"Done!" Moana stated proudly, looking over the large splints and the vines they had gathered to bind them on. She looked over to Tamatoa, who still didn't seem pleased.
"Well, better get these suckers onto the big sucker, then." Maui smirked, lifting up one of the sturdy splints. Tamatoa shrunk back a tiny bit, a small flicker of uneasiness becoming apparent at the thought of Maui touching his injured side while he's like this.
Moana was trying to be as observant as she could when it came to the crab's behaviour right now, and when she noticed the small movement he made, she suggested instead, "Ah… maybe I should do it."
The demigod gave her a look that seemed to ask if she was sure she knew that that was a good idea, but he knew better than to argue at this point. "A'ight." He said with a casual shrug, passing the first splint off to her.
She stumbled a bit at the weight of the tool, but managed to get a good grip on it, cautiously walking over to Tamatoa. The monster's eyes still watched her with a distrusting glare, keeping his injuries shielded with his good claw. Moana frowned, wondering how she could convince him to move it. She wandered closer, almost close enough to touch him, but when he made a sudden clicking sound with his pincers, and she backed off a bit. Maui narrowed his eyes at this, twitching his hook and causing it to glow blue, clearly meant to give the crab a warning. The sight of the glowing hook alarmed him, knowing that if he continued to be difficult, Maui might intervene. Tamatoa sighed, reluctantly moving his claw so Moana could get to his limbs.
Though Moana was pleased that she could reach him now, she had hoped that this could be done without the use of threats. Wishful thinking, she supposed. Giving the ocean a small gesture, a wave reached over to her and lifted her up so she could properly reach the top of the first injured leg. She gasped under her breath when she got a closer look at the terrible damage. Very lightly, she ran her fingers over the wounds.
Tamatoa watched the human warily, eyes still slightly narrowed. The deliberate gentleness of her touch surprised him; he was sure that she was going to make this purposely painful out of revenge or something, but her gingerly motions seemed to prove that theory wrong.
With the ocean's help, Moana carefully propped the first half of the first splint to the top half of Tamatoa's front leg, being as gentle as she possibly could as she tied it in place. She and Maui had made the splints in fragments, so that Tamatoa's legs could still bend and move as they usually do, just with some extra support. The ocean lowered her to the lower half of his leg and handed her the next splint. Though she continued being as mindful as she could, the crab's breathing suddenly hitched as he slightly jerked his leg away from her when she had started tying on the second support structure. "Sorry…!" Moana apologized quickly when she realized she had hurt him, readjusting the vines to make them as comfortable as she could.
This process continued for a while longer, Moana doing a fairly good job of not accidentally harming him again as she finished up with all three of his legs. Though she had a bit of difficulty properly strapping the last supports on the wounded claw, she managed to finish up before the sun had fully set.
Tamatoa glanced over the job she had done, lightly brushing over one of the splints with his good claw as both Maui and Moana went to the edge of the water to get some more fish.
"You sure are doing a lot for this guy." Maui commented, giving Moana a questioning look. "I get it to an extent, but aren't you going a little above and beyond?"
Moana gave a slight shrug. "I don't know, to be honest. But what's wrong with that if I am?"
Maui snorted. "Well, what's to stop him from trying to kill us again after he gets better? He's not exactly the 'grateful' type." The demigod clearly had little to no faith in the crustacean.
"Well…" Moana replied, not really able to think of a good counterargument. "… I guess that's what you're here for." She answered with a bold grin. "Besides, everyone deserves a second chance. I just want to wait and see if he uses it wisely or not."
"… Well, whatever floats your boat." Maui responded, still doubting her decision, but attempting to lighten the mood with a bit of a pun.
Moana rolled her eyes and snickered at the bad joke before returning to the fishing task at hand.