umkansa - atwow highschool au

twenty one

neteyam

It was currently friday afternoon and Neteyam had just arrived home from school. He took his shoes off by the door and quickly ran up the stairs to set his backpack down as well. Kiri's birthday was tomorrow and he still had no gift to give her. I mean he truly wasn't the one to blame considering she always avoided the question when he asked. All week he's asked her what she would like and in response Kiri would just shrug then continue whatever task she was doing. At first he thought she truly did not have an idea of what gifts she would like for her birthday, but now that it was getting closer, he was skeptical. "Hey, Kiri, know what you want for your birthday yet?" "Uhhh... not sure. Can you get me one of my yogurts please?" Kiri always had a list of things she wanted for her birthday, so what was so different this year? Neteyam chose not to stress over it and just get her a new sketchbook later this evening.

Neteyam didn't realizs how hungry he was getting, until he heard his stomach make a variety of unexplainable noises as he did his homework. He decided to drop his pencil and head downstairs for a snack. When he reached the bottom of the steps his whole family could be seen discussing something, until they heard the creak of the steps, quickly turned their heads, and the kitchen was silent. "Hello...?" Neteyam questioned slowly approaching his family, slightly nervous due to their reaction to his presence. "Kiri wants to ask you something," Lo'ak quickly spat out covering his mouth as soon as the words escaped his lips. "Lo'ak you blabber mouth!" Kiri slapped her brother on the arm with a stern expression. She cleared her throat before continuing. "So... you know how my birthday's coming up?" Kiri played with the rings on her fingers as she spoke. "Yeah, it's tomorrow. Why...?" Neteyam looked between his parents and siblings cautiously, trying so hard to figure out what was going on. "I was just wondering, since i've wanted one for so long..." "No. No, no, no absolutely not-" "Please Tey! It'll just be a kitten and I wont let it bother you I swear!" Kiri pleaded as she slowly approached her brother.

Neteyam has had an irrational fear of cats since he was seven. One time when he was walking home from school, a stray cat came out of nowhere and attacked him. He had very minor injuries, but the attack was still very traumatic for seven year old Neteyam. "No Kiri. I'm serious," Neteyam crossed his arms, immediately losing his appetite that had conjured up earlier. "C'mon bro, you cant be scared of cats forever. Plus, it's not your birthday," Lo'ak back up his sisters claim. He still felt as if he owed his sister for making her lose a job opportunity. Neteyam picked his nails as he looked down to the floor. He let out a sigh as he knew for a fact he would deeply regret the next words that would come out of his mouth. "Fine. You can get the cat," he whispered, not completely true in his words. "Omg really?! Yay!! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I love you so much!" Kiri screeched jumping up and down, twirling in circles, and waving her arms before pulling her brother into a tight hug. Kiri truly wasn't a huge hugger but when she did give hugs, they were quite literally suffocating.

"You have to keep it away from me though. Swear you won't let it bother me?" Neteyam's seriousness could be seen very clearly. "I promise. You won't regret this I swear!" Kiri began jumping again around the kitchen out of pure joy. Tuk joined in on the hops and pretended she was a bunny. "Boing! Boing! Boing!" Lo'ak laughed at his sisters while Neteyam tried his best to keep a smile pasted on his face. He didn't want the regret he felt to be seen. He wanted Kiri to be happy, and if getting a cat  made her this happy then she should have it. Right? Right. "You okay love?" Neteyam felt his moms hand rested on his shoulder. He quickly nodded before his eyes began to water. He wasn't sad, just scared. And he refused to let the tears spill. So they just rested in his eyes, glossing them up. Neytiri brought him into a quick hug before kissing his forehead and grabbing him two chocolate chip granola bars. She handed him the bars and rested a hand on his cheek. "I felt your stomach grumble against mine. Eat up my boy," Neteyam let out a small laugh before unwrapping his first granola bar and taking a bite.

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It was now saturday morning, which also meant it was now Kiri's birthday. Neteyam had went out last night to get her the new sketchbook she so desperately needed. The family had discussed how they were going to shop for the new kitten this afternoon as well, which meant Neteyam had very little time to prepare himself for the new member of the family. Last night he decided to watch cute cat video compilations to see if that would alter his view on the pet, and for the most part they did. Until one cat jumped at the camera and he threw his phone across the room. After that he was ready for bed. The next morning he woke up with butterflies in his stomach, and not the good kind. He was nervous as fuck and he was truly regretting the fact he agreed to this. Neteyam was scrolling through his instagram reels when he heard a knock on his door. "It's open," he sat up in his bed, waiting to see who would approach the door. The door cracked and Kiri's face could be seen through it. She slowly open it up all the way and smiled at her brother. "Good morning," the tiredness could be heard through her raspy voice. "Good morning. Happy birthday," Neteyam smiled and Kiri smiled back in return. "Thank you. Mom said to be ready by 12 we're leaving at 12:30," Neteyam quickly glanced at his clock. 11:04pm. He let out a sigh before nodding in understanding. "Thank you again- for this. If you really don't like it, ill take it back. But you have to give it a chance before we make that decision, okay?" Neteyam nodded again. With that, Kiri left the room shutting the door. He ran his hands over his face before getting up to go shower.

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As soon as they arrived at the breeders house, Neteyam felt his stomach drop and his hands get sweaty. "I'm gonna puke," he mumbled closing his eyes so tight it hurt. "No you're not. Neteyam I swear if you throw up on me-" "Kiri! Stop that!" Neytiri waved her daughter off and set a hand on Neteyam's knee. "You don't have to go in if you don't want to, but I really think you should," she pushed removing her hand from his knee and gesturing towards a very excited Kiri next to him. Neteyam looked at his sister, gulped down whatever was coming back up, and nodded. With that, everyone got out the car. Neteyam hesitated, but he too got out the car. They rung the doorbell of the house and a sorta short, brunette lady opened the door. "Hi, You must be the Sully's! I'm Trudy!" The woman reached her hand out to shake each of the Sully's hands. Neteyam's were still mildly sweaty, but he shook it anyways.

The woman welcomed them into the house and it could clearly be heard that the kittens were around somewhere near. While Tuk instantly went searching around the house for them, Neteyam remained still at the door. "You coming bro?" Lo'ak questioned. "Mhm," Neteyam made his way in the direction of the rest of his family. The first thing he saw were a variety of kittens sorted by breed and color. His eyes instantly went wide at the size of the small kittens. They were about the size of the palm of his hand. They were kinda cute. He slowly but surely made his way around the open top cages. "Kiri you should get this one! It looks sick as fuck!" Lo'ak shouted, holding up a grey kitten with tan spots. "No Lo'ak! I already told you I want a ginger one," Lo'ak huffed in response, setting the kitten back down. Neteyam wandered around the spacious room, when he spotted a tiny ginger cat in the corner of one of the enclosures. Everyone else was so occupied with the other kittens they didn't seem to notice. That's when Neteyam realized this was his chance. He could finally get over his fear.

He took a deep breath before reaching his finger in for the kitten to smell. The small orange cat skipped its way to his finger and instantly began licking it with its rough tongue. Neteyam instantly burst out into a fit of giggles due to the tickles he felt run up his hand. The Sully family all came running in fear that Neteyam was crying. But he wasn't, he was actually smiling. "Omg! Neteyam you found one!" Kiri exclaimed as she slowly picked up the tiny creature. "It's so cute!" "He's our only ginger actually. He's a rare one for sure," Trudy explained holding a bag full of supplies for the kitten. "I want this one, can I get this one?" Kiri pleaded looking at her mother and father. "Of course baby girl," Jake responded petting the kitten on the top of his head, with just his index finger. "I want to name him Benny," Kiri looked up to her family for their approval. They all nodded. Now, they had a new member of the family, and Neteyam was no longer scared of cats.

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a/n: i truly apologize for the lack of updates, school has been kicking my ass, but i just have exams and i'll be WAYYY more active with updates. i love you all <3