Sep 28, 2022
Obiyukiweek22 day 7 - Midnight blues
Color prompt blue
A redraw of one of the prettiest manga panels, kissified, hehehehe.
AnS (c) Akizuki Sorata
Art: Me
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Obiyukiweek22 day 7 - Midnight blues
Color prompt blue
A redraw of one of the prettiest manga panels, kissified, hehehehe.
AnS (c) Akizuki Sorata
Art: Me
Obiyukiweek 2022 Masterpost!
It’s finally time, the end of Obiyukiweek 2022! We had a great turn out this year, with 43 works total as of posting from 10 different participants: 24 fics, 7 art pieces, 7 edits, 3 playlists and 2 original compositions!Thank you everyone who participated, and also a big thanks to the creators who didn’t give up and managed to post during the bonus week! We literally could not do this without all of you.
Although this ship week has come to an end, stay tuned! Next week we will be announcing our winter challenge, one that has returned by popular demand!
Works By Day
[Day 1: Beauty and the Beast] | [Day 2: The Selkie Wife] | [Day 3: Rumpelstilskin] | [Day 4: Snow White] | [Day 5: Koschei the Deathless] | [Day 6: Puss in Boots] | [Day 7: Cinderella]
[Works by Creator under the cut]
@batgirlsay Breaking the Curse Pulling You Under Safe and Sound
@claudeng80 Changeling, Chapter 1 Changeling, Chapter 2 Changeling, Chapter 3 Dearest Readers, Chapter 5 Wings drabbles
@glitterberry Beauty and the Beast Betrayal the deathless Found Family If I stumble they’re gonna eat me alive Silence Ten Points to Gryffindor
@k-itsmaywriting Lilias Daily The Meeting: Sunrise in Lilias
@onedivinemisfit For a Few Dollars More [NSFW] I never meant to leave you alone Making Biscuits Midnight Blues milk and honey [NSFW] Mirror Mirror on the Wall
@puffdragongirl Burned, Chapter 5: Quarry Burned, Chapter 6
@randowwriter From Would Be Assassin To So Much More Home or Oasis (Torn Between Two Worlds) An Inherited Surprise A Meeting Away From Everybody Else More Than Just A Face In A Crowd A Sacrifice Turned Joy (And Broken Apart Again) What’s In A Name? The Worst of What Ifs
@realtacuardach The Beast and the Healer Names Sea Glass and Pearls The Truth About Love
@ruleofexception Aura, Chapter 3 Damned Fall of the Crown, Chapter 41: Epilogue [NSFW] Unexpected
@sabraeal All I Ever Wanted, Chapter 1 and all my winding roads have led me here (to you), Part 2
Unexpected
Entry for Obiyuki Week 2022, Jack and the Beanstalk, Forbidden/Rescue (Day 5) @snowwhite-andtheknight
~~~
Dropping his bag unceremoniously to the ground, Obi shifted his weight to one side and shielded his face, grinning at her. "So, Miss, what's that big news you wrote about?"
If it wasn't for the giant smirk spreading across his face and the teasing glint in his eye, Shirayuki likely would have dragged him inside to check if he'd experienced some sort of concussion on his last quest. As it was, she simply folded her arms, leaning against the giant beanstalk that had sprung up just beyond her garden. "It's hard to miss," she snorted. "I'm surprised you didn't notice it on the way back."
"Eh, you know how the boss is," Obi drawled, popping a crick in his neck, "give him a sword and a mission, and he's got tunnel vision. And if he gets distracted, Mitsuhide drags us all back into formation."
He stepped beside her, giving her a quick hug around the shoulders before placing a hand on the beanstalk that easily outstripped the size of three tree trunks together. Letting out a low whistle, he looked at her with a blend of surprise and awe. "We've only been gone a week, Miss. I knew you had a green thumb, but this is impressive."
They both craned their heads to better observe the beanstalk, which had grown not only taller than a tree, but also so tall that the top disappeared into the clouds.
"So..." Obi spoke into the companionable silence that filled the air around them, "when did you plant this?"
Feeling the blush rise on the shell of her ears, Shirayuki swept her gaze sheepishly on the ground. "Uh, yesterday."
Both of his eyebrows rose, pulling at the scar above his left eye. “Yesterday? That’s awfully quick…” His eyes widened. “Miss, did you get these from the market by the guild?”
“Yes…” The question puzzled Shirayuki. “I was stopping by the guild to drop a message for you, and the market was busy. There was a woman there selling all kinds of seeds at very reasonable prices, and I have always wanted to grow beans…”
Obi interjected. “Did the woman have long brown hair,” he wiggled his hands by his ears, “dangling earrings, take-no-prisoners smirk?”
Shirayuki frowned in thought and nodded. “Yes, I believe so.”
“That figures,” Obi snorted, “Miss, you bought these beans from a witch. These are magic beans.”
Immediately, Shirayuki began prodding the stalk with delicate, curious fingers. “Amazing! I’ve never grown magic vegetables before.” She rubbed a long, furling leaf between her hands, and hummed to herself thoughtfully. “I wonder if the beans will have more healing powers or be more nutritious than regular ones!”
Obi smiled at her enthusiasm, the expression more soft than his trademark smirk. “I knew a guy who once ate an ear of magic corn that turned him out in red and green polka dots,” he snorted, “but that was grown by a witch who didn’t like people much. Torou’s pretty harmless, though, so it’s probably fine.”
Curiously, Shirayuki looked back at him, and he shrugged. “Worked with her before the guild.”
“Ah,” Shirayuki returned to her examination, pushing the beanstalk with both of her hands, and letting out an impressed gust of breath. “It’s certainly sturdy. I’m surprised it isn’t bending more with the breeze.”
“Well, it is a magic beanstalk, Miss,” Obi replied, “it may be able to magically stay upright.”
Shirayuki bit the corner of her mouth in thought, which Obi found very distracting. “I suppose.”
“Or,” Obi continued. “It could be that it hit something up there.”
“Hit something?”
Obi leaned against the beanstalk. “Maybe that’s why it’s not moving, it’s stuck on something up there.”
Shielding her eyes, Shirayuki looked up to where the beanstalk vanished into the clouds. “What do you think could be up there?”
“I don’t know,” Obi grinned. “Want to find out?”
Before she could even answer the question, Obi had shrugged off his coat, leapt forward, feet landing on sturdy leaf stems, and began to scale the beanstalk. Shirayuki glanced to where his bag lay on the ground, the flap open, and could see the rope he wasn’t using. She opened her mouth to offer the rope to him, but he had already climbed a considerable, pouncing almost cat-like from stem to stem
Fretfully, Shirayuki pulled the few weeds in her garden before picking out blades of grass, trying to keep her hands busy as she watched Obi become smaller and smaller as he climbed higher and higher. Her throat burned with a cry to be careful, but she forced it down, not wanting to distract him.
“How’s the weather down this, Miss?” Obi called down in a tone far too flippant for a man several hundreds of feet in the air.
"The same as it was…" she glanced at her watch, "thirty minutes ago! How's the grip up there?"
"Pretty good," he yelled back, "better than that waterfall I fell down–"
"What?” Shirayuki cried out.
“Can’t hear you, Miss! Just a minute!”
“Obi!” Shirayuki regretted not knowing his full name, he needed his full name thrown at him right now. She began braiding the grass, her fingers growing increasingly frenetic and frenzied as the Obi-dot vanished into the abyss of clouds.
It felt like an eternity passed before she heard the most beautiful sound in the world.
“Hey Miss!” Obi yelled from the clouds, and she saw a blur sliding down the stalk at great speed. She watched with fascination as he nimbly maneuvered through the sea of leaves on the stalk without falling, only digging in his heels as he approached the ground.
“Obi!” Shirayuki nearly tackled him in relief, checking for waterfall injuries and beanstalk-climbing injuries, and not finding any (although he was very good at hiding them, she’d investigate further later).
Obi grinned excitedly at her, red rising a little on his face, possibly from the sun above the clouds. “You’ll never guess what’s up there!”
“What?”
Obi tilted his head upwards and smiled, eyes glinting with excitement. “Do you want to see?”
~~~
Shirayuki placed the last of her supplies in her basket when Obi burst in through the window, full knapsack banging against his back. “You ready to go?” He asked.
“I think so.” Tapping a finger against her chin, she looked over everything again. “Do you think I’m missing anything?”
Obi stood beside her and leaned a little over her as he looked at the table. He hummed thoughtfully, and then walked away into the depths of her little kitchen. Rattling could be heard for a few minutes before he walked back, holding her cast iron skillet triumphantly before him. “Found it!”
Shirayuki groaned internally, thinking of how hard it would be to lug a proper cast-iron skillet up a giant beanstalk. “Why would we need a skillet?”
“For defense!” Obi twirled the skillet like a sword and nodded, as though pleased with the balance of the make-shift weapon. “You never know, we might run into a giant! And I know you pack a fair punch with this!”
Charitably, Shirayuki decided not to mention that he only knew that because of the time he snuck into her kitchen to intimidate her, and nearly ended up with the skillet embedded in the back of his head. Certainly not the most auspicious of meetings, she had to admit, although it had worked out…eventually.
Now that she thought about that, Obi probably remembered that full too well, given how he appeared to be preening. He picked the oddest things to find admirable about her.
“I’m not sure I can carry this,” she admitted somewhat regretfully. “I’m not sure if I can carry myself up there.”
Obi sobered a little. “We don’t have to go up there if you don’t want to, Miss. I’ll help you climb if you want to, but I won’t make you.”
“No, no, I want to,” Shirayuki assured her, “I just won’t climb as fast as you.”
Face lighting up again, Obi reached into his knapsack and showed her a mound of knotted rope. “You’ll do great, Miss. I’ll be there to help you the whole way,” he shook the rope, “with this!”
Shirayuki squinted at the bundle of the rope that on closer inspection appeared to be some kind of harness. “You’re going to carry me?”
“If you need me to,” Obi promised, “but I’ll bet you’ll do most of the climbing fine. We’ll just take our time, enjoy the view.” Shirayuki gave him a pointed look and he laughed. “Well, maybe not.” He picked up the skillet. “I’ll carry this, though.”
Glancing at his overstuffed knapsack, Shirayuki frowned thoughtfully. “Do you need to bring all of this? Where are you even going to put the skillet?”
“Of course!” Obi exclaimed. “Always expect the unexpected!” He cried, thumping his chest twice before sliding the skillet into a loop on his belt and tying it securely into place.
Shirayuki stifled a giggle, wondering if Mitsuhide would appreciate Obi mimicking him. Maybe he would just be grateful that Obi listened.
~~~
“Doing okay there, Miss?”
Shirayuki could barely hear Obi through the whistling of the wind, but she nodded as she grabbed onto another leaf and pulled herself up. Then she remembered that Obi couldn’t see her.
“Yes!” Another hearty gust of wind blew across them, and Shirayuki twisted a little in her harness. A few handholds above her, she could see Obi reacting to the change in the ropes before he turned to look down at her. She had no idea how he could look down at her so calmly, given how much of the earth was spread out beneath them.
“Do you need a break?”
Her fingers burned and numbed a little with cold, which had begun to set in about thirty minutes after they had begun climbing. Her cheeks felt a little raw under the onslaught of the wind, and she could feel the effects of the sun on the bridge of her nose. In spite of this, or partially because of this, she felt exuberant and alive, although not enough to take prolonged looks towards the earth below. They’d already taken some breaks on leaves that Obi had marked on the way up as being particularly sturdy, so that also helped.
“I’m fine,” she called back. “Besides, it looks like we’re almost there.”
“Yup,” he grinned at her, “just need to go through the clouds now!”
Clouds…were wet. She’d expected cotton candy, but it instead felt like she was wading through puddles as she followed Obi’s lead. Anxiety thrummed a little through her at the darkness and the increasingly slippery handholds, but Obi’s lifeline on her steadily moving ahead gave her some comfort.
“Almost there,” she heard him call as through wet cotton.
She took a deep breath to respond, and then burst into the sunlight.
Legs wobbling despite herself, Shirayuki blinked back the sudden brightness and tried to focus. Warm hands gripped her arms and steadied her, then moved to her waist. “I’ve got you,” Obi soothed, and Shirayuki let go.
She floated for a moment amidst the brightness and the warm support of his touch, and then felt the miraculous sturdiness of ground beneath her feet. “Thank you,” she said to the slowly defining silhouette that was Obi, “I’m good.”
He released her, and she took a step forward, then two.
And then her legs crumpled to the ground.
“Ow.”
“Miss!” Obi cried out, falling to his knees beside her. “Are you okay?”
Laughing, Shirayuki patted his shoulder. She blinked and his worried features tugged at her heart. “I’m fine, just tired! How do you make it look so easy?”
Obi settled beside her and shifted so she could lean against him. “It’s a gift.” He gestured around them. “What do you think?”
Catching her breath, Shirayuki glanced around, color returning to her vision, and stared. In front of them lay an enormous field of herbs and flowers. Wind blew gently above the clouds, and the plants bowed and rose with it, sending waves of color in every direction.
Shirayuki struggled to her feet, Obi supporting her beneath her elbows, and stumbled forward towards where blue bursts of chicory bloomed in abundance. As she brought her hands forward to feel the leaves and flowers, bewilderment flooded her as she realized one flower was easily the size of her hand.
And not just the chicory, every plant here dwarfed the plants on the earth below. Giant orange waves of calendula beckoned from the right. Giant sprigs of lavender towered like trees in the distance. If she pushed up on her toes, she could just see the tops of the mint plants wafting their strong aromas over the entire field.
She blinked once, twice. Then she looked at Obi who laughed at her expression.
"No, Miss," he assured her, "you're not crazy."
Turning back, she hugged Obi tightly. "This is wonderful, thank you!"
Obi grinned sheepishly, rubbing his shoulder. "You grew the beanstalk."
"And you climbed it!" Shirayuki’s fingers began to twitch in anticipation, and she bent down to grab her basket and pruning shears. Both tools in hand, she popped up and looked toward Obi. "Obi, do you mind if–"
Obi grinned, twirling a dagger in one hand and holding a cloth bag in the other. "Lead the way, Miss."
~~~
Shirayuki sighed with contentment as she lay back, the top of her head glancing against Obi's side. Turning her gaze lazily to one side, she could see the bags stuffed tight with herbs and flowers piled by Obi's knapsack. Feeling accomplished, she set herself to the new task of digesting all the food Obi had brought.
"A picnic was a wonderful idea," she complimented sleepily. "I'm glad you thought of it."
"It was a good idea, if I say so myself," Obi agreed, groaning and settling down comfortably beside her. "So what do you want to do now? I'd say watch the clouds go by, but–"
They both laughed, before lapsing into a longurious silence.
"Let's just…stay like this for a while," Shirayuki replied, eyes drifting shut. "It's so peaceful here."
Obi's head lolled on his shoulder, and he smiled softly at the drowsing woman beside her. "Yeah," he half-whispered, "sounds good to me."
The sounds of the plants waving continuously in the breeze and the increasing heaviness of the pair's breathing blended into a soporific melody that lulled them into deeper and deeper drowsiness. The world beneath them, often so chaotic and busy and complicated, seemed more and more distant, and peace pervaded their bones.
The rumbling started so low that it could barely be heard over the wind, but Obi stirred a little from his sleep. He attempted to curl more fully around Shirayuki, and then the vibration deep in the ground, reverberating through his bones.
Obi shot upwards, blinking, and then his body softened into fluid languidness. Stirring a little, Shirayuki murmured in confusion. "Obi?"
Slowly, Obi's hand went to her shoulder and he began lightly shaking it. "Miss," he said evenly, "you need to wake up."
"Huh," Shirayuki blinked sleepily.
"Get up," he continued evenly, "grab your bags, and head back to the beanstalk. As quietly as you can."
She had rarely heard that tone, but she had learned that she should always listen to it. Forcing the drowsiness from her bones, she got up from the picnic blanket Obi had brought and slowly walked over to her herbs. Glancing around in vain to see what had sparked Obi's concern, she secured the herb bags firmly to her back.
"Obi," she whispered, "what is–?"
The vibrations grew in intensity, and they appeared to be coming closer. Obi swore an oath under his breath. "Run, Miss!" He shouted, giving up all pretense of hiding, slinging on his knapsack. "I'll be right behind you–"
And then the giant was upon them.
Shirayuki had read about giants, had heard stories at the local tavern about them, but had never seen one up so close. She struggled to move, but her limbs felt weighted in terror as the form of the giant filled the entire field of her vision. Run, she cursed her legs which somehow only managed something approximating a weak toddle, get to the beanstalk! Hurry!
The giant's hot breath gusted her in a pungent fog of heat and mist, causing Shirayuki to choke as she lunged in vain towards safety. The giant's arms whistled through the air as they reached for her; her mind fractured with panic.
Arms much smaller than the giant's shoved her and she fell to the ground. She looked up just in time to see Obi being yanked from the ground by the giant's hairy fists. “No!” She shrieked, “Obi!”
“Run, Miss!” Obi yelled, hacking at the giant’s knuckles with his dagger. The sharp blade barely scraped the thick skin of the giant’s hands, only sending sparks from the strikes to the ground. His knapsack followed soon after, shaken from Obi’s back from the giant’s vigorous shaking.
As she ran to where the knapsack fell to the ground, Shirayuki watched as Obi abandoned his first attempts to attack and escape and threw his dagger towards the giant’s soft vulnerable eyes. The giant jerked to the side, causing the dagger to miss its target, although the force with which he threw it scraped the giant’s forehead, causing great drops of deep purplish-blood to begin oozing out. Roaring with rage, the giant tightened its hold, Obi gasping in pain under the overpowering pressure.
Shirayuki yanked up the skillet, taking the bag with hers because she didn’t have time to untie the knots, and brought it down, with all her force and an unearthly battle cry, onto the giant’s smallest toe.
Howling with pain, the giant’s hold on Obi tightened and then slackened entirely as both hands reached for the aching toe. Obi landed, none too lightly, on the ground and forced himself to his feet as Shirayuki ran over to him.
“Obi! Are you okay?”
“No time for that,” Obi said, watching the giant attempt to stand one foot while massaging the other with both hands. The giant almost instantly stumbled, wobbled precariously, and fell onto his back with such a force that both of them were sent into the air several feet.
Shirayuki looked over her shoulder as they scrambled back to their feet, smirking a little at the effects of her frying pan while lamenting the poor plants the giant was crushing. However, the giant looked up, murder in his eyes, and all mirth was gone.
“Run!”
Nearly tripping in their haste, bags banging and crashing into them, the two ran to where the beanstalk broke through the clouds. The discarded and untied harness lay useless in front of them, and Obi looked back to where the giant had struggled to his feet.
They were out of time.
Obi began digging in his pack. “Shirayuki, do you trust me?”
“Of course,” she said breathlessly, eyes darting between the approaching giant and Obi.
Pulling her roughly to him, he nodded. “Hold on tight!”
And with that, he ran and jumped.
The moisture of the clouds clung to them, trying to keep them within its chaotic confines, but gravity pulled harder and they continued to plummet. Cloud and wind and sun screamed past them as they fell towards the ground. Shirayuki’s heart lodged in the base of her throat, followed swiftly by her stomach, and she clung to Obi with all her force, closing her eyes.
“Hang on!” Obi yelled, and if Shirayuki could force any sound out of her throat, she would assure him she had no desire to do anything else.
A strange unfurling sound flapped in the wind above their heads, and Shirayuki felt tugged slightly upwards. Her heart froze in fear that the giant had grabbed them and was pulling them back above the clouds.
Obi’s chest began heaving, and Shirayuki feared the worse, and then realized that he was laughing. Not just laughing, but the most exuberant laughing she’d ever heard. He crowed with delight, whooping as they continued their descent to earth, albeit a little more slowly.
She persuaded her eyes to open enough to squint at him. The muscles of his shoulders strained to their utmost, but Obi’s face betrayed no exhaustion, only exhilaration. Her eyes traced the line of his arms, to see his fists twisted tight in material looped around his wrists. Forcing her eyes to open further, she stared up in shock.
Holding the picnic blanket high above his head, Obi was using the winds to descend safely back home.
Laughing along with the rhythms echoing from his chest, Shirayuki leaned her head against his shoulder and tried hard not to think about the ground approaching them.
It felt like an eternity, but likely only a few moments later, Obi nudged at Shirayuki’s temple with his nose. “We’re pretty close to the ground now,” he assured her, “do you want to look?”
Trusting Obi, Shirayuki twisted her head to the side and down towards the ground. The green and purple fields grew larger as they approached, the nearby river glistening like silver around the village. She could just see the specks of her friends and neighbors living their normal lives in the bustling village. The palace glittering resplendently and indulgently from the corner of her eye, and she began sweeping her gaze eagerly from side to side.
Warmth settled deep in her heart as she saw it. Home.
Obi’s feet settled in the grass, followed by Shirayuki’s. He smiled triumphantly at her before toppling onto the ground.
“Are you okay?” She asked, turning him over.
“Fine,” he said lightly and shakily. “Just tired.” He attempted to lift up his arms before letting them flop down into the soft grass.
“That was incredible,” Shirayuki praised. “I would never have thought of that!”
“Always expect…” he huffed, “the unexpected.”
Shirayuki rubbed his shoulders. “I’m going to get something for your arms,” she decided, pushing herself into kneeling, “maybe some chamomile and mint–”
A nerveless arm flopped onto her knee, fingers weakly closing on the hem of her blouse. “Just a minute,” Obi pleaded, “can’t you just…stay with me? For a few minutes?”
“Of course,” Shirayuki settled beside him, taking care not to jar his shoulders. “That was very brave, Obi. Thank you for saving me.”
“Thank you for saving me,” Obi returned. “Told you that a skillet would come in handy.”
“Yes, you did,” Shirayuki laughed. She ran her fingers lazily down his arm, entwining their fingers. Obi attempted to squeeze back, but groaned at the weakness of his fingers. “I hope that jump didn’t hurt you too badly.”
“It was nothing,” he said, turning to her with a grin that was intended to probably be rakish but came off more as doting, “all worth saving a lovely damsel.”
“My hero,” Shirayuki smiled, and pushed up a little to kiss him on the cheek.
Obi flushed bright red, and his arms twitched hard in the grass. “If I only could move,” he muttered.
Shirayuki laughed and kissed him again. “There’s more than enough time for that later. Rest now.”
Pillowing her head on his shoulder, she sighed and smiled as he felt his cheek lean against the top of her head. Together, they gazed up at the clouds that had gone silent, hands intertwined.
~~~
Above the clouds, a chagrined and put-upon giant sat glumly in front of his home, having been thoroughly chastised by his wife that this is why we never have guests over!
Pulling You Under
An Obiyuki Week 2022 Day 2 Playlist (for @snowwhite-andtheknight)
Dug through some old ocean/deep sea themed playlists and found songs that perfectly fit the selkie and home themes! Didn’t initially think about the story when arranging the songs, but the bittersweet songs could represent Obi being concerned about selkie Shirayuki wanting to return to her previous life in the ocean where he can’t follow...
As you guys know, I always put my favorite songs in the playlists so I can listen to them non-stop and this playlist would be a good introduction to all of my favorites!
Submarine Symphonika- The Submarines Tides Change- The Hush Sound Waves that Rolled You Under- Young Summer Down By the Water- The Decemberists Marvelous Things- Eisley Is It Safe- Matt Pond PA Waltz on Water- Copeland Palm Reading- Fialta Under the Tide- CHVRCHES Deep Sea- Snail Mail
An Obiyuki Week 2022 Day 2 Playlist
Summary lyrics are posted after the bonus mermaid Shirayuki!
Submarine Symphonika- The Submarines
Say what you will Love finds you even when you've given it up
But now that you've promised never again It's exactly when you'll fall in
You say home's where you'll be But soon your own sweet love Who needs you will be lying in your arms
Tides Change- The Hush Sound
The tides changed, it's time to go home The waves said I should go The wind began to blow and the water got tall And that's when I went home
Going back to the boat With fresh oars, I will row Going back to unknown This SOS will never reach the coast
Waves that Rolled You Under- Young Summer
It was all a thrill I got locked in but I had to go The balcony was closed, but our minds were open
Go on and touch, don't think too deep in Don't be so scared of the things you love
Diving into waves over deeper waters Fools from far away close enough to fall in Well I never could say what I wanted I never could see the waves that rolled you under
It hits me still when you're distant Out there alone While the world is stretched we go But this time holding strong
Down By the Water- The Decemberists
See this ancient riverbed See where all the follies led Down by the water and Down by the old main drag
The season rubs me wrong The summer swells anon So knock me down, tear me up But I would bear it all broken just to fill my cup
Marvelous Things- Eisley
Dark night, hold tight And sleep tight my baby Morning light shall burst bright And keep us here safely
I followed a rabbit Through rows of mermaid-entwined shrubbery
Oh, lying in the sun Everyday feeling all of the magic in life and the wonder
Is It Safe- Matt Pond PA
Let's go for a swim Out into the waves When the lifeguards leave It's ours for the day
Let's feel like we're brave Let's give it some meaning Even if it is shallow Even if it is fake
It is safe as long as I see you way out in the water With no thought of going under We could be out here for hours
Lying in the sand I fall asleep And dream of the summer When we'd slip behind the pool And go with nature
If you're looking for something Out in the waves At least it is something You know that you're safe
It is sound as long as I see you way out in the water With no thought of going under We could be out here for hours
I see birds above the waves sit on the air And wait for something I know someday I'll be done with all this waiting
Waltz on Water- Copeland
Step lightly, we might sink in
We're waltzing on the water now I'm drowning here on solid ground We're fumbling on our common ground
I'll step lightly lest I grow tired Of the search for the cure For apathy, was it her? But by the time she returned I was fast asleep, come lay with me 'Cause I can't slow my dreaming
Palm Reading- Fialta
Wading out into the ocean As you read the palm in my hand Lazy holiday in motion Sifting all the salt from the sand
Many hours you sing for me, you know what I like
Will you have the time, will you wait for me?
Under the Tide- CHVRCHES
I'm watching you run Run from the sidelines Take in a breath, fill in your lungs Keeping you alive No fear, I'll be your eyes I'll be your lifeline And if I can be, I'll be your strength And it won't be long now
Head up, head up Keep holding, holding
Don't you take another step away from here "I would go anywhere with you" What a lie I'll break down, but you will never see Tell me, are you happy? Are you really happy?
Deep Sea- Snail Mail
Deep sea dive Got down, but you stayed alive It's only you down there You and the bends
Lose your mind Lose track of breathing in time It's only you down there Sleep with the tides
We can be anyone It took so long to know someone like you And age in the dying sun Wake only to bathe in greens and blues
and all my winding roads have led me here (to you), Part 2
[Read on AO3]
Obiyukiweek 2022, Day 1: Beauty and the Beast Kindness, Night, Curse
The (Clarines) version of the song sung in this fic is this one written by @what-plant-metaphor-am-i! The second I heard it I knew it would have to be the one I used for the fic; hopefully she enjoys the raunchy Tanbarun version I made in return
I’m not much for people, Obi told her once, back before they’d known just how much coal would last a burner for a winter night, or how many miles of a sea a ship could cut across with all hands and sails unfurled. I don’t tend to stick around.
And yet, as the scholars of Lilias press around him, laughing at the flaps on his cap or plucking at the golden buttons of his coat, she realizes: he’s rarely without a crowd. In the training yard the recruits follow him like ducklings, waddling after him with wide eyes and rounder mouths; in the palace’s halls he’s always flanked by Makiri and his captains, discussing some patrol or another; and here, with her scholars, he’s the life of the party, everyone jostling elbows to come close and chuckle at the latest joke going round the guardhouse. No matter where she takes him, Obi is at the center of everything, and she--
She doesn’t know how to break through. Not the way she would have just minutes ago, slipping though with a smile and enjoying the way his arm would relax beneath her palm. Your cheeks are flushed, she’d say, a tease and a scold wrapped up in one. Don’t you know you need to keep warm up on your wall?
How easy it would have been to lead him away, to sit him by the fire and fend off the offers of too many drinks, curling into his side as simply as she always had and let his voice ease the hours away.
And now it is impossible. Yuzuri’s giggle echoes in her ears, and no matter which way she turns it over him her mind, looks like Obi needs to be warmed up, no longer conjures those conversations cozened in a forgotten corner, but instead--
Instead she thinks of his coat. Not this one the guard has given him, too short to warm much of anything, only making him look tall and lean beneath the heft of his cloak, but the old one. It’d hung long, the way Mitsuhide’s always had, more tunic than jacket in the Sereg way. Even when it fell open at the collar, Shirayuki had thought it looked warm, like a blanket someone might huddle under while the snow fell.
And it’s only a hop, a skip, a jump to think of it open to the waist, of how she might be so small as to fit inside it so long as she pressed close. How his own heat might mingle with hers, the way it had beneath the covers on Lilias’s coldest nights, and he--
Oh no, he’s coming toward her.
It’s tempting to do what’s always worked before: turn tail and run, hoping her good sense can catch up to her before he can. But there’s no use; if Zen chased her down in that wood without even breaking a sweat, a crowded room won’t even make Obi break stride. All it might get her is hurt feelings, and Obi-- Obi deserves better than that from her. He’s earned better than that.
So instead she plants herself on the carpet with all the courage of a deer before a carriage, legs trembling from the effort.
“Miss!” He can’t have grown since this morning, and yet she doesn’t remember having to crane her neck so much to bridge the gulf between their eyes. “I thought I saw you hiding back here.”
“I’m not hiding.” For all her speculation about the sort of warmth she could steal if she burrowed under his jacket, she hardly needs it. He stands close enough that she could reach out her hand and touch him with arm to spare, and still she feels his heat, barely muted by fabric and space. “I was just...cutting the cake.”
His glove splays over his chest; a gesture meant to be a joke, rather than a reminder of how large his hands are. “Without me? The guest of honor?”
“It’s not as if you’re the only one,” she informs him loftily. “There’s three of us, and we did have a majority.”
His brows lift, just enough to crinkle his scar. “That’s a very democratic celebration from a royal pharmacist.”
Her mouth twitches. “I get it from my father.”
“Now that I can see.” There’s a light in his eyes as he leans closer, a spark that dances as he says, “And Yuzuri getting punchy around drink three for something with enough cream to moo might have helped too, huh?”
“W-well.” Her back bumps into the table, jostling the dishes. “That might have had something to do with it.”
His hum rumbles in her ears, loud as if she were touching him, as if her bones themselves were conducting the sound even though there’s enough space still for someone to slip between them. It’s her only warning before that space disappears, the scent of leather and winter’s chill washing over her as Obi reaches out, lighting fast, to swipe a swirl of cream.
That would be bad enough to set her poor heart galloping in her chest, confused and skittish as a horse without its blinders, but then his mouth closes around that finger, sucking off the cream, and-- and--
Her mind goes utterly blank.
“Delicious,” he sighs, tongue trailing over his lips. “I’ll give it to Yuzuri, she sure knows how to pick a cake.”
“Here,” Shirayuki manages, her voice sounding as if it’s coming from down the hall rather than her own mouth. “Have some.”
It’s nothing to lift a plate from the table and shove it into his hands, and yet, she still nearly mangles it, getting half his fingers covered in frosting and the other half all tangled up in her own. If she’d been hoping to make some space between them, she’s sure done a botch job of it.
His skin has always been darker than hers, copper to her ivory, but it’s all the more apparent when his fingers wiggle, cream wobbling treacherously where it’s heaped on his knuckles. Obi blinks, eyes wide as he contemplates the mess she’s made, and the moment he opens his mouth, she-- she--
Well, she can’t help but wonder if he’ll lick them clean.
He doesn’t. “Here I was coming over here to see if I could get you something. And instead you’re the one getting me cake.”
“Oh, you don’t need to worry about me,” she assures him, too breathless, not at all contemplating the uses of her own tongue. Not like it’s doing anything useful right now besides making her stumble over every word anyway. “It’s right here! if I want something I can just get it.”
It’s obscene how his mouth curls, that lop-sided smile of sending a jolt of-- of something straight down to her toes and back again. “I wasn’t talking about the cake.”
There’s a rumble in his chest, and-- and it must be new. It wouldn’t startle her otherwise, jolting her one step back and making all the silverware clatter on the tablecloth. “Y-you weren’t? Then--?”
But if he did want you. Yuzuri’s slur burrows into her ears, a burr she can’t shake off. Would that change anything?
It wouldn’t. It couldn’t, because it’s-- it’s impossible. Obi may be discreet, but he’s not subtle, not about something like this. If he’d been able to keep his opinions to himself, Mitsuhide wouldn’t need to look over his shoulder every time he picked up a dropped paper. On the other hand, Kiki wouldn’t know just how powerful she was without her coat on in the yard, and, well--
The point is, if Obi felt even the slightest stirring when she entered the room, he would have-- she would have--
“I thought you might want a drink.” His chin bobs toward her. “You’re over here empty handed when we all know just how you feel about Suzu’s cider.”
This time he does raise his hand, eyelashes fluttering against his cheek as he bends to take it into his mouth, and she--
She squeaks. “I don’t think I’ll be drinking tonight.”
That draws him up short, unfortunately. Or maybe fortunately? Shirayuki can’t tell. “Miss, are you--?”
“I think I hear Yuzuri,” she blurts out, skirting a step around him. “Calling me, that is. So I better...”
She tries for an elegant bob of the head, something that said I’m leaving while also implying, but not for any reason that concerns you. Hopefully with enough confidence to add, don’t check.
If the way Obi’s eyebrows furrow is any indication, she fails on every count. “Miss, is there something--?”
She’d been hoping for a graceful exit, but in the end, Shirayuki will take full-on flight over having to talk about this any day.
“See you later,” she manages, nearly tripping over one of the girls from the geology department. “Enjoy the cake!”
In the end, Shirayuki does take that drink, though from a far safer distance if not from a steadier pair of hands.
“Here.” Yuzuri presses a warm mug on her with a laugh, cider sloshing over the rim. “Looks like you need it.”
Shirayuki suspects that she might be right.
It’s by the same magic that Yuzuri manages the second; appearing out of the crowd like some otherworldly creature, hair a tangled halo and earmuffs askew, before disappearing once more. Someone’s brought out a mandolone, and another a pipe, and with half the pharmacy’s day shift beating their hands on the table, something approaching music hangs in the air.
“Well the first snow has fallen,” a voice strains against the noise, pitched too high too start and too soft to hold, “and the second, third and fourth--”
She loses the thread of the melody, but it comes back in force when half the party shouts out, “Because we’re up so bloody north!”
A giggle bubbles out of her, and though these aren’t the words she’d grown up with-- those wouldn’t be fit for this sort of company, no matter what Yuzuri likes to encourage her to-- her toes set to tapping, and when it comes time for the second verse, she shouts out as loud the rest of the revelers, “cos we get twice the night!”
It’s then that her ear catches his voice, keeping up with the third verse, even if the rest of them can only stumble through. There’s as many as twelve to this one-- Suzu told her once when he’d found some notes about it in the archives, trying to win a bet about the wording of completely different song-- but she’s never heard more than five, and most of the scholars seem to know only a the first two plus whichever verse tickles them most.
But Obi’s always been a quick learner; when the last of his fellow singers bow out with a laugh, he tells the mandolone player to pick up the pace and launched into--
Ah, well. The verses she knew. At least, as much as she could hear through her grandmother’s hands.
“’Let us lay down together,’ the little herbwife said--” it’s strange how loud her voice is in her ears, the burr of his deepest notes shivering through her bones where he tempts the edge of his range-- “for a back on the mattress is the best treatment for the head--”
Ah, she’s never quite noticed that entendre, not until Obi’s smile wraps around it like a promise.
“--now the answer to your problem with which your questions begs--” the melody stretches his talents the other way now, climbing up the octave, but his voice doesn’t crack an inch-- “has always been best found right between the legs.”
It shouldn’t mean anything, not at all, but his eyes meet hers and-- and--
Obi looks like he knows a lot about that, Yuzuri had said, too confident. A lot, a lot--
Her hand slaps to her cheek, not nearly cool enough to quell its burning. That’s quite enough of that.
Yuzuri ambushes her with the third drink, flushed and jingling from the bells someone’s hung around her neck. Shirayuki’s tempted to wave her off-- the room’s already starting to sway, and if she tries anything more athletic than wall-leaning, she might have some distinct issues with the direction of flow in her esophageal region-- but instead she takes it, nursing it like Lata does his rocks.
It’s a mistake; this many drinks makes her thoughtful. If Obi had been watching, he would have kept her from making it. Occupational hazard, he would have told her, plucking it from her hand. Don’t need to be following you off any towers tonight.
But he’s not. No, instead he’s caught in a corner with a handful of scholars from the philosophical sciences, looking more entertained by the minute. One of them can’t be much older than Ryuu, but her head tilts just so, a fountain of loose blonde curls frothing over her shoulder, and her hand comes to rest on his arm. Obi glances down, eyebrows lifting barely more than a twitch, and she expects him to slip away, to put space between them the way he always does when she attempts to bridge that gulf.
And yet, he doesn’t. Instead his lips curl at one corner, those sharp eyes of his fixed to where hers keep flapping. The way Zen’s would after his interest wandered, weary of more mundane matters and eager to-- to--
Ah. Well. Perhaps she shouldn’t be watching so closely then. It may be a public venue, but there’s no reason for her to spy on anything so, er, intimate. Or at least, heading toward that quarter. Obi deserves better than serving as her entertainment.
Still, it’s an effort to look away, to drag her attention anywhere but where he stands, the same way it had been when she and Zen had stumbled upon his date in the marketplace all those years ago. I’m done with all that, he’d laughed later, walking her home. Too messy for me.
But now...
She shakes her head. He couldn’t have been twenty-five when he said that, still struggling to grow much more than stubble on his cheeks. Shirayuki may have chosen plants over a partner, a career over being cooped up in the castle, but that doesn’t mean that Obi has to follow suit.
He’d never shown much of an interest, abstaining from all the same banquets and being flowers on all the same walls when propriety forced them into them anyway, but she can understand how it might appeal to a commander of the guard when so many of his junior officers were so keen to be wed. Just last week, Hiro had come by her office to give her the invitation to his in person, beaming as he told her about the lady scholar he’d be making his wife in only a month’s time.
If that’s what Obi wants, then she’s happy to support him. It’s only--
If he had been an option, Yuzuri’s words echo, loud even in the din, would that have changed anything?
It’s silly to even entertain it. She never had been, save for maybe those first few weeks, when he was all sharp edges and she might have posed some challenge. But now that he knows her-- maybe even better than anyone ever has--
Well, he would have done something, wouldn’t he? Said something. He flirts with her the same as anyone, but there’s no heat in it; he only likes to skirt propriety, to see what might make her squirm. If there was any more to it than that, he’d seek out her touch rather than tolerate it, closing that distance between their bodies for some other reason than duty. A hand on her hip, a breath over the skin over her neck, pin her to a wall...
Oh! Well. The cider might have warmed her, but that’s done quite a bit more. An interesting idea to think on, for...academic purposes. Not because--
“Looks like you’re just about done for the night.”
There’s laughter in Obi’s eyes as he slips the mug from her numb fingers. Her eyes catch on his open collar as he bends, gaping to bear the touchable skin of his throat. “H-huh?”
“You’re all flushed.” He smiles, one side tugging higher than the other, more fond than salacious. “You want to catch a breath, Miss? Maybe take a turn outside?”
“Ah...” She considers the room, the thick press of bodies that only seems to grow more cloying as the night goes on-- and then thinks of how it would be if it were just her and Obi, his heat radiating through the wool of his coat--
Shirayuki bobs her head, hoping it’s the right direction for a yes.
“Good,” he sighs, a laugh hidden inside it. “I’m dying to be able to hear myself think for a minute.”
Lilias may no longer be steeped in winter, the cold no longer burning every sliver of skin uncovered, but snow still coats what’s not cobble, squatting in slumped piles made months before. The breeze riffles through her cloak like a thief, still brisk even if it lacks all the bite of the nights before, stealing the break from her lungs and warmth from her pockets.
To think, if she stayed in Wistal, she would be wearing linen instead of wool and still sweating. Ah, no, worse-- her birthday would be a day earmarked on the court’s social calendar, a momentous occasion for her to fed and feted until she could hardly stand to see another cake. There would be no time to stand beneath the night sky, tracing the same lines the ancient scholars did between the stars; no quiet to escape to when the din grew too loud. Princesses lived for their people, after all.
There were reasons she hadn’t chosen that life. Good ones, better than just simple inconvenience. But tonight, as her breath mists trails into the late spring chill, it’s the petty ones that give her the most comfort.
A cape drops heavily across her shoulders, chasing away winter’s icy fingers. Her hands fly up, but she only manages to brush fingertips before Obi’s touch scuttles away. There it is again; she reaches, he retreats.
And yet it’s not far enough for his warmth to leave her, a tangible pressure at her shoulder. “Something the matter, Miss?”
She blinks, craning her neck until she meets the concern in his eyes. “Hm?”
“You’re quiet.” A corner of his mouth threatens to cant, trembling where he holds it steady. A perfect place for lips, her mind offers her, unbidden. “Which means you’re up to something.”
“Oh!” She tears her gaze away, letting it skitter over the stones like snow on the wind. “No. I wasn’t...I was only thinking.”
His laugh clouds the corner of her vision. “Ah, Miss. Don’t you know that’s worse?”
It’s odd to be so low at this time of night; usually their nighttime wanderings bring them along the wall, the whole of Lilias spread out beneath their feet. But tonight there are no twinkling lights below them, only the ones above, caught in the aurora’s current. “Should I be dissatisfied with my life, do you think?”
He shifts at her shoulder, all that confidence of his turned uncertain. She has a gift for doing that to him, for some reason. “Wanna run that by me again?”
“That’s what you’re supposed to do at thirty, isn’t it?” She deflates with a sigh, her back bowing into his chest. He stiffens beneath the touch, but tolerates it. He likes her that much at least. “Think you haven’t done enough.”
“Ha.” The sound rattles along her spine before it ever makes it out of his mouth. “I think that’s for other people, Miss. Ones who haven’t spread Phostyrias across the North, or helped keep a civil war from spilling across Clarines soil. Or has that-- that stuff--?”
Rumor might paint Obi’s tongue silver, but it doesn’t make science any easier for him to speak. “Fervidus argens.”
“Right, that.” His shoulder twitches at her back, at least half a shrug. “Someone who hasn’t made that into something more than a bad night at the banquet.”
“I suppose that’s all impressive.” Her fingers clench at his cape, drawing it tighter around her shoulders until she’s enveloped in his scent, leather and pine and southern spice. “But...”
“But?”
“There’s things I haven’t done.” Her head tilts, just enough to meet his eyes as she tells him, “Gotten you to say my name, for one.”
Obi’s skin isn’t one to show a blush, not even as pale as it’s gotten up here, away from the sun. But still, his ears pink, just at the tips. “Miss...”
She takes pity on him, turning her attention back to the stars. “And according to Yuzuri, I’ve missed out on my chance for romance.”
He’s quiet then; the sort that’s far too thoughtful for something so silly, lasting entirely too long.
“If you wanted that,” he begins, voice rough as if he’d let a team of horses drag it gate to gate both ways. “Master would have--”
“Please.” Her hand flies into the space between them, and oh, she’s clearly had too much, since her fingertips take extra care in closing his mouth. “Don’t do that. I’m not-- I wasn’t trying to talk about Zen. There’s no regrets there, Obi. We did what was right for the both of us.”
And one of us was hurt far less by it than we expected, she nearly says, but his silence stifles it the way words never could. It’s not an absence of sound, the way she’s used to, but one that prickles with what’s unsaid. She and Zen might have said their piece about the dwindling end of their road together, but Obi-- Obi had only watched.
His jaw flexes beneath her hand, and she lets it fall away. It would serve her right if he scolded her now; leaving Zen behind had been her choice, but Obi’s future had always been mixed up in theirs, the way Kiki or Mitsuhide’s never was. His position depended on her being the second prince’s princess, someone deserving of protection, and she-- she let it all slip through her fingers, as easy as sand through an hourglass.
Whatever she expects, it’s not for him to say, “Did you want one? A romance?”
“No.” It comes out harsher than she means. “I mean, it’s never been a priority. I’ve always had other things to worry about. But sometimes...”
Her mouth works, but it take a few minutes before she manages to get out, “Sometimes I think about my mother. And my father. They had me when they were hardly twenty, and I...”
She swallows, hard. “I wonder if by choosing all this, I’ve given up to have that. Ah, have a family, I mean.”
It’s a silly thing, she knows it, but Obi doesn’t laugh. No, when she turns to look at him, he’s serious, those narrow brows of his drawn tight over the blade of his nose. “You know, if you’re worried about that, you could do what Yuzuri did.”
Shirayuki blinks. “What’s that?”
White flashes in the dim. “Make a pact with Suzu.”
“W-wha--?”
He slips around her, grin far too wide. “If she’s thirty and no one better’s come along, then he’ll get her pregnant.”
Distantly, she’s aware that her jaw’s just hanging there, open for the world to see, but there’s little and less she can do about it. “Yuzuri did what?”
He’s far too pleased when he offers, “I bet if you hurry, Suzu would be happy to help you too.”
Perhaps if she hadn’t sipped at that last cider, she might be able to hide her grimace. Or at least soften it into something else.
“Aw, c’mon, Miss. Don’t be like that.” His grin only widens, hovering far too close. “Think about it. Your kids would be half-siblings! Other girls might have double weddings, but you’d be sister wi--”
Her hand jumps up again, covering his mouth. This is becoming a bad habit. “I don’t want children that badly!”
It’s terrible how nice it feels to have his finger wrap around her wrist, even worse than the smile that presses into her palm. He pulls it down just enough to eke out, “But a sibling would be good for Little Ryuu--”
“Oh shush,” she murmurs, even as she lets her hand go limp in his grip. “He’s old enough to be a father himself, if he wanted.”
Obi shudders. “Perish the thought. But if you don’t want Suzu, there’s plenty of books in the library. I bet if you asked Kazaha--”
Her cheeks hurt from the way they pull. “Kaza--? Obi, you know that he--”
“You’re right,” Obi agrees too easily. “He’d never go for it out of the gate. Maybe if you went to one of his poetry readings?”
A laugh bursts out of her, unbidden. “Oh, please, stop.”
“What about the guy in geology? What’s his name?” Obi never forgets a name or a face, especially one that’s introduced itself to her. But he makes a good show of it, using her own fingers to tap his chin as he muses, “Daiki? Daisuke?”
“Daichi,” she supplies wearily, tamping down on the laugh that threatens to bubble out. “And I don’t want him or Kazaha to father my children, thank you.”
“Playing hard to get, are you?” he hums, brows leaping up his forehead. “Well, I suppose we could send out for Shikito. Or maybe ask Miss Kiki if she’d be willing to let Mister out of the stables--”
“Obi!” It’s impossible keep that laugh behind her teeth, not when she’s already gasping as he winds up to offer the next crop of unfortunately. “Please! I don’t want either of them. Or any of these ridiculous...parent pacts! I only--”
He tugs on her wrist, and it’s a misjudgement on his part; even without the cider, her laughter makes her helpless. They both stumble, careening back until his hits a pillar, and she--
She lands squarely on his chest. Or maybe his stomach, from the way he winces.
“Oh, come on, Miss,” he groans, head leaning back against the column. “Just give me a name. No, a hint. I promise--”
“If I was going to choose anyone,” she blurts out, too breathless, “it would be you.”
Her wrist aches where he grips it, so hard she nearly winces before it falls away altogether. He might have even put more space between them, if she wasn’t resting directly on his chest, palms keeping him pinned to the pillar. Instead he just stares down at her, wary as a cat caught in a corner, eyes too large in his face.
“I didn’t mean...” That I want to have sex with you, she means to say, except-- except she’s all too aware now why her breath quickens when he enters a room, or why her stomach flips when he bends closer than he usually dares, smile near enough to see the cracks on his lips. “It’s only that I...I trust you. We’ve been together long than...” Most couples we know. “...Zen and I ever were in the same place!”
Ah, that’s...worse.
“And, uh...” She clears her throat, trying on a smile that doesn’t quite fit. “You work has better hours.”
“Ah-haah. Well,” he manages weakly, not quite meeting her eyes. “That’s the sort of pragmatic consideration I expect from you, Miss.”
Shirayuki levers herself away, letting the chill slip between them. For once, Obi looks relieved.
Ha, and to think, Yuzuri has called him an option.
“Don’t worry, Obi.” she murmurs, staring down at where her hands grip each other, rather than him. “I would never impose on you like that. Or your happiness! Not with some silly pact or whatever. I mean, you looked like you having a good time tonight with that girl--”
“Girl.” He does look at her now, purpose honing his attention to an edge. “What girl?”
“Ah, the one you were talking to just a little while ago.” It was a mistake to have said something, but now that it’s out there, she can’t possibly take it back. She just has to forge on, regretting every word that falls out of her mouth. “Just before you brought me that drink. You, er, looked like you were having a nice time.”
“Ah, right.” He rubs at his mouth, and she could swear there’s the barest hint of a smile peeking through. “Her. Of course.”
When he peels himself from his pillar, it’s with an aching slowness, the sort that makes time stretch with anticipation as his hips roll up and the rest of him follows. Even standing, his saunter is so slow the half expects dawn to come before he reaches her, the bustle of the university breaking this moment’s spell.
But it doesn’t; instead he comes close, enough that the wool of his jacket brushes the palms of her raised hands.
“You know...” His voice rumbles through the arcade, humming at that frequency that makes her question the density of her own bones. “If you’d asked...”
“M-mm?” It’s an effort to make even that much of a noise, at least as long as it isn’t a squeak.
He leans in, breath fanning over her face and he murmurs, “I would have said yes, Shirayuki.”
Her ears ring, so loud that she can’t possibly have heard him. Not when he said-- when she thought he said-- “W-what?”
“Ah...” With no warning at all, he steps away, cold air rushing between them. His smile stretches too tight across his face, every line of his body wrong as he tells her, “Don’t worry about it, Miss.”
He makes to retreat, eyes slipping away from hers as his body turns, the space between them ever increasing, gaping--
And she panics. Her fingers hook on the thick fabric of his sleeve, halting him as quick as a dropped anchor. “Miss...?”
“Say it again,” she breathes, clenching tight, wool balled against her palm. “Please.”
He blinks, lost. “What--?”
“My name.” She dares to glance up, and it’s impossible to tell if he’s stepped closer or she’s dragged him, but his eyes are impossibly close, searching her. “Say it again, please.”
His breath hitches. “Shirayuki--”
It’s strange how easy it is to vault that insurmountable space; all it takes is pulling him down as she rises up, and they meet as inexorably as the tide and the shore. His lips are cold against hers, but that’s hardly a hurdle, not when they open on a gasp, and she-- she isn’t sure if she’s doing it right or well, but for a moment she buzzes wherever they touch, a puzzle electrified to find it’s missing piece--
And then his hands are on her shoulders, settling her back on her heels. “Miss!” he yelps, voice cracking on the vowel. “I didn’t mean you needed to start right now!”
“I...” It rushes back to her, Yuzuri’s foolish pact and Obi’s rumbling. Her cheeks are already flushed, but they burn now, tongue tripping over itself to untangle, “That’s not what I meant! Or, er, that’s not what I’m doing. No, wait, I mean...that’s not why I...”
His chest heaves under her hands, and-- her hands. She’s no longer just gripping his sleeve, but pressing him back, forcing him against the pillar. And he--
He’s arched into the touch, not simply tolerating, not anymore. No, he might be trying to put space between them, but every muscle is strained to keep it. As if it was an effort to keep from melting into her, as if--
As if she were an option. “Then what--?”
It’s impossible to explain how much she’s come to abhor the space between them, how every inch mocks her with how long she’s left it open. When after all these years, she could have simply leaned into him and felt what it was to steal his breath, to make his eyes as dark and wild as they are now.
So she shows him instead. Slower this time, not yanking him down to her, but slowly unfurling up into him, her lips brushing his with a softness that makes her ache in places she’s only heard of in Yuzuri’s books. His chest trembles beneath her palms, but it’s the only movement he makes, the rest of him frozen under her touch. It’s enough to make her hesitate, to wonder if maybe she had wanted him to want her too much, and he--
He cups the back of her head, pulling her impossibly closer, until there seems to be no beginning or end to their bodies, just this unending warmth as his tongue curls behind her teeth. Now it’s her turn for her breath to catch, for her to sigh into his mouth when his fingers trace shivers down her spine. Her her to moan when his hand curves over her hip and--
And suddenly the space is back.
“Ah, Miss,” he laughs, breathless enough that she wants to leap across the gap, to swallow it down and feel it ring in her own chest. But he’s already moving away, slipping out from between her fingers like smoke. “I think you’ve had a few too many tonight.”
She blinks. “What do you mean?”
What happened to Shirayuki? she means to say, but he’s already shaking his head, chagrined. “Nothing, nothing. It’s just...late.”
She can’t argue that point, not when it was already late when he arrived, and now it’s only gotten later still.
“We should...” He lets out a shuddering sigh, body twisted like she may not notice if he doesn’t face her while he does it. “You should really get back to you room. Sleep some of this cider off. I’d hate to see the kind of morning you’re going to have if you don’t.”
Perhaps she really has had too much; to her there’s no earthly reason to stop, to put this space back between them. But she doesn’t know how to put those feelings to words, only, “Will you walk me back?”
His smile is strained when he replies, “Of course, Miss. What else am I here for?”
Burned Chapter 6 - Flinch (Northern War AU)
Written for Day 5 of Obiyukiweek 2022 (Rescue)
Please read with caution! This chapter contains graphic depictions of violence.
For as much relief as Obi’s appearance brings her, Shirayuki quickly notices something about him is… off. This is far from the first time Obi has placed himself between her and a threat. The stance as he looms before her and Ryuu is familiar - shoulders squared, feet planted wide, daggers drawn - but he is strangely rigid, all sharp lines and tension.
Read the rest on AO3!
Obiyukiweek22 day 2 - I never meant to leave you alone
Color prompt Green
Royal Obi AU! In the gardens of the Rosy Pavilion, apologies are given.
AnS (c) Akizuki Sorata
Art: Me
Obiyukiweek22 day 3 - Mirror Mirror on the Wall
Color prompt gold
I asked @claudeng80 if she wanted a treat :3
AnS (c) Akizuki Sorata
Art: Me