Courting

Chapter 9

-Neteyam POV (sorry I have done like none of these) 

He had left Ao'nung's side only when it was necessary to avoid onlookers, such as their siblings. Not realising they had taken so long, Neteyam was surprised to see Tuk sprinting past marui's toward him, weaving between older Metkayina. Grunting under the sudden weight when she threw herself at him, Neteyam pulled her into his arms. Kiri, rarely far behind Tuk recently, was standing with her hands on her hips and an accusatory stare aimed at him. She had a way of intimidating him before she said anything, despite their age dynamic. Releasing Tuk with some difficulty, Neteyam walked towards his sister, not sure how defensive he would need to be. 

"So," Kiri began, eyes narrowing slightly. 

"So?" Neteyam responded, not wanting to confess to anything Kiri hadn't seen or figured out already. 

"Where were you?" Kiri questioned, Neteyam almost crumbled under her scrutiny.

"I don't, um, what do you mean?" Neteyam stumbled slightly, not appreciating how nervous his little sister made him. 

"Yeah, right. You disappear five minutes after Ao'nung runs away with his tail between his legs, and you both reappear almost immediately after each other. Tuk and I have been swimming since lunch, Lo'ak has been 'learning'," Kiri added finger quotes, and a picture of Lo'ak staring stupidly at Tsireya while she demonstrated correct technique with her ilu entered Neteyam's mind "and you have been absent, we didn't see you anywhere in the reef. So imagine my surprise when you both emerged from the same place at the same time." Kiri finished, now smirking slightly, cornering Neteyam. He sighed in defeat. 

"If you must know," Neteyam began.

"I do know, I just want to hear you say it." Kiri interrupted, a little too smug.

"If you must know" Neteyam repeated, tilting his head in a small beg for mercy from his sister, who did not move. He continued, "Ao'nung and I went for a walk, he wanted to show me... something." He said awkwardly. When Kiri's mouth dropped open slightly at what he had accidentally implied "NO! Sorry, that's not what I meant..." Neteyam dropped his head, sighing in defeat. "I like Ao'nung, and..." but before he could finish with probably a more embarrassing accidental inuendo, Kiri pointed a finger and triumphantly exclaimed

"I KNEW IT! Tsireya was right!" She jumped again, punching the air. 

"Tsireya?!" Neteyam's eyes went wide "What does she-?" he began to ask, before he was once more cut off.

"Oh relax, no one else has noticed, somehow." She said, rolling her eyes while smiling. "Her and I have seen you guys looking at each other one after the other, taking in turns to pine silently." Neteyam opened his mouth indignantly, but Kiri continued "She wanted to ask me about the 'fight'" She again employed finger quotes "you two had on the beach that she and I saw. I told her how miserably obsessed you two had been with each other. Funnily enough, she had noticed Ao'nung was distracted lately. I'm just surprised it took you this long to do something about it."

"I didn't even realise how much I liked him until... nevermind." He caught himself before he admitted to his sister he had now made out with someone, twice. Despite this attempt, her grin widened even more. 

"Well, only you could be dumb enough to miss something that obvious." Kiri shook her head. "I'm happy for you, truly. Maybe you can finally get some action." She nudged him with her elbow, and Neteyam's eyes shot wide again. 

"That wasn't what I meant!" Neteyam insisted, cursing his poor choice of words.

"Relax, I wouldn't have believed you if you did. Just be glad that it's me who noticed and not mum or dad." She reminded him, and he was indeed glad his parents had not caught on, or his other siblings for that matter. Kiri definitely had her annoying moments, and Neteyam had always gone to Lo'ak when looking for someone to annoy or ask if he wanted to go Ikran riding, but she always managed to make him feel better. Not that he was particularly upset in the moment, but she had eased the awkwardness from his mind, even if she had put it there first. "So, Ao'nung?" She prompted.

"Shut up or I might start giving you details." Neteyam threatened with a grin.

"TUK LET'S GO SAY HI TO KEYNARI!" Kiri turned immediately, and gathered up Tuk to visit her ilu. Chuckling, Neteyam turned back towards the direction of his marui, glad for his sister.

(I love Kiri and Tuk and I imagine them being super close and I wanted some Kiri rep so enjoy. Sorry most of this was kind of a filler chapter but I hope you still enjoyed) I WILL TRY REALLY HARD TO UPLOAD 2 CHAPTERS TOMORROW