Chapter Text
The Sully family moved into their suburban beach estate about 2 weeks ago, it was a relatively large house with 2 floors that was a 10 minute walk to the ocean. The house had a good amount of land surrounding it before the neighbouring houses were settled next to it, the streets were all lined with yellow bulbed lamps and palm trees that rustled with the warm salt laced air, the concrete walk ways were always dusted with sand due to being so close to the beach. The house was white with a tilted roof and many windows surrounding it along with a porch that swung around the whole house like a belt.
Neteyam was still unpacking his things from the boxes that had travelled with them from DC to Florida. He found that while unpacking he actually didn't have many clothes that suited this warmer temperature, he knew he needed to ask Kiri to take him shopping at some point.
His trailing thoughts were interrupted by an abrupt knocking on his door, he turned his head to see who it was as his door was already wide open.
"Bro, come to the beach with me." Lo'ak said, throwing a towel at Neteyams face.
Neteyam pulled it off his face and scowled before swinging it over his shoulder, "You ask mum?"
"mmmm... can you?" Lo'ak said looking around the room and awkwardly swinging his arms forward and back, trying to be funny.
Neteyam sighed and hit him with the towel on his stomach, Lo'ak let out an 'oof' sound at the contact and laughed. "She'd definitely say yes if you were the one that asked!" Lo'ak argued.
"Yeah, yeah. I'll ask, let me grab my stuff first." Neteyam quickly shuffled around his room, grabbing a small duffle bag and shoving the towel Lo'ak had threw at him into it along with a pair of swim trunks, a pair of sport styled sunglasses and his favourite book. Once he zipped up the bag he chucked it into Lo'aks chest for him to hold as he walked past him and downstairs to ask their Mother, Neytiri, to go out.
His feet padded along the hard wood floor as he walked downstairs, he poked his head around the corner into their kitchen to find her hand washing some bowls that they had used for lunch, he walked into the kitchen, the sensation of the slightly cooler marble still a new feeling for him, Neytiri turned to look at him, she smiled and he reciprocated.
"Mum, can Lo'ak and I go to the beach?" Neteyam asked, walking over and standing next to her, keeping his hands in his jorts pockets.
"Of course. stick together though, and don't be out late you know it's your first day of school tomorrow." Neytiri said, keeping her eyes on her thorough washing up.
"Mhm, thanks mum." He said, wrapping one arm around her shoulder to pull her in and give her a quick kiss on her temple before leaving the kitchen.
Lo'ak came tumbling down the stairs, clearly he'd been listening in to see if they'd get the green light from their mother. He slung the duffle bag around his torso and slipped his slides onto his feet, Neteyam did the same and took a pair of keys from a little dish before leaving and locking the door behind him.
Neteyam was great with directions, after only walking to the beach twice since they got here he already had the whole route mapped out in his head like a photographic memory, Lo'ak on the other hand still didn't know their street name.
The humid air was a foreign feeling as it filled Neteyams lungs, he was used to the slightly colder spike that city air had to it. The air felt warm and fresh, it smelt like if nostalgia was a perfume. Neteyam knew he'd really enjoy this new life, just from how calming it is, nothing like the bustling streets of DC where the crime rates are so high it's uncomfortable.
"What do you think the people are like?" Lo'ak asked, momentarily snapping Neteyam back to reality.
"Nice, unless you're a huge douchebag again and start a fight on your first day."
"Hey! he started it, you know he did." Lo'ak snapped his head to look at Neteyam as they walked down the concrete path that left the estate, palm trees lining either side. He scrunched his face at his brothers mention of the last time they had a first day at a new school.
"I'm only joking, don't get your panties in a twist." Neteyam snickered
"My panties are perfectly fine, thank you." Lo'ak laughed and punched his shoulder, Neteyam punched him back just to make it even.
"You think there will be any cute girls?" Lo'ak elbowed his brothers arm, "Well, more like cute dudes." Lo'ak snickered.
"Yeah yeah. I'm gay, very funny." Neteyam side eyed him slightly before letting out a huffed laugh.
"If you get a boyfriend you gotta promise to introduce me to his sister if he has one."
"What's the deal with you and dating all of a sudden, we've been here for like 2 weeks..." Neteyam raised an eyebrow at him.
"I'm just giving you hypothetical 'if, but, maybe' scenarios."
"Fine, if he had a sister I'd introduce you. Happy now?" Neteyam snickered, knowing he probably wouldn't just to piss Lo'ak off.
"Yes." Lo'ak gave a toothy grin to his brothers response as they made it to the beach, They quickly found the little shacks to use as changing rooms which were next to the large beach bar/restaurant that was planted on the beach, they both got changed into their swim trunks and then went searching for a place to chuck all their stuff. Though the beach was relatively quiet, people wise, Neteyam could hear laughter and music playing in the distance.
He turned his head and looked towards the noise, he saw a large gaggle of kids, probably the same age as him and Lo'ak, playing beach volley ball and sitting around in a circle drinking and smoking. He wanted to avoid the group as much as possible so he just dropped their bag onto the ground where they stood, a decent distance from them and got his towel out to sit on.
"Okay, go play." Neteyam put his sunglasses on and lay flat on his back against his towel, soaking in the rays of glorious sunlight on his skin.
"You're so boring teyam."
"So you're not gonna go play?"
"...I am, just thought you'd join me is all." Lo'ak jokingly snuffed his nose up at him and wondered off towards the ocean.
"Be safe sweetie!" Neteyam shouted humorously in his direction, lifting his head up to see his younger brother flipping him off as he continued to walk towards the glistening waters.
He snickered and laid back down comfortably, grabbing his book from his duffle bag and opening it up to his bookmarked page, he held it over his face to block the sunlight from shining in his eye despite wearing sunglasses.
After an hour or so of sunbathing his beautiful brown skin in the light, he heard a voice in the distance.
"Heads!" A voice called, Neteyam momentarily sat up to see what was going on, what he wasn't expecting was a volleyball coming flying towards him at a fast pace, he reacted and moved his hands up to protect his face, the ball hit his arm and knocked his book out his hand so it was sprawled against the sand next to him.
"Ow." He huffed under his breath as he rubbed a hand along his arm where the ball left a slight red mark. He heard footsteps come pacing towards him, hearing the sand crunch underneath their feet made Neteyam turn to their direction.
"Oh hey, sorry bout that."
A tall boy with an athletic build knelt down next to him, Neteyam looked at the caramel tanned boy, his hair was a dark black that hung in tight curls at the back of his head, his hair was thrown into a messy bun with braids that ran along his scalp. He had a few piercings in his ears, notably only silver jewellery present. Neteyam was taken aback by his surprisingly good looks despite his thick, dark eyebrows and sleek feline eyes.
"It's fine. Just hit my arm." The ball was rested against Neteyams foot, he rolled it over to the boy and the boy used his large hand to grab the ball in one go, he tucked it under his armpit and reached out to pick up Neteyams book he had knocked form his grasp, the boy looked at the front cover of the book and smiled slightly, Neteyam noticed the way the corners of his lips curled perfectly into a sweet smile.
"My sister loves this book." He said as he handed it back to Neteyam, dusting off some of the sand for him.
"Yeah, it's a good read..." Neteyam took the book from him, not removing his eyes from the boy for even a second. Glistening blue eyes met his as the boy smiled slightly and stood back up.
"Sorry again." The boy stood up straight, he was only clad in a pair of black swim trunks that had white lines down the sides, as he stood he made subtle jingling sound due to the bracelets and necklaces he wore. He turned and jogged off back towards his friends, the group of teenagers with the loud music, Neteyam idly watched as he jogged off, quietly noticing the way his back muscles flexed with every movement.
Lo'ak came back over, also having been watching the dude jog off, he turned to Neteyam who was still in a slight daze.
"You know him?" He asked, Neteyam snapped his head in his direction, looking up at his brother stood in front of him.
"What? No. He just came to get his ball back." Neteyam stopped rubbing his arm and stood up, packing up all his things and chucking a towel in Lo'aks face, payback from earlier. "Let's just go, the suns already setting."
Lo'ak draped the towel around his shoulders and Neteyam zipped up the bag and slung it over his shoulder, they walked off back home still dressed in their swim trunks.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Lo'ak." Neteyam tapped his forehead with his finger to try and wake his sleeping brother, their first day of school was upon them and his lazy lard brother wasn't even awake yet.
Lo'ak furrowed his eyebrows and refused to open his eyes, swatting Neteyams hand away like a fly that was bugging him. He made an annoyed grumbling sound and turned over in his sheets. Neteyam felt his eyebrow twitch in slight annoyance at his brothers reluctance to get up, he decided to go nuclear. He walked over to Lo'ak's curtains and ripped them open, light shining directly into Lo'ak's face, Neteyam grabbed his ankles and yanked him out of bed like a sack of flour.
Lo'ak scrambled to his feet from the shock of practically being body slammed to the floor, he groaned and started to pull clothes out his drawers. Neteyam snickered and left, having already been ready for half an hour he just sat downstairs waiting for Lo'ak and Kiri to be ready.
Kiri came downstairs and joined him in the kitchen about 5 minutes later, she was wearing a hollowed-out crochet knit jumper with a white tank top underneath along with a pair of baggy jeans that had a floral pattern plastered on one of the legs. Kiri had always been one for a more fashionable look, her and Neteyam shared a common interest in fashion and vogue magazine. Neteyam went for a more simplistic look, not wanting to stand out too much on his first day. He wore a white t-shirt with a black zip up thrown on top and a pair of baggy jeans, similar to kiris.
"You driving?" She asked, placing her tote bag on the kitchen table.
"Yeah, though if Lo'ak doesn't get his ass down here soon he'll be walking." Neteyam said, idly scrolling through his phone, Kiri giggled.
Lo'ak came running down the stairs, almost slipping on the last stair, he cleared his throat and walked into the kitchen trying to act like that didn't just happen. He chucked his rucksack on the table and Neteyam and Kiri's jaws almost dropped to the floor at the sight of their brothers hair.
Kiri just burst out laughing and Neteyam almost dropped his phone to the floor.
"When did you do that!? Just now!?" Neteyam spoke, still unable to comprehend his brothers impulsiveness.
Neytiri came downstairs and walked into the kitchen, silence struck, she greeted all her children with a good morning and a smile, then she made it to Lo'ak and a shock stricken look crossed her face as she grabbed his head with her hands and ran her fingers across her sons new shaved sides. She shot him a piercing glare and he smiled nervously.
"What is this." She said, sternly.
"New haircut..." He squeaked.
Neteyam and Kiri stayed silent, watching their mothers seething rage escape her body like the gas of a fire. She scowled, took a deep breath and released her grip from his head.
"If you wanted a haircut Lo'ak. You ask for one." She rolled her eyes and flicked his forehead, he winced at the slight pain it left.
"Anyways.... I'm driving." Neteyam chimed in, trying to break the tension in the room.
Neytiri went back to a relaxed motherly kindness as she was reminded of what was happening today, "Have a great day my loves." she said, Kiri and Neteyam stood up from their front row seats of the little drama between their brother and mum.
Lo'ak and Kiri exited the kitchen and Neteyam went over to his mother, giving her a hug before leaving with his siblings, she waved them off and shut the door behind them as they piled into Neteyams car, one he got recently as a gift for his 18th. Though his birthday was months ago his dad told him he was saving this for when they moved as he's make more use of it here than in the city.
"Nice haircut dumbass." Kiri giggled as she clambered into the front seat and grabbed hold of the AUX before Lo'ak could.
"Hey! It looks sick." He argued, grabbing the headrest of her seat and pulling himself forward to be slotted between the driver and the passenger seat so he could make menacing glares at her.
"Sit down properly before you fly out the window." Neteyam said, he put his car into reverse and pulled out their front drive, driving off to school.
"I can't believe you just did that this morning, you totally planned that." Kiri continued,
"Dad left his razor out so...." Lo'ak slumped against the back seat.
Kiri laughed at her brother as she braided little pieces of her hair whilst staring out the window, watching the palm trees slide by her. To Neteyam's surprise his brother actually styled his hair pretty well despite having cut it himself, Lo'ak held his hair up in a ponytail, making sure the sides were shown. He left two braids hanging at the front of his face with some of Neteyams spare beads hanging at the bottom, Neteyam thought now wasn't the time to mention him not having asked to use his beads.
The drive lasted for 20 minutes till they made it to the large parking lot outside the school. Neteyam carefully parked up, nervous he might accidentally hit someone elses car. The three of them exited the car at the same time and looked around the parking lot, all the older teenagers were hanging around by each others cars, idly talking and joking with each other, some were mingling with the opposite sex and flirting around until the bell rang and they all reluctantly walked towards the large building like a horde of zombies.
The three siblings stuck together on their walk over to the building, walking a distance behind the crowd. As they made it to the large glass doors of the school, a girl was stood near the entrance greeting the kids that walked past her before turning her head to look at the three of them. A big cheery smile crossed her face and she walked over to them as the doors shut behind the siblings.
"Hi! You three must be Kiri, Lo'ak and Neteyam?" she said. They all nodded in unison.
She reminded Neteyam a lot of the guy from yesterday at the beach, with her long black hair that held perfect curls and neat braids that ran along her scalp with two pieces that swung across her forehead like little bangs. She had a similar smile to him too, but her eyes were like big blue globes that sparkled in the light as if she was some sort of angel, not like his, which were sharp yet delicate.
"Hey." Lo'ak said trying to be nonchalant, yet failing by looking the girl up and down clearly engulfed in how pretty she was.
She giggled, slightly flushed by his obvious staring. "I'm Tsireya, I'll be your guide around the school with my brother... who was supposed to be here 10 minutes ago." She rolled her eyes slightly, still keeping that warm smile on her face.
"Tsireya!" A voice called behind her, Neteyam recognised the voice slightly and looked up to see the athletically built boy from yesterday, His breath hitched slightly at the sight of him again, he was wearing a pair of dark blue joggers and an oversized white print tee, he was still clad in all his bracelets and necklaces as well as his silver-only earrings.
Tsireya huffed and elbowed him slightly as he pulled up next to her, "Late, Aonung." she said with a slightly more stern tone, keeping it a bit quiet so the sully kids couldn't hear her annoyance.
"yeah, yeah. I got caught up with some people. Sorry." He said, he moved his gaze from his shorter sister to the three kids standing in front of him, his eyes locked on Neteyam and he squinted clearly trying to rack his brain of where he recognised him. Neteyam gulped slightly, trying to remember if he did anything embarrassing yesterday.
"Beach boy." He said. A smile appeared on his face, impressed with himself that he managed to remember where he knows Neteyam from.
"Yeah..." Neteyam said, a slight awkward smile appeared.
Tsireya held her hands together in front of her face with an open mouth smile as if she recognised him too, "The boy that reads my favourite book!" She gasped.
"You know them, Teyam?" Kiri asked, confused by the whole situation.
"Briefly encountered him." Neteyam said, looking at Aonung.
"Sorry again about the ball." Aonung held his hand out for Neteyam as if they were reconciling, Neteyam grabbed ahold of his hand and they released after a firm shake.
"Amazing, let's get on with the tour!" Tsireya giggled, turning around and walking off, Aonung followed her and the siblings trailed behind them like a game of line leader.
Tsireya and Aonung showed the Sullys around the school, telling them where the different subject blocks were and how to get to the cafeteria and changing rooms as well as showing them around the massive track and field. At points Aonung would slope off and go chat to anyone nearby, it seemed like he was friends with everyone which wasn't surprising to Neteyam.
Neteyam wanted to explore more of the library so Tsireya assigned for Aonung to stay with him and show him around all the shelves, Aonung told him how the books were organised and where to find the librarian if needed, They then wandered into the designated study area for students which was a clearing in the room full of desks and chairs, at one of the tables a small trio of boys turned and looked at Aonung after one of them pointed him out.
"Aonung? Dude we thought you were dead!" One of them said, the three boys laughed and Aonung gave them a cheap crooked smile.
"haha.... yeah no. I'm good." Aonung said, standing a little distance away from the boys that were crowded around a library desk. Neteyam stood slightly behind Aonung as to not interrupt the conversation. Neteyam noticed the way Aonungs general demeanour changed around the three.
"We totally lost you the whole vacation dude, you never texted back or came to the beach. What's up with that?"
"I uh... went to Las Vegas. Haha." Aonung said, trying to brush off the conversation. "I just got back yesterday."
"Aw dude awesome, but Yumi isn't going to like that. She was so fuckin pissed when you weren't texting or calling her back, you didn't show up to any of the surf comps she signed you up for either."
Aonung grimaced at them mention of whoever 'Yumi' is.
"Yeah... I just got busy." he said, "Shit, she's not here today is she?" A more worried tone laced on his words.
"Dude yeah, and she's livid." The three of them laughed, Aonung groaned and rubbed his face with his hands.
"Thanks, chat later." Aonung said before turning to Neteyam and cocking his head to aside, signalling for them to leave.
As they walked away from the laughing trio Neteyam sped up his pace so they were walking shoulder to shoulder down the locker lined hallway, Neteyam perked up a bit trying to clear the slightly murky mood.
"Friends of yours?" He asked, attempting to spark a conversation.
"Um... sure." Aonung responded, putting his hands in his pockets. "I wouldn't bother with them though... they're kinda dicks. Don't tell them I said that." Aonung smiled slightly, Neteyam giggled.
"Yeah okay, my lips are sealed." Neteyam said, smiling slightly at the warm atmosphere. "So, Las Vegas huh? nightlife central." Neteyam looked at him as they strolled.
"Oh, uhm. Yeah, the clubs were cool..." Aonung cleared his throat, Neteyam wasn't oblivious compared to the three from before, he could tell when a little lie was about and Aonung gave it away easily, though he didn't want to pry into his private life Neteyam assumed it had something to do with avoiding that 'Yumi' girl.
The two of them met back up with Tsireya, Lo'ak and Kiri in the gym, Aonung instantly slopped off to the next gaggle of teens that were waving for him to come over, leaving the four of them to chat amongst themselves, Neteyam glanced at Aonung as he walked off to the group, they all greeted him like a long lost friend and walked him out of the gym chatting and laughing loudly, Aonung seemed a bit more relaxed away from the boys in the library, that perfectly curled smile now plastered on his face for everyone to see.
Once the group had disappeared with him Neteyam turned his head back to focus on the conversation being had.
"Okay, if you guys ever need anything I'm always here to help and so is my brother Aonung." She smiled, "although he's not here right now." She rolled her eyes, clearly fed up with all his running off.
"Thank you." the three siblings said in unison, Tsireya giggled and dug into her pocket to get them all their timetables. She handed them out one by one before the bell rang, signalling lunch. Neteyam was surprised with how much time had passed since they arrived, though happy that they've made it this far into the school day without any drama.
Kiri and Lo'ak began to leave the gym and Neteyam turned to follow them until he felt someone grab his arm, it was Tsireya. She gave him a warm smile and he halted himself to see what was wrong.
"My brother told me about you from yesterday, how you were reading ------. He's actually one of my favourite authors!" She said, releasing her grasp from Neteyams forearm, Kiri and Lo'ak waited for Neteyam by the entrace of the gym, watching their interaction.
"Yeah he's mine too, I love his older series though." He said with a smile, he's never had anyone to talk to about the books he reads since Lo'ak hates reading and Kiri is a big fantasy enjoyer, not a romance one like him.
"Same! That's amazing." She smiled, "I wanted to ask if you'd like to join me and some of my friends in my book club? I know it's a pretty outdated thing but we just get together once a week and read a little together and just chat about it." She giggled, Neteyam smiled and nodded
"Yeah that'd be great." He said,
"Here!" Tsireya pulled out a pen and took ahold of his hand to put the pen in his grasp, she held her arm out for him and looked up at him, "Write your number on my arm, I'll text you the details later!" Neteyam snickered and began to write his number on her forearm, not making it too big so it would be easier to wash off later.
"Oh and um, do you think I could get your brothers too... A-And Kiris!" She whispered slightly to make sure only Neteyam could hear, she giggled trying to cover up her bold ask for Lo'aks number. Neteyam gave her a knowing look and nodded, writing them down too.
She glanced at her arm once he was done and smiled, "Thanks, I'll see you three later!" She strolled past them and out they gym, Lo'ak watched her walk away and Neteyam went back over to his siblings.
"All good?" Kiri asked, arms folded.
"Mhm, all good." Neteyam responded.