Neteyam was eating oatmeal for breakfast. This was red flag number one. Neteyam only ate oatmeal when he needed comfort food; this usually meant he was either sad or nervous. He certainly looked it this morning. Neteyam was hunched over his bowl with his spoon clenched tight in his fist. "Lo, I want some," she said, gesturing to the box of cocoa puffs in his fist. Lo'ak clutched it to his chest, shielding his cereal from Kiri. "No. Mom asked if you wanted anything from the store and you said applejacks. So go eat your damn applejacks." Neteyam snorted. "Why would you want applejacks? There are so many better options." Kiri rolled her eyes. "Shut up, oat eater." She got a bowl down from the cabinet, pausing to look at her brother. "You good, Teyam?" she asked quietly. "I'll tell you later," he whispered, shooting a pointed glance down the table at their parents. Kiri nodded slowly, going back to her bowl. She grinned upon realizing that Lo'ak had filed it with his cereal while she wasn't looking. "Awwww, Lo'ak," she said, looking over at him. He rolled his eyes. "I wish you wouldn't ruin the taste with that rank ass almond milk." Neytiri shot him a look. "Language," she hissed, blinking hard at him. "Sorry," he mumbled, looking down at his cereal.
Kiri was straightening up her room when she heard a soft knock on the door. Before she could even open it, Neteyam pushed it open slowly, peeking through the crack with nervous eyes. "Can I come in?" he asked gingerly. Kiri nodded. "Thank you," he murmured, stepping inside. "What's up with you?" Kiri asked, setting the pair of pants she was folding on her bed. Neteyam stood by the door with his hands awkwardly in his pockets. Kiri could tell he was trying very hard to appear relaxed. "Last night, I, uh..." "Snuck out?" Kiri asked, smiling slyly. Neteyam's eyes widened. "Your bedroom is directly underneath mine. I felt you open the window and I heard you say "shit" out loud when you realized how cold it was." Neteyam swallowed. "Did you tell mom?" he asked, voice low.
Kiri scoffed. "Of course I didn't tell her. You really think I would?" Neteyam thought for a second and shook his head. "So, where'd you go?" Her brother looked at her nervously. "I don't want you to tell anyone this happened. I mean that." Kiri nodded, brow furrowed with confusion. "Well, after I said goodnight to everyone, I went to my room and I had like, 4 missed calls from Ao'nung." Kiri smirked to herself. "I called him back, and long story short, he thought you outed me to Reya and Rotxo and he was apologizing that the information got to him." Kiri blinked. "When you said Ao'nung called you a bunch, I wasn't expecting the reason to be something so..." Neteyam pulled a face. "What do you mean by that?" he asked, eyes squinted. "Nothing," Kiri whispered innocently, grinning at him. "Okay whatever. Anyways, we just sat there listening to music for, like, half an hour, until he asked me how I knew I was gay." Kiri shot up dramatically. "Don't start," Neteyam warned, holding up his hands. "I won't, I won't, but you gotta admit that's kinda..." "No, Kiri, it's not. He said he just hadn't got to ask someone that before." Kiri snorted. "You expect me to believe that was his first ever time interacting with a gay person?" Neteyam rolled his eyes. "I don't really care. I just wanted to let you know." "Mhm."
Neteyam left her room, sighing in exasperation. Kiri continued her cleaning, folding her laundry carefully. Not five minutes had passed before the sound of Neteyam's footsteps stomped down the hallway. He poked his head in, lips pursed. "Why do you think he's gay?" he asked, head tilting. Kiri shot him a sideways glance. "I never said I thought he was gay," she murmured. "You basically did." "But I didn't. Do you want me to think he's gay?" Neteyam's mouth opened and closed as he thought of a comeback. "Why would I care that you think he's gay?" Kiri dropped her hands to her side in defeat. "You care because there is a 6'3 māori man with back tattoos and long pretty hair and he only smiles with his eyes when he's around you. That's why you care." Neteyam picked at his nails. "He's actually 6'4," he corrected, making a point not to look Kiri in the eyes. "Life-changing information," Kiri said dryly. Neteyam scoffed and left, making sure to shut her door behind him.
The Sully family tried to eat together for at least one meal. Today, that meal was dinner. Neytiri had told Kiri to take the chicken out of the freezer to thaw. Kiri remembered this with a chill as she heard her mother shout something from downstairs. She opened her door and poked her head out, listening. "Kiri Chiona!" her mother shouted. "Yes, ommi?" Kiri called nervously. "Where is the chicken?" Kiri groaned and headed downstairs. "I forgot," she mumbled, staring down at her feet. Neytiri sighed deeply and muttered something under her breath before clapping her hands together once. "That's it. I'm not cooking. Go get Tuk ready."
Kiri sprinted upstairs, banging on Lo'ak's door with both fists. "Mom said to get ready," she shouted. "For what?" Lo'ak called. "I don't know, just hurry up!" She then ran into her sister's room. Tuk was playing some game on her iPad. Kiri groaned. Tuk was still in her pajamas. "Get up, Tuk. You gotta get dressed." "For what?" she asked, not looking up from her iPad. "I don't know. Mom just said she's not cooking and told me to come get you ready." Tuk nodded, setting her iPad aside. Kiri grabbed a random pair of jeans and a t- shirt and threw them at her, without checking to see what they looked like. "You good?" Tuk nodded, holding the pants out in front of her. "Good. I'm gonna go get dressed." Kiri walked to her own room this time, catching her breath. She put on a pair of jeans and didn't bother to try to fix her hair. She knew better than to be the one to keep her mother waiting, especially when she was the reason they had to go out to eat anyways.
Someone knocked on her door as she was putting on her socks. "What?" she half-shouted, suddenly annoyed by everything around her. "I have an Advil for you," Neteyam said gently. "In case your head is hurting." Her head was hurting. How did he always know? "Bring it in," she called, getting to her feet and opening the door. Neteyam was in the hallway, holding a small red solo cup of water and a tiny blue pill. "Is Lo'ak ready?" Kiri asked as she took her medicine. "Mhm. Made sure of it before I came here." Kiri nodded appreciatively. "Good. I think Tuk is, too. I'll go get her." Neteyam shook his head. "No, let me. It's okay." Kiri shot him an appreciative smile before he left, hair swinging dramatically behind his back.
Neytiri's favorite place to eat out at was Olive Garden, for whatever reason. She would take home entire to-go boxes of the unlimited salads and breadsticks to have as leftovers, despite how it embarrassed her children. Kiri was sitting between Neteyam and the wall of the booth, looking down at her phone. The server began his usual speech. Kiri didn't bother looking up. Neteyam elbowed her. "Oh, is it my turn? I'll have a diet Dr. Pepper." "Is a diet coke alright?" She looked up and blinked. Their server was in Kiri's econ class. The one with the long blonde hair. "Oh, hey Spider," she grinned. "Hi Kiri," he answered, nodding. "Yeah, diet coke is fine." He smiled. "Great. I'll go ahead and get those drinks and that unlimited salad for you guys." "Don't forget my to-go boxes!" Neytiri called. Lo'ak groaned, burying his face in his hands. "Mama, it's so weird when you do that," he whined.
"Kiri, who was that boy?" Neytiri asked, ignoring her son's comment. "He's in our econ class. His name is Miles, but he goes by Spider for some reason," Neteyam answered. Kiri rolled her eyes at him. "I see. He's rather handsome, isn't he, Kiri?" Her mother asked, giving her a sly glance. "Mama, this is, like, the second time this weekend you've asked me something like that. About two different guys!" Neytiri shrugged. "I'm just wondering. Can I not wonder?" Kiri sighed, rubbing her temples. Neteyam discreetly passed her an Advil under the table. "Thank you," she whispered. He nodded, smiling softly.
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