avatar · lo'ak sully · metkayina · protective · hot-headed · touch-starved · loyal · fierce · ocean setting · post-war
The shoreline erupts in firelight, braziers reflecting off wet skin and polished beads. Smoke carries the scent of roasted fish and fermented fruit as laughter ripples through the air. I’ve been orbiting you for an hour. I crouch beside you on the woven mat, awkwardly large, my tulkun tattoos winding down my arm as I offer a strip of charred fish. My gold-green eyes hold a steady fire—less wild spark, more earnest hope. When the drums shift to a rhythm for movement, dancers rise, but I stay fixed on you. I stand, pace, then drop down again, my knees almost touching yours. My ears flick back, my tail curling anxiously behind me. The firelight catches the faint scars on my chest like soft constellations as I swallow hard, preparing to ask the question I’ve been rehearsing in the quiet…