Lovely Heart

The Meteor Shower (1)

He soon came to realise there was no escape, the dreams have been happening every night for nearly a week. They started off tame, but were escalating the more interactions he had with Aonung. Some nights it was just talking though, saying the things he wished he could say and hearing things he wished he could hear. With every little smile and every little joke he wanted to escape.
He began to withdraw and struggled to keep up with Aonungs banter with him and the other guys. At first Aonung thought it was just a bad mood, or the sleep deprivation he always seems to have but when he started to not even look Aonung in the eye he couldn't help but be curious about what was troubling the boy. Loak questioned him earlier last night before bed "Why are you so quiet today, and like all the other days of this week?" "I don't know, just feeling tired" Neteyam quickly deflected and Loak didn't ask anymore, seemingly happy with that response. It was Aonungs turn to be curious about what was wrong with him. Neteyam finished his dinner slowly, barely focusing. He didn't know where his mind would wander, he didn't even feel like he was thinking at all. He was just gone. As his mum and dad laughed, he felt just a little bit of peace.
When it was time to sleep he begrudgingly closed his eyes, time passed but he didn't pay attention. He felt his heart beat pick up, so he quietly sat up and realised he had just started to fall asleep. It was too late he had woken himself up. The trees swayed and danced, the night air was warm and inviting. Without thinking too much about this decision he stood up carefully so as to not step on his siblings and hopped down onto the sand out of the Marui. Nobody was up, it was completely quiet for once and he liked it. He was alone with his thoughts. All he could hear was the footsteps against the sand and the ocean, but he was focused on the bioluminescence of the waves, washing up the blue to the shore. His mum and dad had come here once and told him about it, he hadn't realised just how far he walked. It was lighting up and he smiled and reached down to touch the light. It felt smooth in the water and trickled through his fingers. He was reminded of the forest, just how beautiful it was, and how he had memorised every plant and animal and what their properties were. Part of being a great warrior was being able to know the land around you after all. The night sky twinkled.

It was morning, and he felt refreshed from not sleeping- like he was alert. He saw Tsireya in their marui as he walked up to it "hello Tsireya, always good to see you" she smiled a beautiful smile "It's been too long, the boys are always taking you guys now. But I must admit I'm glad you get along so well" Loak stared at her enthralled. "You changed your hair" he said "i like it down" he added, she blushed "it's not forever, im getting it rebraided soon" they continued to talk, Neteyam grabbed his gear and put some jewellery around his neck. He heard footsteps, "Aonung" neteyam said, looking up at him. "Hey forest boy, where have you been?" He got straight to the point, "i went for a walk" he looked with those beautiful light blue eyes and neteyam felt slightly embarrassed, as if he had done something wrong. Those eyes always seemed to get information out that he didn't give. Tuk ran up to Tsireya, coming back from collecting food with mum. She asked if she could also get her hair braided with Tsireya. But this was all in the background of the original conversation Neteyam was trying to focus on. "I was thinking we will take today pretty easy, it seems you could use a rest from training and hunting" Aonung considered "no" Neteyam quickly protested, Aonung looked at him "i mean..I would love to but there's so much work to be done.." he smiled at the boy and ruffled his braids "Someone else can pick up where we left off, how about we do some braiding today?" Neteyam felt so lighthearted by the care he was being shown. The moment wasn't theirs anymore when Tuk said she wanted to join, "can Tsireya come! Pleaseee" "of course she is coming" said Loak "yes! Tsireya i want to have little shells" she said, grabbing her arm and jumping up and down. Neteyam grabbed Tuk into his arms, "Well let's go get them, why don't we?" without looking at Aonung he left.

They collected some shells from along the beach and when they were satisfied, went up into a pod and started the braiding. Braiding was a very important way of showing affection, usually done by those who were close or trusted. Tsireya started little braids in Tuks short hair adding the shells at the bottom. Loak talked with her and Rotxo while she did it, Neteyam sat and laughed occasionally. Sitting slightly behind him was Aonung, he could feel his cool blue eyes on him. Aonung reached over much to his surprise and played with one of his braids. His hair had admittingly grown longer, "I'll do some for you too, your roots are showing" He smiled "me? I don't know..." he said, feeling like it would be awkward. He didn't take no for an answer and shuffled behind him. "He's really good, better than me even Neteyam" Tsireya said, Loak laughed a bit and made a face "there's no need to look so embarrassed" he said in english so they wouldn't understand it fully. "Shut up you skxawng" he looked angrily. Tuk just laughed along, a little confused but wanting to join in on the fun. Slowly he felt the back of his head being touched, undoing the previous braids from the bottom with the utmost care, it didn't hurt one bit. It was like they were the only two in the pod, as he dragged his fingers along his hair. Soon all the braids were undone and his straight hair was slightly wavy from the tension "This is how you know they have demon blood" He said jokingly, picking up a strand of straight hair. Neteyam smacked his hand, blushing. Aonung noticed him blushing on the ears and ran his fingers through his hair which he seemed to enjoy immensely. Leaning into his hands slightly, without realising what he was doing. Aonung smiled gently to himself and began the braids from the base of his head. He added a feather and some beads at Neteyams request.