Thanatophobia | Ao'nung

⋆˚✿˖°ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟙𝟙⋆˚✿˖°

Ni'la kicked her legs back and forth in the water as she watched the sunset. She should have been getting ready to get dinner with her family, but she didn't feel like seeing Ao'nung or his friends. So, Neytiri said that she would bring her back something to eat if she didn't change her mind.

As she heard laughter, Ni'la turned her head to see her brothers and Rotxo play fighting. "Hey, Ni'la!" Rotxo greeted, and she waved at him with her injured hand. When her brothers see her wrist, their movements stop. "What happened?" Neteyam asked.

"I was exploring the village, and I tripped," Ni'la said, quickly coming up with an excuse. Neteyam and Lo'ak looked at each other before looking back at their sister and bursting into laughter. "Haha, I'm so glad my pain is funny to you guys," She grumbled, and the two boys laughed harder before walking into the pod.

"Bye, Rotxo," Neteyam said through his laughter, and Lo'ak went to do the same, but when he saw the scowl on Ni'la's face, Lo'ak clutched his stomach. After the two boys walked in, Rotxo glanced at Ni'la and contemplated whether or not he should say something to the Sully girl. He suspected the girl was lying about what truly happened to her wrist.

So, without giving it a second thought, he walked over to where Ni'la was sitting and plopped down beside her. Besides, if he talked to her right now, this would give him a chance to get to know one of the Sully twins, especially since he had taken a liking to Kiri.

"How's your wrist?" He asked, and Ni'la looked down at her injured arm before sighing. "It hurts, but since the wrap is keeping it in place, it helps with the pain," She explained, and Rotxo hummed in response. Silence fell over the two as the Metkayina boy thought about how he should approach the girl about her injury.

However, once he found the right words, the boy winced at how bluntly he said it, "You didn't injure your wrist by falling did you?" Rotxo questioned, and Ni'la tensed as she looked at him from the corner of her eye.

"What do you mean?"

"You and Neteyam have the same tick when you lie," Rotxo shrugged.

"What did Neteyam lie about?"

"About liking Emeryn," He said.

Ni'la looked at Rotxo with wide eyes. "Is that the girl he likes?!" She asked in excitement, and the boy nodded. "Wait, what tick do Neteyam and I share?"

"You both play with the fingers on your right hand."

The girl looked down in embarrassment as no one besides Neteyam had ever caught her playing with her fingers before, and if they did, they must have thought it was because she was nervous. At first, Ni'la didn't particularly like Rotxo, but it seemed that he'd been trying to make an effort after his horrific first impression. It also didn't help that she saw how he looked at her twin, or the fact that he was always concerned or asking if she was okay.

Rotxo would be good for Kiri. He would help her to come out of her shell, and maybe she had someone to help take her mind off Spider. "If I tell you what happened, you have to promise not to say anything to Neteyam or Lo'ak," She said.

"I, uh, I don't know if that's a good idea," Rotxo held out his arms in from of him.

"Please," Ni'la pleaded, and after a couple of minutes, he finally gave in to her request.

"Fine." He reluctantly agreed.

"One of Ao'nung's friends roughly grabbed my wrist, and every time I tried to pull away, he'd tighten his grip," She whispered, and Rotxo's eyes widened.

"Did Ao'nung stop him?"

"No, but he apologized for their actions after I stomped on the guy's foot," Ni'la rubbed her wrist, and Rotxo chuckled. "You stomped on his foot?" He asked, smiling at the thought of someone putting those idiots in their place. He didn't like the other boys Ao'nung was friends with, and he had tried to talk to Ao'nung about it, but he wouldn't listen to Rotxo.