Sea of Stars | neteyam sully

chapter 11: hangover

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

It was the day after the bonfire. Neteyam woke up with a raging headache. He grunted, putting his hand on his head to hopefully relieve some pain. It didn't work, of course. He sat up straight, looking at Lo'ak on the other side of the room. He was sound asleep. Probably came back later than him yesterday. He felt like the world was still spinning.

He was rubbing his left eye, thinking back to yesterday. He didn't really remember anything. He only remembered that he was talking to Ikariya, somehow upsetting her. Bullshit, if you asked him. He was just telling her the truth.

Ikariya woke up a few hours before Neteyam did. She could only sleep well in her own hammock, not on these weird mats. She was so tired. The only thing that could make her feel a little sleepy was the sound of the ocean and its salty smell. But, that didn't really work.

She walked into their shared pod, meeting with Jake. His head shot up, looking at her as she did the same. 'Good morning kid, how'd you sleep?' He asked her.

'Okay-ish. Not as good as in my hammock though.' She told him, smiling.

He smiled back. 'You miss home?'

Ikariya shook her head, making Jake frown a little. 'No, not really. I only miss the forest.'

'Oh,' Jake didn't get to finish his sentence, his eyes shot over to Neteyam who just walked in. Ikariya watched him frown while grabbing some water. He put his hand on his head. Jake's head tilted to the side, a questioning look on his face. 'Morning, Teyam. How'd you like the bonfire yesterday?'

'It was fun.' Neteyam said, not looking at him. He was lying. He had the least bit of fun yesterday. He didn't even remember half of it.

Jake wasn't stupid, he knew he was hungover. He'd remembered his first time drinking kava very well. It was with Tsu'tey at the hunting festival. They got so crazy that evening. But it felt good that Neteyam was having some fun, he'd been so focused on taking all of the responsibility. It was nice that he let go for a moment. Unless it happened more often, then Jake would rip his ear off. 'Great.' He said.

Ikariya watched Jake's facial expressions to see if he found out. But he luckily didn't, she thought.

'Remember, you have breathing lessons today.' Jake reminded them, putting some food on the fire he'd started in the middle of the pod. Quite the fire hazard if you ask Ikariya, all of these pods being made of wood and such.

Neteyam grunted while wiping his hand over his face. He completely forgot.

☆彡

It was a whole lot of breathing in and breathing out according to Ikariya. She was getting a little bored, wanting to get into the water already.

They were sitting on a rock, in a circle. They had to slow down their heartbeat, Tsireya told them. She tried her best but that is hard for a girl like her, she's always so active.

Then Tsireya held onto Lo'ak's chest and stomach, making Ikariya stop her exercises and look at them. She told him to breathe from down there. Then she said that his heartbeat was fast. Ikariya grinned to herself as Neteyam smirked over at Rotxo, making Kiri roll her eyes at him.

Aonung swiftly looked at Ikariya and did the same to her, placing his hand on her chest and her lower stomach. Her eyes shifted to him looking up at her. 'What are you doing?' She asked him, laughing.

'Checking if you're doing it right.' He told her.

Neteyam watched them from across the rock. His slimy little hands were on her again. His eyes were glued to Aonung's hands on her body. How did he find the need to touch her the whole time? Like, can't you keep your hands to yourself for like five minutes? For Eywa's sake, man. Doesn't that man have any self respect? Always looking for a way to get his grimy little hands on her. He must feel like the man now.

Neteyam didn't notice he was staring for a little too long, making Lo'ak look at him in a weird way. He frowned at Neteyam, not really sure what he was doing. He was zoned out it seemed like, but he was zoned out while looking at Ikariya.

She didn't necessarily notice him watching her, she did feel like there was a familiar set of eyes on her however. But she just shrugged that feeling off, still looking at Aonung. 'You know, if you keep touching me like that I'll turn into a slimy fish myself.' She laughed as he slapped her thigh.

'There's nothing slimy about me. I don't know where you got that from.' He said, backing away from her.

'Because you're just— like, a little fishy.' She laughed at him. 'Or like a yerik.'

'Who's Yerik?' Aonung asked her, making her head turn to Lo'ak.

'Is he for real?' She asked Lo'ak with a straight face, pointing at Aonung.

Lo'ak laughed at her, looking at a confused Tsireya. He decided to explain what a yerik was. 'A yerik is a forest animal. They're blue and their lips are like this.' Lo'ak tried to copy what a yerik looked like. He pointed to his lips, making an o shape and pouting them. It looked like he was struggling, he was very concentrated. It made Tsireya roll back, laughing as tears formed in her eyes.

Ikariya couldn't keep her laughter in either, cracking up as Tsireya did.

Aonung just raised an eyebrow at him. He looked quite unamused.

Neteyam side eyed his brother. Compared to him, Lo'ak was just a child. He saw the world through rose colored glasses. Everything was all rainbows and butterflies to him. Neteyam knew that to be not true. He envied Lo'ak for his younger mind but also felt like he was too childish. He needed to step up if he wanted to be a warrior.

Ikariya saw how Neteyam didn't join in on the laughter, it made her frown. She wondered what he was thinking about. Was he always so uptight?