Fate's Game | Lo'ak Sully

Part 16 - Breathing

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The two of them lay down to sleep for the night in silence once again. Fay'tari enjoyed the quiet thoroughly.

Lo'ak didn't.

After a while, Fay'tari was just about ready to doze off, but not before she was abruptly interrupted.

"You're breathing too loud." The boy complained, childishly.

She tried to hold back at first but because she was so tired, not much strength was seeping through. "Me?! If I didn't know it was you laying there, I'd think I was sharing the room with an ikran!" Fay'tari snapped at him, shocked he'd made such a low remark.

It seemed he'd tried to come up with a way to retaliate however all Fay'tari heard was a slight rustle from behind her followed by a small "Whatever."

Even though the girl was so close to being asleep, it was her thoughts that were keeping her up this time. She thought about what she was going to do the following day, as if the groups would be joined together, she wouldn't be able to hide her blatant lack of social skills from Lo'ak.

So, she tried her best to come up with ways to become better, more confident and more cheerful. Even if she didn't really feel either of those things.

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With the beginning of a new day came a new challenge. The groups would be joined together this time to begin to learn how to breathe correctly underwater, meaning both Fay'tari and Lo'ak would have to battle it out face to face.

By the time Tsireya and her unbothered brother had arrived at the designated spot, everyone else was already there waiting. Tuk had been decorated beautifully with an array of shells and beads around her, making Tsireya immediately compliment every single one she was wearing. Anytime Tsireya would leave one out or accidentally miss one, Tuk would make her go back and compliment it, saying "what about this one!".

It took a while.

In the meantime, Aonung was knee-deep in the water, making whistling and clicking sounds with his mouth. The four eldest went to investigate what he was doing, spotting a few creatures surfacing around him and proceeding to circle him a few times. He saw the group that had formed near the shore, which now included Tuk and Tsireya, watching him.

"Oh! Right, I forgot about this part." Tsireya said quietly, rushing ahead and stopping in front of the rest of them, about to explain the situation. "Uh... We'll have to squish."

By squish, she really should've said compact.

Somehow, they managed to get seven people on two of the creatures, which Tsireya informed them were called ilus. To do this, two people had to sit on top of the ilu whilst the two others clung on to it's saddle and glided along in the water. Tuk didn't necessarily count as an extra individual, seen as she was able to cling to Kiri's back with ease.

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(POV: Fay'tari)

I'd joined in on the circle we'd been instructed to sit in, crossing my legs as I waited patiently for either Tsireya or Aonung to begin. Who am I kidding, it'll be Tsireya.

I purposely sat next to Aonung, despite really not wanting to, as I needed to make sure I made at least some progress. That seat also happened to be directly opposite to Lo'ak, who seemed to have had the same idea as me since he was sat beside Tsireya.

Tsireya began her instructions, telling us to widen our shoulders and open up our lungs in order to breathe in fully. Once we'd all done that, she told us to breathe in and out repeatedly whilst her and her brother helped out.

Right, okay.

Since when did breathing require this much personal space to be invaded?

Fish-boy had placed both of his hands on my stomach, tapping it a few times to get me to breathe in deeper and tighten my core. Of course, I did so straight away however he continued to "help" me.

"For Eywa's sa-" I breathed out in irritation, not yet realising that I'd said it out loud, slouching my back slightly and rolling my head back. In a panic and swill of thoughts, I came up with the best thing I could to save myself. "...For Eywa's sanctuary I am thankful... I mean, look at the scenery!"

Almost every pair of eyes were pointed at me, including Aonung's which were particularly sharp. A few of them decided that I was probably talking nonsense, however Neteyam especially could tell what had just happened. I could hear his small snickers coming from the opposite side of the rock, making it difficult not to break my smile as well as my sanity.

I knew if I were to look over at Lo'ak he'd more than likely be aware that I'd almost been caught out, and would try to make it so that I went ahead with it further.

However, bigger problems showed themselves.

Aonung had now moved one of his hands to my lower back, pushing it inwards to better my posture.

That much was fine.

Until he overstayed his welcome.

The boy kept one hand on my upper back whilst the other inched towards my chin. He used his index finger, if you can even call it a finger, to lift my head up to look at him, forcing me to watch as he smirked at me.

Am I supposed to smile or throw up?

I stared for a moment in awe. (Not to be confused with the type of awe that meant that I was actually enjoying this though, of course; The type of awe that meant I was in plain shock as I didn't know what exactly fish-boy wanted from me. )

Genuinely, which is it.

Finally, making up my mind rather late, I shot him a small smile back, making sure to look at him as I did so. He freed me from his grasp after that, allowing me to readjust my entire jaw.

I looked around, finding that only a few individuals had actually noticed what was going on in front of them. Neteyam was struggling to breathe through his held-back laughter as per usual, knowing he'd get his head bitten off for it later. Tsireya was looking more towards her brother, whom she dismissed with utter desperation, telling him to get back to what he was meant to be doing using their hand-language.

Lastly, Lo'ak. As I shifted my gaze towards him, I watched as he straightened his back upon making eye contact with me. He then furrowed his brows and turned away, pretending he hadn't seen me looking.

Why is it that whenever I expect a reaction from this boy I never get one?

I shrugged his odd reaction off, continuing to follow Tsireya's instructions without the invasion of boundaries being breached that time. I worried slightly that perhaps Lo'ak had figured out that I wasn't equipped for such interactions, picking up on my ever so obvious panic as fish-boy lay his grimy fins on me.

Maybe he was oblivious, which wouldn't surprise me in the slightest; Or maybe he just simply didn't care.

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