Intertwined [Neteyam x OC]

Chapter 9

And they called it puppy love
Oh, I guess they'll never know
How a young heart really feels
And why I love her so
- 'Puppy Love' by Paul Anka

Aliyah woke up with the sun shining on her face. She got up and noticed that the hut was nearly empty, except for Neteyam. His head turned toward the girl, "Good morning, sleepyhead. I'm guessing you slept well?"
Aliyah smiled and nodded, "Yes, I slept wonderfully! But why did nobody wake me up? It's so late, we must have missed a lesson?"
Neteyam came over and handed her a piece of fruit to eat, "Everyone is kinda doing their own thing today. Lo'ak is getting private lessons from Tsireya, Kiri and Tuk are swimming and I don't really know where mom and dad are."
Aliyah pondered for a minute while enjoying the sweet taste of her breakfast. She let the sun warm up her face as she felt her mind wake up. She finished up the last bite of the fruit as she questioned, "So, why didn't you go along with Kiri and Tuk?"
Neteyam shrugged, "I wanted to spend time with you since we didn't get to swim or ride the ilus together yesterday."
Aliyah grinned, "Aw, that's sweet! Mmh, let's see. We can do some breathing practice before taking a dive?"

---

They sat cross-legged across from each other on the beach, closing their eyes and trying to practice breathing from their stomach. Aliyah felt as though she did something wrong, so she opened one eye and saw Neteyam focusing. She sighed, "I think I'm not doing it right. Can I feel your breathing?" Before waiting for an answer, she laid one hand on his chest and one on his stomach.
Neteyam stammered, "Uhm, yeah... Sure!" Aliyah noticed his heartbeat go up, but decided not to say anything about it, since she felt her own heart pounding in her head.
She locked eyes with him, "Okay, now breathe." He obeyed and slowly breathed in and out, trying to slow down his heart. However, this did not seem to work by looking into her shining yellow eyes. Aliyah also wasn't able to focus and got distracted by his face. She inspected his freckles, his warm eyes, and the curves of his lips. When she realized how much she was staring at him, she snapped out of her trance and lifted her hands of off his body. She rambled nervously, "Well, uhm, I think I got it now! Thanks!" she felt her cheeks heat up and looked away toward the water, hoping he wouldn't notice.
Neteyam, however, was trying to cool down himself, desperately wanting to feel the refreshing water, "Do you want to go for a swim now?"
Aliyah got up, thankful for the suggestion to distract herself, and practically shouted, "Yes! I'll race you there!" She immediately took off and started putting all her energy into running toward the water, leaving Neteyam behind. This probably wasn't the best idea to slow down her heartbeat and prepare for diving but she had to take her mind of off the flirty thoughts running through her mind. Neteyam quickly caught up with her and passed her before they felt the water swirling around their feet. He grabbed her waist before letting himself crash through the surface, taking her with him. She screamed before her head was submerged in the ocean. When they resurfaced, Aliyah pushed his chest, "Skxawng!"
Neteyam laughed, "That's payback for all the times you pulled me under!"
She huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest, "I guess that's fair." A smile took over her face as she glanced at the horizon, "Now let's swim!"
After a while, they calmed down enough to focus on diving deeper into the sea. Now that they spent their days practicing Tsireya's instructions, they were able to stay underwater for much longer than before. She enjoyed this new skill, feeling more confident each day that they could be useful in the Metkayina clan.

After spending some time swimming, they headed to a spot where ilus often rested. She tried making the same calling noises she heard from Ao'nung before, and two ilus popped their head above the water. Neteyam stroked one of the ilu's heads gently before making the bond, while Aliyah did the same with the other. They dived under along with their ilus, bodies moving in sync with the animals. They played around with the fish in the sea, which evaded the big ilus passing by. They swam through long vines, feeling the leaves brush against their skin. Suddenly, Aliyah's ankle got wrapped up in a couple of algae. Her ilu, however, kept swimming, causing the leaves to cut deeper into her skin. She pressed her teeth together to ignore the pain and decided to let go of the ilu. Luckily, she kept a knife that she had since she was a child in a holster around her body. She pulled the knife out and cut herself free from the vines, seeing a bit of blood swirl in the water around her foot. She swam up toward the surface, her lungs now nearly empty because of the effort of escaping the leaves. Neteyam had by now noticed that she got left behind and swam back to find her swimming without her ilu. He pulled her behind him, while she wrapped her arms around his waist. They resurfaced for a while so that she could catch her breath. Neteyam turned his head, "Are you okay? What happened?" His eyes went to the bloody ankle, a worried look on his face.
Aliyah gasped for air and let out a laugh, "Yes I'm fine, I'm never swimming through those vines again." She placed a hand on his face, "Thank you for coming back for me." She felt her ankle sting from the salt in the ocean water, and Neteyam tore a piece of cloth from his body to tie it around the wound. This immediately eased the pain, and it turned out that the wound was not deep at all. She smiled at Neteyam, "Okay, I barely feel anything now, let's keep swimming for a while." Neteyam raised his eyebrows, "Are you sure? Shouldn't we clean it?" Aliyah shook her head, "We'll clean it later, it's really not deep, it just stings because of the water." He nodded before diving back into the water, with her arms firmly around his waist. He placed a hand on her thigh to steady her and make sure she couldn't fall off as he picked up the pace. They both felt extremely peaceful, enjoying the views of the ocean and each other's presence. After some time, Neteyam decided they should take care of the wound and turned his ilu around.