Under the moonlight༄

Chapter 16{Paskalin}

It had been hours into the day; Neteyam did get an earful from his mother and his father. As always his dad had reminded him of his neglected duty of looking after his siblings as the oldest. He'd wanted to protest that their old enough to take of themselves but didn't and kept his mouth shut, not wanting to sit through a whole hour of lecture.

Neteyam had attempted to strike up a conversation with Lo'ak, but the now adult-teenager was avoiding him everytime he tried, not daring to look his way at all. To Neteyam, his behavior was childish. The boy wouldn't even hear him out, so he stopped trying, at least for now. He'd never been the one to give up so easily, he wasn't willing to back down now either.

He'd finished all his chores, mostly helping out around the village the best he could. He had been praised much for his crafting skills back home and it seemed to bring praise here as well, he'd often sit by the elders and weave baskets, or craft armbands and more, it was one way to make himself useful but it simply wasn't enough. He'd taken on more chores than usual to satisfy himself, which he achieved but ended up causing his feet to ache as well as his thighs. Being on the run all day had its consequences.

Sitting by the shore, Neteyam let an awfully long tired sigh escape his chapped lips. He stared into the dark sky, fiddling with his songcord that hung from his loincloth.

His ears flicked picking up soft footsteps approaching behind him. He turned with a graceful swish of his braids and was met by Kiri, his sister.

"Hey teyam" She greeted with a smile and he gave a curt nod in return when she had come and sat next to him.

"I wanted to make sure you were alright"

"Fine" He murmured.

The girl beside him looked at him, not the bit amused by his answer.

"You are not fine. Why are you tiring yourself brother?"

"I am not kiri, do not worry about me"

"Teyam something is clearly bothering you, speak to me"

Neteyam licked his lips tiredly before tilting his head to the side to face Kiri.

"It is Lo'ak. He is avoiding me and i have no clue why"

Kiri sighed and placed a hand on Neteyam's shoulder.

"He is just jealous brother. He will come around, you know how he is. Dont waste your time trying to talk to that shxawng"

"Jealous? What is there to be jealous of?"

"It isn't my place to say, he'll tell you himself.. eventually"

He let out a frustrated groan.

"Your starting to sound like ma" He said scrunching his nose and Kiri grinned.

"Anyway, You and Aonung missed our Hangout, something hilarious happened. Lo'ak asked reya if he could be her courtier and presented her with a courting gift and the crazy part is they've only started dating a day ago"

Neteyam's mouth gaped in suprise at his brother's sheer naivety and boldness.

"I didn't even know that they started dating. How come your just telling me?"

"Well it isnt my fault now is it? You've been busy with your honey boo, besides thats what your worried about? really"

He scoffed at the nickname but didn't hide the lopsided grin.

"Mhm, And what happened that made it hilarious exactly? Did she not accept it?"

"So.. she accepted it and right after she explained to him that he was being too quick but was grateful nonetheless, and on the way back Lo'ak was sulking"