Not So Perfect [Avatar The Way Of Water]

3

Neteyam's pov:

At dinner I watched her talking to Aonung about Eywa knows what, something about seeing her with him made me feel jealous. First of all I didn't understand what a girl like her could see in a guy like him, he was rude and arrogant and she didn't strike me as such. But I saw her playfully hit him as he was giving her longing looks, teasing her and trying his hardest to make her laugh. He did seem different around her however, around Miyara he looked like he didn't have a bad bone in his body.. but only around her..
Miyara was beautiful, by far the most elegantly beautiful girl I had ever seen. Her long, black, curly hair fell to the edge of her loincloth and it was adorned with beautiful braids and small white shells to accesoirise her dark hair, her light, teal skin was soft and flawless and her eyes were a much darker and brighter shade of blue with a few spots of green in them being different than those of the others around here, they were as light blue as the ocean surrounding the Metkayina Islands. She had a beautiful smile and the dimples in her cheeks made her only look more breathtaking with every smile that appeared on her pretty face. She was shorter than me, around 7'5 (229 cm) where I am 8'2 (249 cm), her body was adorned with white shells and tiny, white, shining pearls that made her eyes look even brighter.
"Bro," Lo'ak said snapping me out of my thoughts, I could tell by the look on his face he had seen me stare at Miyara, "be more obvious."
"I could tell you the same," I scoffed, "how's your breathing lessons going?"
"How's it having her ass in between your legs as you're riding an Ilu together going?" Lo'ak simply grinned, my ears perked up as I was unsure how he even knew that. I couldn't lie, the thought of having her body pressed against mine like the way I had only an hour ago was something that was still on display in my mind. Never in my life had I felt such an attraction to a girl, let alone having her in between my legs and her back pressed against my chest.
"You're welcome," Lo'ak said with a smirk upon his face as he looked away from me. I frowned as I didn't understand what he was saying. What was I supposed to be thankful for?
"For what?" I asked confused.
"Come on, bro," he sighed, like I was supposed to know, "I stole her Ilu hoping that somehow you would have to ride with her. I can see the way you look at her from the moment we landed, so, you're welcome."
I looked back from Lo'ak to Miyara as I wondered if I really had been that obvious, I thought Lo'ak was much more obvious about Tsireya than I was about Miyara. When I saw her this morning when we arrived I couldn't help myself from looking at her, the awestruck look on her face, the way her lips slightly parted as her eyes locked with mine, I tried to act nonchalant and simply nudge my head a bit and smirk and that had seemed to make her nervous. Aonung and Rotxo were making fun of Lo'ak causing me to glare at him and break my attention away from Miyara. However the first time I heard her voice was when she told Aonung to stop teasing us, even if she sounded annoyed in that moment her voice still sounded serene and soothing. I wanted to say hi to her but I saw the way Aonung walked past her, the way he trailed his hand along hers, the way his skin touched hers, the fact that she wasn't startled by his touch showed me that she was used to his touch and that there was something going on. It was the glare Aonung gave me when she smiled at me that told me enough. 'That's my girl' was written all over his face but I wasn't even intimidated by that look, it only made me want to get to know her even more because by the way he glared at me it didn't seem genuinely true that she was his.
Stuck in a deep thought that was Miyara I had gotten pulled out of reality, I was staring at the sand before me like I was slowly going insane. Lo'ak slapped me on my shoulder and with an annoyed look on my face I watched him point to something ahead of me, I hardly understand what was so important that he had to hit me until I saw Miyara walking away from the village. Alone.
"There's your chance bro," Lo'ak exclaimed, "go!"
Without second thought I did as my baby brother told me to and I followed after Miyara. She held her hands behind her back as she was humming a song to herself, looking up at the starry night.
"Are you going to talk or are you just fine by following me?" She suddenly asked as she turned around to face me, a wide grin upon her face since she caught me.
"I was going to talk to you," I stuttered, "eventually."
She chuckled as she nervously looked down at her feet like she had done this morning when I met her, I thought it was cute how she had to look away from a person when they made her feel nervous.
"You must miss the forest," she said suddenly, taking a step closer to me.
"I do, it was my home," I said my eyes widened as I could see the stars dance in her big eyes, "but this place had it's highlights."
"It does?" She asked with a smile on her face, "we don't have any trees big enough for you to swing in."
"I wasn't talking about the nature," I said feeling more confident, "the Metkayina nature is beautiful, but not as beautiful as you are."
Her eyes widened and I could see her pupils dilate as she stared into my eyes, a soft and genuine smile on her perfectly flawless face, I could see the dimples in her cheeks that adorned every smile she made and it made her that much prettier.
"Thank you," she said softly as she began to play with a strand of her hair, "Neteyam."
It was the way she prenounced my name that made my heart skip a beat, how every letter perfectly rolled off her tongue, it was the tone of her voice that made my tail perk up even if I didn't want it to. My ears didn't make it better, no, they perked up just like my tail showing her that I liked the way she spoke my name, I could tell that she noticed.
"Perhaps, we could be friends?" I asked her as I licked my lips, I knew I would never be able to keep her as just a friend but we had to start somewhere.
"I'd very much like that," she softly giggled as she looked back down at her feet again, making me chuckle.
"As my friend you've showed me a part of your world and your animals," I said, placing my hands on my hips, "could I show you something of my world?"
She quirked a curious brow and grinned, "sure, show me your world, Neteyam."
I smirked as I extended my hand for her to take, she frowned slightly confused but still took my hand and allowed me to lead her somewhere else. The last sounds of the village far behind us, she didn't know what I had planned but I knew she'd like it.
"Where are we going?" She asked still holding onto my hand as she gave me a soft squeeze when she asked the question.
"We're almost there," I grinned as I continued to lead the way, I looked over my shoulder and saw the nervous look on her face before returning my gaze up ahead, "we're here."
She halted besides me and I looked down at her to see the look on her face when she'd realise where I took her. Her eyes widened and an excited smile appeared on her face as she didn't hesitate to take a step closer.

Miyara's pov:

Neteyam had taken me to see the Ikrans, I was always so curious about these beautiful animals and now I saw them up close.
"Which one's yours?" I asked him turning around to see a satisfied smirk upon his face that made my heart beat faster. He took my hand once more, there was something about his touch that send shivers down my spine, but I allowed him to lead me to his Ikran. I gaped at the sight of his Ikran, it was such a beautiful animal. I carefully lifted my hand up and allowed it to touch my hand, I excitedly gasped when the animal allowed me to gently pet it.
"Come on, I should return the favor," he said suddenly and I turned to him with a confused look on my face, "let me take you for a ride."
"A ride? On an Ikran?" I stammered, I had never, not once been up in the sky and the thought of it made me anxious.
"You'll be fine," Neteyam said as he stepped onto his Ikran, made the bond and once again held out his hand for me, but this time to help me on his Ikran.
"Promise you won't drop me?" I asked nervously as I sat on the Ikran behind him, not even sure where I should hold onto.
"Hm, only a fool would drop a girl like you," he said in a low voice as he looked over his shoulder to me, making his hair whip along with it, "you should hold onto me, otherwise you'll get flung off."
I nodded as I nervously sat closer to him, closing the inches between our bodies and pressing my body against his, I was sure he could feel my heartbeat just like I felt his earlier today. I wrapped my arms around his lower abdonem and placed my chin on his shoulder, tightly holding onto him. Neteyam placed his left hand on my thigh, close to the back of my knee. He saw the blush on my cheeks getting brighter and a smirk appeared on his face.
"Your heartbeat is very fast," he whispered with a smug look on his face, his yellow eyes rested on me.
"That's because I'm nervous to fly," I lied, trying to make it look like the way we were sitting or the way he tightly held onto my thigh wasn't making me nervous. He simply grinned and told the Ikran to take off.
As it flew up I got startled and quickly moved my hands from Neteyam's lower abdonem to his chest, had I not been terrified to fly I might've payed more attention to how well in shape he actually was and to how hard his packs were. I pressed myself even closer to his body as we got higher up in the air, my cheek pressed against his shoulder as I looked down to see the ground get further away from my feet.
"See?" he questioned as he softly squeezed my thigh, "you're fine."
It took me a little while to get adjusted to being in the air but when I was used to it I loved the way it made me feel. It was such a freeing feeling, like I could conquer everything. I had already forgotten that I still had both of my hands tightly pressed to his chest, I could see everything so clearly from up here. I saw the village, the woods surrounding the center of our island, the roots and the beaches, the pools in the roots, everything. I let out a nervous chuckle as I was beginning to enjoy myself up here.
"This is amazing," I said as I looked up to Neteyam to only find out he was already studying me closely, "much more intresting than an Ilu."
He smiled before returning his gaze back forward, "we should head back, my father would skin me if he knew I took the Ikran out for no reason."
"Why didn't you tell me? I don't want to get you into trouble," I said and Neteyam simply grinned.
"I invited you, didn't I?" He simply said, "don't worry, I'm glad I could show you this."
"But why me?" I asked him curiously.
"Because you're my friend now," he said, a blush appearing on his face, "and I thought you might like it."
"Like it? I love this," I said looking back down again, "it's a bit scary at first, but woah."
"Yeah, I know the feeling," he chuckled as we slowly landed again, "flying is what freedom feels like."
"After this I would have to agree with you," I said softly as he helped me off the Ikran by placing his hands on my waist and helping me gently back on the ground, "but when you're better at swimming you'll see that swimming can be pretty freeing as well."
"I believe you," he said his hands still on my waist even if I was on the ground, "come on, before we get scolded for being out too late."
"Or flying with the Ikran you weren't supposed to fly with," I chuckled as he let go of my waist and we walked back to the village together.