And another chapter for you all! Poor Tom, he's only going to get more confused before he fully figures things out, but then again, it's good for people who think they already know things to have their worlds shaken up now and then. Ninat's sure to do that. She's a smart girl, she knows there are things he's going to need to experience to truly learn, and she's greatly enjoying watching him come to realize the reality of his situation.

This next week will be slow most likely, although I might get another chapter out tomorrow. It's possible depending on how much time I get, but I have practicum days two days in a row next week, so that should kill things until at least Wed.

Brotherhood Chapter 9: Understanding

The next morning, when he was getting dressed before heading out, Tom debated on what to do about the loincloth. He certainly wasn't going to wear nothing but, that was out of the question, but maybe under his shorts...just in case... In case of what he didn't know, but it seemed like the right thing to do, so he decided to just go with it.

Maybe, he thought to himself, it might be good to just relax a bit and let himself go. It seemed like he was going to learn more that way. Who needs distance anyway. He had enough built-in distance as it was, coming from an outside culture. Besides, Grace hadn't kept her distance, how could he be expected to? So it wouldn't hurt if he just let himself...fit in a little. A part of him knew he was giving in to temptation, but a bigger part of him (that was sounding quite a lot like Jake at the moment) said fuck that, just let it go.

Maybe he was a mermaid after all.

Feeling altogether better about any number of things (and actually getting used to the sensation of wearing what amounted to a thong) Tom strode out to the hoverpad a new man. Or anyway a new uniltìranyu. He figured as long as he remembered what he'd reminded Cathy about the day before, that this body, although he was walking in it right now, wasn't his true one, he should be safe.

He couldn't wait for his day to start! Even the prospect of being grilled on human customs and foibles was exciting. What kind of questions would someone who had such a different upbringing ask? He found himself eager to find out.

"We running again?" Jake asked as he yawned and stretched out the kinks his avatar body inevitably acquired from lying too still in his hammock each night. He wasn't there to make it turn over, and as a result, he'd often woken up with one arm or leg - or his tail - numb until he figured out a position that wouldn't pinch them while the body was empty.

"Not running today," Neytiri shook her head, "today we work again on shooting. Your arms must be strong just as your legs."

"Am I ever gonna get to shoot anything but leaves?" he groaned good-naturedly, "it's getting kinda old."

"Today you will not shoot leaves," Neytiri shook her head, "today you will shoot nothing. Draw only, then put down the bow then draw again. We work on your breathing with the bow."

Jake was thoroughly confused, but he just shrugged. He'd find out soon enough what she meant, no sense in worrying about it. He watched her out of the corner of his eye as they made their way down to the ground. There was something different in her demeanor today. He wondered if it had anything to do with yesterday. He'd been able to stay right behind her for their whole run, and when she'd finally given him a reprieve, she had looked almost impressed. Well, she shouldn't be so surprised. She might be a strict teacher, but she was still nothing on his old Drill Sargent back in basic training. Still, she was a heck of a lot better looking than old Sargent Pratz had been. He chuckled. That certainly didn't take much! She deserved a better description than "better than Pratz" though, she really was pretty, especially when she forgot herself and smiled...and she was damn sexy when she got mad, too, he had to admit. He shook his head. He might think that way now and then, it was inevitable being around an attractive female all the time, but he wasn't going to do anything about it. Tom would kill him if he did something stupid like that, but only if Tsu'tey and more likely Neytiri herself didn't eviscerate him first. The girl was spoken for already, and besides, from everything he'd seen, the Na'vi didn't do casual relationships even if she hadn't been, and he was in no position to be getting into something longterm. The last thing he wanted to do was get himself kicked out for saying or doing things he shouldn't.

And she was giving him a weird look again. He must be staring or something, he knew that pissed her off, when he stared at her. Not that it wouldn't piss him off if it was the other way around and she was staring at him. He closed his eyes for a moment and then looked around instead, seeing if any of the kids were around. He liked the kids, even if they did have a tendency to make rude comments about his pinkies. He'd always liked kids. And if anyone suggested that was because he acted more than half like a kid himself most of the time he'd punch their nose in. He liked kids because they were innocent. They saw the world through eyes that saw every possibility and every impossibility and didn't draw much of a line between the two. He'd like to still pretend anything was possible. He couldn't, really, but every now and then he wished he could.

Oops, and there went his footing. Too much thinking about stupid things. Pretty soon he was going to need to wrestle himself into the mud! He laughed to himself and hopped down to the ground. Time to concentrate on more important things, like eating and not-shooting his bow.

Ninat rolled over in her nivi with a smile on her face. She watched as Jhakesuuly hurried after Neytiri and she laughed a little. It was amazing how similar the two brothers looked, and how dissimilar their talents seemed to be. Tom was obviously a thinker, one who wanted to learn, while Jhakesuuly...er...probably she should think of him as "Jhake"...he might be one who wanted to learn also, but his talents were definitely much more in the physical realm.

She laughed to herself as she rolled back over and reached up for her necklaces hanging on her chey, slipping them over her head as she sat up and arranging them carefully. Today was going to be a very interesting day, she could hardly wait to get it started! She had not heard the distant sound of the kunsìp which usually brought Ka'tsi and he, or the others, toktor Grace and Normspellman. Hmm...maybe that should just be Normspell? Or was it just Norm? The tawtute all seemed to have short one- or two-syllable names which were for common use amongst themselves. Yet another question to ask Tom once he arrived.

She had to be careful and watch him as she asked her questions though, she reminded herself. The tawtute had such strange customs about some things, like their ridiculous clothing. So impractical. He had said wearing less made them very uncomfortable, though, so it made her wonder if perhaps there was more than just uneasiness about their bodies behind it. Perhaps there was something else as well. Surely if they lived in a place anything like the Na'vi they would most likely have given up the unnecessary extra layers, although she supposed maybe it was that in their other forms, their small, natural forms, their skin was more easily damaged. Well, soon enough she would know more. Best not to make assumptions when she had access to real answers. Her ears perked forward as she heard the distant sound of rotors. That might be his ride!

She made her way quickly to the building site, brimming with anticipation and excitement. And it had been his transport! She stayed out of sight behind the trees as she watched them get off and unload the kunsìp, and she made a disappointed face. Of course he was wearing all the silly clothes again. At least he'd left his hair, though. She giggled softly, maybe he still hadn't noticed. He certainly hadn't made any comment as she braided it for him while he talked yesterday. Not that it mattered whether he looked like one of the People or uniltìranyu but she just...found him more approachable when he wasn't all wrapped up in his extra clothing. Ah well, it wasn't as though she couldn't encourage him to return to what he'd worn yesterday, she just had to explain to him that he would fit in better tomorrow when he met with Sempul. From what she had seen of him so far, even in their relatively short contact of yesterday, she knew he would not turn down an opportunity to learn more about the Omatikaya, and that he would easily recognize the meeting for being just such an opportunity.

Ninat screwed her face up in displeasure at the stink of the kunsìp as it took off, and waited until the sound was completely gone before moving into the clearing.

"I See you Ninat," Ka'tsi greeted her, and Ninat smiled at her brother's intended mate.

"I See you, Ka'tsi tsmuke. If you don't mind I'm going to steal Tom for the day. He made a promise and I intend to see he keeps it."

"Help yourself," Ka'tsi's expression almost made Ninat laugh. "Just be sure to return him in one piece."

"What reason would I have to cut him to pieces? Then he would not be able to answer my questions," Ninat pretended to look confused, then she grinned. She knew that expression, Ka'tsi had used it before around her, after all. She resisted the urge to grab Tom by the arm and drag him away. She might not be the hunter that Neytiri was, but even she knew better than to frighten off her prey like that.

"I always keep my promises," Tom shook his head, smiling, "Where did you want to ask your questions?"

"Where we sat yesterday will do well enough," Ninat said, "Come, I will provide lunch so you don't need to worry about getting food to bring with you or anything like that."

"Looks like I don't have any excuses," Tom laughed, walking toward her, "I'll see the rest of you later," he smiled and waved over his shoulder before the two of them disappeared into the forest again.

"Thank you," Ninat turned to him, "I know you suggested this, but there really was no reason for you to feel you have to answer my questions."

"I don't mind," he shook his head, "I'm intrigued to know your questions and answer them."

She watched him moving through the forest and sighed.

"What is it?" he asked, stopping to look over at her again.

"Those things on your feet make you slow," she said, "and I thought I told you yesterday that all the extra clothing is silly and unnecessary."

"It may be unnecessary to you, but it is necessary for my sanity. Everyone stared and made comments yesterday until I covered up," he frowned.

"I still do not understand," Ninat said, "Why is it necessary to cover yourself? Are your sky person bodies so easy to injure? Or perhaps is it not so warm where you live? I have heard there are clans who do this...covering up at certain times of year because their weather is not as warm."

"Ah, so the questions have started already," Tom grinned, "and with such a complicated one to answer... Truthfully both of your suggestions have something to do with it, but it is also...hmm...I suppose you could say tradition and clan taboos which cause us to keep wearing clothes even in places where, as you pointed out, all of them may not be necessary. The only time it might be appropriate for a male of my clan to wear so little is while swimming, although even then it is...discouraged. Usually for swimming we wear something more like these shorts. Women may wear as little on the bottom as you for swimming but they must always wear a covering, like a tiny shirt or cups over their...um, chest,"

She watched with interest as the bioluminescent dots on his face lit up bright enough to be clearly visible even in the morning light under the trees. That was interesting. Why a grown male should be so disconcerted by a part of the female anatomy mostly dedicated toward raising infants had always mystified her. It was less pronounced among the People, but certainly it happened there too. She had been told it had to do with mating but even her mother would not tell her why "until it mattered" so she was left to make up theories.

"Anyway," he continued, "as far as being more easy to injure, it isn't so much that as being more in danger from too much sunlight. Where we come from there isn't a big body in the sky surrounded by smaller bodies. Instead we are on the big body in the sky, and only one smaller body surrounds us. This means that we are exposed to much more direct sunlight. If you have noticed with the workers who are building the house, our skins are different from yours, shades of pink to brown rather than blue. This makes us more susceptible to being burned by the light of the sun, and that can cause us a great deal of damage, so our clothes help protect us. The lighter our skin, the more danger we face, and that has also to do with your other point. In some places, in some clans, humans also wear as little as the Na'vi, but where my clan lives is much cooler, and that has much to do with what we wear also. These clothes," he gestured at himself, "are actually very few compared to what we must wear during the winter. In the winter we might wear two or three layers on top, and we might even wear two or three layers on the bottom. Almost no skin is left exposed." He smiled at her, "When we get to our tree I can show you pictures."

"Then it is good we are almost there," she said, "but really, you should get rid of those things on your feet."

"Fine, fine, I'll take off the shoes," he sat on a nearby treetrunk and slipped his shoes and socks off, tying the laces together and looping them around his neck.

She grinned. "It is the first test you pass," she said, "soon enough you will be comfortable in this skin as you are in your other."

"And that is something you think ought to happen?" he asked.

"Your brother quickly becomes one of us," Ninat said, "I believe it would be...wrong if you were not able to have the same opportunity. I do not mean to overstep my bounds. Of course such decisions ultimately belong to the Tsahik and Olo'eytkan, but I see nothing wrong with giving you the opportunity to learn."

Tom blinked at her and she could see that he looked confused. "But...why would you even care?" he asked, "I mean, until yesterday we had not even spoken."

"Because it is right," Ninat said. "And because the songs tell of the dangers of separating those who are two souls one face. The songs say that they are like mates in some ways, that they have a connection even without tsahaylu."

"The songs are not wrong," Tom admitted, "We also have this legend and I can confirm that at least for Jake and I it is true. When one of us is hurt or very upset or very happy, the other feels the echo."

Ninat nodded. "I thought as much," she said. She reached out and grabbed his hand, pulling him back to his feet. "Come, you are dawdling."

"Alright, I will stop dawdling," Tom laughed, and she was surprised to hear so much freedom in his voice. It was as though he had not truly laughed in a long time, and it made her wonder. There would be time to examine his heart for injuries later though, she assured herself. Right now she wanted questions answered!

Once they reached the tree Tom had been sitting in the day before, Ninat quickly made her way up to the branch. Tom started up after her, but he got caught halfway up when a branch somehow ended up snaked up the back of his shirt. "Argh! Damnit I thought I missed that branch!" he objected, "What is this?! Even the trees are trying to get me naked!"

Ninat peered down at him and giggled. "You see? I told you your extra clothing is useless," she said.

"A little help?" he said, trying to unhook his shirt.

"Of course I will help you," she jumped nimbly down and finished what the branch had started, lifting the shirt up.

"Hey! What're you...doing!" he protested, flushing.

"Freeing you from your confinement," she said, lifting his shoes from around his neck and hooking them over a nearby branch, "now lift your hands."

He sighed and lifted his arms, allowing her to strip his top off. He tried not to flush any more and just accept whatever happened to him. He held his hand out for the shirt. "I'll take that," he said, "I suppose you're going to tell me I should lose the shorts too."

She cocked her head and looked at him. "You will be more comfortable and less likely to get caught in the trees again."

"Fine," he sighed, moving over to the trunk, "you go ahead to our spot, I'll meet you up there in a minute."

She had evidently decided to take pity on him, because she quickly made her way back up. He tried to ignore the fact that there was absolutely nothing stopping her from watching him, and just pretended he was changing into swim trunks at the pool in their apartment building back when he and Jake were little.

Once he was down to the loincloth again, he folded his shorts, bundled them into his t-shirt and slung it around his neck, along with his shoes. He would simply leave them here but he didn't trust that something wouldn't come along and eat, steal or otherwise destroy them. He did NOT want to end up flying home with his butt hanging out again.

He was just settling down on the branch when his vision was obscured by another atokirina. He blinked and raised his hand to wave it away. He knew better than to roughly bat at it, but it was in his face and he couldn't see.

"Shh," Ninat caught his hand, "Let it be, atokirina know better than we do."

He stilled, his eyes crossing as the small floating seed alighted on his nose. "Why do they keep getting in my face?" he asked her.

"I am not the one to know, that is for Tsahik to tell you," Ninat said, "but it is a sign from Eywa. It is best to listen when she sends signs to us."

"I appreciate that," Tom nodded, "if it weren't for these little things, Neytiri probably would've killed my brother before he even had a chance."

"It is possible," Ninat admitted, "but there is no way to know for sure, since Eywa's message was heard. Now you are avoiding my questions," she added as the atokirina finally decided to move on from his nose.

"Right, right, questions," he smiled, settling in comfortably against the trunk and digging in his bundle of clothing for the holoscreen he'd tucked away, "Why don't I start by showing you some pictures of different types of human clothing."

"Later," she shook her head, "I want to know more about your clan. You are a part of the Jarhead clan, correct?"

"Me? No," Tom shook his head, looking a little confused, then he realized what she was talking about.

"But your brother, Jhakesuuly, said..." she began.

"He is, I am not," Tom explained, "and really, you should just call him "Jake", I'll explain about names next. Jake is indeed a part of that clan, but it is...well, it is more a warrior society than a clan. Both of us belong to the American clan, but when he reached the appropriate age among our people he decided to become a warrior, while I did not. I suppose you could say I am a member of the Stanford clan, as that was where I did my highest-level training." He shrugged, "With so many people, family units are of much more relevance to us than what you might call our clan, and we have many groups that we belong to. It...might make more sense if I use the word "society" when describing sky people, rather than "clan". It is closer to the meaning we attach in any case."

"As you wish," Ninat nodded, settling more comfortably in where she could see the screen. "You said something about explaining names?"

"Yes," he smiled, "I think names are a very good place to start. My name, for instance, is made up, actually, of three names, but I only use part of one of those names most of the time..."

"Tawtute are so strange," Ninat shook her head, smiling.

They spent most of the morning deep in discussion, and Tom found himself greatly enjoying himself. It was almost like tutoring an extremely bright student who wanted to know everything all at once without having to go through the bother of beginning-level classes. He found that Ninat instantly grasped most of the anthropological constructs and conventions he explained to her, and once they had established that basis, examining things was simple. She was also, he realized, very good at listening and accepting the information as given, even if the cultural point he was explaining quite obviously struck her as ridiculous. Body shame, for example, continued to baffle her, but she did not mock it, she merely shrugged and proclaimed that it was unfortunate that their clan did not see its own beauty. Which was a remarkably deep statement really, when he thought about it.

Around midday she suddenly put a hand over his where he had been looking up another explanatory picture and shook her head. "We will continue later," she said, "now it is time to eat. Come, I will show you where to gather fruit nearby and we will speak of other things."

"Are you sure?" he asked, "I could finish this explanation first if you want."

"I am sure," she laughed, "if you finish the explanation it will lead to at least two more questions, and we will still be sitting here as the plants come to light and not have eaten a thing. I know this of me, and after yesterday I definitely know this of you, now come, eat, to fuel more questions when we are back here."

That made him laugh as well. "You are probably right," he admitted, tucking his things back together and slinging them around his neck again.

"I am absolutely right," she said, standing and making her way quickly down to the ground. She waited for him to make his way down as well, then headed off in a different direction than they had arrived from, angling back somewhat in the direction of Hometree.

"So, you said we should speak of other things," Tom said as he followed her, "What is it you want to speak about?"

"You are a good friend to Ka'tsi tsmuke," she said, "and I know that Antsu tsmukan will not wait too much longer to make things complete between them. He is...well, he is not the most patient of males when his temptation is so nearby," she said, giggling, "That is one of many reasons that I am the one who will take Sempul's place; Antsu could never sit still long enough in lessons, although his memory for the songs is wonderful, of course."

Tom nodded, frowning slightly. He was still worried about what would happen when Cathy woke up after finally, well, tying the knot, he supposed, was a term that would work as well as any other.

"I wondered if perhaps you would join our family for the feast of congratulations which is typically held," Ninat said. She turned to look at him, and obviously caught on to his expression, because she looked concerned. "Does it upset you? That your friend is to be mated to my brother? Did you perhaps wish she could be yours? I know that sometimes happens between friends who learn together."

He shook his head, forcing a smile for her. "I might have thought that way once," he admitted, "but it was soon clear to me that her feelings were not as mine, and that I was only making a fool of myself to pursue her. I wish her and your brother all happiness, but I worry how those in charge of the sky people here may react if they find out she has mated with one of the Omatikaya. It is...well, there is no stated rule against it, but becoming too close with the Na'vi is strongly discouraged. Still," he added when he could see her looking a little worried as well, "I will not betray her, and neither will any of us among the scientists, and I know better than to think that she would be anything but miserable without your brother. I saw the way he makes her eyes light up, and that is enough for me."

"You are a good man, Tom," Ninat patted his arm, "I think the atokirina know this too and that is why they come to you. That is also why I have asked my father to consider training you. You would like that, would you not? To learn among us as your brother does?"

"I would...that would be an amazing opportunity," Tom said, his eyes going wide. "You are very generous to offer me such a gift."

"It is because you know it for a gift that you are worthy of it," Ninat said and drew a finger along his forehead in a gesture that should have just confused him but for some reason made him hyper-aware of his skin instead. The Na'vi might be very like humans in many ways, but Tom was coming to realize that there were some very fundamental differences as well. And not just culturally. There were physiological differences beyond just the fact that they were taller and had tails, and he somehow hadn't even considered that before.

"What...what did you do?" he asked as he lifted his fingers to his forehead. "That felt...different."

"I did nothing unusual," she shrugged, "come, you are getting distracted."

He laughed silently to himself and followed her. He could experiment with recreating that sensation later if he was still curious, after all.

Meanwhile, back at the building site, everyone was breaking for lunch as well.

Grace, looking around at the building, grinned. "Well," she said, "It looks like we won't need the drones starting tomorrow. Now all we have to do is a little interior decorating." She stretched and leaned back, looking up to the treetops above them. It felt good to be back, and it was going to feel even better when they didn't have to worry about what they said around the workers. She glanced over at Norm and rolled her eyes. The boy was clearly distracted again. He had somehow managed to get fruit all over his hands while he was eating, probably because he had a habit of picking berries that were just this side of overripe. Still, it felt nice to be able to see this world again through fresh eyes, even if they were all babies who she had to watch to make sure they weren't tripping over their tails half the time. She cherished these moments of peace when she could forget for even a few minutes all the things that were going wrong with the RDA and the imbecile who ran things.

Over the years that she had been here, Grace had seen a reasonably good situation go downhill further and further, and although she had hope for Jake's mission, and Tom had managed good results as well, she still worried. She tried not to let it interfere with her work too much, though. After all, her real job was studying plants, and plants, at least, never let her down. Not the way people always ended up doing in the end.

Speaking of Tom, she really ought to speak to that boy about spending so much time alone with a girl. He, of course, probably thought it was totally innocent, and it probably was, but still, the impressions one gave off were important, and even if he meant nothing by it, and even if she meant nothing by it, scuttlebutt on the base was horrific, and the last thing they needed were rumours getting back to Parker the Party-crasher that yet another of the scientists was getting "too fraternal" with the Na'vi. Cathy was bad enough, but at least she knew how to be discrete around those who shouldn't know what was going on. Then again, Grace figured that was a case of "once bitten twice shy".

She rolled her shoulder circumspectly, feeling the tight tug of the scars that peppered it. Being shot had hurt like a sonofabitch, and she could only imagine the pain Cathy had been through with her arm. Anyone who had been through something like that knew only too well what would happen if they screwed up again.

"You know what we need?" Cathy said, "We need to have a housewarming party."

"Absolutely!" Norm nodded, "it would be a great opportunity to improve relations between us and the Na'vi, and who doesn't like a party?"

Grace watched them and had to laugh. Children would always be children. Still, it was a good idea.

"Once everything's done on the inside," she said, "say we set it for a week or so from now. That should give us lots of time to prepare, and a party with good prep is always better," she grinned.

"Woohoo!" Norm pumped a fist, "Party time!"

And now for everybody's favourite part of the day:

Vocab:

uniltìranyu - Dreamwalker, an Avatar

nivi - The sleeping hammocks the Na'vi use

chey - A shortened version of "p'ah s'ivil chey", a belongings rack. Basically a place for a Na'vi to hang things like jewelry, bows, or any other personal things.

kunsìp - Gunship. Loanword from English

toktor - Doctor, another loanword from English

tawtute - Sky person, human

Sempul - Father

tsmuke - Sister

Tsahik - Matriarch, interpreter of the will of Eywa

Olo'eytkan - Clan leader

tsahaylu - "the bond", a special bonding of neural networks between Na'vi and various other Pandoran fauna or between mates

atokirina - Seeds of the holy tree, humans refer to them as "woodsprites", revered by the Na'vi as pure spirits

tsmukan - Brother