Chapter Text
March 30th 2025
Neteyam loves skating
When he skates, he becomes completely consumed by it.
He loves the adrenaline he gets from each spin and jump. He loves the freedom he feels in the ice, and the cold air from the ice that keeps him grounded and prepared for the next part of his routine. He loves being in control of every possible variable on the ice. Every move he makes has been carefully planned and practiced since July leaving him no room for failure.
Neteyam’s routine so far has been amazing—perfect even.
He’s doing the best he’s ever done, every move he makes is refined and elegant after months of practice.
He hears the cheers from the crowd fill the area as he lands a triple axel
He follows it with a double, then goes into a lux.
Finally nearing the end, he skates towards the center of the rink, does a final sit spin as the music slows and ends in a pose where he’s embracing himself.
Neteyam’s shoulder bob with each heavy breath, as he allows his lungs to catch with the moment.
He’s tired, sweaty, but immensely proud.
After a while, Neteyam finally breaks from his pose, takes a deep bow, and blows a big kiss to the crowd—whose cheers are almost deafening as he skates off the ice towards his coach.
His coach, Ninat is waiting for him by the end of the rink and she pulls him into a tight hug once he gets close enough.
She says something to him, but Neteyam’s too high on adrenaline to actually hear her. So he hugs her back and replies with a simple “thank you”.
Eventually they break from their hug and Neteyam quickly goes to take off his skates. He puts on his regular shoes, and then wears a jacket over his light blue costume.
Once he’s finished, he starts to head towards Ninat in the kiss and cry section, where she’s been waiting on the couch for him with a box of tissues.
When Neteyam sits down, he immediately becomes almost hyper aware of how fast his heart is beating. It’s so loud in his head he’s almost afraid the microphones will pick it up.
He knows he did well, and that his season's been good enough that, with this routine, Neteyam’s guaranteed a spot in the Olympics.
Despite this, he still feels the most nervous he’s ever been in his life.
Time must pass slower, because Neteyam feels like he’s been waiting for his score for a century.
Once they finally announce his score. At first, it doesn’t compute in his head, he has to have it repeated by his coach before it actually gets through to his brain.
“You got a 289.9!”
“289.9?!” He asks in disbelief.
When Ninat repeats “289.9” with a proud smile. Neteyam thinks he must be dreaming, until the tears falling on his cheeks, remind him it’s all real.
He’s never been an emotional person in public, but after everything that happened the previous year, he feels like he’s earned it.
Silver at the World figure skating championships, and a new best score, surely permits him to cry a little, even if it’s in front of the cameras. Especially since there’s no way he doesn’t make the Winter Olympics.
He’s gonna be 18 at the Winter Olympics.
The realization paired with his score gives Neteyam a high that feels like it’ll last forever.
He flies through all the interviews, and congratulations on cloud nine.
But eventually he falls back down to reality.
~
In his hotel room, he lies on his bed, wearing his old junior Olympic hoodie blue plaid pajama pants and a black bonnet, scrolling through articles about his win that evening.
Despite this being one of his best—if not his best performance, the media still can’t seem to shut up.
They’ve been dissecting all of his interviews, commenting on how he’s “getting fat” or is “too emotional” or “not as good as his mother was at her age” and of course that he was a talentless “nepo baby”.
Eywa he hates that word. it’s plagued his entire career from the start. No matter how hard he practiced, no matter how grateful he was, and no matter how good he was, he just couldn’t shake the title of “nepo-baby”.
He was constantly compared to his mother and aunt by the media, despite both of them being retired for almost twenty years.
All he can ever do to defend himself is to reply with some bullshit pr response. Otherwise he’d get scolded like some type of child by his pr team, or yelled at online.
It feel so unfair.
Neteyam feels like he’s might cry from frustration from all the articles.
Right when he’s about to start, he gets a text.
Mom
Good job today Neteyam! You're doing so well and
Your father and I are so proud of you, can’t wait to see you on Tuesday!
-Love, Mom
He looks at the message for a bit, smiling before typing his own
You
Thanks mom, love you too, and tell Dad, Kiri, and Tuk that I miss and love them too.
He checks the time and Shit, it’s 11 pm and he wants to be on the rink at 5 am tomorrow to get some practice before his last minute flight home.
Quickly he goes to the restroom to brush his teeth and do his skincare, and once he’s finished he goes to sleep. Or at least he tries to, Neteyam’s mind is still filled with the noise of the crowd and the press.
But after what feels like an millennium he finally quiets his mind and drifts into sleep…
~
fall is here, hear the yell
Back to school, ring the bell
Brand new shoes, walking blues
Climb the fence, books, and pens
I can tell that we are gonna be frien-
Neteyam turns off his alarm, taking a moment to yawn and check the time, ‘Good, 4:00 sharp’ he thinks before he pulls himself out of bed and heads to the bathroom where he gets ready. After a while, he’s done, and he takes a good look at himself in the mirror,
His braids look good enough. They’re long, reaching to his shoulders, and he’s considering making them shorter, when he eventually gets them redone.
His eyes remain piercing ( like his mom’s) despite the bags that accompany them.
And before he forgets he quickly puts on his gold locket, a gift from Kiri, who said it complimented his eyes.
Finally, after some more adjusting he feels he looks presentable enough and packs up his toiletries and brushes, stuffing them into his mostly packed luggage.
He makes the bed and checks the room for anything he might’ve left behind. Once he’s done, he packs a duffel bag with his skates and a smaller bag containing his phone, passport, wallet, etc.
He puts on a generic black hoodie with a pair of grey sweats and heads out the door—but, only after he double checks he brought his keycard.
It’s 4:40 am and he checks out at 8 am. Which gives him a good two and a half hours of skating before he has to head back to the hotel to finish packing and head to the airport.
He orders an Uber as he gets to the elevator and is surprised when the elevator doors open and he sees
Tarsem, who got a place below him at champs.
“Good morning” Neteyam greets awkwardly, before stepping into the elevator and pressing his floor.
“Good morning” Tarsem responds politely.
…
There’s a solid minute of elevator music before Tarsem speaks up.
“I like the cure too”
“Huh?” The seemingly random statement catches Neteyam off guard.
“You used their song for your routine, it was cool”
“Oh Yeah,” Neteyam smiles, “ it was a pain to get the licensing though.”
“It was nice to hear it though,” he says before adding
“You did great by the way, I saw the replay of your routine later and you were flawless.”
“Thanks, your routine was incredible too”
Then the elevator reaches the Wellness floor.
“See you later, Neteyam,” Tarsem walking out of the elevator.
“Yeah see you later,” Neteyam says as the elevator doors close
He’d never gotten a chance to talk with Tarsem before, despite them competing with each other for years. He seemed nice though.
He reaches the lobby and he checks his phone as he walks out.
4:49 am
He’d gotten a message from Lo’ak
Baby bro
when r u gettibg home
Neteyam steps out of the elevator and takes a seat in the lobby waiting for his Uber
You
Today around 6 pm, how was ur sb comp?
Baby bro
Fine, what time is it there
You
Around 5 am
Baby bro
bro go to sleep
You
I need to skate b4 the flight
Baby bro
aight bro, good job btw
You
Thanks, also I know ur comp did better than fine, so you'd better tell me more when I see u at home.
Before Neteyam could see if Lo’ak answered he gets the notification that his Uber’s here.
Finally.
He speed walks out the hotel and to his uber.
“Uhh…Neteyam right?”
“Yeah”
“Ok”
After a ten or so minute car ride, filled with the Uber’s questionable driving skills and music taste. Neteyam was finally at the rink.
He checks his phone
5:10 am, He’s a little late but it’s fine, he still has more than 2 hours to practice