Skxawng • Neteyam

2

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She skipped breakfast the following day and didn't return to the village until late afternoon. She hopped off Zaeyli at the top of the home tree at the same time that Lo'ak landed his ikran. Why must it always be a Sully? She silently asks herself as the youngest boy smiles at her.

"Yeriyah, do you give her a break?" He points to Zaeyli, who is flying off. She wouldn't be shocked if her ikran went to curl up and sleep for a few hours. Riyah wouldn't hold it against her after dealing with her bullshit all night.

"Can you give me a break?" Yeriyah retorted, and the younger Sully snorted and sent his ikran away. "Where did you just come from anyway?"

"Sightseeing, you know." Lo'ak shrugs, and Riyah looks down at him knowingly. What he meant to say was he was getting into a whole load of shit with Spider. The human boy certainly wasn't her favourite, but she tolerated his presence.

"Where is your partner in crime anyway?" Riyah asks as they make the descent down the tree. The Sully family bonded with the human more than any family had. Most saw him as an alien, and rightfully so. Spider was one. He was human. Although he'd never done anything wrong, she would never be able to trust him fully. 

"I was just going to see him. Wanna come?" Lo'ak asks. His ears perked up at the question, waiting for a response.

"No, thanks. I'll see you guys later." She told him, and he nodded. She didn't mind Lo'ak, and the few times she spent time around him, it had always been adventurous. She also knew he always gave Neteyam a hard time, and for that, she appreciated him.

"If I see you in the air, I'll make a permanent ban for you!" He yells as he jogs away, and she chuckles as she watches him disappear behind the thick bushes. She turns and almost runs into a hard chest. She looks up and finds Neteyam standing there, an unreadable expression on his face.

"He's right, you know. You'll go deaf from the wind if you keep flying constantly." Neteyam told her.

"What?" She cups her ears and leans in. "What did you say? I didn't hear you." She pulls away with an unamused look on her face. She seemed a little better than yesterday, but she'd been weird for months. Perhaps longer than that, he didn't notice, not with being so focused on beating her.

"Such a shame. At such a young age too. How will you hear my voice?" He shakes his head in fake disappointment.

"I think that would be one of the positives of going deaf." She teases.

"Now that's just mean and untrue." He stops them and leans in slightly. Their breath mingled together. Yeriyah was doing all she could to avoid those yellow eyes.  "C'mon, you know you'd miss my voice."

She goes slightly on her tiptoes, her lips brushing against his cheek as she whispers in his ear. "You're right, and I would miss the sounds you make as the wind gets knocked out of you."

Yeriyah swiftly punches the boy in the stomach. Neteyam topples over and groans, making her laugh. She went to walk over him, but he grabbed her ankle and yanked. She went toppling on top of him, their legs a tangled mess.

"Not cool, Riyah." Neteyam pushes her off of him, and she chuckles. She got up first and extended her hand to him. He took it, and she helped him up.