To our little ones || Aonung x Neteyam

Chapter 46: Impending storms

Lo'ak stared outside the window as a soft tune played in the back. He found it most difficult to concentrate lately. For the past weeks not only has he been working as a madman, but also helping at church, and assisting at the shelter with his mother on his weekends in hopes to put at ease his mind.

And he was glad to know he was not the only one. Everyone in his family had resorted to the same method. His mother very rarely did anything else but work, Kiri had gone to the extent of pushing Rotxo aside for the wedding planning so her thoughts would not have a moment to think of unpleasant things, and Neteyam had been scribbling days and nights since being in bed didn't allow him to do anything else.

Lo'ak felt like he was going insane, and perhaps he was because even if their father had been dead for almost two months now he never stopped writing to him.

He was embarrassed to admitted to admit it, but he would secretly lock himself in the kitchen at night, being a candle, pen, and paper his only companions in times of sorrow.

It provided escapism to a time in which his father was still alive, but as soon the letters would be sealed and he had to write the addressee, things became real and he would find himself alone in the kitchen with the sober morning light reminding him of his reality, leaving him angry and restless.

He needed to find a way to stop his mind from going back to the same realization over and over again every morning from the moment he woke up, filling his chest with the same pain that kept him awake at night, and away when he needed to focus.

"Lo'ak..." Tsireya's soft voice called from being, making him turn around to see her sitting by the piano with worried eyes.

"Yes, sorry." He walked up to her leaving a piano sheet in front of her. "We will begin with more difficult pieces now, so..." He sighed quietly to himself.

"...Alright." Tsireya gave him a tiny smile that he did not notice, making her turn away with a heavy feeling in her heart.

It has been a while since they had spent time together. That day at church had brought the Sullys so much pain that they had chosen isolation, away from everyone and each other, each one of them dealing with the loss of their father by keeping their pain tucked away in silence, and yet it was so great and loud that the Geljos did not know how to kept them safe from the grief that deafened them from the world outside their home.

Lo'ak haven't been himself for weeks and Tsireya was growing frustrated with herself for not knowing how to help. Companionship seemed to be a failure since he barely noticed her being there, and when he did and his mind was granted a moment of clarity all he cared was to continue with the lesson.

Nonetheless, she would try everything to bring him back from the void in which he was drowning.

"I don't quite understand this part." She pointed at the sheet in hopes to create conversation. "The notes are a little...mixed." She smiled at his messy handwriting.

"Sorry, I must have made a mistake." He sat next to her trying to look at what was written in the paper, but his eyelids felt heavy and his vision was so blurred by the lack of sleep that he only managed to see black spots. "Ah, fuck..."

He mumbled under his breath rubbing his eyes with a deep sigh, ignoring the throbbing headache that made him sensitive to the morning light.

A gentle hand placed itself on the back of his head, leaving a gentle caress that made his eyes sting and chest tighten. He didn't dare to look into Tsireya's eyes fearing that he would only end up facing her pity.

"Please continue with the others." He mumbled standing from his place next to her.

"Lo'ak, why don't we take a small break?" She proposed seeing him give a glance and going back to the sheet between his hands.