Shells | Lo'ak Sully

Vol.2 Epilogue

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(POV: Narrator)

On the day the sky above was a clear crystal blue, the ocean below a deep sapphire, two brothers were playing on the rocks bordering the calm reef and rough sea. One was taller than the other, his forehead covered with a Rider's mask, his hair braided with beads here and there, smiling from ear to ear. The other, shorter, had the same braided hair although his was tied up, his cheeks covered in painted lines of orange and black. They were running along the rocky edge, playing a civil game of tag.

"You're it!" The shorter one called out, making his brother turn suddenly with a disbelieving expression.

"You didn't even touch me, you cheater!" He cried, chasing after his brother with a large smile splayed across his face despite having just been deceived.

"Ha ha! Catch me if you can, loser!" The little one ran as fast as he could, his height playing to his advantage as his speed was increased. He'd almost made it to the edge of the slippery rocks when—

"Not so fast!" A sudden voice yelled behind him.

A third had shown up; A girl, around the same height as the shortest brother, dirt covering both her palms and her kneecaps. She looked as if she'd crawled from a bush; Her hair in frizzy tangles with beads dotted around randomly. This girl had one distinguishing feature, too. around her neck, she wore a neckpiece covered from one end to another in shells, one central shell standing out from the rest of them.

As the younger boy processes her appearance, he fails to notice his brother sneaking passed her and tapping him on the shoulder, remembering to yell out "tag!" along with his success.

"Hey! Cheaters! I wasn't paying attention!" The youngest argued like a child, aiming his annoyance as his brother who merely smiled at the girl with cheek.
As the boy saw the exchange, he continued his tantrum. "You two are in cahoot's! Traitors! This counts as an alliance, which clearly, is cheating!" He bellows, sending the other two into a rage of laughter.

"Tough luck!" His brother says as he gasps from laughing too hard as he spoke, clutching his stomach with both hands.

The girl however, had made her way to the ground, curling up into a ball as she attempted to soothe her stomach that was obviously aching as she too continued to laugh. The youngest boy watched them for a while, trying to come up with words that would straighten them out or at least make them quit their rather obnoxious laughing. However, he couldn't bring himself to.

Instead, the boy smiled a little, then a lot, then a whole lot. He laughed too, joining in on the trend he'd ignited without trying to.

The three of them were laughing alongside each other for a while longer, happy, childish, free. The sound sang in the skies, catching the wind as it passed through, eventually getting louder... louder... and louder, until—

.

Lo'ak opened his eyes. Not in a hurry, not like he was trying to escape something, but slowly, calmly. It took a few moments for his eyes to adjust, making him blink a few times before he could finally see what was in front of him.

Lying there, in his hammock, a peaceful and not yet disturbed girl. His girl. That time, she wasn't waiting up for him, meeting him with worried eyes as he scared himself awake. That time, he hadn't woken her up. That time, he hadn't woken up afraid, confused. That time, he didn't want to fall back asleep... But for a different reason.

That time, he felt afraid to close his eyes again. Not because of the fear of nightmares. But because of the fear of her not being there the next time he opened them.

The boy smiled to himself, foolishly. He watched her eyelashes twitch as his breath hit them, making him change his positioning as to not disturb her too much. He tried moving as slowly and as silently as he could, doing a pretty good job until he paused and thought... 'ah, fuck it.'

With that, his arms made their way around Ni'teya, pulling her into him as her breathing deepened, signalling that she was falling out from her slumber the slightest amount. She wasn't aware of it, but she moved too. He allowed her to dig her head into his chest, letting her listen to his heart and his breathing, sending her straight back to sleep almost instantly... Almost. — He wrapped his arms around her, placing them finally on her back, letting them rest there indefinitely as he closed his eyes once again.

With one final deep breath in, indicating that he'd found his comfort, he let himself start to fall back asleep as he held Ni'teya close to him. He brought his head downward slowly with his eyes still shut, caressing her back with a thumb as he placed a soft, loving kiss on her forehead, repeating this act a few more times for good measure.

As we're painfully aware, Lo'ak is not the sharpest tool in shed... Especially when it comes to romance. So, if only he'd noticed that the girl that was so close to him wasn't in fact asleep.

As he placed his final kiss, he lingered for a moment, hugging the girl tighter. Before she could whisper to him that he was squeezing her too tightly, he spoke in a gentle, quiet hint of a whisper.

"I—" He started, making Ni'teya quieten herself. "I really, really love you, Teya."

The words almost made Ni'teya choke. She smiled, trying not to make her movements noticeable. It seemed however, that the increased rate of her heart that was subsequently pressed up against his chest had given her away, as his next words definitely hadn't been anticipated.

With a cheeky grin, he made a fatal joke. "If only you didn't have a weird obsession with shells—"

"You jerk!"

And then, as he'd surely seen coming, she hit him.

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