Archive of Our Own

Love Language: "the different ways love is given and received."

••• physical touch •••

Aonung was swimming in the water when he saw his best friend, sister, and three other forest kids - their most recent guests - returned, all of them panicked and frantic as they clambered off their ilus and headed straight for the village.

Truthfully, Aonung felt like he shouldn't approach them, no matter how curious he was about what was going on. After all, he was sure the Sullys were still reluctant to see his face after the stunt he pulled to leave Loak alone stranded at sea. Even more so after they were told by the omatikayan boy that he had almost become akula's food.

Had it been Tsireya in Loak's place, Aonung most definitely would not 'get over' the entire ordeal so soon.

Still, curiosity gnawed at him incessantly - especially once he noticed Neteyam was carrying an unconscious Kiri.

Caution be damned, Aonung hastily approached the group, and wasn't able to fully be grateful to the fact that his presence didn't seem to make things awkward as he was much more concerned with how one of his friends seemed to be in pain, even if unconscious.

Once he got to Neteyam, he followed closely beside the omatikayan, momentarily distracted by the way droplets of water traced the boy's soft features that looked sharp due to the anxious expression written over them before the metkayina snapped out of it.

Neteyam spared a glance in Aonung's way, and when their eyes met, Aonung didn't waste any time to ask what was going on, all of them still moving to the Sully's marui.

"Kiri is having a seizure," Neteyam breathed out, sounding almost entirely calm and collected. Though, despite Aonung's rocky relationship with the omatikayan boy's siblings, the metkayina had grown close enough with the other boy to notice the slight shake in his voice.

Aonung furrowed his eyes at the word he had never heard before. "A seizure?" He repeated, adding on quickly later when Kiri groaned and shuddered in pain, "Is she in pain?"

Granted, that was a pretty idiotic question.

Seemingly at his wits' end, Neteyam sarcastically snapped, "What does it look like, skxawng?"

So Aonung grabbed Neteyam by the bicep, strong enough for him to be able to feel the muscle there and to stop the boy from moving further. "Then we must see my mother," Aonung said, tugging strongly enough that Neteyam had no choice but to stumble after him. "She is tsahik. She will know what to do."

While Aonung immediately started tugging Neteyam towards his marui, he noticed in the peripherals of his vision that Neteyam told the others to tell Toruk Makto and Neytiri of what had happened. Tuk, Tsireya, and Rotxo all scrambled and continued to the Sully's marui, while Aonung and Neteyam proceeded to where Aonung hoped his mother would be.

At this time of the day, she should already be at their family's marui: meditating and having some time to herself.

In Aonung's haste, Neteyam had stumbled once or twice in trying to catch up to the other's long legs. By the third time he stumbled, Aonung abruptly stopped walking in favour of taking Kiri into his arms.

"Aonung- I can-"

"Just keep up, forest boy," Aonung interjected, not wasting any time waiting for Neteyam to finish his sentence as he continued walking faster.

Thankfully, as Aonung had expected, Ronal was indeed in their family's marui. In fact, it looked like she was prepared for their arrival, seated on the floor of the marui and readily gesturing over the mat in front of her.

"Lay her down on the mat, ma itan," the tsahik said the moment the boys got to the marui.

While Aonung and Neteyam laid Kiri down, Ronal was already taking out herbs and essentials from a woven basket placed beside her. As soon as Kiri was laid down, the tsahik instructed again: "Wait outside with the others. Tell Tsireya to come in."

When Neteyam lingered, clearly concerned for his younger sister's unusual condition, Aonung grabbed the boy's hand and tugged the omatikayan out of the marui himself.

Ronal was never really bothered by others' presence whenever she gave treatments and such, but having no audience helped her focus better. It was for the best that only a select few were allowed into the marui.

As if on cue, Tsireya, Rotxo, Tuk, Toruk Makto, and Neytiri arrived, and Aonung wasted no time addressing his sister. "Mother wants you inside," he told her, earning himself a nod from the girl before she quickly entered the marui.

Neytiri followed after Tsireya into the marui without a word, and Aonung didn't bother to stop her from doing so.

When Neteyam tried to follow suit, however, Aonung grabbed onto the omatikayan boy's hand tighter.

"Your sister will be fine," Aonung found himself reassuring the other boy without really thinking about it, meeting Neteyam's worry-filled eyes.

Neteyam's hand trembled in Aonung's hold, but before either of them could say anything else, Toruk Makto approached the two of them to ask Aonung, sounding unsure and contemplative. "Should I-" he started to say, stopping for a beat or two as if he was trying to construct a sentence in his head, "Has your mother helped anyone with a seizure? If- I have friends from the forest that maybe can help, if your mother can't, so should I call them-?"

Aonung shook his head 'no'.

Sheepishly, Toruk Makto nodded, his movements stiff as he slowly moved away, muttering under his breath some kind of reassurance to himself. ('I should trust the tsahik. Contacting Norm and making him use that helicopter may alert the RDA to our whereabouts. Come on, Jake. Don't start making mistakes now.')

Aonung wasn't sure how much time passed with him just staring at Toruk Makto pacing around in worry and muttering words of reassurance to himself, but the metkayina snapped out of it when he felt that something was being traced onto his palm.

It was only then did he realised he was still holding onto Neteyam's hand.

The omatikayan looked like he himself wasn't aware that they were still holding hands. Neteyam's free hand was clenched into a fist save for his thumb, the omatikayan nipping on his nail anxiously while his tail flicked. On the other hand, Neteyam's hand that was holding onto Aonung was busy drawing circles on the metkayina's palm using his thumb.

His ears were pinned to his head, and there was a deep furrow between his eyes that Aonung wanted gone.

The two of them hadn't talked much after the conversation where Loak told the friend group about befriending Payakan. Mostly because Aonung had been 'subtly' avoiding the Sullys like the plague, guilt still knocking on his head and heart whenever he caught a glimpse of them. Partly because Aonung had been trying to ignore the feelings he could feel swirling in his chest whenever Neteyam was in his near vicinity.

Despite his initial plan of 'avoiding the Sullys until he felt a little better and braver enough to properly apologise', he ended up ditching that plan altogether.

He would say he was surprised, but he wasn't. Not when the rare sight of a fratic Neteyam was right in front of him.

Neteyam had done a pretty good job in maintaining his composure and being level-headed. Still, Aonung was glad that the other boy got to be anxious 'out loud'. Even if his only witness was Aonung.

(Even better that his only witness was Aonung, if the metkayina dared to speak.)

Feeling obligated to comfort Neteyam, Aonung used his free hand to gently cup a side of the omatikayan's jaw, effectively putting a stop to the omatikayan's nibbling on his nail. With their gazes connected, Aonung gave the hand in his a squeeze just as he brushed his thumb over a corner of the omatikayan's eye, the tear that had been threatening to drop wiped away by the action.

"She'll be fine," Aonung found himself softly reassuring, his voice hushed and almost like a whisper. As if he didn't want to break the moment. "My mother is a great tsahik. A skilled healer. Kiri will wake up in no time," he continued to say, wondering if he should hug his friend.

His words seemed to have eased Neteyam greatly, considering the way his ears no longer pinned to his head and how his tail's anxious rhythm had greatly slowed.

The omatikayan leaned into the palm of his face, just as he squeezed Aonung's hand in his and murmured a barely audible 'okay'.

It was… nice to be trusted.

Aonung had had his fair share of moments with Neteyam. The strain and tense air around the two of them when they first met; a result of Aonung's mocking and, in return, Neteyam's protectiveness of his family clashing. The quiet and tentative shift in the air when the two boys started spending time together more often by themselves; a result of Tsireya forcing Aonung to help her with guiding their new guests just as instructed by their father. The sudden realisation of how light Aonung's heart and mind feel on one afternoon in the face of Neteyam's laughter at the expanse of the metkayina's reputation, as he had tripped over a rock during one of their walks along the shore.

Taking a walk along the shore had become a routine after every swim - lessons or not - the two of them had together. That afternoon, it dawned on Aonung that his focus had shifted, lately. Rather than looking at where he was going, he found himself looking at his friend instead.

A few days after his epiphany, he pulled the most idiotic stunt he had ever done in his 15 years of living: he left Loak stranded.

Before the realisation, before the tentative shift, Aonung and Neteyam oftentimes clashed by trading well-hidden insults or jabs behind flowery words. It was a result of Neteyam wanting to uphold the pretense of 'befriending the metkayina' and 'not causing trouble' as Toruk Makto had told all of his children to do.

When Aonung left Loak stranded, Neteyam forgoed flowery words altogether.

Perhaps that, too, was another reason why Aonung had started to make himself scarce around the Sullys. Neteyam's tongue could be pretty sharp when he wanted it to be.

Going back and forth with Neteyam using words had been something that Aonung enjoyed. It may sound stupid, but it made him feel smart. After all, in a space where everyone was present, only he caught onto the hidden meaning behind every word the omatikayan uttered.

'Please stop picking on our tails, Aonung. Eywa knows how helpful our tails are when we live in the forest, so please stop mocking. We'll fare well enough in the water with our tails.'

Those words would translate to: 'I like to see you swing around trees and adapt to our ways with your stupid padded tail, moron.'

One would say Aonung was 'imagining' the entire thing, but the metkayina would argue that it was not all a part of his imagination, as Neteyam would always have a tell that clued in Aonung when he was being genuine and when he was being sarcastic. His eyes would squeezed shut for a moment longer than his usual blinks, like he was attempting to smile with his eyes closed to show he's being 'civil' and 'peaceful'.

Since the two of them had gotten pretty close after their 'first stage' of 'friendship', Aonung had also gotten the luxury of seeing a proper civil and peaceful smile coming from Neteyam - which only made picking out his well-hidden mocking intent easier.

Regardless.

It was nice to be trusted, but Aonung wasn't sure if he deserved to be forgiven yet.

In an attempt not to get himself too attached, the metkayina tried to take his hand out of Neteyam's hand just as he retracted his hand from the omatikayan's cheek. While his hand that was on Neteyam's cheek was successfully retrieved, the omatikayan gripped tighter onto Aonung's hand, and, without warning, took a step closer.

Aonung felt like he would've gotten a heart attack when Neteyam had rested his forehead on the metkayina's shoulder if it wasn't for how he was too busy focusing on standing still and being gobsmacked.

On the bright side of this sudden… thing, Tsireya, Rotxo, Tuk, and Toruk Makto were all busy worrying over Kiri in their own ways. Hopefully no one saw the way Aonung had gone rigid the moment Neteyam stepped closer.

Afraid of shattering the moment, Aonung left his hand to hover awkwardly in the air while his other hand remained limp in Neteyam's hold. He guessed that this was just Neteyam seeking comfort, so while Aonung was having an internal meltdown over his friend leaning on him for support so shamelessly, he tried his best to at least be a strong enough tree that the other boy could lean on.

Even though they were pretty close to just hugging each other, Aonung would probably faint if the omatikayan suddenly hugged him…

The two of them remained standing there for a couple of minutes more. Neteyam's scent, along with the smell of sea that clung to him after his swim, was slowly clogging Aonung's nose, and the metkayina felt like he would have to rid himself of the omatikayan's scent if he wanted to get any sleep that night.

Just when Aonung thought he was getting the hang of the 'comforting his friend-and-totally-not-crush' thing, Neteyam abruptly stepped back, cutting any contact the two of them had together. Aonung blinked a couple of times, a little disoriented by having the other suddenly so 'far'. Just when he was about to blurt out 'what's wrong?', all words died in his mouth when he noticed Neteyam scowling at him.

"Were you not loved as a child?" The omatikayan suddenly deadpanned.

Aonung slowly blinked.

"…what does that have to do with anything?"

Neteyam's deadpanned expression morphed into a pitying one, and Aonung was quick to defend his family's honour, "I am loved! By- by my family!" Then, with furrowed eyes, he repeated his prior question, "What does that have to do with anything?"

The omatikayan took on his unimpressed expression once again as he answered, "Because you clearly don't know how to hug."

The metkayina grimaced - but he hoped Neteyam didn't notice. "I didn't know you were asking for a hug!" He exclaimed rather defensively, his voice loud enough for only just the two of them to hear.

"Oh yeah, my bad," Neteyam maintained his deadpanned expression, before he did the 'squeezed his eyes a little longer than usual and smiled diplomatically' and added chirpily, "I was just making it easy for you to wrap your arms around me so you can kiss me."

It was a joke. A jab. A mock. Of course it was.

But it had Aonung's heart racing anyway.

"Well-" Aonung stammered, "I just- I wasn't sure-!"

"You're an idiot," Neteyam interjected, crossing his arms over his chest. "It's like you're purposely trying to annoy me."

"It was not intentional," Aonung corrected quickly. "I didn't mean to annoy you, I was just… I don't know, trying to respect the non-existent and non-declared boundaries between us."

Aonung has resorted to staring at his feet, but he could feel Neteyam's stare on his face all the same.

The moment of silence stretched, before Neteyam broke it by sighing out loud. Like Aonung was a pain in the neck, or something.

The omatikayan moved, and just when Aonung thought he had somehow messed up, Neteyam tapped his shoulder to get his attention. The metkayina turned to his friend, and furrowed his eyes in confusion when Neteyam seemed to be… gesturing for him to sit down.

Still, Aonung complied anyway.

He wasn't even given the chance to make himself comfortable when Neteyam just casually took his place in front of Aonung and sat.

Aonung's eyes widened just as he kept his hands to himself, his heart threatening to lurch out of his chest as Neteyam so casually leaned against the metkayina's chest while he comfortably rested his head on the said metkayina's shoulder.

"I'm tired," Neteyam murmured, his braids tickling Aonung's skin. "Wake me up when Kiri's awake."

For a few minutes that felt like an eternity, Aonung was very acutely aware of the fact that Neteyam was not sleeping. The omatikayan was just… resting. Leaning against the metkayina like it was something they do on a daily basis.

Aonung could feel Toruk Makto's perplexed and somewhat scrutinising gaze, just as he could feel his best friend's curious gaze. Tuk had managed to slip into the marui, and since Aonung did not hear his mother telling the child to leave, he didn't bother to go and fetch the girl.

The two of them were left to themselves, however. Even when, eventually, Neteyam actually did fall asleep.

It was a wonder how Neteyam even fell asleep, considering how he could probably hear clearly how fast and loud Aonung's heartbeat was.

Aonung's hands that had been kept to himself grew restlessly after not moving and being so stiff for so long. The metkayina thought of his friend's words, of the said friend's unsaid request for a hug, and decided he should not repeat the same mistake and annoy the omatikayan again by 'not getting the hint'.

Gingerly, he placed his hands on Neteyam's hips, and pulled the omatikayan closer to him. Once that was done, he thought hard about where he should put his hands. He could leave it at the omatikayan's waist, and maybe went as far as to wrap his arms around the said omatikayan's stomach, but…

The answer to his question came in the form of a tail.

Neteyam's tail briefly flicked and brushed against the back of Aonung's hovering palm, before it tapped the omatikayan's thigh.

It took some time - and courage - before Aonung placed one of his hands on Neteyam's thigh, where the tail had tapped, and his other hand resting on the omatikayan's waist.

Neteyam's tail went and wrapped itself around Aonung's hand, loose yet very much present.

By the time Kiri had woken up, both Neteyam and Aonung were woken up by Rotxo with a shake on the 15-year-old metkayina's shoulder.

Aonung had fallen asleep, at some point.

While Neteyam instantly bolted up and rushed into the marui, Aonung caught Rotxo's sly look. The older metkayina was quick to raise his hand in a 'be quiet' manner when Rotxo opened his mouth.

"Don't say anything."

Aonung went into the marui, heart torn between stopping altogether from the thrill of actually falling asleep with his 'friend' in his arms and lurching out of his chest from the thrill of having Neteyam trust him so much.

(It's rare for someone to trust the metkayina so much, considering his 'mean streak'. It's even more unexpected that Neteyam managed to 'accept' him so quickly.

Aonung awfully liked having Neteyam's approval.)

••• acts of service •••

Neteyam had always been protective of his siblings.

Violence would be his last resort whenever there's a disagreement most of the time, but when it came to his family, Neteyam couldn't help but be 'prone to violence'. Of course, he would try to break things apart without fighting, but if the opportunity to throw a punch in or two presented itself, Neteyam was never one to miss opportunities.

Like when Loak threw the first punch when Aonung and his gaggle of friends picked on his siblings, for example.

"You asked for it by opening your mouth, you know?" Neteyam quipped at Aonung, the two of them currently hanging out without doing much of anything, walking further into the island where greeneries resided the further they went in.

Their other friends and siblings were still eating after the group of friends had been swimming for almost the entire day. Neteyam had excused himself because he wasn't feeling particularly hungry. Who would have known that Aonung was in the same boat?

Aonung groaned at Neteyam's words, embarrassed. "You know very well how much I like to run my mouth," the metkayina sighed, grumbling a moment later when he almost stumbled over a twig for the nth time. "I don't know. I was just saying anything because I got a thrill out of seeing you all riled up. I didn't know I'd get punched instead of your eyes on me."

The metkayina had mumbled it so casually, Neteyam almost missed the meaning of the sentence entirely.

The omatikayan paused in his steps, causing Aonung, who was walking behind him, to stop walking, too. When Neteyam turned to meet Aonung's eyes, the metkayina only looked at him in mild befuddlement; asking with his eyes 'why did we stop?'.

The boy must not have been aware of what he was saying, then.

Neteyam was just about to say 'it was nothing', not wanting to make a big deal out of something that he could've just overthought too much, when Aonung suddenly grabbed his wrist. Tight and secure.

The omatikayan's entire body grew rigid at the alarm in Aonung's face and the way the metkayina was looking somewhere behind him and on the ground. Close to Neteyam's feet.

Hushedly, Neteyam whispered his question, "What? What is it?"

Aonung took his sweet time to answer, looking like he was in a pinch. "Did you know that there's an insect here in Awa'atlu that, if you get stung by it, will make you lose all feeling in your limbs?"

Neteyam swallowed a lump down his throat. "Never heard of that."

The metkayina let out a shaky chuckle. "Well, it's your lucky day.

It's right by your foot."

When it came to the forest, if they encountered something that was known to leave its victim vulnerable, they would all naturally bolt in the opposite direction. Being unable to move in the forest would be deadly - especially depending on where they were. In which part of the forest.

Sometimes they'd be lucky to end up where the animals were harmless and non-violent, other times they 'wouldn't be so lucky'.

Naturally, it was Neteyam's instinct alone that caused him to hastily lunge towards Aonung and pretty much throw himself bodily at the metkayina. He had braced himself for the two of them to fall and tumble onto the ground, but, surprisingly, Aonung managed to keep his balance.

Swiftly, the metkayina wrapped his arm around Neteyam's waist and pulled the omatikayan close. The action had seemed to have come so easily to Aonung, that Neteyam almost forgot the 'threat' they're facing.

Right. They should be running.

Neteyam hastily pressed his palms onto Aonung's chest to get out of the metkayina's hold, but the boy's arm around him proved to be pretty solid. So the omatikayan resorted to talking, "Aonung! We have to run-"

A sting.

On Neteyam's ankle.

It was almost unbelievable how quick the effect was - because, in barely a second, Neteyam went limp into Aonung's hold.

Neteyam heard Aonung muttering a string of curses under his breath as he held the omatikayan up, and the omatikayan sort of wanted to facepalm in disappointment.

"I didn't notice the one between us," Aonung groaned, just as disappointed as Neteyam. "It stung you."

"Yeah," Neteyam grumbled a deadpanned. Then, he added eloquently, "No shit."

So much for wanting to get a breath of fresh air.

"I'll carry you," Aonung said.

Neteyam swallowed down his second 'yeah, no shit' sarcastic comment.

Carefully maneuvering Neteyam, Aonung ended up carrying the omatikayan on his back. He wrapped the omatikayan's arm around his neck and to rest on his shoulders, while he hooked the boy's legs around him.

Considering how Neteyam really couldn't feel his limbs and could only really move his mouth, Aonung had to do all the hard work.

"Thank Eywa you're not heavy," the metkayina murmured, adjusting Neteyam on his back while the omatikayan huffed and rolled his eyes.

Even if he was heavy, Aonung shouldn't have had any problem carrying him. Those muscles the metkayinas all have weren't just for show, were they?

When Aonung merely ventured further into the forest instead of making a beeline for the village, Neteyam questioned the metkayina's intellect. "Why are we not heading for the village? Aren't I supposed to be treated?"

The metkayina didn't stop in his steps, needing to bend further and crouch lower when leaves or plants got in the way, making sure none of them hit the person he's carrying. (How thoughtful. Neteyam didn't take his friend as someone who would be so considerate.)

"I know a place where I can treat you," Aonung supplied, ducking under a particularly long branch, careful to make sure Neteyam didn't get hit. "Plus, you excused yourself because you don't want to eat food from the sea, right? You want to eat fruits. It just so happened that the place we're going to treat you has some fruits you can eat," the metkayina further clarified, carefully adjusting Neteyam on his back for the omatikayan's comfort.

Neteyam had thought he was being discreet about getting 'fed up' of sea food.

Suddenly and unexplainably acutely aware of every little thing Aonung was doing at the moment (read: making sure Neteyam's comfortable, adjusting the omatikayan when he's about to even slightly fall of, not letting any branch or plants hit him in the face, going out of his way to crouch lower and bend further just to not trouble Neteyam), the omatikayan grew a tad… sheepish. "I thought I was being subtle," he truthfully admitted. "Metkayina food is delicious, really. I didn't mean to offend by insinuating that I'm getting tired of them…"

"You don't offend me, Neteyam," Aonung reassured. "It's normal to have different tastes. Just like how my feet are currently mad at me for making them walk on leaves so suddenly when they're so used to walking on sand."

"We can always just go back," Neteyam hastily jumped in to say. "It's- it's fine. I mean, I can always come back for the fruits once I can feel my limbs again, and after, I don't know, Tsireya treats me. She's tsakarem, so she'll be able to help me. She has always been accommodating, in that sense.

Also, I won't be able to come back for those fruits if I die, so-"

"Do you not have faith in me, forest boy?" Aonung interjected, his tone a mixture of being offended and teasing. "I am my mother's son. The tsahik's son. I may not be appointed as tsakarem like my sister is, but I'd say I'm… decent," he continued to say, a tinge in his tone that Neteyam couldn't quite describe. He would say 'bitter', but that wouldn't make sense.

"I didn't say you aren't decent," the omatikayan replied. "I just… You said your feet-"

"I was just joking," the metkayina interjected. "Listen. Just make yourself comfortable on my back, and, when we get there, I'll wake you up."

As if on cue, Neteyam found himself suddenly feeling dizzy.

Neteyam groaned, and subconsciously forced himself to nuzzle into the crook of Aonung's neck.

The action caused Aonung to chuckle, but the omatikayan was already halfway into dreamland to bother with pointing it out.

The next time he woke up, it was because he felt as if he was being moved.

When he opened his eyes, they immediately met Aonung's.

Their faces were mere inches away from each other, and Neteyam blearily blinked, somewhat aware that his arms remained unbudging around Aonung's neck. It was a little endearing that Aonung's usually light teal skin was, for some reason, covered in barely noticeable purple blotches.

The metkayina cleared his throat, and Neteyam distantly noted how his friend looked incredibly flustered, for some reason.

"You-" Aonung was saying, cutting himself off when his voice cracked. While he cleared his throat before he continued talking, Neteyam felt himself grinning in mild amusement at his friend's odd antics. "You're awake. So. Uh.

I'm gonna… need you to let go of me.".

Negeyam blearily blinked.

Once he had processed the metkayina's words, he sluggishly pulled his arms to his side, and Aonung was quick to position him so that he was sitting leaning against a wooden pillar.

Only when Aonung stepped away did Neteyam realise that the two of them were at some kind of… hut. A small wooden one.

Trees acted as the pillars, whereas a floor was woven with the same material used for the village's marui, tied to the pillars.

Aonung noticed him looking around, and the metkayina easily filled in the silence after getting over whatever it was that had him so flustered. "Rotxo, Tsireya, and I used to hang out here all the time. My parents and Rotxo's made this place for the three of us," he enlightened, taking a moment or two himself to look around. "Tsireya's been too busy to come around here, lately. Rotxo has been spending a lot of time with her, too. So it's been a while since anyone has been here," he added, before focusing on some bowls on the hut's floor.

Following suit, Neteyam's eyes drifted to Aonung's hands. The metkayina seemed to be swirling something in the bowl using a wooden stick, something smelling dreadfully like bitter herbs meant for healing wafting in the air.

Only when Aonung was back to his side, a bowl in his hand a mildly stern look on his face, did Neteyam realise what was coming for him.

Instinctively, Neteyam scrunched his nose and scowled. His voice came out a little hoarse when he spoke in a deadpan, "I'm not drinking that."

Aonung frowned disapprovingly. (Neteyam's tail flicked disapprovingly.)

"But you have to," Aonung lightly chided, already guiding the bowl to Neteyam's lips. "Do you want to stay limp forever?"

"The effects of the sting will probably wear off in like a day," Neteyam countered, ears pinned to his head. "I'll be fine. Plus, don't I have you to carry me around?"

It felt a lot like a role reversal, with the way Aonung was the one stressed and serious while Neteyam was the one being difficult for no reason except trivial ones.

"I can carry you around," Aonung affirmed, but one of his hands went to gently cup Neteyam's jaw, while the other kept bringing the bowl closer to the omatikayan's lips. "But don't you want to climb up trees to get fruits that you're craving for now?

Drink this, and, in an hour or less, you'll be up and about again."

Neteyam turned his nose up when the smell of herbs grew stronger. He met Aonung's eyes again, and complained," Can't you climb up the trees to get the fruits I'm craving for? You would know which one tastes better, anyway."

In the face of Aonung's rare show of 'I'm serious' face, Neteyam complied, and let Aonung slowly pour the drink into his mouth.

The moment the content was drunk, Aonung pulled away the bowl. A trickle slipped past the corner of Neteyam's lips, and the omatikayan grunted at being unable to instantly wipe it away. He felt a lot like a helpless child. It wasn't a very nice feeling.

So when Aonung turned to him and wiped the trickle away with his thumb, before sticking it into his own mouth and blanching about how 'it tasted as terrible as he remembered', Neteyam's body got confused between laughing or choking on air.

Aonung, ever so attentive, hastily patted his back soothingly, rapidly asking questions about whether anything felt off. Thankfully, Neteyam was saved from answering because he was too busy choking on literal air.

It shook him greatly how nice it felt to be taken care of so well. It wasn't necessarily a rare occurrence, since his family cared for him, too. But it felt different, coming from Aonung.

The metkayina's questions did not cease even when Neteyam's coughing fit was ending. So the omatikayan blurted out a made-up excuse that was not 'your attentiveness just caught me off guard after all the trouble you've caused me':

"I think I like that drink of yours too much."

As a response to his terribly made-up excuse, Aonung took it as a joke, and called him an 'idiot'. (Neteyam must have been imagining things; the metkayina sounded almost fond.)

Shortly after that, Aonung told him that he might feel sleepy again, and that he should feel free to sleep.

"You're talking as if you're leaving," Neteyam pointed out, looking at his suddenly shifty-looking friend curiously. "Do you have somewhere to be?" the omatikayan inquired.

If what Aonung said was true, and that Neteyam would be able to move in an hour or less, then the omatikayan wouldn't mind if the metkayina had somewhere to be.

Though Aonung was quick to tell Neteyam that he didn't have anywhere to be, just as he was quick to say that he did bump into something while he was collecting the herbs to make the drink to help Neteyam get the feeling in his limbs. While the metkayina had left after promising to return, Neteyam pondered about how Aonung even managed to move around so much after carrying him on his back for who knew how long.

By the time Neteyam could almost fully feel his limbs, standing up and stretching, Aonung still hadn't returned.

The thought of Aonung ditching him after all those 'flowery promises' crossed his mind, but he decided to give the metkayina the benefit of the doubt. Instead of leaving, Neteyam made a beeline for where he had seen Aonung disappear off to.

He had only walked for a couple of minutes before he bumped into Aonung.

Aonung whose arms were full of various fruits Neteyam had never seen before, and Aonung who had scratches and cuts presumably from grazing against sharp twigs and stones littering all over him.

Neteyam helped the metkayina carry some of the fruits, the two of them walking back to the hut the omatikayan had just left.

While they walked, the omatikayan naturally found himself reprimanding the metkayina for 'putting himself in danger'.

"I was not in 'danger'," Aonung protested, frowning in dissatisfaction. "I managed well enough. You can 'adapt' and swim in the water, so why can't I 'adapt' and 'swing through trees' and climb them?" he argued, hugging the fruits still in his arms to himself like they were his prized possessions.

As a response, Neteyam dumped the fruits he was carrying, took all the fruits left on Aonung before dumping them along with the previous heap, before tugging the metkayina to sit on at the hut.

While he had been waiting to feel his limbs again, and while he was waiting for Aonung to return, Neteyam had familiarised himself with the hut. He had found a couple of bandages and ointments he assumed were for treating wounds, so he took those out before settling in front of his friend.

Pinching Aonung's skin reprimandingly to the point of the metkayina quietly hissing at the pain, Neteyam shook his head from side to side disapprovingly. "I had guides when you were teaching me how to swim, remember? If you had fallen out of a tree and die to your death just now, no one would be there to check on you," the omatikayan huffed, swatting Aonung's hand away when the metkayina attempted to push his hands away.

Unable to refute Neteyam's words, Aonung relented and let the omatikayan treat his cuts.

Once Neteyam wasn't feeling all too excessively and unexplainably upset at his friend, he apologised to the metkayina for being so 'rough'. In return, Aonung apologised, too, and simply admitted that he just 'wanted to do something for Neteyam'.

Something 'nice' - or so he said.

It tugged on something in Neteyam's heart.

To reward Aonung for his 'honesty', Neteyam suggested that the two of them taste all the fruits Aonung had so amazingly collected from 'climbing and swinging through trees'. The metkayina was down with the idea, and the two of them ended up tasting all the fruits.

By the time they returned to the village, Neteyam felt full. Whether it was his stomach or his heart, he couldn't decide.

••• quality time •••

Aonung, as the son of oloeyktan, surprisingly had a lot of free time on his hands.

Well, that was before he properly befriended Neteyam.

As if being able to befriend Neteyam was the reason that Tonowari suddenly trusted his son to do all sorts of things and finally be trained to prepare for becoming the next oloeyktan himself, Aonung's free time bid him goodbye.

Came the almost grueling training and equally draining duties Aonung had to attend to. With and without his father.

Some trainings he had grown to look forward to very much. Weapons handling, in particular.

Tonowari, having acknowledged that Neteyam had passed his iknimaya, had told the omatikayan to personally teach Aonung what he had learnt. The oloeyktan claimed that, while Neteyam's skills were those of a forest, if the boy was able to adapt to both the sea and the forest, why couldn't Aonung?

Not just weapon handling. Combat-related skills. Hunting on the ground, stalking a prey, strategising, hand signals: pretty much all the cool warrior-stuff.

Aonung liked lessons with Neteyam very much, because he had absolutely accepted the fact that he definitely had a crush on the forest boy.

He was going to be the oloeyktan of Metkayina in the future. Regardless of what others would say, there were very few people that the oloeyktan had to listen to. (Technically, an oloeyktan should listen to their clan's concerns and views and such, but why would an oloeyktan listen to the words of the clan when it came to matters of their heart?)

Whether this 'crush' would develop into something more, or whether this 'crush' would eventually fade, either way, Aonung was absolutely going to 'live in the moment'. Including by being a little like an 'idiot' and a bit 'mean' if only to just have those golden eyes on him for a second longer.

Of course, he made sure to know his limits, now. He liked riling Neteyam up, but he didn't want them to fight and for things to be tense between them.

It may be just a part of his imagination, but he was pretty sure Neteyam enjoyed their private lessons as much as Aonung did.

Unfortunately, the downside of these duties and training, was that he couldn't join Tsireya and Rotxo with 'guiding' the Sully's siblings as often as he used to anymore, which sucked. Especially when they were no longer 'guiding' them, and were just 'hanging out' because they've taught all that the Sullys needed to know.

Every time Rotxo or Tsireya bumped into him, they would prattled on about how fun it was, and all Aonung could do was not sulk too obviously as he lamented over the number of times he had missed seeing Neteyam laugh or smile. According to the tales regaled by his sister and his best friend, there were plenty.

To make matters worse, for some reason, his father had been 'preaching' about Toruk Makto and Neteyam.

Preaching about Toruk Makto was absolutely nothing new when it came to Tonowari. Preaching about the legendary warrior's son, however, was entirely new.

"They asked me why I asked Neteyam to be in charge of you, ma itan," Tonowari had explained when Aonung asked why the oloeyktan kept on singing praises to Neteyam.

From the looks of it, the oloeyktan had misunderstood where Aonung was coming from, because the man clasped a hand over Aonung's shoulder, and said sincerely, "I am proud of you, too, Aonung. Which is why you must learn from Toruk Makto's firstborn."

See, the thing was, as Aonung had thought previously, he liked learning under Neteyam. He also absolutely agreed that the omatikayan his age was commendable; skilled and reliable for a 15-year-old.

What he didn't like was the attention Neteyam was getting, lately.

Because Tonowari was always singing praises of Neteyam's skills, more metkayinas were curious about the omatikayan, and when they found out that the said omatikayan was easy to talk to, they hogged all of Neteyam's time.

Moments outside of the lessons between Aonung and Neteyam were growing more scarce as days passed. Previously, the two of them only had to consider Aonung's schedule to set a meet-up. Now, Neteyam had his own schedule.

It's harder for them to align their schedules and find some time to just hang out, and it was, unfortunately, messing Aonung up. In all ways possible. His focus, his head, and his heart.

Aonung's internal monologue was interrupted when an old woman's voice spoke up gently, "Aonung, my dear. You are staring at that boy again."

She wasn't just any old woman. Ue was her name, and she was a very close friend of Ronal.

Ue was one of their best weavers. It was why Tonowari asked her to teach Aonung. The oloeyktan had said: "Ue, teach my son so that he is able to weave whatever is asked of him with his eyes closed."

It's like Tonowari wanted Aonung's weaving lesson to never end. An impossible goal like that - how was Aonung supposed to achieve it?

The metkayina boy quickly looked away from who he had been subconsciously staring at, focusing on the net he's weaving and glaring at it like it would solve his current dilemma.

Grumbling under his breath, he huffed and tied yet another knot, "I wish he would notice me staring."

Ue paused on her own ministrations on the top she was weaving. Presumably for her grandchild. She had been talking on and on about her grandchild turning 13 soon. She put on a thoughtful expression as she addressed Aonung, "Well, why don't you just tell him?"

She actually looked like she was about to call out to the busy Neteyam, and Aonung scrambled to wave around his hands to motion 'don't!'.

"No!" Aonung whispered-shouted, feeling the way his face heated up at the mere thought of walking up to Neteyam and telling the boy straight to his face that 'I wish you'd catch me staring so you'd see for yourself just how much I like you'. "I can't- I can't just walk up to him to say that!"

"Why not?" Ue asked. Like the answer wasn't obvious.

Aonung opened his mouth, closed it, opened it, thought of how he probably looked like a fish, before stammering quietly so only Ue heard him, "Because- because that's embarrassing!"

"Why would it be embarrassing?" she questioned, shaking her head from side to side and resuming her ministrations on the top she's making and looking at it with so much care in her eyes. "You are being honest with your feelings. It takes confidence to do such things. Men these days are much too cowardly to even admit to their feelings."

Aonung opened his mouth to defend his honour, but then Ue casually added, "You are going to be oloeyktan, my dear. Be brave. Believe in yourself."

She sure had a lot of trust in Aonung…

Still; that wasn't the point.

The metkayina boy ceased his ministrations on his net, then, deciding to confide in the older woman while they were already on the topic.

"It's not that," he started, absent-mindedly fiddling with his net. "Just… I used to spend so much time with him."

"Uh-huh."

"But my father suddenly decided that I'm ready to 'grow up' and thrust to me all these duties and lessons."

"You are going to be the next oloeyktan, eventually."

"And now I don't have any time at all to spend with him," Aonung finished, hesitating for a moment or two before he went and said, "And now he is also busy because my dad keeps on talking about how he's so great, and now everyone wants to get some of his time.

Now we just never got to spend any time together by ourselves, and, from the looks of it, someone has been hogging all of his attention."

There. Aonung had said it.

Ewi.

It was the name of the boy whom Aonung had seen hanging out with Neteyam far too many times not to be jealous.

All of a sudden, a shadow loomed over him, and Aonung found himself sitting straighter when he heard a girl's voice chirping all too loudly:

"What's this? The son of the oloeyktan talking about his love troubles with my grandmother?"

A couple of heads swiveled to look at them curiously, but Aonung frantically tugged on the nosy girl's arm so she would crouch beside him. His panic caused the girl to giggle teasingly, while Aonung didn't dare spare a glance in Neteyam's way. (He hoped Neteyam didn't hear him. Eywa, please don't let Neteyam hear him.)

Ue chuckled along with her granddaughter, but she at least had the decency to lightly chide the would-be 13-year-old, "Vuit, do not tease the poor boy. He is in love; it is natural to be a mess when you are harbouring such strong feelings."

'Love' was quite the strong word.

Despite how Aonung himself felt like he himself wasn't unsure where his feelings for Neteyam would go, he couldn't find it in him to deny the older metkayina's words.

Missing his chance to correct the older woman, Vuit latched onto her grandmother's words excitedly. "Love?!" she exclaimed, turning to Aonung with sparkles in her eyes as she added ecstatically, "The mighty and unmovable Aonung is in love?!“

Aonung covered his face in embarrassment, while Ue turned to her granddaughter curiously. "Mighty and unmovable?" she repeated, prompting the younger metkayina girl to elaborate.

Of course, Vuit happily nodded. "Yes! You know, grandmother, your pupil here has a reputation, actually," she went on to say, elbowing Aonung while the metkayina boy half-heartedly swatted her hand away. Undeterred by the boy's 'boring' reaction, she continued to ramble unprompted, "A lot of the girls, including some of my friends, have expressed their feelings for him and tried giving him courting gifts, but he would turn them all down because he's 'not old enough yet'.

Tell me, grandma; love is not restricted to age, is it?"

Ue hummed, "Why, of course not. Everyone deserves to love and be loved."

Pleased with her grandmother's answer, Vuit quickly added, "Which is why I think Aonung's reason for not accepting any of the courting gifts given to him is offensive!" Then, she pinched Aonung's bicep hard enough to have the metkayina boy scowl and glare, but she remained determined when she continued to run her mouth, "If it is true that Aonung has fallen in love, then it must be with someone more mature than him. After all, he is the one who keeps on rejecting people because of age."

Sensing that the girl beside him clearly held a grudge against him, he was just about to retort something along the lines of 'sorry, which one of them are your friends again?' out of spite for the panic the girl had put him through in the span of minutes, when Ue, to his horror, spoke:

"Well, that boy is impressively mature for his age…"

Both Vuit and Aonung looked at Ue with their mouths agape: the former from presumably feeling gobsmacked while the latter from mortification.

To Aonung's extreme distaste, Vuit pretty much pushed his face away by his cheek so she could hog all of her grandmother's attention before loudly asking, "A boy?! And you know who it is?!"

Eywa, please give Aonung the strength…

Unbothered by her daughter's excessively loud voice, Ue nodded in affirmation. "Yes, and I believe he is indeed quite a great choice for our oloeyktan," she kindly gushed, successfully draining years from Aonung's lifespan as she kept on talking, "He was telling that the time he gets to spend with the boy has been severely lacking, and, lucky for him, I have just the solution for him."

Just when Aonung thought there wouldn't be any more attempts for his life, Ue raised her hand, and waved in the direction Aonung knew who was standing.

"Ewi, dear, can you help me with something?"

The 15-year-old metkayina could hear Vuit's barely restrained 'Aonung likes Ewi?!', followed by her grandmother lightly - and lovingly - pinching her cheek and whispering more quietly 'no, not him'.

It all happened too fast, because one moment there were only the three of them, and the next there were five of them.

Five - because Neteyam came along with Ewi.

Aonung tried not to squint his eyes at Ewi in jealousy too obviously as the 16-year-old Metkayina boy crouched to address Ue, a gentle smile on his lips. "What do you need help with?" he asked, tone oh-so kind and proper.

Internally, Aonung felt a lot like an idiot beside the 'prim and proper' Ewi. It made him think about the possibility of that being the reason why Neteyam preferred spending time with the older Na'vi, but he quickly abandoned that trail of thoughts. He was jealous enough as it was; he didn't need to add 'feeling insecure' on top of it.

At Ewi's question, Ue took out a rather large net from behind her that Aonung didn't even notice, before she turned to the small group of teenagers that had formed in front of her. "Yesterday, I finished a rather large net, and I would like to use it. But I'll be needing help to throw it, since it is so large.

Would you and my granddaughter mind helping me? I promise it will only take a short while."

Ewi smiled, charming and nice, as he agreed to the older woman's request. On the other hand, Vuit was making her 'look back and forth between Aonung and Neteyam' so obvious, that the metkayina boy wondered how no one had pointed it out.

"Of course, grandma!" she finally agreed.

See, that was supposed to be the cue for Ue to say something along the lines of 'Aonung, you and Neteyam should wait here while we do what we need to do'.

Unfortunately, Vuit went ahead and put on the worst acting Aonung had ever seen to date.

"Oh? But what about Aonung and Neteyam?" she lamented, batting her lashes at her grandmother as if this was something that was so mind-boggling. "They'll be by themselves! All alone! Together!" she continued to ponder aloud, gasping a second later with a hand covering her mouth, "Grandma, surely this will lead to them falling for-?"

Aonung didn't even get to stop Vuit's horrible acting when someone else spoke up.

"I'll stay here with Aonung."

All four heads - including Aonung's - turned to look at Neteyam.

His voice was calm, but there was something in it that felt a little strained. A little force.

The metkayina furrowed his eyes at the tone that seemingly came out of nowhere. (Almost as if he was irritated.)

With four pairs of eyes expectantly looking at him, Neteyam shrugged, "I can learn from Aonung a thing or two about weaving to pass the time. I've heard from many that Ue is a great weaver."

He sounded polite, as he usually would. But Aonung still could hear the lingering, strained, and forced tone to the omatikayan's voice.

Unlike Aonung, everyone else nodded to Neteyam's words, and, after gathering her net into her arm, Ue excused herself and started leading the other two metkayinas to the sea.

Vuit gave Aonung a strong and loud encouraging pat on his back, and the metkayina found himself wondering what possessed the girl to act so friendly with him, when they'd barely exchanged words prior to this moment.

With no one else around to interrupt them, Aonung couldn't help the grin on his lips at the thought of having some time alone with Neteyam. Even if they would only be spending it on a weaving lesson.

However, when Aonung turned to the omatikayan, he found that his friend was… pouting?

Scowling? Frowning?

The grin on Aonung's lips was wiped away the moment he noticed his friend's not-so-good mood.

With the two of them having seated with their legs crossed, their knees brushing together, Aonung clasped a hand over the omatikayan's knee, and spoke only when their eyes met. "Hey," the metkayina murmured, trying to get a read of Neteyam's unusually difficult-to-place expression. "What's wrong?"

Neteyam looked at him, the expression Aonung couldn't quite understand still on the omatikayan's face before the said omatikayan looked downward, a few braids falling over to cover a side of his face as his hand went to almost nervously rub his nape.

"Nothing," Neteyam muttered, furrowing his eyes at his own answer, as if he, too, thought it was an insufficient answer, before clarifying, "Just- I guess I'm just… glad we finally managed to, uh, somehow hang out." Then, as if he had read Aonung's thought, he put on a sheepish smile and added, "Even though we're not hanging out. More like… weaving lessons."

Aonung really, really liked it when his feelings were reciprocated. Even if what Neteyam was reciprocating was just the 'want to spend time together' and not the 'feelings'.

The metkayina mirrored Neteyam's sheepish smile. "I mean, yeah, me too," he agreed, only because he had taken some of Ue's advice and 'be honest about what he felt' by a tiny bit, before continuing with a more tentative tone, "But you didn't look really… 'glad'."

Neteyam's eyes widened at the same time he turned to look at the other boy.

"Really?" He asked, but cleared his throat a second later before muttering to himself, "I thought I hid it well enough."

Unable to suppress the urge to reach out, Aonung went and tucked the braids that had been infuriatingly covering some parts of Neteyam's face behind the omatikayan's ear.

"Not enough for me to not notice, at least," Aonung softly snickered, retracting his hand and hoping his surprise wasn't too obviously written on his face when he noticed the subtle blotches of purple on Neteyam's face.

Those had come out of nowhere, but it's… cute.

Aonung's words caused Neteyam to awkwardly chuckle and clear his throat, but the metkayina didn't even get the chance to ask about it when the omatikayan seemingly blurted, "Well, I was just- I noticed you were getting along swimmingly well with that- that girl, and, well, it's just a silly thought, but I thought you had looked like you preferred her company than mine."

The metkayina stared at his friend. (His friend who looked like he regretted saying those words, judging from the immediate way the omatikayan groaned and facepalmed, muttering gibberish into his hand.)

Although, when Aonung managed to process Neteyam's words, the metkayina scoffed in disbelief before he clasped a hand on the omatikayan's shoulder and shook the said omatikayan.

"'Teyam," Aonung said, the nickname out of his mouth before he could really think about it. "That was the longest conversation I've ever had with her. Your company is way better than hers," he continued, reassuring the other boy who shouldn't have needed the reassurance, considering Aonung had fallen for the said boy.

His words must have immensely caused Neteyam great relief, because the omatikayan no longer had those traces of 'something', and he was nodding and mumbling something about how he couldn't believe he had misjudged.

Aonung hesitated for a moment or two before he decided to choose the honest route, too.

"And here I thought you were ready to replace me with Ewi."

He had purposely phrased it as a joke, and it must have been the right move, because Neteyam broke into a fit of laughter, and Aonung's heart felt like its garden was flourishing at being able to make the other boy so much in glee.

Neteyam knocked their shoulders together, and they were sitting stupidly close, and Aonung felt like his heart might as well fall right out of his mouth with how it's begging to escape.

Their noses almost knocked against each other when Aonung turned to look, but neither flinched away when Neteyam admitted, sincere and pleasant:

"Ewi's great company and all, but I'd say there's no one else aside from you that I'd rather spend my non-existent free time with."

Insecurities? Gone. As if it didn't even exist in the first place.

Conversations between the two of them flowed easily after that, and when Aonung asked 'would you choose to spend your free time with me or your family', he earned a light shove to his shoulder and a playful warning of 'watch it, 'Nung.'

Needless to say, Aonung was glad Neteyam appreciated his company as much as he appreciated the other boy's company.

Even if platonically…

••• gifts •••

Neteyam had always been the kind of guy who didn't have many belongings.

Well, used to.

While he was packing before he got to Awa'atlu, it dawned on him that, compared to his other siblings, he barely had anything of himself in his belongings.

Kiri had her tops and shawls that she made herself, all made with a flair that was distinctively hers. Loak had his daggers that he'd like to make in his free time, but never used. Apparently, his daggers looked cool, but they were 'impractical', as Spider would like to say, since those daggers were more for stylish reasons than practical usage. Tuk had dozens of carved and handmade toys, given by her family and made with all the love and care they'd always have for their youngest.

So when Neteyam found that all he had were the loinclothes he often wore, the chokers he often wore, and basically only necessities that didn't really say anything about himself, he scavenged.

He searched through his family's marui, turned it upside down, and found trinkets he used to use on the daily. Wooden carved toys, bows for children, and a pillow he had stolen from Jake's sky friends because it had looked really soft and nice to sleep with.

Ever since then, Neteyam had become a collector of some sort. More sentimental. (He wouldn't call himself a 'hogger' the way Loak called him such. Absolutely not.)

So when Aonung started handing him gifts, Neteyam was extremely elated.

The first gift Neteyam had received was when the tulkuns had returned.

They had just finished racing each other after chasing each other around on their ilus, quite literally out of energy after wasting it on taunting each other and trying to beat each other. Neteyam lost only by a second or two, and while it was still a loss, the omatikayan told himself that it was still an achievement. With how quickly he was at getting better in the water, it was only a matter of time before he'd managed to beat the metkayina.

He had promised himself that, if he managed to achieve a feat amazing enough to have Aonung verbally acknowledge it as an 'impressive feat', he would tell the other boy about his feelings for the metkayina.

Yes. Feelings.

It took Neteyam embarrassingly long to realise that what he felt for the metkayina wasn't entirely 'platonic'. In fact, it took him sneaking glances at Aonung, looking for the metkayina in hopes of getting to simply see the boy, and feeling 'bitter' when he saw the metkayina managing to make time for others for him to realise it.

Quite elaborate, but Neteyam believed that the important thing that mattered was that he had realised it.

He'd say that alone was an 'impressive feat', but he was not Aonung, so it didn't count.

So the two of them were on a random and large rock, catching their breath, when Aonung suddenly sat upright and cleared his throat.

Catching on that the metkayina had something to say, Neteyam went to sit, too. He tilted his head, studying Aonung's curiously a little antsy body language before asking, "What's up?"

The metkayina looked at Neteyam for a moment or two, before he sharply inhaled, and reached into a pouch that Neteyam had just noticed the other boy was wearing.

When the hand came back in a fist, Neteyam curiously stared at it. He only took his eyes off the hand when Aonung cleared his throat again, speaking only when Neteyam had returned his gaze.

"I… saw this… shell, and, well, I thought of you."

Neteyam stared.

It seemed like his staring only caused the metkayina to grow more nervous, because he cleared his throat, and gingerly grabbed one of Neteyam's hands, before putting the shell onto the omatikayan's palm.

As if the touch had snapped Neteyam out of his thoughts, the omatikayan looked at the shell in his palm, and listened to the way his heart skipped a beat.

A white shell. There were yellow hues on the edges, and sprinkles of blue randomly on the surface. Its texture had looked rough, but when Neteyam wiped his thumb over the surface, it was soft.

It was an odd shell.

It was a beautiful shell.

Rendered quite speechless by the gift, Neteyam took a second longer before he could stutter out: "This… it's- it's really pretty…"

He turned the shell here and there, his heart racing and pumping blood so quickly that it was loud in his ears, and found himself blurting a second later, "Are you sure you want to give this to me?" As an afterthought, he added, "Don't you want to use it in the next thing you'll weave?"

Aonung had reassured him the shell was really meant for him, and all the omatikayan could do was break into a crooked grin and refrain from pulling the metkayina into a hug and spilling his heart out for the other boy.

It was a simple gift. Aonung had by chance stumbled upon the shell, thought of Neteyam, and decided to give it to the said omatikayan. If Neteyam dared, he could even fool himself into believing that the metkayina didn't just stumble into the shell by 'coincidence', and that Aonung had actually gone out of his way to search for the perfect shell.

Neteyam, sentimental as he was, was utterly delighted by the gift.

His happiness must have been palpable, because, not long after that, Aonung brought him his second gift.

They had just finished being scolded for watching Loak forming a lifetime bond with the outcast tulkun by the name Payakan. Well, technically, Tsireya was the one who took most of the blame, considering she was tsakarem and, according to Ronal, 'should have known better'.

It didn't change the fact that all four of them had to listen to a lecture anyway.

Loak had been adamant about wanting to know Payakan's side of the story; the reason why the young tulkun was an outcast. Aonung had told Neteyam that, while the metkayina may have thought that Loak 'blindly' trusting the outcast tulkun could have been a brash decision that could've cost him, his trust in his sister's instinct was stronger than his hesitance. Likewise, Neteyam, too, believed in Loak's gut feeling.

There was a reason why Tsireya was tsakarem. Ronal could see what most couldn't see, and in Tsireya, she found the potential for the girl to be the next tsahik. It was more the reason why both Neteyam and Aonung believed in Tsireya's decision when everything was taking place.

The omatikayan knew that appointing a tsakarem meant for the tsahik to have seen or acknowledged the said tsakarem, so Neteyam believed in Ronal's decision by believing in Tsireya's choice to let Loak bond with Payakan.

By the time the 'lecture' ended, Tsireya was quick to chase after Loak, insisting that she had to check on him as he had been put under quite a lot of stress and pressure - which left Neteyam and Aonung by themselves.

With nothing much to do, the older brothers had tailed after Tsireya, if only because they wanted to make sure that she was okay, too. (Tsireya had the tendency to accidentally forget her own needs when he's busy 'looking after' someone else, was what Aonung told Neteyam. The omatikayan snickered to himself, considering he, too, can somewhat relate to such a thing.)

The two of them did stop tailing Tsireya after she had found Loak. They kept on observing from afar until Loak and Tsireya wandered off further away from the village, presumably to have a kind of heart-to-heart conversation.

Neteyam was just about to suggest they should return to their respective maruis, since the omatikayan was feeling pretty drowsy after the impromptu 'lecture' by the oloeyktan, when Aonung grabbed his wrist.

"Wait," the metkayina said, tugging on Neteyam's wrist as he led the way, "Come with me for a second."

Of course, Neteyam obliged.

They walked further into the island, and only when he was sure of his assumption did Neteyam ask aloud, "Are we going to your hut?"

Aonung's hold on Neteyam's wrist remained, while he used his free hand to hold the large leaves away from their faces or swat thin branches that blocked their path. "Yes," the metkayina answered.

"Why?" Neteyam inquired, pursing his lips before shooting a guess, "Are we going to eat more fruits?"

"No," Aonung swiftly denied, moving his hand to grab onto the omatikayan's hand instead before giving it a squeeze, "But I do hope you'll like it as much as you liked the fruits."

The second gift was, to Neteyam's awe, a shawl. One of the omatikayan could see himself wearing if he were to go on long flights with his ikran while the air was freezing.

"I didn't make it myself," Aonung had sheepishly murmured, helping Neteyam put it on by draping it over the omatikayan's shoulders. The metkayina's fingers that brushed against dark blue skin left tingles in its wake, and Neteyam pointedly stared at Aonung's neck to not accidentally stare at the boy. "It was my mother's old shawl, and I just weaved in some stuff into it to make it look as good as new," the metkayina explained, nervous and anticipating. "Do you… do you like it?"

Just to make a statement, the very next day, Neteyam wore the shawl around despite the scorching heat. (Aonung had become pretty embarrassed and kept on smacking Neteyam for 'being embarrassing', but the omatikayan genuinely didn't care.

He liked to show off that he had friends that he's close enough to be receiving gifts from. He had things of his own; things that reminded others of his existence.

It was nothing to be embarrassed about.)

The third gift was, by far, the one that had Neteyam most mindblown, given to him hastily due to their circumstances.

A neighboring Metkayina island far to the south had warned nearby islands that the sky people were hunting tulkun. One of the Metkayina divers had swam far enough to find a dead tulkun along with her calf, and they had found the sky people's weapons still embedded in the creature's thick skin.

Both Toruk Makto and Tonowari had visited the island themselves to see the tulkun, and they returned bearing news. The Metkayina were told to ask for help from Toruk Makto to 'turn off the' tracker'' if they ever found the said 'tracker' on their tulkuns.

While every other Metkayina rushed to warn their brother and sisters, Loak immediately thought of his tulkun brother. As a result, because the 14-year-old omatikayan knew very well that there was no one the outcast but him, he had rushed to warn Payakan.

Before the situation had taken a turn for the worse, before the oloeyktan and Jake had returned, Aonung and Neteyam were having one of their one-on-one weapon handling lessons. Using a spear.

Neteyam was winning, and when Aonung was down on the ground while the omatikayan had the tip of his spear pointed at the metkayina's throat, Aonung broke into a fit of laughter, hand raised in surrender as he told Neteyam to 'lay off him'.

Lately, regardless of whether the metkayina lose or win, Neteyam had noticed that his friend would look to be in a very good mood anyway. It was an odd change, considering how competitive Aonung used to be.

When Neteyam directly asked the other boy about it, all Aonung did was not take his question seriously by drawling a playful 'winning or losing doesn't matter when it comes to you; spending time with you itself is already a reward' quip.

Did those words cause Neteyam to cringe?

Yes.

Did those words also make his heart skip a beat?

Unfortunately, yes.

Nevertheless, at the end of the day, Neteyam was crushing on the other boy, so it really didn't matter.

The omatikayan retracted his spear, offering a hand for the 'loser' to take. Although, when Neteyam already had Aonung's hand in his, he didn't even get to haul the metkayina up because he was pulled down.

In the blink of an eye, Aonung was the one who had an upper hand, straddling the omatikayan's legs while both of his hands pinned Neteyam's wrist onto the ground.

A triumphant and smug smirk stretched itself on the metkayina's lips, and Neteyam couldn't even find it in him to be 'upset' that he was the one losing when his friend looked so damn proud of himself.

"Whoops," Aonung drawled, smirk growing wider by the second while Neteyam wondered if it was worth the risk to drag the boy above him into a kiss by pulling on the metkayina's necklace. "Sorry, better luck next time, ma tsamsiyu."

Neteyam tested Aonung's hold on his wrists, and when they remained unbudging, the omatikayan ignored the shiver and thrill that ran down his spine in favour of retorting, "Try winning against me fairly, then we'll talk about luck."

His words caused the metkayina to snicker, sounding so fond Neteyam wondered if it was all in his head. Though when Aonung suddenly leaned closer, Neteyam had to 'lock in' properly and maintained a 'totally unaffected by his crush's face being so close to his' face.

"I do actually have something to win you over fairly," Aonung said, successfully piquing the interest of the omatikayan underneath him.

"Well? What's with the holdup, then?" Neteyam urged, rolling his eyes when Aonung called him 'impatient'. (Still with that underlying affectionate tone in his words, but, again, perhaps Neteyam was imagining it.)

Aonung got off the omatikayan in that moment, and while the metkayina reached into his pouch, Neteyam told himself not to be too disappointed that his friend suddenly felt so far away.

He should get a grip, really.

"I made it myself, this time around," Aonung was saying, sounding all too proud of himself while Neteyam turned his attention to the metkayina boy. "I noticed you'll always like it whenever I give you something, and when you wear that shawl I gave you for an entire day, I thought that it would be nice to give you something that you could actually wear every day."

With those words, Aonung revealed what was in his palm.

For a moment that felt like a very long time, all Neteyam could do was stare in awe at the bracelet in Aonung's hand.

Shells, beads, and some kind of stones. The combination chosen by the metkayina ended up painting an utterly beautiful bracelet, and Neteyam wondered again if it was worth the risk to just smash their lips together without any warning.

It was then, when Neteyam was just about to ask the metkayina to put it on him, did they heard the alarm being sounded.

Instantly alarmed, the two boys scrambled to head to the village.

Only when they were close enough to see Jake and Tonowari having returned, did Neteyam stop Aonung by grabbing the metkayina's wrist.

When Aonung urgently looked at him, Neteyam blurted, "That bracelet- Can I hold onto it?

I'll just tie it on my loincloth for now. I promise you'll be the one to put it on me once we get the time to do so."

Thankfully, Aonung obliged without a word, and tied one end of the bracelet onto the omatikayan's loincloth. Similarly to the way Neteyam had his song cord there.

The next time they moved, Neteyam was the one who moved first.

(Aonung was staring at the bracelet he had made for the omatikayan.

Had he been staring harder, Neteyam was pretty convinced that the metkayina would have seen right through him and noticed the feelings the omatikayan harboured for the said metkayina.

Thank Eywa for not making such a thing possible.)

••• words of affirmation •••

Things went downhill before anyone knew it.

There was a tracker on Payakan by the time Loak found him.

The demon ships got to them, and with the arrival of the Metkayina after they found out about the kids finding Payakan with a tracker, things were quick to escalate.

Spears were thrown, crossbows were shot, and blood was shed.

Fortunately, no one died.

Aonung noticed Toruk Makto and Neytiri talking with Tonowari and Ronal. Something about how his family had to leave, because now that the sky people knew the Sullys were seeking shelter in Awa'atlu, they would not hesitate to send reinforcements to capture Jake Sully.

He said that he didn't want to endanger the Metkayina. It was already a miracle enough that the RDA didn't manage to find them early on. It had been almost a year since they had been here and remained in hiding, after all.

Surprisingly, the one who spoke up against the idea was Ronal. The tsahik.

Aonung's mother, who was most against the Sullys seeking uturu in their clan in the first place.

"Do not be hasty, chosen one," she spoke, her voice still in that regal and commanding tone she often used when addressing her people. "Your son has been shot. He took a bullet for mine, and, in return, I will see to it that he receives the essential treatment and has a speedy recovery."

At her words, Aonung, who had been quietly eavesdropping from outside the marui, couldn't help but clench his fists. Guilt and frustration welled up in his chest, and he forced himself to walk away from the marui, eyebrows furrowed and teeth gritted.

He hated it.

He hated that Neteyam would so easily give his life away for himself.

As mentioned by the tsahik, it had been a couple of days since the demon ships sank. It had been a couple of days since Neteyam was shot.

He heard from Rotxo that the omatikayan was awake, already moving around in his marui and only in his marui, as he was told not to 'move around too much'. Tsireya had also visited Neteyam, telling Aonung that the metkayina should visit the 15-year-old omatikayan who had been asking about his whereabouts.

Aonung was reluctant to visit his friend.

His idiot of a friend.

Neteyam, Loak, and he had all managed to get onto the largest demon ship around when it happened. Loak insisted that they looked around, in case 'Spider', a sky person the Sullys' children were all closed with, was onboard. Neteyam argued that it was too risky, since Spider was with Quaritch, and, as far as they knew, the RDA should not have known about the Sullys' whereabouts - until now.

The 15-year-old omatikayan argued that, chances were, both Quaritch and Spider would still be looking for them in the forest.

It was not a surprise to see Loak stubbornly insisting that he would look for Spider, with or without his older brother. While they were arguing, Aonung noticed a sky person sneaking up from behind Loak, and the Metkayina instinctively threw his knife at the man, the sound of the man's body falling limp onto the ground putting a halt to the argument between the two brothers.

But then another sky person sneaked up on Aonung, and, this time around, the metkayina didn't have the time to even look. It wasn't like he had another knife to throw, so Aonung pretty much felt the way his stomach dropped when both omatikayans looked at something behind him in horror.

Then there was the sound of a gunshot, just as Aonung was shoved.

It was as Ronal had said: Neteyam took a bullet for him.

It had barely missed his lungs, apparently. It was only a few inches away from becoming something critical and something irreversible.

Neteyam getting shot snapped Loak out of his stubbornness, and while the omatikayan helped Aonung move Neteyam to another room, the metkayina was hearing static. He was listening to what Loak told him to do - "Carry him to that room! Watch his head! Put pressure!" - yet he was also not listening.

Blood trickled out of the wound like it was never-ending, and it dawned on Aonung then that they really could die.

They got lucky that the nearest room to them was a 'medical room'. Loak started taking out boxes and bandages, reading the sky people's written language easily and yelling out instructions, while Aonung moved to oblige. He didn't think. All in his head was Loak's well-hidden panic behind his stern instructions, and the way Neteyam kept on making jokes and smiling like he wasn't just shot.

Aonung didn't even register much of what the boy had said. For a couple of times, Neteyam had tried to grab the metkayina's attention.

He cracked a lame joke like he wasn't bleeding onto the table. He put on a reassuring smile as if even smiling was not hard for him who was trying not to make it obvious that he was suppressing the grimaces and winces he felt. He gave Aonung a couple of encouraging and supportive pats, but they all felt weak.

Eventually, the omatikayan gave up trying to get a reaction out of Aonung.

When the bleeding had managed to be kept under control with bandages wrapped tightly around the wound, Loak told Aonung to watch after Neteyam, and that he would try to step out and try contacting his father through his throat comm. Aonung had nodded, then, as he watched Loak exit the door and stared at it quietly.

Then, Aonung heard Neteyam's drained voice whisper:

"Did I scare you?"

Despite the hollow feeling in his heart, Aonung felt something tingling at the tips of his fingers.

The omatikayan mistook Aonung's silence as an agreement, and snickered as if what was going on was funny. He ended up coughing once or twice, before he quipped cheekily, "You don't have to be scared. You saved my brother, and I saved you. We're watching each other's backs… hey, does this mean we're friends?"

Aonung turned to look at Neteyam.

He looked at the omatikayan, and, suddenly, he didn't feel so hollow anymore.

He felt pissed.

He strode to Neteyam, after having spent the past minutes standing by the door. Once he got to the omatikayan, he cupped his friend's jaw with a hand, accidentally rough enough that Neteyam winced, and spat right in front of his friend's face, widened golden eyes be damned.

"You're unbelievable, Neteyam."

They held each other's eye contact.

Unconsciously, Aonung's grip on his friend's chin tightened, and when Neteyam audibly winced and shuddered, the metkayina 'snapped out of it'. Enough so that the metkayina released his friend, but not enough for him to immediately apologise for being too 'rough'. He turned away from his friend, and didn't bother to say anything else.

The rest of their time together by themselves was spent with Aonung periodically checking the bandages and the wound, and no other words were exchanged between them.

They hadn't talked ever since then.

Aonung had been trying to coax himself to see the omatikayan. Eywa, if he was being honest with himself, he truly missed his friend. He missed seeing the omatikayan's smile. He missed hearing the omatikayan's voice, even if it was making a terrible joke or taunting him purposely just to rile him up. He missed watching the way the omatikayan's tail and ears would flick. He missed reaching out to touch just for the sake of touching while making up random and lame excuses. He missed staring at the way purple would blotch the omatikayan's face and sometimes the tips of his ears whenever Aonung got too close.

But whenever he caught glimpses of his wounded friend, he couldn't help but let himself walk away.

Let himself feel the anger he felt at the thought of Neteyam putting himself in danger for him. Let himself feel the frustration and helplessness he felt back on that demon ship, unable to do anything but make sure his friend didn't bleed to death. Let himself beat himself up for not being faster and for allowing Neteyam the chance to even throw himself at the bullet.

Guilt. It was what he felt most whenever he saw the bandage wrapped around Neteyam's chest.

It had been days, and he missed Neteyam, and he wasn't sure he hated Neteyam or himself more.

It sucked.

By the time Aonung had snapped out of his monologue, the monologue that he would find himself in whenever he remembered Neteyam taking a bullet for him, he realised he had walked to the hut he, Tsireya, and Rotxo used to frequent.

He thought of the couple of times he brought Neteyam here, and sighed. He facepalmed, ran his palm down his face, and felt a lot like wanting to strangle himself at the thought of Neteyam leaving.

Is Neteyam really going to leave?

He understood that it was for the Metkayina's good and safety, but were they really going to leave? It hadn't even been a year since the Sullys had arrived. (It hadn't even been that long since Aonung finally accepted his feelings for Neteyam.)

Suddenly overwhelmed with pure dejection, Aonung trudged to the hut, and then unceremoniously dropped himself onto the floor of it. The back ot his knees were pressed against the edge of the hut, his legs dangling, while he stared up at the roof of the hut and questioned his life's entire meaning.

He crossed his arms, put his hands over each other on his stomach, and kept on staring at the roof of the hut.

It was no use.

Try as he might, he was still absolutely crossed that Neteyam threw himself in front of a bullet for him.

Aonung didn't care that Neteyam did it because he was just watching his back. What he did care about was the fact that the omatikayan's first instinct when he saw a friend about to be shot was to sacrifice himself.

It could've gone worse. Neteyam could have died.

"He thinks everything is so funny," Aonung deadpanned out loud, to no one in particular, and merely for the sake of voicing his thoughts so he could hear them spoken. "What kind of idiot laughs after they're shot?" He added, eyes furrowed. "Stupid Neteyam.

Stupid Neteyam with his overbearing protectiveness. I'm not his sibling; he didn't have to throw his life away for mine. I'm literally his age. He didn't have to try to act like he's all tough and strong in front of me.

Couldn't he have just cried instead of cracking jokes? Couldn't he just focus on himself for once instead of focusing on the people around him? Bleeding to death, yet still trying to reassure his little brother by lightening up the mood with his awful jokes. Seriously, what an idiot.

The more I think about it, the more I'm pissed."

"Then be mad at me."

Aonung shot right out of his thoughts.

He sat upright, and, sure enough, Neteyam was standing there.

The metkayina's eyes immediately latched onto the omatikayan's bandages, lingering at where the bullet had lodged itself in his friend, and, all at once, all those feelings and emotions hit him. He gritted his teeth, clenched his hands, and curtly looked at his lap; trying to keep everything at bay as he questioned curtly: "What are you doing here?"

Neteyam's tail flicked. Irritated.

"What does it look like?" The omatikayan bit back, mirroring Aonung's own curt tone with one of his own.

Aonung inhaled sharply, before he stood up.

They quietly met each other's eyes. Equally fierce. Equally upset.

"Looks to me that you're disobeying orders," Aonung retorted, not missing the almost inaudible scoff Neteyam made at his words.

"What are you going to do about it?" Neteyam taunted, lips pursed in a challenging frown. "You're going to tattle to me dad? Or are you just going to keep on being a coward and not talk to me?"

The metkayina glared. "I'm not a coward."

"Yet here I am, standing here, disobeying orders of my dad and the tsahik, because you are too much of a coward to see me yourself," Neteyam countered, taking a step closer, before he took another. "Here I am, the one shot, looking for you.

What? Is your pride so wounded from me being shot that you can't bear to see me anymore?"

To Aonung's dismay, his head still found the time to quietly note the pretty way Neteyam's sanhi almost glimmered when he looked at the other boy. (The sky was gloomy; as if rain was to come.)

"It's not pride that is wounded," Aonung responded, clipped as he took another step. Like this, they were only an arm's length away from each other, and even as droplets of water did start falling from the sky, his eyes latched onto the way those very water droplets traced Neteyam's features - couldn't help but be envious of mere water that touched without hesitation.

"Then why?" Neteyam questioned, needing to tilt his face to meet the metkayina's eyes due to their difference in height. "Why won't you visit me?"

When Aonung remained quiet, Neteyam scoffed as if in disbelief, as if he truly thought that he did nothing wrong, and that caused something inside of the metkayina to snap.

So he abruptly grabbed Neteyam's bicep, pulled the other boy closer that their faces were mere inches from each other, and shouted over the sound of the pouring rain, their lips a mere breadth's away:

"Because I'm mad at you!"

Neteyam looked stunned for only a moment, gaze almost unnoticably flickering to Aonung's lips for just a moment, before he shot back, volume rising just as the sound of the pattering rain grew louder, "You have no reason to be mad at me!"

Aonung gripped his friend's bicep - disbelieving and growing increasingly frustrated.

"I have every reason to be mad at you!"

"Why?!"

"Because you got shot because of me!" Aonung finally told it to his friend's face. Neteyam's eyes had widened in response, lips trembling. Whether it was from the coldness of the rain or from Aonung's words, the metkayina wasn't sure. Nevertheless, Aonung kept on talking, "Because you could have died! Because, when you're bleeding to death right there in front of me, you treated me like I'm any of your siblings; like you have to maintain a brave face!

It pissed me off that you think you have to act strong with me!

Because I saw you trying so hard to accommodate others, when you literally have a bullet in your chest! Because-

Because I hate you!"

Thunder could be heard in the distance.

The two of them were getting soaked, and, at the sight of Neteyam's lips wobbling and the sight of those ears pinned back, eyes a touch hurt, Aonung's heart ached.

With the hand on Neteyam's bicep, Aonung's tone turned gentle when he murmured that they should seek shelter from the rain at the hut. While the omatikayan had complied, he still had that solemn look on his face.

Aonung took out some bandages and some shawls that could be used to dry them off that he had at the hut, and told Neteyam that he wanted to change the omatikayan's soaked bandages.

Silence stretched between them, but it was tense, just as there were still some unsaid words in the air. Something to be addressed.

Once the soaked bandages had come off, Aonung couldn't help but look.

On Neteyam's chest. A scar - caused by the bullet.

Itching to touch, Aonung reached out.

When his palm splayed over the scar, Neteyam made no move to scoot away. His only reaction to the sudden press of Aonung's palm was a sharp exhale. As if he was snapped out of his thoughts.

The metkayina recalled the hurt in those golden eyes, even if it had been for only a moment, and found himself softly admitting:

"I was mad, because I could've lost you."

Despite how he could feel Neteyam staring at him, Aonung kept his eyes on the scar on his friend's chest.

When a moment or two had passed, the metkayina grabbed for a shawl, and started drying off his friend; wiping the omatikayan's body off water droplets. "I was mad, because I couldn't have done anything if you had died then and there," Aonung admitted, his voice hushed, yet as if loud despite the rain still incessantly pouring.

The metkayina went to dry the omatikayan's braids, next. At least to the best he could. "I felt… helpless. Useless.

But… most of all…"

Aonung finally met Neteyam's eyes.

He left the shawl draped over Neteyam's head, in favour of tenderly cupping a side of the omatikayan's face and softly admitting:

"…I was scared."

He stared at the slope of Neteyam's nose. He stared at Neteyam's somewhat chapped and trembling lips. He stared at Neteyam's wet lashes from the rain. He stared at Neteyam's cheeks. He stared at those golden eyes, and he found himself spilling his heart out.

"I was scared. For you.

I was scared because it was my first time facing off against the sky people. I was scared because ot dawned on me when you were shot that we could've died in a blink. I was scared, I realised anything could have happened, and now…

And now, after you've recovered, you're going to leave."

Neteyam's eyes widened in surprise, but Aonung was much too caught up in his feelings to allow the omatikayan a chance to say his piece. "You had been so brave, 'Teyam. You have always been brave. But it really hit me to what extent your bravery is when you just… put others' lives before yours.

I hate that. I hate that about you.

But I think it's also the reason why it's so hard not to think about you all the time."

Before Aonung could continue rambling his feelings away, however, Neteyam suddenly reached out using both of his hands to cup Aonung's face.

The metkayina blinked a couple of times in confusion, and was just about to ask 'why?' when the omatikayan beat him to it.

"I came looking for you because I missed you."

Aonung processed his friend's words. (He wondered if the heat rising to his face would be obvious soon.)

"Not because you're mad at me?" The metkayina questioned. "Are you not mad at me for not visiting you?"

"Oh, I totally was," Neteyam affirmed, momentarily leaving Aonung confused before he clarified with a sheepish grin, "But now that you've explained yourself, I'm not mad anymore."

…

Aonung took a quick glance at Neteyam's tail, noticed that it was… pleased, before turning to look at the omatikayan in the eyes again. "…you're really not mad at me anymore?" He asked - just for confirmation.

"No. Not mad at you at all."

"But I didn't visit you for a few days straight…"

"Well, yes. Very skxawng of you. But your heartfelt admission of liking me so much has gotten you into my good graces again."

???

Wasn't this too easy-?

All of a sudden, Neteyam tugged Aonung's face closer, and then, with no warning whatsoever, pressed his lips on the skin between the metkayina's eyes.

When he retreated, he let go of Aonung's face, and casually started wrapping the bandage the metkayina had brought for him himself.

Aonung tried processing what had just happened without losing it entirely.

By the time he had snapped out of it, Neteyam had finished with his bandages.

The omatikayan met Aonung's presumably stunned and astonished eyes, and, somehow, found it fitting to fluster the metkayina more by shyly grinning and cheekily quipping:

"If it's not obvious enough: I also like and miss you too much to be mad at you for so long."

The rain continued to pour.

Neteyam scooted closer to Aonung casually, and leaned against the metkayina's side, resting his head on the other boy's shoulder.

Aonung wondered how he was still alive when Neteyam's tail casually wrapped itself around his waist.

Once the rain stopped pouring, the two of them headed back to the village.

Ronal was severely crossed when she heard that Neteyam did not comply with her advice - "Like mother, like son," she had grumbled - but the 15-year-old omatikayan boy's small smile did not falter through it all. In fact, once the tsahik had finished saying her piece, Neteyam asked for a moment or two of her time.

When she asked him to speak, Aonung felt like he had gotten a heart attack.

"Can I court your son, tsahik?"

Aonung wasn't sure what shocked him the most: Neteyam's shamelessness or Ronal's carefree answer.

"…as long as you can remain by his side through thick and thin, boy."

Shortly after that, Neteyam dragged Aonung to the Sullys' marui, and the metkayina was dragged into having dinner with the family.

Toruk Makto was squinting his eyes at Aonung the entire night, skeptical and presumably examining the younger Na'vi. Although, surprisingly, Aonung didn't find himself too intimidated.

Not when he was told that the Sullys wouldn't be leaving.

Not when Neteyam remained close to him the entire night.

"For love, we will climb mountains, cross seas, traverse desert sands, and endure untold hardships. Without love, mountains become unclimbable, seas uncrossable, deserts unbearable, and hardship our lot in life."