Moonchild | Neteyam

23

CHAPTER 23

       Neteyam lay on his mattress eyes wide open - he could not sleep. It was late at night and his entire family was fast asleep but his mind kept replaying that afternoon with the tulkun.

He had held her. Neteyam had his arms wrapped around Erìhe's waist as they swam to greet the tulkun. She was warm and soft and he knew that it was just his crush that told him this but - he felt as though it was perfect. He wished he could hold her like that all the time. It had almost been like a hug.

But also he knew that Erìhe did not feel the same. She had not felt the butterflies he had when he sat behind her on that ilu with his arms wrapped around her. And this thought drove him mad - to the point that he had barely gotten any sleep in the past two days. He was seriously considering just asking his father for advice.

But he was too proud - and way too embarrassed to do so.

With a dramatic sigh, Neteyam turned on his side, determined to get some sleep. It was dark in the pod but his eyes had adjusted to the dark. They were adjusted enough to see Erìhe sat on her mattress instead of sleeping like he had initially thought.

Without warning and without thinking it through, Neteyam sat up.

Erìhe gasped when she saw his sudden movement - obviously startled. The two of them were on opposite sides of the pod and she had not noticed him being awake.

Neteyam watched as she placed a hand over her heart and closed her eyes, trying to steady her pulse. "You scared me!" She hissed at him once she'd opened her eyes to glare at him.

"I'm sorry-" Neteyam said, holding a hand out toward her in a sign of peace.

Erìhe narrowed her eyes at him. He rarely ever apologized - not sincerely, at least. "What's up with you?" She demanded in a hushed voice. The family around them was still fast asleep and they were keen on keeping it that way. Tuk got cranky if something messed with her sleep schedule.

Neteyam got to his feet, nodding his toward the exit before sneaking past his parents sleeping figures. He knew that she was following him as he stepped outside into the cool night. Sure enough, he soon felt the warm touch of her palm against his shoulder as she let him know of her presence.

He turned his body to face her and smiled at the sight of her looking up at him. They were close. Really close. That fact was enough to make him feel giddy - yet so nervous. He felt like if he looked at her for too long she would gain the ability read his thoughts.

So Neteyam cleared his throat and averted his gaze, walking forward to sit on the edge of the path. He allowed his feet to touch the cool water as he moved them, splashing the water gently.

Erìhe settled down beside him and set down her knife and the wooden figure she had been working on back in the pod. Neteyam glanced down at the toy before reaching his hand for it and holding it up to inspect it.

The amount of detail that Erìhe had put into the pa'li was amazing. It had eyes and a tail and just about everything that the real animal had. "Does he have a name?" Neteyam asked jokingly.

Erìhe chuckled as she took the figure from him to look at it herself, "It's a she," she joked and grinned when she noticed the smile stretched across Neteyam's face. "But I thought I should let Tuk name her."

Neteyam nodded in understanding. "That's nice - but a mistake, I think."

Erìhe laughed, "Why do you say that?"

"I mean, she'll probably name it something like Riri or Yamyam," Neteyam said in a joking tone, though he was serious. Tuk had already named his ikran Reyrey. She was obsessed with coming up with 'names' derived from her families titles.