Ma Neteyam

23

Neteyam must've caught her staring at it because he explained how it ended up there. " I also thought you'd like to clean up." his voice was soft, low, and gentle.

She hated him for it.

" Yes... I'd like that." her voice was barely more than a whisper as she grabbed her self woven rag and dipped it into the cool, clean water.

Kneeling down, her back to Neteyam, she began washing the dirt off of her body. It was only then that she realized just how filthy she truly was. It seemed that her rolling in the dirt had done more damage than she had believed.

Surrounded by silence once again, this time Vareya was okay with it. She was occupied and so was he, there was nothing awkward and neither of them were expecting anything.

But only seconds later, Vareya began to notice that her hand was shaking. She attempted to ignore it, but that only seemed to make it worse.

She held on to it with her other hand quickly, gripping tightly to try and stop it before Neteyam noticed. Yet that's when the other one began to shake, and when she stared at both hands, no matter how hard she tried they wouldn't stop.

And it was only when Neteyam kneeled in front of her that she realized her entire body was trembling. She was physically shivering and she didn't know why.

She inhaled a unsteady breath and then looked up at Neteyam with her red rimmed eyes, only to meet his clear golden ones.

Again no words were shared between them as he gently and carefully took the rag from her hands and began to clean her up himself. He did her arms first, taking her hands into his own as he wiped and massaged them, attempting to soothe her.

He made sure to wipe every speck of dirt, washed around her small cuts carefully, and kneaded his thumbs lightly against her skin.

She wanted to pry him off only for her pride, but she wasn't able to. Between her Uncle and now Neteyam, it felt nice to be taken care of for once. Especially now, in a moment where she felt that simply breathing was draining.

Vareya let out another quavering breath as Neteyam tucked a loose strand of braid behind her ear. And when she looked at him again, she saw him lick his lips before murmuring softly...

" Will you tell me what happened?"

Vareya whispered back, " I don't know if I can."

A flash of disappointment crossed Neteyams face but he was quick to recover, nodding at her answer in understanding. " Then...is there anything I can do to help?"

Again she copied him, nodding her head in answer before feeling composed enough to speak without having to worry about breaking down after one word.

" I want to know if your sister is alright. I want you to tell me what happened. Tell me everything."

That's exactly what he did, maybe a little too well. He went through every little detail that took place earlier while they sat and ate dinner together.

Starting with who's idea it was to visit the Spirit tree, to whom accompanied them, and what exactly happened when they were over there. He explained that his sister, Kiri, had a seizure after making a connection to the tree.

By the time they were done eating, a very delicious meal she might add, he began describing how he felt when he held his sisters motionless body. Neteyam told her how terrified he was, that even after getting her to breathe again how he could only imagine the worst scenarios.

" I started thinking, what if she never woke up? And if she did, what if there was some kind of trauma done to her head and she'll never be the same."

He was trying to show her how worried he was, but he didn't even have to. She had seen him earlier, waiting nervously outside of his families Marui where his ill sister was inside being treated. Even now, just talking about the events it's seemed the worry came rushing back to him.