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High camp was raging with noise, children laughing and trampling eachother as there mothers and fathers muttered in na’vi in amusement.
The lab sat on the edge, still bursting with artificial light yet it was hidden in comparison to the woven maruis and bonfires.
Inside the lab, scientists worked carefully around specimens that had been collected throughout the past decade all the way up to the day before.
Spider was perched over a sink, his feet gripping the stool as he barely held on while he leant on the edge of it.
His hand had a compact razor in it. It was simple. Easy to use.
Spider carefully scraped it across his jaw, his mouth parted slightly for accuracy as he stared viciously at his reflection in the mirror to prioritize perfection.
The shaving foam stuck stubbornly to his chin once he finished up – wiping away the leftovers with water from his palms.
“hey cuz wanna go to the -.” Lo’ak suddenly barged into the room, the metal hinges creaked slightly from the sudden force upon opening.
“what are you doing?” he asked curiously as he stepped closer. Spider turned around, chucking the razor away and grasping at his face as he looked at lo’ak.
“shaving” he said as a matter of fact. He turned his face automatically. “what do you think?”
Lo’ak stared for a minute, he didn’t exactly see a difference but he didn’t want to bring him down. “it looks great…., so do all sky people do that?”
“what do you mean?” spider questioned, grateful that it ‘looked good’ but surprised at the oblivious question.
“like you know, do you all scrape your face?” lo’ak pushed on, genuinely curious why this tradition (in his eyes) was a thing.
“I don’t know, to look neat most guys don’t like it when theres hair there.” Spider had just realised he didn’t know why they did it, he just felt appropriate doing it as he had seen norm and max and other guys do it.
“I barely have any though, I just feel more grown up!” spider finished.
Lo’ak nodded in agreement as if t made sense and logically it did yet why would removing hair make you older? Either way it was enough for him.
“so you wanna go check out that big cave?” lo’ak continued from his first sentence.
Spider nodded quickly and followed after him, gripping the door handle and shutting it behind him as they sprinted down the corridors and ready to exit the building.
Eclipse approached cautiously towards the end of the day.
At some point spider and lo’ak had been joined by kiri and tuk and before they knew it they were all back at the lab.
“the cave was so pretty! All the plants were so big and glowy!!” tuk giggled as she layed on her back sprawled across kiri’s lap.
“yeahh it was great” lo’ak mumbled without looking up from the stone he was fiddling with.
At some point spider had wandered off to another room, something about putting his mask away or sorting something out they couldn’t remember.
Lo’ak abruptly stood. His hands clapped his knees as he pushed himself up.
He couldn’t stop thinking about spiders hair removal.
Would he be able to remove his eyebrows?
Neither kiri nor tuk cared more than looking and looking away, it was none of their business or their responsibility to watch him every second.
Lo’ak speedwalked down the corridor towards the bathroom he had saw spider in earlier that day.
He felt a sense of joy as he shut the door and locked it behind him, he didn’t know this technology to remove his facial hair was so simple or just existed to begin with.
He couldn’t exactly remember how spider did it alas he only walked in as he was finishing up.
The discarded razor sat in the bin to the left of the sink. It was plastic and red with a thin sharpened metal at the rectangular tip.
He carefully crouched down and picked it up with his thumb and index finger, turning it slightly to see if it got dirty during the time it was laying there.
It was lighter then what he expected but he didn’t care, he wanted it on his face and his eyebrows off.
He half kneeled – half crouched slightly until he was comfortable in front of the mirror and positioned enough to see his forehead.
He wasn’t aware to add any type of protection needed for his skin and just hoped it would be easy, so on those terms he braced to start. His eyes squeezing shut before the realisation he should look what he’s doing.
And with that he took the blade and pressed it flat to his skin at the base of one eyebrow.
He swiped.
The thickest part was stubbly now and some isolated hairs lingered at the ends, all was well for a couple seconds before a sharp sting spreading under his face.
Then the blood began to well through.
It wasn’t heavy flowing but enough to give him a panic.
A sharp gasp tore out him involuntarily as he grabbed for his eyebrow rapidly and saw the stained red across his palm.
Lo’ak grabbed some tissue from the toilet roll without looking, desperating prodding the dry , flakiness of the tissue at his eyebrow (or well, forehead)
It took a second but the bleeding stopped and he took a look at himself in the mirror.
The first though was why wasn’t spider bleeding? What had he done to prevent it?
But then he saw it.
The subtle hairs that were still there towards the ends and the rest of it gone.
His blue skin underneath was the slightest bit lighter than the rest of his face, a part of his body he had never seen.
His tail was swishing violently behind him from the adrenaline. But eventually slowed to a stop as he realised how it looked.
He expected to look more like neteyem or his mum but he just looked flat out stupid.
His eyes dropped at the ugliness he saw staring back at him. He hated it so much.
His whole life he had been bullied for his stupid human features, his extra finger and his eyebrows. It seemed right to remove at least one of them to appear more na’vi but it looked terrible.
he honestly felt like crying in shock but he wsnt a baby.
Okay. Okay. He breathed in manually through his nose and out of his mouth nice and deep like his dad had coached him to do during panic.
He thought for a second before realising what had to be done. I mean he had to shave the other one off – it would look ridiculous if not.
Luckily before he was about to go forward with it a word on a can on the shelf above him.
‘shaving cream’
He stood quickly and grabbed for it, fiddling with the object in confusion as he tried to figure out how to use it and what purpose it had.
Unexpectedly, white foam squirted onto his chest after he touched a weak point, clearly realsiing that’s how it worked.
Dropping the can with a loud clang, he spread the foam across his chest onto his finger and spread it across his remaining eyebrow and the other stumps of hairs.
A quick breath and then he swiped again.
Multiple times actually until he was certain it was gone.
Then he washed. Scrubbing vigorously at his face with the warm water until everything was gone and he just felt smooth warm skin.
When he looked in the reflection yet again it was even more stupid than before but theres no turning back now.
However he sort of liked it.
He looked so na’vi now it was almost exciting him how he looked and actually started to feel good about the final look.
Then all of a sudden he had ti stop admiring his work when he was intercepted by a loud shaking of the door handle and booming knock.
“lo’ak what are you doing in there? Dad is expecting us back at home!” kiri’s voice rung through the metal structure.
Lo’ak physically felt his breath stop for his second as he slowly turned as if he was awaiting to see he standing there with her arms crossed but to his fortune he remembers the lock he had engaged when he entered.
He had never felt gratefulness as fulfilling as that.
“lo’ak come onn” tuk whined after clearly impatient that he was taking so long.
Lo’ak instinctively grasped at the bareskin where his eyebrows used to be with the base of his palm even though no one was there looking.
“j-just go back! Ill catch up with you guys in a bit!” he strained his voice to a natural and calm manner to not raise suspicion.
Unfortunately, it was obvious that something had happened. Kiri raised her existent eyebrows and looked back at spider who was approaching from wherever he got off to earlier.
“whats going on?” he asked folding his arms as he came to a stop next to kiri and tuk.
“lo’aks not coming out of the bathroom and if he doesn’t then dad will be mad at all of us.” Kiri responded. The last part ‘if he doesn’t then dad will be mad at all of us’ louder to make sure the point was clear through the thick iron door.
Lo’ak rolled his eyes yet again pointless as there was no view but eventually realised there was no point hiding it. He didn’t wanna live isolated in a stuffy demon bathroom for the next 150 years.
“finally” tuk murmered as they heard the door unlock.
Kiri yanked the door wide open as soon as the lock disengaged and stood with her arms folded (as loak had suspected).
Lo’ak walked out quickly but stiffly, his head lowered nonchalantly so he looked casual yet still hiding his face.
Yes he liked how it looked but that self insecurity still was faintly there to the point he didn’t want to show any of the three standing there waiting for him.
Tuk ran to grab his tail and drag him along desperate to have dinner and get home and get into her hammock. sHe gripped the base of it and yanked it with her as she trodded on, “hurry up skxawng!”
The sudden grip made lo’aks head snap up to try and look and sadly for him everyone saw it.
After a moment of stunned silence a quick sharp laugh cut the air.
Kiri barked a laugh and almost choked on the sound. Internally she kept on thinking how ridiculous he looked but she was in so much sibling mockery type amusement that she couldn’t spawn any words.
Tuk then saw his face and started giggling instantly pointing at his face, “ what did you do you look so funny!” she laughed wheezily while still giggling.
Spider still hadn’t caught up, so he cautiously looked in the direction their eyes were going, and then he saw it and couldn’t help but hide his mouth with the back of his hand. The gesture was supposed to be polite at the fact that this was his friend however it was honestly hilarious.
Lo’ak looked between them laughing at him and raised a forearm to his forehead subconsciously and lowered his gaze simultaneous to his dropping ears.
They were all laughing at him.
His chest tightened painfully in embarrassment.
He thought he looked good did it not?
I mean it was weird to see on him but it wasn’t that bad, he thought it was cool
Although despite that the other had been laughing so maniacally that they hadn’t stopped for a breath. They were all matching and hunched over grasping their stomachs in a way that made lo’ak feel a typer of self conscious he had never felt from bullying before.
He turned quickly away towards the door muttering, “lets just go, bye spider.” And sealed the airlock on his own not giving them a chance to follow directly after him.
He allowed himself to whimper slightly holding back tears which made him feel like a pathetic child and shoved it down his throat before storming back to their family’s marui effeciantly fast to avoid giving anyone a good glance.
Behind him kiri and tuk had followed still laughing but wary now due to his sudden anger and didn’t dare get too close.
In the marui neteyem was stripping some scales of a fish with verbal assistance from his dad crouched beside him.
Neytiri was stirring a dense stone pot with a rounded, wooden stick. There was some sort of mashed fruit that had formed a magenta paste after all the crushing.
Lo’ak entered in a hurry, shoving the fabric entrance aside and heading straight to his hammock towards the back corner. He strategically angled his head to a side where no one was to prevent making them see his face.
“how was that err…, cave was it?” jake said looking up to see lo’ak drop face down into his hammock.
When no response came neteyem and Neytiri looked toward him too but didn’t push and assumed he was just feeling down.
“wheres kiri and tuk?” neteyem asked coolly to try and keep the attempted start of the conversation going.
He didn’t intend on answering but he didn’t need to as they arrived not long after still smiling cheekily but the sound of laughter had muffled against closed lips.
“dad Its so funny have you seen!” tuk exclaimed crashing into jakes chest smiling up at him chuckling.
“whats funny?” he asked curiously trying to engage in whatever she was talking about.
Tuk laughed even harder and pointed at lo’ak who was faced away from everyone in his hammock.
Neteyem and Neytiri exchanged a confused glance as they unwillingly overheard the conversation between them.
Lo’ak groaned slightly under the stares from everyone in the room and laughing from his sisters.
Jake automatically went to anger, expecting loak to have done something terrible that somehow had been funny to tuk, “boy what did you do now?” he asked harshly and settled tuk onto his thigh to even out her weight.
“nothing.” He stammered urgently.
Tuk laughed harder and decided it was about time to announce it herself. “his eyebrows disappeared!”
Jake froze for a second before realising what lo’ak had done.
He stood up quickly and transferred tuk over to Neytiri who looked confused at the statement. “what do you mean ma’ite?”
“he came out of the lab room with no hair on them” she laughing back in her face clearly pleased with the reaction she got from her announcement.
Jake walked over to his hammock and gave him a warning, “lo’ak look at me.” He said firmly, not asking.
He didn’t get a response from him and turned him over by the shoulder, lo’ak resisted before his face was revealed.
His eyes were slightly red possibly from crying yet unnoticeable unless you looked really closely -much like jake was. But he didn’t comment.
His eyes drifted straight to his son’s eyebrows, or where they would be.
“what the hell did you do to your face?” jake demanded close enough that lo’ak could feel his hot breath.
Lo’ak sat up.
“its not that big of a deal, I just didn’t need them.”he tried to reply casually, and trying to push by his dad but was seized by a long blue arm of his fathers.
Upon sitting up it had become a clear view to Neytiri and neteyem what he had done. Yes he looked bizarre, but they held back a laugh purely for how miserable he looked.
“it is a big deal! its part of who you are and whats this?” jake shot back signaling towards some red stains on the light blue skin where his eyebrows used to be. “is that blood?”
Lo’ak licked his finger promptly and rubbed at it in hopes it will disappear, “I cut it by accident okay?”
Jake looked at him bewildered, trying to process the fact that he had secretly removed part of his human dna (even if it will grow back but the point stood), that he had bled upon doing so and that his son, his son who refused to show any type of sadness other than implicit deflection, genuinely looked upset about it.
“what the hell did you use to end up with that?” jake tried quieter.
“just a blade I saw spider using, why do you care its not your face!” he yelled at his dad finally breaking the armed barrier and sitting down near the food with his head down.
Kiri and tuk had stopped laughing now but still couldn’t look at him directly in the eye, or even at his face.
“I care because its part of you, why would you want to remove that?” jake pushed yet again.
Lo’ak did not respond nor look up, just peeled back at a yovo fruit in his lap.
Keeping his hands busy and had a bonus of being able to use it as an excuse to look down.
“ma’itan, you are beautiful the way you are,” Neytiri cooed, cupping his face with one hand. Her voice softened at the edge but kept it stable so that he understood what she was saying.
Jake came from behind him, crouching so his mouth was level with lo’ak’s ear. Lo’ak was bracing for a lecture, he didn’t exactly enjoy when his lectures were positioned like this but at least he didn’t have to look towards his dad.
“kid..” jake started but stopped tenderly as he realised he didn’t know how to finish. Yet he continued anyway, dragging a hand down his face. “you don’t need to get rid of your eyebrows to feel ‘normal’ okay?”
Lo’ak nodded stiffly trying to get it over with, and as weird as it felt, he felt comfortable and warm from the reassurance his dad had given.
“you are fine the way you are baby bro!” neteyem assured gripping his brother’s shoulders.
Lo’ak smiled slightly but it was enough for everybody to see, and that cleared any tension in the room.
“you do look really funny though!” tuk giggled, earning a playful shove from lo’ak that just made her laugh harder.