Rivals || Lo'ak Sully

Chapter 6 : "Close"💫

As if it couldn't have gotten any worse, it started to shower. Strong raindrops hit their hiding place some of them even reaching the two teenagers. Somehow, the weather outside could be called a perfect resemblance to how it was inside the cave.

They weren't talking.

Ma'i was laying, her back to the stony wall. The mild stinging pain could still be easily felt from her wounds.

A sudden sharp stinging rushed through her whole body and the girl hissed in pain, breaking the full of tense silence that was previously disturbed only by the sound of rain.

This didn't fail to catch Lo'ak's attention as his tail was once again betraying the boy. Ma'i had an immensely strong influence on Lo'ak's body and he hated it. Every time she let out a sound of pain or a sharp breath, every time her warmth got closer to the boy, and her voice... it triggered Lo'ak so much that he actually was deciding whether to move completely out of the cave or just stop functioning.

The boy really didn't care about her. He didn't. He loathed her. Such an annoying being. Always getting him out of the way and making things worse.

Lo'ak kept replaying these words inside his head in hopes of them actually being true.

The boy turned his head to the direction in which the hurtful sounds could be heard and his heart made an aching movement at the sight.

Ma'i was getting worse. She was in a condition that he foolishly expected could be prevented. Even though her wounds were now properly bandaged and safe, what didn't give Lo'ak calmness was the fact that the girl was visibly sweating.

Ma'i's hair was stuck to her sweaty forehead, and a patch of sweat was on her upper lips. She was laying on the ground with closed eyes, softly trying to breathe through her open mouth.

Lo'ak knew that he had to get the temperature down as fast as he could. The girl was visibly shaking in her micro-sleeping state. The fact that she didn't have many clothes on her was definitely not helping in this situation, only making her feel colder. A sudden rush of cold wind reached the teenagers, and Ma'i started to shake and tremble even more strongly than before.

He knew what he had to do.

I'm so going to regret this.

Lo'ak moved closer to the shaking girl, slightly touching her side. The boy almost jumped at the contact, her skin burning his side but he didn't withdraw from his plan. Lo'ak put one of his arms around Ma'i's shoulders and softly brought her bended knees closer to him with the other.

Ma'i unconsciously snuggled into Lo'ak's embrace, relaxing and putting her head on his chest. Her sweat spread across his skin but he didn't mind that at all.

"I'm sorry." Lo'ak could hear her mumble against his chest. "I didn't mean to say the things I did." Even though Lo'ak couldn't see her eyes, he knew that she dipped them down, like she always did when apologizing.

Lo'ak stayed silent for a few moments.

"I'm sorry too." The boy breathed out. "I was truly acting like a prick. It was very childish of me."

She chuckled.

"It's okay." Her soft breath hit Lo'ak's chest and he shuttered. "This doesn't mean I'm going to let you win this year's clan prize tho." Ma'i laughed weakly, not having enough energy to function properly.

Lo'ak saw her dozing out and he slightly tucked her hand, not letting her blackout. He was sure that this wouldn't help the girl heal.

Ma'i opened her eyes and turned her head to Lo'ak's side. However, she didn't expect him to be this close. His nose was almost touching hers and her gaze dropped to his mouth.

The girl lifted her eyes and connected them with Lo'ak's gaze. Ma'i's body craved more connection, her eyes softening as she felt like leaning in.

Just a few more millimeters and their noses were about to touch.

Suddenly, a crash of thunder crashed and both teenagers jumped in fear.

Ma'i and Lo'ak quickly averted their gazes as a blush crept on both of them. Lo'ak rubbed his neck, face going even redder as Ma'i bit her bottom lip, cursing herself in her mind.

"Um... I should probably go, look for food." Lo'ak was the first to break the uncomfortable silence.

"It's raining." Ma'i peeked outside. "We will go there tomorrow morning."

"Yeah... okay..." The uncomfortableness fell on both of their shoulders.

There was a long moment of silence, only their breaths being heard.

Ma'i suddenly relaxed, feeling all the tiredness and sickness get the best of her. With a final yawn, the girl snuggled even more into Lo'ak's embrace and fell into the kingdom of dreams.