#recom miles

It was weird. Lo'ak hadn't heard anyone scream so loud or hit so hard against anything. He wasn't afraid of it, he was simply curious. He thought it was a little funny, the spew of profanities that Spider gave Quaritch. La'ang, teylupil, txanwìngtu. Piece of shit, teylu-face (he's familiar with the insult. thanks, kiri.), bastard.

The oddest part of the entire exchange was that Quaritch didn't do much but give him his way. The first time Lo'ak had seen Spider hiss and spit, it had been regarding him. The outpost was small so he heard almost every word of it. Lo'ak started to be able to talk to him more. The second time, a week after Lo'ak had arrived, Spider screamed and screamed and screamed about Lo'ak going with him whenever he went outside.

The very worst part was Mansk and Lyle'd reactions. He slept in their room, in a little space in the corner, and was acutely aware of every eye roll, every snicker, every side comment they thought Lo'ak couldn't hear. Maybe they knew he could, and maybe they just didn't care.

Quaritch came too late in the night, after Spider's screaming had ended. Lo'ak was laying on his side, thinking and doing a terrible job of pretending to be asleep, when Quaritch entered the cramped sleeping and filled the doorway.

"Alright Sully," he growled, his golden eyes piercing right through Lo'ak's gurgling thoughts. "The boy wants you." His eyes narrowed. "Somehow."

Ouch.

Lo'ak felt the tightness in his chest come back, squeezing his ribs like it had a week ago. He wasn't unwanted. Spider had wanted him--still wants him--which is why he was in this damned mess in the first place. Before he could give a snappy retort, Quaritch had Lo'ak by the arm and was pulling him down the hallway.

"I can walk, skxawng!" he snapped, his fingers trying to pry Quaritch's off his arm. When Quaritch ignored him, red-hot anger shot through his veins and he found his teeth buried in his forearm.

What came next was heavy and dull and left a throbbing pain beside Lo'ak's eye. He was a little stunned and must've bruised something when he hit the floor. His breaths came in short gasps, his heart pounding, before his hand came away from his clean.

No blood. That was good.

Lo'ak was yanked up again, being nearly dragged again down the hallway. Quaritch opened a sleek door effortlessly, even with a hand full of squirming teenage boy, and shoved Lo'ak in. He followed close behind, the door snicking shut behind them.

Spider was already sitting up, blinking sleep from his eyes. When he saw Lo'ak he fought very hard to keep his face composed, but when Quaritch pushed the Na'vi towards him his expression changed.

"Careful, dumbass!" he snapped as Lo'ak steadied himself against the mattress.

"Cut the attitude, kid," Quaritch spat, sitting on his own bed and throwing his legs over the mattress. Lo'ak stood awkwardly for a second before Spider slid over to make room for his friend. Lo'ak hesitated even though there was more than enough room for the both of them.

"Seriously, I don't mind," Spider said, patting the bed. "This is much better than knowing that thing's sleeping in the same room as me."

Lo'ak caught the undertone of a snort--of course Quaritch was listening--before Lo'ak crawled into bed beside the human boy. The surface was weird and had little give compared to the hammocks he usually slept in, but it was better than the mat he had had.

Spider's body was tanned and warm against Lo'ak's, a comfort from the chilled air around them. Lo'ak noticed that unlike his father, Spider didn't sleep with a blanket. He hoped this was personal choice.

Despite Lo'ak wanting to stay up to watch his friend, to make sure Quaritch didn't come over and hit the kid or something, he found his eyelids drifting closed and his breathing settle to match the other two in the room.

Quaritch apparently wasn't good with time. Last night, he had stormed in too late. This morning, he was lifting Lo'ak out of bed while he was still bleary-eyed. The boy did notice, however, the amount of care Quaritch put into removing Lo'ak from his son. Weird.

Lo'ak followed Quaritch a short ways to the curtained room, ducking into the space when Quaritch gestured for him to enter first. What Lo'ak found was a med kit on the gleaming table, tightly shut and ready for use.

"On the table," Quaritch ordered, his hands opening the red box. Lo'ak complied, mostly because he was tired and he didn't know what else he'd do if he refused. He watched Quaritch work for a moment, applying some off-yellow liquid to a cloth, before said cloth was brought to Lo'ak's eye.

Oh yeah, the bruise.

He hissed (or, well, he tried to) when the cloth got too close, but Quaritch made no attempt at stopping. Lo'ak winced when the liquid came into contact with his skin, smelling incredibly foul and being unpleasantly sticky, but the throbbing faded almost immediately.

"What is it?"

"Medicine."

"What is it for?"

"It's a numbing agent."

"Oh."

Quaritch didn't say anything else as he tended to the wound, finally pulling away when it was coated to his liking.

"It smells bad."

"Suck it up, Sully."

Lo'ak bristled. "My name's Lo'ak."

"Noted."

How hard was it to talk to this guy? No wonder Spider didn't want to share a room with him.

"It's too late to be nice," Lo'ak said, his heart hammering. This man could, and probably would, kill him in a heartbeat. "You don't have to suck up to me to make me like you."

Quaritch's snorted. "Sucking up? Kid, I ain't sucking up to no one. I'm taking care of your goddamn bruise because I'm the one who gave it to you."

"Why not leave it? Makes a good lesson."

"If you're saying that, then it must've been." Quaritch took the med kit to a table in the corner of the room. "I shouldn't have hit you, and this doesn't make up for it in any way, but I don't want that bruise to interfere with whatever it is you do."

Whatever it is you do. Useless.

"Why do you feel bad?" Lo'ak pressed. "All I do is keep Spider in line."

Quaritch made a sound that made Lo'ak think he was wrong. "I feel bad because we don't hit kids. We're Marines, Sully. We have a code we live up to."

Lo'ak didn't know what any of that meant, other than he wasn't supposed to hit children, but he supposed it was supposed to make Lo'ak forgive him. Bullshit.

Quaritch Lo'ak back to his (Spider's? Quaritch's?) room. It was silent on the outside, so Spider must still have been sleeping. Lo'ak slipped quietly into the room, the door shutting and--locking?--behind him.

Spider was awake.

"Where were you?" he asked, his eyebrows drawn right and his mouth in a firm line.

"With Quaritch."

"Doing what?"

Lo'ak's fingers found the place where his bruise was, but it didn't hurt all that much when he pressed on it. "I bit him yesterday, and he hit me. He told me that he felt bad because he not allowed to hit kids, and he put something on the bruise so it doesn't hurt as much."

Spider slid off the bed and walked over to Lo'ak, who couches so Spider could get a better view of the darkness that bloomed on the side of Lo'ak's head. Spider looked uncomfortable, maybe torn, but he stepped away from Lo'ak and pulled himself back onto the bed.

"I'm going back to sleep," he said. "Do you want to?"

Lo'ak shrugged. "I'll be okay. I'm not really in the mood to sleep."

Spider accepted his answer without an argument, turning so his back faced Lo'ak. Lo'ak settled himself by the foot of his bed, his arms wrapped tightly around his legs.

He was only here for Spider.