Sea of Stars | neteyam sully

chapter 9: classically beautiful

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Ikariya was having so much fun. This was not like any celebration she'd ever experienced. She was dancing with Aonung, glancing over at Tsireya and Lo'ak every once in a while. They were so cute, both of them were so nervous around each other.

Aonung spun her around, laughing as she almost tripped over someone's tail.

She would glance over at Neteyam whenever Aonung wasn't looking. If Aonung saw her staring at him, he'd probably mock her for the rest of her stay. Neteyam was, like Lo'ak predicted, sitting on a log. But he wasn't staring at his feet, he was staring at her. Like, right at her. She'd catch his eye every time she'd look over at him.

He was keeping an eye on her to prevent her from getting in trouble. Or at least that's what he was telling himself. Obviously not because of how good she looked and how much it annoyed him that she was dancing with Aonung.

Ikariya felt bad for him. It looked like he wasn't enjoying himself one bit. His face said it all. "I kind of don't want to be here but I don't really want to show it." She stopped dancing, biting the inside of her cheek. Should she?

Aonung looked at her with a puzzled expression on his face, wondering why she stopped.

Ikariya sighed, looking down before making her way over to him. He was a little startled, his eyes widening and quickly looking away as she slowly moved over to him. Her hips swayed to the rhythm of the music, probably unintentionally. She stood before him, crossing her arms. 'What are you doing?' She asked him.

'Braiding my hair.' He mocked her. He remembered her snarky remark from the other day very well.

She rolled her eyes, reaching over to him to grab his hand. But he moved away, making her pull her head back while frowning at him.

'What the hell are you doing?' He asked.

'Come on, dance with us.' She said, her eyebrows relaxing.

Neteyam stood up. He hated how pretty she looked in this light. The golden colors of the bonfire shining on her face, along with the blues and purples that lit up the night sky. Her features were just classically beautiful.

He shook his head. 'No.'

'Come on.' She said, wiggling her eyebrows as she reached over to him once again. 'I know you want to.'

'No, I don't Ikiraya. Why must you be so demanding all the time?' He asked, pulling his arm away.

She looked at the boy in front of her, dropping her hand to her side. 'This lays deeper, doesn't it? Is that why you hate me?'

'Stop it Ikariya, I don't hate you.' Neteyam's words said one thing but his eyes another. 'I just,' He was hesitant to tell her. He didn't know why. Maybe he didn't want to hurt her feelings? No, that wasn't the case. He doesn't really care about her feelings. She's a stranger anyway. 'You're a bad influence on Lo'ak.' He blurted out.

Ikariya's eyes shot open wide. 'What?' Her eyebrows twitched and her tail fell behind her.

'I said it. Every time I have to get him out of trouble, it is because of something you started. I'm trying my best to get him on the right track, then you come along and push him off again.' Neteyam sighed, relieved he finally got that off his chest.

Ikariya nodded, her lips curling downward. 'Good to know what you really think of me.' Before he could say anything she had already turned around and walked away, not planning on listening to another word that comes out of his mouth.

She was mad. Like, she was fuming. How could he blame her for all of Lo'ak's irresponsible actions? Sure, she caused him to do stupid shit a couple of times. But definitely not all of it was her fault.

She wrapped her arms around her body, watching the waves come to shore and retreat again. It looked like the ocean was breathing.

Ikariya hated it when people disliked her. She tries her best, every single day, to be likable enough. She wanted these kids to like her. She'd never had friends. Only Lo'ak but he was more like family to her.

She felt like being herself wasn't good enough anymore. Ikariya used to focus very hard on saying the right things, doing what she felt like the others would appreciate. When she was younger, she tried so hard to fit in. But she never did.

Lo'ak taught her that she could be herself, she'd be more fun anyways. So she slowly grew into the person she was right now. She didn't hold back on the jokes anymore.

But someone hated her again. And that person was Neteyam. She didn't know why, but it stung a bit. She didn't expect it from him. Ikariya knew he disliked her, but she didn't know it was that bad.

It had been a little while before anybody noticed that Ikariya left. But once he noticed, Lo'ak sprinted away to find her.

Once he saw a silhouette of a person sitting on the beach, he knew it was her. He walked up to her, looking down at her. 'Why did you leave?' He asked her.

'It's nothing.' She didn't want to tell him about it. He wouldn't judge her, she knew that. But still, she felt a little weird. Why did she care so much again? 'Just wanted to get a little bit of fresh air.'

'We're outside.' He said, narrowing his eyes.

'So what? I was getting hot.' She told him, rolling her eyes. Lo'ak hummed, nodding his head. 'How's it going with Tsireya?' Ikariya wanted to change the topic, not wanting to talk about this anymore. She smirked slyly as Lo'ak's cheeks started to become red.

'Why? What'd she tell you?' He quickly asked, truly intrigued.

It made Ikariya laugh, he was so nervous it was hilarious.

Well, it was funny.

Before she heard Tsireya calling out their names.