𝐈 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 | 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐲𝐚𝐦

10.

Walking along the beach with Kiri and Tuk, he prepared himself. He knew that Rotxo was going go try and piss him off, but Neteyam needed to stay calm and not initiate a fight, otherwise he would actually be in trouble and wouldn't be able to talk himself out of it. 

Once they saw the rest of the group, they joined them. Neteyam went and stood next to Laya, and she stepped a little closer to him. Gently putting her hand on his cheek, she moved his face so she could properly inspect how the bruises were healing. He let her do her thing and just looked at her. 

"They're healing well." She stated. A small smile formed on his face. "Because of you." He replied. A small blush appeared across her face, but she brushed it off. She took her hands off of his face and put her hands at her sides instead. Neteyam was about to speak when he was cut off by Aunong.

"Alright. Who's ready to ride some Nalutsa?!" He yelled out, excitement filling the group. He started to hand out spears. As he was handing it out, he was explaining. "They're not particularly aggressive, but if you piss them off, get outta there." He handed a spear to Neteyam. "We want everybody to come back home." Turning away from Neteyam, he turned to the rest of the group. "Alright. Everybody get partnered up. Preferably one jungle freak to one of us." Aunong looked at Kiri. "Partners?" He asked with somewhat of a tenderness in his voice. She rolled her eyes and nodded. "I guess." 

To Aunongs left, Rotxo approached Laya. "Partners?" He asked. She scoffed. "You heard what he said." She paused and looked at Neteyam. "One jungle freak to one of us." Neteyam smirked, and grabbed her hand. Laya turned away from Rotxo, Neteyam's hand in tow, and led them down to the water. Looking back, Neteyam saw Tsireya grab Lo'aks arm and show him to the water. Then he looked over and saw Tuk with her arms crossed and Rotxo.

"Great. Now I'm stuck with the 3 year old." Rotxo sighed. Tuk furrowed her eyebrows before rolling her eyes. "I'm actually seven." Rotxo grabbed her hand and led them down to the water. "Yeah yeah, whatever."

Neteyam turned back to Laya and grabbed her hand, stopping her. He looked back at Tuk. "This is safe right?" Concern filled his voice. She let out a small giggle and looked up at him. "Yes, Tuk will be fine. Nalutsas are much tamer then their cousins, the Akulas." Neteyams eyes widened. "Their cousins are Nalutsas?" She nodded, and brought her hand up to his cheek. "Tuk will be fine. Rotxo is a fine warrior, and very experienced in riding them. C'mon, let's go find one." She  led him into the deeper water. He was still anxious about Tuk's safety with Roxto, but he decided to be in the moment with Laya.

Laya made a clicking noise and suddenly an Ilu came. Since Neteyam never successfully learned how to ride an Ilu, he was going to have to go on with Laya. He didn't mind though, he enjoyed being close to her. She went on first, making the bond between her and the Ilu. She looked to him and patted the space behind her. He smiled and sat behind her. "Hold on tight" She said. He awkwardly put his hands around her waist. When he did this, Laya felt butterflies in her stomach. He noticed her stillness and retracted his arms immediately. She flinched when he retracted his arms. Then she grabbed them and wrapped them around her. She pushed back into his chest so she was fully enveloped by him. 

From afar, all you could see was Neteyam's arms around Laya. The closer you got though, the more you noticed the complete relaxation on Laya's face as she was leaning on Neteyam, and his tenderness that he had while he was holding her. Adjusting a strand of hair out of her face, he turned her face towards him. "Laya.. I-" Neteyam started to speak but was cut off by a large sound that Laya recognized as a Nalutsa call. Laya's face whipped to the side, her hair hitting Neteyam in the face. She realized and turned back and put her hand on the side of his head. She started giggling and leaned her head towards his. 

"I'm so sorry" She laughed. "I didn't mean to-" He laughed with her. "You're good." Then he looked back to where the noise originated. "Should we...?" He questioned and Laya realized that he was talking about the Nalutsa. She stuttered and nodded. "Y-yeah. Let's go." Suddenly she leaned down towards the Ilu and made sure Neteyam was holding onto her. The Ilu suddenly lurched forward and set off towards where the sound originated.