Fate's Game | Lo'ak Sully

Part 15 - Odd

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If one were to say Fay'tari and Neteyam were hopeless at swimming, that would be an understatement to say the least. They were abysmal.

Aonung had previously guided both of them to deeper waters, helping Fay'tari watch her step on the sharp corals beneath her whilst allowing Neteyam to stub his toe a few times.

Aonung had tried to reach for Fay'tari's hand as to help her balance more, however her old habits shon through, seemingly forgetting that she was supposed to be winning this boy over somehow. When she realised that, her glaring eyes quickly switched to become kinder as she let him take her arm, but definitely not her hand.

Despite her forward nature, Fay'tari wasn't much of a flirt.

And it showed.

Neteyam couldn't figure out why she'd given up with her concrete-wall defence so suddenly, and neither could he understand why she'd let Aonung touch her, as he knew Fay'tari well enough to know that she could walk just fine.

Aonung was, of course, enjoying it. He treated her as if she were fragile, somehow ignoring the fact that she was clearly opposed to him a couple of moments ago. To be honest, he was probably just enjoying a girl's attention.

Additionally, if Neteyam were to guess at Fay'tari's inner thoughts and feelings as she was making a fool of herself in front of him, he'd guess that she was swearing every half a second before muttering snarky insults every other half of them.

To be fair to him, he wasnt far off of the mark

When the two newbies actually got down to the swimming part however, things took a turn. Neither of them could navigate properly at first, realizing that the Metkayina Na'vi had those finned hands for a very specific reason other than to look more like fish. When this became apparent, Neteyam and Fay'tari had to resurface to catch their breath, realizing further that their bodies were not equipped for such long dives.

Aonung followed closely behind, bursting out into a heavy cry of laughter as he surfaced, pointing at both individuals in front of him. "You guys suck!" He wailed, laughing once again. He even wiped a tear from the corner of his eye, insinuating that he found their failure much more amusing than it was in reality.

Neteyam didn't reply to the boy, he only turned to face his friend, knowing Fay'tari wouldn't allow an insult to be thrown at neither herself nor him. As Aonung continued to spout several other comments at them, Fay'tari only watched him.

Neteyam wondered what he had just witnessed. Fay'tari, the girl who punched his brother so hard that he had to stay in bed for three days simply because he told her "no, weirdo" when she'd asked for a bite of his food, had just listened to someone mock her completely, and did nothing. Neteyam knew then that whatever game she was playing was serious. He'd never in his life seen her back down from putting someone in their place, as he'd grown to learn what to say and what not to say in order to ensure he wasn't one of her victims.

Fay'tari's head was pounding, echoes of the words she wishes she could've said to the imbecile in front of her rung around again and again, almost mocking her.

She knew she couldn't fight back, but oh how she wanted to.

The boy who was laughing at her not only made her feel attacked by his words, but by his mannerisms too. He resembled Lo'ak's way of teasing as he pointed towards Fay'tari, only making her want to strike even more. Miraculously though, she battled through the urge and continued to play naive.

When Aonung began to swim towards the shore, the other two started to follow slowly behind him, eventually reaching the shore a good while after he'd already dried off. They found him stood on the sand, gasping for air as he was laughing yet again at something else in the distance.

"None of you forest-freaks can do this, look!" He cackled, pointing over at the water. "Poor baby needs help, aw!" He cooed.

Fay'tari saw it first, as Neteyam's eyes were still adjusting to the sun's rays. Only a small distance away from the shore she saw the other group, also struggling to hold their breath. Tuk was visible and so was Lo'ak, however Kiri was out of sight. She could see Tsireya aiding Lo'ak by making him stretch out his shoulders and pull his stomach in, visibly speaking to him as she did so. Fay'tari couldn't see the boy's face as his back was facing her, however she could see how well he was listening to the other girl. Tsireya then spotted her brother, telling Tuk to wait over with the other group as she helped Lo'ak out of the water.

Fay'tari knew instantly what he was doing. He held Tsireya's hand as he slowly made his way out of the water.

"Like a baby", Fay'tari thought.

Tsireya let go as soon as he was stable, making her way over to where the others were waiting. Neteyam shot his friend a side-eye as they approached, noticing how calm she was.

"Okay, I'd say that's enough for one day. Tomorrow we'll have to teach you how to manage your breathing, as it's very important you do it correctly. As a group, okay?" Tsireya chimes, showing her dimples and her charm. When she received a few nods of approval, she stated that she had to go and help her parents move things around for the Sully's, to which Lo'ak took as an opportunity.

"I'll help you!" He insisted, stepping out towards her and letting a determined expression show across his face. But his plan failed. Tsireya refused the help, turning and heading off as she'd tried to do before, leaving Lo'ak in the dust.

"He's trying too hard" was what Fay'tari thought of his actions.

He was being so public, so obvious that it made the girl wonder if she was playing the same game as him, wondering too if he'd forgotten the "no telling" memo that was obvious from the start.

If that was how he was going to go about things then she had no problem with it. She only wished he'd be more discreet.

But what that "discreet" defines itself as is up for debate. Be that it meant she didn't want anyone to know about the game they were playing, in fear that they'd call the both of them out and they'd be banished, outcast or worse.

Or, that it meant she didn't want to see him target Tsireya right in front of her.

Or rather, target Tsireya instead of her.

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