Water's Embrace || Ao'nung x Neteyam

Chapter 03: Fuel to a new understanding

Kiri looked at her brother from out the window, she sat before a beautiful pianoforte. Given the size of the villa, the drawing room was quite small, simply a connection of the house with the backyard. The glass doors were open back-to-back, and the delicate lace curtain flowed with the summer breeze.

Her fingers played the tails lazily until she heard a noise behind her, and she didn't need to look back to know it was Lo'ak.

"Play me something." He demanded as he sat on a nearby couch. Kiri didn't roll her eyes at his as expected. "What are you looking at?" He leaned to the side to have a better view of the outside where Neteyam was sitting on the grass, paying full attention to his little sister who snoozed in his arms.

"Do you think he will be alright?" Kiri spoke softly, afraid to raise her voice and startle the peace of her siblings outside.

"He seems to be doing fine." Lo'ak mumbled not wishing to entertain the thought.

"Yes, well, he seemed to be doing fine before, and yet here we are." She snapped her head towards him, angry by his unbothered words, but soon noticed the conflicted look in her brother's eyes.

"He will be alright, Kiri. All he needed was a change of pace." He mumbled averting his eyes to his hands, but his words failed greatly to make her feel at ease.

"Lo'ak, I don't think-"

"No." He frowned deeply, now looking at her in seriousness. "He needed to get away from the chaos, and we have done so...All is well."

Kiri turned her head to the window again to hide the pity in her eyes. Lo'ak had taken such a denying attitude towards Neteyam's situation that it frustrated her, but it also made her jealous. She wished she could simply ignore things, to stop noticing her brother's strained smiles and absence of mind.

She just wanted to go to sleep without wondering if her older brother would still be there by the time she woke up.

"He looks...at ease here. Why can't you just accept it?" Lo'ak mumbled.

"Because that would be as foolish of me, as it is of you." She glared at him and started playing before he could respond. People were approaching from somewhere in the house, so she stopped again, signing discreetly.

"Oh, you were playing so lovely, please don't stop because of us." Tsireya said with an apologetic expression as she took a seat beside Lo'ak who, without knowing, straightened his posture.

Rotxo stood right beside the piano to watch her play, to which Kiri only smiled.

"I shall not make a single mistake; you will not intimidate me." She said proudly drawing a chuckle out of him.

"And I do not intend to." He said with a sigh. "You play so well, I'm rather envious. I do not possess such gifts."

"These can hardly be considered gifts; it took a lot of time to learn...Time that could have very well been used for something more productive."

"Like what?" He tilted his head.

"Like learning a language, or studying for...something, or so my grandmother used to say." She smiled at the memory. "I can almost hear her voice: "Idleness is a weakness, dear!" I think she was right, but there are just so many things to do that it is overwhelming, and in the end, I always end up in front of my piano."

"Then I guess I must agree with your grandmother." He shrugged playfully before Kiri's indignation. "If you, Miss Sully, ever take to live as you play, it would be very exciting both for us and yourself."

"That would depend, of course, on what she will be playing." Lo'ak spoke from behind. "She gets rather passionate; I would like to be spared."

"My family doesn't like me playing Beethoven, they say I'm always irritable afterward." She mumbled averting her attention to the tails, a little embarrassed.