#a metkayina proverb probably

[luizazemi]

I closed my eyes and I saw everything 6/???

This is totally not a date and there is no mention of offering beads to each other and no holding hands either.

This is just your Avatar : The Way of Water fic, featuring mangrove roots and sandbanks, because seascapes and hand holding are good for the soul in these cold times.

[Title after this song]

At one point the music stopped, the chorus continued on its own, and when the singing finally ceased, both musician and reciter applauded the crowd as much as the crowd applauded them.

Of course, Neteyam applauded as well, and he would have applauded longer, but it seemed it was only formality. All around him, the Mektayina were getting up, going back to their evening matters, and soon he was nearly the last to clap his hands.

“I guess you did like the tale.”

Aonung was up. He grinned at the boy still on the sand. Neteyam felt the warmth on his face coming back, but he didn’t feel like looking away again, so he held out his hand to the Mektayina:

“Well, it was impressive. The story, the scene, the music… All of it, to be fair.”

He paused for a moment. His eyes wandered through the sandbank – but no reciter nor musician were left near the pool, and the instruments had been taken away. He went back to Aonung’s inquisitive gaze.

“I… Hadn’t really seen anything like this before.”

Aonung’s smirk widened.

“Better than tsurak mounting?”

“Definitely better.”

Aonung took his hand, and raised him up on his feet. He was muscular, thought Neteyam, and he could see the likeness with the tough warriors challenging the sea on their canoes.

“When are you going to actually mount a tsurak anyway?” Neteyam asked.

“Oh there’s plenty of time for this. The iknimaya has many other steps before I get the tsurak part.”

Neteyam rose an eyebrow.

“Including collecting beads.”

The Omaticaya scoffed.

“Just joking, Aonung mused. But we do receive three beads if we pass our iknimaya.”

Neteyam said nothing. Aonung didn’t add anything else. They had just made it to the mangrove roots, and Aonung still held Neteyam’s hand, in consideration to the Omaticaya’s agility on wet sand. And though they both remained silent, their steps became slower as they approached the parting of the evening. From time to time, Aonung would glance at Neteyam, who’d proudly pout. He would have the last word.

“That’s when you tell me where I’m supposed to find these,” the Omaticaya finally said, opening his free hand, that had cautiously held the bead all the evening long.

Aonung’s eyes glistened.

“Hmm, let’s see… How much do I win if you beg me to tell you…”

“Oh come on, I already owe you two! I can’t just guess where to retrieve them!”

“Five beads, wasn’t it?”

Neteyam froze.

“I didn’t ask you anything yet.”

“And I didn’t say yes either.”

They stood, face to face, hand in hand still, for some reason that probably neither of them had thought through.

“Oh, of course you attended the show as well!”

Probably the reason was not so serious, though, because as soon as Tuk appeared from nowhere, the boys let go of each other.

“Yeah, even Tuk attended it without falling asleep, which is kind of impressive to be honest.”

And of course Tuk wasn’t alone. The whole Sully family stood beside her, on another root nearby, leading to the marui. Tuk turned to her big sister:

“I’ll admit it, sometimes the bead lady used complicated words. But most of the time she said pretty things!”

“And she was pretty too,” Kiri added.

“Yeah, she was alright”, Lo’ak agreed, and once again Neteyam wondered why his brother always chose to speak when he could just keep his mouth shut.

Yet Neteyam chose to ignore his youngest, and turned to his father instead. As usual in peaceful times, Jake watched over them with unbeatable patience.

“How did you know there would be singing tonight?” Neteyam asked.

“Tsireya told us!” Kiri intervened.

“Tsireya told me,'' Lo’ak sighed, but Aonung’s glare discouraged him to add more.

Jake gave his second son a knowing look, but answered his eldest:

“We met with your siblings and their friend on our way here. She asked us if we were interested in some… cultural recreation, and I must say we were.”

He turned to Neytiri for approval, and after a moment of awkward confrontation, she nodded. Jake quickly added:

“I guess you had your own guide, son.”

He greeted Aonung with a polite nod, and the boy replied the same way.

“These recitals happen from time to time,” Aonung explained as they were heading back to their marui. “The night before, the musician performs a solo dance – that’s how we know.”

“And are all these stories so grand?” Jake asked.

Aonung stopped – his family’s marui was not in the same direction as the Sullys’ – and mused at the question.

“If they weren’t grand, what would be the point of telling them?”

Neteyam glanced at Aonung in shock and amusement, stricken by the nerves he had to speak to Toruk Makto so casually. The boy felt his mother and brother shared his thoughts, less the amusement. Hopefully Aonung was focused on Jake’s answer, and he missed Neytiri ready to hiss at him. 

As for Jake, he simply tilted his head. The boy wasn’t wrong, and he could have seen that one coming.

With that, Aonung seemed content, and he took leave of the Omaticayas.

“Have a good evening, Sullys.”

Tuk waved at him happily because this time she had found him nice. Kiri had already forgotten him, and began to explain to her father how she had no idea, for all her submarine strolls, where the reciter had found so many – and so shiny – beads. Neytiri went on to the marui without turning back, and luckily, she didn’t see the dirty look Lo’ak darted at Aonung. As he had felt it, the Metkayina turned one last time to the family. Neteyam was ready to step in between the two boys, but he was surprised to see Aonung ignoring his brother.

Instead, he waved at Neteyam, and signed “two” with his hands.