Failed You as a Brother - Neteyam & Spider fanfiction

Failed You as a Brother

Neteyam was used to taking care of his siblings.

As the oldest brother, it was his job to watch over them, make sure they didn't get hurt when their parents weren't close by. He loved his duty of being the protector. He knew just how to hover over them without being too obvious or annoying.

He knew how to help Lo'ak when he needed it, without making him feel like he was a child. He knew how to remind Kiri to remember where they were and to better notice her environment without getting lost in her bond with Eywa, but to also let her indulge in the connection by watching over her, while she let her mind become one with the sprites surrounding her.

He knew how to aid Tuk in getting around, while showing and telling her about the oh so many creatures and plants, found all around them when exploring.

He always knew how to be there for them. And he absolutely loved slipping into his role, where he always knew what to do.

Now though, he seemed to have lost his intuition. None of his siblings seemed to need his help anymore. Or so it seemed. Neteyam was sure that he was needed, that his siblings needed him and his protection. He wasn't so sure about why he kept getting rejected in all his attempts of closure with them.

Whenever he tried to spend time with all of his siblings, they always seemed to be busy doing something else, preferring to be alone while doing so. Whenever he tried to start a sibling bonding session, everyone was always no where to be found. It was just as infuriating as concerning to him.

Infuriating in form of making Neteyam feel useless in protecting his siblings. As awful the situation felt to him, another, rather new aspect of their family turned out to be a just as big construction zone as his other siblings - Spider.

His behavior had changed since the last time Neteyam had seen him on that fateful day he had been kidnapped and while that was to be expected, the change did not turn out to be anger or hatred for having been abandoned. No sadness or despair appeared to plague the human boy either, confusing Neteyam to no end.

Neteyam could handle anger, hatred, sadness and even despair. He knew how to cheer up his siblings and now his newly adopted brother. He's known Spider all of his life. He had every way to cheer him up memorized. But the one emotion Spider did express, was the one he had no idea how to handle: Apathy.

None of his siblings had ever been truly apathetic. Listless or bored? Yes, absolutely! Neteyam could have easily handled that by taking them on a trip or activity that involved something he knew his siblings loved doing. After adding a bit of humor, they'd generally bounce back to their usual cheer and happiness. Those moods usually expressed themselves with moodiness and slight cases of acting out to create entertainment. That did not apply to Spider though.

All his new brother did these days was sleeping far into the day, looking out onto the horizon of the ocean and disappearing for hours, taking long walks. He kept getting nosebleeds when staring onto a point in the distance but barely seemed to notice them himself. He barely ate anything and stopped being his usual waterfall of words. He now answered in short sentences, just nodding and shaking his head in case of yes and no questions, but only if someone had asked him something.

A constant he noticed was how everyone, including his parents, his siblings and especially Spider, kept pretending like nothing had happened. Like everything was just perfectly fine. Before Neteyam finished healing the wound in his shoulder, which the bullet had caused, everyone was always around him, trying to be there for him, which had secretly felt great for him to be the one to take care of for once. His father had not left his side once, keeping watch for intruders and other dangers.

His mother had not allowed him to go hungry even once, even with tight supplies. She had always given him the first and biggest portion. Tuk and Kiri brought him beautiful stones and shells, as well as herbs to keep the pain at a more manageable level and Lo'ak insisted on helping out with changing his bandages and applying more salves to stave off infections and bacteria regularly.