#atwo

🐚 Your first encounter with the boy was when you noticed your people surrounding a certain area on the reef’s shore. Pushing past them, you stood beside your sister Tsireya, who was busy staring at someone in particular. Curious, you followed her gaze. A small gasp left you, realizing why everyone gathered here. Na’vi from the Omatikaya Clan were standing right in front of you, all huddled up together. You’ve heard of them from your father but you would have never thought you would see multiple of them standing right before you. The first thing you noticed from them was their skin, their skin complexion was much darker than yours. Your attention was brought to their swaying tails. They looked completely different from your tail. They were shorter and thinner and they certainly don’t look like they can be used for swimming. Your gaze was captured by one of the brothers, he seemed to be the eldest brother with how he carried himself with confidence. Chest puffed out and eyes narrowly scanning the crowd, looking for any danger that could be hiding among the crowd. Those very same eyes that were once surveying the area for danger softened upon seeing you. His pupils dilated and his lips slightly parted, his tail slowly swished behind him. He looked like he was put under a trance. Embarrassed and a bit shy from the sudden attention from the boy, you looked down to your feet timidly and began to play with the sand. Blocking out the back and forth conversation of your dad with Jake Sully. 

🐚 You haven’t seen the boy at all since his arrival and to say you weren’t a little sad was a lie. He caught your eye the moment you saw him and the energy he radiated was alluring. Sitting on the shore, you mindlessly drew on the wet sand as your mind raced with thousands of thoughts. You failed to notice that the boy you were daydreaming about was making his way towards you, his tail nervously swaying behind him as he approached you. “Hello?” He stood beside you, tilting his head a bit when you didn’t respond. He called you out again, only this time, your name slipped past his lips. You broke out of the haze you were in and looked for the unfamiliar person who called out your name. You noticed a pair of darker blue feet stationed right next to you, wandering your eyes up their legs, your eyes were reunited with the familiar yellow ones. The edge of his eyes crinkled up as he smiled, he caught your attention. You smiled back awkwardly, not knowing what to do or say. “I was told by your sister that you would be here.” He said, sitting down on the sand with you. “Did she also tell you my name?” You ask, fingers nervously fiddling with the necklace that hung around your neck. He nodded and it was silent for a moment. You were internally battling with yourself if this was a comforting silence or an awkward silence, but you knew that this was awkward, real awkward. “Sorry for looking at you weirdly earlier.” He spoke up, startling you. “You don’t need to apologize. I was looking at you as well.” You admit, hands going back to thoughtlessly drawing on the sand. “In a bad way or good way?” His question caught you off-guard but you couldn’t help but smile over him worrying over something like that. “Good way. The moment I saw you,  I felt confidence and authority bleed out from you. That caught my attention.” You tell him, looking over to him to gauge at his reaction. He was stupidly smiling to himself and his eyes looked soft. A comfortable silence fell and you and him enjoyed each other's presence. The moment was cut short when you heard your sister call out to you, before you left you and him properly introduced yourself. You learned that the boy's name was Neteyam. 

🐚 The third time you saw him was when you were with your sister, Tsireya. You and her both were teaching the Sully family the way of the sea. Tsireya was focused on Neteyam’s younger brother, Lo’ak and you were focused on Neteyam. While you were explaining one of the breathing exercises, Neteyam never stopped looking at you. His attention was glued onto you and nothing that happened around him caught his attention like how you caught his. You knew that he was staring at you, looking at you with that same look he had when he first saw you. You felt a bit shy under his gaze, he looked at you with so much curiosity and adoration you didn’t know what to do with yourself. And so came the time for Neteyam to do the breathing exercises himself, you were worried that he was going to fail miserably with how little he was paying attention to your words. But surprisingly enough, he knew how long he needed to suck in air and how slowly he needed to exhale. Although, he was struggling to hold his breath. Scooting a little closer to him, you placed your palm on his stomach. “You need to breathe in from your stomach.” You instructed him. Shakily, he followed what you told him. A little shaky and nervous, but perfect enough to satisfy you. You smiled at him. “You did really well,” You said, removing your hand from his stomach. “Was worried at first, you weren’t paying attention with how much you were staring at me.” You laughed at his bewildered expression. “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.” He said, his eyes looking down to his lap. “It’s fine. I really didn’t mind. Honest.” You put your hand on his knee to reassure him. He looked at your hand then your face, his ears flickered softly and he smiled at you. 

🐚  The fourth time you saw him was when you and him were underwater. You were showing him everything the reef had to offer. Seeing his eyes blown wide in amazement made you laugh every time. He would get so blown away by the simplest things, it was cute. While swimming he found a sea urchin, he enthusiastically motioned to come closer. You didn’t know what it was until you were by his side, eyes looking at the spiked ball. And before you could pull his curious hands away from the spiky sea urchin, he’s already grabbing it. The urchin pricked his whole finger. He gasped, forgetting that he was underwater and got a lung full of water. He kicked his legs up while swimming up, urchin still attached to his hand. You followed in suit.  Sprouting up from the ocean, he coughed up the water that had entered his lungs. He lifted his hand up from the water and almost screamed, the sea urchin had attached itself to his whole palm. He yelled out your name. “Get it off me!” He said while also trying to pull it off with his other hand. “No, no! Don’t touch it.” You laugh. His hand froze in midair, his stomach swarming with butterflies at the sound of your laugh. “S-So what do I do?” He was helpless, the pain on his palm evergrowing. “Stay there, let me get some palm leaves.” You swam to shore and grabbed a rather large palm leaf. Swimming back to him, you encased the sea urchin with the leaf. “I’m going to pull, okay? This might hurt.” You warn him. “How much?” He squeaked out. “Not too much, I’m hoping.” The loud ‘WHAT’ you received from Neteyam would always be funny to you. Without any warning you yanked out the sea urchin. Much to your surprise, the spikes didn’t break off. Now what was left on his palms were tiny holes. “How are you feeling?” You turned over to Neteyam. His eyes were locked shut and lips were tightly pressed together. “Neteyam?” You called out. One of his eyes pried open and when he noticed the sea urchin was off his palm, he visibly relaxed. “Oh, that wasn’t too bad.” He looked at his palms, cringing at the holes in his hands. That was when you got the idea to mess with him. To kind of mimic the feeling of the sea urchin attaching to his leg, you knocked his leg against one of the corals, lightly scraping his legs. “There’s another urchin on your leg!” You pointed at his leg underwater. “Wait, really?!” He yelled out, forgetting about his hand and looking down at his leg. Patting around there was nothing there. “There’s nothing there?” Your laugh graced his ears once more. He looked over to you and felt his heart warm at the sight. He couldn’t be mad at you when he heard his favorite thing in the world. Your laugh. 

🐚 The fifth time you saw him was when you were walking around the Marui pods, aimlessly walking around. A family could be heard talking loudly from one of the Marui Pods. You weren’t going to investigate until you heard a familiar voice. Neteyam’s voice. Peering in the pods, you saw that he and his family were eating breakfast, chattering and bickering as they ate. You saw how Lo’ak was teasing Neteyam over something. Neteyam ignored whatever Lo’ak was saying and attempted to eat his food peacefully. Lo’ak said something that caught his other siblings' attention, his two sisters who you’ve seen around the reef. The younger sister laughed loudly while the older quietly giggled, saying something to Neteyam that made him come to the point where he had enough. Wordlessly, he put his utensil down and stood up. His siblings called out to him but he ignored them and walked outside where you were at, shamelessly watching the whole ordeal happen. Not having enough time to dive into water and swim away, Neteyam noticed you. He said your name, shocked to see you at his pod. “What are you doing here?” He asked, scurrying you and him away from his siblings' prying eyes. “I was walking around when I heard your family.” You told him. You couldn’t even come up with a lie; it was like he prevented you from doing so. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that we were loud, I didn’t mean to disturb your walk.” He was so quick to take the blame, so quick to apologize for his family that it surprised you. Shaking your head, you said, “Don’t apologize. You and your family are very entertaining to watch.” Neteyam opened his mouth, ready to respond to you but was interrupted by his younger sister’s shrill of what you hoped to be excitement. “Neteyam is talking to them! Look at how close they are to each other!” She pointed at you and Neteyam. Quickly, you and him took multiple steps back away from each other. You didn’t even notice that the two of you were so close until Neteyam’s sister called you out. “Tuk, leave them alone!” Neteyam’s other sister came out of the pod to grab her little sister. Before she left, she gave you a short wave and went back inside. You could hear the family pick up on a conversation, all hushed and quiet. You knew they were talking about you and Neteyam and you couldn’t help but feel a little flustered over it. “I’m sorry about them.” He whispered, walking back to you. “Once again, don’t be sorry. I find it funny.” You whisper back, raising your head a little bit to fully see his face. “Neteyam, why don’t you invite them for dinner?” His younger brother teased from behind. “Lo’ak!” Neteyam was about to dive straight for his brother and yank at his hair but your voice stopped him. “I would love to accompany you and your family for dinner, that is. If you ask me too.” Such a bold thing for you to say but you couldn’t help it, really. Neteyam makes you feel so confident and sure of yourself while simultaneously making you incredibly nervous and second guessing yourself. Neteyam froze for a bit like he was doused with a bucket of ice cold water. But when he came to, he cleared his throat and asked you to join his family for dinner. You couldn’t say no and accepted his invitation. 

🐚 “How long are you going to be at the Sully’s?” Your mother, Ronal asked as she twirled one of your curls around her fingers. “Not long.” You replied briefly, putting on earrings that have blue miniature shells on them. Your mother fluffed up your hair, a drawled out sigh leaving her lips. “Do you really have to go over there?” She places her hands on your shoulders and looks at you through the reflection of the ocean. “Yes, mother.” You can see her disappointed face through the rippling water, the all known face of disapproval. You didn’t say anything afterwards, you knew all too well this would’ve started an argument between you and your mom. She wasn’t very fond of the Sully family, you knew that well enough not to bring them up in conversations much. But the moment you do, she acts like you have ripped her heart open and brought it to her on a silver platter. You breathed in and breathed out, ridding of any negative energy that consumed you. You were going to have fun tonight and not even your mom could ruin your mood. “You may go now. Do not stay for too long.” She decides to announce once again. “I won’t!” You said for what feels like the hundredth time. Standing up, you look at your reflection once more before skipping over to the pods. The large smile on your face never leaving. 

🐚 The first person to greet you was Neteyam’s younger brother, Lo’ak. You had talked to Lo’ak a few times before now. “You look amazing.” He complimented. “Your curls look nicer too.” He added. You smiled shyly, thanking him for the compliments. “Lo’ak!” The all too familiar yell of his name, who could have possibly yelled out his name? “Looks like he heard me.” He whispered. You rolled your eyes at his childish antics. Lo’ak was yanked back, he screeched about his tail and that was all you heard before Neteyam shoved him inside the pod. Neteyam checked out your face and hair, smiling softly at the stunning sight that was in front of him. “You look…amazing.” He breathlessly said. “I know. Lo’ak told me.” You felt his finger brush against your hand. “I heard.” His fingers interlaced with yours. “I just wanted you to hear it from me.” He squeezed your hand. Your breath was taken away. You bit your lip nervously, eyes looking down at your intertwined hands then back at Neteyam. His head slowly leaned in, his eyes looking at your lips for a split second before looking back at your gorgeous eyes. “They look like they’re about to kiss.” Tuk squealed, breaking the small moment between you and Neteyam. Neteyam huffed out, leaning away from you. “Why don’t we have you meet my mom and dad?” Neteyam led you inside the pod. Instantly, you were met with Jake. Neteyam’s father. “Thank you for having me over.” You said. Jake opened his mouth but abruptly closed it. You turn your head over to Neteyam, mouthing a quick: “What happened?” You look back at his father who was staring intensely at you and Neteyam’s hands. Neteyam let go of your hand quickly, ready to apologize for his behavior but his dad smiled, washing away any remnants of his pissy look. “I’m just messing with you two, go on, sit.”

🐚 Dinner with the Sully’s was more than you could possibly ever imagine. They were so full of energy, their endless bickering was hilarious and they weren’t shy to hide their love for each other. At some points you felt like you were a part of their family. His mom was such a sweetheart as well, she treated you as if you were her own. With your stomach full and cheeks sore from laughing and smiling so much, you decided that was enough for tonight. Bidding everyone a goodbye, you left the family’s pod. Although not alone, a certain older brother was trailing after you. Calling out your name, you turned around and your heart softened at the sight of Neteyam. “Leaving so soon?” He frowned, holding your hand once again, only this time he was holding both. “Yeah.” Your eyes jumped from his captivating eyes you ever so adored to his light pink lips. “Can’t you stay a little longer?” His voice was hushed. “I wish I could.” You couldn’t deny the fact that you and Neteyam's face were drawing near. “Should I really be kissing you when your family could walk right in on us?” Lips were brushing against each other, your breath mixing in with his. “I really don’t care.” His lips pressed against yours. Awkwardly, your lips melded together. You and him obviously have no kissing experience, but that made it all better. You were Neteyam’s first kiss while he was yours. A sense of pride washed over you. You were Neteyam’s first. Neteyam untangled his hands from yours and grabbed onto your waist, pulling you closer. You parted from the kiss, panting heavily. “Stay for a little longer?” He quietly begged, giving you a slight pout. You placed your palms against his chest, pushing him away playfully. The hold he has on your waist has kept you encased in him. “I can’t, Nete.” You affectionately rolled your eyes at his pouty expression. “Can I kiss you once more?” How could you ever say no to that? Faces centimeters apart, an excited yell was heard from behind Neteyam. “They’re kissing!” Tuk cried out, her smile bigger than ever. “They’re kissing!” She repeated. “What, really?!” Lo’ak was in disbelief as he practically flew outside to see if Tuk was lying or not. You and Neteyam were standing at a respectful distance, pretending to be interested in something else. “Aren’t the stars lovely tonight?” Neteyam pointed at the sparkling specs in the sky. “So beautiful.” You commented. “Who’s kissing?” Jake could be heard from within the pod, his head peaking out to check on you and Neteyam. “No one is kissing anyone, sir!” Neteyam quickly responded. “You better not!” He said, slowly inching back in the pod. “Guess you have to go now.” Neteyam sighed out. “I’ll see you tomorrow then?” You asked. Neteyam nodded but before you left you kissed his cheek. “Bye, Neteyam!” You scurried off, stupidly smiling to yourself. “No way! Neteyam got a partner before me!” Lo’ak groaned, running his hand down his face. “You owe me!” Kiri exclaimed. “I know.” Lo’ak grumbled.