Chapter Text
“I need your help.”
That's how it all started.
Aonung was lazily resting against the counter of the surf shop he worked at when Neteyam suddenly slapped a hand on the marbled surface to grab his attention. The shop was empty.
The boy didn’t flinch. He looked up from his phone and unamusedly grabbed a spare pair of pink swimming goggles under the counter. It wasn't the first time Neteyam had come to him in a rush because Tuk had lost her goggles in the sea. Again .
“Look, it’s the last time I’ll–”
Neteyam clicked his tongue, “I don’t need those!”
“Then what is it?”
By help, Aonung would’ve never imagined it meant sitting in the Sullys’ living room in the middle of an Omtikaya family gathering.
It was the end of March, and it was Neytiri’s birthday. That meant Mo'at, Neytiri's mother, and her sister with her husband had to fly over to where she now lived with Jake and their children. Since Neteyam's family had to move to a completely different continent, far from their homeland, his mother’s family visits were rare but extremely important. And they were emotionally painful for Neteyam.
The Sully firstborn loved his family very deeply. He was the first grandson and nephew on his father's and mother's sides, so they all adored him, too. But being the first in everything came with a lot of burdens and many, too many questions. The first of which was always: Do you have a special someone? To which the answer was, obviously, No . He was too preoccupied with his studies to even think about dating. To his misfortune, Lo'ak exceeded him by finding a girlfriend before he could. So, naturally, the question morphed to a: When will you find someone ?
It would've been the fourth family gathering since his mother's last birthday in a row where he would've had to present himself alone, while Lo'ak would've taken along with him Tsireya. He couldn’t take another of his grandma's disappointed looks.
“Can you, please , fake being my boyfriend?” Neteyam looked deep into his eyes, begging, “Just once.”
Neteyam had to be in true despair to ask Aoung out in the middle of the surf shop abruptly. However, the windchime's melody interrupted them as someone opened the shop's door. Aonung gestured: Text me .
The latter texting suggestion became a coffee shop date later that afternoon. Neteyam had grown a habit of studying in the coffee place where Kiri worked part-time. Located a few shops from the surf shop, facing the ocean, it was a two-story building far more modern than any other buildings in Awa’atlu. Its younger generation collectively elected it as an after-beach students' coffee shop. Being a Thursday afternoon, many seats were empty on both floors. Kiri was arranging the vegan section of the counter display when Aonung entered. She looked at him briefly before pointing a finger up. When Aonung went upstairs, he quickly spotted Neteyam sitting outside on the terrace. A towel was placed on his shoulders messily while he bent over his books, a sign he went straight up to the coffee shop from the beach.
A soft, indie melody played from the black speakers as Aonung sat before Neteyam.
“So, what's this about?” Aonung glimpsed what remained of Neteyam’s dark chocolate muffin and quickly grabbed it from its plate.
Neteyam's amber eyes zapped Aonung, "First rule!" he pointed his pen at the latter, "Do not steal my food!"
Aonung had just taken a bite but left the muffin on the plate, pushing it back to Neteyam. The brown-skinned boy arranged the table, closing all his books before he could rest his back against the chair and gaze at the other boy.
“I’ve forgotten grandma and auntie are coming over for my mom's birthday,” Neteyam explained, “And I'm fucking single.”
Aonung scoffed: “Why me?”
“'Cause you’re the only single guy I know,” he whined, “Besides, my family already knows you. It'll be easy to convince them. It's only for my grandmother and aunt's visit, I swear.”
So that’s how, two days later, Aonung found himself wearing a button-up, perfectly ironed shirt, his hair braided at his best, and a present for his now-future mother-in-law . At first, his being there was odd. Lo'ak and Tsireya gazed questionably at him when he appeared through the entrance hallway. He seemed out of place: Aonung knew it, and Neteyam too. Jake and Neytiri were surprised but didn't mind: they became good friends with Aonung and Tsireya's parents and welcomed him without question.
“Who is this young man, Neteyam?” Mo’at curiously approached her first grandson.
Neteyam almost trembled as he hugged one of Aonung's arms in front of everyone: "He's my boyfriend!"
Everyone went quiet suddenly. The two boys were standing at the beginning of the big living room, all eyes on them. Jake's eyes inhumanly widened. Neytiri didn't know how to react to the news, fidgeting with her necklace; Lo'ak, Kiri, and Tsireya looked at each other stunned, and Lo'ak got paler; Tuk smiled widely, clapping in excitement as she was sitting on her uncle’s lap. Between Mo'at excited exclamations and Neteyam's aunt and uncle's greetings, someone screamed What?! — one hundred percent was Lo'ak. Neteyam's face reddened as he tried to interpret each of his family's reactions. His grandmother at least looked enthusiastic as she began to study Aonung up close.
It was Aonung’s first time meeting Neytiri’s family. He once got to know Jake’s twin brother only because he came for holidays and, like two good Aussies , they went to the surf shop to rent an extra surfboard. Beauty must've run in Neytiri's bloodline because all Tskaha women were stunning, with their ebony skin tone and perfect, bright smiles. Tuktirey, among the Sullys siblings, looked very much like her mother's relatives: flat nose, ebony skin, and plump lips. Neteyam's skin tone was in-between Tuk's darker tone and Lo'ak's, who only looked tanned. The boys got their father's high-bridge straight nose and, unfortunately, small lips — Neteyam's were slightly bigger than Lo'ak's, though. Tsu'tey, their uncle, was a bit intimidating with his muscular tall figure but had a kind smile.
For the whole evening, Mo'at wanted to sit next to Neteyam's boyfriend, and Tsireya jokingly whined about her brother having already taken her place.
“Don’t joke! You're still my favorite,” Mo’at claimed.
“So, why don’t you talk a little about yourself, Aonung?” Sylwanin’s voice was soft and friendly, “We only know you’re Tsireya’s big brother.”
They had just finished dinner and were eating cake. Aonung was sitting on the second couch, squeezed between Mo’at and Neytiri, and looked directly at Neteyam, who sat across from him on the velvet armchair. The latter glared at him with warning eyes.
“Let’s practice your introduction,” Neteyam said the day before.
They were in Neteyam's bedroom, the door locked. Jake was at work, Neytiri was at the beach with Tuk, Kiri was working her afternoon shift, and Lo'ak was in his room, shouting something into his microphone as he played videogames with Rotxo.
“Why should we?” Aonung was bouncing a ball against the room's ceiling.
“Because you're going to meet my grandmother!” Neteyam spun around with his desk chair, “You must be perfect. Tsireya won her over right away, and you need to be as good as her.”
Aonung huffed, hating the idea of being compared to his sister. He sat up with crossed legs, facing Neteyam.
“You're asking me the moon there, Sully,” the Metkayina boy said.
Aonung and Tsireya, although siblings, were the opposite poles as much as Neteyam and Lo'ak were. Tsireya was the golden child: she graduated with the highest score, had a room full of first-placed synchro swimming prizes, and she was graduating in nursing. Aonung was Aonung: barely managed to graduate high school, always had been the hot-headed son who ended up in fights in and out of school, and had no intentions of studying or whatsoever.
“No, I’m not,” Neteyam sat beside him and squeezed a hand reassuringly, “What about your job? All your first-place swimming prizes? Your town hall volunteering work?”
Aonung’s eyes always shone whenever he talked about his hobbies. He was proud of being one of the fewest young Metkayina who kept their traditions alive, teaching children all about Metkayina's way of water. So, they agreed that he would've talked about all that: how he was helping his father, Awa’atlu’s mayor, and how he also worked.
“Oh! What a perfect pair of siblings!” Mo’at clapped to both Aonung and Neteyam’s surprise and Lo’ak’s.
Each time they made international phone calls, Mo’at nagged Lo'ak for not wanting to go to college, saying he should follow Neteyam's steps. He enrolled in an Economics, Politics, and Social Sciences degree at the same college where Tsireya was studying. Why wasn’t she scolding Aonung for not going to college? He muttered something under his breath, and Tsireya nudged him.
“Since when you’re dating?” Kiri's question echoed in the room.
Now, everyone was looking at Neteyam. Tsireya was the only one who glanced at her brother before fixing her gaze on Neteyam too. Tsireya and The Sullys, except innocent Tuk, were doubtful: no one ever knew, and it felt so sudden and convenient.
Obviously, they prepared that answer, too.
“Should we say… a week?” Aonung shrugged.
“No! I’d never introduce a one-week-old relationship to my family,” Neteyam’s braids swung left and right as he shook his head.
“Mh, what about…”
“Almost… Two months? I confessed on New Year's Eve because someone was too shy to step up first. We weren't sure what we both wanted, though, and being too focused on college, I asked him to take things really slow. He was so patient, lovely, and caring that after only a month and a half, I changed my mind, and we agreed on dating officially,” Neteyam smiled fondly at Aonung, who smirked, “I don’t know why we kept it secret until now.”
“Well, I asked him to make it public,” Aonung improvised, “I’m tired of being always introduced as the family’s friends’ son.”
“That’s why Nung always comes over, and they go to Teyam’s room!” Tuktirey chanted happily.
A symphony of coughs and clearing throats began echoing in the living room, and Tuk stayed clueless. Fortunately, the two boys had their alibis. They did, in fact, spend New Year's Eve together with Lo’ak, Tsireya, Kiri, and Rotxo at Aonung and Tsireya’s house, and at some point, they did distance themselves from the others to talk alone. It was true that Aonung was usually at Sully’s house because of Neteyam. Everyone in Awa’atlu knew that if Neteyam wasn’t hanging around with his brother and sisters, he was more likely with Aonung, surfing, or hanging out at Kiri’s coffee shop. She’s also used to seeing just the pair at the coffee shop.
All the dots were connecting.
Neteyam was proud as even his parents looked like they believed his storytelling. Questions and answers kept going back and forth as if it was a tennis tournament. Aonung was cocky and too confident, and Neteyam kept blushing and smiling like a hopeless romantic as he spat lies on lies. At some point, Neytiri stood up from her seat. Her son saw it as the perfect chance to go and steal it while sitting beside his boyfriend . The Metkayina boy naturally put an arm around him while chit-chatting with Jake, Lo’ak, and Tsu’tey. Neteyam nuzzled in the semi-hug.
“Rules,” being a perfectionist, Neteyam started to write their plan on a google document.
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah, really ,” the Omatikaya mocked him, “Rule number one: we need to touch each other as much as possible,” he saw Aonung’s confused expression, “Like Lo’ak and Tsireya. You know: they’re always holding hands, hugging each other, cuddling as soon as they sit together.”
“Seems fair,” he stood up and went behind Neteyam. He rested his hands on the latter’s shoulders and lowered himself, “Boyfriends have to touch each other.”
He didn't see Neteyam's cheeks getting redder, “Rule number two: dress properly.”
“What do you mean? I’ve got a great sense of fashion,” Neteyam quickly chuckled, “Hey!”
“Even Lo’ak dresses better than you,” the other grinned, “Do you know how I would’ve called you back in Australia?” he quickly typed in the search bar, “Eshay.”
“They’re cool,” Aonung peeked behind the other shoulders.
“No, they’re not. Try to copy me or Lo’ak,” the Omatikaya sighed, “Rule number three—”
“Pet names,” the taller boy suggested suddenly, “Every couple has pet names! Calling ourselves honey or sweetheart for three hours won’t kill us."
“ Babe , I’ll quickly go to the bathroom,” Neteyam said loudly enough so even the ones talking to Aonung could hear him.
“Sure,” his boyfriend caressed Neteyam's hand until he had to let go.
Jake smiled tenderly before exchanging an approval glance with Tsu’sey. Lo’ak side-eyed his brother until he disappeared, running upstairs.
Neteyam had just pressed the flush toilet button and was washing his hands when he heard someone knocking on the door.
“Hold on!” the older sibling shouted.
There was silence before another round of knocks.
“I’m washing my hands!”
As he spoke, the door suddenly unlocked. Neteyam got flustered before the privacy invasion, but he sighed, defeated, as soon as he saw who was behind the door: Lo’ak. The upstairs bathroom had an old sliding door. Once, Tuk closed it so hard that the lock triggered itself, and, at that time, she still didn't know how locks worked. The older brothers and Kiri had gone crazy looking for a way to free their little sister, and Lo'ak had slyly found out that the door could be opened by lifting and sliding it back by the handle. Since then, every time Neteyam took too long in the bathroom, for Lo'ak's liking, he would've unlocked the door from outside.
“How many times do I have to tell you that—”
“ What are you doing with Aonung?” Lo'ak had shut the door quickly before he could ask harshly.
“Huh?” Neteyam was taken aback.
“What’s this “boyfriend” bullshit?” Lo’ak raised an eyebrow questioningly.
Neteyam mentally cursed his brother for being the perfect liar detector. Lo'ak could seem unaware most of the time, but he was too woke for Neteyam's things.
“It’s true!” the older sibling tried to argue, but his brother still was looking at him skeptically, “Why can’t you believe it?”
“‘Cause you didn’t tell me about the developments!” the tanned boy pointed out.
Neteyam blushed, and Lo’ak smiled.
In truth, the Omatikaya boy hadn't been honest with Aonung when he asked for his help. He was ashamed but tried to remind himself he had no other option. It was either that or seeing his grandmother dissatisfied because he was still single. Neteyam chose Aonung not only for his being single but because he had a "little" crush on the latter — Lo’ak knew that that crush was, in fact, not little at all. According to the dark-skinned boy, pretending to be with the guy he liked would've been easier. And it was. It felt real.
“Lo’ak, please…” Neteyam felt more pathetic.
“Why are you doing this to yourself?” Lo’ak was now speaking softly, “Don’t—”
“I know! I won’t delude myself!” the older boy said. A shadow of hurt lingered in his eyes, “Do you think others fell for it?”
Lo’ak sighed, “Yes, everyone, and even Kiri.”
“Even Tsireya?”
“Looks like it isn’t Aonung's first secret relationship,” Neteyam frowned.
“Can you…?”
“I’ll play along, alright,” his little brother shrugged, “But promise me you’ll stick to the pretending part!”
“It’s just for today. For the next few days, I’ll pretend that Aonung is too busy. When grandma and auntie leave, I’ll tell mom and dad the truth.”
Lo’ak nodded and unlocked the door.
When the two brothers returned downstairs, they found Tsireya and Aonung talking to Mo’at cheerfully. They were comparing Omatikaya Na'vi and Metkayina Na'vi. Both their native clans came from Oceania: Omatikaya were scattered around Australia, while Metkayina were mostly around Polynesia. For centuries, some Metkayina moved away from the Polynesian islands and ended up in Hawaii. Awa'atlu had the biggest Metkayina community. Neteyam loved hearing Aonung speaking Na'vi: while the Omatikaya one sounded tuneful as if it was a chant, the Metkayina accent was stronger and rough. But Aonung made it sound sweet anyway.
Lo’ak sat again beside Tsireya, placing a hand on her thigh gently. Neteyam was about to sit near Aonung when something caught his attention.
"Mom, didn't you have to tell us something?" asked Neytiri, coming down the stairs.
Tuk wasn’t there anymore: it was her bedtime.
“Right!” Mo’at exclaimed before she could share a look with Sylwanin and Tsu’tey, “Our trips are always short, so we decided to extend our stay a bit.”
Neteyam stopped breathing as his father asked: “For how much?”
“Three weeks!”
Neteyam gazed at Aonung alarmingly, who quickly searched for his look. Lo'ak face-slapped himself under Tsireya's confused look.
Shit .
Three rules weren’t enough.