Any hope of subtly was long gone as they approached Grace, Norm, and Neytiri, the latter of whom was already holding her nose and doubling over, pretending to gag.

"It is the middle of the day," she said between dry heaves.

"You have the manners of a zize'," Tsu'tey scowls, willpower and the presence of an audience the only thing keeping him from taking a swipe at her.

"And you two have the self-control of Syaksyuks in heat," Neytiri grinned at them, flashing both rows of sharp white teeth, "you both left me to babysit all those children, half of them about fell off the cliff side thinking they could be big impressive men like Jake-Sully and tame their íkran in less time than it takes to ready a bow."

"We heard how well you did," Grace beamed at Jake, politely ignoring the beginning of the exchange, despite the laughter in her eyes.

"It's all anyone's been talking about for the last hour," Norm said, without any of the animosity Jake had come to expect from him.

"Yes," Tsu'tey nodded, raising his hand to rest firmly against the small of Jake's back, "it was quite impressive. Foolish of the other warriors to believe it to be a realistic goal."

"Calm yourself, please," Neytiri pretended to scold, "there are children present."

"I am aware, I am looking right at one," Tsu'tey snapped back.

"Grace," Jake interrupted their squabbling, genuinely worried that Tsu'tey would lunge at their friend, "you said you needed to do some repairs on my pod, would tomorrow morning be a good time for that?"

Grace raised her brow at him, "yeah sure, why?"

Jake shifted on the balls on his feet despite himself, "Tsu'tey wants to visit the mobile unit, I thought it would be a good opportunity."

Silence fell over the group as all eyes trained on the two men, Jake glanced at Tsu'tey out of the corner of his eye, confused by the reaction. He hadn't foreseen the request being an issue, there wasn't any reason for any of them to have a problem with it.

Grace seemed to be working words around in her mouth, a slightly pained expression on her face, before finally breaking the silence, "yeah, that's fine, but…" she paused, her eyes sweeping over Norm and Neytiri as though imploring them for assistance, increasing the confusion in the two men tenfold, "Jake… your human body is… much more… fragile than this body… not to mention the size diff-"

"Oh my g-" Jake's hands flew in front of his face, where color was rising rapidly, he hazarded a glance up at Tsu'tey and saw that confusion still painted the man's face, "you," Jake's voice broke as he shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut, "you think… oh my god."

"I am confused," Tsu'tey admitted, looking helplessly between Jake's shaking head, the blush coloring Grace and Norm's cheeks, and the wicked grin cracked across Neytiri's face.

"I don't know what the fuck she's been telling you," Jake said, his voice cracking as he pointed an accusing finger at Neytiri, who didn't look the slightest bit apologetic, "but we have only had sex twice, once before literally an hour ago, we're not lust crazed maniacs."

"Why are you telling them this?" Tsu'tey hissed at him, a blush burning navy across his face, staring at Jake in horror.

"Because that's why they think you want to visit tomorrow," Jake hissed back, looking for all the world like he wanted to sink into the forest floor and disappear.

"Oh," Tsu'tey sucked in a breath, glaring at Neytiri, who was still grinning at them, before turning to Grace with a painfully calm expression, "no, I just wished to see Jake."

"Yeah, that's totally fine," Grace waved him off as means of an apology, probably for believing anything Neytiri said more than anything.

"I'm going to kill you," Jake muttered under his breath, fixing Neytiri was a dirty look, despite her apparent immunity to them.

"Perhaps I will tag along, I would also like to visit Jake-Sully in his human body, now that I know your intensions behind the journey are pure," Neytiri smiled, as though she could not feel the weight of the glares being directed at her.

"You are not welcome," Tsu'tey snapped at her, but she just continued smiling as though she had not heard, and perhaps had never heard a word Tsu'tey had spoken in her entire life.

-x-

Jake was finishing up the protein bar Norm had all but shoved down his throat when he heard the sound of knocking against the side of the mobile unit, which would have been a frightening prospect any other day.

"Jake, I think your boyfriend is outside," Trudy's voice sounded from the entrance of the unit, amusement lacing her tone.

"I'm pretty sure he's more like his husband," Norm called out from the direction of the pods, his words drawing laughter from the two women, a dark blush blooming across Jake's cheeks as he began wheeling his way to where their masks were stored.

"He's right," Grace's voice cut through the laughter, her smile audible "by Na'vi standards, you're basically married."

"Yes," Jake tried to keep his voice even as he rolled his way to the unit door, pointedly ignoring Trudy, who passed him on his way, a coy grin painting her face, "thank you, I'm aware."

"I would really love to hear about the mechanics of the tsaheylu with another human," Grace shouted as he secured the mask against his face, "as repayment for me not making you do the video logs."

"Not gonna happen," Jake called back as he pried open the sealed door, "you don't want me doing those anyway, I'm a terrible liar, they'd see right through me."

"Yeah, you're right," Grace's voice rang out right before he closed the door behind him, "you're a shitty actor."

Jake chuckled to himself as he wheeled his way down the entrance ramp, continuing on, slightly laboriously with the resistance of the uneven soil, to where Tsu'tey was standing a ways away from the unit.

"I could not get her to leave," Tsu'tey scowled over his shoulder to where Neytiri stood behind him.

Jake stared up at them, he had known the size difference between humans and Na'vi, but it was different having two standing at his feet. It didn't help that he was half the height that he should have been. The thought sent a hot twist of shame through him as he considered how he must look at Tsu'tey and Neytiri, how small and fragile he must seem.

"Hey," he managed, hoping the mask would conceal how much his smile wavered, though from the look on Tsu'tey's face, no mask could hide his emotions from the other man.

Jake's breath caught in his throat as Tsu'tey was suddenly moving to kneel before him, bringing them to eye level, Neytiri following suite.

"Hello, my Jake," Tsu'tey said softly, reaching out his large hand to press the pads of his fingers gently against the side of Jake's head.

"I remember when this happened," Neytiri poked a gentle finger against Jake's chair, rattling him slightly, "Tsu'tey cried for two days."

Color burst across Tsu'tey's cheeks, his head snapping at to face Neytiri, "will you go away, you nosy woman, I thought you wanted to bother the human named Trudy."

Neytiri stuck out her tongue at him, before turning back to Jake, "he did though, you did not know because you were unconscious. Cried like an infant, nothing I could do, it was horrible, I was very mad at you, you are both very stupid, taking unnecessary risks," this time Tsu'tey did swipe at her, but she dodged him with a smile, "fine," she raised her hands in surrender, "I will go bother the human named Trudy, she has sounded fun."

Jake watched her walked away to crouch next to the unit and knock on the door until a confused Trudy opened it. Jake couldn't help but admit, as he watched Trudy exit the unit and lean against the closed door, that the two women would probably get along great, and they would probably never get any peace now that they had met.

"She isn't lying," Tsu'tey said, though the admission seemed to pain him somewhat, "when you were injured, I was… I mourned you, I thought I had lost you."

"She shouldn't tease you about that," Jake frowned, resting his hand over Tsu'tey's fingers still cupping his face as he turned to look at Neytiri again, who had scooped Trudy up and deposited her on the roof of the building so she sat near eye level as they talked, laughing almost constantly, as though they were old friends

"I think that is all she knows how to do," Tsu'tey shrugged, rolling his eyes, "she was mad at you," he smiled, a bit crookedly, "she kept saying 'he is not dead, he is too strong and too stubborn to die, Eywa herself could come to collect him and he would continue on fighting'."

"I was just chasing you," Jake admitted, pressing his face into Tsu'tey's hand, "anything to make me feel closer to you, being a soldier was the best I could come up with. Ended up biting me in the ass."

"Everything you have done led you here, to me, my Jake," Tsu'tey's eyes were warm as the smiled, "you are so strong."

"Not like this," Jake's smile wavered, trying not to look down at his legs.

"You are just as strong in this body as any other," Tsu'tey frowned at him, "your spirit," Tsu'tey's hand dropped from Jake's face to press against his chest, his thick fingers rumpling the fabric of his shirt, "is strong. This body my not be as big, you may not be able to leap from tree to tree, but it is a body forged in battle, the body of a man who rode horses and climbed mountains, it is the body of my Jake. My Jake, who pulled me from the flames, who traveled across the galaxy, who never gives up, never surrenders."

"I wouldn't have been able to do any of that without you," Jake said, breathlessly, "that was all because of you, for you, it's always been you. You're what makes me strong."

"My Jake," Tsu'tey spoke softly, so Jake had to strain to hear, "you say this as though you believe myself to be any different. We are each other's strengths. We were made for each other, we live for each other, we will die for each other. I am nothing without you, my Jake," Tsu'tey looked at him with wide, open eyes, laying himself bare before him, allowing himself to be vulnerable, "when we were children, I pushed myself, only to impress you. When I thought you died, I lost all will to go on living. When you were lost to me for so long, I allowed myself to become bitter and hateful to those around me, because interacting with others did not seem worth the effort if I did not have you. You think I am so strong, but you are wrong, I am weak without you, without you, my Jake, I am nothing."

"Well," Jake gripped Tsu'tey's hand in his own, raising it, pressing his thumbs into the palm, massaging gently at the calloused skin, "I guess we're just both going to have to make sure we stick by each other," he wanted nothing more than to remove his mask and kiss the other man, but he knew he couldn't risk even one lung full of the toxic air, "I mean, I don't know what Neytiri would do if she had to deal with just one of us now."

They looked over in time to see Neytiri lift Trudy off the roof and deposit her gently at her feet, before they both turned and started making their way towards the two men.

"I like her," Neytiri called out as they got closer, "I think I will keep her."

"You cannot keep her, Neytiri," Tsu'tey frowned at her.

"So, this is your husband?" Trudy jabbed a thumb upwards towards Tsu'tey, an amused smile plastered across her face beneath her mask.

"Husband?" Tsu'tey raised a brow.

Jake shrugged, a blush creeping under his mask.

Tsu'tey, to his credit, took it in strid, turning to Trudy, from where he was still crouched in front of Jake, "yes, hello, I am Jake's husband, you are the human, Trudy, I have found you friendly and amusing though sometimes I do not understand the words you use."

Trudy looked back and forth between Tsu'tey and Jake for a moment, looking a little lost, before her eyes widened a fraction and a laugh bubbled from her throat, "oh yeah, your voodoo mumbo jumbo stuff, I getcha."

"Yes, our," Tsu'tey's mouth pulled into a line, "stuff."

"I think it's cool you guys can spy on each other or whatever," Trudy grinned, shooting Jake a wink. He'd been right, she was just as bad as Neytiri.

"It is not spying," Tsu'tey frowned, looking slightly scorned.

"It is kind of spying," Neytiri cut in with a sharp smile.

"Oh great, there's two of them," Jake muttered to Tsu'tey, who groaned low in agreement, "don't you two have someone else to bother?"

"Nope," Trudy shoved her hands in her pants pockets, "just you two. Jake, I heard you pulled again yesterday, very nice."

"Neytiri, stop fucking telling people that," Jake snapped, color rising in his cheeks once more.

"Then do not leave me on a cliff with a bunch of suicidal children," Neytiri grinned at them, ignoring their glares, like always.

Their standoff was interrupted by Trudy doubling over, laughing so hard she was gasping for breath. They were a sight, really, if they thought about it, the three of them, even more than usual.

"I like you guys," Trudy said between laughs, she managed to train her eyes, now wet with tears, on Neytiri, "I think I might really like you, that's tragic, isn't it?"

Neytiri's teasing grin fell from her face at the words as she dragged her eyes away from Tsu'tey and Jake to stare at the human, whose laughs had calmed to hiccupping giggles.

"Yes," Neytiri said in a soft voice, "tragic."