Moonchild | Neteyam

18

...maybe he was a little curious.

Erìhe did not look up at him, "Maybe Ao'nung?" She said thoughtfully, "He's pretty."

Neteyam's eyes went wide, "Ao'nung?" He asked disbelievingly. "The guy who beat me and Lo'ak up?"

Erìhe merely shrugged. "Is there anyone better?"

"There are tons of better guys!" Neteyam exclaimed. His eyes were wide and disbelieving while Erìhe did not seem to give a damn. How could she even say that Ao'nung was pretty? "He beat us up," he stressed his point, unaware that she was only joking.

"I can forgive him," Erìhe found his reaction amusing.

"Oh - so he can do whatever and - say - I can do anything, but you'll forgive me, because what? Because I'm pretty? Is that all that matters? Beauty?" Neteyam went on a rant and Erìhe merely placed his hand on top of his own thigh before taking his other in her hand and starting the process of cleaning up the dried blood.

She raised a questioning brow, "Did you just call yourself pretty?"

Neteyam rolled his eyes and groaned, "You know what I mean. It was an example."

Erìhe laughed, "Yeah, I know," she told him with a smile as she dabbed the cloth at his knuckles. "And you can relax - I was just joking."

Neteyam flushed - he instantly regretted his outburst and a wave of embarrassment came over him.

They said nothing as Erìhe spread the paste on his knuckles. The next time she spoke was when she set his hand down on his own lap again and moved so that she stood in front of him. "Do you know who you'll give your bracelet to?" She had thought about whether or not to ask this question, but decided to ask it since he had done so as well.

Neteyam kept his eyes on her as she bent down slightly. He did not question it when she lifted her hand to either side of his head and gently pressed on the sides of his face with the tips of her fingers.

When he spoke, he talked in a whisper - their faces were so close that he did not need to speak any louder. "I'm not sure yet," Neteyam told her as he looked into her eyes. She did not meet his gaze as she seemed concentrated on whatever it was that she was doing. "Maybe I'll just keep it for myself."

Erìhe smiled softly and nodded, meeting his eyes briefly before turning her attention back to the side of his face. She was trying to look for any spot that seemed to have potential bruising, so that she could minimize the swelling before it even happened. "I'll probably keep mine to myself as well," she agreed, "Unless someone catches my eye."

Neteyam grinned - then thought of something. "Have you ever liked anyone before?"

Erìhe wondered when they had become close enough to speak of things like this - then retracted her steps back to the night they spent in the forest. It was all thanks to her, so she could not tell him to shut up now.

"Yes," Erìhe confirmed, letting go of his face with one hand as she bent down to get some paste. She applied it to the corner of his forehead where she sensed that a bruise would form. She hoped that the paste would help with the swelling.

Neteyam was surprised, "Really? Who?"

"Txiikaì," she admitted.

"That hunter that almost got ran over by a herd of sturmbeest on his first hunt?" Neteyam asked with a frown. He had not known of this.

Erìhe laughed, "He was nervous," she defended him.

Neteyam rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He watched as Erìhe picked up the cloth again and put it in the bowl of water before wringing the excess water. "Then.. why did you two never date?" He asked, "Or did you date?"

Erìhe shook her head, "We didn't. Nupxa and Aok accidentally created rumors about me, and because of them Txiikaì did not believe me when I told him I had feelings for him."

Neteyam frowned, "That's mean - what kind of rumors?"

Erìhe leaned even closer to his face as she used her hand to tilt his head to the side. Neteyam could feel his heartbeat pick up. He had been this close to her only once before - he could count all of her bioluminescent freckles from this distance if he wished to.

"Just some rumors," Erìhe said cryptically, making Neteyam's frown deeper. "They did not do it on purpose though. They were just teasing me and someone overheard."

Neteyam nodded thoughtfully. "Well, Txiikaì is a loser - be glad he rejected you."

Erìhe laughed as she lifted the cloth to wipe off the dried up blood from his lip. One of the a Metkayina boys had landed a rather nasty punch there, but Erìhe was confident that he did not need the paste. It would not even leave a scar. "Txiikaì was cute," she corrected him.

Neteyam opened his mouth to say something - most likely to object - when suddenly they heard the sound of someone carefully approaching them from behind. When the two teenagers turned their attention to the person, Erìhe stepped back from Neteyam.

Ao'nung looked at them guiltily, "I need to tell you something."

-
A/n:
I'm embarrassed to admit that flattery does work on me

Here's this chapter babes <33