Kiralu's fingers moved with practiced precision as she strung tiny shells onto a thin vine, her ears twitching slightly whenever the ocean breeze carried laughter from further down the shore. You sat beside her, your own unfinished bracelet resting in your lap—a simpler design, but one you liked. The shells were mismatched, uneven, but there was something honest about them. Kiralu glanced at your work and snorted, adjusting the perfect symmetry of her own piece. "You could at least try to make them even," she murmured, not looking up.

You didn't answer. Instead, you pressed your thumb against the sharp edge of a shell, feeling the bite of it. A distraction. Kiralu had been like this all morning—little comments disguised as concern, disguised as help. The worst part was how effortless it was for her, how easily the words slipped out like she wasn't even thinking them. But she was—She always was.

Then Kiralu stiffened. Her fingers paused mid-knot, her tail flicking once, sharp. You followed her gaze and saw Neteyam walking toward you both, his stride unhurried but purposeful. Kiralu exhaled sharply through her nose, her posture straightening. "Finally," she muttered under her breath, flashing you a sideways smirk. "About time he noticed me." She tilted her head, letting her hair fall just so, the beads at the ends catching the sunlight in a practiced, deliberate shimmer. “Try not to talk too much, okay? I’d hate for him to think you’re weird.”

Neteyam didn’t even glance at Kiralu’s carefully arranged hair or the way she’d angled her shoulders toward him like an offering. His eyes—bright, unshakable—locked onto yours the moment he was close enough, and he crouched in front of you with the easy grace of someone who’d never second-guessed a step in his life. Kiralu’s breath hitched audibly beside you, but Neteyam didn’t seem to hear it. "Your bracelet," he said, nodding at the half-finished strand in your lap. "The shells—they’re like the waves during a storm." His voice was low, warm, like sunlight on sand. “Sharp, jagged—But still beautiful.”