Author's Note: Finally updated! Just finished a whole 1000 words today and decided it was time to put it up. I have a feeling everyone will like this chapter ;)
Story Note: Can't say much about this chapter, but I am sure you will enjoy it :D make sure to review, I like to hear from my readers! I listened to a few songs this chapter:
Dance of the Manatee - Fair to Midland (inspiration for the near-beginning to forest travel)
M4 part II - Faunts (inspiration for forest imagery and the animal featured)
My Last Breath - Evanesence (Inspiration for the beginning of the end, you'll see what I mean ;)
Addicted - Saving Abel (Inspiration for the best part of the this chapter, you'll see)
Jake wakes up feeling very comfortable. For one, there's something nice and firm beneath his head and arms, and second, the heat coming from that nice and firm thing makes the slight chill of Pandora's air not affect him.
He yawns widely, stretching one arm above his head before wrapping his arms fully around the warm thing, his sluggish mind wandering back to when he was a kid and sleeping with his teddy bear. Sleepily he thinks that this doesn't feel like a teddy bear. His teddy bear had been soft and furry, this thing was smooth and didn't give under his weight.
Not quite awake, he trails his hand down until his fingers touch some kind of material. Sleepily confused, his twists the rough fabric in his hands, hearing a tinkling sound.
A hand grabs his wrist.
Jake opens his eyes.
Things move really fast after that.
Jake immediately snatches his wrist out of Tsu'tey's as he feels the slight shock of the pleasure spark begin, and twists his body away to put as much distance between them as he can. Stupidly embarrassed, he clutches his wrist to his chest with wide dilated eyes, the pleasurable feeling flitting through his body like a low-voltage electronic charge.
Tsu'tey looks confused, a hand covering his forehead as he pants lightly, his other hand supporting him as he sits up. "What were you doing, Jake?"
His name comes out weird on the other male's tongue, sleepily slurred and accented.
Jake doesn't answer, taking a few moments to try and get himself together.
"Wiya," Tsu'tey mutters, letting himself fall back down onto the lew'ewll, the black tufted end of his tail flicking sporadically against the ground.
"It's...that...was an accident," Jake says finally, and pretty lamely. His voice cracks and he clears his throat. "You shouldn't have grabbed my hand like that. You know what happens."
"If I had not," Tsu'tey begins, running his hands over his face, looking upset. "You would have—"
"Yeah, I know," Jake interrupts, letting his wrist drop from his chest, feeling better as the feeling recedes from attacking his nervous system. "Shit. I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking straight, I didn't really mean to do that."
"Tam." Tsu'tey rolls over on his plant blanket, crossing his arms tightly over his chest. Jake watches the muscles in his back twitch and gets an uneasy feeling just before he sees Tsu'tey's shoulders shudder violently.
"Tsu'tey? Shit!" He scrambles over to wear Tsu'tey's laying like an uncoordinated spider, crossing over his body to see the other male's face. His green eyes are downcast, one of his braids strewn across his cheek and his lips set in a painful line.
"Are you okay?"
"Wiya, tìsraw si. Pain...it— hot all over, should not have... touched," Tsu'tey gets out, his lips barely moving. His stripes have darkened considerably and his face has become more of a violet color.
"Damn, are you all right? What should...Should I tell the—"
"No! It is...normal. Has been so...long, that...has become...pain. Over in...soon," he whispers. "Move away...making it worse."
"Sorry," Jake murmurs, scooting back a few feet. He watches Tsu'tey for a few minutes before the other male finally uncurls himself, breathing normally again. Sweat glistens on his blue skin and a droplet rolls down the side of his face.
"What the hell was that all about?"
Tsu'tey takes a deep breath, "When tìprrte'txepvi has gone on long, too long, the touch will not feel good anymore to the one more...affected," he explains, struggling for a moment on the last word. "It will be pain. Soon...will not have to touch to feel the hurt, will just have to be close to feel it."
Jake sighs, moving nearer to Tsu'tey again. "I don't understand still. Why do you feel it more? It still felt...good to me."
"Some feel it more. It is the will of Eywa," is all Tsu'tey says. Jake watches him sit up and get his bearings.
He looks around, noticing that the rest of the clan had awoken hours before and were now out of the cave. Jake guesses it's the afternoon by the species of birds chirping. Light shines in from the mouth of the cave, illuminating the stalactites and making them glisten.
Jake stretches before standing, aware that Tsu'tey's chartreuse-colored eyes dart towards him for a moment. He grabs his sash and ties a simple knot in it before attempting to put it on himself. He manages to get the still faintly glowing cord around his neck before Tsu'tey chuckles.
"What?"
"You try to put it on like Sky Person's shirt, still." Tsu'tey gets up and walks over to him, grabbing the end of the sash and undoing Jake's previous knot.
Jake can't help but be aware of the close proximity of the other male, moreso than he had been just yesterday when Tsu'tey had tied it. In fact, he's so conscious of it that he can feel the warm breath brushing against the back of his neck and shoulders and the heat of his hands from where they grab the end of the sash and tie it correctly.
Jake shivers minutely, feeling relief with a strange mix of loss when Tsu'tey finishes tying the sash correctly and steps back away from him.
Jake exhales the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding and then grabs his spear and bow from the wall and then walks towards the cave's entrance.
"Where are you going?" Tsu'tey gets up and follows him out into the open air, the sun beating down on their bodies. Jake chirps for his ikran, pleased when the large beast seems to catapult out of the sky to land in front of him, flaring the expanse of his wings and cawing loudly.
Confidently, he takes a running leap onto Txur's back, landing nicely and securing his feet into the stirrups on the flanks of the creature's body before the stubborn ikran can try to shake him off. He connects his queue to Txur's neural whip and the beast calms down considerably.
"Hunting," Jake says simply, needing the fresh air. He pats Txur's neck when he hears the ikran snort softly, shaking his head from side to side uneasily, obviously ready to be in the air. 'Impatient ass', Jake thinks to himself, albeit affectionately.
Of course Tsu'tey is going to go with him. The further they got apart, the more the bond between them stretched and made both of them uncomfortable. Tsu'tey just nods before calling for his own ikran. Duri'sen sails down in front of him, the creature's mouth covered in blood from a recent kill.
Jake is surprised when Tsu'tey's ikran turns towards his own, as if just noticing him for the first time. The purple mount caws sharply at Txur, spreading out his impressive wings. His tail slices the air behind him like a horse whip, making a faint whistling noise.
Txur hisses back, turning to face the larger ikran. Some of the other Na'vi around them turn to watch the spectacle, pointing and nudging others.
Jake laughs uneasily, trying to steer his ikran away from Duri'sen unsuccessfully. He wasn't about to let his ikran get killed by the obviously aggressive creature. "What the hell is wrong with him?" He asks Tsu'tey, who was just standing there as if rooted.
"Ma Eywa," Tsu'tey mutters, finally coming back to himself it seems. He looks between the two ikrans before scowling at Duri'sen. "Oe tsun ke spaw nga, kaw'it!"
Duri'sen merely turns his head and snorts at him, before concentrating again on Txur.
Seeing that that did nothing to calm the riled ikran down, if anything, he looked even more rattled, Jake decided now was the best time to get off. He undoes their connection, which had done nothing but spit confusing thoughts into his mind, and slides off, stepping back aways to stand over by Tsu'tey.
"What the hell is going on?" Jake asks, his voice an angry whisper, wishing Tsu'tey would do something to calm his ikran down. He didn't know what he would do without Txur in his life.
"I think it would be best if we did not go hunting this day," Tsu'tey answers, his voice just as quiet. He crosses his arms and shakes his head at Duri'sen, who looks like he's on the verge of tearing the other male ikran apart. The blood on his snout makes him look even more menacing.
Jake panics.
"I won't ever be able to go hunting again if your fucking ikran kills mine! Do something to stop them from fighting, or I swear to God I'll—!"
"Jake! They are not fighting!" Tsu'tey says urgently, almost comically waving his arms around, trying to get him to understand.
Jake looks confusedly between the two male ikrans who were now circling around each other. "But, if they're not fighting, then what...?" Abruptly a disturbing but helpful image of a male and female lion growling at each other pops into his mind, and then they would-
"You're joking. You gotta be fucking kidding me."
Tsu'tey shakes his head sadly. "I think perhaps, they can feel the bond between us, and—"
"You expect me to believe that they're going to fuck? They're...animals don't...that can't happen," he ends lamely. He watches helplessly as the two ikrans circle around each other a few more times before suddenly ascending into the air as one, flying in close helixes around one another until they even out and fly away through the trees. Jake and Tsu'tey lose sight of them.
"It does happen," Tsu'tey corrects. "Among ikrans, if riders are mated, usually ikrans will be mated as well. It does not matter they are both male. It is Eywa's way."
Jake sighs, putting his spear and bow down before rubbing his face, feeling a headache come on. He sits on a nearby boulder, not knowing what to think about this new development. 'It's way too early to deal with this shit.'
The afternoon sun sits high in the sky, doing absolutely nothing for his almost-headache. The Na'vi that had been watching with rapt attention disperse soon enough, talking quietly amongst themselves. A few minutes pass, and when Jake finally opens his eyes to the world he sees Tsu'tey leaning on the cave's wall, head bowed in thought.
Jake groans, hating the stagnant air. Shaking his shoulders, he leaps off the big rock and picks up his spear, deciding to leave his bow there. He walks by Tsu'tey and taps the side of the spear against his arm, silently beckoning him into the forest. Tsu'tey pauses as if considering, then goes to get his own bow.
"How come your ikran never even paid any attention to mine, before today?" Jake asks, breaking the companiable silence between them. They walk side by side in the forest. Jake jumps over a large tree root the same time Tsu'tey does, as if synchronized.
"Ikrans different than people," Tsu'tey mutters, irritatingly making it sound like Jake was stupid.
"Tell me something I don't know," Jake says, chuckling. At this point they're not really looking for any prey at all; he had spotted a few suitable animals, as did Tsu'tey, but both of them had walked past with nary a reach for bow or spear.
Tsu'tey shrugs, deciding to give Jake a real answer, "Is possible that they did not see each other that way, before today. Maybe you becoming Tsahìk...and tìprrte'txepvi bond getting stronger...Can not know for certain."
"Are you okay?" Jake asks, noticing Tsu'tey slowing down and the uncharacteristic pauses between his sentences. He falls back in his steps to again walk by Tsu'tey's side.
"Tired." Tsu'tey blinks rapidly as if trying to ward off the feeling tugging on his eyelids.
"You just got up," Jake says, chuckling nervously, worrying silently to himself. He didn't want to see Tsu'tey in pain or even be tired. Though he didn't feel comfortable admitting that, it caused him a lot of worry. More than could be healthy.
Tsu'tey yawns, his sharp teeth slicing the air. "Perhaps it has been too long of a day already."
The Tsahìk laughs. "You can say that again."
They continue walking in silence for the next hour, sometimes commenting to one another about something, but otherwise they don't say much.
"It's getting dark," Jake observes, looking around in confusion, wondering where the sun had gone. It was too early for it be turning dark.
"No, the trees are getting thicker," Tsu'tey corrects, pointing up at the canopy of the forest, which now had only a few gaps between the branches where sun could get through. Jake notices the trees were closer together as well, rather than being spaced apart like they usually were.
A lizard walks slowly on a nearby branch, its long curly tail trailing behind it. It's violet-colored with red bioluminescent markings. Jake spots it and puts his finger on the branch. The lizard pauses in its walking, confused at the new obstacle in its way, but then continues moving, and climbs onto Jake's finger.
Jake laughs softly and then pulls his finger away, the lizard stopping and wrapping its tail around Jake's palm as an anchor, feeling its balance disrupted. Jake turns his hand skywards and lets the small lizard crawl up his arm, feeling its tiny claws dig into his flesh with a ticklish sensation.
Tsu'tey watches the interaction with a soft smile on his sharp face, his green eyes tender as he watches Jake carefully put the lizard back on its branch. The reptile continues on its way and Jake steps back, looking upwards at the trees surrounding them, as if taking everything in.
Feeling his mouth go dry and lust bubbling in his heart, Tsu'tey inhales, trying to push down the feelings that Jake continued to evoke in him. His chest had that strangely full sensation again, as if his heart was too big and was pushing at his ribs.
It was becoming too much.
"Jake..."
The male in question turns around, meeting Tsu'tey's slightly dilated eyes. They are glowing in the dusky light and the spots scattered over his face are brighter than usual. Abandoning watching the lizard skitter up the tree, Jake walks over to Tsu'tey in confusion.
"What is it?" Jake asks softly. Tsu'tey smiles at him slowly, the expression unfamiliar but still stunning. His pupils return to their normal size as he licks his lips absently. Jake finds himself watching that tongue run over those full lips and it sends a shot of lust straight through his body. The Na'vi apparently notices it because his eyes dilate again.
"Tsu'tey, I—I don't—"
"Be quiet, Jake," Tsu'tey says almost inaudibly and he's suddenly a lot closer to Jake, close enough for both of them to breathe the same air. Jake can feel the heat just radiating off of his skin again and he suppresses a shudder, feeling like a captive being held by those eyes.
Jake feels like he can't speak anymore, as if someone had stitched his lips shut and took away his voice. Lust wraps its tantalizing tail around his body, urging him to close the gap between them, to feel skin against his own, to let Tsu'tey take all he wanted from him...
"You can feel it too," Tsu'tey murmurs, a statement, his eyes moving restlessly between Jake's own. His warm breath brushes over Jake's face like caressing fingers.
Jake feels something wrap around his tail and doesn't need to look down to confirm what it is. It was, indeed, Tsu'tey's own tail, entwining with his until the joined appendages hang by their sides, both of their tips twitching. Jake blinks and suddenly he's fully in Tsu'tey's strong arms and his arms are around Tsu'tey in an emotional embrace.
Tsu'tey's body against his own is orgasm-worthy all on its own to Jake's lust filled skin. He can feel the other male's heart beating strongly and surely against his chest and the thick collarbones pressing into his own. Tsu'tey's fingers against his back are like little suns, unbearably hot against his skin. All the skin-to-skin contact causes the pleasure spark to roar up both of them, thankfully without the pain.
Jake gasps as Tsu'tey groans, burying his head in Jake's neck and momentarily tightening his grip on Jake's body. Jake lifts his arms to take ahold of Tsu'tey face, his fingers nearly clawing into the delicate skin before he forcefully collides their mouths together. Tsu'tey gasps into his lips, one of his hands coming up to slide over his ear before grabbing the back of his head, sliding his unbelievably hot tongue into Jake's mouth.
Jake moans, pulling Tsu'tey as close as possible as they taste each other for the first time. He feels the other male pushing into him so he walks a few steps backwards, careful to keep them joined together. The back of his knee abruptly hits the trunk of a tree and Tsu'tey pushes him hard into it, the bark digging into his sweaty back.
He's running his hands all over Tsu'tey's body in mindless lust, feeling unable to express how much pent up desire he has had for the past month. Tsu'tey growls into the kiss, the loud sound echoing in his head. Tsu'tey grabs his wrists then, his large hands pulling them up over Jake's head, almost uncomfortably squeezing.
Effectively pinned, Jake gasps for breath when Tsu'tey pulls away for a moment, those almost feral green eyes burning into his own and across his body like a predator surveying his prey. Jake nearly sobs in pleasure when Tsu'tey presses close again and nudges under his chin to attack his neck with kisses and soft bites. The sensations travel up and down his body like an electric current, causing him to pant and arch into the other male's touch.
This action causes his hardness to press into Tsu'tey's, which causes him to bite down hard into Jake's neck, slamming him into the tree and rutting against him like an animal possessed. Gasping for breath in the suddenly thick air, Jake unexplainably begins to feel uneasy. "Mmm, stop."
"You do not want me to," Tsu'tey says back huskily, letting go of one of Jake's wrists to try and undo his loincloth. Jake inhales sharply and bats the hand away. "Yeah, I do. Get off."
Tsu'tey's still panting heavily when he backs away, his eyes on Jake, still filled to the brim with unshakable lust. "What is wrong?"
"It's just...It's too fast, you know? I want...some time," Jake breathes out, aware that he's covered in an uncomfortable sweat from head to toe.
"We do not have a lot," Tsu'tey says quietly, trying to get his own breathing under control and his hands off of Jake. Resisting the urge to touch the other male is probably one of the most hardest things he's ever done.
"I know. Okay. Just maybe...in like a few days, then we'll see." Jake knows he's not making much sense, but most of his blood has rushed away from his brain and to his nether regions and that makes it hard to think straight, much less form complete sentences. Jake unwraps the tail that had been attached to Tsu'tey's carefully until they're both free and he can step back further.
"I will give you your time, Jake. I hope soon, that you will be ready, because I am."
Jake just rests against the tree, watching as Tsu'tey begins walking back to their camp. He watches until the other male is out of sight, before beginning his own trek back, lust's sharp sting still embedded in his heart.
Glossary:
Tam - it's okay
Wiya, tìsraw si - damn, it hurts
Ma Eywa - oh eywa! (oh my god)
Oe tsun ke spaw nga, kaw'it - I can't believe you, at all!