the delicate balance (of me and you) | tsireya x y/n

Chemistry (chapter five)

You wake up early, and the first thing you see is a rosy sky, the sunrise reflecting off the surface of the sea, creating a picturesque scene. You get up, brushing your hair back with your hands, and look out of your house to see Tsireya. She's wandering along the shoreline, alone. You smile at the sight of her, and quickly run to join her. 

You sneak up behind her, grabbing her tail and dodging around her as she turns around. You giggle, and she grins. 'Hey, y/n.' 'Hey, Reya,' you say playfully, grabbing her hand. She looks around quickly, checking for people, and having confirmed the coast is clear, pulls you in for a kiss. You lean in willingly, closing your eyes as she slides her arms around you. 'How romantic,' you whisper into her lips, opening your eyes. She opens hers too, questioningly, and you smile. 'A kiss by sunrise,' you say, and she smiles against your mouth. 'Pretty, isn't it?' she says quietly. 'Come on, let's go for a ride.' 

She pulls away from you, diving gracefully into the water, and you follow. You start to call your ilu, but she shakes her head, signing 'let's share,' with a smirk. You tilt you head, confused, but she waves you off. You shrug. Tsireya clearly has a plan in mind, so you may as well play along. Soon, her ilu, Ikeyni, arrives, and Tsireya grabs on. She gestures to you to wrap your arms around her, and you do, holding her close. She grins over her shoulder, and wraps her hand around your thigh. Before you have time to react, Ikeyni takes off, and bubbles burst from your mouth in shock as you hold on for dear life. Tsireya peeks over her shoulder, smiling, and you know she's about to do something. You look at her imploringly, but she has no mercy, signing 'hold on!'

The ilu springs forward even faster, and you pull yourself closer to Tsireya. You remember her hand still securing your thigh, and you blush, butterflies in your stomach. Suddenly, Ikeyni surges upwards, leaping gloriously out of the water. For a second, you feel suspended in midair, and almost in slow motion, you turn to see the vibrant colours of the sunrise patterning the sky. Then, the moment is gone; and you whoop and scream as Ikeyni flies through the air, and hear Tsireya's laugh before you dive back in with a crash. In the water again, Tsireya pats your thigh, and you look at her inquisitively. 'Fun?' she signs, and you nod enthusiastically. 'Keep going?' she signs briefly, and you nod again, just as enthusiastically. And so, you keep going, spending the early hours of the morning racing all around the bay's reefs.

* * *

At training, you sit close to Tsireya, your legs dangling in the water, your thigh lightly pressed to hers. No one suspects anything, you think, soothing your nerves. But internally, you're holding back a smile. This is exhilarating. Tsireya's telling Lo'ak how he should be breathing, but you're not listening to what she's saying. You're watching her, how when she leans forward her hair cascades over her shoulders like a waterfall, how she has her serious 'teaching face' on, and how she's... pressing her hands against Lo'ak's stomach? You sit up, alert. 'Your heartbeat is fast, Lo'ak. Try to focus,' she says, as he nods. Neteyam and Roxto grin at each other, and you glare at them. They look down quickly, embarrassed, and you store that information away for another time. For now, you have to focus on getting Tsireya's hands off of Lo'ak. 

You lean over Tsireya, and grab her hands off of Lo'ak, planting them on her stomach with your hands covering them. You look into her eyes possessively, and say 'breathe from your stomach, like Tsireya. You have to slow your heartbeat, and I don't think that's going to happen with Reya's hands on you,' you finish hotly. Lo'ak looks down, embarrassed, as Kiri giggles behind her hand, and Neteyam and Roxto exchange another glance. Tsireya smiles, holding in a laugh, and you look around to see everyone but Lo'ak looking at you, your hands still on Tsireya's stomach. You snatch them off, blushing, and look at the floor, red-faced. Tsireya mutters under her breath, 'you and Lo'ak are matching,' her hand covering her mouth in amusement. 'Shut up,' you mumble, and say louder to the group, 'let's put it into practise.' 

You linger behind as the others dive into the water, grabbing Tsireya's wrist and pulling her to face you. 'What were you doing?' you say, with a hint of jealousy and anger. Tsireya's face breaks out in a wide smile, and she starts laughing uncontrollably. 'You should've seen your face!' she struggles to say, tears streaming down her face. 'Don't tease me like that,' you say, failing to hold back a smile. You have to admit, it was pretty funny. You slowly start giggling. Tsireya's lying on the floor, still laughing. 'Okay, okay, it was really funny,' you say, beginning to laugh hysterically too. 'Poor Lo'ak,' Tsireya chokes out, and that's it. You start dying, tears flowing down your face, and fall to the ground. You hold Tsireya as you both lie on the floor, cackling.

'When you said 'that's not gonna happen with Reya's hands on you' I couldn't hold it in,' admits Tsireya, giggling and wiping tears from her eyes. 'It just came out - I feel bad now,' you say, laughing. 'No, but did you see Roxto and Neteyam?' you add, grinning. 'They totally have a thing for each other,' Tsireya says, 'with all those looks. They couldn't look away from each other.' 'And you know Lo'ak has a thing for you,' you say, more seriously. Tsireya sighs. 'I guess. I don't know what to do - he seems nice, but obviously I don't like him like that.' You breathe a quiet sigh of relief, and say 'well, maybe we should tell him. You know, about us.' 'It's not a bad idea,' Tsireya says thoughtfully. 'I don't think he's a snitch.' Suddenly, Neteyam pops up out of the water, gasping. He looks at you and Tsireya, clearly unsurprised, and yells 'are you two coming?' You glance at each other and giggle, sprinting to dive into the water and finally continue the training session.