Counting Stars - Aonung x Neteyam

Part 1

He didn't even notice when it happened, but in a second the boy was on top of him and his lips were on his. He didn't push him away; he didn't even think about it. The electricity from before was multiplied by a thousand and his hands seemed to come to life. Pulling the smaller man's body closer and wanting to feel his whole body close to his own.

They kissed until they couldn't feel each other's lips and despite being able to map his body from memory, they didn't go any further. That night they returned later than they should have and his father reprimanded him. The strange thing was that, for the first time in his life, Neteyam didn't care that his father wasn't proud of him. He couldn't get the feeling off his skin for days and the next time the boy approached him, another night, they didn't talk much more.

This time his clothes felt too much and the warmth in his belly didn't leave until his companion straddled him. He sank down hard and let out sounds he had never heard outside of a fight. He kissed him as if the taste of her was the best thing he had ever tasted and made him feel like he had never felt before. All his skin tingled for hours afterwards.

He knew that official couples dated through bonding, but he didn't try it once, so Neteyam didn't either. After that first time, they would meet sporadically and still didn't talk much. It felt good, but neither of them had any plans for the future.

Not until the boy arrived one afternoon and after kissing him, he told her that he was going to join another man. A warrior from a nearby tribe she had met months ago. That he didn't think his family would let him go far away, but after telling him they were glad. He told him that he loved him as he had loved no one but that his future was with this other man.

It didn't hurt Neteyam as it should have, he felt lonely many nights after his goodbye, but he was happy for him. He tried to get another connection like the one they had, but found no other boy who felt the same way. Later, the tribal chiefs and some medicine men brought them together one night, his brothers and other young men of the tribe, to talk about their bodies and what they expected from future unions.

Kiri rolled his eyes and spent the entire meeting drawing. His brother Lo'ak listened with wide eyes and asked questions from time to time. As did he, even though he wasn't much interested in what they were talking about.

Not until they got to the story of one of the warriors, who told how he had met her husband and how they had bonded. He feigned disinterest in front of his brother, who had already stopped paying attention and was whispering things with one of his friends at his side. But he was very attentive to the man's words.

This man explained how the connections between warriors were stronger than any other, that even Eywa told him personally that he should protect her husband, years before he met him. He looked at him intently as he smiled, remembering the night of their union. He saw in his gaze what he would know from that day forward, that that would be his future.

Of course, he didn't tell his family, he didn't want to disappoint anyone. It was clear that he could never have children with the man of his choice, and his parents always talked about the future children their children would have.

Despite never pressuring them to have them, they almost glowed with happiness at the thought. He couldn't take something like that away from them just because he wanted something different. He knew where he belonged. He wouldn't ruin everything by wanting to live a life that perhaps wasn't meant for him. But Neteyam never lied to himself.

He knew that his happiness lay in the same future as that warrior, that Eywa would show him his future soon and that he would have to refuse to follow it. He knew it would hurt and that it would destroy his only chance to have something like what his parents had. But even knowing that his decisions would destroy their destiny, he would never put anything above the happiness of his family. They were so important that he even let himself shoot to protect them.