Chapter Text
“Ugh move it!”, Kiri said shoving her little brother aside with her elbow as she stood over the sink, toothpaste foam dripping from her chin as she tried desperately not to miss the sink as she spit. “I was here first! You move it”, Lo’ak glared at her shoving her back as their older brother reached over them both to open the mirror to grab his cologne.
“This wouldn’t have happened if you both got up on time now Dad’s gonna blame me!”, Neteyam said sighing as he sprit his cologne, Lo’ak turned around to snap back at him but ended up getting sprayed right in the eyes causing Neteyam to jump back covering his mouth in surprise.
“Fuck!”
Lo’ak rushed to rub his eye in a panic as Kiri moved past him to get her towel, “Quit rubbing it you’re making it worse”, Neteyam scolded him. “Agh! I don’t have time for this!” Lo’ak pushed aside his brother and stormed to his room to change out of his pajamas as Kiri yelled at Neteyam to get out so she can take a quick shower.
Neteyam stepped out with Kiri slamming the door behind him. He sighed; his family can become a real headache for him an he wished they would all do their part so he doesn’t need to act like a nagging parent all the time. He fixed his hair letting one one braid fall in front of his face and walked off to wait for his siblings at the porch, he held his breathe as he opened the door eying his father leaning against the car and looking at his watch with a frown. His father glanced up at him, “Where are your siblings we’re gonna get into traffic if we don’t leave now” Neteyam held his breathe a little before answering, “They’ll be here Kiri’s in the shower-”
“The shower!? Neteyam did you not wake them up?”
“I did sir it’s just-”
“I don’t want to hear it go tell them to hurry I can’t be late”
Neteyam rushed back in to go fetch them only to find Lo’ak by the door wearing a back shirt and jeans with his chain and red hoodie and that ridiculously large BB belt Neteyam got him as a gift for Christmas. He putting on his jordan’s shoving one mismatched socked foot into one of them and trying to force the other inside out socked foot in the shoe with his hand. “Hurry dad is going to skin us!”
Lo’ak ignored him, focused on adjusting his laces while Neteyam rushed to go knock on the bathroom door to find Kiri. Before being able to knock Kiri quickly opened the door, already wearing her outfit of low rise linen pants and a crop top with her crystals hanging around her neck. She pushed past him and rushed downstairs to grab her tote bag that she left at the dining table the night before, “Don’t worry brother I’m ready, Lo’ak hurry it up!”
Lo’ak lifted his head to shoot her a glare, “Shut up bruh I’m closer than the door!”
Neteyam rolled his eyes, not having time to hear an immature banter from the both of them, “Go, go, go!” He shoved the both of them out the door not caring for their protests.
Once in the car, they all rode in silence with Neteyam staring off into the distance in the passenger seat, figuring his father was not in the best mood now with the frustrated look he was giving to the back of a car that they’ve been stuck behind for now 10 minutes.
“First day of school and you guys are already late what a great impression for you two huh?”, he said looking at the rearview mirror to look at his two middle children.
Neteyam spoke up, “Sir I take full responsibility I should’ve made sure they’ve gotten up”
“You should have since you’re the oldest and you’re responsible for these knuckleheads” he turned to his attention back to the two sulking teenagers in the back, “but you two can’t expect Neteyam to do everything for you both you’re not little anymore I don’t want to see him having to rush you both out you understand?”
“Yes sir”
“Yes dad”
They all sat in silence again, Neteyam concentrating on not letting a scowl form on his face out of respect for his father. He realized what he was doing and was quite surprised with himself, a scowl? Usually he’d accept his father’s lecture with no question’s and would be disappointed in himself for letting him down, but lately he’s found himself angry every time he got lectured on something that was completely out of his control. How was it his fault that his siblings immediately went back to sleep after he woke them up? As said they’re not little and he doesn’t see why him being born first changes anything. He tried to push away the thought but it kept eating at him, no, no, he was supposed to be a good son and brother his dad is just looking out for him.
While Neteyam was working out this dilemma in his mind Jake began to feel the tension he created in the car, usually Neteyam would try to lighten the tension by bringing up another topic but for some reason he wasn’t saying anything to ease the atmosphere. Jake glanced back at his kids in the back and saw them still upset, this was no way to start the day. They’ve moved into a new area, Awa’atlu, due to they’re old home becoming way too dangerous for them to live, it was painful for everyone to leave their home that they’ve known their whole life. Their old home was surrounded by a beautiful forest and mountains, they had their community and close friends that they love dearly. Now they were surrounded by beaches and water, the forest and mountains no longer in sight and were surrounded by strangers in a new community. Instead of waking up to the smell of the forest, the smell of beaches filled their nose instead. The mayor, Tonowari, of the town took pity on them and was able to get them a nice house in the middle of this close-knit town, who were already gossiping about the new comers. Jake felt terrible that he needed to uproot his kids to this new town and environment and the worse part was that his kids were entering they’re teenage years, an awkward time where everything is changing and he couldn’t even keep their home life consistent. He took a breathe and decided this time it was his job to lighten the mood, he figured that Neteyam obviously was too stressed with the current situation to say anything cheery.
“Excited for your first day of high school you two? You didn’t get an opportunity to start back home with the move so this is a fresh start”, Oh god why did he mention home, he thought in a panic.
“No, Im not goin be with my friends”, Lo’ak said, barely looking up from his phone.
Kiri stayed silent not responding, lost in thought.
“I miss spider.. we were planning on matching for the first day..”, she muttered under her breathe, blinking quickly to stop herself from tearing up. Lo’ak, who was watching her, softened his gaze and also began to think about spider. He cleared his throat, and began blinking his eyes rapidly too.
Neteyam tried to hide a small smile seeing his dad immediately panicking at Lo’ak’s and Kiri’s reaction to him trying to ease the mood.
“U-hhh well-”, Jake started clearing his throat to fix his mistake.
“You guys were gonna match? Oh god thank goodness we left my eyes would’ve burned seeing him in that crop top and low waist”, Neteyam said turning his head to look back at them with a smile.
Kiri burst into laughter as well as Lo’ak at the thought of their old friend in that outfit, “No! We were going to coordinate, it would’ve looked good”, Kiri smiled trying to defend her case. “Don’t worry you can match with me now” Lifting his sweater with his fingers at the front to show it off, Kiri looked over and gasped a little in surprise, Neteyam was wearing a beige sweater with a white shirt underneath and dark brown jeans and white forces. The color of Kiri’s low waists were brown and the crop top had a floral pattern with beige being the overall color and she had on eggshell off brand shoes she found thrifting. She smiled at her brother and wrapped her arms around his neck from behind the seat and gave him a side kiss. “Thank you eywa for giving me a brother who knows how to dress”
“Shut up at least I don’t dress like I shop in the lost and found”, Lo’ak huffed at her. Jake turned his head and bit his lip trying his hardest to keep his dad composure at Lo’ak’s funny retort as Kiri slapped her brother’s arm. “Ey maybe you should listen to your sister, your brother dresses-”
“Like a wuss?”
“Modestly”, he said sternly, “Not like you and your bum friends, with sagging pants even though your wearing that big expensive belt on your waist”
Kiri and Neteyam burst into laughter as Lo’ak rolled his eyes and leaned back on the seat to put on his headphones which Kiri quickly snatched from his head to mess with him. “Kiri! Dammit!” He said reaching over as she extended her arm away from him. Neteyam smiled seeing his siblings banter not noticing Jake smiling at him. His son was just like his mother, always knowing what to say to lift everyone’s spirit at any given situation.
Soon enough they pulled in front of a school surrounded by a lot of sand and water, and kids. Jake pulled over at the car to the side and turned to his kids expecting their full attention. Lo’ak on the other hand was staring out the window watching the other kids, he saw as a guy with a tight bun and curls falling hopped out of a shiny black SUV along with another guy with a curly fro. “Hey pay attention” Lo’ak pulled his eyes away from the window to look over at his father who was giving all of them a stern look.
“I need you all on your best behavior, pull your weight and do well. When you are out there you are representing our family”, he let his eyes linger on Lo’ak, “no causing trouble, understood?” Lo’ak trying really hard to not roll his eyes; sighed before responding, “Yes sir”
Suddenly there was a hard, polite knock against the window next to Neteyam. He whirled his head to find an older handsome man with tattoos smiling politely. Neteyam looked over at his father who was already rolling down the window for the man.
“Jake Sully”, he said greeting him with an ‘ I see you’ which his father promptly returned. Neteyam did a greeting out of courtesy as well seeing that he was in between them.
“Tonowari, how are you?”
“Well thank you, I’d love to introduce you to my children”, he signaled over a boy with a strong build and loose bun who was hovering around Tonowari who slowly approached over to them with his friend slowly trailing behind him. He made his way in front of the car window eying the people inside, the young teenagers inside all looked at him uncomfortably noticing the judgmental look that was forming on the loose buns face. Neteyam especially watching his eyes shift from eying everyone to only him. They stared at each other that long enough that Neteyam thought he should also greet him, doing the gesture towards him reluctantly. All bun loose did was scoff, not bothering to return the gesture. Neteyam’s eyes widened in surprise but he stayed quiet. In the meanwhile, Lo’ak intensely watched this interaction, feeling a glare form on his features watching his brother be disrespected but decided to look out of the window again to avoid saying something snarky at the rude boy. Suddenly the black SUV doors opened again, out stepped the most beautiful girl Lo’ak has ever laid his eyes on, a girl with doe eyes, long curly hair, and light brown skin emerged from vehicle so gracefully that she looked as if she was stepping on a red carpet. With her beauty she might as well had.
“This is my eldest Ao’nung and his friend Rotxo.. ah and here comes my daughter”, Tonowari said as the beautiful model made their way towards them. She greeted her father and looked inside the car, she smiled sweetly and greeted Jake and Neteyam.
“Hello! I’m Tsireya nice too meet you all!”, she let her gaze fall onto the people inside, she made eye contact with Lo’ak. Lo’ak met her blue eyes and felt a brush creeping onto his face the longer he looked. He looked away and saw her giggle a little, watching him loose this little staring contest they had.
“My children will guide your children today”, Tonowari kindly said with a smile, his son on the other hand whipped his head around to look at his father, “Pa-”
“I have spoken, you are to help the Sully family readjust to their new school do you understand”, he sternly. His son only looked away and nodded, embarrassed to be lectured in front of others. “Then it’s decided, see you in a bit Jake Sully” With that he said his goodbyes and made his way to the black SUV. Once he was out of sight Kiri unbuckled her belt and Lo’ak mimicked her actions, both making their way out of the car. Lo’ak once out stood on the sidewalk and looked around realizing all the kids already made their way to class and it was only the three local kids, Kiri and himself. Lo’ak looked over at Tsireya who’s eyes were already on him, “Hey”, he said almost shyly. She giggled again, he never thought he’d find a giggle so attractive.
Jake and Neteyam watched this from the car window and side eyed each other with a slight smirk. Neteyam shook his head, he couldn’t believe his brother already found a girl he fancied in just a few days into being in this new area. He grabbed his bag, ready to step out of the car himself but Jake stopped him, holding his shoulder. “Ey kid, remember keep an eye on your brother for me okay? Look out for both of them, I’m counting on you, don’t let anything bad happen to them”, Neteyam nods, “Also lighten up okay, I know the situation isn’t ideal but try to make friends here, get out more… maybe meet a girl”, He laughed watching Neteyam look away in embarrassment but his son also began to laugh, nervously, “Your brother works fast let me tell you that”, Neteyam didn’t answer and unbuckled his seatbelt and quickly stepped out of the car. “Bye dad”, he said with a smile, Jake didn’t get an opportunity to answer because his son quickly turned away to go join his brother.
”Hey- Wait- Love you guys!”, he shouted. His three kids turned their head towards him quickly surprised. They all muttered an ‘I love you’ in embarrassment back at him as he pulled away. He smirked at them and then pulled away well aware of the affect he left on them with Lo’ak giving him a look of shock, also realizing his father was aware he had just embarrassed them. Jake drove away from the school satisfied with himself, but he was still worried for his children. He began to recall the conversation he had with Neteyam, noticing how embarrassed he got when it came to talking about girls. It surprised him since his son was really mature for his age and always kept himself composed and adult like no matter the topic. But when it came to girls he never seemed to want to talk about it, even Lo’ak was more comfortable talking about it with him than Neteyam. Lo’ak had talked about girls he’d like and would want to marry since preschool but Neteyam never once mentioned a girl. Heck he still remembers how Neteyam went home sobbing as a child when a little girl insisted on being his girlfriend in kindergarten. He chuckled at the memory of his eldest son as a little 6 year old cuddled up against him as he cried about not wanting a girlfriend. He sat there reminiscing until he realized his son was no longer that little 6 year old who’d want to cuddle and play superman, he was now a handsome young man that makes him proud everyday. Jake had nothing to worry about, Neteyam was probably just shy when it came to girls and soon enough he’ll want to talk to his old man about it.
“Okay Jake hold it together, save those tears when he goes to collage”, he said to himself, fighting the tears forming in his eyes.