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Kissing Dad isn't like kissing Sully, obviously. Except it kind of is.
Their mouths are shaped the same, for one thing, no matter of time or wear or madness can change that. They both have big, sharp teeth that Lo'ak can feel pressing just behind their lips, like it's an effort for them not to unsheathe and rip his throat out.
They taste the same, fire and blood and metal, all the things that Na'vi aren't supposed to hunger for the way Lo'ak hungers. Dangerous things, like Lo'ak is a dangerous thing, a weapon grown inside the stolen skin of a dead man (he knows the truth about Uncle Tommy, he knows so many things now).
Dad doesn't kiss first, that's the main difference. He makes a noise of surprise, his hands coming up to like he's trying to brace against Lo'ak's chest and push him away. Sully wouldn't do that; Sully had laughed as he kissed Lo'ak, pressing their mouths together and not letting up until Lo'ak was breathless.
No, Dad doesn't kiss first. But he kisses back, his head coming up to cup Lo'ak's head the way Sully's had, five clever fingers tracing the side of Lo'ak's scalp. His chest heaves against Lo'ak's and his hips press forward and Lo'ak can feel desire stirring there, a hunger that's been growing since maybe before Lo'ak was born.
Then his father breaks away, gasping. They stare at each other, firelight from the battle flicking over Dad's face. His eyes are wild gold; he looks in equal measure like the man whose cutting words chased Lo'ak up the beach and the man who found him there, who ripped the rifle from Lo'ak's hands with a laugh.
Don't be silly, sweetheart. He'd pinned Lo'ak to the sand, kicked his legs apart, and Lo'ak had let him, let Sully make tsaheylu without a fight. You don't wanna die, you just think you do. What you really want is to change, become something better. That old fuck doesn't know how to help you, but I do.
Then there'd been a ragged mix of pain and pleasure, Sully's fingers raking through his head as Sully's cock split his insides and Sully's tongue filled his mouth. Afterward, he'd pulled out and disconnected, smoothed his hands through Lo'ak's hair. What'dya say, huh, princess? You wanna go grab your big brother and get the fuck out of here?
Lo'ak might have said yes, if he'd been capable of speaking. If Kiri hadn't run up with hands blazing and blood dripping from her nose, chasing Sully out of there with all the power she had left. Afterward, she'd helped him wash the seed off and lie to the others, while Spider watched them both with too-knowing eyes.
Since then, everything’s been a blur of water and death, of Payakan and Toruk, of preparing for the final battle that of course won't ever be the final battle. Lo'ak can't plot his own death anymore without getting wet; he's not sure if that's Sully's doing or his own fucked-up brain.
Like this, like Dad, the real Dad, gasping in front of him. There's fire all around them and there's blood on Dad's leg, ragged marks from Sully's teeth sunk deep. It's the absolute worst time for something that shouldn't have been happened in the first place, but Dad almost died, Lo'ak almost lost him again, like Neteyam, and--
He hadn't thought, really. He still isn't thinking. Everything is shattered glass inside him and fire outside. He thinks that if he was tackled to the sand and fucked senseless for his transgression, he wouldn't really mind.
Instead, Dad just stares at him, like he's never seen Lo'ak in his face. "Boy," he whispers, as if it's a question. "Lo'ak, I." He stares helplessly, and Lo'ak realizes that he knows what happened on the beach, Sully must have told him, or maybe he recognized something in Lo'ak's face. "Son..."
There's an explosion in the distance, closer than before. Lo'ak grits his teeth and grabs his father by the shoulders, ignoring the way Dad stiffens at his touch. He pulls Dad deeper into the cove, up onto the shore.
"Stay here," he orders, rising to his feet. The rifles clatter on his back, tapping lightly against his spine. He pictures it seeping into him, metal filling his bones, tearing his eyes into sights and his fingers into knives.
"Lo'ak!" Dad yells, but he's already slicing through the water, swimming with confident strokes. The human ship glows up ahead; he can glimpse Kiri and Spider at its base. He'll join them, fight with them, kill his own kind to get his family back.
Sully will be waiting for him, and he'll know, won't he, what Lo'ak has done. Will he be proud? Jealous? Both options make Lo'ak feel warm inside, which will make him feel repulsed by himself later, but for not just feels right.
He's the dangerous spawn of dangerous men, and as the salt on his lips mixes with his father's smoky taste, he knows that this is what he was meant to become.