"Pink + White" Neteyam x Oc

Chapter sixteen; Mommy issues

It was dead silent. Her eyes were closed as she was at the bottom of the sea listening to every movement and sound around her. Then she felt a vibration coming from her right and in a second she threw her spear catching a Sloapek, also known as a pincer fish. It was large for its species and Siri'tri shrugged at her catch. She swam to the fish making sure it was dead and detached her spear from its flesh.

Siri'tri climbed into her canoe while singing "Head over heels" with her raspy and out-of-tune voice and put the fish into a net with the other creatures she had caught today. She cleaned the blade of the spear with a cloth examining it and making sure it was in perfect condition. So far, she had only used the new blade, she didn't even dare to look at the other one. It had been a week since she had officially become a hunter which meant fishing, nearly every day. As much as she liked spending time with the other warriors, they were all adults and it took most of her time. In fact, she hadn't even had time to see Neteyam after the night at the pools.

Siri'tri was always thinking about him, so much it was annoying. And since hunting was sometimes slow, she started to overthink. He hadn't tried to see her after that night, did he back out? Or perhaps he got bored of her? They still didn't know each other fully. Sure she knew his favorite color, food, and weapon. She also knew how he would draw circles with his feet when he was nervous and how his cheeks heated up every time she touched him. "Okay, maybe I do know him... to an extent."

She was knocked out of her thoughts when she saw an Ilu in the water. She thought nothing of it at first because they were always around. Iri started paddling back to the village since she hadn't gone outside the reef but then she saw the same Ilu again. "What's wrong with it?" She stopped and looked over the edge when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She screamed and punched the person behind her. "Ah, wiya!" Neteyam fell back into the water splashing. "Oh no, no I AM SO SORRY!"

Siri'tri jumped into the water when she realized it was Neteyam. "Not that I wouldn't help someone else, it's just- who the hell am I even explaining this to? Just help him for Eywa's sake!"

He was conscious but his nose was bleeding. Neteyam looked at how she panicked and dragged him to the surface. "I'm so sorry! I thought it was some creep- I-" Neteyam wiped his nose which was still bleeding. "No! Don't be sorry I should have known better than to jump-scare you. Damn, how did I not see this coming."

Siri'tri grimaced at his face, he was trying to smile even though he was clearly in pain. "Come on. I will try to help you." She climbed back into the canoe and pulled him to sit across from her. He was smiling sheepishly as she went through a bunch of crap that the boat was filled with until she found an old rag. She scrunched it into a ball and handed it to him. "Come on, hold it there until we get to the village."

"Believe it or not, this is not how I thought we would spend today." He laughed holding the rag against his nose while leaning back. "Mhm-" She only nodded, she was too busy watching his abs that were right in front of her. Neteyam noticed and smirked.
"Missed me that much I see." She shook her head and laughed. "Can you blame me? This week has sucked! I haven't had any time to hang out with anyone! The only thing keeping this worthwhile is the tattoo."

He looked at her tricep which was currently flexed from paddling the boat. "Yeah, definitely makes it worthwhile." His eyes were fixated on her arms. "What?" She mumbled eyeing the water to make sure that they wouldn't bump into anything. He cleared his throat looking at the scenery. "Yeah I mean we haven't done anything fun this week either, just more breathing. Although Ao'nung became nice, I didn't even know that was possible... So that's a plus."

She smiled, Iri was glad Ao'nung had apologized to everyone and the wounds in their relationship had healed. She had even helped to train him with Tonowari a few days ago.