✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*
Neteyam watched as Ikariya was talking to herself. She'd do that a whole lot before she met Lo'ak. Every time she was in the forest, she'd keep herself company by talking to herself.
But this didn't seem like a good conversation, though. She was swearing and she looked pissed.
He noticed that she was walking towards him, fire in her eyes. Neteyam looked around, eyes wide, hoping she wasn't going to kill him. He didn't know what he did, but she looked like she was about to bite his ear off. 'Have you seen Lo'ak?' She asked as she finally reached him.
'No.' He said, not wanting to get into a fight with Satan over here.
She grunted, turning around and speed walking off to probably find Lo'ak. Neteyam sighed relieved that this wasn't about him. She looked furious.
Lo'ak appeared in front of him with a grin. 'What did you do?' He asked Lo'ak with a raised eyebrow.
'Nothing.' He said. He grinned slyly, already showing he was lying.
'I don't know what you did but Ikariya is pissed.' He told his younger brother, slightly turning around to see if she was still behind him and throwing things. 'She was looking for you.'
Lo'ak puffed. 'It's no big deal.'
'No bro, she's like actually really mad.' Neteyam told his brother as he looked at him in disbelief.
'Come on. It's Riya, she's nev—'
'Lo'ak Sully I am going to cut your fucking tail off and feed it to my ikran!'
Lo'ak's eyes shot open wide as he faced Neteyam. Neteyam was looking at him with raised eyebrows, his face saying "I told you so".
'You told fish freak Aonung that I wanted to go on a date with him? Have you lost your goddamn mind!' Ikariya looked furious. It was like she was about to rip his throat out.
'You did what?' Neteyam flung his head around to look at Lo'ak. Lo'ak was trying to keep a laugh in as he switched his eyes between Neteyam and Ikariya.
Why did he do that? Neteyam didn't agree with him. He definitely didn't. He shouldn't care but he did. Neteyam cringed at the picture of Ikariya and Aonung together, smiling and having fun. He wanted to barf again. But he couldn't show them how much it affected him.
Lo'ak, unable to keep his smile in, looked at Ikariya. 'I thought you liked him.'
'Weren't my facial expressions telling you enough, dipshit?'
'Lo'ak this is low, even for you.' Neteyam told him. It surprised Ikariya. Was she really about to thank him for coming up for her? 'Good job.' There it was.
'I hope you drown.' She told Neteyam in a monotone voice as he already started laughing at her. Then she pointed to Lo'ak. 'And you— I am so telling Tsireya you're obsessed with her!' Ikariya yelled, already turning around to stomp off and run to Tsireya.
Lo'ak gasped and his eyes shot open wide. 'No, Ikariya stop!' He yelled, running after her.
Neteyam's smile faded as soon as they left his sight. Fuck.
He shouldn't care.
☆彡
Neteyam sat on the edge of the path, dangling his feet in the water. Ikariya saw him. She didn't want to but her feet dragged her over to him. She quietly sat down next to him, he didn't even notice. 'Hey.' She said, looking at him.
Neteyam's head shot to the side, not realizing there was a girl next to him. And that it was Ikariya. 'Hey.' He told her.
'I was thinking about what you said the other day at the bonfire.' She started, looking down at her fingers and fidgeting with them. 'You were kind of right. But, not all of it is my fault! Lo'ak gets into stupid shit with or without me. It doesn't really matter.' She said, looking back up at him.
'Right. I don't really remember what I told you.' Neteyam said, making Ikariya's eyes sink a little.
'You don't remember anything?' Like how she'd helped him. How bad is it if she wanted him to remember how she cared for him?
Truth was, he knew everything. Everything came back to him today little by little. But it would cause trouble if he told her that he remembered. And he didn't like trouble. Everything would be different if he said that he remembered how she cared for him. And things would get awkward. He didn't want that. 'No.' He simply told her.
She swallowed, nodding slightly. Her eyes moved back to the sea. 'Right.'
He was done with this silence. It was tense. He didn't like to lie to her. 'Don't you have a date to get to?' He asked, not looking at her.
'Yeah.' She slowly stood up. 'See you around.' And just like that, she walked away. Something inside of her told her no; go back to him and tell him what you did for him yesterday. How you made sure he was okay. How you didn't leave his room and kept staring at his chest to see if he was still breathing until you knew that he was actually okay and finally went to sleep yourself. But her mind told her that it wasn't a good idea. Things would get too complicated and it would end up in a fight she can't win. He was the "adult". He knew what was best.
On her way to the beach, Aonung noticed her and walked up to her. Ikariya didn't even realize, she was too caught up in her thoughts. 'Hey.' He said, making her jump a little.
'Oh— hey, Aonung.' She said, rubbing the top of her nose.
'It's nice of you that you agreed on going on a date with me.' He said, smiling at her.
Ikariya sighed. She wasn't going to lie. That would be so unfair to him. 'I'm going to come clean here. I never agreed to go on a date with you. Lo'ak said yes on my behalf.'
Aonung laughed, making Ikariya frown in confusion. 'I knew that. I just didn't want to waste the opportunity on some alone time with you.'
Ikariya laughed, shaking her head. 'You're such an idiot, fish boy.'