Not a Soldier Yet |Ao'nung x Neteyam|

40. Brothers

For the next few days, Ao'nung refused to leave Neteyam's side, even going as far as to threaten Toruk Makto into letting him stay for the night. Jake prayed for the day his son got his own marui, because he felt like he was slowly losing his mind with each hushed whisper and gentle caress. Neytiri did not seem to mind; she even chose to sit next to Ao'nung when Neteyam refused to pay any attention to him for one reason or another. Due to Ao'nung being there day and night, Tsireya began getting bolder in her visits too. She became good friends with Kiri - Neteyam was beginning to think they were best friends at this point. Tuk was absolutely delighted by the extra company and began getting bolder with both the Metcayina siblings.

Neteyam seemed to be more quiet than usual again, preferring to spend time on his sleeping mat rather than in the ocean. He was beginning to wonder if the reason for his misfortunes was spending too much time swimming by himself; something always seemed to happen to him when he was trying to enjoy some time alone.

He heard shuffling next to his sleeping mat and turned to find Lo'ak staring down at him curiously. He had his hair down completely and seemed to be deep in thought about something. Neteyam watched him quietly. Lo'ak did not seem to notice him just yet, eyes glazed over as he stared. To Neteyam, he looked like there was not a single thought in his head.

"What do you want, Lo'ak?" Neteyam asked finally. He sat up slowly.

"What's it like?" Lo'ak asked suddenly, sitting down next to his older brother.

"What is what like, bro?" Neteyam reached over and ruffled his hair, drawing a small hiss from Lo'ak as he jerked away from his brother's attack.

"Having a mate. What's it like?" Lo'ak mumbled, giving Neteyam an annoyed side eye before settling closer and leaning against his side. Neteyam wrapped an arm around his brother comfortably.
"It's nice," he hummed as Lo'ak snuggled against him, drawing his knees to his chest. "It's still very new though and I'm getting used to it."

"I don't mean to pry bro, but-" Lo'ak bit his lip and cleared his throat, seemingly embarrassed before he even spoke the words on his mind. Neteyam could already guess what his brother wanted to know. "Does it hurt for you? I mean, I can't imagine doing something like that. Not that it's bad!"

Neteyam laughed quietly and adjusted the way he was sitting, crossing his legs. "Just stop talking, I get what you mean, bro. It's a bit weird at first actually but it's nice once you get used to it."
"So you really are the girl then-"
"Lo'ak." Neteyam warned, shoving his brother gently to which Lo'ak flailed in surrender. "I'm not a girl. It's not the same."
"I guess girls also have a-"
"Stop talking."

Lo'ak shut his mouth with an audible click of his teeth and sighed softly. He pressed his cheek against Neteyam's shoulder and smiled to himself.

"I would rather not ride anything today, Tuk, sorry." Neteyam patted her head gently as she sighed in disappointment.

"Except for Ao'nung," Lo'ak snorted, pushing his shoulder a little.
Neteyam eyed him from the corner of his eyes, frowning. "You know we're going swimming right?"

Lo'ak chuckled and rolled his eyes. "As if you'd ever hurt me, bro. You love me too much."

"We're hurting Lo'ak?" Kiri walked up next to them. "Count me in."

Lo'ak gasped in fake offence. "Now that is just not fair. Us five fingered charlatans need to stick together, Kiri."

Kiri eyed her brother wearily, before deciding he was simply now worth her time. "I don't even know what that word means."

Neteyam slipped away from them, making his way to the beach where he was sure to find Ao'nung training with the rest of his newly adult friends. The Omaticaya was correct in his assumptions. Ao'nung was flying around on his tsurak with another boy tailing him - they were laughing boyishly, all teeth and wild eyes. When Ao'nung noticed him, he lowered his beast into the water and excused himself to come closer to Neteyam.

"Baby tail, come ride with me!" He grinned, motioning for the other to follow him.

Neteyam sighed softly and glanced to the side. A heavy blush coated his cheeks and his ears pressed back, tail swishing around behind him anxiously. "I can't."

Ao'nung tilted his head to the side, but did not get off his tsurak. "Why not? What is wrong?"

Neteyam could not help himself, he grimaced exactly the same way his father usually does. "Um...I'm sore."

Ao'nung seemed confused. "From what? We haven't even trained for days now."

The Omaticaya could not believe his ears. He snapped his golden eyes up and met Ao'nung's hopeless gaze. He contemplated just leaving simply, not saying a single word to his mate before deciding that honest communication was the only way to solve this issue. Ao'nung's mouth hung open at Neteyam's next words. "I'm sore because of what we did last night."

"Oh my god, I did not need to hear that-"

"Lo'ak, what the hell are you doing here?!" Neteyam yelped, spinning around to face his brother, who only held up his hands in surrender.
"I was just trying to find Tsireya," he attempted to defend himself. "It's not my fault you talk about this stuff in public."

"Forest boy is right, my 'Teyam." Ao'nung got off his tsurak. "I did not think you would talk about this with all these people nearby."

Neteyam sighed in defeat before limping into the water, frowning deeply in embarrassment.

"You should be more gentle with my brother, fish lips. Look at the way he's limping. You cannot tell me that doesn't hurt during - Y'know." Lo'ak gestured with his hands, drawing a laugh from Ao'nung. He did not seem bothered by the younger Sully's antics.
"What I do to your brother is none of you business, tree boy. The same way what you do with my sister is your own private matter."
"Wait, how do you know about that?" Lo'ak gasped, stepping back, causing Ao'nung to smirk smugly and walk towards him.
"She tells me everything." Ao'nung shrugged casually, secretly enjoying Lo'ak mortification. "I'm her big brother."

"Neteyam doesn't tell me anything just because I'm his brother!" Lo'ak yelped, still backing away. "Besides, Tsireya and I- we've never-"

"I know."

Neteyam watched them from the water, laughing quietly. "I don't tell anyone anything, in case you haven't noticed, baby bro."

Lo'ak hurried away from them, completely embarrassed and whiney. He had wanted to mess with his brother, but in the end his brother's mate messed with him and hopelessly beat his shenanigans to the ground. Ao'nung walked to sit next to Neteyam in the water, taking a hand in his and tangling their fingers together loosely. Neteyam leaned against his side, resting his head on the Metcayina's shoulder. Ao'nung hears giggling from behind them and glanced back to see two young Metcayina girls watching them; they scattered hurriedly when they noticed that he heard them. Neteyam appeared to be lost in his own thoughts.

"What's on your mind, baby tail?" Ao'nung nudged him softly.
Neteyam hummed and turned his gaze to the sky. The sun was beginning to set. "I was thinking about Lo'ak's little tulkun friend. Well, actually, not really that little, but you get it."

"Payakan?" Ao'nung questioned. "What about him?"

"He didn't seem like a killer," Neteyam muttered. "He really did help Lo'ak save me, you know. Payakan knocked into the ship sideways to distract the sky people and their weird na'vi clones so we could slip away without being noticed."
Ao'nung nodded slowly, listening to Neteyam's soft voice. "It's still best to be careful. The tulkun banished him for a reason."

Neteyam did not press the matter further. "Want to go diving?"

The forest na'vi did not have to ask twice. Ao'nung jumped to his feet and lifted him from the ground, walking into the water, carrying Neteyam in his arms. Ao'nung had gotten significantly stronger since Neteyam first met him. His shoulders broadened slightly and he was almost as tall as his father. Neteyam was also close to being his own father's height.