Shells | Lo'ak Sully

Part 23 - Lovely

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Over the course of the next few days, Lo'ak started to talk more, not only to Ni'teya but to his parents and siblings too. He'd let them know if he felt bad that day or if he was doing better, making both of his parents feel so much better about what he was getting up to. They didn't mind if he got angry at them sometimes, which happened a few times, as afterwards he'd always make sure to apologize and talk to them about it.

Ni'teya noticed a huge increase in Lo'ak's motivation to do things too. He finally agreed to let her take him out on her ilu, which ended up with them returning back when it was dark. As it so happened, they'd just been circling the reef all day, spotting as many different creatures as they could, eventually coming across that massive jelly-like fish Tuk had spotted previously. They went around to the place where Neteyam lay, which Lo'ak was sceptical and hesitant about at first although once he was there he felt surprisingly okay.

Ni'teya didn't push him to do anything. Sometimes when she'd ask him if he wanted to join her in her shell-hunt, he'd say no because "he didn't feel like it," which Ni'teya accepted this time around due to the fact that she knew he wasn't just trying to avoid all contact.

However, sometimes he'd break down, mostly in the night-time. He'd be laying on his hammock and would look over to see his brother's empty one, then he'd start thinking too much. Ni'teya would hear him most nights, silently crying through the walls of his and her hut. When he wouldn't stop one night, she decided to do something about it. She snuck into the hut, sitting down beside Lo'ak's hammock, not talking but instead, calming him down slowly.

She held his hand as her other would rest on his head, rubbing the thumb back and forth along it. She stayed there until he fell asleep next to her, getting up to leave and releasing her grip from his limp hand. It ended up not actually being limp at all, as he'd only gone and grabbed her hand back, not letting her leave. Protesting his actions, telling him that she "couldn't stay here all night", she tried to get away but she couldn't manage to, Lo'ak was a new level of strong when he was tired.

He simply responded to her with a "then, stay", keeping hold of her arm and dragging it towards him, far enough so that she'd have no other choice than to fall onto his hammock with him still in it. In shock, Ni'teya didn't say anything to protest further. Instead, she let him adjust himself so that he was comfortable, suddenly feeling him put an arm over her and pulling her into his chest. She didn't protest here, either.

Ni'teya could hear his heartbeat, which had actually quickened quite a bit, as well as his calmer breathing pattern. In that moment, she remembered what he looked and sounded like when he was wounded, remembering how he easily could've died that day. Knowing that was a possibility at one point in time, she nestled herself closer to him again, digging her head into the crook of his neck and closing her eyes to fall asleep. She then felt him smile against her forehead, pleased she'd let herself be vulnerable and comfortable with him.

When they woke however, sheer embarrassment spread over Ni'teya, filling her whole.

.

"Do you think they'll ever wake up?" Kiri asked Tsireya, who was stood next to her in awe of the scene in front of them.

"Maybe, maybe not, who knows." She tilts her head, watching the two of them.

Lo'ak and Ni'teya were still laying on the hammock, arms wrapped tightly around eachother, their legs interwining slightly. Lo'ak's tail was swinging, back and forth, up and down, side to side, making a few loud bangs against the wood of the hut's wall. When a particularly loud bang was heard, Ni'teya began to rub her eyes, waking up. As she did, she could hear sniffles, chuckles and giggles behind her head, making her turn, half-sleep, to find Kiri and Tsireya watching them.