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He has no idea what he ever did to deserve to have this woman in his life. Her ravishing dress brings out the vibrancy of her joyful green eyes as they twist and turn on the ballroom floor. Her shining red hair is pinned up neatly with the new hair ornament he and Little Ryuu picked out with her. Her earrings catch his eyes as they swing about in the lantern light as she twirls out from his arms and she smiles brightly when she returns to his arms without taking out his feet. He can’t help but smile at her delight.
“Good job, Miss!” he encourages her, voice barely above a whisper and she giggles. They come closer and settle for just a simple sloppy waltz.
It’s in these moments that Obi allows himself to pretend that he’s the only one who gets to see her face light up like this and gets to hold her so close.
“Are you enjoying yourself, Miss?” Obi asks, his eyes searching her face for an answer.
“Why yes, Sir Knight, I do believe I am.” Shirayuki says loftily.
“Milady, I’m thrilled to hear that,” Obi purrs seductively, a twinkle in his eyes, hoping she’ll remember the voice from before. They both laugh like children and their dancing neighbors can’t help but notice. Obi clears his throat and pulls Shirayuki to the side of the ballroom with refreshments. They glide out of their dance and head to the punch bowl in sync.
“Do you want some punch, Miss? Let me check to make sure it isn’t too strong for you,” He sips the alcohol laden drink and smirks. “Ah, yeah you best only have a cup of this one.”
“You always claim it’s a shame that I don’t get too drunk anymore.”
“Ah, but I only want you too drunk when it’s just the two of us, Miss, not a room full of nobles.” Obi grins.
“Mmmmmhmmmmmm,” Shirayuki hums knowingly.
Ryuu forces his way through the crowd and looks dejected as he meets up with them. No one expected a child to be at the event and they’ve been smothering him with questions and concerns causing him to have to explain his life over and over.
“Can we go now?” He almost whines as he meets up with the couple.
“Poor, Little Ryuu,” Obi chuckles, patting him on the back.
Perhaps it’s the lighting of the tavern, perhaps he’s had a little too much alcohol for the first time in forever, or perhaps it’s just the way she looks at him with soft green eyes as he tells her a story about the Knights back in Lyrias, but he can’t help himself when he blurts, “Miss, I treasure moments like these.” Immediately he feels fear crawl into his chest, and a bit of embarrassment by how cheesy he sounded, as her eyebrows raise in surprise. Ryuu went to bed long ago and now he can’t use him as a buffer.
“Me too, Obi,” she smiles, but her brows furrow. “Sometimes I get the feeling that you think that you won’t always be around, Obi” she whispers, her eyes piercing him.
Obi takes a long and deliberate sip of wine while trying to decipher where this conversation will lead.
“Ryuu told me once that you said you weren’t planning on staying...long,” Shirayuki pauses before adding, “Of course this was a few years ago.”
Obi found himself too sluggish to answer with a question as he would normally do to evade hard conversations.
“Miss, that was a long time ago now, and before I really got to know you—and everyone.” He fidgets. “Besides, I wouldn’t break my vow to you and Master so easily now.”
This seems to placate her, but he just had to make another stupid comment instead of returning the conversation to something more pleasant.
“I just know that I won’t always be able to spend time with you like this, so I try to savor the time I do have.”
“What do you mean?”
“Miss, when you and Master get married you certainly aren’t going to be allowed to be alone with a man other than your royal husband.” He knew he’d made a mistake by the slow color change of her eyes from jade to emerald.
“Who said anything about m-marriage a-and Zen would never tell me I couldn’t spend time with you, Obi!”
“I’m not saying—look it’s late we should head to bed anyways—”
“Obi, how could you think—”
“Wait, what do you mean by ‘who said anything about marriage’ that’s exactly what you’ve been working toward, isn’t it? Being able to marry him?” Obi snaps, bottle of wine coming down just a hair too hard and cracking as he rises from the table. She follows quickly, a storm silently brewing between them, before she opens her mouth.
“Zen doesn’t—”
“Look, you’re in love with him and I know that’s blinding, so let’s just forget I ever said anything and move on?” Obi cuts in, moving for the stairs to the rooms. Shirayuki nearly refuses to move, but he gently grasps her wrist and pulls her with him. Her irritation fades as she takes in his tight shoulders and tense walk.
“Look, Obi, I don’t want to fight,” She huffs. “I’m still trying to figure out what I want, but even if we do get married, I don’t think—" She cuts herself off not sure what to say. She wants to explain herself to him before he puts up his defenses and never questions her again.
Obi simply leads her to her door and digs out the key for her. “Here you are, Miss, sleep tight and don’t let—”
“Hush,” she shoves him into her bedroom, “Obi, don’t I get to speak?”
He freezes for a moment, they’ve been in rooms together plenty of times alone, just never this late at night and unattended, there are always other people from the pharmacy or castle or a balcony between them at this hour.
“Miss, I’m sorry I upset you, it wasn’t my intention.”
“If I’m honest with myself I’ve never considered what it would be like before, Obi.” She pauses, lost for a moment. “Obi, Zen is the one who gave me freedom aft—after Raji had tried to make me his, uh, concubine.” She scratches her head and releases her hair from its captivity. Obi stands entranced by the red cascade falling onto her shoulders. “Zen was the first man to see me and not try to cage me, Obi.”
Leaning against the wall of the room near the window, Obi clenches his biceps as he sees the tears well up in her eyes. Thinking about a time when she was on her own in this shitty world scares him, and he has to brace himself against the wall to not go to her now. But as if she can read minds, Shirayuki looks at him defiantly and steps up to him. Obi’s heart seizes with wonder and thrill at her proximity, even though he knows this is not meant to be romantic on her part.
“Until I met you, Obi.”
He is sure that his eyes give away the sheer awe he is feeling.
“Thank you for being so good to me, Obi.”
She smiles before leaning forward grasping his hands and holding them between them.
“Miss,” Obi nearly squeaks. He tenses and stands straighter, his body screaming to react to her.
“I said it before, but you’re the reason I can go and do the things I want to in this world. I may want to be by Zen’s side, but ultimately,” She looks up into amber eyes, “I just want to be free to live life how I choose to and you’re the one that helps me do that, Obi!”
Before he knows it, he is holding her so tightly to his chest that he expects her to protest, but she doesn’t. Her arms wrap around him just as tight.
“Sorry, Miss, but I need a moment. My heart...you’re going to kill me one of these days, it’s beating so hard.”
“I’m sorry,” she chirps. Her hands feel the movement of his laugh before she hears it.
Obi smoothes down her hair and presses her to his chest without thinking, but stiffens when he realizes what he’s done. Her hands seem to sense his panic as they grab fistfuls of his shirt to keep him near and drag him closer.
“Don’t pull away,” she whispers. “I need this, too.”