CHAPTER 31
"I swear I never told him anything - he found out on his own-"
Lo'ak was walking backwards in front of Neteyam and Erìhe so that he could speak to them.
The moment Jake had arrived at the pod, Lo'ak had known that he was aware of the fight between Neteyam and Ao'nung. Not wasting any time the boy had scurried out in search for his brother while his father was left fuming back in the home.
The three were now making their way back to the pod.
The walk had been awkward up until the moment that Lo'ak had shown up. Erìhe had felt like she needed to say something - but hadn't known what - whereas Neteyam simply had not figured out anything to say. He was too terrified of the possibility that she viewed him as a brother.
"Do you think dad will kill me?" Neteyam asked Lo'ak.
Lo'ak nodded, "For sure," he confirmed, "And if he doesn't, then that's just unfair. I get into trouble over the smallest things."
Erìhe sighed, "Lo'ak, that's just because you continuously do stupid things."
Lo'ak turned around so that he was facing forward, "Not true," he mumbled towards no one in particular - he knew it was true.
When they at long last arrived by their home, Neteyam was almost shaking with fear. Yes, he got grounded often - but that was always because he either took the blame for Lo'ak or joined his brother in doing something that'd get him in trouble. He had actually never gotten in big trouble before - making his parents proud was too important to him.
"You'll be fine," Erìhe assured the boy as they neared the entrance, "Me and Lo'ak will be there too."
"Not me," Lo'ak shook his head before bolting.
Erìhe smiled bitterly as she watched the younger boy running away. She turned back to Neteyam, "I will be there," she corrected her last statement.
"No you won't."
Both of the teenagers' heads snapped to the entrance. Jake stood there, Tuk by his side.
"Dad-" Neteyam started to say.
Jake held a hand up to stop him from talking, "I'll deal with you soon," he said rather harshly, then nudged Tuk toward them, "Erìhe, take Tuk and hang out with your friends or something."
Erìhe looked back and forth between the father and his son as Tuk walked over to grab her hand. She grimaced as she tried imagining the scolding that Neteyam was bound to get.
"Go on," Jake urged.
Erìhe frowned, "Alright," she hung her head as she turned away from the entrance of the pod. As she passed Neteyam she smiled at him sorrily, "You'll be fine," she mouthed.
Neteyam seemed to understand what she'd told him as he nodded the tiniest bit. The two walked past each other - Erìhe down the path with Tuk and Neteyam inside the pod toward his father.
"What did Neteyam do?" Tuk looked up at Erìhe innocently as they walked further down the path.
"Nothing bad, don't worry," Erìhe smiled at her, "Want to go to the warm pools?" She decided to switch the topic.
"Yes!" Tuk cheered, immediately excited again.
₊˚.༄
"What the hell were you thinking?" Jake demanded. Not even a minute had passed since Erìhe and Tuk had left.
Neteyam looked down at the ground in shame. "I wasn't," he said. In fact he knew exactly what he'd been thinking as he threw that first punch. Every hit he'd landed he knew what he'd been doing - but he could not say that now. He could not talk back to his father.
"Yeah, you weren't," Jake agreed, "That's the chiefs son you fought! Twice!"
Neteyam only nodded. He knew that whatever explanation he'd offer, he'd be in just as big trouble.
"You'll apologize to Ao'nung," Jake stated, "And you're grounded. No more wandering about after dinner and especially no more nighttime adventures with Erìhe."
Neteyam's eyes snapped to his fathers face. It was not like their nighttime wandering had become a routine, but every once in a while Neteyam liked to consider asking Erìhe to go back to the mountain with him. He'd never done it - but now he did not even have the chance to and it sucked.
He looked like he was about to protest, but then he remembered that there was no negotiation when it came to being grounded.
Jake was silent for a while as he studied Neteyam's expression. He wore a frown while trying to figure out what was going through his sons head. He did not know Neteyam well enough if he'd thought that he would protest - Neteyam was not one to do that.
But Jake knew that. It made him feel bad for yelling at him. Whenever he'd scold or shout, Neteyam would just take it.
Of course it's showing respect but it just left Jake feeling guilty.
Jake finally sighed as he sat down next to the fire. He looked up at his son before patting the spot next to him, "Come on here."
Neteyam hesitantly took the seat beside him, bringing his knees up to his chest and resting his arm on them. The silence that ensued was getting to Neteyam, "You're not going to yell anymore?" he asked warily.
Jake studied Neteyam's face before shaking his head. "Not if you tell me why you got into a fight."
Neteyam glanced at his father out of the corner of his eye. He decided to tell him, "Ao'nung was being disrespectful toward Erìhe. He was talking bad things about her behind her back."
Jake furrowed his eyebrows, "Why? Erìhe is a nice girl."
Neteyam smiled as he said that. "Yeah. But um - something happened and Ao'nung was too proud to admit it to his friends, I guess."
Jake looked utterly confused. To someone who was completely unaware of what had happened, what Neteyam had just said sounded like absolute gibberish. "What happened?"
Neteyam grimaced. This was not something he'd ever wished to talk to his father about - but then again, maybe he could help him. After all, Neytiri had tried to kill Jake the first time she'd seen him. If he could pull her after that, perhaps he could give Neteyam some tips.
"Well-" Neteyam glanced over his shoulder at the entrance of the pod to check that no one was there, "-Erìhe and Ao'nung kissed once."
Jake's eyes widened. He almost considered Erìhe as a daughter of his - hearing something like that was not ideal, but he still swallowed it, "Okay.. what about it?"
"Apparently Ao'nung liked her - but Erìhe does not feel the same way," Neteyam went on.
"And he kissed her?" Jake said. His voice was rising in anger as he thought about Ao'nung kissing Erìhe against her will.
"Yeah. But dad - it was consensual, don't worry."
Jake couldn't help but notice how sad Neteyam sounded when saying that. Of course he was not blind - he knew of his sons feelings toward the girl. After all he's been a teenage boy once too.
Jake nodded slowly. "So - what will you do?"
"What do you mean?" Neteyam looked up at him quizzically.
"About Erìhe," Jake said as if it had been obvious, "How will you charm her?"
"Dad! That's so embarrassing, stop," Neteyam went red from the face and he covered his eyes with his hands. Jake merely laughed at the sight as he found it amusing.
"I'm being serious," Jake chuckled, "Don't you like her?"
Neteyam briefly glanced at him, the tips of his ears tainted red to match his face. "Well - yes," he admitted after a moment of debating.
A smile cracked on Jake's face, "I knew it."
"How did you know?" Neteyam asked carefully. Did everyone but Erìhe know? Or did she know as well?
"Well, I'd say it's rather obvious," Jake laughed. Then he saw as his son turned to look at him with wide, scared eyes. "She doesn't know, don't worry."
Neteyam let out a breath of relief. Then he pursed his lips, "Do you think she likes me back?" He asked quietly.
Jake sighed as he leaned back on his hands. "That's a tough question. I wouldn't know the answer."
Neteyam looked down sadly and nodded in defeat.
"But I'll tell you this - as a kid she surely had a crush on you."
"What?" Neteyam's sullen expression was immediately replaced by a small smile but his eyes remained glued to the floor. If that was true, he was still aware that it was ages and ages ago - but hearing this sparked a little hope in him.
"Or so Neytiri says," Jake shrugged, "But you know your mom - she catches onto the smallest details."
Neteyam grinned, "Right? So do you think I have a chance?"
Neteyam had all but forgotten that it was his father whom he was talking to about this.
Jake seemed to think for a little while, "Honestly - yeah, I think you do have a chance."
Seeing the biggest smile spread across his sons face made Jake grin just as wide. He wished the best for his son and hoped that him and Erìhe could become something in the future - if not immediately.
After all, he would not mind having her as a daughter.
-
A/n:
Also ab the Aluva thing - I've been trying to kind of hint at it without it being too obvious yk so that it would still be a surprise
Also I hate fish but we got a blue beta fish and I named him Neteyam <3 (I realized a day late that I should have called him fish lips instead)