Sea of Stars | neteyam sully

chapter 21: welcome back

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Ikariya and Lo'ak were hanging out in the shallow pools by the rocks. They were sunbathing, laying on their back as the water made them float. It looked quite funny if you would view it from above, they looked like two lost starfish. But it was relaxing, the silence being filled by the sound of waves crashing into the terraces.

Ikariya had her eyes closed, taking everything in as a sudden blow on a horn made her jump. Her head sunk underwater before she sat up straight. She made a weird noise that kind of sounded like a grunt but not really. 'It went up my nose!'

Lo'ak didn't really laugh like Ikariya expected him to. He was looking at the mainland, trying to figure out what the problem was. 'Let's go.' He said, already diving into the water.

She sighed before she jumped in as well, following Lo'ak.

When they made it to the beach, it was already pretty clear what was going on.

'Everybody, our brothers and sisters have returned!' Tsireya sat on an ilu, waving at everybody to come out of their marui pods.

It was truly a beautiful sight to see. The huge creatures swam to the reefs, jumping up and shooting water out of their blowholes. The Metkayina looked happy, joining their family members as they welcomed them back. It was like everybody of the village was in the water, even the youngest babies.

'Wow. So this is what tulkun look like.' Ikariya said in awe, not looking at Lo'ak. But when she didn't get a response, she turned to the side and noticed that Lo'ak was running away towards Tsireya.

Ikariya rolled her eyes, smiling at that desperate idiot. Then somebody she didn't expect appeared before her. 'Need a ride?' He asked, pretty chipper if you asked Ikariya.

She looked around, checking if he was actually talking to her. 'Euh,'

'Come on, dragonfly. I won't bite. For now.' Neteyam smirked, holding out his hand. He caught her off guard.

Her eyes grew wide for merely a second. She cleared her throat, hoping he didn't notice.

Why was he being this playful? He didn't particularly like her, she definitely knew that. But suddenly he was acting nice.

She softly gulped, taking his hand. 'You're acting weird.' She said as she stepped on the back of his ilu.

'You're always weird.' He clapped back, smirking. 'And don't forget we have to finish the arrows later today!' He quickly said. Before she could comment on that he dove underwater, holding onto her thigh to keep her on the creature.

They both watched as all the Metkayina reunited with their friends. When they came up again, Ikariya noticed a smile on Neteyam's face. A genuine one. His smile only made hers brighter.

Lo'ak noticed them from afar. What was she doing on the back of his ilu? What are they doing together? He felt the need to go up to them but Tsireya was in charge here and she definitely wanted to stay where she was. He figured he would talk to him the moment they get back to the mainland.

☆彡

Her eyes followed Neteyam's hands as he was busy crafting an arrow. He was doing everything right. Ikariya was proud of herself for teaching him that well. He seemed focussed, his eyes staring into the wood.

'What's a dragonfly?' She asked him, tilting her head.

His head shot up, meeting her eyes. 'What?' Where did this come from?

'You called me dragonfly— by the beach, remember? What does it mean?' It had been bugging Ikariya this whole time. She didn't know what it meant. She repeated the word in her head, trying to figure out what the hell it could be. But she didn't have a clue.

'Oh, right. My dad told me it used to live on earth. Not anymore though.' Neteyam explained. He was pretty amused that she'd still remembered it. He didn't really intended to call her that, it just came out. But that meant it had been on her mind this whole time. That he had been on her mind.

'Why are you calling me that?'

'He said it was some kind of winged creature. And that they were pretty. It just reminded me of you being part of the Tayrangi clan— ikran people and everything.' He confessed.

'So you think I'm pretty?' Ikariya smirked, looking at him.

Neteyam was dumbfounded, he didn't even recall willingly saying that. Was it his mind playing tricks on him? 'Is that literally the only thing you picked up from that?' He asked her, raised brow and all.

'Yep.' She smiled proudly, continuing with what she was doing. She tried to change the topic or else her mind would be hung up on Neteyam this whole time. But she was too late, he'd already found a place to stay.

He called her pretty. Pretty! Neteyam, a boy, thought she was pretty. Ikariya had never heard a boy call her that. She felt her cheeks burn up, turning her head away to prevent him from seeing it. It gave her a warm fuzzy feeling in her stomach. It felt like she could throw up shimmyflies.

Just as she was about to ask him why he said that, something inside of her told her that he wasn't being truthful. Why would he be? Neteyam had been visibly annoyed by everything she had said these past days. Why would he tell her she was pretty? In fact, why was he being nice all of a sudden? Maybe Lo'ak told him he needed to be nicer to her. He could definitely tell how much Neteyam had disliked her.

A noise pulled Ikariya out of her thoughts. Neteyam was talking to her. 'I'm sorry, what?'

'I said I was done.' Neteyam said, not too shy to shoot her a small smirk. He noticed how she was so caught up in her thoughts. Probably thinking about him. He saw how her cheeks turned rosy when he accidentally confessed to her that he thought she was pretty.

And he wasn't even lying.