Neteyam x Ao'nung: in the cover of the leaves

8- after party

(cover photo is unrelated but shameless self plug go look at my insta and tiktok, I post lots of avatar art like this)
Neteyams POV

"You're lucky."

"What do you mean?" Ao'nung asks. He's sitting beside me at one of the community tables, eating a small meal.

"You could've gotten really hurt." I stare at my plate, picking at the traditional metkayina food. It's good, I just prefer the food I'm used to.

"Aw you were scared for me." He teases. It's been a few hours since he tamed his skimwing and by now he's already gotten many congratulations and been stitched up. Most people had already eaten by now but I waited for Aonung to be patched up before filling my plate.

"It looked like you didn't have a handle on it- so yeah, obviously I didn't want to see you getting hurt on your birthday." I furrow my brow, Ao'nung wincing at my statement.

"I had everything under control!" He pouts.

"Mhm, totally."

"I miss when you just congratulated me." He whines.

"I wasn't going to insult you while you were bleeding all over the place." I poke his side causing him to shudder.

"I guess I'll just have to bleed again then." He smirks.

"I'll let you bleed out next time skxawng."

"Words hurt bro." He jokes, a breathy laugh escaping my lips.

"Do you know where our siblings are?" I redirect the conversation, not wanting to think about the gashes covering Aonungs legs.

"Probably kanoodling in the forest." Ao'nungs face drops at the thought.

"Ew." I roll my eyes. "They're going to miss out on this after party you speak of."

"I'm not sure you'd approve of then going anyways." Ao'nung shrugs.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I don't know about you tree climbers but the Metkayina teens can be a little... Rowdy." He brings a sea snail to his mouth, eyeing it unsure of how to eat it without hurting his swollen face.

"Give me that," I grab the cold snail from his hands, placing it on my plate and cutting it into bite size pieces with some difficulty. "I doubt your people are any worse than mine, teenagers are teenagers regardless of where they are."

"You sound like my father." Ao'nung frowns.

"Shut up, here." I hand him a spoon now filled with a piece of snail. He takes it gratefully and places it in between his lips, having to tilt his head back and let the slimy food slip off of the spoon due to the pain from his tattoo.

"How long will it be until you can eat properly?" I ask, not used to the tattooing/ tā moko process.

"Only a few days, maybe less. Some people fast, but I don't think I could go that long without food." He chuckles.

"Oh okay," I take another bite of my food and swallow before speaking again, "when will you have the tattoos finished?"

"They won't be done for a while, but the other side of my face will be done to match tomorrow most likely. My mother just didn't want me having it done right after losing so much blood."

"Okay. I like them." I gesture at the black lines dancing across his face and chest, my focus lingering on his chest just a little too long.

"You could get some of your own if you wanted." He shakes me by my shoulder playfully.