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( walk in the rain )
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THE METKAYINA REEF HAD SURELY BEEN A SIGHT FOR SORE EYES. The flora connected to the sea flourished, lush flowers that bloomed in the bright hours of the day than others that thrived in the cooling light of eclipse. During the time of day in which the sun was only partially covered by the moon, Su'leio found it best to go on walks through the many trails towards the mountains that the village had to offer.
The beads adorning her wrists, waist, hair, and neck had been the only indicator that the girl was even moving, seeing as she had grown to be light-footed from her youth. The shake of the beads along with the lull of the soft waves washing up against the shore could have easily been made into a lullaby for the young Metkayin children in the reef—she smiled to herself at the thought.
"Where are you going?"
A question that easily brought a chill down Leio's spine and a flinch in surprise. "Where are you going?" she repeated regaining her composure.
The boy put a skip in his step to catch up with the lengthy strides she naturally took along entering the sandy trail that lay right beside the beach. "I asked you first," he said mesmerized while taking in the sights of the flora above beginning to enclose over them.
She sighed at his logic knowing she would say the same thing. "I walk this trail during eclipse," she shrugged, "it makes me feel more at ease, more balanced."
He hummed in response, beads clashing with the incorporated nod.
A flick of water pelted on Su'leio's cheek as the two continued to walk side by side through the sand—she ignored it. Then another came, this time on her shoulder—ignored. Then another and another and another and another. Before the two of them knew it, they had been caught in the floodish rainfall in the middle of a trail in the tropical rainforest.
From Neteyam's point of view, Leio seemed to be unfazed by the feverish droplets hanging onto her eyelashes before dripping onto her cheek as she kept a neutral expression. The sight could have been captured permanently to teach younger generations what it had meant to be art, but Neteyam would settle for his insatiable stolen glances that she could feel for a few feet since the first sign of rain had shown itself.
"Why do you stare?" she broke the verbal silence they had that had been filled with the relentless force of water dropping onto the different leaves decorating the edges of the trail.
The truth was, he didn't know why he did it. Well, he did, but at the same time, he did not.
"I like to admire pretty things," was all he said with a shrug. It felt so blunt as if she hadn't asked for the answer that there had been a hesitation in the next step she took while she had been thankful the rain could hide how flushed he had made her.
"Why are you following me?" she changed the subject.
"I was walking around then saw you and wanted to see where you were going." She didn't respond to this, only a nod with serene silence following.
The girl stepped into a puddle that had surely been made out of a past footprint she created. The water splashed in the boy's direction earning a hiss at the coolness of it. They continued to walk. He hadn't known if the splash was intentional so he didn't mind it. Until it happened again. The sand was beginning to mold together in a grainy mud beneath their feet but they paid no mind to it—Su'leio having taken this muddy trail before and Neteyam coming from a home born with mud.
With one more muddy splash from Su'leio, Neteyam finally retaliated with a much larger one traveling up to her thigh. She gasped, mouth tugged down and the corners forming a loose smile as their walking came to a halt.
Leio gave a meaningful kick at the ground to send the water flying higher on the boy. He turned to shield himself but either way, he had been stung by the cool water.
Quickly, the two rushed to begin splashing each other with the muddy water without a care for how dirty they would soon be by the time they had gone back to the village. One more splash from Neteyam and Su'leio had gone slipping into the mud. The two of them paused, chests heaving for air while the rain cascaded down their bodies. Then the laughing came. Loud, boisterous, and unrestrained laughter that could only come from two people that had only known each other for less than a month but more than two weeks.
The son of Toruk Makto sighed, a grin still painting his features, he stepped over to the girl and held his hand out to her. She looked at it for a moment, her thoughts swimming in the rainfall that pooled at her hands. Leio grasped his hand in her own, the warmth surprising her as a contrast to the weather, and before he had even processed it, he had been pulled into the mud with her.
The boisterous laughs resumed with them, somehow louder than before but not loud enough to hear over the rain. But a realization cut off Leio's laugh and a gasp replaced it.
"I was supposed to help Tsireya with helping your breathing," she rushed to say. The two of them shot up at the realization, mud all over them and beginning to stick as the rain slowly became lost to the air.
Fewer words had been shared between the two than in that moment as Neteyam followed Su'leio out of the rainforest, her slipping a few times and him having to help her gain her balance, yet they both came to a silent agreement that the interaction had surely made them closer in a way.
