Chapter Text
7.Okay
“There’s no need to explain
I know what you wanna say
We could just say goodnight
if you think that’s alright”
"Lo'ak, for the love of God, let's go! " Jake honked loudly for the fourth time, the obnoxious noise echoing continuously through the driveway.
The morning at the Sullys’ house had been hectic that Wednesday and the man of the house was in a sour mood - a dove hit his and Neytiri's window at the crack of dawn and the woman just had to burn sage all over the house as she insisted it was a bad omen.
Right after the kids were woken up by the smell, Kiri lost her mind over the animal and decided she just had to nurse it back to health when she saw its wing was broken. Along came Tuk and she cried and cried, talking about how it was in pain and they just had to keep it until it was good again.
So obviously, Neteyam just had to put it in a shoe box and arrange a makeshift splint for it with a popsicle stick instead of getting his siblings ready.
This then led to them already being late, and to close it with a golden flourish Lo'ak just had to sleep throughout the whole damn thing, leading everyone else to be even more late and even more stressed - because Jake was stressed, so everyone else had to be stressed too, obviously.
And the reason why Jacob Sully was stressed that morning was because everyone just had to make his morning even harder - as if being jobless while having to pay for a new house and worrying about his family’s safety and well-being every second, along with having not one, not two, but three teenagers and a hyperactive nine-year-old to care for wasn’t enough.
He hadn’t had some quality time for himself in a while, and not even his wife was able to help with that, as they didn’t have any time for dates while job hunting and were always too tired to do anything intimate ever since that first day in Awa’atlu. Even though going to the Hipeis’ was refreshing and a nice change of pace, it did last only one day, unfortunately. For now, he was back to that usual domestic limbo - and as much as he loved it, he also hated it. A natural balance for any father on the planet, of course.
"Jacob, let go of that cursed honk!" Neytiri belted from the front porch before going inside, letting out an even louder scream. " Lo'ak te Suli! Get out of this house or I will grab you by the hair myself!"
Kiri and Tuk had to hold in their laughter when their father dropped his hands from the steering wheel as soon as he heard his wife's voice.
"Do you think she'll take him by the ear like last time?" Kiri whispered to her brother Neteyam. He chuckled from the front seat.
"I hope not. He's gonna whine all day if she does."
"Lo'ak is like a big baby," Tuktirey laughed from her booster seat.
Jake huffed from the driver's seat at the sight of his youngest son coming out of the house with a large hoodie and disheveled braids. His face was still slightly marked from his sheets. With a groan, the boy went into the back of the car and was quick to lean his head against the window.
"Lo'ak, can you tell me why it's 8:30 in the morning and you’re just now getting in the damn car?” Jake scolded, turning the keys to get it started.
“Neteyam didn’t wake me up,” the youngest grumbled.
The eldest looked at him through the rearview mirror.
“Dude, you’re sixteen, I don’t have to -”
“Neteyam, why didn’t you wake your brother up?” The older Sully looked at him, shaking his head.
Wide-eyed, Neteyam resisted the urge to talk back to his father. The man had been in too much of a bad mood lately for him to push his luck - plus, he didn’t need to be just another problem. If that meant he had to be his grown-ass siblings’ babysitter, then that was that.
“Sorry, sir,” he crossed his arms, his good mood from seconds earlier suddenly dimming out. Now he just wanted to go back inside the house and sulk; it made him mad, how much power his father had to affect his day without even doing anything. It was incredibly tiring.
What was worse was that by the end of the day, the older man wouldn't even remember that interaction, but the teen would be mulling it over all day.
Kiri and Tuk chuckled at their brothers getting scolded, but Jake was quick to shut them down too.
“This isn’t funny, we wouldn’t be this late if you two didn’t fuss over that bird in the first place.”
The girls’ smiles died down instantly. Kiri watched as Tuk’s chin trembled slightly. The youngest’s biggest flaw was how emotional she was - anytime their parents would scold her she would do the most not to cry even if she felt like doing so (which the teens knew she did). She held the smaller one’s hand and gave her father the stink-eye without him noticing.
Kiri understood her parents’ struggle. Really, she did. It was easy for her to help, though; the girl did her best to stay out of their way and solve her own problems, so what she didn’t understand was why her dad would take his problems out on her, out of all people. And Tuk, too, for that matter, who was too young to be as independent and aware as Kiri and her brothers.
The car ride to school was deadly silent. Lo'ak slept in the backseat while Kiri soothed Tuk and made sketches on her phone to try and distract her and Neteyam looked out the window with a distant stare, his fist clenched against his thigh.
They arrived shortly after the classes had started, and Lo'ak wanted to off himself right then and there when he entered the classroom and all eyes turned to him.
He was positive he looked like absolute shit - when his mother woke him up in a hurry, he was startled and threw whatever he could find first on himself; a black wrinkled hoodie he was sure smelled and a pair of washed-up ripped jeans. No time to brush his hair or teeth whatsoever.
It had been almost impossible for him to wake up that morning due to the previous night being such a terrible one - he tried to focus on his notes and study for the first batch of tests coming up the next week all night up until 1 a.m., to no avail. At some point, everything seemed to blur and he couldn't absorb any more information - you know, the usual. His relationship with studying wasn't one of the greatest. Nor was it with sleeping, for that matter.
He then went to bed and kept having weird dreams about Spider, his other friends and - for some weird reason - his first girlfriend, which kept waking the boy up in the middle of the night. When he finally managed to sleep properly his mom woke him up about half an hour later; and then there he was, feeling naked in front of the class as the teacher waited for him to take a seat.
He scanned the room and saw his usual spot was taken. His palms were starting to sweat when he saw Oleanna wave her hand in the middle row. She signaled to the seat by her side and he saw no option but to go.
"Hey," the girl greeted with a smile as he sat down. "Mary didn't know you were coming, so she took your seat to be closer to Nima."
Lo'ak nodded, pretending he had any idea of who those people were.
"You don't look so good."
The boy scoffed, looking at her with a slight scowl.
"You think I don't know that?"
"Gee, sorry, I was just saying," she looked at him worriedly while the teacher turned his attention back to the 'Programming 101' scheme on the board. "What's got your panties in a twist on such a lovely morning?"
Lo'ak tried to ignore her, putting his head between his crossed arms on the table, but he could feel her eyes boring into his skin.
"Guess I'll just go fuck myself then," Lea muttered to herself and sighed after a few seconds, seemingly defeated.
After a few minutes of trying to sleep and failing miserably, Lo'ak looked up discreetly at his classmate. Oleanna was focused on her notes, a slight crease forming on her forehead due to concentration and her slightly wavy locks now bundled in a loose bun.
That class was one of the few electives Lo'ak actually liked, so he did want to pay attention, but the current topic didn't make a whole lot of sense, since he got there after the introduction. He wondered if she actually had any idea what their teacher was talking about.
"You're staring," she said without looking up.
"I'm not staring at you," he turned away, embarrassed.
"What, you want my notes?"
He just silently looked at her for a few moments before nodding.
"Gonna tell me what's wrong?"
Lo'ak groaned, laying his head on the desk again.
"Nevermind…"
"Well, can you apologize, at least?"
"No, I didn't even do anything."
"God, your sister is so much nicer than you," Lea huffed as she rolled her eyes.
"Sully, Kalua!" The chubby bearded teacher called from the front of the class, leaving the teens like two deers caught in headlights. "Since you two like talking so much, would any of you mind giving us an example of a basic programming language?"
"Python," they both said in unison, matter-of-factly.
"Oh, come on, that's common knowledge," a classmate - one of the annoying know-it-all kids - groaned.
"Yes, that was a little too easy of an answer," the teacher crossed his arms.
"Maybe you shouldn't ask easy questions then…" Lo'ak mumbled under his breath.
"What was that?"
"He said maybe you shouldn't ask easy questions then," Lea repeated louder in a monotone voice. Lo'ak felt the urge to laugh at the teacher's frustration but it soon turned to anxiety as he eyed the both of them.
For a second, he felt like maybe he would get into even more trouble that morning, but the man just huffed and chuckled slightly.
"Fair enough," he then turned back to his explanation.
Oleanna and Lo'ak shared a complicit look with equally mischievous grins. She dangled her small notepad in front of him. He rolled his eyes.
"Sorry for being a dick," he shrugged. "I didn't sleep well."
"You are forgiven… for now," she ripped one of the pages and handed him the notes. "These are for you, anyway. I don't take notes for this class."
That made the boy arch an eyebrow and he scooted his desk the tiniest inch closer to talk to the girl.
"Why, though? I didn't even know we were in this class together, why would you do that for me?" He realized that might've sounded rude when Oleanna scoffed. "I mean -"
"It's fine. You kinda look like an airhead anyways, so I'll excuse your lapse in judgment," she smirked when Lo'ak rolled his eyes at her. "And I didn’t do it for you . I did it because Tsireya likes you. I don't think she'd want you to fall behind, especially with exam week being so close and all."
Lo'ak felt his cheeks heat up and he resisted the urge to squeal like a little girl. He tried to seem nonchalant and unphased by the fact that such a pretty girl had taken the slightest interest in him. The boy cleared his throat, taking his notebook out of his half-empty book bag to copy her notes.
"Tsireya likes me? Did… did she tell you that?"
"Well, duh. She wouldn't hang out with you if she didn't, would she?" Lea eyed him curiously. "And she doesn't need to tell me that, I'm her best friend, man. Call it female intuition if you want."
"Um, okay…?" He did his best to turn his attention to the class completely.
“Speaking of Tsireya, she wants us to hang out at lunch today,” the girl whispered to him. “She was looking for you guys before class to tell you, but I’m not sure what it's for.”
“Cool,” Lo’ak smirked to himself. It felt good to know Tsireya wanted him around - well, his siblings, too, but a win is a win. “I’ll tell Kiri and Neteyam.”
Surprisingly, the minutes passed by smoothly after that, and Lo'ak managed to copy Lea's notes and pay attention to the class. The girl's efforts managed to make his mood lighten up, even if the tiniest bit - they didn’t know each other all that much, but he figured she was some pretty nice company for the time being.
Kiri had spent the last two periods with her head down, scowling at herself. The day had started well, but after being scolded by Jake her mood soured considerably and now she found herself in a spiral, thinking about every bad aspect of her life and pouting and frowning until her forehead hurt.
It didn't help that her classmates were too loud, the sun was too bright, the low neck of her blouse scratched her clavicle and her mother's necklace felt too tight around her neck - even though she didn't readjust it that morning. The teenage girl felt as if everything was an affront to her mere existence at this point, but she didn't know if that was just a consequence of her particularly foul mood or if she was on the brink of a sensory meltdown (or both).
When her creative writing teacher told the class to come up with a freestyle poem of their liking about whatever they wanted, she spent minutes and minutes just staring at the white piece of paper, trying to get her breathing under control and her thoughts organized.
All she could think about, though, was her anger towards her dad. She knew it was silly - everyone had bad days, and her father certainly wasn't an exception - he was only human, after all. Still, Kiri couldn't help but feel the way she did.
One more glance at the writing sheet and she thought its emptiness represented her well enough at the moment. Soon she caught herself and chuckled.
Eywa, that was so edgy.
Kiri finally sighed and decided to write a small haiku to get it over with - being uninspired, she figured that would get her a good grade without much effort. The teacher did say they could write however they pleased, so…
As soon as the black tip of her pen touched the paper, the teacher cleared his throat.
"I think that's enough time for everyone, right?"
Her brown eyes widened and she huffed.
"Now you can pick someone to be your partner, and you can read each other’s work to grade it!” The man said, smiling. “How does that sound?”
Terrible.
As her classmates shuffled and switched seats, finding their way to their friends, Kiri felt her cheeks heat up when she realized she had no one. For a while, she just sat there, staring at the blank paper and praying the teacher would forget about her existence. That didn’t happen, of course, and eventually, a boy asked for her seat to sit by one of his friends. Kiri stood in the corner, fiddling with her hands nervously while holding her paper. She was suddenly very aware of the sound of her breathing and her tongue started tingling.
She felt her teacher’s eyes on her and turned away, hoping to mysteriously turn invisible. Again, it didn’t happen.
Thankfully, he didn’t need to call on the girl, as someone cleared their throat beside her.
“Hey, Kiri…” A familiar voice called and she turned. Rotxo stood next to her, fidgeting with the hem of his oversized green shirt.
Kiri didn’t even know they had this class together, but she felt the biggest amount of relief seeing him - never had a 165cm tall, acne-clad, curly-haired, tiny shy boy ever looked so angelic to her.
“Hey,” she managed to breathe out, her heartbeat calming down by the second.
“Do you, uh… Did you already choose -”
“No, nobody picked me,” the girl looked at her classmate, almost pleading. The girl realized how pathetic she must've sounded, but couldn't bring herself to care all that much.
“So… you wanna be my partner?” Rotxo smiled, now seeming a little more confident. Kiri couldn’t help but notice he had changed the color of his braces to baby blue. They were aqua green just the day before.
The girl nodded meekly before getting her backpack from the floor and following him to the back of the class. Now she knew why she'd never noticed Rotxo - besides her being aloof most of the time, he also sat at the far back of the class while she sat right in the middle so that she could see the board better.
"I'm not sure if you'll like what I wrote," he sat and grabbed his paper. "I'm not really that great at writing, so it's pretty simple…"
"Oh, I'm sure it's better than mine," Kiri waved the blank sheet in front of him with an awkward smile.
"Do you want me to give you some time to write something? I can wait."
"What do you want me to write about?" The teenage girl shuffled in her seat. "Something that's not my feelings , please. I'm kinda sick of those."
"I don't know…" Rotxo took a few moments to look at his own paper. Kiri noticed the way he slightly scrunched his nose while deep in thought and his bright green eyes softened. "How about a memory? Something you think about often, maybe?" The girl arched an eyebrow, pleasantly surprised. He watched her reaction and cleared his throat, blushing lightly. Against his tan-brown skin, the tint made it seem like he was sunburnt. "I mean… you don't have to… it's just an idea. It's what I wrote about, anyway."
"No, I think that's pretty good, actually."
She started to rack her brain for a fond memory that didn’t involve her father (she was still mad at him) and then settled on writing about Grace. Rotxo didn't say anything about it being a specific memory, anyway, so it felt fair enough for her to write about the memory of her mother in general; Kiri missed the woman dearly and felt as if she hadn't given her the attention she deserved after moving so far away from where she rested in Kelutral.
As the tip of her pen ran through the blank page she felt her anger soothing and all she could feel was the memory of her mother's arms around her - even though she knew for a fact that Grace never got to hold her and it was probably just wishful thinking making her brain create a false memory, it felt painfully real. The warmth and love were still there, she was sure.
Rotxo watched with interest, chin propped onto his hand, as Kiri's short and messy black locks swayed next to her cheeks along with her hand movements. Before he could get too enthralled in the sight of her, he eyed his own paper to avoid seeming creepy. Ever since the past Sunday, the boy was careful near Kiri, trying not to scare her off. Even though she teased him about "stalking" her on the balcony and was clearly playful about it, he felt as if he owed her some privacy after that.
He read his paper over and over again and started getting embarrassed at the thought of Kiri reading it - was it too personal? Would she think that it was too much of an emotional display for a guy? Kiri didn't seem like the type of person to think something like that, but you never know…
When he considered erasing the whole thing and starting over, the girl's voice made him look her way.
"Done," she looked at him with a tight-lipped smile as she handed her sheet of paper. "How are we supposed to do this?"
"Just read and then grade, I guess…?" He shrugged. "I'm not really the best at this type of assignment, I think I'll end up just giving you an A like I always do."
"Let's see if you're worthy of that sort of treatment," Kiri chuckled as she started to read and Rotxo snorted a measly 'ouch' under his breath.
"Sometimes when I look at the sky
I see something I'm not supposed to
I see the way you were when you were here
Sometimes when I cry
I wonder if you did too the day you left
I wonder if you felt sad or if you felt relief
I wonder if your black hair swayed behind you on your way out
Sometimes when the sea breeze comes
I just remember you holding me
I just remember the way you smell
I just remember how you're just like me
And the feeling you left me with"
Rotxo's writing was, like he said, pretty simple. There wasn't really a clear sense of rhyme, the words weren't overly complicated and he relied a lot on repetition - Kiri recognized the beauty in raw feeling instead of the complicated, long words and fake flourishes most people used to seem smart and "deep" in their writing. It was refreshing.
As her eyes finished reading the lines, she started to get more into it. It surprised her how oddly profound it was - a little sad, too, if she was being honest - and how it awoke a sense of longing in her. She had no idea who this girl he was writing about was, but one thing she was certain of: Rotxo never stopped thinking about her.
By the end, she felt strangely empty, but at the same time, she realized that felt an awful lot like her relationship with Grace - how everything reminded her of someone she never even met, but simply knew.
With the tiniest bit of curiosity in her, Kiri turned slightly to peep at Rotxo as he read her paper, searching for a reaction.
"Somehow, I know you are there
in the air I breathe and in the mirror
They say the world's ways are mysterious
and you make me sure that is true
Because when I wake up I wonder
how could your presence be so certain and so constant
just as the way the sky is blue
I see you as the wind blows through the green blades of grass
and as it flows through the petals in the lilies of my heart
The picture of you makes it all easier
and the idea of you gives me strength
As long as I still remember,
you are still alive"
Rotxo definitely felt dumb after reaching the end of Kiri's poem. And not just because he felt as if her writing was way more nuanced than his, but also because he could feel his eyes burn as he finished reading.
It was so short but still so beautiful and strangely powerful to him. Maybe because it reminded him of his mother. For a moment he wondered if that was the case for Kiri too, but he quickly shut it down. Jake didn't seem like the type of guy to go around making babies with other women, so it didn't make any sense for the girl to have any mother other than Neytiri.
He quickly wiped his green eyes with his thumb and took a glance at Kiri. She was already looking at him, bearing a surprised expression and still holding his paper.
"Does it… suck too much?" Rotxo chuckled when a few seconds passed and she still hadn't said anything. The girl was quick to clear her throat.
"No, it's…" She motioned vaguely to the paper. "It's actually pretty good…?"
"Thanks, yours is really good too." Her colleague smiled, trying not to be too offended by the girl's uncertainty in her voice.
"So, are you still giving me that A?" Kiri grinned.
"Oh yeah, definitely," he took out a different pen from his used green pencil case and scribbled something on the sheet before handing it back. A sparkly pink 'A' with a silly smiley face beside it sat on the corner of the white paper. Kiri let out a snort.
"Why do you have a glittery pink pen with you, Rotxo?"
The curly-haired teen blushed, a little harder than before, and cleared his throat.
"Tsireya didn't want it anymore," he explained, avoiding eye contact. "It… smells nice."
Kiri smiled, holding in another ugly laugh.
Okay, that's actually pretty cute.
"So… how about me? Do I get an A too?"
Kiri pretended to think for a while. She wasn't planning on giving him an A, even though he did deserve it - she felt that would give him too much power and she wasn't exactly the type of girl to make it easy for anyone; not when she knew what people did when you made them too comfortable and coddled.
But after thinking for a while, she felt as if Rotxo wouldn't really care about what grade she gave him. He seemed like an easygoing guy, nothing like the other boys in her last school - not full of himself and definitely not the kind of person to take advantage of her goodwill.
"Hand me that pen?"
The smaller student was quick to do so, and Kiri scribbled her final decision on his paper just as he did: an A- with a winky face. As she handed it to him, she cleared her throat.
"Don't get too used to this, I'm not usually this nice."
"Wow…" Rotxo mused sarcastically, glancing at her with a crooked grin, his usual shy demeanor seeming to disappear for a bit. "This is you being nice?"
"You are very welcome," Kiri smiled before turning her attention to the teacher, who went around the classroom picking up their papers. They spent a few seconds in silence before Rotxo cleared his throat.
"For the record, I actually do think you're pretty nice."
The short-haired girl quirked an eyebrow and looked at him with certain amusement as he fumbled to keep talking.
"You're all nice, I mean… You and your brothers… And your baby sister too, of course! I-I think you guys are pretty cool."
"Thanks, Rotxo, you're pretty nice too."
The both of them turned away from each other, smiling to themselves. Kiri got a little closer to her sheet and inhaled. Rotxo was right, the pen did smell really nice - like strawberry and roses, but not the deeply artificial fragrance she despised. That one was a very pleasant surprise, considering how sensitive she was to smells. Sweet and distant; subtle, like something a gust of wind going through a field would blow onto you. It made her feel better.
Neteyam had been struggling to focus on his classes that morning. When the bell rang for the afternoon break he let out a sigh he'd been holding ever since he left the family car that morning. While he walked to the cafeteria through the bustling hallways, the boy couldn't help but wander into his thoughts.
It felt so unfair that even though he tried his best to control the situation - a dumb and unnecessary one, at that - earlier that morning, it didn't matter in the end, because as soon as Lo’ak did what Lo’ak usually does, he was somehow still blamed for his actions as always.
Ever since they were kids, he would always take the heat for his siblings; he didn't know if it was because he felt the need to protect them or if it was because he knew his parents wouldn't punish him as much as the others since he was… well, him . Anyhow, he did so and never complained, and as the years passed by, the girls grew up and settled down, not giving him that much work. Not his baby brother, though. Lo'ak loved getting in trouble, it seemed - that was the only plausible explanation in Neteyam's head, because it made no sense just how someone could screw up so badly and so constantly as his brother did.
When they were kids they were silly, easy-to-fix mess-ups, but as they grew into their teenage years, Lo'ak started to become more hyperactive and violent; so did his shenanigans - those were harder to cover up. Mostly because his parents knew those things couldn't possibly be Neteyam's fault, but also because the older brother didn't want to take the heat for serious stuff. Not after years of tarnishing his pre-established reputation as the responsible, well-behaved firstborn.
The worst thing was that that morning Neteyam didn't even have the chance to try and cover for Lo'ak, since the brat was so quick to throw him under the bus just to save his own ass. It didn't help that his dad was in a bad mood already, which made him just shift the blame to the easier target. In that case, Neteyam must've had 'kick me' imprinted in bold letters and red arrows on his forehead, since his brother sleeping in was clearly his doing.
As if I was anybody's babysitter…
The oldest Sully would've continued his internal complaining if someone hadn't bumped into him, making the boy stumble slightly backward. Quickly, he felt his weight stop shifting and a strong arm wrap around his bicep. It all happened so fast that he didn't have much time to react.
"Woah there!" A tall, broad-shouldered boy widened his eyes, still holding him in place. "Careful."
"Oh my Eywa, I'm so sorry!" Neteyam instinctively put his hand on the other's chest to establish some distance between them when he realized he didn't recognize the deep voice. "I wasn't paying attention."
"No problem," the other chuckled. He had shaggy ginger hair and warm brown eyes - he wasn't ripped or anything, but his arms had a decent amount of muscle and he just happened to be wearing a too-tight polo shirt that made Neteyam's attention shift to all the wrong places. "You're not hurt or anything, right?"
"No, I'm…" His golden eyes met the brown ones in a deep stare. A few instants later he managed to breathe out a response. "...Fine."
He felt like kicking himself for acting like a horny teenage girl out of nowhere. That was the second time he drooled over a random guy he barely even knew after he'd arrived.
How come every single guy in Awa’atlu looks like a model? Aren't there any normal people in this place?
The mystery boy chuckled and let go of the smaller one's arm.
"I've seen you walking around the school these past few days. You're one of the new kids, aren't you?"
With the Sullys' history of being kind of underdogs - Lo'ak and Kiri, in that case - at their last high school, the fact someone had noticed them would've made Neteyam wary, but the other student didn't seem to have any ill intent behind his words. He seemed nice enough. Well, he looked nice too, but that wasn't very relevant at the moment.
"Yeah, my family moved in recently," he nodded.
"It's nice to see new people around here. The city isn't that big, so you get kind of sick of seeing the same faces all the time." He grinned, flashing rows of pearly white teeth in a warm smile. "It's cool seeing someone like you once in a while."
“' Like me?'" The other arched a brow and crossed his arms with a slight crease in his forehead, ready to go into defense mode. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"I just meant to say you look good, don't worry." He kept the same grin intact, even when Neteyam's cheeks flushed and his arms fell from their defensive position.
Is this guy… hitting on me?
"I'm Dirk, by the way," the ginger continued. "And before you say anything, I know it sounds funny. It's German. Unfortunately, my parents chose it, not me."
With his cheeks still warm by the sudden compliment, Neteyam managed to let out a small huff of laughter.
"Oh, don't worry, my family has its fair share of complicated names," he nodded, a bit awkward.
"Really?" Dirk got a little closer and leaned against the wall beside the two of them, tilting his head slightly. "Will you tell me yours so I can check out if that's true?"
The dark-skinned teen couldn't help but let out a full-on giggle now. He was pleasantly surprised by the other's advances - he wasn't being disrespectful or anything, and he was some real eye candy, too. Even though dating wasn't really Neteyam's priority, no man is made of steel. He bit his lip in thought, still looking at his new colleague.
Nothing wrong with browsing, right? Besides, dad would encourage us to get acquainted with the townspeople, anyway…
"Neteyam," he began, chuckling when he saw the guy's eyes widen slightly. "It's Na'vi. Means 'towards fulfillment', so Mom thought it was a pretty symbolic name for a firstborn."
"Firstborn? So you have siblings?"
"Three of them, two being the other new kids." Dirk widened his brown eyes once again and Neteyam chuckled. "Seems like a lot, doesn't it?"
"Considering I'm an only child, that's an understatement," the other student smiled once again, signaling for the other to lean against the wall to be a little more relaxed. "Well, your mom was smart to give you such a promising name. Mine means 'famous ruler'. Kind of makes me feel like a dictator."
"Would be pretty poetic if you got into politics."
Dirk laughed. The sound wasn't as low as his normal voice, and it seemed sincere. Neteyam couldn't help but laugh too, even if it wasn't even that funny of a joke.
"Oh, hell no! I'm probably just going to be a lifeguard for the rest of my life."
"You're a lifeguard?" Neteyam's eyes widened in surprise. Then he looked at the boy from head to toe once again. "No, actually that checks out."
Dirk gasped.
"Neteyam, are you hitting on me right now?"
The braided one shrugged, his lips forming into a tight-lipped awkward smile.
"Maybe…"
"That's good, I was kinda hoping you'd bite that," Dirk bit his lower lip and smiled too. "Was it too obvious?"
"A little," Neteyam chuckled. "But that's fine by me."
"Good," he looked up and down at his colleague just like he did before. "Do you need to be somewhere right now? We could spend the break together if you wanted."
Before the Sully could answer, he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. A quick glance and he could see he was needed.
(🔥🔥BIG THREE 🦅💪)
< Baby Bro 👶🧡 : bruh were r u guys 12:01
< been like 10min alrdy 12:01
< its only me nd tsireya up in this btch 12:01
< COME. NOW 12:02
< Twin 🤞💚 : Loak try not to be scared of women challenge failed 12:02
< Got held up in chem im on my way 12:02
< Baby Bro 👶🧡: netya wya 12:02
"Sorry, but I gotta go meet my siblings," he smiled at the little pout on Dirk's lips. "It was really nice meeting you, though."
"My pleasure," the ginger retributed the smile, combing his hair with his hand nervously. "I'll see you around?"
"Sure, see you."
"You promise?"
"Promise."
"That's a promise, then."
Dirk smiled one last time and left the hallway.
Neteyam walked away with his bottom lip between his teeth, giggling to himself.
< You guys know a student named Dirk? 12:03
< Twin 🤞💚: no why 12:04
< Baby Bro 👶🧡: idk let me ask tsireya 12:04
Lo'ak cleared his throat awkwardly as Tsireya took a bunch of Tupperware containers out of her lunch bag. They had been there for almost five minutes and he had no idea how to start a conversation with her, so he was grateful for his brother's sudden question.
"Hey, Tsireya, do you know someone named Dirk?"
"Dirk Meyer?" The girl arched a well-made eyebrow, suddenly more interested in Lo'ak than her extensive lunch.
"Uh… I'm not sure. Neteyam just asked me and Kiri."
"If it’s who I’m thinking of, he's an exchange student. His family came to Awa'atlu last year, we haven't talked much since but he seems okay. No major scandals or anything. People seem to like him."
Tsireya's expression seemed to tighten as she finished her sentence. She then rolled her eyes and sighed.
"He's the current captain of the swim team. Well... co-captain, actually. After last season the coach thought it was better to have two people in charge."
"What happened last season?" Lo'ak asked, his curiosity getting the best of him.
The girl suddenly stopped arranging her lunch, looking around the cafeteria. After she wa s sure it was safe, she inched closer to her friend, making his jaw clench slightly.
"Ao'nung used to be captain, but a coup happened and he was kicked out."
The teenage boy chuckled at that, amused by her sudden seriousness.
"A coup ? In a high school swim team?"
"It was much more complicated than that, but I don't know if I should tell you the details… it was pretty bad, I don't think my brother would appreciate it if I told you."
The teen kept that information for later, deciding not to push it.
"So… who's the other captain, then?"
Tsireya gr oaned, her usual nice demeanor shifting.
"Nash'vi."
"The dickhead with the greasy hair?" Lo'ak arched his eyebrows in disbelief. "The one that stopped us before Spanish last week? That Nash'vi?"
"Yeah, that's him. Like I said, a coup."
"Damn, that sucks," he tried to sympathize. "So that's why he's such a prick? Because of the swim team?"
"Partially, yes." She seemed to be hesitant to say anything else. "But like I said, it's more than that."
"So Dirk is one of his goonies?" Lo'ak asked, ready to tell his brother to stay away from the guy.
"Not really, I don't think. I've never seen them together aside from team activities."
"How did he manage to become captain, then?"
"Because he's actually good, it seems," Tsireya chuckled. "I've seen Nash'vi and his friends swim before, and they weren't nearly as good as him or Ao." She hastily shook her hands, her cheeks blushing. "Not to brag or anything, of course! I just think that if Dirk is co-captain now, it's because he deserved it. The coach is the one with the final say on who gets to be in charge of the team, after all."
Lo'ak hummed in interest, picking up his phone to notify his siblings.
(🔥🔥BIG THREE 🦅💪)
< swim team cap 12:06
< tsireya says hes cool 12:06
< 🅱️roski : Yeah, that checks out 12:06
< He told me he's a lifeguard 12:07
< stinkiri: interested are we? 12:07
< 🅱️roski : Shush 12:07
< stinkiri: whore 12:08
Lo'ak laughed before he felt a slap to the back of his head. He was about to fuss, but a look to his side showed his big brother was there.
"Neteyam!" Tsireya beamed. "You came!"
"Of course I did," he retributed his smile.
"Hey guys," Rotxo also arrived at the table, Oleanna in tow right behind him.
"Hey! Where's the rest of ya?" The girl greeted.
"Kiri said she got held up in chem a few minutes ago," Neteyam explained. "She should be here in a while."
"Ao just texted me, he got in trouble with the writing teacher," Lea laughed. "Should be here any minute now."
"I thought he was quitting that class?" Tsireya arched an eyebrow, nibbling on a baby carrot.
"He is," Rotxo turned to Lea.
"Yeah, that's why he got in trouble, apparently his most recent essay was a resignation letter."
"Guess Mr. Laurel wasn't in a great mood..." The smaller one shrugged, making the teens at the table laugh.
“He’s such a dumbass”, Oleanna snickered to herself.
"Hi," Kiri suddenly sat down beside her brothers, seeming out of breath. "Almost lit my hair on fire."
"What?!" Most of them questioned in unison. Lo'ak and Lea decided to laugh instead.
"How'd that happen?" Neteyam widened his eyes, a hand on his sister's face to check for injuries. "Are you okay?"
"Let's just say now I know why I'm better at arts and crafts," she swatted his hand away. "I'm fine, don't worry about it."
"Now that everyone is here…" Lea tugged on one of Tsireya's curls. "Would you tell us what this is about? I got a lady waiting for me under the bleachers, you know?"
"I would hardly call Antonia a lady," a deep voice joked from behind the table. Ao'nung joined the group, sitting beside his friend. "I bet she could bench press me if she wanted to. Twice."
Seeing the older teenager made Neteyam’s mood sour suddenly. Ever since Sunday, he felt as if his mere presence annoyed him - the way he was so full of himself and shameless gave him the ick, even if he wasn’t doing anything. He controlled himself not to roll his eyes at him and sank into his chair silently.
"Shut up, Tony's cute!" Oleanna hit the boy's nape. "It's not like you can judge my taste anyways, looking at your sour history."
"Nasty Patty…" Rotxo whispered to himself, earning a scowl from his cousin.
"I thought we agreed on never talking about that. Like, ever," he pointed an accusing finger at Lea. “And just so you know, Tony only hooks up with you so your mom can do her nails for free on the weekends, anyway.”
“Why must you hurt me with your words?” The girl laid her head down on the table dramatically.
“I could use a rock instead, if you want me to.”
"Can we focus on the matter at hand?" Tsireya chuckled at her friend's antics. The Sullys also seemed entertained, interested in their friendly banter. "I invoked reunion rights."
“And you still haven’t told us what for!” Ao’nung took one of his sister’s Tupperware containers, as well as Rotxo.
“I thought we were just hanging out,” Kiri took one of her older brother’s brown paper lunch bags. “That's what Lo’ak told us.”
“Because that‘s what Oleanna told me,” the younger brother shrugged, also digging into his lunch.
“Because that’s what Tsireya told me!” The other teen defended herself.
"Can we just cut the shit already?" Ao'nung complained with his mouth half full. "Rey, what you want?"
“Rude…” Neteyam said to himself, pulling a snicker out of Kiri.
The whole table watched in expectation as the girl swallowed the last of her food and put her hands on the table in a classic gossipy fashion.
"You know how Mateo flunked home econ last year? Well, turns out he ended up in my class, so just now we were making the most delicious tres leches ever - you guys had to see it - ” she interrupted herself and some of the teens hummed in thought, craving some of the sweetness. “- and then we talked about a whole bunch of stuff and he ended up inviting us to his and Edgar’s birthday party this weekend, as usual, right? So I said…”
“What? Really?” Her brother frowned, confused. “ After what happened last summer, I thought…”
“Shut up, man!” Lea hit his shoulder slightly for interrupting her friend, making Neteyam and Rotxo chuckle slightly. “Please proceed, gorgeous.”
“As I was saying…” She side-eyed her brother. “I said to him that we would totally go, of course, and then he told me that I should invite the new kids - which are you guys -”, she pointed happily to the Sully siblings, who seemed surprised by the sudden interest in them. “- so I told him that it would be great for everyone to get to know them better and that I would definitely ask you if you’d like to come!”
“Ah, that’s perfect!” Oleanna excitedly hit Ao’nung again, her eyes sparkling. The boy grumbled under his breath, lasering her with his cold blue eyes. “The Sullys’ first party!”
“And a Saldaña one, at that,” Rotxo grinned at them. “That’s lucky!”
“Sorry, but…” Neteyam chuckled, a bit confused by Tsireya’s fast rant. “Who’s Mateo?”
“Just the coolest guy ever!” Lea beamed. “He and his twin Edgar are like, the most popular kids ever, I don’t think there’s anyone who doesn’t like them.”
“Yeah, and since their parents are diplomats and travel a lot they gave the two of ‘em a place for themselves when they turned sixteen,” Ao explained, still eating. “That’s where practically every big high school party happens, and they’re always bomb.”
“Damn,” Lo’ak mused, eating his ham sandwich and also speaking with his mouth full (which also disgusted Neteyam as much as Ao's eating). “Rich people really are something.”
“Tell me about it,” Kiri nodded. “Don’t their parents complain about them partying there? Our parents would ground us forever if we did that…”
“They’re pretty chill,” Lea shrugged. “The twins also have their own jobs, so they don’t need money for parties, only for bills and stuff like that.”
“And since everyone likes them and has known each other for so long, it’s a real good vibe, we rarely have any problems,” Rotxo added. “There are exceptions, of course, but…” He eyed his older cousin, who cleared his throat. “It’s pretty cool.”
“You guys are gonna love it, I just know it!” Tsireya smiled at the three of them. “I mean, if you go, of course.”
“You are going, right?” Lea looked at them expectantly.
Lo’ak and Kiri looked at their older brother - the younger of the three seemed more eager than their sister, but both still waited for his good-to-go. Neteyam looked at the Hipei siblings, sighing when his eyes fell on Ao’nung, who was still eating like a pig. He didn’t feel like spending a whole party in the same vicinity as him so he’d harass him like last time, but…
“Sure, I guess…” He ended up shrugging, laughing a bit when his siblings grinned at each other victoriously. “We just need to check with our parents first, but I think we’re good.”
“I’ll make a group chat for us so we can text you the address!” Tsireya took out her phone and after a few seconds, she smiled at her friends.
( 🫧 PRETTY GANG ✨ )
< Tsireya H: 🌺 12:15
< Oleanna K: 💅 12:15
< Rotxo S: 🍃 12:16
< Neteyam S: 🪶 12:16
“You guys are so dorky,” Kiri chuckled before texting an emoji of her own.
< Kiri S: 🐱 12:16
“Aw, c’mon! You two are missing out on the fun,” Tsireya pouted at her brother and Lo’ak. The curly-haired one groaned and rolled his eyes, but pulled out his phone as well as the other boy.
< A’onung H: 🐬 12:17
< Lo’ak S: 🦅 12:17
“What’s with the eagle?” Rotxo asked with a chuckle.
“They’re American, of course there’s gonna be an eagle,” Lea laughed.
“ Half American!” Neteyam corrected.
“Yeah, don’t do us dirty like that,” Lo’ak grinned, finishing his lunch.
The group of teenagers kept on hanging out in the cafeteria throughout the break amidst laughter and silly banter. Soon, the majority of them felt more at ease with each other, less awkward than the days before. To the Sully siblings, things were finally starting to feel normal again after those two weeks since their arrival.
After spending the break hour socializing and two whole periods of both native and world history, Ao’nung itched for some STEM to stimulate his brain. Knowing that a big jock like him was good with numbers surprised most people, and he would admit that the dumb look on their faces when he’d solve a huge math problem made him feel great - he just loved proving people wrong.
As he walked into his trigonometry class early, a familiar silhouette caught his eye as he walked into the room. The eldest Sully sibling stood by the teacher’s desk, looking focused on something the older man was saying, his long black braids in a loose, low-hanging ponytail behind his angular shoulders and a slight frown on his forehead.
Ao’nung knew they shared that class ever since the beginning of the year, but he had never really paid any attention to the other boy who sat at the very front. Whenever he spoke, it was likely just to answer one of the teacher’s questions, so he barely interacted with his fellow classmates - a proper know-it-all. It was pretty annoying.
It wasn’t like the swimmer himself was that much of a social butterfly, considering half of the high school chose to despise him and the other half didn’t interact with him all that much anymore. But at least he didn’t try and prove that he was better than everyone else all the time; he just was , silently and humbly . He knew all the answers too, but he didn’t need to flaunt it every time just so the teacher would know he was good.
He decided to get out of his head when a girl bumped into him in the doorway while getting to her seat. A quick glance to the front and he realized he’d been staring for too long - Neteyam looked at him with a confused expression, even though the teacher was still talking beside him. After clearing his throat awkwardly, Ao went to the back and into his seat.
About a minute passed in relative peace, and the teen spent it mindlessly scrolling on his phone before hearing his teacher’s voice through the classroom.
“Ao’nung!” The old man called, gesturing for him to come to his desk, where Neteyam still stood. The boy resisted the urge to groan and went to the front, some of the classmates who’d already arrived looking at him in curiosity - probably wondering what he had done to get in trouble this time.
“Yes?” He mumbled, trying to ignore the dark-skinned boy beside him.
“You’re already pretty familiar with the school, so would you mind taking Neteyam to the front desk’s printer so that he can get his exercise sheet?” He gestured to the student beside him, who didn’t seem all that pleased. They looked at each other for a bit. “He was supposed to do so before today’s classes started like I asked your mother to tell over the intercom, but as I understand he wasn’t present.”
“Um, sir, I don’t think that’s necessary…” Neteyam tried to intervene before Ao’nung grinned at the boy’s discomfort.
“Sure, I can do that,” he decided, getting a smile from the teacher and wide golden eyes from his classmate.
“Very well, come back before the bell, please,” the old man dismissed them.
The two left the class, even though the Omatikaya seemed tempted to stay, dragging his feet behind him.
“Why’d you do that?” He sneered while they began walking into the hallway.
“Do what?” The other grinned. “Would you rather flunk trig because you didn’t go get the paper?”
“You know what I’m talking about.”
“I’m literally just helping you,” Ao shrugged innocently, which made Neteyam groan.
“You know what? I know where the front desk is, so thank you, but I don’t need your help.”
“Of course you don’t, you’re so perfect,” he let out a bitter laugh.
“Dude, what’s up with you? What did I ever do for you to be such a jerk?”
“Maybe I just like pissing you off, I don’t know,” he once again shot the Sully a shit-eating grin that made his blood boil.
“Eywa, you’re insufferable,” Neteyam started walking faster to put some distance between them.
For some time, they continued walking in silence, for which the darker teen thanked the gods, but it didn’t last long.
“Why didn’t you come in on time, anyway?” Ao’nung scoffed. “Would’ve saved you the nuisance of being stuck with me, wouldn't it?”
“Why do you care?”
“You’re right, I don’t,” the taller one lied. Actually, even though he wasn’t all that interested in the Sullys, he found Neteyam’s resistance amusing, and even mysterious, somehow. Maybe if the boy was more open, he wouldn’t keep bothering him.
But in his defense, maybe he would be more open if the Metkayina wasn’t so annoying.
That thought made him stay silent during the rest of their brief walk.
As they arrived at the front desk near the administration and Neteyam asked the secretary for his sheet, a deep voice rang in a playful tone through the hallway.
“Hey, you!” The two teenagers turned around in surprise. Dirk came from the opposite end of the hallway with a small pile of papers in his hand.
“Hi!” Neteyam waved as he got his paper and the bigger teen approached.
“Hey,” Ao’nung nodded, looking at the ginger head to toe and trying not to scowl.
He knew it wasn’t Dirk’s fault that he wasn’t captain anymore. He wasn’t even friends with the group of douchebags that convinced the coach - and the whole school, at that - that Ao’nung was the scum of the earth, plus he’d only arrived last year, so he couldn’t possibly have known what was going on for that whole fiasco to happen in the first place.
Dirk was a great swimmer, even better than Nash’vi, so he knew he deserved the spot and that was exactly why he was there in the first place - if anything, that made him feel a little relieved; not the whole team was rigged, just the great majority of it. Still, Ao’nung couldn’t help but feel jealous… that was supposed to be him, not some other guy and the dick that was Nash’vi.
“Aren’t you supposed to be in class?” The ginger asked with a warm smile directly to Neteyam after giving a small nod to the other teen, practically ignoring him.
“I could ask you the same, what are you doing here?” Neteyam chuckled.
“Ouch,” he grabbed his chest dramatically. “If you didn’t want me here you could just say that…”
“Of course not!” With a grin, the Omatikaya gave him a light punch on the shoulder. “I was just curious.”
“Well, it’s nothing much, really, I was just heading to the headmaster’s office with the criteria and planning for this season’s tryouts.”
Ao’nung perked at the mention of the tryouts and looked at the swim team captain expectantly.
“What are the criteria this time?” He asked.
Dirk’s playful expression suddenly dimmed out as he cleared his throat awkwardly.
“You know, dude, um… I’m sorry, but Nash and the coach asked me not to tell anyone too much about it.” He gave him a forced smile when Ao squinted his eyes menacingly. “It’s nothing personal, truly! We just don’t want anyone from outside handling anything swim team-related right now, due to…” He cleared his throat once again and let out a nervous laugh. “I mean, you understand, right?”
Despite Ao’nung’s urge to throttle the other swimmer’s passive-aggressive ass right then and there, he just nodded meekly, playing it cool so as not to seem too pathetic. Of course they would shun him out from his only real interest, as if fucking up his reputation and possibly his academic record wasn’t enough.
“Yeah, right,” he turned to Neteyam, who was looking between the two of them curiously. “We should go back, come on.”
“Um… you can go, I know my way back,” the dark-skinned teen looked at Dirk with an unsure smile. “I’m just gonna catch up for a while. Thanks for coming with me, though.”
The Hipei’s jaw tensed up and he felt stupid for even volunteering to help Neteyam in the first place - it didn’t matter if he only did it for shits and giggles; why wasn’t he grateful? Why would he rather stay there with carrot-top instead of coming back to their shared class, if he was the one who came with him?
Why wasn’t he captain anymore, and even worse, why did he always seem to be the second choice?
“Suit yourself,” he chose to say after a few seconds of silent glaring.
“Oh, wait! Could you pass by Ronal’s and deliver this for me, then?” Dirk displayed the pile of paper sheets, smiling awkwardly. “You know, since she’s your mom and all…”
Ao’nung almost belted out a bitter laugh at that, but resorted only to giving the other one of his famous grins.
“Nah, thanks,” he turned around and started walking away with his hands in his pockets. “No people from the outside, right?”
With a frown on his face, he left the two other teenagers behind, not waiting for a reaction.
Neytiri sighed as she arrived at her home. It was nearly two in the afternoon and after spending the whole morning searching for a job, she came back defeated once again. Jake and she had been alternating with the car and today was his day; safe to say, walking through town was a laborious task, even for someone as athletic as her, and it had left the woman exhausted, so she stopped for some lunch and a quick shower.
Every day after dropping the children off, she and Jake would try and find some work, to no avail. The fact she’d never had any job experience other than her role at the Omatikayan reservoir (which was barely even a paid one) didn’t help in the slightest. Jake also didn’t have any experience other than working with and for the people who’d colonized and almost destroyed the country and its natives, so… there was that.
Since their arrival, the Sully family had been living off their savings and Jake’s compensation, and even though it was a pretty big value, it wouldn’t last forever - especially with four kids in the house. Of course, they did their best to try and shield them from the stress of unemployment, but that wasn’t always enough; every day they grew more tired and more desperate, and if her husband’s little outburst earlier that day was any indication, things would be bumpy from now on.
With a sigh, she went inside the kitchen she grew to dislike even more (if that was even possible) and took out a container with some leftovers from the fridge before heating it up. As usual, the environment was darker than she’d like, so she chose to eat on the porch, leaving the door open on the way out.
She took out her phone from her pocket after sitting down on the wooden steps and decided to call her mother for some comfort. They hadn’t spoken for almost a whole week due to her busy schedule and she felt immensely guilty for it. After a few rings, the older woman answered, her hoarse voice coming through the phone.
“Ma ‘Tiri!” She beamed. “Finally you remember you have a mother.”
Neytiri chuckled at her mother’s dramatic demeanor.
“I’m very, very sorry, sa’nu, things have been crazy these days…” She sighed. “How have you been?”
“No matter how I am feeling, I want to know what upsets my baby,” Mo’at said almost demanding. “Has Awa’atlu not been treating you right?”
A not-so-surprised and amused eye roll came from the daughter, who was aware the older lady knew her too well for her own good.
“Well…” The woman looked around the empty front yard and back to the house’s open door, catching a glimpse of the kitchen behind her with a slight grimace. “Awa’atlu is beautiful and the children seem to like the house well enough.”
“But…?” Mo’at pushed, noticing the discomfort in her girl’s voice.
“But…” Neytiri swallowed her food with a small lump in her throat. All of a sudden she could feel an overwhelming weight and tiredness resting on her shoulders. After a few silent seconds, she cleared her throat. “The kitchen is too dark.”
“I think that is the least of your problems, dear,” she heard a slight chuckle followed by a sigh on the other side of the line. “Tell me what truly is on your mind, will you?”
Setting her container aside with less appetite than before, Neytiri put one hand on her forehead and rubbed at her skin to try and avoid any more wrinkles from all the frustrated frowns she’d been adorning recently.
“Jake and I haven’t managed to find work yet and it has been getting to us. He’s been irritable lately, and it has begun to affect the kids…”
“Neytiri, he hasn’t been hitting my grandchildren, has he?!” Mo’at hurriedly questioned.
“Of course not, he’s not that crazy!” The younger one couldn’t help but laugh. “No, nothing like that… We are just having a few problems when it comes to handling them, since they’re very sensitive right now, especially Kiri and Lo’ak.”
“Kiri? What for? She is usually the serene one.”
Neytiri groaned a bit, cursing her mother’s curiosity - she really wasn’t in the mood to think about her daughter’s behavior lately, especially the cause of it.
“A couple of days ago they found out their friend Miles left Kelutral and is at Tarsem’s place in Vayaha, it seems,” she explained, earning an interested hum from her mother. “They are worried about him, but weirdly enough they don’t talk to each other. Anyhow, it has been getting to them, and that combined with Jake's temper, Tuk's crying, the usual teenage moodiness... It has been hard to get along all the time lately.”
After a sudden wave of silence, Neytiri frowned. Before she could ask anything, Mo'at sighed.
"Interesting…"
"What is?"
"I ran into that boy after you left. A week after that, Neteyam called me, but I could not bring myself to tell him about it.”
“Why? Was he angry with them?” Neytiri questioned, feeling slightly agitated. Her mother’s sudden quiet demeanor made her nervous. “Did he say something to you about leaving? Do you know if he is going back?”
“No, he didn’t tell me he was leaving the city,” Mo’at hummed. “But I am glad he did it. The child was a mess, crying on my lap like an infant and smelling like a rat, you had to see it, Neytiri... When I found him, I am sure he hadn’t taken a shower ever since you and the kids left. Anyways, I ended up inviting him over and we had a long talk.”
“Really?” The woman’s eyebrows raised with new curiosity. If her mother talked to Miles, she could be able to shed some light on why he wouldn’t talk to her kids and help her solve that issue.
Neytiri wasn’t all that happy with the thought of Spider talking to them after the family had to leave because of his own father, but she knew that would bring her children comfort and possibly help them feel less sad about the fact they left, considering the lack of contact was a big problem for them ever since that last day.
“He was so lost, Tiri… It was heartbreaking. You know how his father is, we all do. It could not be easy to live under the same roof as that man.”
The daughter sighed. She couldn't help but feel the slightest bit of sympathy for the boy - obviously, she wasn't a monster. It wasn't Miles’ fault that his father was terrible and no child should ever go through a hard time because of their own parents.
“Well, the kids are trying to figure out what he is up to. You don't have any clues, do you?”
“I suppose if he is staying with Tarsem, the boy shouldn't be getting into too much trouble. He is a very responsible young man, that one.”
“That's a relief, at least…”
Neytiri watched as their SUV approached the driveway slowly. She took her container from the porch floor and cleared her throat.
“Mama, I have to go, Jake is here,” she smiled. “Thank you for this talk, I've been missing you.”
“Of course, paskalin , you can always talk to me,” the woman let out a small chuckle. “Do not be too tough with my son-in-law, you hear me?”
The younger one couldn't help but laugh, watching as her husband parked and got out of the vehicle.
“Just a little bit, I promise.”
“Don't go missing, call me if you need anything, alright?”
“Sure I will. Bye, mama.”
“Goodbye, my darling child.”
As Jake approached, Neytiri watched his tired scowl soften up and turn into a small, loving smile.
“Hey,” he greeted. “Was that Mo’at?”
“Hi,” she responded, getting up from her previous position. “Yes, it was. How are you, Ma Jake?”
The husband shrugged.
“Existing, I guess,” he dramatically sighed before giving his wife a tight hug. “But I should be the one to be asking you that. How are you feeling? Aren't you too tired from walking?”
“A little, but I will survive”, she chuckled before walking alongside him into the house. “Did you have any luck today?”
Jake shook his head with a frown.
“You?”
She too shook her head, heading to the bedroom. The both of them started separating a new change of clothes and their things for a shower - that was their most recent routine: wake up, drop the kids off, go job hunting, come back, shower and talk - eat too, if they had the time -, pick the kids up, job hunt once again, sleep, and repeat. It all became so organic they started doing it automatically, not thinking too much about it.
As the couple stepped into the bathroom, Netiri stopped by the mirror across the shower/bath complex and took a glance at her tired face. In the background, Jake undressed without paying too much attention to his wife.
“I look ugly”, she said as soon as the water started falling down. At first, the woman didn’t even notice the words that came out of her mouth, but after a few seconds, she realized that hadn’t felt so good to say. She hadn’t thought about something like that ever since she had Tuktirey, it was strange. Definitely didn't feel good.
“What?” Jacob swept the shower curtain to the side, staring at Neytiri. “Sweetheart, that’s literally impossible. You are the most stunning woman in the entirety of planet Earth!”
“Even if I’m all tired and sad now?” She sighed, taking off her clothes with certain hesitance. “I found out yesterday that when I open my eyes too much I get a wrinkle on my forehead, Jake! I’m not even forty, this is abominable. Aren’t you the one that says that black don’t crack?”
Jake laughed affectionately at Neytiri’s dramatics, scrubbing his body.
“Honey, you look perfectly fine,” he met her gaze in the mirror, seeing the slight frown on her forehead. “Come here.”
Neytiri sighed and entered the shower. The hot water immediately did wonders on her tense muscles and she let out a shaky breath as it hit her back.
“Where is this coming from?” Her husband asked as he started scrubbing her shoulders with their loofah (a gift from Mo’at, who always chided Jake ever since he mentioned not using one). “I’m usually the one complaining every time I notice I’m getting old, you’re supposed to be the confident one.”
The woman hummed in thought as she started unbraiding her hair. After so many years doing so, even if it was long, it had become a relatively quick task for her.
“I think I am just stressed,” she responded after some time. “I know everyone is, but having nothing to do every day…” She sighed once more. “All I ever seem to do is try to find a job and take care of this house, it is so… boring. And even though Ronal is very nice, I don’t think she has that much time to indulge me, with the school and the baby… I have so much time on my hands, but at the same time…” She wandered off. Jake knew what she meant.
“I get that,” he sighed too, turning Neytiri in order to rinse his lover’s shoulders and back off. He looked at her with a silent apology she had started to become familiar with those last weeks. “It can’t be easy for you, I know.”
“But I need you to know that it is not your fault,” she caressed his cheek. “These are just hard times. Once we find work, I will have less free time on my hands to notice my wrinkles and you will have less of a reason to terrorize our children.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Jake chuckled. “Wait, is this what you and your mother were talking about earlier?”
The mention of that conversation made Neytiri remember what she’d discovered about their children’s friend. She knew her husband had a soft spot for the teenager, and uncovering all that information didn’t seem like the right choice at the moment, since she’d finally managed to soothe his humor for now.
“Well… yes,” she decided to say, knowing it wasn’t entirely true. “I think we should take it easy with them for now. You know how sensitive they are, and they are adjusting as much as we are. Don’t you think it is our place as parents to be the responsible ones?”
Neytiri studied her husband’s face as he thought about it. Knowing the way he was, she knew he was just preparing himself to admit she was right.
“Yeah, you’re right,” he said, as she’d expected. “I can’t lie, I always feel like a jerk whenever stuff like this morning happens…”
“So don’t be a jerk,” his wife shrugged, finally undoing her last braid.
“But that whole thing was so stupid….” Jake rolled his eyes, reaching for the shampoo to lather her silky black locks with. “All of that fuss over a bird! I barely slept and had to deal with that whole thing at the crack of dawn…”
“They are children , Jacob. They will overreact and do stupid things because that is what they do, they don’t know any better. And if the both of us are any indication, that kind of thing doesn’t stop when they turn eighteen,” she palmed at her flat stomach, chuckling to herself while remembering when she found out she was pregnant for the first time at that same age. “It is up to us to be the bigger people when that kind of situation comes up; to try and be normal even if we ourselves still feel like acting like children sometimes.”
“I’ll try to be the bigger person”, he said as he massaged his wife’s head, smelling the scent of tropical fruit coming from it. “What did you even do with that pigeon, anyway?”
“It was a dove ,” she laughed. “And I passed by an animal shelter and gave it away so they could fix the wing.”
“Doves and pigeons are basically the same thing.”
“No, they are not. Doves are much better!”
“Why, because they’re white?” Jake gave his lover a playful tug on one of her locks while he let out a fake gasp. “That’s racist, Neytiri!”
“Shut up!” She laughed and turned quickly, slapping him with her hair after a powerful whip.
The rest of the day ahead of the Sully couple was still a rough one, but just being in each other’s presence was enough to make things slightly better, and that was all they needed for that moment.
“There’s no need to explain
I know that we can relate
Can we get up
and try to feel okay again?”