Lo'ak's mate

Quality time

I slip my hand between the fabric of my hut and peak inside. Wëkei'o isn't home. I sigh of relief.

I plop down on my bed and my mind starts to trail back to this morning. Our tails were wrapped... a smile planted on my face. His face in my neck and his hand on my waist. I can still feel his body heat on my back.

I intend to sleep a little more so I lay down and close my eyes. Content and happy. I slowly drift back off to sleep.

Later that day, I went over to Kiri's hut. To my surprise she isn't in here. I look around home base but she's nowhere near. I peak around the sully family hut and only Jake is there. When I want to turn around his voice echoed through the hut, indicating he knew of my presence.

"Faxei'a Te Nowamä, come sit down."
My full name? What is going on?!

"Yes... Sir?" I sit down across from him. Hands on my knees. "I've heard about the commotion you've been dealing with the last couple of days..." he begins. Oh no, he's probably going to scold us...
"Our door is always open for you." He says.

Huh. What?

"B-but? What do you-"
He smiles and throws me a Spartan fruit.
"Wëkei'o has been through a lot... spare him the fights and just cool down here next time."

Oh right, of course he meant the big fight I had with my tsmukan. Phew, i'm glad he didn't find out about Lo'ak and I.

Neytiri walks in and greets me. "Did you and Lo'ak have fun last night?" She mentions.

Just before I want to hum and smile at the memory I have to double check my pulse. What?!

"Don't let Lo'ak drag you into his bad behaviour too much. You're a good kid." Jake says. "What my husband means is that we're glad Lo'ak has taken a liking to a well behaved girl like you." She smiles and hands me a cloth.

Presumably for the Spartan fruit I was holding, but I was not even thinking about what I have been holding in my hands this whole time.

Neytiri and Jake are seriously always ahead of us. They know, see and hear almost everything that happens in the clan.

"Lo'ak, doesn't know that... I know right?" I ask after some silence. Jake chuckles and Neytiri smiles. "Of course not!" Jake says. "That kid is as blind as a bat compared to you." He jokes. Neytiri chuckles too. "Don't tease our child." She adds. Jake shrugs. "If you want to tell him your feelings, you'd have to be straight to the point, clear and direct. Otherwise he wouldn't understand."

"I still don't know exactly what i'm feeling..." I say while smiling. Twirling my fingers on the fruit in my hands. "Oh right." Jake mumbles. Neytiri situates herself next to me. Her hand on my chest, over my heart. "No matter what happens. Follow your heart. If you listen to it close enough Eywa will guide you."

I nod and appreciate the kind words Neytiri said. She smiles and continues with what she was doing. "What did you come here for anyway?" Jake says. "Oh I was looking for Kiri." I remind myself of this fact too. So I start to get up.

"I'm going to continue looking for her, thank you for this conversation. And for the fruit." I say. They both nod and smile as they bid me good bye.

I walk out of the hut and see all the siblings gathered near the forest entrance. When I make my way over Lo'ak is the first to notice me heading their way. He smiles and even from afar the blush on his cheeks is visible. "Faxei'a! Want to join us for a game?" He says. "For sure!" I excitedly respond.

Neteyam and Kiri are laying down the ground rules. The game is hide and seek, grace has teached the kids this long ago and it has been a favourite ever since.

"You can't stay in one hiding spot for longer than a minute." He says. "Yes and you can't switch between two each minute." She adds.

Since it's been so long since the last time we played this, I have a gut feeling it's going to play out a lot differently then it used to.

I tell Kiri I want to talk to her after the game and she nods. Kiri and Tuk are the seekers. So when she starts counting I turn around and sprint into the forest.

Neteyam catches up quickly and runs past me to find himself a hiding spot. Lo'ak has long left and is nowhere to be found. After about 30 seconds of running I decide to look around to find a spot.

Theres bushes here, but they're not dense enough. The tree branches are too high up for me to reach. Hm.

Then my eyes fixate on a small cave entrance. I could fit there easily! I slide inside and shove some leaves and plants in front of it. I can still peek through.

After about 40 seconds in this hiding spot I hear Tuk's voice in the distance. Shit! I need to relocate as soon as possible! As quietly as I can I push away the leaves and crawl out of the cave. I get on my feet and start running further into the woods.

Without looking I bump into someone and we fall on the ground. "Shit Lo'ak, ouch!" I grab my wrist and look at my hands which had slid across the dirt patch ground. The scratches itching. It's only when I look up from my hands that I realise the position we're in.