Chapter Text
“So, what had I missed while I was gone?”
Neteyam asked, hands gently fixing Spider's braids, his food on the table as Aonung sat next to Kiri.
Apparently the two of them hadn't known it was Aonung who harmed Lo'ak.
How did he know?
Well, they weren't chasing him off yet.
Spider even called out to him to sit down.
In the end, Aonung went to get Neteyam a sandwich and sat next to Kiri with an awkward shuffle.
His own lunch sat in front of him.
He looked so stiff, Neteyam almost felt bad.
Then again, why feel bad when the other boy barely felt remorse for what he did?
He might've only cared because it ruined his chances with courting the older Sully brother.
So, he ignored it.
Focused all his energy on fixing Spider's hair and letting out some mumbles of disgust at how matted it had become.
“Well, I am doing quite well so far.” Kiri spoke first, ignoring the way Spider was flinching and mumbling.
“You're killing me big bro, you- ow! That was too strong!”
“I did not pull enough,” Neteyam hissed, jabbing a finger at Spider's scalp before turning back to Kiri, “Academically? It makes sense, you have always been a smart girl.”
Kiri rubbed her arm, a small bashful smile on her face.
“I actually think it was quite easy.” She spoke, glancing back at Neteyam as if fishing for compliments.
And, as the good brother he was, he gave it without question.
“Soon, there will be a really well known Scientist from Awa'atlu high,” he proclaimed in a mock arrogant tone, before chuckling to himself quietly, “And her name will be Kiri Sully, the smartest daughter of the family.”
“Until Tuk graduates.” Spider corrects, not even flinching when Kiri pinches him hard.
“Ow!”
“You skxawng, can't even let me have my moment.” She snarled, punching his arm harder which made him punch her arm.
“Neteyam, he punched me!”
“You punched first!”
“I am a woman! Did your father not teach you basic manners?!”
“Yes, but mom taught me it's all fair game in this family.”
He sighed, feeling Spider pull away from his grad, his hair wild as he and Kiri wrestled.
It was friendly, so there was no need for worry.
He hoped.
And assumed.
He had no idea if it were friendly anymore, so he just spoke loudly.
“No biting.”
“Biting?”
He turned, seeing Aonung had moved to his side of the table when the other two began their little brawl.
“There was an incident.”
His voice was bland, but his hand quickly wrapped around his forearm, shivering at the memory.
“Kiri's teeth are too sharp.” Neteyam huffed. “It becomes a hassle when they brawl.”
“Does it happen often?” Aonung asked, a bit unsettled seeing how calm the siblings were when it came to… well, fighting.
“We are a military family.” He spoke with a pointed look, gesturing to the small dog tag around Spider's waist, hidden in the collection of keys and keychains that represented each family member.
“Kiri doesn't have one because she skipped the training to join our grandmother as a medic.” He shrugs.
“Think of it as… well, something unique about her.”
He paused.
“Actually, we all have the no biting rule with the exception of Lo'ak.”
The other boy's eyebrow raised in curiosity.
“Why just him?”
Neteyam was silent for a minute.
Aonung thought he had stepped on another private topic, cursing himself in his mind already.
Stupid Aonung.
Why did you have to ask?
You have already belittled his brother enough, and hurt him.
Now you ask stupid questions.
Now Neteyam will never like us back, you absolute imbecile-
“He doesn't have sharp enough teeth.”
Aonung snapped out of it, eyes wide as he just stared at Neteyam.
“What?”
“He doesn't have sharp enough teeth for his bite to hurt.” Neteyam repeated.
“I have rather sharp canines, not as sharp as Kiri. Tuktirey, our baby sister, also has quite sharp teeth. Spider…” He rolled his eyes.
“The boy bites hard. Annoying as it is.” He glanced at Aonung.
“Lo'ak doesn't have the bite strength or the sharp teeth.”
Aonung was just… baffled.
First, because Lo'ak was starting to sound like he was the most normal one among them.
Second, because Neteyam apparently had sharp teeth and-
Well, he'd rather keep it to himself the way his breath hitched at the concept.
Or the way he felt something in his stomach tighten in clear attraction.
The third, and main reason for his bafflement was…
“How in Eywa did you even find out about that rule?”
“Kiri bit me,” Neteyam started, pulling up his short sleeve to show a small healed bite mark on his upper forearm, “I bit back,” he then pointed to the two light colored holes on Kiri's wrist, “we were 5 or 6.”
Aonung thought it was a vaccine wound or something.
He never would've expected it to be teeth.
“Tuk keeps biting Mother with her teeth so she also has to deal with the rules, and Spider bit Father when he got his tooth pulled out.”
He sighed.
“What is family if not a Sully?”
“And you found out Lo'ak didn't need to have that rule… how?”
He winced.
“That’s private.”
Or, as Aonung read it, it was too embarrassing of a story that if Neteyam said it, it would make Lo'ak lose his mind.
He grabbed the sandwich Aonung bought for him, unwrapping, only to be pleasantly surprised when he saw the bread was perfectly soft and the ingredients were quite fresh.
He took a bite, it was wonderful.
“Oh Great Mother, you have blessed me.” He mumbled between bites as he ravenously ate.
Aonung beamed.
“Did you like it?”
It was a rather expensive sandwich, something Aonung never usually bought because he kept his school budget strict.
It would be the first time he ever bought it, and the first time he looked at his wallet and saw so many bills gone.
Worth it.
Aonung thought, a grin slowly reaching his face.
Neteyam nodded, covering his mouth as he chewed.
“It's so good. Which one is this? I could eat like, 10 of these oh my Eywa.”
“It’s the B15 sandwich.” Aonung told him.
“It's like 20 dollars.”
His eyes went wide.
“20?”
“Yeah.” The boy paused, before saying, “If it's too expensive for you I could always-”
“That's so cheap for a sandwich of this quality.”
Aonung almost dropped his smile, lips twitching.
“What?”
“It's pretty cheap,” Neteyam repeated, he seemed to be doing that a lot lately, “It would've been 45 with this amount of flavor and freshness, perhaps even more since they used authentic Japanese bread. Where did they buy the loaf? I need to tell Mother about it so she can buy some herself.”
Neteyam spoke so much, Aonung felt like he was going to lose his mind.
Right.
Military family.
They would definitely have money, and seeing as they could afford to bring at least 3 people to the military program that made Neteyam a tier 1 scholar?
They definitely had money.
In his mind, he paused.
“Is… What's your father's name in the military?”
He had heard from his father a lot of nonsense, one of it usually regarding a country hero.
Since he was a military fanatic, Aonung sometimes goes through the list of military men with purple hearts, some he had been impressed by but as of right now, he remembered a very distinct title.
“Toruk Makto.” Neteyam told him, just as he had finished theorising in his head.
“It was because he apparently couldn't make the fighter jet he was in at all even if it worked fine with other people.” He chuckled, biting his sandwich again, slowly warming up to the boy.
At least he was trying.
It was good.
Meanwhile, Aonung was on the verge of hyperventilating.
He just bullied the son of Toruk Makto. One of the most recent people to get a Purple Heart and honorable discharge.
Because he has commandeered a whole aerial and marine attack on their enemies a few months prior.
A man who, despite Neteyam's efforts to make sound funny, rode one of the most dangerous fighter jets of the country and survived.
“Oh.” Was his choked out reply.
Oh.
And another realization hit him. He was trying to flirt with Toruk Makto's eldest son.
You know, the one on the news for following his father's path.
That son.
Neteyam understood his silence, even laughed at his reaction.
“Yeah, glad you're dealing with me instead of my parents, huh?”
“Your parents? Your mom is in the military too?” He struggled to speak, a bit too panicked by the idea.
“No,” he shrugged, “But for comparison, my father is the safer option.”
Toruk Makto was the safer option?
SINCE WHEN WAS HE THE SAFER OPTION?
Neteyam stood up, having finished his sandwich, and called out to the two Sullies who finally finished their friendly brawl.
Their skin was red, some parts patchy, but over all there didn't seem to be much damage.
“Come on, which of you want to see Lo'ak with me?”
“I'll go, big bro.” Spider stood up quickly, grabbing his bag while Kiri groaned.
“Can't we just see him at home? The clinic smells like wax.”
“You can handle the smell of herbs but can't handle the smell of anesthesia?” Neteyam retorted, unimpressed.
The girl tilted her head, letting out a hum before nodding.
“Yeah. It's too chemical for me. I hate the smell.”
“Then it's your job to go call Mother and tell her that her baby boy is open for visitation.”
Kiri immediately stood up.
“What? Whatttt do you mean, I'm heading to see Lo'ak. I am too busy for that.” Kiri quickly ran with her bag, Spider cackling in the corner.
None of them liked telling their mother about that, mostly due to the fact that their mother had very extreme threats.
A lot about eye plucking.
And sometimes they get caught in the cross fire.
Eywa'evang knows the last time Spider tried to defend Lo'ak and nearly went bald for a whole summer.
It was the last time the white boy tried to defend his brother from their mother ever again.
Then again, Neteyam thought to himself, most of it was warranted.
Neteyam rolled his eyes, arms crossed. “That's what I thought.”
“Kiri, wait for me!”
The two of them, thick as thieves, ran to the clinic.
Most likely about to laugh in Lo'ak's face for being stupid enough to get locked in the changing room shower now that he was ok.
If they saw him suffering throughout the bandaging, they would've been horrified and sobbing.
Thankfully, their father did it for them so they didn't need to go until Lo'ak was more lucid.
He turned to the boy next to him, who was quietly panicking because he was about to meet Toruk Makto.
“Hurry up, Aonung. Your sister is there too.”
The boy paused his panic to huff, brows furrowed as he mumbled. “Why did she visit?”
“She knew you did it.”
It was silent for a while before Aonung grabbed his bag and followed.
A bit pale.
Lips pursed.
Neteyam sighed.
He won't get into the whole situation with those 2, it was family matters and he honestly found satisfaction at the thought of Tsireya being angry at Aonung for what he'd done.
For now, he was content with being civil with the boy until some sort of change happens.
They arrived at the clinic door, Neteyam entered with his siblings, Tsireya exiting the same exact moment.
“Tsireya, thank you for looking after my brother again.” He smiled, warm and genuine as the girl bashfully waved it off.
“No, it's no problem really… I… it's the only way I can help. I'm sorry again.” The girl was humiliated, distraught at the idea that it was because of her that the boy suffered.
Sure, Aonung worked on his own accord, but the fact that he had agreed to this elaborate plan to hurt another person to protect her?
It was too much.
The guilt practically ate her up.
Kiri hugged her, Spider patting her shoulder.
“It's ok Tsireya, it's not your fault.” Spider spoke, soft as Kiri nodded in agreement.
They didn't know why Tsireya thought that, they assumed that maybe she was just guilty, he was harmed and she didn't know.
The same guilt they felt when they found him in that shower and they didn't even know he left.
“You did your best, and the fact you stayed with the skxawng while he's recovering is pretty kind of you.” Kiri spoke, rubbing her nose to stop herself from crying.
“I couldn't do it myself, it was… too much to see the idiot in bed like that.”
Neteyam frowned, heart aching in his chest as he saw how sad they were, and how much the incident affected them. “Alright,” he cut off after a while, “We'll head in, Tsireya. Thank you again for being here.”
His hand held the girls tight, as she nodded with unshed tears in her eyes.
“You are well with us, Reya.” He spoke softly, at a level only he and the girl could hear.
“We trust you. It's alright.”
He corralled his siblings into the room, glancing back to see Tsireya sobbing quietly into her hands and Aonung quickly making his way to her.
He knew it wouldn't be a light conversation, but he would rather focus on his own family for now.
The two would be fine.
He was sure of it.
He turned back to the room, and smiled.
His father had ended up on the bed, asleep and arms wrapped around the half-asleep Lo'ak.
The man was tuckered out, he had just finished his paperwork when he heard about the situation and rushed immediately.
For all Jake's harsh tone and high expectation held for his children, he had always been the soft one.
“Kiriii… You have a… a thing on your forehead.” Lo'ak slurred, eyes blinking rapidly at the sight of the girl.
The girl was anxious, eyes wide as she slapped her forehead, trying to find it. “What is it? Have I been walking around with something on my forehead?”
She turned to Spider, who was already giggling.
“You, why didn't you say anything?!”
“Yeahhhh you have…” Lo'ak murmured, before loudly proclaiming, “You've been walking around with stupid on your head. Cuz you areee.”
Neteyam watched as the girl growled, realising she was played for a fool before she walked over to pinch her baby brothers face.
He winced. “Ow! What was that for?!”
This, in turn, woke up their father, who just stared at the children before sighing.
“No biting.” Was all he said as he sat up, grabbed his crutches, and went to sit next to Neteyam.
The two brawled once again, Spider cheering from the side.
For a boy beaten to the point of fainting, Lo'ak sure was spirited.
His punches were as clean as ever, despite the fact his arms were bruised and red.
Of course, Kiri made sure not to press too hard on his wounds. But as Neytiri's daughter, she took every advantage she could get.
Jake sighed, not even in the mood to lecture them on public ettiquette since they were the only ones in the clinic anyway.
He turned to his son, who was rolling his eyes fondly at the situation.
“You dealt with them?” It was a simple question, so Neteyam gave a simple answer.
“Two of them. One is Tsireya's brother, he reported himself before I arrived. Second boy was suspended. They're looking for the last two.”
Jake sucked in a breath.
“Did the brother look like he took a beating?”
Neteyam grinned, staring the man down with a nod. “Bruised cheek. It was a really good swing.”
The man nodded.
“Good. It's better you dealt with it rather than me.” He pinched his nose bridge. “I might've began beef with the chief's kid.”
His son chuckled next to him. “I don't think we'll suffer that bad. Tsireya is kind.”
“Yeah, good kid. I like her.”
“She was very nice.”
"We were discussing a bit about medicine and stuff, your mom would like her."
Jake turned to him with a glance, and Neteyam already knew what was coming.
“Tell your brother to be kinder to her. She's a good one.”
“Yes Sir.”