Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Ao’nung loved the feeling of moving through water and the strain it put on his muscles. The slight pain of it acted as a distraction, something to take his mind off of his raging anxiety. Swimming was what he did when he couldn’t stop thinking of Neteyam. The man who hated him but consumed his heart and mind. Ao’nung swam when the thought of his vivid blue skin hurt his heart too much. Ao’nung swam when it felt as if the image of Neteyams’s golden eyes was burned directly into the back of his eyelids.
That was why Ao’nung swam so much.
He was one of the best swimmers on the Awa’atlu college team because of his motivation. Right after his best friend, Rotxo. The shorter man would join Ao’nung in his daily swims most days but sometimes he’d skip to call his long distance girlfriend, Kiri, who was Netetyam's sister. Even though Kiri and Neteyam went to Augustine institute in Hometree city, which was miles away, Rotxo seemed to keep close with her. Even Ao’nung’s sister, Tsireya, was able to woo a Sully, Neteyam’s brother Lo’ak. Watching his friend and sister being able to maintain happy relationships while he was forced to lock up his feelings and hide them away hurt like hell. But what could he do? Neteyam already didn’t like him anyway and to be honest, Ao’nung thought it better that way. It hurt less that Ao’nung couldn’t have him because of the veil of animosity. If they were close friends, Ao’nung probably would’ve been competing in the olympics by now.
He thought of neteyam so much that he could be taking a test worth half of his grade and he would be wondering what Neteyam was doing.
That was exactly what he was doing.
It was midterm season right before winter break and Ao’nung was right in the middle of taking a midterm for his political science seminar. He had been doing study dates with Rotxo, Lo’ak, and Tsireya for weeks to prepare but all he could think of was the blue boy who haunted his dreams. He looked around, seeing his classmates working studiously and actually paying attention to their tests. Ao’nung tried to shake off his distracting fantasies and actually start working but as soon as he went to read the question, the image of Neteyam’s swirling golden eyes flashed in his mind. Ao’nung laid his head down on his arms and groaned. He was definitely not passing this and it was all that forest boy’s fault.
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It was the last swim practice before winter break started and Ao’nung was not happy. Firstly, many of his closest friends were on the swim team so obviously he would miss messing around with them every week. Mostly, he would have nothing to distract himself from his thoughts. He tried to distract himself with other hobbies that Tsireya recommended like going for walks, journaling, and even knitting. But every time his anxiety was able to crawl its way through and Neteyam would absorb his mind. So most nights, when no one except maybe Rotxo was around, you would find Ao’nung swimming laps at the pool over and over. No matter the weather, even if the water was freezing, that’s where he went. So he was dreading break because that meant almost a month and a half without an escape.
As Ao’nung toweled himself down in the locker room, a familiar devilish grin came into view.
“Hey, my man!” Rotxo clapped on the back, making Ao’nung slap him away. “ Bro I was playing!” Rotxo dragged out the words playfully and smiled wide.
“Bro, get off of me.” Ao’nung tried to sound irritated but couldn't hold back the smirk that was forming on his face. “What did you want?”
“Oh yeah! Me, Lo’ak, and Tsireya were planning on going to Neteyam’s place for break and we were wondering if-”
Ao’nung’s brows furrowed and his eyes widened slightly.
“No!”
“Bro, hear me out! I know you guys aren’t on good terms and stuff but-”
“No, absolutely not.” Ao’nung grabbed his bag from his locker and turned toward the door.
“Man, you are no fun!” Rotxo flung his own bag on his shoulder and followed Ao’nung. “Come on, we’ll have fun! You don’t even have to talk to him or anything. Don’t you wanna get out of town for just a few weeks?”
“Not if it means living with him. Why are you insisting so hard bro?” Ao’nung knew that if he went he wouldn’t be able to function the entire time. If Neteyam was as close as Ao’nung wanted him to be, it would take months for Ao’nung to heal from the experience. He pushed through the door and continued walking as the cold air pushed past his face.
“Come on, cuz! I’d miss you too much if we left you here for weeks.” Rotxo threw his arms around Ao'nung's neck and made a kissy face. “And don’t you wanna ‘protect’ your precious sister from the claws of her evil boyfriend?” Rotxo knew how Ao’nung disliked how Lo’ak was dating his sister. He found Lo’ak unnecessarily annoying and hard headed but he dealt with it since he made Tsireya happy for some odd reason.
“Bro, Y’know I'm not like that anymore!” He remembers when Tsireya and Lo’ak first started dating in high school, whenever Lo’ak came over Ao’nung would hover somewhere near the couple. Always keeping his eyes on Lo’ak to make sure his sister wouldn’t be hurt by the boy. He never really understood how such a loud-mouthed skxang was related to Neteyam, who was quite the opposite. Neteyam always seemed to keep level headed and thought carefully before he acted. While Lo’ak was always getting himself into some sort of trouble and sometimes dragging Tsireya along with him. He was way more chill now in college but he still did some really dumb stuff sometimes. Ao’nung quickly pulled himself out of his thoughts and pushed Rotxo away. “And get off bro! Didn’t your grandma teach you about personal space?”
“Hah, I wish! she was always the one invading mine!” Roxto’s eyes crinkled as he cackled. “ Anyways, soooo are you gonna go or what?”
“I’ll think about it bro.” Ao’nung knew that he wasn’t gonna go but he knew Rotxo wouldn’t stop bugging him until he agreed.
“Okay, bro. Text me if you actually make up your mind.” Rotxo clapped Ao’nungs back again and walked off to his dorm building. Ao’nung took a breath and started his trek to his own dorm.
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Ao’nung was packing his bags when someone started banging on his dorm door. He still didn’t want to go with his friends and sister to Hometree but he decided he was going to go off campus for a few days just for the heck of it. When the banging started, Ao’nung lifted his head up from his duffle. He shuffled over to the door and the moment he opened the door, he was shoved to the side and Tsireya walked into his room.
“Hey, what the freak-”
“Ao’nung, brother, I love you. Y’know that?” Ao’nung quirked an eyebrow at his sister. What type of question was that?
“Yeah, obviously-”
“Okay, good because you literally need to come with us to Hometree!” Ao’nung’s eyes shot open. Tsireya was not going to swindle him into going on that death trap of a trip. Ao’nung grabbed his sister and started pushing her towards the door.
“No, absolutely not. Rotxo tried and failed and you will too.”
“Big bro! Come on! Do it for me! Don’t you love me?” Tsireya turned to face him and tried to put on her best puppy dog face. This made Ao’nung push her even harder.
“Pxasík! Get out right now!” Ao’nung was able to push his sister out of his room but before he could shut the door, Tsireya spoke.
“Fine! Fine! We’re not leaving until tomorrow so before we go do you want to go out to dinner with us?” She was definitely planning something but what else did he have to lose?
“Fine.”
As Ao’nung was dragged to the parking lot by Tsireya, he realized that this might have been a bad idea. They finally made it to Rotxo’s grandma’s old Subaru and Tsireya opened the door for him while it looked like she was holding back a smile. Ao’nung entered the backseat and buckled up, still feeling a little uneasy.
“Sooo, which restaurant are we going to?”
Lo’ak and Rotxo, who were sitting in the front, looked at each other and snickered while Tsireya looked at her brother with a hint of guilt in her eyes.
“Ao’nung…”
“Tsireya, where are we going?”
The doors locked with a click and Ao'nung's eyes widened.
“Tsireya, where are we going?!” Ao’nung quickly tried to unlock his door but when he tried Rotxo just locked it again.
“Tsahey! Tsireya,I knew you had something planned!” Ao’nung hissed at his sister and then the car started moving.
“Wait, what about my stuff?”
“Check the back.” Lo’ak snickered. “You forgot to lock your dorm room after you left.”
Ao’nung’s head whipped around to check the trunk. Low and behold, his duffle and a few more bags were stuffed in there. Ao’nung knew he was trapped unless he wanted to jump out of the moving car and he didn’t want to risk ending his college swim career early. Ao’nung pulled his legs up to his chest and rested his chin on his forearms, accepting his fate.
“ Y’know i love you, Ao’nung-” Tsireya started.
“ Kä neto, skxawng!” Ao’nung hissed back.
“Come on, big bro! This’ll be a great chance to get off campus and maybe if you wanted… fix your relationship with Neteya-” Ao’nung shoved her away before she could finish.
“Come on, Ao’nung, stop being a debbie downer!” Lo’ak said between laughs. The boy then clicked on the radio from the passenger seat and “Midnight sun” by Zara Larsson started playing.
“Ao’nung, this is our song! Remember?” Tsireya scooched towards Ao’nung and started singing along to the song directly into his ear.
“Midnight suuuuuuun!”
Ao’nung was going to die in this car.
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Ao’nung realized he should’ve jumped out of the moving car a little too late. They were already parked in the parking garage right next to Neteyam’s apartment complex. They had been driving for a few hours and now it was cold and dark. He grabbed his duffle from the trunk and handed a half asleep Tsireya her small suitcase. Then they all started shuffling towards the elevator.
“What floor is Neteyam on again?” Rotxo asked while they entered the elevator. It sounded more like a collection of yawns and groans than actual speech since everyone fell asleep before Rotxo could ask to switch with anyone so he was forced to drive the entire way there.
“Uhm he texted me…6th floor, uh, room 607.” Lo’ak grumbled while looking at his phone.
“Heh, 67…” Rotxo mumbled under his breath.
“Bro, just press the buttons.” Ao’nung grunted. Rotxo shook his head and pressed the button for the 6th floor. They all stood there like zombies, only moving to nod at the people getting on.
Finally, they made it to the 6th floor. The group then trudged slowly through the halls of neverending carpet, only looking up to look at the directional signs. They walked for forever until Lo’ak stopped in front of the door with a golden “607” and knocked. The door opened immediately and Tsireya ran towards the girl who opened it.
“Kiri!” Even though she seemed half dead just a few seconds ago, she wrapped her arms around Kiri like she had just been pumped with 10 cans of red bull.
“Reya! Oh my Eywa, I missed you.” Kiri hugged Tsireya so tight she seemed to almost lift her up. The two girls finally let go and smiled at each other and Kiri turned around to face the apartment again.
“Neteyam! They’re here!” Ao’nung flinched at the name as it finally sank in what he had been dragged into. He would have to live with his crush who hated him for at least a few weeks. His mind started racing with scenarios of what might happen during the following few weeks. What if he said something to Neteyam that he regrets? What if he couldn’t enjoy any of this supposed vacation because of him? What if the tension between them bruins the mood for everyone? His heart started racing a few beats faster than usual and his breath started getting shallow.
Then the sight of those swirling golden eyes made everything stop.