Moonchild | Neteyam

38

CHAPTER 38

       Neteyam rarely woke up early. He hated to admit it - but despite him being a warrior and all, he loved being lazy.

However that morning he was the first to wake up out of him and Erìhe.

Despite the full head of hair right in his face, he smiled the moment he seeped back into consciousness. He could not be bothered by Erìhe's locks tickling his nose or chin, he merely lifted a hand to softly sweep them out of the way, smiling as her neck and ear came into his view.

After both teenagers refused to return back to the pod, they had fallen asleep in the exact same place where they had sat - under their tree.

Erìhe was being hugged from behind by the boy, though it had not been like that the whole night. As they had dozed off, Erìhe had her arms wrapped around him as well, softly stroking his hair with one hand.

Neteyam remembered fighting sleep just for the sake of listening to Erìhe's steady breathing as she drifted off.

He could not begin to wrap his head around how lucky he was. He was so joyful of the fact that the girl he liked returned his feelings - like actually returned them. He was in disbelief and joy - it was so overwhelming he felt like he should just scream to let all his excitement out.

But for now he would settle for tracing his fingers in a line up and down Erìhe's side. Neteyam's smile grew much wider as he saw the dried up paint remnants on his hand that trailed Erìhe's skin. He could only suspect that he had that same paint on his face and neck - everywhere she had touched him the previous night.

Then he heard a quiet sigh as Erìhe stretched, inevitably creating space between the two of them.

Then Neteyam shifted but kept his hand pressed against her waist as he propped himself up on his elbow, watching Erìhe turn around. Despite her being awake, the girl had only turned to tuck her head away against his chest.

A small smile erupted on her lips as she heard Neteyam chuckle, the voice rumbling deep in his chest.

"Morning," Neteyam grinned as he lifted his hand from her waist to softly brush a few strands of hair out of Erìhe's face, letting his fingers linger on her cheek.

Erìhe glanced up at him and laughed softly as she saw the paint on either side of his face, "Good morning."

"What is it?" He asked her, brushing his thumb along her jaw.

She lifted a hand to poke the paint on his cheek, "You're a mess," she chuckled as she sat up without warning and sighed.

Neteyam pursed his lips in disappointment. He'd wished that they would have remained laying down and holding each other for even just a moment longer. "I know," he replied with a smile despite his disappointment.

"Wait - won't you be in huge trouble with your dad?" Erìhe asked suddenly as Neteyam pushed himself up into a sitting position. It had been quiet for a moment - and within that moment he'd done nothing but gaze at her, remembering the night before.

It made him wonder what they were.

"Yeah, I'll be in deep shit," Neteyam laughed, "We both will be," he added as he remember how his father already pretty much thought of Erìhe as a part of the family.

Erìhe grimaced, "Then we better get washed up," she told him before getting to her feet, brushing sand off her body as she slightly shook her head to get most of the sand out of her hair. Crouching down again, she picked up the toy which she had disregarded in the sand, and placed it in her pouch. It was something she had opted for carrying around recently.

Neteyam groaned in annoyance as he held his hand out to Erìhe so that she would help him up. With much effort and a lot of dramatizing, he was soon standing beside Erìhe with his hand in hers.

He'd complained so much about being tired and not being able to get up that she had grabbed onto his arm and pulled him to his feet with a frustrated sigh. When Erìhe had started to step back, he'd tightened his hold on her hand and only smiled when she looked back at him questioningly.

He was allowed to do this, right?

The question that he'd asked from himself was answered when Erìhe responded to his smile with a shy grin of her own. Her cheeks turned the slightest bit pink as she averted her eyes.

"You've still got sand in your hair," Neteyam said softly as he reached out with his spare hand to ruffle her hair - messing it up further as he got the majority of the remaining sand out.

"So do you," Erìhe mumbled but she never turned back to look at him. She merely began walking and tugged on his hand, beckoning him to follow her through the trees over to a small creek.

The clear water ran across the forest ground, dividing the area in two and creating a beautiful view.

As Erìhe stepped forward to place her hand in the running water, admiring its clarity, Neteyam was admiring her. From where he stood he could easily see the smile on her face as she washed the dried paint from her hands.

"Come on - let's get you washed up," Erìhe pulled on his hand and successfully drew him closer to her.

Neteyam laughed as he purposely stumbled closer and bumped into her - anything to be close to her. "Will you clean the paint for me?" He asked teasingly.

Erìhe was not stupid, she knew he was only joking - but nonetheless, she leaned down to scoop water into her hands and then proceeded to throw it in his face.

"What the hell?" Neteyam chuckled as he held his hands up to shield himself from the rain. Of course it was a vain try, as the water had already hit it's target and was already running down from his face along his neck.

Erìhe only smiled as she lifted both her hands to rub the paint that was stuck to his cheeks. "Wash your hands," she told him while laughing at how funny he looked. The yellow paint had by now been divided by the water and was freely falling down his face.

"Alright," Neteyam said as he leaned his head back to free himself from her hold before crouching down in the middle of the creek. The water ran over his feet in a calming manner, making him smile as he washed his hands in the shallow waters.

As he did that Erìhe moved behind him and carefully swept his hair over one of his shoulders, causing him to look over at her past his shoulder and grin up at her. She smiled back before nudging his chin, making him turn around again.

"What are you doing?" Neteyam laughed as he struggled to remove the dried yellow paint from his knee and waist. He sort of felt sad that it had to go - it was a reminded of the previous night and quite frankly he did not wish to let it go.

"You've got paint on your neck," Erìhe responded as she cupped water with her hands, bringing it up and letting it rinse over his skin.

"No one would see that," Neteyam told her.

"It has to go, Neteyam," Erìhe said as he smiled to himself while toying with his bracelet.

He did not mention it - but Neteyam wondered wether they should exchange bracelets soon. We're they a thing? He did not want to assume anything. After all, he was not a mind reader, so he had no idea what she was thinking.

Last night they had established that they had mutual feelings for one another - Neteyam would forever get giddy when thinking about that night - but they were nothing official.

Maybe he would let her process everything and get around to asking her later - perhaps that was the best thing he could do. He'd just gotten her, and Neteyam knew that Erìhe easily got overwhelmed, though she would definitely refuse to show it.

He'd ask what they were when it felt like the right time.

For now, he was happy with walking back to the village hand in hand with the girl he absolutely adored.

-
A/n:
Y'all really need to calm down with that queue thing from the previous chapter - like damn it wasn't sexual or anything like that 🫶 and so sorry for the late update.. I had to force myself to come on and edit this chapter lmao

Also what makes a furry a furry? Cause is spider a furry?