Skipping Stones | Lo'ak

14

CHAPTER 14

It was morning and Lo'ak waited for the rest of his family to leave their pod before walking over to Neteyam and crouching down beside him. "Wake up," he hissed, harshly shaking his brother awake.

Neteyam merely groaned and rolled over, facing the other direction, "Go away."

Lo'ak scoffed, "You are so lazy. How are you the son of our parents?"

That made Neteyam sigh and sit up, "What is it? Why would you wake me up so early?"

Lo'ak gave him a look, "You missed breakfast. It is not early."

Neteyam rubbed his eyes and ignored his words, "What is it?" He repeated himself.

Lo'ak pressed his lips into a thin line, debating wether he should ask. When he saw Neteyam growing annoyed, he decided to spit it out, "What do I do if someone likes me?"

Neteyam's eyes grew wide. There was no way his younger brother had managed to catch someone's attention before him. "What? Who?" He asked in disbelief.

Lo'ak looked down at the floor and Neteyam could see a light dust of blush on his cheeks. "'Kanu," he said quietly.

Neteyam stared at his brother, not believing his ears. Sure, he knew that Lo'ak was interested in her - anyone could tell - but she was interested in him? "You're not making this up, are you?" Lo'ak looked offended as he frowned and shook his head. "How do you know?" Neteyam continued, straightening his back and sitting crossed legged before his younger brother.

"The other day - when the tulkun arrived," Lo'ak began his tale, "I saw her talking to her spirit sister. The tulkun asked who I was and she - she said I was the boy she likes."

Neteyam blinked, "You're sure you didn't misunderstand?" He checked.

Lo'ak seemed to think, "She did this-" he lifted his hands to sign, "A boy that I like." Neteyam seemed to be in disbelief. "It means she likes me, does it not?"

Neteyam nodded slowly, "Yes - that is what it means."

Lo'ak smiled, "So what do I do?"

To tell the truth - Neteyam did not have much experience in this field. But he would never admit that to his younger brother. So instead, he wrapped an arm around Lo'ak's shoulder and sighed, "Play hard to get. Works every time."

"What?" Lo'ak looked at his brother, "Hard to get?"

"Yeah! If she ever asks to spend time, say you're busy." Neteyam nodded.

"But I do want to spend time with her," Lo'ak frowned, "I'll even make time for her!"

Neteyam clicked his tongue and let go of Lo'ak, "Then don't come crying to me when she loses interest."

"What?" Lo'ak turned to his brother with wide eyes, "That can happen?!"

Neteyam nodded, "Of course. You need to be strategic about things like this." He wasn't trying to sabotage his brother - he just wanted to seem like he knew what he was doing, "Strategic like - when hunting. You need a plan or everything will go wrong."

Lo'ak nodded, he thought he was understanding what Neteyam was telling him, "Got it."

Neteyam clapped Lo'ak on the back with a grin, "But remember you are young - no lifelong commitments or anything like that, okay? Mom would murder me.. Oh! And don't forget-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Lo'ak hurriedly got to his feet while covering his ears. Whatever his brother was about to say next, he did not wish to hear it.