zerosomnia

[zerosomnia]

Neteyam x Human!reader - part 2

Summary: The part 2 is more from Neteyam's point of view, long story short, it's Neteyam's birthday and he is wildly overthinking the little moment between you two - what will happen when you're finally alone again?

Genre: Fluff

Warnings: None really, just my personal headcannon of Neteyam being a bit of an overthinker

Word Count: 1.2k

Saying you had been avoiding Neteyam since the little incident the week prior was an understatement. And your avoidance wouldn’t have necessarily been noticeable to the regular person, if you hadn’t been practically running out of the room whenever he was nearby.

Neteyam found himself in a bit of a slump; his birthday was typically a good day, usually consisting of a little rest and some shared family joy. Of course, this time was a tad different with the whole integration into the Metkayina clan. Yet he still couldn’t help but feel it was horribly incomplete. He had been trying to hang out with you more often since the morning in the cabin - but everytime he got the chance, you bolted. Maybe he had gotten too close and made you uncomfortable during his visit? That thought left a horrible, cold dread sinking into the pit of his stomach, luckily, he didn’t get to focus on it much as the hustle and bustle of his siblings barging into the tent after their morning lessons interrupted his spiralling thoughts.

“Neteyam!” Tuk ran over to him, excitedly holding a small, clumsily made bracelet in her hands. Something about her excited  grin had him smiling too, despite his initial upset.

“Aw crap!” Spider cursed aloud, earning a solid glare from Neytiri who had been preparing food by the fire. He slinked back a bit before continuing his sentence, trying to meekly distract himself from her murderous glance. “I left your present up in the cabin, I’ll head back and get it.”

This was his chance! “Well, if you’re going anyway, I can come with you.” Neteyam tried not to give away his true intentions, but that didn’t stop Spider and Lo’ak from sharing a knowing smirk.

“Right… you totally just want to go get your gift,” Lo’ak snickered, earning smiles and laughs from the family. Neteyam rolled his eyes, gently bumping his brother’s shoulder as he followed Spider out of the maori pod.

The walk was mostly quiet between the two boys, it wasn’t until the cabin was in sight that Spider piped up again.

“Y’know, maybe it’s a good thing you’re coming over.” Neteyam side eyed Spider, expecting this to be the lead up to some sly joke, but was surprised when he seemed a little concerned instead. “She hasn’t been out of her room much, well,  she’s been out of it less than usual - maybe it’ll be good for her to see you” Neteyam stayed silent, he knew you two weren’t close - but did you really dislike him that much? He had almost had hope that your shared moment was a turning point, that you two could have been something.

“Maybe… Maybe I should leave her alone then?” He didn’t know what to think.

“No.” Spider was surprisingly stern. “I think you two should talk.” Neteyam’s heart dropped, did Spider know something?

The cabin steps rattled under the boys’ combined weight; he couldn’t tell whether the shaking of the platform was a result of their presence or because his legs had turned to jelly. The door hissed, allowing them into the airlock where the pair swapped gear - Spider removing his mask, and Neteyam grabbing his own. He thanked Eywa that he could still, somewhat, breath human air, he really didn’t want to have this conversation in the silly looking mask. Spider plopped himself down onto the sofa, motioning causally down the hallway towards your room. “Go on, good luck.” The shit-eating grin was back on his face, and it didn’t reassure Neteyam in the slightest. His mouth felt like a desert, and he found himself desperately trying to swallow his nerves. 

The door to your room was slightly ajar, allowing a small ray of light to pierce into the dark hallway. He knocked gently, subconsciously leaning towards the opening so that he could hear into the room. He could hear you fumbling around a bit, and the clinking of glass as you continued working.

“Come in,” you called back over your shoulder, still engrossed in looking down at the glass cases filled with samples that you had collected from your day.

He nervously stepped through the door, closing it after him to keep Spider’s prying ears from hearing your conversation. He awkwardly cleared his throat, trying to get your attention but not wanting to interrupt your work.

“Hi.” You practically fell off of your chair when he spoke, spinning round to face him with saucer-like eyes.

“Oh… um, hi.” You stared at him, the surprise visible on your face.

“Not who you were expecting?” He awkwardly chuckled, suddenly regretting ever inviting himself over.

You visibly relaxed at his observation. “Well, I knew it wasn’t Spider - he never knocks. I just wasn’t expecting you,”

“Yea well, I thought I’d come check on you. Apparently Spider’s worried - in his way. He said you’d locked yourself away in here. “ You blinked at him, processing his statement.

“Locked myself away?” you stood up, Neteyam admired the adorable scrunch of your eyebrows as you tried to recall any indications of Spider’s concern. Realisation dawned on your face. “Oh. I know what this is about.” you groaned. Marching over to your bedside dresser, as you explained. “I wasn’t ‘locking myself away’ - I was doing something.” As you found what you were searching for, Neteyam recognised the netted material of the weaving piece he had seen the last time he visited. You toyed with it sheepishly as you made your way back over to him.

“What’s this?” He lowered his head towards you. His skin tingled with electricity as you gently took his wrist in your hands. Your palms were so soft, he had to stop himself from shuddering as you slid the arm band up towards his bicep. The lack of distance between you both was dizzying, you deftly worked your hands around his muscled bicep, untwisting the parts which had become dishevelled as you had put it on him.

“Happy Birthday,” You kept your eyes on his arm, a small smile gracing your face. He was grateful, but he wasn’t looking at your gift, his eyes were trained on your lips. 

“So you’re not upset, about the other week?” You looked up at him, shaking your head with a confused quirk of your eyebrows. 

“No?”

“Good.” That was all he needed to hear as he gently pulled you in by your hips, finally closing the distance between your lips. His kiss was gentle at first, unsure. But when your arms looped themselves around his neck and pulled him in closer, it quickly became hungry, devouring you like he’d been waiting his whole life. You both let out a shuddering breath when you pulled away, resting your foreheads against each other. He closed his eyes. “I was so nervous that I’d scared you away,” You chuckled a little at his confession.

“You definitely didn’t - I just didn’t want to ruin the surprise before you’d gotten it.” You paused. “You do like it, right?” He pulled back and studied it for a moment.

“It’s beautiful.” You both jumped at a sudden loud voice from the other side of the door.

“Finally!” Spider shouted. “She’s been stressing all week.” Neteyam recoiled a little as you screamed back at Spider, and released you so that you could hunt Spider down in the hallway. As he watched you run out of the door,  Neteyam smiled to himself. 

“Best birthday ever.”

#atwow fanfiction #avatar way of water #fanfic #writing #atwow neteyam #neteyam x reader #neteyam fanfiction #x reader #fem reader #female reader #reader insert

[zerosomnia]

Neteyam x Human! Reader

Summary: You don't show up to your morning lessons with the Tsahik, Ronal, and Neteyam finds himself worried over nothing.

Might make a part 2 👀

Genre: Fluff

Warnings: none apart from spider being canonically stinky - you can't tell me that boy doesn't need a bath 🫣

Word count: 1.8k

Translations -

Skxawng = Moron

You remember the day you first visited Awa’atlu like it had happened yesterday. The Metkayina’s had been wary when you had arrived, stepping down from the helicopter with a hurried expression and wild hair. You had ignored their gathering and babbling as you bolted towards the marui pod that Jake had said Kiri resided in, ignoring Norm’s calls for you to wait and darting inside to see your beloved friend. Your heart sank to see her in such a state, and yet you had been given a gift. You were able to witness the true wonder of Na’vi healing, and you had been obsessed ever since. You weren’t so much obsessed in the spiritual way, though you had no reason to doubt Eywa’s existence, but you had always been highly scientific. It was then that your chance appeared. Norm and Max decided they needed a scientist to stay back and keep an eye on Kiri - and you all but jumped at the situation. Desperate to study the new life at the reef, you begged them to let you stay, promising you’d send back reports of the local fauna if you were allowed the chance to look after your friend.

In hindsight, your curious nature was likely due to growing up around Norm and Max, as the other child who was left behind. Spider had integrated himself with the Sully’s family - whereas you had integrated with the scientists, engrossing yourself in the biological wonder that was Pandora. Though you were still plenty close with Kiri and Lo’ak, it wasn’t hard to be when they were constantly dotting around the lab with spider, Neteyam and Tuk were more distant to you. Tuk was always around her mother, as a child should be, and Neteyam had been busy working and preparing for his iknimaya - his rite of passage. You were tentative acquaintances with him, but you certainly found yourself admiring his kind and jovial nature;  especially compared to his harsher mother.

As of recently, you had been assisting Ronal, Tsireya, and Kiri, adamant about learning the ways of Na’vi healing. Ronal, although wary of you, reluctantly let you tag along; even if it was just to keep an eye on you. She wasn’t keen on risking a human running wild about her village. And so you had been studying, soaking in everything she told you like a sponge. You found that your fluency in Na’vi often surprised her and coupled with your intense curiosity you made an adequate student. This is why it was unusual when you didn’t show up to your usual morning training - luckily, she wasn’t particularly bothered about your presence. After all, a human would never be Tsahik - but she did find herself offhandedly mentioning it to the girls as they were working. The lack of your questioning made for a considerably quieter session.

Once the morning’s training had passed, the group of teenagers and Tuk found themselves gathered on the shoreline. Sharing tales of their day and bantering about old adventures. The relationship between them had gradually been getting better, and again they found your presence was sorely missed. “Has anyone seen Y/N today?” Kiri’s concerned stare turned to Spider, who shared her cabin that was a little ways off the village. It was the only place the two humans could breathe normally,so it made sense that they would stay together. Spider hummed for a moment.

“I haven’t seen her since last night, she was in her lab again. Told her to eat dinner but I don’t know if she actually did.” Surprisingly, Neteyam was the one who seemed most interested in the conversation. The others had already broken off into other topics, but he found himself pressing for more.

“You think she’s still there?” Spider nodded in response. 

“If she’s not with us or Ronal, she’s there. She never goes out alone.”

Despite spider’s reassurances, it wasn’t long before Neteyam found himself clambering up the small hill to the rockface where your cabin resided. He found himself worried, despite his lack of closeness with you. He didn’t want anything to happen to you. He peered in through the windows into the living space, a nervous choking panic began to fill his throat when there was no signs of movement within the room. Usually, he wouldn’t enter the human cabins unless he needed to. But he wanted to know that you were safe, Spider’s negligence of you irritated him in some way. He found himself surprisingly riled up as he opened the airlock and slipped on one of the CO2 masks that you kept for Na’vi visitors. He released the air seal and ducked under the doorway, it was only then that he realised he had no clue which room was yours. He had never been into the personal cabin that you and spider shared, and he found himself peering around the main living space with eyes like saucers. It was homely, woven blankets scattered over the couch, and various textbooks covering the coffee table and the floor in front of what he assumed was a TV (Spider had described it in detail to him). Some of Spider’s crafts were strewn across the lunch table - some sculptures that were barely started, and a weaving that looked far too intricate to be Spider’s own work. It appeared to be an arm band of some kind, with various pearls and beads woven into the pattern. 

He moved on through the building, quickly finding what he assumed was Spider’s room - surprisingly he found himself recoiling a little at the smell of the room. He had never noticed the boys smell personally, but then again they were always outside with him. 

Neteyam decided to close the door and move on, which left one more door that was cracked open. He peered in and quickly laid eyes on your slumped over figure. As he stalked closer he felt relief flooding his body hearing your heavy breathing, you were asleep. Judging from your uncomfortable pose and the samples strewn across your desk, you had fallen asleep while working. He found himself curious about what you had been doing and he peered down into your little microscope, quietly gasping at the millions of little circles and shapes that danced under the glass lens. It was only when he drew back a little he realised how close he was to your sleeping face. You looked so peaceful and serene, and he found himself reaching towards you. The skin of your cheek was soft under his gentle touch as he traced down the side of your face, he had never been this close to you. You were lovely, in a very human way, softer than the other muscled Na’vi he had grown up around, smaller too - he could tell even from his palm beside you that your entire head would perfectly fit into his hand. You stirred a little, jolting him out of his admiration and shifting him into a role more reminiscent of a caretaker.

“Y/N,” he whispered lowly, he didn’t really want to wake you - but you looked terribly uncomfortable leaning over the desk. You hummed lightly in response to his voice, leaning into his touch but not really waking. He repeated your name again, trying to be a little more assertive and louder with his words. “Y/N. You need to get up now, it’s midday.” The change in volume had your eyes slowly opening, squinting in the bright light that was beaming through your window. As you pushed yourself upwards and looked around a little, it took you a moment to realise who had woken you.

“Oh… hi Neteyam,” Surprise seemed to be laced into your tired voice, though you hadn’t yet noticed the proximity the two of you were sharing.

“Are you alright?” he nodded towards your work, waiting for your tired brain to catch up with what he was saying. You looked around in a confused manner before leaning back into his shoulder a bit to stretch and rub your face, the close contact had the scent of your shampoo consuming him, sweet and artificial in a mouth watering way.

Then your brain seemed to finally catch up, and the feeling of his towering figure leaning over you and his steady breathing against your neck sent a flurry of waves through your chest that turned your legs to jelly. 

“Uhm… yeah,” you managed to stammer out, whirling out from under him and towards the door in a flustered mess. “I… I really need a coffee.”

He followed your retreating figure through into the main room, where you hunched yourself over the coffee machine, desperately waiting for the ambrosia to cool so that you could fill your aching brain with thoughts again. You hadn’t noticed that Neteyam had wandered back over to the lunch table.

“This is nice,” he held up your weaving work. “Too nice to be Spider’s.” he chuckled and looked at you knowingly. The lump in your throat felt impossible to swallow, he wasn’t supposed to see it yet. His birthday was still at least a week away. Instead of answering you just nodded and inhaled a mouthful of coffee - in your haste it was still far too hot and you found yourself coughing and spluttering as molten lava made its way down your throat. Neteyam rushed over and took your cup. “Ah! Skxawng! Why would you try to drink that?!” He cursed at the heated mug as reached over and placed it behind you on the counter.

“I don’t know! You…” you trailed off as you realised how close to you he was, he had you trapped in the small corner, chest to chest with him. You found yourself lost in his honey coloured eyes, your breathing had both slowed down and sped up so that your heart was bursting out of your chest. He was so tantalisingly close, almost magnetically pulling you towards him.

“ I what…?” he whispered, leaning closer, his warm breath was fanning over your cheeks and you weren’t sure whether you should try to step back and press yourself further into the counter, or lean in and let the electricity between you both flow. But then suddenly he was gone, pulling back and away and your head was swimming, confused and nearly insulted, until you heard familiar laughter and chatter as Spider and Lo’ak barged through the door in a conversation. 

“You ok, Y/N?” Spider called to you, your frazzled expression and red face clearly causing some form of concern for him. You hummed a breathless yes back to him and quickly gathered your coffee, trying to rush back through to your room before you gave yourself away more - but not so quickly that you missed the small smile and tint of darker blue that graced Neteyam’s cheeks.

Maybe you hadn’t embarrassed yourself so much after all.

#stinky spider #atwow fanfiction #avatar way of water #fanfic #writing #neteyam #neteyam sully #atwow neteyam #neteyam fanfiction #neteyam x reader

[zerosomnia]

Ao'nung x Omatikaya!Sully!reader

Summary: Ao'nung is tasked with helping the reader learn to ride ilu, but he's a bit too harsh for Y/N's liking.

Prompt: "Why would I help someone like you?"

Genre: Slight angst? not really - more Ao'nung being an ass

Word count: 1.6k

Ao'nung glared from afar, staying out of sight as he watched the group of outsiders trying to master the art of ilu riding. Watching them tumble off of the backs of their mounts repeatedly amused him somewhat, in fact, he'd even find it funny - if he wasn't tasked with the begrudging role of teaching them the Metkayina ways. His friends snickered around him as Lo'ak fell especially hard into the water, although this time he didn't laugh. His eyes were focused on a particular member of the group, one of the girls who seemed to hang back in comparison to her bolder siblings. Y/N. You never seemed to act as brash as the others, preferring to keep to yourself, although he occasionally caught sight of the hushed conversations that you held with Neteyam. 

It had become apparent over the few weeks that you had been training that you were not keeping up as well as your other siblings. Breathing had taken you nearly twice as long to understand, and you could still only sit on your ilu if you had assistance. And you weren’t the only one who knew it. When you and your siblings entered your marui pod in the evening, you were all surprised to see the chief, Tonowari, crouched beside your father, seemingly deep in conversation. However, this discussion was quickly finished upon your arrival.

“Y/N, sit.” Tonowari’s voice was kind yet demanding, he was a chief after all, and this was his order. You cautiously crouched down beside the two men, hesitantly glancing between your father and the chief.

“Sir?” Jake seemed to sigh as your confused voice reached him.

“You have been struggling to learn the new ways, right Y/N?” you sheepishly nodded back at your father. “The chief has suggested that you train on a more… personal level,” you waited for your father to finish, but he seemed to have problems ending his sentence. It was clear he didn’t like this suggestion either.

Tonowari smoothly interjected with an explanation for you. “Ao’nung is clearly having some… trouble connecting with the boys,” you stared at him expectantly, if he was referring to the multiple fights they had gotten into; then trouble was putting it lightly. “I think that he would have an easier time connecting with you, alone, than he would with your family as a group.” You stared at the tall man as incredulously as you dared to, although you knew better than to reply. You were not being asked, you were being told.

You quietly nodded at his explanation, it certainly made sense. But why did it have to be him?

“Very well,” Tonowari smiled warmly at you, “I shall have Ao’nung meet you tomorrow morning.”

The next morning you found yourself nervous as you tentatively made your way to the shallows. You had barely spoken to Ao’nung, but from what you had seen he wasn’t the most patient teacher. You longingly found yourself looking over at your siblings as they splashed about on their ilu together with Tsireya, chuckling quietly at how Neteyam and Lo’ak tried to shove one another off their mounts.

“Is something funny?” An icy voice behind you caused you to jump. You found yourself face to face with a piercing set of teal eyes as you turned to the voice’s owner who was standing behind you, ilu in hand. He was much taller up close, broader too. You found yourself wondering how, the considerably scrawnier, Lo’ak had faced up to him without being intimidated. The staring contest between you both seemed to last an eternity before you remembered that he’d asked a question.

“Lo’ak… he fell off.” You stammered out a response, expecting maybe a chuckle on the common ground of bullying your younger brother. Instead his frown seemed to deepen.

“So? You’ve fallen off a lot more.” His tone was critical. Clearly, you weren’t the only one unhappy with this arrangement. “Hurry up and get on,” he scowled at you. “I have better things to do.”

Exasperation flooded through your body as you made contact with the water again, you had been at this for hours, the others had long left the water. And yet Ao’nung insisted you get back on the ilu. Despite the fact that he was supposed to be helping you, he hadn’t actually been much help at all. He had just silently watched. Eventually, after many attempts and an aching body you snapped.

“Are you actually going to give me any advice, or are you just going to stand there laughing at me?”

Ao’nung looked you up and down with a smirk. “And why would I help someone like you? You’re a forest freak, you’re not supposed to be here - you should just go back home.” you felt yourself flush with anger and embarrassment. Of course he didn’t want to help you, this was all just a big joke for him. A joke at your expense.

“If you want me to go back home then you should just leave me alone!” Surprise flickered across his face at your demeanour change, though that was quickly followed by a sigh and a shake of the head as he began to wade out of the shallows that you had been practising in.

Frustrated, you smacked the water. It took you a few minutes to calm down, the images of your other family members succeeding were running through your head, making you feel even worse. But then, a thought struck you. Your father had used a belt to attempt to ride the skimwing, maybe something like that would help you?

You ran up towards the pods, quickly finding some rope that the other tribes people had left out from their weaving. When you returned to your ilu you fastened it around the handle and your hand, suddenly feeling a lot more confident with the support in place. This confidence did not last long though.Despite the fact that you could stay in the saddle now, the ilu was uncontrollable - dragging you through waters at a blinding pace, desperately weaving up and down in the water like a loose hose. Eventually, you felt your hand slipping from both the ilu and the rope, and you were left to fend for yourself. Treading water and trying desperately to recover your breath, you noticed a rock in the distance; some support was better than none while you recovered, right?

Ao’nung found himself worrying, it had been over an hour and you had not come back yet. As he wandered down the beach, squinting across the water for your form, he noticed an abandoned ilu - still saddled and with rope drifting from its handle. Despite his earlier words, he felt a drop in his stomach at the realisation that you were nowhere to be seen. He hadn’t really meant for you to disappear, and now he needed to find you before both sets of parents killed him.

He called for his own ilu, and quickly set to scouring the deeper waters where your ilu was floating around. It seemed to understand his confusion and began swimming out towards a lump of rocks in the deeper waters. He felt his mouth go dry as he realised the ilu was leading him outside of the reef. The outer reefs were no place to be frolicking about, especially for an inexperienced rider like you. He needed to find you, and quickly.

You found yourself entranced as you stared under the water. The rock you had clung to kept you afloat, allowing you to dunk your head under the water and watch the fish swimming by. It was relatively peaceful, until it wasn’t. You noticed a group of fish darting across your view, and you soon saw why as the toothy face of a monstrous fish swam into view. Although it was terrifying, it hadn’t noticed you, and you found your curiosity getting the better of you as you watched it following small groups of fish around. It wasn’t particularly committed to hunting, in fact, it seemed relatively calm as it started to swim back off into the distance. 

Even though the danger had passed, you still felt yourself jump when a splash sounded next to you in the waters. You were even more surprised when you came face-to-face with an ilu, it was only after you calmed that you saw Ao’nung’s head peering round the side of the beast’s neck. 

“Its beautiful isn’t it?” you jerked your head out towards the open waters. Ao’nung hummed lowly in response.  

“It’s an akula,they’re very dangerous.” You laughed at his tentative expression as he watched the bulky form of the fish swim out of view.

“Aren’t all beautiful things?” His ears flicked in response, and when he turned back to you there seemed to be a new resolve in his eyes. It was the first time he had seen you smile.

You clung to Ao’nungs muscled back as he directed his ilu into the shallows to meet your siblings. Immediately they were on you, clamouring to ask about your whereabouts and why you were riding in the deeper reefs with Ao’nung. The boy seemed to freeze up up your siblings’ questioning, unable to respond with a proper lie. “I was struggling to get my balance, so Ao’nung let me ride with him until I could figure it out.” the lie rolled easily off your tongue, and your siblings seemed satisfied for now. As you made your way back towards the marui pods he fell into place beside you.

“You should be more careful next time.” you snorted at his chastising.

“It’s not my fault you left me.”

“Yeah, well,” he paused to pull you to a stop. “I won’t be doing that again, I promise.”

#atwow fanfiction #avatar way of water #fanfic #writing #ao'nung #x reader #ao'nung x reader #ao'nung x fem!reader #ao'nung x sully!reader #ao'nung x you #ao'nung x y/n