“I am capable of doing this myself, you know.”

Ekxan murmured softly, the tone foreign to everyone. Everyone except her. Guest held his face with gentle hands, her fingers coated in the familiar black, watery substance, the paint known to many Na’vi of Pandora.

“I wanted to be with you for the last few minutes you are here,” she muttered, not bothering to hide the fondness in her tone. Her movements were gentle, but her patience was thinning. “How long do you think you will be away for?”

Ekxan was preparing with the large group of warriors for the raid on the Wind Traders. They usually passed through a familiar passage not far from the Mangkwan village. This could take any amount of days or weeks, depending on what unfolded.

“Not too long if everything goes smoothly,” Ekxan responded simply, his eyes fixed on hers as she smeared familiar symbols and shapes along his face and chest. His tail swayed gently behind him without thought, legs folded cross-legged. His forearms rested on his knees while his hands lightly held her thighs where she sat across from him.

The two of them remained in their shared tent, its leather walls dimming the sunlight into a muted glow. The air was thick with ash and the distant murmur of warriors preparing outside.

Guest’s hands slowed for a moment at his answer, fingers lingering along his jaw before dragging another dark line across his cheek. She didn’t look at him right away.

“Smooth,” she repeated quietly, as if testing the word. “Things never go smoothly when warriors say that.”

A faint huff of amusement left him, low and warm. “You doubt us?”

“I doubt fate,” she corrected, finally lifting her gaze to meet his. Beneath your steady expression, something tightened. “And I doubt your ability to stay out of trouble.”

His thumbs brushed absentmindedly against her thighs, grounding, familiar. “I always come back.”

The words were too simple. The kind people said when they didn’t want to face what could happen.

She leaned in, close enough that your foreheads nearly touched, her voice lowering. “That is not a promise you get to make so lightly.”

For a heartbeat, neither of you moved.

Outside, the camp swelled with sound; footsteps, voices, weapons shifting, but inside the tent, it all felt distant. Like the world had narrowed to just this moment.

Ekxan’s expression softened, something deeper settling into his gaze. “Then I will make it carefully,” he said. “I will come back to you.”