Work Text:
I've got a fever, so can you check?
Hand on my forehead, kiss my neck
And when you touch me, baby, I turn red
I've got a fever, so can you check?
(I've got a fever)
Peut-être qu'avec du temps, ça partira
Et pourtant, et pourtant, et pourtant, je ne m'y vois pas
Comme un médicament, moi je suis rien sans toi
Et je sais que j'essaye, que je perds du temps dans tes bras
Car dans mes yeux, ça se voit
La fièvre dans les yeux, oui ça se voit
Mon cœur se serre, j'ai du feu dans la voix
Le plus souvent, c'est quand je pense à toi[ Dua Lipa & Angèle ]
A deep breath, a step ahead and the deep, black night that the sky had brought them tonight looking at her through the large window at her right. The light from the candles of the hall reflected on the marble floor flickered and caught Shirayuki's attention, bringing it back from the cluster that her thoughts had been the rest of the night. This strange, exciting and heavy night.
She had found the words to confront Count Jiran about Obi. She had found the strength to move forward with her petition, even after knowing she would be unable to fulfill her mission if she was asked out of the castle. She had fought against the instinct that told her to be quiet and do as told — if she was honest she had never liked following orders if she had a problem with them. And she had a problem not only with being assigned a replacement for her bodyguard, but with the manners as to with such assessment had been made, with no consideration for any of the people involved, not even the prince.
The prince. Zen. Her breathing came short for a moment and she stopped in front of the window, looking at the stars. Despite his closeness, Zen would always feel like one of them. A bright image far out of her reach, surrounded simply by others with the same capacity to stay in the sky. She wasn't made for the sky — she was made for the earth, the grass, the herbs. She was made to get her hands dirty. And, despite his position, the prince had thought the same about himself day after day.
Years going by like this they were bringing closer both sides, creating a horizon of their own.
However, as close as the earth might feel to the sky while she looked at the skyline, they were two different planes. And she had started to feel that difference more and more with the years.
More and more each time she realized she didn't miss him as much as she used to.
More and more each time she hadn't thought about him for a week.
Lately, with him accompanying them during their mission for a little while, she had welcomed him. The familiarity of the distance she always felt between them despite their relationship. She closed her eyes and Obi's hug from hours before returned to her mind, making her hallucinate the warmth of his arms around her body as if he was with her at the moment.
She had left her room, dear sleep avoiding her for far too long now, in case she casually strolled into him near his room. In case he had the same trouble finding his bed comfortable tonight. She felt her heart rush once again, her cheeks no doubt as red as her hair, her gaze suddenly dizzy. Shirayuki wasn't exactly her best self tonight, not with the thoughts swirling and her head aching as it was. Was it too cold today and she hadn't realized? No, even if it was, her bodyguard would have paid attention to it, he always did.
He paid attention to each of her little, stupid or unconscious gestures, to each small thing that was bothering her or remotely could. He was extremely considerate of her, even when she wasn't with herself.
She opened her eyes again with a newfound determination and kept walking. She was rushing, pressuring herself, pushing forward. Because if she didn't say anything tonight, when she had had all the pieces perfectly falling to their place, she didn't know when or if she would be able to.
After all, she had so much to lose by being honest.
She had everything to lose if she had read wrongly before.
But, there was something, wasn't it? There always had been between them, from the moment he caught her just as she was about to fall with all of her boxes back in Clarines and she couldn't tear her eyes away from the golden ones that assessed her curiously.
The most beautiful eyes she had ever seen, with the curiosity of a predator too intrigued by her prey to finish it just yet.
As with a lot of things related to Obi she had no idea why he decided to renounce his predatory status to protect her instead, but she was eternally grateful. It wasn't only protection that he offered, it was jokes, it was support in difficult moments, it was cheering in the days she was feeling low, it was a friend in a land where she had none at the time.
And now, multiple years and adventures later, it was not only her best friend and the person who best knew her but… it was making her want to ask for more still.
She, who had no reason nor motive or excuse to demand more after everything he did for her. Yet also she, who had tested herself over and over again before confirming her suspicions that they had outgrown their 'friendship' status, if only in feeling and nothing more.
After watching Obi's smile and listening to his words she was pretty sure she wasn't the only one noticing the change. The only one pushing further than before. The only one who missed his touch the moment it left the cold in its place, who missed his presence each moment she was not focused on her work. Sometimes while she was focused.
She could say it reminded her of the start of her relationship with Zen, but even she knew not to lie to herself. The only thing similar between the two moments was the pressure of her heart, that could very easily have been clutched by a monsters grasp and she would feel no difference. She could feel it bleeding all the same, her chest so hot it was bothersome, her head pounding with consequences she didn't want to allow herself to think about for now.
It was just as she entered the hall where both of their rooms where located that she spied someone out the corner of her eye, up in the roof of the hall she just passed. She opened the first window to her side, knowing perfectly that the sound would catch his attention, and smiled up to him. For a moment, she could barely see his expression and, even if she did, she doubt she could have read it, but it wasn't long until he smiled back, jumping with ease to the branch of the tree in front of her.
"Good night Mistress. Having trouble sleeping?"
He had changed from the guard clothes he had seen him before but his new attire, despite more casual and comfortable, was equally attractive on him. Could she admit the thought to him someday or would she need to let it remain a thought as she had done so many times before? She just needed to go through tonight to get his answer.
She nodded to him while she climbed the window to follow him outside.
"And not the only one, I see."
Before she could move another inch her bodyguard was in front of her, helping her step easily into the branch before moving to the roof and doing the same. They've had far too many conversations as to whether she should be rising up to trees and roofs to follow him and he knew better than to start yet another. She always won.
She took a seat upon the beautiful tiles and stretched her arms. Finally, she was where she was meant to be.
"New places put me on alert. I won't be comfortable here for a while."
A leg folded and his arm over his knee, Obi was the first to use his excuse. She, on the other hand, felt confident she didn't really need one. She felt at peace. Looking at him she could either see an inferno waiting for her to be burned within or, at moments like this, the safest place in the world. The space between the sheets as one is gaining consciousness and nothing exist except oneself and the warm feeling of a new day waiting that would mind waiting a couple minutes more.
Tranquility.
"I couldn't stop thinking about today. Did you went to see Lord Jiran for the same reason as I?"
Her bodyguard chucked at her side and she couldn't help but smile at his next admission.
"Not with the pretty words you used to describe our mission and the reason for it Miss, but yes. I went to ask him to allow me to remain at the mansion. It seems, between the both of us, we convinced him."
"Don't we always? We're the perfect team."
Another chuckle and a nod of his head and they both looked far away into the horizon, now merging in darkness.
"Right you are on that Miss, right you are."
After a moment of comfortable silence in which only the wind and the singing of the crickets could be heard, Shirayuki spoke again, searching the answer before posing the question.
"Are you glad to be allowed to stay here?"
He looked at her and she was not prepared for the intensity of the gold that found her.
"Very. Thus, if we're being honest, we both know I would have stayed here in the shadows even if the Lord of the mansion had wanted to get rid of me."
This time, it was her turn to laugh. She didn't know if he was being serious, even if she knew he could do something like that without much of a problem.
"It would have made my stay a lot more difficult, no doubt."
"Oooh, without a doubt!"
It was perfect. Was she ready to squash what they had just because she wanted more? Because, sometimes, she believed to see that same desire in his eyes? But his big smile, with his white teeth showing up to her as they usually did with so little people, and his lips so perfectly pale and inviting made it difficult to think. She could feel the redness of her cheeks once again and was grateful for the darkness that surrounded them.
He was looking at her as if in wonder, their legs touching, her movement inadvertently bringing her closer to him. Feeling any part of him as close was giving her a lot more confidence than she anticipated.
She was ready.
"Are you gla-"
She didn't allow him to speak another word before she took the opportunity of his distraction to touch his lips with hers briefly, remaining close while she pronounced an echo of his answer.
"Very."
She didn't know if she would hear an answer even if he provided one, a reaction to what she just did, above her beating heart. But what more answer than the confused smile that preceded the desperate look that asked her without words if what was happening was real.
To cement her decision she moved her hand to the back of his head and lowered it to hers once more, allowing the lips she had so many times forbidden herself from imagining kissing hers she had not known the freedom the action would bring until she could feel the wings on her back.
So much time fighting to reach the sky, when the one who could have elevated her had been at her side on the ground all along.