The fact that the Na'vi are beginning to trust Jake is worrying. Good for his plans, good for them, but worrying all the same. He's not a very paranoid man, but he knows that the lack of questioning of his motives does not bode well for their ability to look underneath the underneath. He'd have thought the lasagne would have taught them that, at least. The fact that they don't seem to care much how that dish is made is no excuse.
It's well and good to be honest, but sometimes appearance is more important than the actual state of things. Or perceived as more important.
In any case, Jake will have to teach them suspicion. The fact that the only one who even remotely questions his decisions is Tsu'Tey is also worrying. And he only questions Jake at every turn because he's worried about Neytiri deciding she likes Jake better. Which is not happening, as far as Jake can tell. He's slammed her face into the hard surface of reality too often for her to harbour any remotely friendly feelings for him.
Especially when it's her father who tells her that Jake is now ready to tame his own ikran.
That's got to hurt. For the first time, she's been given the responsibility of being a teacher, and even now her father is interfering, deciding for her. Jake tries to be sympathetic, he does, but he's quite glad to be done with horses, even though they can be pretty cool.
It's not like Jake intends to make use of their beliefs. Their constant blathering about Eywa is enough for him to keep his fingers out of that pie. Especially since while he shares his stories, they might listen and ask questions, but there is never a tale offered in return.
It's just that Jake's a jackass and when he sees the biggest and baddest of them all, it's going to be him who bonds with it and not some other twit who's about to die at the talons of that huge beast.
He also has a death wish he didn't know anything about. (What are you looking at?)
So, when instead of meeting the kid's eyes, secure in the knowledge of his capture, the beast zeroes in on Jake who's crouched off to the side, watching attentively how the Na'vi is pinned to the rocks by a powerful foot, he knows this is either going to be the best idea he's ever had, or the absolute worst.
He surges forward, ready to dodge attacks that are sure to come, ignoring Neytiri's shouts for him to stay put. The beast huge and hulking, abandons its former prey and goes to kill Jake instead.
He leads him away from the group, knowing that if he fails, the others are most likely next.
But Jake isn't a jarhead for nothing. He's been working on his tactical thinking with Augustine night in night out and he forms a plan in his mind even as he dodges a swipe to his midsection. All he has to do in the end, is tsaheylu. For which Jake needs to get on the beast's back to avoid dying here.
What he does next is very, very stupid. But it also feels like he's a badass for pulling it off. Too bad there's no one but him and the beast there to witness.
He turns and runs straight at the wall, the beast follows, ready to corner him and tear him apart. Only, once he's reached it, he doesn't stop. Instead, he believes with all his heart that running up a wall is possible, just until he feels himself tilt backwards. With a bellow he pushes off, propels himself through the air and manages to twist out of the way of snapping jaws just so. He lands on the beast's back, yanks the huge queuetowards himself and connects.
The furious, malevolent steel trap of a mind engulfing his is a slightly terrifying experience, but Jake's been terrified enough in his life not to be petrified. He gives the beast the mental equivalent of a smug grin. Startled, the beast examines him.
He feels like they're probably going to get along fine. Jake has no intentions of actually taming the beast. Why fix what isn't broken? He just wants to fly.
The beast seems to be in agreement of this plan.
Neytiri's shout makes him open his eyes and look up. She's on her own ikran, staring at him with wide, startled eyes. He gives her a jaunty wave. The beast sends a mental snort his way.
They decide to play a little.
Flying with the beast isn't like anything Jake's ever felt before. The horses were all willing to do as he asked, so long as he attached positive emotions to it. With the beast this only works if the beast thinks it's funny, too. He's just that bit smarter than a horse.
Neytiri doesn't think being chased by them is very funny, but the beast seems to agree with Jake that it is. He also gets that they're not actually hunting her, but he likes it anyway. After scaring the shit out of her, they take to racing, which she, surprisingly enough, is good enough at to keep up with him.
When they pass Tsu'Tey and the other young warriors, it dawns on Jake that he might have been a little rash. Because no one else has a huge beast for an irkan. No one.
He sighs a long-suffering sigh and a flicker of amusement drifts over their bond. At least someone will get a laugh out of this.
Their landing at the home tree is first greeted with fear, then awe. There is so much touching once Jake gets off of the beast's back. They agree to go hunting together tomorrow and then he takes off. Jake snorts and shakes his head. Really, it's like he got the only not-domesticated one. He turns around and there stands Dragonlady, looking smug.
The Feather Shaman later tells him about Toruk Makto and how he came to the clans in times of great sorrow. Well. Jake's been predicting that all along. He can see how he's regarded with more than casual interest now, how the Na'vi seem to hold him in a place above them now, opposite to the way it was before.
When the story is told, Jake strokes a hand along his braid, but says nothing. That's probably better than anything else at this point.
Jake introduces the beast to Augustine the next time she visits. She's brought Norm with her, this time.
"You couldn't just do it like a normal person, could you?" Augustine asks, dry as a desert and continuously unimpressed.
"What, and let some kid die?"
"It's like you've got nine lives," Norm says, eyes large.
"Just two," Jake replies, thinking of Tommy and this body.
Augustine shoots him a look that says she caught that.
Well. He has been pretty good at distracting himself, but even he has to admit that with all that time spent learning what it can do, this body feels more like his own than Tommy's. He's not sure he likes that thought. If he's forgotten his brother's favourite food, could he forget other important details? Details they don't share?
It's a hurt he thinks will never go away.
"So how was the party?" she questions and Jake remembers the constant violation of his personal space with a shiver.
He's not touchy-feely. But it's not only that that makes him shrink away from this. His ascent in station through riding the beast is unsettling. He didn't do it out of calculation, although he can now understand how this is not a disadvantage.
Both of Neytiri's parents now view him with something more than the slight calculation from before. Tsu'Tey has been avoiding him ever since, so there is some upside to it all.
"Fun?" he says and it gets a smile out of her. Even Norm snorts. He knows Jake well enough by now to understand that a party is the last thing he enjoys. The drumbeats remind him too much of gunshots to be anything remotely good for him. That reminds him, he wanted a speaker and some music to play for Neytiri.
He's meant to be returning to base and giving his report in a couple of days. This is the perfect opportunity to plant some of his and Augustine's nastier piles where the ventilation system can't reach. And when Jake says his and Augustine he means the entire science department.
How Augustine has gotten them to become so loyal to her, being all prissy as she is, he has no idea. (But he does get it. He likes her now.)
In any case, appropriating a speaker while he's there and making Augustine bring it to him won't be too much of a challenge. Or maybe two for stereo effect? Norm would probably be happy for the excuse to return to monkey-town.
He'll have to decide on who he wants to listen to what kind of music. Neytiri he can give pretty much anything and she'll go from there. He thinks some of the warriors might enjoy 'epic' music. Ene'I would like classical music, probably. Jake does, too, to a degree. It's when it gets all stuffy and stringent that he balks at it. Maybe someone will even like swing. Or techno. Minimal? Jazz? Blues? Rock? Arabic 1980s music?
Selfridge is getting antsy. It's a sight for sore eyes. Jake thinks maybe it's time to destroy the roads the mining machines have paved. It's been raining a lot recently, so the ground should be soft enough. The difficulty lies in making it look natural. Which he will need a rockslide for.
A stampede, then? How would he come about instigating one? If the monkeys have anything remotely resembling Cowboys, he'll take it. He'll have to speak with Tsu'Tey, won't he?
And, surprisingly, speak they do.
With some understanding of how sky-people don't actually believe in Eywa because they have no proof, Tsu'Tey has a sharp tactical mind. He knows how to direct a stampede without endangering the animals themselves too much, and in the end, as Jake watches from the cover of the trees with his beast at his side, he has to admit, the kid will probably make a good chief one day.
They share celebratory drinks and Jake lets the speakers play for the first time.
Choosing the right songs for their first time was challenging. He was all for the classics, some Jimi Hendrix, Santana, Nina Simone, Queen, David Bowie, Rolling Stones, but Augustine was quick to get him away from those ideas. They are something for later. Keep the best for last, he figures.
What they begin with, is something soft, with a piano that turns into what he would call 'epic'. They are celebrating, after all.
The Na'vi are fascinated, and in some cases, humbled. They don't know that even music has become nothing more than commerce.
But Jake's glad. He's no longer an alien monster, or even a stranger. He gifts them with possibility and beauty and thinks for the first time, maybe they won't hate him for what he is, one day. If he can manage with Tsu'Tey, who as it turns out enjoys Jazz, surprisingly enough, he can manage with all of them.