Invisible String - Jake Sully

16

"I'll protect you," Jake smiled, gently leading her towards his ikran, perching gloriously on the sand.

Tawn followed cautiously behind him, watching Jake greet his ikran, letting go of her hand in the process. He connected his tsaheylu with the creature, making the ikran screech and flap his wings from the sudden intrusion of his consciousness.

"His name is Bob," he smiled, petting the head of his mount and looking back at Tawn.

"Hello, Bob," Tawn giggled at the weird name, "why Bob?"

Jake shrugged, "I don't know, didn't really have a knack for naming people."

Tawn scrunched her eyebrows, "but your kids' names are beautiful."

"Well, you got Neytiri to thank for that," Jake said, "If I were to name them, it's going to be a boring generic sky people names."

Tawn nodded, entranced by the magnificent creature before her, "does he bite?"

"No, come pet him," Jake coaxed.

"I heard about ikrans biting off the heads of strangers," Tawn shook her head at the man.

Jake laughed, "where did you hear that?"

"People," she huffed, not liking how Jake talked to her.

Jake shook his head, reassuring the girl, "well, you aren't a stranger, so come, I promise he's friendly."

Tawn looked at him with a deadpanned expression, unsure whether to trust him, but seeing his goofy smile made her give in and walked carefully towards the ikran. She reached out her hand and gently placed it on the creature's snout.

Bob huffed in greeting, making Tawn giggle when his huff tickled her palm. More comfortable with the ikran, Tawn gently patted his head and scratched the end of his chin. The ikran screeched happily and flapped its wings to show his happiness.

"Look at that. He loves you," Jake smiled, watching them interact.

Tawn smirked at Jake while pulling the jaw of the ikran closer to her, "of course, animals love me, Jake," she said, looking back at the ikran and talking to him in a baby voice, "don't you, boy? Yeah? You hated your name?"

Jake chuckled at her last question, "I gave him a good name."

"No, he didn't, right, oh my big strong ikran," she cooed, squishing her cheeks on the banshee who loved the attention he received.

Jake looked at her fondly, smiling at her adorable exchange with the big bad ikran. Bob wasn't usually this welcoming to a stranger, he was wary of a new person, but now he acted as if he had known her his whole life. Jake could feel it in their bond that the banshee had a soft spot for the woman in front of him.

"Okay, enough now," he said, walking over to the both of them and separating the two, "the reason why I wanted you to meet Bob is because I wanted to take you flying," Jake grinned at her.

Tawn's eyes widened at his proposition. No, she couldn't do that. She hated heights. "No, thank you, I'm fine meeting this lovely gentleman," she said, unknowingly gripping the banshee head tighter. The ikran screeched louder, startling Tawn.

"Why?" Jake frowned.

"I hate heights," Tawn smiled sheepishly.

"Tawn, you can hold onto me as tight as you want. I promise I won't let you fall," he persuaded, his eyes dilating a bit, making him look irresistible to Tawn.

'Oh eywa help me,' she thought to herself. "fine but don't do anything stupid or reckless," she glared at the man who nodded excitedly like a kid, "don't do what Lo'ak would do in this scenario," she warned, feeling the need to specify that because the both of them shared the same DNA and personality.