Chapter Text
"Wooohooo!"
Jumping off the high cliff at full speed does Aonung perform a clean front flip for his cheering friends, sailing through the air for a short moment, feeling the wonder sense of freedom he always does cliff jumping. Before Aonung quickly tenses up just right, his feet hitting the surface of the sea only a second after. Diving deep down into the waters from the long plunge above, Aonung swiftly pulls his feet up to keep them hitting the stones underneath.
Watching the fish around him hurrying away does Aonung smile before pushing up towards the surface again.
Shaking his hair out does he look up to his friends whooping at him from up the cliffside and Aonung grins as Neteyam stares after him with big eyes.
"You said you'd follow!" Aonung shouts up at him seeing Neteyam shake his head and he laughs at his friend. Watching as the others standing all the way up the cliff try to hype him up to jump.
He never would've guessed that Neteyam wouldn't immediately jump down after him. But it seems he needs a little more encouragement.
Pushing himself a bit further away to give Neteyam enough room to dive in does Aonung suddenly hear his friends voices sound through the air, calling Neteyams name.
And he looks back up to see the oldest Sully run up and jump high.
Raising his arms in cheer does Aonung watch as Neteyam sails through the air down to him letting out a petrified yell and he cringes as his friend hits the surface hard with the bottom of his feet. And Aonung looks down to watch as Neteyam swirls around before orientating and quickly pulling himself up to the surface.
"You good?" Aonung calls out to him, swimming over and he watches Neteyam wipe his face as he turns to him. "That was fun! Scary as fuck. But fun." his friend calls back grinning widely and Aonung pulls him into his arms, swimming away with him, letting Neteyam just rest while he brings them to shore. Standing up does Aonung hold his hand out to Neteyam as well but he stands up without seeing it.
Hearing loud screams behind them does Aonung turn around grinning, watching one of his friends plunge into the water before he hops to catch up to Neteyam already on his way back up.
"Are you nervous again? You just jumped." Aonung grins, bumping Neteyams shoulder with his as his friend pouts at him angrily "It's scary. Shut up."
"Wanna hold my hand?" Aonung jokes, holding his hand out when Neteyam actually grabs onto it, squeezing tightly. "Oh. Ok." Aonung smiles, his heart beating a bit faster as he feels Neteyams warm hand in his, giving it a squeeze back as he pulls him up to the cliffside.
"Ready?"
"No." Neteyam replies looking down again and Aonung exclaims "I will pull you with me wether you like it or not. So you better jump."
"Ok, but... give me a moment." Neteyam speaks as Aonung already steps back to run up, pulling him along.
"Nope, we are going now."
"No, no wait!"
"Neteyam, I'm going."
"Nung-"
"Now!"
And Aonung runs, pulling Neteyam along as the Sully boy yells at him but jumps alongside him. And they fall down together, hands interlocked, screaming, happy and freaked out. A sense of freedom overcoming Aonung like always when he jumps off that cliff.
Before hitting the water again. Surrounded by bubbles does Aonung pulls his feet up as he lets himself float. Letting go off Neteyams hand as he feels his friend pull away upwards. Staying under for a moment, watching the sun break at the surface above, seeing the dark shadow of his friend making it up to it.
When Aonung hears a painfilled scream, muffled by the water.
Quickly pushing himself up does Aonung see Neteyam holding himself up above water with hectic movements, his breath fast as he cries out in pain.
"Teyam!" Aonung calls, swimming up to him, hooking his arm under Neteyams as his friend just wraps his own around his shoulders desperately yelling out "Fuck! It hurts!"
"What? What does?" Aonung asks, feeling himself panicking as Neteyam seems to he in a lot of pain.
"My foot. My leg!" Neteyam heaves, sobs interrupting his voice.
"Alright. Ok. Breathe. I'll get you out." Aonung speaks, pulling Neteyam onto his back, holding his arm tightly as he makes his way over towards the beachside with strong strokes off his arms.
Carefully helping Neteyam to sit down on the shore does his friend just let his leg stretched out, blinking rapidly as he takes labour breathes. Watching him a moment does Aonung then asks "Can you walk?" as he squats beside Neteyam. Seeing his friend nod at that and Aonung breathes out. Maybe it was just the shook.
"Can you help me up?" Neteyam questions quietly but Aonung already stands behind him, hocking his arms under Neteyams armpit "Three, two, one." and lifts him up onto his good foot. Making sure to keep him steady does Aonung place an arm around Neteyams waist, as his friend tries to take a step only to scream out in pain again, falling in on himself as he holds his calf.
"Yeah, you can walk for sure." Aonung exclaims and he just places his arm underneath Neteyams knees lifting him off the ground. Watching as big tears roll out of his friends eyes at the pain, trying to stop them but failing. Not even complaining that Aonung picked him up, but wrapping his arms around his shoulders instead.
But Neteyam is surprisingly heavy for his slim figure so Aonung carefully fixes his hold to make sure he won't fall.
Carrying him out of the shallow water does Aonung tell his friend who came rushing down the hill towards them, having heard Neteyams scream.
"I'll bring him to my mother." Aonug exclaims loudly, taking notice in how differently they look at him. Most worried but some almost jealous of how he holds Neteyam. Only rolling his eyes at them does Aonung not pay them any more mind as he turns and makes his way back to the clan.
"Mama!" he calls out as they come up to the pier and Aonung sees everyone turning and staring at him holding a crying Neteyam in his arm. Shooked does Ronal hurry over, her eyes wide as she asks with worry in her voice "What happened?"
"We were cliff jumping and Neteyam came up screaming in pain. He hit one of the stones." Aonung explains quickly seeing his mothers judging gaze, knowing she doesn't approve off their cliff jumping.
Ignoring it does he just continue "He yelled about his leg. I think the right one." Aonung remembers Neteyam standing up on his left and he sees his mother already looking at it. All the while does Neteyam still have his face burried in his neck, Aonung can feel the tears wetting his shoulder. He must be in a lot off pain.
"Come, we will go in the healers tent. You can put him down there so I can take a better look." Ronal exclaims and walks ahead, Aonung following, but he has to admit that Neteyam got quite heavy. Biting the inside off his cheek does Aonung pull through on their way over to the healers tent and he takes a break to steady before gently setting his friend down onto the padded floor, watching how Neteyam winces and bites his lip to refrain from making any noices. Sitting down beside him does Aonung offer his hand to him watching Neteyam smile but shake his head.
"Alright, let me have a look." Ronal exclaims already coming over and kneeling down beside Neteyams foot which has grown almost twice in size and is sporting a dark purple colour. Oh fuck.
Watching how Neteyams makes a face every single time Ronal so much as brushes it, does it not take long for his friend to reach for his hand to squeeze tightly. Staying with him through Tsahìks examination does Aonung gently stroke his thumb over the back of Neteyams hand. How rough Neteyams hand still is from all the climbing. Having taken him and Tsireya and Rotxo once to try and climb the big rocks of the three brothers did the three of them quickly had to give up as the Sullys were way ahead of them. They compromised on flying up after that, although Aonung wasn't too keen on sitting on he back of Neteyams ikran. But he had to admit it was a very pretty view they had up there on the top of the biggest of the rocks.
"That feels broken. Your bone isn't sitting right I have to reset it now before it settles in a wrong angle." Ronal speaks up pulling Aonung from his thoughts and he looks over to see his mother throws a questioning gaze at Neteyam who breathes out and answers "Yeah, ok." before he goes to lay down his hand squeezing Aonung tighter as Ronal takes her position. Staring at Neteyams face instead does Aonung hold tightly onto his friends hand as he listens to the scream Neteyam lets out.
"You will need lots of rest. No swimming, no pressure on your foot, try to keep it high when sitting down. And no touching the needles!" Ronal instructs Neteyam after she pushed the healing needles into his ankle to keep the swelling at bay and the bone set right, before bandaging his foot tightly to keep both the foot and needles from moving. "Yeah. Thank you Tsahìk." Neteyam mumbles, still holding his hand to his forehead exhausted after the work Ronal has done to his ankle.
"Oh please Neteyam. You can call me Ronal with how close you and Aonung are." Ronal chuckles softly and Aonung smiles to himself. His mother is right tho. After everything went down with the sky people and after the long, long wait of Neteyams recovery, having spend it far away in some human laboratory hooked onto machines if Aonung remembered it right what Kiri told about did they grew quite close.
It was during the time Neteyam spend away that he realised how much he liked the forest boy. Spending time with him, having him around. His laugh, his smile. His kindness. Still to this day is Aonung unsure just how much he actually liked Neteyam.
He had crushes before. On both girls and boys. But never over something as just... enjoing hanging out with them. Most times it was a short period of attraction, where Aonung just liked staring at his crush, maybe go and make out with them, hold hands, sit together, and then it fades away again. Quite quickly at times.
But with Neteyam he finds himself simply looking forward to hanging out with him. But different then his friends. Not just looking forward but wanting to see him. Already when he walks home after spending the entire day with him did Aonung wish for it to be the next day so he could see Neteyam again.
"I will go and get your parents. As well as a crutch so you can still get around." Ronal speaks to Neteyam and Aonung watches his friend nod at her before Ronal leaves the tent again.
And them alone with it.
"How bad is it?" Aonung finds himself asking, staring at the contraption his mother build around Neteyams ankle and foot, seeing where the needles are poking out and he shudders thinking about the fact they are pushed deeply into Neteyams tissue.
"Better now. But it's throbbing. I'm afraid it will take a while." Neteyam sighs as he lets his head fall to the side to look at him. Staring back does Aonung mumble "I feel a little guilty. I pulled you down with me-"
"Stop. You couldn't have forseen that. I didn't pull my feet in like you told me to either. Its fine Nung. Promise." Neteyam smiles and Aonung pulls a face at him as he sighs "Still."
"It will be fine. Just some calm weeks. I have some experience with those." Neteyam jokes but Aonung quickly shakes his head "Don't even joke about that! I couldn't sleep for weeks because of it. It was horrible."
"Aw. You are so sweet. You really changed you know." Neteyam mumbles and Aonung can see that his mothers pain medication is kicking in as Neteyam starts to slur his words a little, his hand reaching up to pat Aonungs shoulder but missing completely and stroking his fingers over Aonungs chest instead. Gently catching them does Aonung hold onto Neteyams hand then and just stays beside him as his friends eyes grow droopy and he just stares blankly ahead.
Making his way over towards the Sullys marui with a small basket filled with games to play sitting does Aonung hurry in his way. Greeting Neteyams parents with a wide smile, does Aonung walk through towards the backside of the marui, where he finds Kiri and Tuk swinging back and forth in one of their hammocks, Kiri crocheting something while Tuk watches her fascinated. And he sees Neteyam laying in his hammock next to them just watching his sisters with a smile.
Looking up from her craft does Kiri greet him first "Oh hey Aonung."
"Hey. How are you."
"Fine, we thought we would taking a day off and just relax. Right?" gently nudging Tuk does the little girl nod while rubbing her eyes. If Aonung is not mistaken did Rotxo and Kiri take Tuk out of the reefs yesterday, out into the open ocean for the very first time. But he knows how exhausting the waters can be even if they are not too turbulent.
"Did you have fun yesterday?" Aonung asks Tuk then seeing her smile at him "Yeah. A lot. I love riding." her voice only a mumble does Aonung chuckle slight before he turns further towards Neteyam, already seeing his friend watch him with a smile.
"Hey you. How are you doing today?" he asks, setting the basket down before stepping up to him seeing Neteyam adjust himself to be a little higher "Mostly fine. It still hurts a lot. And I can't walk, it's... I can't remember the last time my parents had to help me to the toilet. But here we are." nodding at Neteyams words, does Aonung surpress a chuckle but he can imagine it is frustrating to be immobilized.
"What did you bring?" his friend then turns his attention and Aonung steps back to his basket as he explains "Oh, well I just thought if you are now stationary, maybe we could just play a few games where you don't have to move."
"Oh that sound nice." Neteyam exclaims happily smiling as Aonung squats down to pull a few games out explaining some to Neteyam, earning the girls attention as well.
"Oh hey! What are you doing here." turning at the sound of his sisters voice does Aonung watch as the rest of the gang comes marching in "Just wanted to see how Neteyam is doing. And if he wants some company." Aonung smiles at his friend seeing him scrunch his nose at him while mirroring his smile.
"What is that bag for?" Kiri asks and before Aonung can even start has his sister grabbed it from him speaking excitedly "Its a party game! In the bag are differently coloured seaglass and we use this tooth-" grabbing the akula tooth from the basket "-to take turns. We spin it and who it lands on has to pull a shard. And then has to do what the shard wants. Usually we pick stuff out for the coloursbefore we start the game, which makes it so fun cause it is a completely different game each time. It can be a lot of athletic stuff or poetic. We can also not assign a specific task to them but rather just for example if you pull purple-" finding the purple shard does Tsireya show it to the Sullys "-you have to answer a question truthfully. Stuff like that. Basically you just assign some funny things to each colour and then whatever you pull you have to do."
"Admittedly it is usually played as a drinking game, with options like taking an item of clothing off or kissing and such. But we can just choose whatever." Aonung speaks up as well, when he sees Kiris intrigued gaze.
"Should we play?" Tsireya asks excitedly as she already pours the glass shard onto the ground, seperating them.
"Sure."
"Yeah, why not." Neteyam smiles as he very carefully pushes himself up and lift shis legs over the side of his hammock coming into a seated position.
"What colour should mean what then?" Tsoreya asks, holding up the turquoise and orange shard of glasses.
"How about eating something spicy for orange?" Tuk speaks first and Tsireya nods already letting it fall back into the bag.
"I think we have some spices around." Lo'ak exclaims standing up to go look for it.
"What about a dive in the ocean for turquoise?" Rotxo asks and Aonung sees everyone nodding before he asks "And Neteyam?"
"Oh shit. Ehm." scratching his neck does Rotxo think but Neteyam interrupts "I can just pull again if I get turquoise. It's fine. How about just answering a question for... yellow."
"For the sake to make it interesting how about a secret for pink?" Kiri grins and Aonung watches his sister letting the pink shard fall into the bag without complaining of the others.
"How about holding hands with the next person you spin on until its eithers turn again." Rotxo exclaims and Tsireya picks up the purple shard letting it fall in.
"Uh how about an animal impression." Tuk grins and Kiri adds "And the other have to guess."
"Great. How about brown?" Tsireya smiles letting the brown shard fall in.
Quickly finding some more ideas for the other shard have they got a full bag in the end and Lo'ak places the red peppers in the middle.
"Last one. What about red?" Tsireya asks holding the red shard up and everyone start to think about ideas, but Aonung has to admit he ran out of child friendly ideas.
"How about just kiss the red one. Doesn't have to be in the mouth, given that we are mostly siblings here, but the cheek. Or forehead or something." Tsireya speaks and Aonung is about to protest when Kiri shrugs "Yeah why not."
"Alright. Then. Let me mix them up." Tsireya grins moving the bag softly before placing the large tooth on the floor and spins it.
Waiting as it turns and slows does Aonung see it land on Rotxo who already holds his hand out for Reya to hold the bag out to him.
And he moves his hand around before picking a shard pulling it up to reveal a purple colour.
"That was holding hands right?" he asks seeing Tsireya nod "Yes, spin again and see who with."
Spinning the tooth around does Rotxo smile as it slows and lands on Tuk who excitedly jumps up and over to him holding her hand out.
Laughing at her enthusiasm does Rotxo take it and Tuk takes a seat next to him.
"Alright Tuk who needs to pull next?" Tsireya exclaims with a bright smile and the little Sully girl goes and spins the tooth again.
"Of course." Lo'ak groans as he holds out a turqoise shard as his first one and he sighs as he lets it fall back in and speaks "Be right back." while the rest of the gang just laughs at him leaving and returning back to them fully wet. "Oh Lo'ak, you could've shaken out." Neteyam calls out ashe stares at his dripping brother, all the while Kiri just exclaims an "Mum is gonna kill you."
Letting her hand swirl through the bag does Tsireya grab one and holds it out "Oh an animal impression." she grins before thinking for a moment and then kneeling up, clearing her throat and doing her best to mime. The back of her hands on her hips, while her elbows point out to her sides does Tsireya move gracefully through the room and before Aonung can respond has Kiri already called out "Txampaysye!"
"Yes!" Tsireya giggles and claps her hand for her friend.
"Come on now brother. Pull your treat!" Tsireya grins holding the bag out to Aonung who just rolls his eyes and pulls a shard, holding the yellow up speaking "A question my friends. What do you want to know." looking around his friends who all quickly get to thinking. Grabbing a piece of fruit Kiri left to get them some snacks does he pop it in when Tuk asks "Have you kissed anyone yet?" and he turns to look at the little girl grinning at him. "Tuk." Neteyam exclaims in disbelieve but Aonung just chuckles as his friends all turn to him. "Yes I have." he just replies then and watches as the Kiri and Lo'ak nod their heads. "Really? Will you become mated to that person?" Tuk asks curiously and Aonung just rolls his eyes "No, I probably wont."
"Why did you kiss them then?"
"Because I wanted to."
"You can do that?"
"No, you can't!" Neteyam speaks before Aonung can and Tuk just huffs as she sits back down, still holding tightly onto Rotxo hand.
Pulling a shard out does Kiri hold it out and exclaims "Oh, red!" as she wiggles her shoulders "Who do I gotta kiss." already grabbing the bottle to spin, watching it slow down and land on Tsireya, who squeals happily before pushing up onto her knees and opening her arms. Ignoring Lo'ak protesting gesture does Kiri push past him and gently grab ahold off Tsireyas arms, letting Reya cup her face as the two girls share a soft peek on the lips with each other unbothered.
"Oh me again?" Rotxo asks as he lets go off Tuks hand who shakes it out, earning a confused gaze of Rotxo "You have warm hands." the little girl speaks and Aonung chuckles alongside Neteyam, while Rotxo pulls an orange shard. "Oh. How is your spice tolerance?" Lo'ak asks and Rotxo shakes his hand "Ok? Not that great. But here goes nothing." as he pops one of the peppers in to which all of the Sullys jerk and stare at him as Rotxo chews "What?" Aonung asks to his right and sees Neteyams horrified gaze "We usually just take a small bite. It is really, really spicy."
And on cue does Rotxo let his tongue hang out as he makes some painfilled noices.
"I'll get you some milk!" Tuk tells, jumping to her feet and running over to get the poor man some relief as Rotxo spit the rest of the pepper out again, breathing out.
"Alright, gimme." Kiri speaks as the tooth land on her again and Tsireya lets her swirl her hand aorund the bag a few times before pulling a pink shard out.
"Uhhh, a secret." Tsireya grin as she wiggles her eyesbrows.
"Alright. Uhm..." thinking for a while does Kiri tell "Ok. This is more for my brothers." and Aonung watches Lo'ak and Neteyam sit up a bit further, intrigued "Do you remember, when we were little, and Dads 'tablet' broke?"
"Yes, he yelled at us for it."
"Don't say."
"Yeah, I told him it was you. But it was me."
"You fucker!"
"Lo'ak!"
"No, she let us take the blame for that. I had to clean up ikran shit for a month!"
Listening to Lo'ak and Kiri bicker a bit longer while Neteyam tries to get them to stop does Aonung just laugh to himself.
"Yeah my turn!" Tuk exclaim happily as she goes and takes her pick, pulling out a brown shard "An aninal impression!" Tsireya grins at her and Tuk smiles brightly as she lets the shard fall back in and thinks.
"Okay, here goes!" she exclaims and starts moving through the room in a manner Aonung cannot place.
But it seems Neteyam can as his friend gasps and gently hits his forehead thinking, before he speaks "A Fwampop?"
"Yay!" Tuk laughs as she hops over to her brother and hugs him. "Dafuq is that?" Aonung asks seeing Neteyam throw him a warning gaze and he quickly blinks in apology.
"They live in the hometrees of the clans back at the forest. Unfortunately we only ever met them when we flew to visit other clans as our base was high in the air. But they are cute. Quite tiny but very cute." Neteyam exclaims and Aonung nods at him, watching Neteyam lift his sister onto his lap.
"Alright, what do I gotta do next. I swear if it is turqoise agai..." letting his head fall back does Aonung laugh at Lo'ak maliciously as the younger Sully thrown the turquoise shard back and leaves to dunk himself again, as Tsireya watches after him with an emphatic gaze.
And this time Lo'ak seems to have shaken most of the water off before coming back in and sitting down again.
Doing quite a lot of rounds, laughing and joking together, do all of them forget about the time before Rotxo comes back in from having to dunk himself exclaiming "You guys realize it is dark outside."
"Really?"
"Yeah." Rotxo chuckles as he had all of them turn towards him in shook.
"Alright, give me the last one then." Neteyam grins as Tsireya walks over to him, after the tooth landed on Neteyam and lets him pull his shard. And Aonung watches as his crush pulls a red shard out of the bag sighing softly.
"Oh, what a great last task." Tsireya giggles as she takes the shard back and Neteyam speaks "Can someone spin for me."
"Sure." Rotxo smiles as he goes and turns the bottle around. With a loudly beating heart does Aonung watch it spin and spin and spin. Unsure if he wants it to land on him or not. Depending on what Neteyam would do anyways.
When he watches the bottle slow down and come to a stop pointing towards him. Staring at it a moment does Aonung force himself to remain calm as he looks over to Neteyam seeing him smile at him.
"Can you come to me?" Neteyam then asks with a grin and Aonung jerks up "Oh, sure, yeah." hurrying to stand up. Catching himself does he try to play it off, unsure if he managed, knowing how well both Tsireya and Rotxo can read him. And he steps over to Neteyam, waiting to let him decide when his crush already cups his face gently in his hands and pull him down towards his face. Moving with him does Aonung gently lean his head to he side for their noses to be out of the way and he actually closes his eyes for a split second as Neteyam pulls him down for a proper kiss on the lips. Lasting only two seconds it felt like hours to Aonung. And he tries not to show how hard his heart is beating in his chest as he moves back sharing a soft smile with Neteyam who grins at him. Thankful to hear his sister exclaim "That was so much fun." pulling him around to face her and Aonung tries to concentrate as Tsireya speaks a few words with the Sullys, hearing them laugh. Actually he only hears Neteyam as his voice sounds like honey in his ears and Aonung fears that everyone can hear his heart beating. When his gaze catches onto Rotxos and he watches his friends amused smile which lets him know that Rotxo knows. Fuck.
Wishing the Sullys a goodnight do they leave the games Aonung brought with them before they wish Jake and Neytiri a goodnight as well, seeing their friends parents sitting in the front room.
And the three make their way back to Rotxos first, neither speaking a word and Aonung begs Rotxo lets it go.
But of course "So, Neteyam huh?"
Groaning does Aonung jump a few steps ahead and cross his arms when he listens to his sister and best friend talk "Huh? What do you mean Neteyam?"
"Your brother has a crush."
"No! Really?" hearing that Tsireya spoke to him does Aonung ignore her.
"Mhm. I just watched him blush after the kiss."
"Aww! You're a big softy!"
Feeling his sisters hand grab his arm to pull him back do the two reappear at his side and Aonung stares at the ground as they continue walking.
"Since when?"
"...a while." Aonung mumbles and feels Rotxo place an arm around his shoulder while Tsireya gasps quietly.
"It's just crush. It will pass." Aonung speaks then, absolutely unsure of himself and he holds a finger out to his sister "Do not dare to even hint at this to our parents. I do not need to hear mamas lecture about crushing on a Sully."
"Oh come on she won't mind."
"Really? Well good that you think that."
"Why? What, did she say anything?"
"About you and Lo'ak? A lot." Aonung speaks, remembering all of the times their mother vented to him about her disappointment, anger, annoyances and so much more that Tsireya fell for Lo'ak.
And he watches his sisters face fall, asking a quiet "Really?"
"Yes. You don't actually think she would be happy about it?"
"Well no, but... I thought it would be fine. I'm happy."
"Yes. That is the only reason she hasn't said anything." Aonung tells Tsireya then and he sees his sister stare back at him shooked as they continue their way in silence.
Just staring up at the roof above his bed does Aonung lay awake, still thinking about the short, soft, sweet kiss with Neteyam. Unsure if he can even call it a kiss it had been so short. But Neteyam had pulled him in hard. Softly touching his lips Aonung can feel them tingling. Remembering how soft Neteyams lips had felt.
Groaning does Aonung rub his hands over his face as he doesn't want to admit how much he is in love with that kind and compassionate man. How can anyone be so freaking perfekt anyway. A kind person, a good listener, calm if needed, a great brother, a proud son, sweet, strong and intelligent.
And he smells so freaking good, that it makes Aonung head all woozy every single time they hug. It made Aonung hold him longer then necessary more then once but Neteyam has never called him out on it. He just held him until Aonung was ready to let go.
Turning onto his side does Aonung stare out his window, watching where the stars are sparkling in the far away distance. What might his parents say about his crush? He remembers very well how his mother and him talked about Lo'ak, even though for different reasons. Funnily enough it brought them closer together again. But now it gives Aonung a stomach ache just thinking about telling his mother his feeling for Neteyam. Knowing for sure that she will be disappointed. Even if she has arranged herself with the Sullys staying, being part of the clan. Even tho most people have started to like them actually. Now that Lo'ak has started his rite of passage together with Payakan, which had been a whole nother issue in itself. But they have overcome all of it after fighting the sky people out of their reefs, out of their home. Kiri has also found herself a spirit sister which had not taken very long as one of the oldest and wisest Tulkuns had followed her around the next time the Tulkuns visited and Kiri has stared her rite as well. Tuk is getting better and better at swimming and diving.
And even though Neteyam is not as skilled as his sibling in the water has he always made a point to find himself useful and Ronal has quickly realized of his calm and composed nature, which allowed him to diffuse situations where Aonung would have already lost his temper. And she is fully set on making him become an ambassador, to handle difficult decisions and issues for the relations with the other clans. Which Neteyam doesn't yet know given that he only just really recovered and gotten back into training. But Aonung knows Ronal and his father have already talked at length about it and agreed upon it.
So there is the teeniest, tiniest chance that his mother might actually not mind his crush. Which is not a crush anymore but Aonung is full on in love. He just has to finally admit it to himself.
And so does Aonung spend his next days always walking over to the Sullys marui to hang out with Neteyam. Bringing games, food, creative activities does he try to help his crush pass the boring time. Most times alone. Because most times Neteyams siblings would actually not be staying home and so it would just be the two of them hanging out, playing games or just talking. Not that Aonung minded, not at all actually.
Like today, where they sit next to each other on Neteyams hammock softly swinging back and forth. Having contemplated to go outside have they quickly let go of the idea when the day started and a cold front hit the reef, leaving most people to stay out of the wind today, either inside their homes or in the water, which is warmer then the air today. And so the two young men just stayed inside, talking, telling stories, exchanging gossip and joking around.
"Lo'ak tried to ride on Nari yesterday, he was in a really bad mood when he came home." Neteyam tells and Aonung chuckles as he nods remembering how his sister came home "I know, Tsireya came to dinner and the first thing she did was sigh. It didn't go over to well it seems."
"No. Which is surprising, Lo'ak has been doing so well,."
"Yeah, but Nari isn't easy to ride. He and Sre are the fastest ilus around, they can almost keep up with the tsuraks underwater. He will have to train with him if he wants a chance at taiming a tsurak." Aonung exclaims seeing Neteyam nod at his words, remembering how they had the same conversation, when they talked about Neteyam trying to tame a tsurak. And Aonung definitely plans on taking Neteyam out to ride on Nari and Sre at some point. Although he will have Neteyam ride Sre first, even so the she is faster then Nari does she have an easier demeanor to ride then Nari.
"I hope Tsireya manages to get him back on another ilu today. My brother can be easily discouraged." Neteyam sighs, leaning back into the hammock as Aonug replies "I'm sure she will. And if not I can go and try to help too."
"Really? You would help Lo'ak train for his iknimaya?"
Shrugging as Neteyam giggles at him does Aonung reply "I don't hate him. We just... aren't best of friends. But yeah, if he wants. I can try and do my best."
"Was it scary?"
"Hm?"
"Going out into the water, taming a tsurak?" Neteyam asks in a quiet voice, even if they already have spoken about Aonungs iknimaya after he passed, does Aonung repeat himself "Yeah. Of course it was. It is a thrill, you remember your own iknimaya, don't you. But... the adrenaline actually helped me a lot. Kept me focused. You just cannot get discouraged if you get thrown of the first time, I think that might become Lo'aks biggest problem."
"Yeah..."
Looking over as Neteyam does not stop moving around next to him does Aonung furrow his brow asking "Are you alright?"
"Yeah... just a bit cold." Neteyam mumbles as he already rubs his hands together again and Aonung reaches over to feel his hands. Only to keep holding onto the ice cold hands of Neteyams, staring at his friend shooked.
"What the fuck. You are ice cold." he exclaims horrified, seeing Neteyam stare back at him equally confused it seems "You are so warm."
Carefully sitting up on the hammock does Aonung take both Neteyams hands in between his own and just hold them tightly.
When he feels Neteyam move over towards him and leaning himself against him. Gently moving his arm out from between them to place it around his friend is Aonung about to ask when his friend alread leans into him letting Aonung sinks his arm around his shoulders and Neteyam cuddles closely into his arms mumbling "You are really warm."
Feeling Neteyams arm wrap around his waist does Aonung place his own on top of Neteyams, holding his crush close. Controlling his breathing does Aonung hope to calm his rapidly beating heart. And he begs Neteyam cannot feel it, his arm being impossibly close to his chest.
When Neteyam then mumbles "Your heart is beating so fast." and Aonung freezes. No clue on what to respond.
Feeling Neteyams head moving on his shoulder to look up at him.
"Nung?"
Swallowing hard Aonung keeps his gaze straight forward as he tries to sound cool and layed back "Yeah?" but his voice shakes.
"Are you alright?"
How is he supposed to answer that. Really.
So he doesn't say anything. Instead Aonung just pulls his arms in, squeezing Neteyam to his side and gently start swinging them back and forth again. Hearing his crush chuckle softly but letting off of him and leaning his head back onto his shoulder again instead.
"Just remember to keep your mind focused. Nari is a living breathing ilu. He has a wild nature and you won't be able to change that. If he doesn't like you he doesn't like you." Aonung exclaims watching as Lo'ak stands before him arms crossed, but listening.
"You just have to remember that you cannot control them. You can steer them. And you have to accept them for it." Aonung speaks as Nari already races away from under his hand again.
"So... what should I just do?"
"Listen. Feel. Like him." Aonung exclaims, calling Nari over again and grabbing Lo'aks arm to make him hold his hand outto the cheeky ilu.
"If you already don't like him what makes you think he will want you on his back?" Aonung asks with a chuckle as Nari bumps against Lo'aks hand cackling as he splashes water at the younger boy.
"But if you'd like you can also start with Sre. She has a calmer nature then Nari but is faster then him. She is easier to handle." Aonung speaks as Lo'ak wipes the water of his face, shaking his hair out.
"Yeah, maybe I should do that." he mumbles and Aonung shakes his head amused. Calling over both the ilus again does Aonung gently steer Nari away from him as he isolates Sre to greet Lo'ak without him interrupting. Knowing his ilus quite well as Nari tries to sneak back up behind him and Aonung pushes his head away again hearing the ilu complain to him "Don't you get sassy with me. You know exactly why you aren't allowed to bother them." Aonung warns the ilu and holds onto him as he looks back to see Sre be very gentle with Lo'ak as he pats over her head.
"Come on, lets go for a spin." Aonung speaks, wanting to get Lo'ak back on the ilus again, after he was thrown off of Nari three days in a row and Tsireya reported back to him how frustrated Neteyams brother was. Which is why he is here today. Much to the confusion of Lo'ak when he found Aonung waiting for him instead of Tsireya.
"I don't know."
"She will not throw you off Lo'ak. I promise. For now I want to get you back on an ilus back. If you want to finish your rite you have to." Aonung exclaims seeing Lo'ak groan but nod agreeing.
And so does Aonung lead Nari out into the waters and bond with him, knowing very well how to keep the wild ilu calm, having been his riding partner for years now, before he finished his iknimaya.
And Aonung waits for Lo'ak to bond to Sre and saddle up on her, gliding out next to him.
"Isn't she lovely?"
"Yes. She is. How come she isn't used as one of the training ilus?" Lo'ak asks, remembering fully well how he was thrown off the first times he tried to ride.
"Oh, you will see when we ride out. She is not for beginners." Aonung laughs as he goes faster, riding out towards the open see, lookig back to watch Lo'aks shooked face as Sre picks up speed, catching up to Nari in no time.
"Woah!"
"Hold on tight, she can go a lot faster!" Aonung laughs as he rides ahead.
"Thank you for today. It helped." Lo'ak mumbles as they make their way back to the Sullys marui after a long day on the open sea, training and having fun.
"Of course. I want you to pass. You have been training very hard for it, not growing up here. That takes guts. And a lot of hard work. You're doing very well everything considered." Aonung speaks seeing the surprised look Lo'ak gives him, hearing his encouraging words. And the younger Sully mumbles a quiet "Thanks." back, before they reach the marui and walk through the front to his room, seeing the rest of the gang chilling.
"Hey! Hi! How are you?" Tsireya speaks, noticing them first, and she stands up to pull Lo'ak into a tight hug.
"Hey you. Good. It was good." he replies throwing smile towards Aonung who pats Tuks head before hiting Rotxos hand in greeting.
"Yes it was. He did good." Aonung speaks as he walks further round to greet Neteyam with a hug as his crush opens his arm for him. Nodding at Kiri who nods up back at him does Aonung take seat next to Neteyam who smiles at him. Gazing back does Aonung raise his brows and he hears his crush whisper "Thank you."
"Course."
Smiling does Neteyam bump his shoulder before leaning his head in and Aonung quickly does too, to let his friend rest his head against his. Listening as Lo'ak tells from their day, watching everyone paying attentionto him does Aonung feel a hand glide over his wrist and under his hand and Aonungs heart starts beating faster once again as Neteyam intertwines their hands. Not daring to look at him, knowing fully well he will just blush deeply if he does, does Aonung just stare ahead instead. But he squeezes Neteyams hand slightly, feeling his crush squeeze it back.
"Hello Neteyam. How are you holding up?" looking up at the voice of his mother does Aonung watch as Ronal enters the room, where he and Neteyam are currently beading a few bracelets for the orphanage. A lovely idea Neteyam came up with.
"Hello Ronal. Fine really. But I am excited what it means you are here?"
"It means I can likely take the needles out. I will take a look at your ankle and then see if I can remove the needles to further your healing process." Ronal smiles and Neteyam sits up straighter with a smile across his face hearing Tsahìk say so.
"So if you could just layout on the floor, here or in the front room?"
"Here is fine." Neteyam speaks as he sets the bracelet he currently works on aside, Aonung helping to get everything out of the way. Before he stands up and grab Neteyam a pillow to put under his head, his friend smiling up at him thankful as he seetles on the floor.
Which quickly turns into a painfilled expression still as Ronal starts to move his foot around and Neteyams arm lays itself across his eyes.
"Want to hold my hand again?" Aonung asks and before he even finished his sentence has Neteyam already reached his hand out, looking for his. Catching his crushs hand does Aonung interlock them tightly, placing his other on top of them. And he feels Neteyam squeeze his hand tightly.
"Alright, deep breath Neteyam." Ronal exclaims and Aonung forces himself to not look while Neteyam draws a deep breath in, pulling a face. Gently rubbing over Neteyams hand does Aonung squeeze his friends hand to distract him, while his mother unwraps his ankle.
"Feeling ok?" he asks as Neteyam let his head fall to the side, his eyes closed. But his friend nods. "Good." Aonung whispers and just waits for his mother to speak.
"Well look at that. That looks great." Ronal speaks happily and Aonung chuckles "No thank you." he replies then which prombt Neteyam to let out a soft laugh as well.
"You." moving away as his mother swats a cloth at him, shaking her head does Aonung lock eyes with Neteyam again who opened his and they share a smile.
"I will be removing the needles Neteyam. I will try my best to do this quick and as painfree as possible. Here." handing Neteyam a leave to chew before continuing "That will help with the pain. And I will give you this to bite on."
Waiting patiently as Neteyam chews and swallows before taking the wood to put between his teeth does Aonung just lift their interlocked hands and play with his crushs long, nimply fingers. When he feels Neteyam grip his hand tightly, as he lets out an "Argh!" muffled by the piece of wood he bites down on.
"Hey you got this, its alright." Aonung exclaims shooked as he squeezes Neteyams hand back in hopes to ease his death grip, which is hurting his hand. But Aonung does not complain knowing how much it must hurt for Neteyam to get the needles taken out.
When he makes the fatal mistake to let his head turn, curious how many needles are left, and he looks at where his mother works the huge needles out of Neteyams skin. And just shortly after the nausea hits him in a wave does Aonung feel himself get dizzy and he falls backwards which earns him a shooked "Aonung!"