#avatar norm

It just wasn’t fair. And it certainly didn’t help that Jake felt the need to brag about having a ‘date with the chief’s daughter’. He knew he shouldn’t question it, be grateful for the opportunities he was already granted but it was hard to feel fortunate when his wildest dream was handed to someone else right in front of his face.

He’d been on another routine excursion with Grace, Trudy and Max for samples when they’d brought up Jake. Grace was excited, he knew that she saw this as a way to get back in with the Omaticaya. She should count herself lucky that she had gotten the chance to be one with the people at all. Of course, Norm couldn’t hold anything against Grace, he knew what happened wasn’t her fault and yet the guilt ate her up every day. Jake filled her with so much hope she couldn’t help but bring it up at every opportunity. Like this afternoon.

Norm was a little embarrassed at how quickly he’d gotten upset. Well, more annoyed really, his jealousy had tipped over the edge when Grace brought the whole thing up again and he’d stormed off without thinking. Grace tried to call him back but he waved her off, shouting that he needed some space.

Frustrated and needing to calm down, he walked and walked, steps heavy as his anger was channelled through his every move. They grew softer after a while and at last he came to a stop, taking a deep breath in through his nose. Norma looked down at his watch. Oh shit. He’d been walking for an hour. He sat down on a large tree root next to him, resting his elbows on his knees to place his head in his hands. He would head back in a moment, he just needed to compose himself. He sighed and rolled his neck, unaware of the pair of yellow eyes on him.

You had always been a curious thing. You couldn’t help it. Admittedly you know you were a little too far past clan territory but you were a grown woman, you were more than capable of taking care of yourself especially since you had your bow and arrows with you. Speaking of, you’d first aimed them towards the skyperson when you first locked eyes on him. But there was something about him that made you hesitate. Maybe it was his overwhelming emotions that he clearly wore on his sleeves. Perhaps his soft features or the way he gently moved around the nature surrounding him opposed to the way other sky people only knew to destroy and make their own path.

You’d tucked your weapon away, following him up in the trees. He was clearly upset about something and that curious itch of yours grew stronger. Your movements were silent and graceful, leaping from branch to branch to keep up with his long strides. You’d came to halt with him as he sat down, your head tilted to the side as you took in his disheartened form.

Your tail swished behind you with intrigue, so many questions ran through your mind and you were eager for the answers. Your friend Neytiri had found a warrior skyperson and brought him to the clan with claims of a sign from Eywa. He did seem different from most skypeople but he was arrogant and cocky even as he stumbled through the forest like a confused baby. This skyperson in front of you also seemed different, he had a gentleness to him. One you hadn’t seen in another his kind except from Grace when you took part in her school program until a few years ago.

Finally you could bear it no more, you needed a closer look. You jumped down off your branch to land in a crouched position in front of him with a soft thud. It was loud enough to gain his attention and you watched his head snap up to meet yours. Your tail whipped around behind you, your head tilting to the side making your black hair fall off your shoulders. The man quickly raised his hands in a sign of surrender, standing up onto his feet, “I…I come in peace.” Oh? He could speak your mother tongue? How pleasant.

Your eyes narrowed in suspicion and you remained silent as you slowly rose to your full height, walking around him to check for any weapons. You didn’t see anything to raise concern, but it was rather amusing to watch him dart his head side to side as he followed your movements. You could even hear his heart beat, it was so loud and fast. He was scared.

You reached your spot back in front of him, raising your hairless brow, “What are you doing in these parts?” The skyman stammered as he answered your question, his hands still raised in the air, “U-Uh, I came to gather herbs to study.” You hummed in thought taking a step closer to him. He was tall, taller than most of the clan males and his features seemed softer up close. His hair was unbraided and simply tied back with his kuru. Your eyes glanced to his hands that were still in the air. You reached out and grabbed one of his hands, pulling it closer to you to inspect it, curious over his extra fingers.

“What is your name?” You glanced at him from the side watching at his face flushed, a purple hue covering his cheeks and the bridge of his nose as he stared at your hands on one of his own. You wouldn’t admit it but you thought it was cute how flustered he seemed to be.

“My name is Norm. Uh Norm Spellman.” You hummed contently, removing one of your hands on his to slowly place against his chest where you felt the racing drum of heart beneath his skin, though it was dulled through the fabric of his strange clothing. “Calm yourself. I do not wish to harm you…yet.” Your mouth curved into a half smirk that showed your amusement at his panicked state.

He let out a soft laugh, slowly bringing his hands down. He mentally cursed as he felt his face warming but he couldn’t help it. You were so close, another step forward and you would be chest to chest. It didn’t help that he thought you were so pretty. He nervously swallowed before trying to speak, “May I ask your name?”

You started to walk around him again, closer this time. Your hands wandered over his form, his broad shoulders, his lean arms, even daring to wrap his swinging tail around your forearm before pulling it away. Your voice was light with amusement, “Ah, you speak with such formality. My name is (Y/N).”

“That’s..that’s a very pretty name.” You beamed under his praise, smiling at him as you came back into his view. His cheeks were still purple as he looked at you. You grinned, exposing your teeth and small fangs noticing the way his eyes glanced down at your mouth before meeting your eyes again.

“Do you flatter all the women you meet this way?” Your eyes were drawn to his throat watching it bob as he swallowed. You didn’t usually act so brazen but something about this man was pulling you in. He seemed so different than any of the clan males who had yet to interest you. Surely it wouldn’t be so bad just to find out more about this man.

Norm’s eyes widened, “No no! I don’t meet many women.” He cursed himself for how lame that made him sound as you covered your soft snort of laughter with your palm. “I meant to say, you are the first true Na’vi woman I have met.”

You tilted your head upwards, “I should be honoured then, to be your first impression of us. How am I doing so far?”

Norm felt dizzy, he kept having to turn around to keep eye contact as you walking around him. He hadn’t been lying, he didn’t get much female attention not even as a human. To have you, a beautiful Na’vi woman, giving him such intense contact was frying his brain. He couldn’t, or didn’t want to take his eyes off you. “Amazing. I..I mean you’re beautiful.” He switched to English at the last two words assuming you wouldn’t be able to understand him.

The way you fluttered your eyelashes at him made him suspect otherwise. You grinned up at him, “Thank you, Norm. I also think you are very handsome.” Now he was really blushing, the purple tint spreading down to his neck. You’d moved closer now, practically pressed up against his chest. He awkwardly stumbled back a few steps before his back found itself pressed against a tree. You took slow steps to follow him, removing the distance again.

He was so shy and embarrassed, you just wanted to see how much you would be able to push him before he exploded. You placed your hand on his chest again, feeling his thumping heart, “You are quite nervous. Do I make you uncomfortable?” Your ears pinned back and your eyes portrayed the sadness you felt at the idea of him agreeing with your statement.

Norm felt his mouth go dry, was this a dream? There was surely no way this was happening to him. He looked down at your hand on his chest, swallowing his nerves. “N-not uncomfortable, I’m just not sure if I’m dreaming.”

You smiled again at him, leaning in on your tiptoes until your eyes bore into his own. You saw the way his pupils dilated, “Close your eyes and see if you wake up.” Your voice had dropped to a soft whisper and there was little enough distance between you that he could feel your breath against his lips. He froze for a couple moments before his eyes slowly closed, his hands tensing against the tree he was cornered against.

His mouth was parted as he took shallow breaths. Your eyes flickered up to check his eyes were closed before landing back to his mouth. You had to gather your own courage before closing the small gap between you two, placing your hands on his shoulders. Softly pressing your lips against his for a moment before he tilted his head forward to kiss you back. His hands traded rough bark for the soft blue skin of your waist. Your ears twitched when you heard rustling in front of you close by. You pulled back and whispered in his ear, “keep your eyes closed,” before letting go of him. You bit your lip to muffle the laugh you wanted to release watching him lean forward as if he was trying to chase your retreating body.

You silently walked backwards for a few steps before turning and making a run for it back towards the clan. You had to be back home in a hour or you’d get into trouble and that was without anyone figuring out what you had been up to.

Norm waited but as the seconds ticked by his brow furrowed in confusion.

“Norm? Norm?!” Grace’s voice was far away behind him but he could still make it out from the distance. His eyes shot open, you were nowhere to be seen. A dejected sigh left him as his head rolled back to hit against the tree behind him. Perhaps it was just a hallucination, did he touch the wrong kind of plant or something? He knew it was too good to be true, why would a stunning creature like yourself be interested in him? All the Na’vi women were probably fawning over Jake. Tch, Jake. He kicked a rock by his foot as he scowled to himself before turning around and walking towards Grace’s voice. Hopefully she wouldn’t question his length of absence or what he’d be doing because he wouldn’t really have an answer for her.

He turned to look over his shoulder, peering out into the distance but saw nothing. His head tilted down as he walked back to the others, relaying every detail about you in his head.

———

Norm felt like he was in a daze, it had been two weeks since he’d last seen you and you were all he could think about. You’d even taken over his dreams, leaving him waking up in a cold sweat as he reached out for someone who wasn’t there. He couldn’t mention this to Grace or Jake and it really boiled down to the fact that he simply didn’t want to. He wanted to keep you all to himself. Maybe you didn’t know Jake but he’d seen the way women just seem to fall for his charm on many occasions so perhaps it was selfish but to him it was justified.

He’d scheduled himself in for as many expeditions to the forest as he could but he’d yet to see you again. Every time he’d been clapped round the back of the neck from Grace, too distracted staring into the forest in the hopes of seeing you to focus on his work.

He was on another expedition now, deeper into the forest. Still a way away from clan territory but he was certain it was close to where he’d met you last time. His body drummed with nerves of excitement as he mumbled some excuse to Grace before running off into the forest. She would be fine, she had Trudy and had brought three of the other Avatar students with her.

Norm panted as he looked around him, neck straining as he tried to look in the trees above him. He groaned as he saw nothing, speed walking in another direction and then another and another. It had been almost an hour at this point and he knew he didn’t have much time left before he’d be getting his ass chewed out by Grace.

He placed a hand on a nearby tree to lean some of his weight off his feet as he used his other hand to go under his shirt to lift the fabric and wipe the sweat off his forehead. A deep sigh escaped his lips as he turned to head back. As he spun around, there you were in front of him.

His ears pinned back and eyes widened in surprise but the smile on his face told you he was happy to see you. You mirrored his smile, but you’d found yourself shocked when you watched Norm press the pads of his fingers against his forehead before lowering his hand down in a curved motion, “Oel ngati kameie, (Y/N).”

You visibly perked up, a sparkle in your eyes as he performed the Na’vi greeting. You grinned, lowering your head to repeat the motion. “Oel ngati kameie, Norm.” Your voice was light with surprise but the good kind.

“You know much for a skyperson. I am impressed.” Norm blushed again and you felt that same swell of giddiness in your chest at being the reason why. None of the clan men were like him. They were very serious and straight to the point, none of them reacted to you the way Norm did. Although you didn’t really act the same way towards them as you did with Norm, but you couldn’t resist it. Everything screamed at you to push his buttons, see how far you could spread his blush.

Norm rubbed the back of his neck, “There’s still a lot I don’t know. But I don’t think I’ll get the opportunity to be taught by the Na’vi people.”

“Ah! You mean like Jake Sully? He is a friend of yours?” Norm’s head snapped up to meet yours as you mentioned Jake. Of course you knew him. You watched as his ears drooped and an air of dejection overcame him. “Erm yeah. Yeah, I guess you could say we’re friends. We work together.”

“Hm,” you were intrigued. You spied a thick log out the corner of your eye and made way to sit down on it, straddling it. Norm followed you but chose to sit facing you with one leg tucked in as the other fell straight down by his side. “He says he is a warrior, come to learn our ways.”

Norm’s jaw clenched, this was one of the last things he wanted to talk about with you, but of course, he was overlooked again. His hands started tracing the lines on the wood of the log, “Uh yeah, he’s an ex-marine soldier. There was three of us, me, Grace and him. He ventured out and got chased by a Palulukan which led him deeper into the forest where Neytiri rescued him from a pack of Nantangs. Eywa must have sent her to him.”

Your eyes were wide as you listened intently, you hadn’t known this before but it made sense. Neytiri was a strong fighter and her prejudice towards the sky people was strong albeit justified. It hadn’t made much sense for her to just pick up strays as Tsu’tey had phrased it. You shuffled closer, “I hear a tone in your voice. Are you jealous of Jake Sully? Norm?” Said man’s mouth opened and closed like a fish gasping for water. He couldn’t think of an excuse, not while you were staring at him with your big round eyes, thick eyelashes fluttering at him. He was silent for a moment before sighing, “I..I am.” He lowered his head, embarrassed by his confession.

Your lips twisted down into a frown at his slumped shoulders and lowered head. You couldn’t bring him to the clan, not without great cause, you would get into big trouble. There was plenty you could show him out here though, it would help cure the boredom you’d been experiencing ever since you met him. You’d also been stuck with thoughts of Norm in your time apart. He’d been a big distraction to you already so you were sure this wouldn’t be a big deal.

You placed your hand under his chin, gently lifting his head to look at you. “I can be a patient teacher for the right student.” You hoped the smile you gave him was enough to drive your words home. Norm felt like his heart stopped. Your brow furrowed in confusion as you watched him pinch his own arm. He laughed, “Sorry, I had to make sure I wasn’t dreaming again.”

You grinned, leaning forward, “Do you often dream about me?” Amusement tickled through you as you watched him blush and get all flustered once again. You turned your head to the left, you could hear a woman’s voice faintly in the distance. “Your first lesson shall be tomorrow. Find a way to meet me here.” Norm could only nod, not trusting his voice as you got up off the log to head back to Hometree. You paused then turned around to face Norm. You leaned down, “I almost forgot, close your eyes.”

Norm’s breath caught in his throat at your words. He swallowed, his tongue swiping over his lips that felt instantly too dry before closing his eyes. You smiled even though he could not see you, leaning down to press your full lips against his own. Your hands cradled his jaw as you kissed him, but you pulled away before he could touch you himself. With a giggle, you pressed a soft kiss to his cheek then turned to run out of sight, leaping through the dense trees. Norm waited a few moments before opening his eyes, and again he was disappointed with the empty view.

But he didn’t have to be for long, he would have the pleasure of seeing you tomorrow. He got up with a newfound enthusiasm, heading back to where Grace and the others were to catch up with them. Grace chewed him out for leaving again, all the while giving him a strange look. He thought he’d managed to play off his behaviour but when they’d put the avatars away for the night and come out of the link pods, he’d found himself cornered. He’d gotten up and stretched, a content smile on his face. Grace had grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him into her private office. “Who is it?”

Norm stammered, holding his hands up and scoffed, “I-I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about!”

“Cut the crap rookie. You’ve ditched the group twice in the same place for over an hour, you tell me what you’re doing or you’re off the team.” Grace folded her arms over her chest and pierced him with her firm glare. Norm sighed, rubbing his hand over his forehead as he told her everything. Well, almost everything, he kept the kisses to himself.

Grace groaned, holding her head in her hands, “For God’s sake Norm, what the hell am I supposed to do with you. You’re supposed to be the smart one but you’re following in that Jarhead’s footsteps.” It had been easy to convince Grace to allow him the time to see you, promising her intel and samples and he’d even said he could try to convince you to convince the others to grant her permission to visit. And with that, he’d escaped to his room, eager to await the following morning when he could see you again.

“I think he’s in there somewhere.” Jake comments before he opens the door, entering the airlock with you in tow.

You hadn’t been inside of these before and the loud hiss of air makes you flinch; Jake didn’t budge but he glanced at you when he catches you in his peripheral, your tail tense. “Yeah, it does that, just don’t forget to take a mask when we’re in the lab.”

When the main door clicks open, Jake ducks in making you do the same.

Once you made it, there was a bunch of things and it never looked so cramped, dull, and quiet, making your face scrunch, you let Jake step further into the room first and you pluck a rebreather hanging from the racks, being hit with the smell of ozone, metals… and the smell of human, immediately making you grab the mask and inhale.

This place was weird, you think, only having seen it outside in passing. Everything was too small for you.

The place looked empty, so you were curious as to where he was. “Hey, Norm.” Jake suddenly says towards a hunched figure looking at a screen. Said person, Norm, jumps in surprise. “Jesus, Jake-“ Norm snaps his head up to gesture wildly up to the avatar.

However, his complaints were cut short when his eyes drift next to Jake. You.

You weren’t an avatar, you were Na’vi, one who was looking at him with a quizzical look, eyes squinting slightly as your tail curled low behind you, ears twitching with every beep and hum of a laboratory equipment.

Jake looks between the two of you. “Norm, (Y/N). (Y/N), Norm.” Jake gestured and the human stumbles up to stand, almost tripping and knocking off his stuff on the table making you step back at the clumsiness, head tilted.

Norm cusses underneath his breath, not only he was embarrassing himself in front of Jake, but to you as well.

Norm stands a little straighter, craning his neck up to meet your gaze before he signs ‘I see you’.

Though his little stumble makes your tail twitch at the end curiously, giving Jake a look to which the latter clears his throat trying not to laugh, looking away for a moment.

But you find yourself admiring it somehow, a small smile twitches at the end of your lip as you look at Norm, studying his human form but you were sure you came across his avatar maybe once or twice… you let your body relax the moment he signs, keeping your eyes planted on his now.

You sign it back, much more fluid and felt than his, but Norm could only blame his nerves.

“I see you, Norm.” Your voice comes out firm, but open. Something in him shifts and he smiles, nodding.

Then silence as Norm just seemed struck looking at you and you looking at him, Jake furrowing his brows slightly, inside his mind he found this very amusing. Clearing his throat and snapping Norm out his daze while your tail flicks low and against your calf, you look at Jake.

“Norm here would tell you all you need to know, I’ll leave you to it.” Jake said and you missed how he gave Norm a look because you needed another inhale from the rebreather, not standing the uncomfortable oxygen here in the lab for humans.

The click of the door and the hiss of the airlock signals Jake’s exit, now it was just the two of you. “Oh yeah, it’s- the stuff’s here.” Norm suddenly speaks out when you were looking at where Jake left, and Norm manages to capture your attention again with the way your tail perked.

Moving to another room, with you ducking to get through the doorway, you were met with the crates, some of it was already open and empty, contents already spread out on the table. Overwhelming.

Norm looks like he’s just standing in piles of treasure, he nears a batch of smaller… machines? You eagerly follow, nor curious as Norm begins to gesture.

“This little guy here? It’s a laser detector.” Norm says, lifting it up with slight effort as he turns to face you, patting the machine on the side.

You lean in, inspecting it closely and Norm almost felt his hold on the laser detector falter, trying to begin explaining it but with you looking so focused and eager to listen to him? He never felt this stumped before.

“It’s uh.. what’s it again? Oh right it’s kind of like a security measure y’know?” Norm explains the best he could, smacking himself mentally for stumbling over his words and ending it with an awkward chuckle.

Blinking, you glance at him, you could read him easily based on his body language, he was nervous. It was almost like an animal about to be hunted.

“We could place these a few clicks away from camp, let us know if there’s any gunships or anything else close to camp.” Norm finally gets a hold of himself, eyes now looking up at you to gauge your reaction.

You nod, crouching to be more at level with him, leaning as your braids fell over your shoulders and framed your face.

“We could put it on the sides of the mountain, could work.” You finally speak, letting a small smile slip as you look at Norm.

“Yeah!” Norm replies a little too enthusiastic with a grin before he clears his throat, shaking his head and feigning nonchalance. “I mean, yeah, that’s what I was thinking of too.”