fine!” *more coughing*
“Are you sure?” Ronal insists, “do you need help?”
Ao’nung chucks a glance down at his crotch and finds that he is still very much aroused.
He panics.
“Y-Yes! I mean no— No, I'm good!" He answers in a strained voice. He loudly clears his throat, trying to get rid of the soreness brought by his coughing fit.
"You don't sound good to me."
"Don’t worry, I’m fine— MOM DON’T!" He shouts urgently when his eyes catch the handle of his door being pushed down. A beam of light illuminates the dark space as the door starts getting pushed ajar. “DON'T COME IN!”
Ronal pauses, the door thankfully still hiding most of the room from her eyes. “Why not?”
“I’m naked!” Is the lame excuse Ao’nung’s panic-induced brain provides.
“I gave birth to you. You think I’ve never seen your flat ass before?”
“Mom please!”
“Alright, alright!” She surrenders, pulling the door close and letting go of the handle. “I’m not coming in. But you better be up by the time I’m done drinking my coffee.”
Ao’nung breathes out a sigh of relief. “Yeah, sure.” Then he realizes. “And my ass is not flat!” He contests in an offended tone. His mother’s boisterous laugh is the only answer he gets. “It’s not!” He insists, even though he knows his mother isn’t here to listen to his whining anymore.
Ao’nung sighs wearily as he forces himself out of bed. His near panic attack had unfortunately not been enough to fully kill off his boner so now he had to take this matter into his hands—pun intended—which admittedly wasn't much of an inconvenience given how it had actually been a couple weeks since he last got the chance to take care of himself like that.
Still, waking up hard as a brick after having such a vivid dream of Neteyam Sully wasn’t how he had planned to start his day.
Ao’nung cautiously walks up to his door and presses his ear to the cool wooden surface, listening attentively to make sure it was safe for him to come out. He could hear the faint sound of the radio playing in the kitchen as well as the chatter of his parents speaking to each other but other than that, it was silent. The curly-haired boy deems it safe enough to open his door and, as soon as he does so, finds himself falling face to face with his little sister.
“Oh, hey broth—” Tsireya’s bright smile morphs into a face of horror/disgust as her eyes spot the stained tent in her brother’s boxers. Ao'nung's entire face flushes bright red in mortification. “EEEW! Ma Eywa, Ao’nung you’re disgusting!” She screeches in horror, small hands hurriedly coming up to veil her eyes from the atrocity they had just witnessed.
“The fuck are you doing standing behind my door like a creep?!” Ao’nung hisses, his hands scrambling down to protectively cup the offensive tent between his legs.
Falling face to face with his little sister while in this predicament? This was just his luck.
“I wasn’t standing behind your door, I was standing in front of mine!” She snaps, face still hidden away, “it’s not my fault you don’t have any sense of decency, you pig!”
Ao’nung rolls his eyes, swiftly walking past and around her to get to their shared bathroom. Tsireya warily peeks between her fingers when she doesn’t get any response and gasps when she catches her brother entering the bathroom.
“Hey! No no no—!” She protests as she hurries to catch up with him but Ao’nung slams the door right in her face. Tsireya slams her fist against the hard surface right as her brother secures the lock into place. “Get out of here!” She yells, hand insistently pressing on the handle, “it’s my turn to use the bathroom! AO’NUNG!”
“Sorry but I’ve got an emergency to take care of!” He calls back while getting rid of his damp boxers, not sounding sorry at all.
“You’re a disgrace Ao’nung, I hope you know that!”
“And I hope you know you’re freaking annoying!” He retorts childishly which earns him a gruff groan of frustration from his sister.
There’s a loud bang when Tsireya kicks the door and then silence.
Ao’nung snickers to himself as he hops into the shower and turns the faucet on. Warm water springs out of the showerhead and he gladly walks under the stream. He wasn’t fully erect anymore but still horny enough to bring his arousal back to life in a matter of seconds so he closes his eyes, letting his mind drift back to his dream and the pretty boy starring in it as the hot water flows down his body.
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Forty minutes later, Ao’nung comes out of the shower wrapped in a fluffy towel, skin glowing and a satisfied smile on his face. He knocks twice on his sister’s bedroom door before opening it without waiting for an answer. Tsireya startles at the sudden entrance, eyes rounded as she looks up at her brother from where she is sitting on the ground, a thick marine life book open on her lap.
Her initial surprise turns into a scowl of annoyance as she glares at her brother. “Don’t you know how to knock?”
“I did knock.”
“I didn’t allow you to come in.” She retorts with a frown. Ao’nung just shrugs as he silently stares at his sister, a hint of a smirk on his lips. “What do you want?” She asks in a dry tone, eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“Bathroom’s free.” Ao’nung announces with a sly grin.
Tsireya scoffs, resuming her reading. “You’re crazy if you think I’ll be using the shower after knowing what you’ve done in there.”
“Told you it was an emergency.”
“Ugh stop. I don’t want to think about it.” She whines as a shiver shakes her core. She shakes her head, long brown curls following the movement. “I won’t use that bathroom ever again.”
“Do as you please. But don’t forget that we promised a tour to the Sully kids today. I doubt that scrawny city boy will enjoy smelling your ‘natural fragrance’. What’s it called again? Sweat & Perspiration by Christian Dior?”
“Shut it! Lo’ak is not scrawny. And I don't smell like sweat, I'm not you.”
“Huh-huh. So it’s true what they say. Love does turn you blind.”
“Get out of my room!” Tsireya shrieks in exasperation as she throws a fluffy pillow his way.
Ao’nung easily dodges it by dunking out of the way at just the right time. He cackles mockingly at her and Tsireya groans frustratedly, launching a Tulkun teddy bear his way. This time Ao’nung closes the door to protect himself. There’s a dull thud as the toy hits the wooden surface. Ao’nung snickers as he hears Tsireya loudly complain behind the door, claiming that she is absolutely not in love and that she wishes Ao’nung had been put up for adoption so she wouldn’t have to endure his annoying self every day.
“Love you too little sister!” Ao’nung answers joyfully, too amused by his sister’s irritation. “Make sure to be ready in fifteen or I’ll leave without you.” He warns with a chuckle before escaping into his room to get properly dressed.
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“—Like, I saw it coming ten minutes in! It was so obvious that the guy would be the one betraying the hero. I mean, I get that it was a low budget movie but come on! As spectators I think we deserve more than whatever that shitshow was. Right?” Rotxo glances at his friend sitting beside him whose eyes are staring blankly at a random dry patch of grass that had cracked through the concrete. “Ao’nung?”
“Huh?” Ao'nung blinks back into the present, eyes darting around as he comes back to his senses.
“Did you even listen to a word that I said?”
“Yeah of course.” He says dismissively then jumps up on his feet to face his friend, a hint of urgency in his voice. “Hey, do you think my ass is flat?”
“What?”
“My ass.” He turns around and slightly lifts up his shirt to offer Rotxo a better view of his flower shorts-cladded behind. “Do you think it’s flat? It sure doesn't feel flat when I touch it.” He muses out loud as one hand reaches down to grope at the chunk of flesh. “It’s fine, right? Not too big—just the right size?”
“Dude, what the heck are you talking about?”
“Just look at it and answer me! Or maybe touch it—?”
“No,” His head shakes in a show of affronted refusal, “I'm not gonna touch your ass, you weirdo. Where is this even coming from?"
Ao'nung deflates, turning back around to face the sitting boy. “...My mom made a comment about it.” He mumbles half-heartedly, heaving a heavy sigh seconds after revealing the truth. Rotxo bursts out laughing, a hand slapping his own thigh as his body bends in half. “Shut up! It's not funny, I'm living a fucking tragedy here. I can't have a flat ass, I'm too good looking for that!”
"Why was your mother even talking about your ass?!" He wheezes out, wiping at the tears that had gathered on the corner of his bright greenish blue eyes.
"Forget it." Ao'nung says sulkily as he clicks his tongue. He sits back down on the bench beside his friend, a hand ventilating his face as the sun mercilessly beats down on them. “What’s fucking taking them so long? We're baking out here.”
“Don’t know.” Rotxo shrugs as he wipes away the last remains of laughter from his eyes. “I just hope they didn’t forget about today.”
"I knew we should have just picked them up from their house."
“They told us to not bother. Maybe we should've exchanged numbers, it would have been way easier to coordinate with each other.” Ao’nung grunts his approval, head lolling back over the wooden bench’s backrest.
They don’t say anything more, preferring to save energy by letting the sound of the wind rustling the leaves of the tall palm trees and the high-pitched whistles/screeches of pretty island birds fill the silence between them. Ao’nung’s cotton shirt progressively starts sticking to his damp back and Ao’nung is starting to seriously consider going back home when his sister appears at the corner of the deserted street.
“Here you go guys!” Tsireya says cheerfully as she joins them. She’s holding a small plastic bag that strains under the weight of all the kinds of colorfully packaged drinks and snacks filling it. She had walked away a while ago to go grab some refreshment for them all as they waited under the burning sun for the Sully kids. Tsireya hands out a coconut flavored ice pop and a can of watermelon juice to Rotxo who gladly takes them before handing a mango flavored can and ice pop to her brother.
“Thanks ’Reya.” Ao’nung mumbles as he grabs the items before tearing the thin plastic covering the icy treat apart and engulfing it in one breath.
“No problem. I bought more to share with the others.” She says, pulling a watermelon flavored ice pop out of the bag, “It’s really hot today.” She states, hands expertly freeing the ice from its plastic constraints, “I hope the Sullys are ok with the heat. I’m not sure they’ve experienced this kind of weather in the city.”
"Yeah, hopefully they'll get here before the whole bag turns into a puddle of sugar." Rotxo comments.
“They better show their faces soon or I’m heading back home.” Ao’nung grumbles then licks a fat stripe up his ice cream.
“Dad won’t be happy if you do that.” She chirps, slurping enthusiastically on her ice pop.
“I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t want his favorite child dying of a heat stroke either.”
“You’re definitely not his favorite.” Rotxo snorts and Tsireya giggles her agreement.
“You both are jealous." Ao'nung scoffs before a smug grin takes over his features. "But that’s ok, I would be jealous of myself too if I wasn’t me.”
“Skxawng.” Rotxo and Tsireya drawl out in unison, clearly used to the other’s conceited tendencies.
Tsireya taps Rotxo’s thigh so he would scoot over and leave enough room for her to sit at his right. “I can’t wait to show them our beautiful island. Where do you think we should go first?”
“Somewhere we are not baking under the sun ideally.” Ao’nung drawls out dryly as he finishes slurping on the last chunk of his ice pop.
“The mangrove?” Rotxo suggests.
Tsireya shakes her head, the brown curls cascading down her back from where they were tied into a high ponytail moving along. “No, I wanted to show them all the water related things on another day.”
Ao’nung frowns, leaning over so he could take a proper look at his sister. “What do you mean, ‘another day’? Can’t we show them everything now and be done with it?”
“There won’t be enough time for that, plus I don’t want to overwhelm them. They probably already have a lot on their plate with the move from the city and having to settle in a drastically different environment.”
“So what? I’ve got a lot on my plate too! This is the only time of the year I get to fully relax and now part of it is getting ruined by the Sullys. I’m not gonna spend the rest of my time off playing tour guide for a bunch of bougie city kids just because you’re willing to be slaving away for them.”
“I’m not planning on being anyone’s slave. They are clearly going through something challenging and like Dad always says, ‘a little help goes a long way’.”
“Nobody’s helping me when I’m going through challenging stuff.”
“Why do you always have to make everything about yourself Ao’nung? Would it kill you to do something just out of the goodness of your heart for once in your life?”
“Actually yeah, it would. I’m literally dying under the sun right now all because I’m being forced to be nice to complete strangers.”
“Dude come on, I think you should cut her some slack. You know she needs an excuse to spend as much time as possible drooling over that boy.” Rotxo pipes up with a conspiring snicker and Ao’nung barks out a laugh. Tsireya gasps, affronted.
“Rotxo!” She chides with a slap on the short-haired boy’s shoulder. Rotxo stifles his chuckles behind his hand as he murmurs an unconvincing apology.
“Riiiiight! I almost forgot about that ugly bastard, of course that’s the real reason why you want to do this.” Ao’nung snorts, “what do you even see in him ’Reya, huh? The guy looks like a fucking twig. His legs look like they could break with each step he takes.”
“Lo’ak’s not a twig, he’s got muscles. And he is very cute. But that's obviously not the only reason I’m helping the Sullys. I'm not shallow.” Tsireya defends with an annoyed huff. Ao’nung and Rotxo share a look then burst out laughing.
“Muscles?!” Ao’nung wheezes, vision blurred with tears, “muscles where—?”
“I love you Tsireya but you can’t seriously mean that, right? Lo’ak’s like, the skinniest guy I’ve ever met!” Rotxo giggles, gently nudging the girl with his elbow.
“You guys are insufferable.” She sulks, crossing her arms over her chest. “I don’t even know why I bother talking to you.”
“It's not like you have any other friends to talk to anyway.” Ao’nung snickers and promptly regrets it when Tsireya reaches over Rotxo to pinch his ear in retaliation. “Ow ow ow!” He winces, scowling as his eyes catch Rotxo unabashedly mocking him.
“You know, you’ve really been getting on my nerves since this morning.” She says through gritted teeth, twisting the flesh between her fingers so it hurts just right. “Keep messing with me and see what happens.”
“Alright, alright— I’m sorry!” Ao’nung whines desperately, face scrunched up in pain. “I take it back, I take it all back!”
“Yeah, you better.” She scoffs then releases her grip on him. Ao’nung scrambles away from her, hiding behind a snickering Rotxo as he rubs at his pulsing ear.
“Eywa, there’s no need to get so violent. I was just joking.” He laments while he nurses his wounded flesh, glaring at his sister who glares right back.
“Hope you weren't planning on making a career out of your jokes then because clearly you’ve got no talents in that field.”
“Damn,” Rotxo cackles, “what happened to our dear sweet sunshine, peacemaker ’Reya, huh?”
“She died when she caught that skxawng jerking off in the corridor.”
“Wait, what?” The shorter boy almost gets whiplash with how fast he snaps his head back towards the older man. “Ao’ you did what?!”
“Hey, easy now Rotxo. You know I would never do that. I’m not that nasty.” Ao'nung denies with a frown. “I woke up with a little ‘morning problem’—if you know what I mean— and when I walked out of my room to go take care of it in the bathroom, Tsireya just happened to be there.”
“You’re disgusting.” She huffs.
“There as in the bathroom? With you?!” The shorter boy asks, eyes bulging out of his head in horror.
“What? No, ew! Get your head out of the gutter dude, she was in the corridor, just standing there waiting for who knows what.” He corrects, and Rotxo nods in understanding, looking relieved. Ao’nung judgmentally side-eyes his sister before shaking his head in overdramatized disappointment. “You’re such a liar Tsireya. Spreading lies about me when I’ve been nothing but good to you. Seriously, I never expected such betrayal from you, my own blood. I am deeply, deeply hurt.” He puts his hand over his heart and fake cries, Rotxo playing along as he circles his arms around his shoulders and pretends to console him while sending a playful glare Tsireya's way.
“Oh shut up, you drama queen.” She laughs, pushing against her brother's sturdy shoulders. Tsireya knew that acting extra silly was her brother’s way of apologizing for this morning incident. And Ao’nung knew that her laughing along was her way of accepting that apology and letting him know that they were ok.
“GUUUUUYS! OVER HERE!!”
The trio's playful banter is cut off as they turn their heads at once in the direction the high-pitched voice had come from. They squint their eyes curiously at the distant, vaguely human shaped dots they spot coming down the slight hill towards them.
“Look! It’s Tuk!” Tsireya perks up once she recognizes the blurry silhouettes, “TUUUK!” She calls back as she waves wildly at the little girl, standing up from the bench to make herself more visible. Ao’nung thinks it’s useless, with how the street is totally deserted, there’s no way the little girl hadn’t seen her. In fact, she was the one who had spotted them first.
Now that the Sullys are only a few meters away, the islanders can clearly see the little girl precariously standing on the rear end of the bike her older sister, Kiri, is riding. Tuk has a huge grin on her face, and she is waving excitedly—until someone shouts at her from behind to sit back down and stop wiggling around so much lest she falls from the bike. The little girl executes herself, shouting back a ‘sorry ’Teyam’ for good measures.
Ao’nung looks beyond the two sisters and spots two other persons on their way to them. He straightens up, searching for a notable handsome face. Kiri and Tuk are the first to reach the three of them, skidding to a stop under the shade of a palm tree off the left of the bench, closely followed by Lo’ak who coolly arrives riding a skateboard and finally the literal object of his dreams—Neteyam.
Neteyam is also riding a bike and there are two animals chasing him—dogs? Yeah, those are definitely the two dogs Ao'nung remembers the family disembarking the boat with. The dark-skinned boy stops his ride beside his siblings’ and then proceeds to chide both of his sisters for riding unsafely. Ao’nung tries acting inconspicuous as he fixes his posture and straightens his clothes, mentally battling over which words would be best to say to the boy.
Rotxo steps forward, a bright smile on his face as he greets them warmly. “Hey guys, how are you doing—” He starts but cuts himself short when he spots two shadows heading straight towards him from the corner of his eyes. The short curly-haired boy blanches when he recognizes the family’s dogs. He scurries in the opposite direction without missing a beat and jumps up on the bench, almost trampling Ao’nung on his way as he tries to get away from the two dogs who have come barreling towards him. “EYWA!” He screams as one of the dogs barks at him, front paws propping it up on the seat of the bench. Rotxo climbs on the bench backrest as he makes shooing motions with his hands to keep the animals away from him. He spots Kiri stepping forward and he sends her a desperate look. “Grab ’em, grab ’em, grab ’em! Quick!” He pleads which prompts a snort out of Lo’ak who tries to hide it behind a cough. Ao’nung glares at him, pissed at seeing him mock his best friend.
“Seze, Bob. Get over here.” Kiri speaks up in an unfamiliar Na’vi dialect. The two dogs immediately stop sniffing at Rotxo’s beat up shoes to go sit beside their mistress. “Sorry about them. They're just very excited to finally get to explore the island.” She apologizes, switching back to standard Na’vi,her hands scratching between the dogs ears. Bob and Seze seem to love the attention, both of their tongues lolling out in contentment.
Rotxo warily comes down from his perching point, face looking paler than usual and hands slightly shaking as they smooth down the front of his shirt in a soothing motion. “N-No problem. I’m just— not very used to dogs.”
“Are you ok?” The ginger head asks with a slight frown as she notices the uneasiness on the shorter boy’s face.
“Better since you got here.” Rotxo sighs, then promptly flushes. “I mean— you know, because of the dogs of course— not that I'm not happy to see you, I'm just— hum... S-Sorry."
"Sure." Kiri simply says with a strained little smile then turns away from the short boy to go back beside her siblings. Lo'ak slightly elbows her and tells her something in English with a snort. Kiri jabs sharp fingers into his ribs in retaliation, a frown on her thick brows as she snaps something back to him in her dialect.
Tsireya checks up on Rotxo and Ao'nung glances at his friend who looks like he is mentally beating himself up over his slip up. Rotxo is a good guy, maybe too nice for his own good. Ao'nung didn't like the way Kiri reacted to his best friend's clumsy words. She was the one at fault for letting her wild dogs run free in the first place.
“Hey you ok?” He asks once Tsireya leaves him to go talk to the Sullys.
“Fuck, I’m so embarrassed. Do you think she thinks I’m lame?”
“If she does then she’s the lame one. Those dogs are fucking wild, they shouldn’t be allowed to freely run around the island, it’s dangerous.” Ao’nung says with a click of his tongue and a disapproving frown. He glances back towards the Sullys and catches Tsireya busying herself with giving out the quickly melting popsicles to everyone, eyelashes batting at the scrawny boy when he thanks her with a smirk and a wink. The fuck?
It was one thing to know that Tsireya thought Lo’ak was cute and an entirely different one to see that Lo’ak actually thought the same about her. This would not happen. Not under his watch. And to prove this point, the tall blue-eyed boy marches up to them, grabbing the plastic bag from his sister's hands to search for another treat while he glares down at the shorter boy.
“What took you so long? Did you get lost or something?” He asks dryly, accusation obvious in his tone. Lo'ak's flirty face turns into an annoyed scowl as he glares back at Ao'nung. The city boy is about to retort something back but is beaten by his brother who pipes up from where he is still sitting on his bike.
“Oh, sorry that's on me actually.” Neteyam apologizes, a bashful smile gracing his beautiful, beautiful face.
Ao’nung’s irritation vanishes in an instant, like it hadn’t even been there to begin with. Neteyam looked so much better in real life than what his brain had pieced up from the memories of their very first encounter.
“Yeah, Mister ‘I know better’ here thought he knew the way and made us take a wrong turn. Thrice.” Kiri drawls. “He also made us go up two hills under the blazing sun only for us to go back the other way. I thought I would pass out from the heat.”
“I’m sorry! I wasn’t expecting the houses and streets to look so much alike.”
“Which is why I told you to turn your GPS on.” She huffs while she secures a sturdy leash on each of the dogs’ harnesses.
“I need to save my battery. What if there’s an emergency and I can’t call the parents because my phone died?” Neteyam argues, rolling his bike right next to his sister’s to park it and patting the dogs’ head in passing.
“As if there’ll be any emergencies. You need to stop worrying so much ’Teyam.” She says with an eye roll and Neteyam answers with a small scoff.
“Yeah well, I can never be too sure with you gremlins.”
“Who you calling a gremlin? Dingbat.” Lo’ak retorts with a frown. Tuk gasps and smacks her hands on her mouth as she tries to hide her laughter at hearing the bad word.
“Stop cursing in front of Tuk, you skxawng.” Kiri nags as she slaps him upside the head. The two start to bicker and Ao’nung uses that distraction to try his luck with Neteyam.
“Don’t worry, I’ll give you tips on how to find your way around. I’ll even tell you which paths to use to get some shadow.” He speaks up, catching the slightly smaller boy’s attention. His head snaps in his direction, braids swinging around with the motion. He looks like he wasn’t expecting to be spoken to, his eyes slightly rounded in surprise. Cute.
“Ah— thanks.” He says, head slightly bowing down in a show of gratitude as his lips lift up into a subtle but nonetheless beautiful smile. “Ao’nung, was it?”
Ao’nung smiles in delight at hearing the other pronounce his name with his little accent. “Yeah, that’s right. You remembered.”
“Of course. I remembered all of your names. That’s the least I can do, since you kindly offered to show us around, right?”
“Huh— yeah, right.” Ao’nung mentally facepalms. Of course Neteyam didn’t remember just his name, they didn’t know each other so he was just trying to be polite. What was he even thinking?
“Today is exactly what our tour will be for!” Tsireya pipes up. “We will show you all the best places of our island and the ones you need to keep off of too so you don’t risk ending up in trouble. Neteyam? Come get your popsicle! Like your sister said it’s awfully hot today so you should try cooling yourself off.” She points to the bag in Ao’nung’s hands dripping small droplets of water at his feet.
“Oh— Thanks, Tsireya.”
Ao’nung stares dumbly as Neteyam walks the very short distance that separates them. His mahogany hair tousles around with each of his steps (three in total), like each braid has a mind of its own and does as it pleases. Ao’nung gulps as images from his dream flash before his eyes, causing his throat to constrict uncomfortably tight. Neteyam stops right in front of him, standing a tad bit too close to the islander for it to be deemed a suitable enough distance as strangers.
They look at each other without talking for a couple of seconds, piercing amber eyes peering inquiringly into icy blue ones until Neteyam finally breaks the silence.
“May I?”
“Huh?”
“The bag.” He answers, eyes pointedly glancing down at the plastic bag Ao’nung was still tightly holding onto.
“Oh— Y-Yeah, sure.” He stutters out, opening said bag and thrusting it forward to hand it over. Instead of grabbing it, Neteyam slightly leans over to peer inside, beads clanking against one another and delicious perfume wafting around.
“What flavor should I take?” He asks no one in particular as he curiously eyes the multitude of colorful snacks.
“Yovo is the best!” Tuk exclaims, a violet-colored smudge smeared all around her mouth.
“Oh yeah? Then I’ll leave this flavor for you to enjoy Tuk-Tuk.” He chuckles fondly at the little girl who smiles brightly at him in answer.
“I personally really like the hibiscus one but they were out of it.” Tsireya laments, “thankfully they still had watermelon, it’s my second favorite.”
“Coconut is really refreshing.” Rotxo pipes up and Kiri seconds him as she bites and chews on her ice pop—to the horror of Lo’ak and Tsireya who stare at her judgmentally.
“Ah, I’m not too fond of this one, sorry.” Neteyam says with an apologetic wince. Lo’ak suggests trying the lime one but Neteyam shakes his head no, letting his brother know that he’s not in the mood for that much tanginess right now. “What about you? What taste do you think I should take?”
“M-Me?”
“Yes you. Ao’nung.”
“Mango.” He blurts out, tips of his ears reddening. Neteyam is too close. Why is he so close?
“Yeah?” He says, one of his brow smoothly lifting up in question. Ao’nung nods. “Well, too bad you took the last one.” He rasps out quietly, his eyes briefly glancing down at the unopened ice pop clutched into Ao’nung’s big hand. He blinks twice as he stares at his own hand before thrusting it forward for Neteyam to take, just like he did with the plastic bag minutes prior.
“You can have it.”
“Are you sure? I don’t mind taking something else—”
“I insist. Really.”
Neteyam takes a second to really look at him, the corners of his lips twitching up in the slightest way. “Ok then.” He eventually says, lean fingers brushing Ao’nung’s stockier ones as he grabs a hold of the ice pop. “If you insist. Thank you, Ao’nung.”
The way he pronounces his name in a near purr—and with that little accent from the main island—sounds like pure heaven to his ears. Ao’nung feels his heart melt at the sight of the sweet, secretive smile the other boy gives him. For as much as he was complaining earlier about having to spend his free time doing everything but slouching around like he had looked forward to, Ao'nung sure was glad to have gone out into the burning sun given how it had resulted in him having a little one on one chat with the hottest person he had ever met. Neteyam Sully definitely was worth all the trouble. With one last nod, the dark-skinned boy whirls around—bejeweled braids barely missing whacking the islander square on the face—and just like that Neteyam is out of his personal space, hair swinging with each of the steps he takes away from him (seven, that's how many he has to take this time to be out of reach).
Shit. Neteyam looks too fucking gorgeous for Ao’nung’s weak heart.
While Neteyam goes to stand with his siblings, the islander goes back to sit beside Rotxo, under the sun and tries to not be too obvious as he watches the dark-skinned boy carefully peel the plastic off of his ice pop. Neteyam first lets his baby sister have a taste of it and smiles cutely when she approves of the flavor, eagerly urging him to enjoy the treat before it melts off. Ao’nung’s eyes follow the movement as the icy treat is slowly brought up to Neteyam mouth. The dark-skinned boy first licks a hesitant stripe up the frozen surface then lets out an approving hum once he reckons that the taste is to his liking. Ao’nung gulps as he watches Neteyam mold his plump lips to the cone-shaped delight. The orange ice quickly melts against the warm skin, so much so that Ao’nung can spot a drop already forming at the corner of Neteyam’s mouth. It grows bigger with each suckle Neteyam gives the ice, until it starts slowly sliding down the curve of his bottom lip. Neteyam’s pink tongue quickly darts out to catch it before it can slide down his chin. Now his lips are slightly shiny, making them appear juicier than before.
Ao’nung anxiously bites down on his bottom lip. First the dream, now this? He is so screwed.
Neteyam keeps on happily enjoying his ice pop and Ao’nung keeps on staring like a perv, all kinds of filthy scenarios crossing his mind, until amber eyes catch him red handed. Crap. The dark-skinned boy pauses, eyebrows raised in question as he gives the islander a pointed, inquiring look.
“Err…” Ao’nung scrambles for an excuse to give to justify his blatant staring, “I just— I wanted to— Is— I-Is it good? The flavor?”
“Oh. Right. It’s delicious.” He smiles, eyes turning into crescent moons. “Thank you, Ao’nung.”
Ao’nung flushes, his heart skipping a beat at the sight. “S-S-Sure.” He stutters out, awkwardly fidgeting on his seat as his eyes dart around nervously. Neteyam huffs a raspy chuckle before going back to eating his ice pop, a hint of mischievousness glinting in his honey eyes and a subtle smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.
Yup. Ao’nung definitely was screwed.
“Ok!” Tsireya says loudly enough to catch everyone’s attention. “I think I know where I wanna take you guys first, it’s not too far from where we are so let’s get going.”
With those final words the whole group gets moving, Tsireya leading the way with Lo’ak and Kiri—one of her hands holding onto the dogs’ leashes and the other holding her bike’s handlebars. They are closely followed by Rotxo and Neteyam who walks alongside his bike and is engaging in small talk with the short curly-haired islander. Tuk is sitting on the bike, letting her older brother steer her forward as she pretends to be riding the too tall ride by herself.
Ao’nung reluctantly follows after the group, fishing into the plastic bag for his can of mango juice. He could spot Tsireya questioning the scrawny city boy about his skateboard. The Metkayina boy sees red as he watches Lo’ak preen under the attention, chest puffing up slightly as he promises to show her some special tricks later on with a sly grin. Today was going to be a long day and Ao’nung would probably be better off not spending it drooling over a guy he knows close to nothing about. So for now, Ao’nung would put the Neteyam case to rest and solely focus on preventing the scrawny boy from getting too comfortable with his sister.