Stargazing: Neteyam x reader

2. Opinions

Aonung stared silently from the beach. Deep in thought about something or other. The brother-sister bond we shared was close, allowing us to tell each other anything. With Reya she was still young, so when it came to more 'adult' concepts we kept them to ourselves. From my perspective I could tell something was bothering him.

"So newcomers, they seem nice." I said sitting down next to him.
"And different, freaks even." He muttered.
"Oi, stop it." I said nudging him.
"Well they are, they won't be able to do anything."
"Let's see you try swing from the trees then, obviously it's different for them."
He went silent
"Just have some faith and guidance." I muttered.
"I don't know if I have either," he said negatively.
"We need to be able to teach them Aonung, I can't have you bullying them."
"I guess i will try." He answered sarcastically.
"Please do, we need to be able to make them comfortable."
"Why? They don't belong here." He retorted.
"Because, if the roles were reversed they would have done the same."
"How do you know that for sure?" He finally looked me in the eye.
Rolling my eyes, I decided not to answer. I looked back at the teens following Reya around after being shown their homes. She was in her element. Her love for teaching shone through, but what also shone through was her interest in young Lo'ak.
"I'm not the only one who sees it right?" I asked.
"Nope," he said popping the p, "She's too obvious for her own good,"

I decided to join them, to try get to know them better. I wouldn't admit it aloud but Neteyam intrigued me, he seemed to be filling some sort of big brother role in a way. That I completely understood, being the second oldest and having to set an example for my sister. But as any brother is, Aonung was always protective of me and Reya. So when these newcomers arrived, I could already tell he was agitated. He never shows it but he really does care for his sisters. Just like I cared for him.

Greeting them with a welcoming gesture we decided to start teaching them everything tomorrow and for now they would simply be shown around. Depending on what they wanted to see we would show them.
After a while of showing what we were allowed to show, we sat down for dinner, all in a circle. Usually we sat with our families but we decided to be welcoming.

Lo'ak looked up at the vast expanse of trees behind the village.
"I have a question." He finally spoke.
"Yes?" Reya immediately responded.
"Do you guys ever explore the forest behind your village?" He asked, which peaked my interest.
"Only a few are allowed, there are around 7 in total, 6 of them adults, and one youngling." Reya responded.
"Who's the youngling?" Neteyam asked.
"Oh thats Y/n! She's very skilled in water and up above." Reya complimented pointing at me, their eyes all looking at me.
"I'm better in the water honestly," I tried to get the attention off me, but this seemed to intrigue them more.
"So you can climb and hunt from above?" Kiri asked.
I nodded, "I am still learning, but it's very intriguing."
"Do you have an Ikran?" Tuk questioned.
"I don't, but I want one I will admit. Maybe one day." I shrugged.

After dinner, we were all sent to bed, readying for the day ahead tomorrow.

We all got up early, Reya and I decided to help them with breathing underwater first, and then sign language. After that we could help them ride an Ilu.

It was tough at first, Aonung and his friends weren't making things better when they were constantly teasing them.
We dove under again, having to wait for them to take a breath now and again. Tuk especially was struggling, but she was young. We just had to be patient.
"What are they doing?" Aonung signed under water.
"They are struggling to hold their breath." Reya signed back.
"Weirdos." He signed.
"Shut up." I signed butting in. We decided to go back to the surface to assess how we could help.

"You guys need to slow down, you're too fast." Tuk whined.
"Just keep up, simple." Roxto mumbled.
I rolled my eyes, "It just takes practice."
"But how much practice?" Lo'ak mumbled.
"Patience, just takes time." Reya tried comforting the boy.
"And also, we don't understand your.. finger talk." Neteyam mocked making me laugh.
"We will teach you, Y/n is one of our best teachers." Reya said.
"And the only one who would probably have the patience." Aonung laughed.

We decided to split up in order to help an individual person with their breathing. The boys in particular seemed eager to learn.
I was tasked with helping Neteyam which didn't surprise me since Reya was all over Lo'ak. Rotxo was tasked helping Kiri. The two seemed to be civil at least. But I didn't mind the forest boys company, he was calm, respectful, but a tad impatient and apologetic.

"I'm sorry for not getting this." He mumbled rubbing his eyes.
I gave him a warm smile, "It's okay, to be honest it took me a long time to get the hang of this too, just takes time." I tried reassuring him, but he still seemed uneasy.
We both glanced at Reya and Lo'ak, noticing how she had her hands pressed on his stomach and chest, trying to teach him the breathing technique, but we could both tell how flustered he was.
I tried to suppress a laugh but failed looking at the sight. He laughed too, we seemed to both enjoy the youths interaction.
I turned my attention back to him.
"So, the best way to describe it is breathing through your stomach and focusing on your pulse, cause when you hold your breath you feel the pulse of your heart beat easier. So you have to concentrate on slowing it down." I tried a different way of explaining.
"I'm not sure how that feels though, maybe thats the issue." He mumbled.
I contemplated for a moment until an idea came to mind, "Okay, put your thumb on my pulse for a moment, make sure you can feel it."
I guided his hand gently to my wrist pulse, his hands were quite warm even though we had been in the water for so long.
"Just feel how my pulse slows down." And he nodded in response.
Breathing in slowly, I made sure to feel my pulse myself, then breathing out slowly, my pulse slowed and when I breathed in again and held my breath it slowed completely, but still steady.
His eyes widened in awe making me smile at his interest.
"Wow.. that was incredible." He said softly letting go of my wrist.
"You want to try again?" I asked knowing it was getting late.
He nodded enthusiastically. Gently placing a hand on his heart, I gestured for him to try. He breathed in slowly as I told him to, closing his eyes, then held it. I could tell he was completely focused, and as though it was a miracle, his heart rate slowed drastically.
Taking my hand off his chest, I grinned at how happy he was.
"Yes! I did it." He said jumping up happily.
Getting up from sitting on the rocks I looked at him with content in my eyes. There was something about this boy that enticed me, but I wasn't sure why.
"Thank you Y/n, I couldn't have done it without you." He said sincerely, briefly touching my shoulder making me feel goosebumps run along the back of my neck.
"It's no problem, I was honoured to teach you." I said dramatically.
"Shall we go for dinner?" He asked, it seems eclipse was arriving soon.
I nodded, as we both made our way back, talking and talking like there was no end. Bliss really.

Neteyam's POV

I watched her go sit with her family, her hair shining in the moonlight. The girl intrigued me, but due to the situation of us being quite different and the death stares received by her brother, I wasn't sure how well we would get to know each other. That didn't mean her brother scared me though, I just wanted peace.
Sitting next to my father, Kiri started teasing Lo'ak about Tsireya which made my parents laugh in response.
"Your face when she tried teaching that breathing technique was priceless." Tuk laughed rolling on the floor.
"You saw that!?" Lo'ak exclaimed.
"We all did little brother." I laughed.
"Agh." He mumbled, covering his face in embarrassment. I noticed he would sneak a glance at Tsireya now and again making me chuckle, but I decided not to call him out on it. Instead I looked up at the stars, astonished at the beauty of them. Being able to see them so clearly was a blessing for me.
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I hope you guys like this chapter! I want to try develop Aonung's character too somehow, but we will see. Definitely gives off big brother energy.
-Author out