Fate's Game | Lo'ak Sully

Part 19 - Tickled

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(POV: Neteyam)

I mean, technically speaking, they are a pair if you were to consider the fact that they've been put together by individuals who plan on them becoming one. However, I think Tsireya's leaning more towards the idea that they're both willingly a pair.

Which tickles me, to be honest.

"Uh... What do you mean?" I tried to understand where she was coming from.

"You know, together! She likes him, he likes her, a pair!"

I started to wonder if she'd ever actually seen them interact, like, ever. It made me wonder whether she even knew anything about their situation at all.

"I mean, at first I thought they were quite mean to eachother. But I guess I was wrong!

I struggled to think of what to say to her, she seemed to sure of herself that I almost didn't want to ruin it for her. However, I decided it was best to tell her the truth.

"I dont think you're reading this right-" I tried to break it to her slowly.

Tilting her head, she grew puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"Well... They are a pair, I suppose. But they're not the kind of pair you think they are." I began, only succeeding in making her look all the more curious and confused. "So. The thing is, their parents arranged for them to become a pair at some point, so my Dad's trying to make them get along. But they're not exactly happy about it because-"

For the second time, Tsireya let out an even longer "Ohhhhhh." She seemed to think some more, the cogs turning in her brain almost visible in the physical world.

"So- They're a pair but they don't want to be one? Is that right?"

"Yep."

"Why?"

I though that would take a little too long to explain, so I switched the aim of the conversation. "That's a different matter. All I want to know is why they're acting off. Like, Fay'tari never lets anyone insult her, trust me, but she just stood by as Aonung mocked her the other day!"

By this point, Tsireya had put down the things she was carrying and was stood with her weight shifted to one side, her hand on her chin as she listened to what I was saying.

"And you're right about Lo'ak; He definitely doesn't need as much help as he's asking you for!" I told her everything, trying to make her understand my queries.

"It does seem strange..."

Thank you!

"Maybe I should ask him about-"

"No! No, no. That won't end well." I knew that from experience, unfortunately.

I had been thinking of ways to get to either of them for a while, however I'd never considered the idea of stopping whatever they were doing from happening. I was just going to let them get on with themselves, not wanting to interfere at all.

But I was slightly bored with the whole thing. Plus, seeing Fay'tari try to act different was getting much too painful to watch as it was clear she had no idea what she was doing.

"Leave it to me, Tsireya!" I promptly told her, looking confident so that she'd feel comfortable in leave after that, which she did.

I didn't know exactly what I was going to do, but I knew I couldn't hassle Fay'tari with it again as I may turn up with fewer limbs then I should have.

So, my attention had to be turned to my younger brother.

I can probably break him.

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(POV: NARRATOR)

That afternoon, the Sully children as well as Fay'tari were scheduled to meet with their groups in order to finally bond with their own personal ilu.

Tuk was there around an hour early, simply pacing back and forth on the sandy beach's shore, attempting to be patient though everyone else wondered wether she knew what that word meant.

When it was time, everyone split off into their groups and followed their leaders into the water.

Aonung made the same clicky nosies that he'd made before, bringing a few of the creatures towards him once again. This time, they were different colours. Fay'tari immediately noticed how vibrant they were, inspecting each of them carefully to view them in their entirety, thinking they were absolutely breathtaking.

Due to her preoccupation, she hadn't realized that Neteyam had begun to follow Aonung's instructions, attempting to bond with one of the ilus.

This technique was very different to that of bonding with an ikran.

All they had to was mount the creature, gently attach their braid to it and begin to ride it. However, riding them was easier said than done. They'd have to hold on with extreme grip as the water would push against them as they rode underwater, making it a difficult task to control them as well as stay attached.

Nevertheless, Fay'tari was ready to try. She picked an ilu that she liked the look of, mounting it and doing as Aonung said. The creature was a gorgeous twilight blue which looked almost purple in some lights, covered in streaks of both yellow and white, as well as small white dots that resembled freckles here and there.

After she'd attached her braid, she steadied herself, holding the handle tightly and beginning to ride forward slowly. She didn't want to rush it, so she went at a decent pace, waiting for the right time to dive under. When she did, she found it hard to open her eyes at first however once she'd gotten the hang of it, it was incredible. She twisted and turned, navigating through pieces of coral with a sizeable grin on her face. However the girl had forgotten where she was, and that was a place where she couldn't breathe.

She speedily realized that she was running low on air, resurfacing straight away and waving over at Neteyam to show her excitement.

As she did, she happened to look over in the direction of Tsireya's group, catching a rather humorous sight.

It was obvious that Lo'ak had thought it would be easy to ride the creature, as Fay'tari had caught the exact moment the boy went flying off of the animal, hearing an uproar of laughter begin.

He looked as if he'd been concussed when he showed himself, dizzy-looking but still able to make out the sound of people laughing at him.

Fay'tari began to join in, not being able to help it.

Upon hearing a familiar voice, Lo'ak shifted his attention towards the girl who was supposed to be concentrating on her own learning.

When she saw him looking, she continued to giggle. She raised up one of her hands before giving him a thumbs-down, sticking her tongue out to tease him for his failure.

He looked slightly shocked at that, however he quickly regained his senses as he simply but aggressively flipped her off, wiping his eyes as they still had water in them.

This only provoked her to laugh even more, rolling her head back as she did so.

In the last two days, the girl had laughed more than she had in the past six years of her life. Both times because of the same boy.

He watched her the whole time, maybe looking for a little too long.

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