Neteyam pushed himself up on the wall and out of the pool, getting to his feet on the concrete. "Where are you going?" Ao'nung asked, holding on to the edge of the pool with both hands and staring up at Neteyam. Rotxo heard Kiri whisper something to Tsireya behind him. "I'm going to do my homework." Rotxo blinked. "Now? Are you, like, leaving?" Neteyam shook his head. "I'll just do it here. You guys won't be that much longer, right?" Ao'nung shook his head. "Okay. I'll just sit in the stands, then." He grabbed a towel from the stack by the lockers and went inside to collect his backpack. "Ao'nung," Rotxo called. Ao'nung stayed put, clinging to the edge of the pool, as if he didn't even hear him. "Ao'nung!" Rotxo repeated, a little louder. Ao flinched and turned to face him, an embarrassed smile on his face.
"Come watch Kiri's freestyle," Rotxo commanded, beckoning him over. Ao'nung swam over lazily, holding onto the rope that separated lanes for support. "Go ahead," he called, smiling at Kiri. Kiri nodded and positioned herself on the wall, propelling into the water. Rotxo watched her legs kick behind her, seeing her hamstrings flex with the effort. "She's so strong," he whispered to Ao'nung, grinning. Ao'nung sent him a sideways glance. "Shut up, dude. You're blushing right now. You are actually blushing." Rotxo frowned and dunked his head into the water, rubbing his face hard with both hands. When he re-emerged, Ao'nung was next to Kiri, holding her forearms in his fists. Rotxo felt his stomach drop. He knew Ao was just demonstrating the stroke. He knew that. But he still almost felt nauseous at the sight. With in a few seconds, Ao'nung had dropped her arms, and was demonstrating the hand positioning with his own hands.
There was no lingering touch, no prolonged eyecontact. Rotxo kept reminding himself how little it meant. He looked over into the stands. Neteyam sat with his towel around his waist, laptop resting on his knees. "She's good," Ao'nung commented, coming over to Rotxo. "Yeah, I know," Rotxo muttered, not looking at him. Ao'nung was silent for a minute. "You good, bro?" Rotxo had to bite his tongue to keep himself from saying the words he wanted to. He knew it wasn't Ao'nung's fault. "I'm fine," he answered, glancing at Ao'nung. He had tied his hair back in a bun at the base of his head to keep it out of his face. His goggles were propped against his forehead, but he still had little red circles around his eyes from where they had been. Rotxo snorted. "You look goofy, bro," he whispered, poking his friend in the chest. Ao'nung opened his mouth to respond, but seemed to re-evaluate his response and smiled at the water, shaking his head slowly.
The group finished up soon after, with Kiri wanting to keep their promise to Neteyam of a short practice. "Just wear your suits home and wash them. Bring them back before tryouts," Rotxo called, loud enough for Neteyam to hear in the stands. He gave them a thumbs up, making Ao'nung laugh quietly. Rotxo followed Lo'ak and Ao'nung into the boy's locker room, grabbing a towel and using it to dry his hair. He ran his fingers through it, groaning. "Ao'nung, did you bring the leave in-" "Yep," Ao'nung called, tossing him their shared bottle of leave in conditioner. Lo'ak gave them a curious glance. "Every time I feel my hair after a day in the pool, I regret my decision to do swim team," Ao'nung explained, grinning. Lo'ak nodded in understanding, feeling his own braids with his hand. "I gotta get mine redone. I can barely even see my own scalp." Rotxo scoffed in agreement. "Do you not... braid your own hair?" Ao'nung asked, tilting his head at Lo'ak. "Nah. My mom does it. Or Neteyam. Hell, even Kiri does sometimes." Rotxo grinned. "Awe, man, that's so sweet," he said, slightly sarcastically.
Kiri was standing with Neteyam. Ao'nung jogged over to them, grinning excitedly. 'Grinning at Kiri,' Rotxo thought, gritting his teeth. Before he could think about it further, Kiri turned to him and walked over. "I need you," she began. "To give me a ride to school tomorrow. Neteyam and Lo'ak have dentist appointments tomorrow morning." Rotxo instantly grinned. "Really? Okay, yeah, I can do that," he said hurriedly, smiling widely at her. Her short hair was tied back in a ponytail with her bangs slipping out around her face. "Thank you," she said, smiling warmly at him. "You're welcome," he called to her, as she made her way back to her brothers.
Rotxo stayed the night at Ao'nung's that night, because his house was closer to Kiri's. He brought Ronal's vacuum out into their garage and proceeded to clean every single crumb out of his minivan, paying extra close attention to the passenger side. He removed the collection of numerous black ice air freshener trees from his rear view mirror and replaced them with a single pine scented one. Something told him Kiri would like that smell. He was using Windex to clean the front window when Ao'nung walked in, eating from a small box of yogurt covered raisins. "Whatcha doing?" he asked, leaning against the doorframe. "Cleaning my car," he explained. "Kiri asked for a ride to school." Ao'nung grinned. "I know. Who do you think was the one who suggested she ask you?" Rotxo stopped mid-wipe and looked at him. "Really? So you don't... like her?" Ao'nung's eyes widened. "No. No, I don't. What makes you think I would?" Rotxo shrugged as relief settled in his stomach. "I don't know. Gut feeling." Ao'nung grinned. "You really thought I would go for someone my best friend likes?" Rotxo smiled to himself. "Best friend? Awe, Ao'nung, how sweet of you." "Oh, shut up," he retorted, laughing. "Look what I sent in the groupchat real quick."
the group🌺🏊🎸🎨🏄🏽♂️🥍:
(ao'nung)
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