Shells | Lo'ak Sully

Part 1: Dreamer

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The following morning was at it usually was; Rowdy. — Tuk was chasing Kiri around, trying to get her back for stepping on her tail purposefully, not succeeding in gaining much speed compared to her sister. Ni'teya and Lo'ak however, arrived at Jake and Neytiri's hut a little later.

Ni'teya greeted everyone, placing herself opposite Jake to receive and eat her breakfast. Lo'ak didn't say anything, which wasn't completely out of the ordinary, as he was known to be extremely grumpy after waking up; He was definitely not a morning person by any means. What was different however, was his appearance. — His eyes were puffy, that was the main thing. He continued to look down as he began to eat his food, attempting to hide his face from everyone. Neither Kiri nor Tuk noticed, however both of his parents did, of course. Jake wanted to say something, however he decided it was wise not to when Ni'teya appeared to be uneasy too.

The two of them ate in silence, Ni'teya finishing her food first as she usually did, placing down her bowl before getting up to leave and get ready for the day. — Just as she was about to exit the hut however, Jake stopped her, pulling her aside and moving her out of the way so that Lo'ak wouldn't be able to hear them talk.

Immediately, Ni'teya knew what he was about to ask her.

"How's he doing?" Jake cautioned, looking down at the girl who began to fiddle with her fingers.

Ni'teya breathed in, "He had another one last night, a bad one." She spoke quickly and quietly, clearly on edge. "I think they're getting worse." She added, turning to face Lo'ak for a second before looking back up at Jake.

He sighed, placing a hand on her cheek gently. "I know you're worried Teya, but listen. They will stop eventually."

"What if they don't!" She suddenly lashed at him, her lack of sleep causing her to be rather easy to upset. Her brows pushed together, her eyes clearly frightened.

"Ni'teya, I promise you. — He doesn't know how to deal with everything, none of us do. Once he learns to turn his grief into something better and healthier than it is now, he'll heal. He's a stubborn one, you know that." He stroked the girl's cheek with his thumb, bending down a little to match her eyeline.

"I know, I'm just— I'm just scared." She admitted, a deep sigh following her sentence, showing how truthful she was being in that moment. Jake delicately smiled, raising back up and removing his hand.

"I know you are." He stated in a hushed tone. "...And, I also know that you want to help him. — But listen, you can't block out what you're feeling just to make sure he's okay."

His statement made Ni'teya stare for a short while, as if his words hadn't completely sunk in yet. She then looked down again once he continued to talk.

"Tell me... How many hours of sleep did you get last night?"

The girl was silent, not having an answer to give him as in truth, she had no idea. She didn't even recall falling asleep at all the night before.

"Ni'teya, you can't keep this up, you know that—" He sounded troubled.

"I know! Okay? I know." She rushed the words out of her, not wanting to be told what she already knew all too well. The girl didn't wait around to hear it either, she started to walk away from Jake once she'd finished talking, the man not stopping her in doing so.

He sighed as she left, scratching the back of his head.

But, what neither he nor Ni'teya knew, was that someone had been listening in on their conversation. Unbeknownst to the both of them, Lo'ak was able to hear what they were saying, all too clearly at that.