—
It was a normal day. Neteyam was off work, it was sunny. He remembered the time Ao'nung had been talking about surfing and how he would teach him sometime. Neteyam got an idea.
N: Hey
Ao'
MA'NUNGGG
A: ?
N: Wyddd?
A: Nothing
I took the day off work
The beach isn't too full today
N: Teach me how to surf
A: oh
Okay😭
Why so sudden?
N: Idk
I think it would be fun 😋
A: meet me at the beach ig
10 mins
N: Kayyy!!
Byeeee
Love youuu
A: love you too 🥲
—
Neteyam drove to the beach and waited for Ao'nung. "I said 10 minutes dork!" Ao'nung said as he got out of his car. "Well you got here early too so it doesn't matter!" "Yeah yeah, whatever." Ao'nung laughed. He kissed Neteyam and grabbed the surfboards off of the racks on his car. He set them down and grabbed something else out of his car. "I brought you a wetsuit. They're easier to surf in." "How do you know my size-.." "I know a lot of things about you." Ao'nung gave a smile.
The boys changed into their wetsuits and walked down to the water. "Before we start, you should probably try on land first. There's quite a bit you need to know." "Alright!" Neteyam nodded. The boys sat down on the sand with the boards. Ao'nung lifted up something attached to the back of the board. "This is a leash. You wrap it around your ankle. It pretty much just keeps you with your board if you wipe out. It's kind of dangerous when your board floats freely because it can injure other surfers or mess up the board itself."
Ao'nung put the leash around Neteyam's ankle. "Alright. Lay down straight on your stomach in the center of the board. You have to practice paddling with both of your arms so your arms get a sense of the muscles you'll be using." Neteyam laid down and moved his arms in a paddling motion. "Like this?" "Yeah! That's good. Now you need to know how to take off. Popping up on the board is sort of difficult, especially on the waves." Ao'nung explained how to take off. "First, you put your hands flat on the board, below your chest. It all has to be in one quick motion to catch the wave. Push your body up with your arms and tuck your feet up and underneath you. You might want to use your knees first and then bring your feet up one at a time. It's a little slower but it works." Neteyam practiced doing what Ao'nung said until the next step.
"Okay, after you take off, you need to have a good stance. Keep your knees bent and your arms loose. Your feet should be planted on the board. If you start to slip, there isn't enough wax. Keep your torso leaned forward to lower your center of gravity." Neteyam copied Ao'nung as he demonstrated. "You'd probably notice how I keep my feet closer together but I'm more experienced. It might be more comfortable with your feet farther apart from bow to stern on your board, but it actually makes it really hard to control. Balance is side to side, not front to back. Proper stance also includes paying attention and looking in the direction you're going." "I like how serious you are.. It's so cute." Neteyam whispered. Ao'nung became flustered and covered his face with his hands. "I can't be serious if you aren't paying attention!!" "My apologies sir. Please, continue." "Sir? Really?" Ao'nung crossed his arms and smiled.
"Anyway, we can move on to the water." Ao'nung and Neteyam took their boards to the water. "The only way to find the "sweet spot" on your board is to paddle. Your board should plane across the water with the nose slightly above the surface. A good balance position is to have your toes touching the leash string. You'll know you're too far back on the board if the nose is too high up. If the nose digs the water, you're too far up." Neteyam hopped on the board and instantly rolled off into the water. Ao'nung laughed and helped him up. "Maybe a little slower-" He chuckled. "Yeah that's a good idea..." Neteyam replied. Ao'nung looked at the waves in the distance. "The waves are really good today. It's a good day to practice." "They look so pretty!" Neteyam added.
Ao'nung and helped Neteyam work on being able to paddle correctly on the surfboard. "You need to make sure you feel confident in the water. You shouldn't swim anywhere you aren't comfortable swimming on your own. If you're planning on surfing alone, it's best to do it with a lifeguard on duty." Ao'nung explained the basic surfing etiquette and how to surf around others. "If you'd like, we can try now." "Yeah! Let's do it!"
"You want to be waist deep in the white water, in the area the waves have already broken. Don't go too far out, because more advanced surfers might be waiting for a set. Just make sure you are deep enough so you don't hit your head if you were to fall off your board. Would you like me to show you how I do it first?" Ao'nung said. "Yes!! I would love to see it!" In Neteyam's opinion, seeing Ao'nung surf was probably the hottest thing ever. "Alright. Stay near the shore and you'll be able to see me. I'll start with a small wave and then I'll show you a bigger one." Ao'nung replied.
Ao'nung paddled a bit farther out into the water. The current got stronger, signaling to Ao'nung that a wave was nearby. He popped up onto his feet and took off, gliding alongside the short wave. Neteyam clapped his hands and watched in awe as Ao'nung paddled farther out for a bigger wave. He sat on his board as he waited for it. Soon enough a huge wave came through. Ao'nung paddled over to align himself with it and let it carry him. He raced the wave as it rolled over just inches behind him. He cut through it like butter. Neteyam was practically dumbfounded. After the wave faded, Ao'nung tapped out. He paddled back to shore, in Neteyam's direction. "Wow.. that was amazing!" "Thank you baby. Wanna try?" "My toxic trait is thinking I can do it already-" Neteyam laughed. "We'll never know if you don't." Ao'nung shrugged. "I'll go out with you." "Okayyy... let's do it!" The two paddled out to an open area.
"It's okay if you wipe out. I'll help you. But if you finish the wave, you need to wipe out or tap out anyway. Fall behind the board towards the ocean and cover your head with your arm as you fall. Let the wave carry you. Swim upwards cautiously, and feel what's ahead of you so you don't get hit with the board. There's no surfers other than me right now, so you just paddle in my direction. Like is said, if you wipe out before you finish, I'll come get you." Neteyam nodded and the boys waited for a wave. A small-ish wave began to roll by. "You want this one? Better catch it!" Neteyam paddled to the wave as it brought him up. He took off and sprung up like demonstrated. Before the wave faded, he was roughly wiped out, due to the lack of wax on his board. Classic beginner wipeout, so he was fine.
Ao'nung paddled to where Neteyam had slipped, and looked for his board. He spotted his board and Neteyam behind it. Neteyam got back on his board and laughed. "Maybe not this time- I'll try later." "It's alright. It takes time." Ao'nung chuckled. "There probably wasn't enough wax on your board, that might be the problem. We can fix that next time." The two paddled back to shore.
Neteyam and Ao'nung sat up and floated back as they got closer. Ao'nung floated behind Neteyam. He noticed something dripping down the side of his board, into the water. It was blood. He looked at the side of Neteyam's thigh and saw a huge laceration. "Jesus Tey, are you okay!?" "What?" Neteyam looked back at Ao'nung. "...Does your leg hurt...?" "I guess so.. why?" Ao'nung pointed and he looked down. "Holy shit- I didn't notice that.." "Obviously! We gotta go to Tsireya, that might get infected. I'm assuming it was a long piece of fire coral. Those are really sharp."
—
The boys arrived at the beach's infirmary where Tsireya had been working that day. "Jeez guys, what happened?!" "Fire coral. Neteyam got cut." Ao'nung grabbed tissues and put pressure on the wound until Tsireya got the first aid kit. "You guys are all wet. Ao'nung, go get towels and dry off. This is easier to treat when he's dry." Tsireya politely demanded. Ao'nung quickly went and got them both towels. The boys dried off and Tsireya started to treat the laceration. "Oh no-.." "What's wrong?..." "There's debris from the coral in the wound. That gives a higher chance of infection. I have to remove it but.. It's gonna hurt like hell." Tsireya whispered. "If it doesn't kill me, then get on with it. It's starting to hurt-" Neteyam groaned. Tsireya got out a pair of curved tweezers and gloves to remove the chunks of coral in his thigh.
"This part might hurt the least.." Tsireya flushed the wound with water to get whatever debris she could out of it. "GHAAHH!!" Neteyam yelled and squeezed Ao'nung's hand tightly. "Ow! Does it really hurt that bad?!" Ao'nung squeaked. "YESS!" Neteyam rolled his head back in pain. "And this isn't supposed to be the worst part?!" Tsireya shook her head.
After Tsireya finished, she picked up the tweezers. Neteyam groaned and covered his face, lying down on the exam table. "Tsireya you better do this quickly before he punches a hole in the wall.." Ao'nung mumbled. "I'm trying!!" She whisper-yelled. Tsireya gently moved the tweezers around inside the wound, to remove the debris. "Ow ow Ow ow ow ow ow!" Neteyam scrunched his face in pain. He squeezed Ao'nung's hand even harder. "How the hell are you so fucking strong?!" "I'M NOT! THIS HURTS LIKE A BITCH!!!" Neteyam started cussing and yelling all sorts of things. "I've never heard you swear this much before-" "STOP TALKING!" "OKAY!-"
"I'm done!" Tsireya wrapped the wound in sterile gauze and a bandage after she applied bacitracin ointment. Neteyam let out a heavy sigh of relief. "Never again. Ever. I can't do that again. My life would end.." Neteyam sat up and Tsireya gave the boys their regular clothes to change. The two managed to walk about halfway through the door when Neteyam stopped. "God my leg is so sore-..." He leaned on the doorframe. "Hey.. what are you-" Ao'nung picked up Neteyam and carried him to his car bridal style, being careful around his wound. "Why don't you come to my place? We can hang out for the rest of the day." Ao'nung said as he set Neteyam down. Neteyam nodded. "Drive to my place. I'll be right behind you. I just gotta get our surfboards from the infirmary." Ao'nung smiled. He handed Neteyam a house key before he drove off.
—
*Thank you for reading! I apologize for any typos, I hope you understood what I meant.*