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jello-bbq · 1 year

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Accidents

(Platonic! Tsu'tey x Avatar! Reader) (Platonic! Jake x Avatar! Reader)

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Injuries and near death experiences. Timeskip because I cannot write slowburn. Angst coming up next I think.

They had no idea what to do. What could they do?

Jake and Neytiri were having lessons somewhere in the tree. The only two people they could safely interact with. Technically, a third, awkward option presented itself.

After the healer's tent, he followed them out. And continued following them as they walked around to pass the time. Which they thought completely unnecessary. But still, they could understand the need to hover. To make sure they wouldn't cause trouble around the people.

People still steered their children away when they came close, so they tried their best to keep off the main pathways.

They looked back and surely, there he was, walking a few feet away.

They pressed the cloth to their nose again, finding that the blood had lessened considerably. They would have to thank Zeyko the next time they saw her, which would definitely be soon.

After a few minutes, Tsu'tey caught up with them, silently holding out a yellow fruit.

The two ate as they walked to no place in particular. At least to them. Tsu'tey began to steer them somewhere. They didn't question it, though a part of their mind rang alarm bells and yelled 'now he's gonna kill you!'

Having been wrong three times, they could give him the benefit of the doubt.

Neither spoke as they veered off the paths. The branches looked visibly less managed than the pathways, with tall ferns getting thicker and thicker as they went.

They had to admit, it would have been a good place to die.

He took the lead when the branches became too narrow for them to walk side by side. Every now and then he would glance back as if to confirm they were still there.

His glances were hardly noticed. The ferns kept their attention.

They kept looking around, marveling at the multi-colored plants and wondering how everything looked at night. They would find out soon, realizing that eclipse had begun.

They stopped, mesmerized, forgetting that Tsu'tey seemed to be leading them somewhere. He stopped, realizing they were no longer following.

They didn't even realize he had come back and sat down beside their legs until he spoke.

"It is beautiful."

Their brows furrowed. One unusual display of care after another. Nevertheless, they took a seat on the branch, a safe distance away.

"It is."

The two sat at the edge, feet dangling, watching the sky together. Blue gave way to orange. Orange caressed pink. The sun sank over the moon's horizon and the forest lit up, replacing one beauty for another.

Tommy would've loved this, they thought. He hadn't quite left their mind since morning.

A few minutes after dark Tsu'tey led them to dinner.

"What's with the bandages?" Jake sat next to them, keen on making small talk after spending the day apart.

They, who had been dissecting the Tsu'tey thing, thinking about Tommy, and whose brain had been on Na'vi mode the whole day, did not understand his question.

"What?"

He pointed to their fingers. "That. You hurt yourself?"

"On the bow, yeah." They answered. "Ripped my skin open." They stretched their fingers, letting Jake take their hand and examine it.

"Gotta be more careful with that, kid. Don't wanna be making too many trips to the healers."

"Says the guy who has bruises all over. I'm surprised you aren't wrapped in a giant band-aid."

"Nah, the healer said it'd cover my handsome face. Would hurt all the ladies." He didn't let go of their fingers, fiddling with the ends of the bandages.

"Oh please, white boy. She did not say that." They leaned against him, starting to feel the effects of the bow training and blood loss. "I'm sure Zeyko would have smacked you for having so many bruises."

"You know the healer's name?"

They shrugged. "She told me."

Jake chuckled, noting their sudden lethargy. "Look at you making friends so quickly."

"Haven't you noticed Tsu'tey and me? We're practically besties." They murmured, lacking that usual bite.

He didn't need to ask what was wrong. They hadn't held back on telling him much after they landed on Pandora. But he asked anyway. "You missing him?"

"Yeah, just-" They motioned vaguely.

"I know, kid." Jake sighed. "He would've loved it here."

"Would have had to drag him out of the forest by his tail."

The two laughed quietly.

Neytiri and Tsu'tey seemed to notice the sudden drop in mood and their empty bowls. Some people began to retire for the night, and they made to do the same.

They followed, talking with Jake in whispers. He immediately took the empty hammock beside Neytiri again, bidding them goodnight as they moved farther away to their usual spot and laid down.

To their surprise, someone moved into the hammock beside them. With the dim light of the moss, they could barely make out the person's features.

"Sleeping alone is not good for your health."

"Zeyko?"

"You have much to live for. I can feel it. Eywa wills it."

They laughed bitterly. "I'm surprised I'm not dead yet."

They waited for something else, something to clarify her words. But only light snoring came.

They resisted the urge to sigh. Eywa wills it. Had she willed for Tommy to die?

They laid back and closed their eyes, opening them again to be faced with the pod's gel-like inside. The lid opened. Grace greeted them with a smile and an unspoken question.

"I had bow training today." They lifted their hand to show the bandages, only to remember that they couldn't. They shook their head. "Ripped my fingers open."

"Geez, keep the bloodshed to a minimum. You're already bleeding too much as it is." She knelt down to pull the tampon from their nose.

"That was very uncomfortable." They scrunched and unscrunched their nose. "But better than choking on my own blood."

Grace laughed. "Dinner and then bed, kiddo."

"Yes mum," they joked quietly, standing up and making their way to the canteen.

Switching bodies always felt weird. Two bodies. Two wildly different environments. One consciousness. At least both bodies had the same amount of limbs, excluding the tail.

As they walked the halls they could almost feel it swishing behind them except of course it wasn't. The scientists had come up with a name for it. Phantom Tail Syndrome.

Only one person sat in the canteen, a tray opposite him.

They smiled. "Thought you would have talked to Neytiri for a while."

Jake smiled back at them, straightening up at their voice. "Thought you'd be earlier." He motioned to the tray. "Food's getting cold."

They took a spoon. "I'm taking your yogurt."

"I'm taking your jerky."

°•°••°•°••°•°••°•°

The days faded into weeks. Weeks passed into months.

Their days had a set routine now. Wake up, eat breakfast, get in the pod. Eat breakfast again. Go early hunting with Tsu'tey.

Archery lessons. Lunch. Direhorse riding. Practice for the upcoming possible iknimaya. Get back to hometree in time to watch the eclipse with Tsu'tey. Dinner. Sleep.

Wake up in the link pod, eat dinner again. Go to bed.

Jake had much of the same schedule. Though his early mornings held Na'vi lessons instead of hunting.

The people had slowly become less high-strung around them. A kid named Li'yek had begun looking for them before they slept, asking them questions about earth.

Zeyko still slept on the hammock beside them, never elaborating on her words but instead commenting on whatever new injury they'd acquired that day.

On one particular day, they thought it would follow the same routine.

"What's for breakfast today?" They caught the yellow fruit thrown their way. "Oh."

"Oh?" Tsu'tey mocked, going back to sharpening his arrows for the morning hunt.

"You have no originality." They referred to his mocking and to the yellow fruit which, while tasty they had been having for breakfast for weeks now.

He shook his head slightly, ever too refined to just roll his eyes. They took a seat beside him and bit into the fruit.

"There is some dried meat in my pouch." He nodded over to the leather satchel hanging from a branch.

They grinned, finishing off the last of the yellow fruit and getting up to fish the meat out of the pouch. "What are we hunting today?"

"We are not hunting today."

"What?" They offered him the net of dried meat. He took a piece and bit on it before going back to sharpening again. "Someone else is? When's the last time you weren't on morning hunting duty?"

"A while."

They ate half the meat before tucking it back into the pouch. "Can I go back to sleep then?"

"No, ready the direhorses."

"But," they paused, "I thought we weren't hunting today?"

"We are not." He held up an arrow, watching it glint in the light. They realized it had different markings than his usual arrows. "You are."

"But- huh?" That would mean taking a clean kill. And a clean kill meant the start of iknimaya. "Jake isn't getting a clean kill yet."

"Mo'at has decided it will be you who goes first." He looked at them and smiled softly. "You are ready. Now go get the direhorses."

They were ready. That's what they kept telling themselves as they walked through the branches without noise. A herd of hexapedes below them.

Tsu'tey stood beside them, holding his spear. Before the two reached the forest, they had asked him why he needed it.

"To protect you should something try to kill you. Or to kill you out of mercy should you manage to get the neurotoxin into your blood."

They had rolled their eyes at that, shoving him as he laughed.

He couldn't laugh now. He looked completely serious, letting them do it completely on their own.

They pulled the string all the way back, breathing evenly. Out of the corner of their eyes, they saw him nod, approving of their stance. They took a breath, reminding themselves not to close one eye.

The hexapedes grazed, unknowing. Their gaze fell upon all of them, choosing the biggest one to feed the people. Another breath. They let go.

The arrow flew and hit true. The hexapedes scattered, leaving behind the dead.

They jumped down, whispering prayers as they pulled out the arrow.

They had done it.

A hand touched their shoulder. "You are truly ready."

They carried the hexapede with his help, strapping it onto their direhorse.

"Do you think you can climb the mountains? If you fall I will not catch you," he joked, getting onto his direhorse.

As they went to reply, they felt it more than heard it or saw it. Instinct, if you will.

The leaves moved. They hit the direhorses, causing them to run off quickly. A palulukan pounced, aiming for where Tsu'tey had been mere milliseconds ago.

They reached for their bow only to have a chilling realization. It was on their horse.

The palulukan grunted, turning to growl at them as if accusing them of costing it its meal. And then it pounced again.

The force hit them like a truck. They were pinned between the palulukan and the ground. Stones dug into their back.

If they cried out, they wouldn't know. The pain coursed through them blindingly. They could almost hear bones snapping. For a second they thought they passed out.

The palulukan moved above them. When they looked up, its teeth were right above. It's jaw on their chest.

There was no time to think. They wrapped their arms and legs around its mouth, holding it shut. It did not like that, bucking and shaking, almost succeeding in throwing them off. Their face got dangerously close to the opening of its jaw and they leaned back, head hitting the ground.

A glint in the grass caught their eye. Their arms hurt. Their legs were conceding to the sheer power of the palulukan's jaw.

They reached out blindly, skin scraping on stones. Tears clouded their eyes. Warm breath pushed against their skin. Saliva dribbled down and loosened their hold.

Their hand hit more rocks. The palulukan jumped around wildly, realizing as well that their death was imminent.

They kept readjusting, trying not to fall. The saliva made it hard to get a grip. The breath made them want to barf.

This was it, they would die.

And then their hand hit solid wood, grasping for it blindly. The familiar carving had them crying even more.

They let their other hand slip, relying on their legs to keep its mouth closed. And then they drove the arrow into the middle of its jaw.

It cried out and faltered. Their grip slipped and they hit the forest floor with a force that drove the air from their lungs.

The pain had gone numb, at least. Another product of their experimentation.

The palulukan struggled, crying out. They watched as its movements became sluggish, whining in pain. They stood easily. As if they didn't have any injuries at all.

They took another arrow, trying to even their breathing as they approached it. "I'm sorry." The arrow plunged into its head and it went still.

A small spray of blood reached them, splattering across their front.

A prayer for its life floated into the air, uttered with the barest amount of shock.

When it fell they cried, body shaking, and the urge to lay down and wait for help grew strong. Something felt off to them, knowing that the experiments robbed them of feeling anything in the midst of such situations.

This didn't seem to be the case with them kneeling on the grass, shaking uncontrollably and throwing up fruit and meat until they heard a cry that wasn't their own.

Their body froze, every emotion finally slinking away as it had been trained to do.

They picked the remaining arrows off of the ground and ran.

The cry rang out again and they almost tripped upon the realization that it was Tsu'tey.

They saw a blur of black through the trees and their blood ran cold. Another palulukan. Why?

It jumped at a tree, and they could just barely make out Tsu'tey stabbing at it with his spear.

They ran forward to help.

The palulukan jumped higher, nearly grazing Tsu'tey, and when he stepped back nothing could support his weight but leaves.

They ran faster when he fell and it turned to pounce on him. They pounced first. Jumping onto its back, bunching all of the arrows together, and bringing them down.

Blood splattered on them again. Coating them almost wholly this time. But they had no time to care or cry. They stumbled over to Tsu'tey, muttering another prayer.

They examined him. He wasn't hurt, but he wasn't awake. His head had hit a log.

They cried out for the horses, only one appeared.

His weight didn't hurt. Even though they could hear their bones straining, it didn't hurt. It couldn't hurt. They hauled him up onto the direhorse, easily ignoring how their arms shook.

They followed behind him, climbing onto the horse and urging it forward. They could feel the horse's worry through the bond, no doubt heightened by whatever pain their body currently ignored.

The forest at that time of morning could be easily navigated and they would have thanked Eywa for it if they still had control over their thoughts.

Their brain started to shut down. The numbness intensified. Somehow, they spotted a guard in the trees and called out. Or at least they think they did.

The guard turned, and they had time to register the panic in his eyes before the world tilted.

#avatar #jake x reader #tsu'tey x reader #james cameron avatar #dad Tsu'tey agenda #they're friends now #platonic Tsu'tey x reader #platonic jake x reader #injury tw #blood tw

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hairmetal666 · 2 months

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Steve parks at Eddie's, a plastic wrapped bouquet of roses so purple they're almost black carefully buckled into the passenger seat, and a nervous twist to his stomach. He didn't plan to do this. It's just, he was agonizing about his crush to Robin and she goaded him until it seemed like a great fucking idea to ask Eddie out on Valentine's Day, of all days.

The flowers were an accident. He saw them in the front window of the little flower shop in town, and it felt like fate, like they were practically made for Eddie Munson.

With a deep breath and a gritted teeth, he swings out of the car, flowers in hand. He's doing this, he's got this, he can ask Eddie out.

Music rocks from the trailer, drowning out Steve's knock. They didn't exactly have plans tonight, only they hangout every night since Vecna, so he figured...well, Eddie never said they weren't getting together.

He's a little miffed when his knock isn't answered. Even when the music is up, the walls of the trailer vibrating, Eddie always comes to the door. But the minutes tick by with no response until the annoyance turns to anxiety.

He stretches over, up on tiptoe, craning through the window to see if he can spot Eddie, probably distracted by planning for dnd or working on a song.

The kitchen is deserted, pots steaming on the stove. The two-seater table is covered in one of those paper tablecloths they have at Melvald's for a buck, patterned with bright red hearts. The table is set, two plates, two beers, a candle burning in the center of it all.

God, he's stupid. So stupid, with his nearly black flowers and his silly crush. Of course Eddie already had someone to spend Valentine's Day with.

He stumbles down the stairs, stomach fighting up his throat. The loud music makes so much sense now. He has to leave. He can't stand the thought of Eddie finding him here, letting him down easy; can stand even less seeing him with the date he has over.

Steve almost makes it back to the car before he hears the screen door slam, Eddie's voice calling his name. For a second, he considers ignoring him; for a second, he thinks about jumping in the car and driving off and forgetting this ever happened. But he could never do that to Eddie, not even when the consequence is his own heart.

"Oh, uh. Hey, man," Steve says. He runs his fingers through his hair, swallows. "Didn't mean to interrupt, thought we had plans but I guess they weren't set in stone." He's rambling and he knows it, but can't stop. "I didn't realize you--I'll get out of your hair."

Eddie's eyes flicker from Steve to the flowers clutched in his fist, the wrapping now sweaty and rumpled. "Are those for me?" Eddie asks.

Steve's mouth open and closes a few times, thrown off the track of his monologue and trying to think of a plausible lie. "I--they're--it's--"

There's nothing for it. He has to tell the truth and eat the humiliation. "I saw them today and--They're perfect for you. So, I wanted--" he shakes his head, shoves the bouquet into Eddie's arms. "Happy Valentine's Day. I'll let you get back to your date."

Eddie's face scrunches and it would be cute except for all the way Steve's heart is breaking. "Aren't you my date?"

"What?"

"Steve. We hang out every night. I thought--"

"But. For me--" He splutters. "The table?"

"Harrington, it's Valentine's Day! You bought me flowers!"

"Yeah, cause I was going to ask you out!"

This is what breaks Eddie, and he bursts out into helpless giggles.

"Don't laugh at me, Munson." But he's starting to laugh too.

"I'm sorry! I just--you," and Eddie isn't laughing anymore, he's looking at Steve with clear, shining eyes. "You brought me flowers."

Steve sobers too, hands over the bouquet. "I brought you flowers. You made me dinner."

"Yeah." He glances up at Steve from under his eyelashes. "I made you dinner."

"Sorry for--" He gestures broadly around himself.

Eddie shakes his head, soft smile on his lips. "You're something else, Stevie." The words are so fond they make Steve's heart flip. "Now, come inside before the food gets cold."

Steve walks to do the door, pausing before he climbs the stairs.

"What is it?" Eddie's eyebrows lift.

"Nothing. Just--" Steve licks his lips, notices the way Eddie tracks the movement. "I'm really falling for you, is all."

"No duh," Eddie says with a broad, smitten grin. "You bought me flowers."

#steddie #steve x eddie #steve harringon #eddie munson #ficlet #valentine's day #friends to lovers #fluff #a smidge of angst #misunderstanding #oblivious steve harrington #idiots in love #they're not dating but they're not NOT dating #getting together #feelings confession #no duh #working on a steddie “no duh” agenda now i guess

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