More Niles/Oboro!
The moon that hung in the skies of the Deeprealm dubbed 'Corrin's Castle' was only a few days old. It cast its faint light on the united armies of Hoshido and Nohr, most of whom were asleep.
Oboro was one of those few currently engaged in work. Despite the late hour she found herself unable to sleep, for the night reminded her of the night her parents had died, and the only way to dispel the nightmares was to work. Work till she didn't have time to think anymore.
Tonight it was laundry. Piles of dirty laundry, which could be cleaned and dried in the night and be ready by morning in case they had to leave. Oboro hummed tunelessly to herself as she carried a basket down to the river, thinking of the detailing on an Obi she'd been working on since the past week.
'Green,' she thought, soaking up the clothes in the giant washing tins, 'and maybe orange. It would look good on black. But green and orange would clash with my hair... oh! I could gift it to Kagero, bet it would look good on her...' She scrubbed up a shirt, adding a bit of orange blossom to the water. 'The clothes would smell lovely afterwards,' she thought approvingly. Clothes were delicate things, and some of the soldiers were very careless with theirs. She held up a white shirt, which still seemed to be tinted pink. Her parents' blood had been redder when she'd found them, and no blossoms could hide the stench of the blood.
She shuddered, putting the shirt away.
'Keep at it,' she said, picking up a dark cloak, 'this one smells like gravy, and that stain's a- just scrub it away. Green and orange, the Obi would look good with green and orange. Once the washing's done, I need to get right on that! If I get started right away I could finish it off my dawn.' Dawn was safe; she could sleep in peace then.
By the time she was done, Oboro was exhausted. Hanging up the last of the clothes she yawned and rubbed her eyes, trying to blink the sleep away. The clothes swayed in the breeze, casting shadows on the ground that twisted and writhed in fantastic shapes to her tired eyes. She shook her head again, looking back towards the camp.
There was someone standing back there, hidden under the shadows of the trees.
Oboro jumped. Her hand went to the small knife sheathed in her belt before the the figure stepped forward, revealing himself to be Niles.
"Hi," he said lightly. Oboro's face twisted; her luck was terrible, partnered with not only a Nohrian, but the most odious Nohrian that could have existed, she had no choice but to tolerate Niles' existence or run the risk of the fragile Hoshido-Nohr alliance breaking down. Niles sensed her discomfort for he slipped towards her, his snakelike smile widening.
"So," he said, his voice oily-soft. "What keeps you so restless at night? Tussling with some dirty, dirty clothes?"
Oboro sucked in air through her nostrils. "What do you want?" She demanded. "Its late. Go to sleep."
Niles raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" He asked. "Is that an invitation?"
Drat him.
"No," she said sharply. "Its not. Stay awake for all I care."
He was smirking now. "I'm sure we can find plenty of fun ways to do that as well," he said.
Damn him and despair him. He was twisting her words to his own perverted meanings, and the more she would talk the more he would mire her in the filth of his mind. Loath as she was to turn her back on a Nohrian, she turned away back to the laundry. The baskets stood empty, ready to be taken back in exchange for more work.
"You should let Jakob do it," Niles told her, "Tell him Lady Corrin fell in the dirty laundry, and watch him play with it all night."
Disgusting. Oboro swung around, fists on her hips.
"Listen to me," she said, "I've told you this before and I'll say it again, I don't care for the way you talk. If you want to spend time with me, you have to drop the weird innuendos."
"Hmph," Niles said, "what makes you think I want to spend time with you?"
"Then why're you here?"
"Curious," he answered. "Jakob went to bed an hour ago; leaving aside the sentries I think you're the only person awake right now. And me, of course."
An hour ago... Oboro stared. "How late is it?" She asked, looking up at the moon. It was lower than expected, her work having distracted her from its descent. There was still some time till dawn, but it was much later than she'd intended to stay out at the outskirts of the camp. The soldiers were forbidden from straying out in the fields late, for fear of attack by the faceless, and she knew, that work or not, she was violating those rules. She glanced back at Niles and inclined her head.
"Well, thanks for informing me," she said, "I lost track of time."
"I noticed," he said, "I don't think I've seen anyone washing clothes with such single-minded intensity."
Her eyes narrowed again. "How long have you been watching me?" She asked.
"Long enough to notice that you clearly didn't care about the time," he said, "Long enough to notice the passion with which you wrestled with that dirty, dirty clothing in that filthy water, sweat running down your brow, your labored breathing audible even from the distance... are you aware of how big a security risk you were?"
Oboro sighed. "And there it is again," she said, "If I wasn't so disgusted I would have to give you some credit for how you manage to make the laundry sound so dirty. Its just a chore. There's nothing perverted about it."
Niles shrugged. "Its your filthy mind," he said, "I'm just talking."
This was too much. Too much. The red Oboro started seeing now was entirely unrelated to the moonlight. "Okay, thanks for the heads up," she said, poking her finger in his chest, "but I don't need you calling my mind filthy. Its you whose-" there was a loose button directly under her finger.
"-button is loose," she finished.
"What?" Niles asked.
"Your button is loose," Oboro explained. She grabbed hold of the button gently, feeling the single frayed thread by which it was hanging. Now that she looked closely, he was missing another button directly under it. Directly next to it was a rip in his cloak, and following the line of his cloak led her eyes to the sorry state of his unpolished belt. It was like arriving onto the scene of a disaster, only to notice the details which made everything worse.
"I need your clothes off," she said.
"What?"
"Your clothes. Off." She pulled at the chain tying his cloak before he had a chance to respond. Niles grabbed her hand.
"Really?" He asked, a grin dawning on his face. "You want them all off?"
"Yes," Oboro said. She knew what he was implying, but for once she didn't care. There were far more hideous matters at hand than his words.
Niles drew away a bit. He licked his lips slowly, teasing at the chains of his cloak. Slowly, deliberately, he took it off, casting it aside.
"Like what you see?" He asked, his voice husky. What Oboro could see was that his shirt was low-cut and not only showed off his chest, but also the fact that the lining of said shirt was simply hanging loose.
"Oh gods," she said, reaching out for him impatiently. Niles jerked away, laughing.
"Whoa!" he said, "you really can't keep your hands off of me, can you?"He pulled his shirt over his head, throwing it away. "Here you go then," he said with a self satisfied smirk.
Oboro caught the shirt in midair, running a quick eye over it to see what she'd missed. It smelled slightly stale- not surprising, who knew how long Niles had been wearing it?- the cloth had thinned in places, and there was a hole in one side. She shook her head.
"This is a disaster," she said.
"What?"
"This," Oboro held up the shirt. "Its got a hole in it."
Niles frowned. "You have got to be joking," he said. "You really just want the clothes?"
"Yes," Oboro said, " How can you appear in front of Lord Leo looking so dowdy? You should try to spruce up your appearance a bit, try to live up to the expectations a lord has towards his retainer."
"Pfft." Niles folded his arms, looking away. "Lord Leo likes me fine the way I am. He's not so shallow like Prince Takumi. If you're not giving me what I want, then I'm leaving."
"No no no no." Oboro waved the shirt at him. "Prince Takumi is not shallow! Its about presentation! You have to look good for your lord! If all your clothes are like this, you definitely need a makeover."
"And I don't want one," Niles said, "If you want my clothes so bad, then you'll have to rip them off of me."
Oboro rolled her eyes. "I have your shirt," she said, "you can keep your pants for now. I'll get them later."
Niles laughed. "And you say I have the dirty tongue." He winked at her, hands snaking to the buckle of his belt. "Come on," he said seductively, "you sure you don't want whats underneath? Trust me, its better than all the clothes in the world."
"Nopes," Oboro answered, "and if you try taking your pants off in front of me I'll castrate you." She glared, using her 'scary-face' which had the effect of making him actually back away a little bit. She smirked and nodded at him as she stepped past.
"Bye Niles," she said, "don't worry, I'll get this fixed in no time."
"Wait!" He yelled after her, "come back!"
Oboro ignored him as she ran all the way back to her room. He tried following her, but fell behind once she entered the Hoshidan quarters. It wasn't till she was safely in her room that she sank down with a happy sigh, examining her latest acquisition.
It was bad. Very bad. Almost as bad as Saizo's clothes. It was very tempting to throw it out and tell Niles to was a lost cause. 'But then again,' she thought ruefully, 'Niles might not take very well to that. After all, I'm not sure how many clothes he has and he could produce something even more hideous than this.' She shuddered at the thought. At the very least, his shirt would provide an interesting distraction for her for the rest of the night. She mulled over it in detail, noting the scent emanating from it. It was hard to pinpoint what it was like, except that it smelled male, and reminded her very distinctively of Niles and his provocative smiles. It was clearly old and myuch worn, for although the fabric was good it was thinning now and stretched out from repeated uses. It had an odd fit too, with broad shoulders, a pinched waist and flared tapering points at the bottom. The color wasn't so bad- a faded sort of blue- but she couldn't help but think that Niles needed a tailor. Properly decked out in well fitted clothes he could look rather good, because he had a good body. A very good body, she couldn't help but think, especially when he'd taken off his shirt.
Heat rose in her cheeks. She shook her head, refocusing once more on the shirt. Patching it up simply wouldn't work. She would have to take it apart a little before redoing it again, replacing some of the paneling with new cloth. Oboro pulled open her sewing chest, which she'd started to build up once they'd taken up permanent abode in Corrin's Castle, and started rummaging inside for some spare cloth that would match what she was looking for. 'I could loosen the seams too,' she thought, 'around the waist; then it wouldn't pinch so badly when he wears it.' She pulled out a light colored bolt of fabric, settling back down, and stopped.
'What am I doing?' She thought.
She didn't particularly like Niles. He was a Nohrian, and an acquaintance only. And here she was about to waste perfectly good fabric on him.
Firmly, she put it down, chewing her lip.
'I can't let him continue to wear this hideous clothing,' She thought, 'Its so... unfashionable! He could look so good! It would be a crime to let him wander about the place dressed so badly.' She picked it up again. Niles could be really crass when he wanted to be. He probably was going to have a few choice remarks for her when she took the shirt back to him. But then again, helping the fashionably unconscious was always a thankless task.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
The next morning, there was an enemy ambush an hour after they started marching. Hoards of Faceless crawled up from the sides of the floating islands comprising Valla, and while they were relatively easy to kill, their sheer number ensured that a large number of the hoshidan-Nohr alliance didn't escape without sustaining injures. Oboro narrowly avoided being pushed off the side of the cliff by a suicidal Faceless, and Niles received a mace to the arm. She survived to the end of the battle. He had to be hauled off the field to the infirmary.
Oboro limped to the healers' tent in time to bump into him walking out holding his arm. He gave her what could could have been either a smile or a grimace- or maybe both- and brushed past her without a word. Oboro stared off after him before being told rather coldly by Jakob to stop blocking the way.
Once the army had resettled again- for the lords decided that they needed a strategy focusing on stealth rather than brute force- the thought came to her mind to go see him. It was quite an unbidden thought- one minute she was listening to Prince Takumi telling her an Hinata about the importance of keeping an eye out for Faceless the next time they left the Deeprealm- and the next she was thinking of how she needed to go see him. She could give him back the shirt; she could apologize for not getting the Faceless first. She could voluntarily go and give him her time.
The thought made her feel woozy. Voluntarily spending time with a Nohrian was something she would rather avoid. She could give him the shirt when meeting him was unavoidable.
But that night the moon was full, and the castle was quiet, and she was walking down the garden path having given a message from Prince Takumi to Princess Corrin that she saw him standing at a window above, staring at the moon. He caught sight of her and looked down, and even at the distance she could see him smile. For a second it was as if they weren't at war, but straight in the middle of some story.
'Come over,' he waved to her, and Oboro paused in the center of the path. He waved again and withdrew, and some part of her suddenly resolved to go to him.
He was still injured, and she still needed to give him is shirt back.
It took some time to find his rooms, even longer for her to do it without anyone finding out (because no way was she about to let anyone know that she was visiting a Nohrian). Niles looked fairly surprised when he opened the door.
"Oboro," he said, "can't tell you how excited I am."
"Niles," she said, "hello. I came to see you, and to return your shirt."
He took the shirt and examined it in silence. A strange look came into his eye as he looked up at her.
"You actually fixed it," he said,
"Of course," Oboro said, "did you expect anything else?"
"Heh. No," he said, "you already had the opportunity to take me, but you resisted it then." He leaned against the door frame and winked at her. "Sure you don't want me now?" he asked.
"Do you have to be so crude all the time?" she complained, folding her arms. "It doesn't make you look good."
"But it gets a rise out of you."
"Is that all you want?"
Niles gazed intently at her. "No," he said. "Sorry. I had my arm broken today, you have to give me leeway."
Oboro's eyes strayed to his arm again. The army was trying to conserve healing supplies, which was why injuries were being incompletely healed. "Is it still broken?" She asked.
"Slightly bruised as of now, but was badly broken this morning," Niles said. "Still hurts a little."
"Oh." Oboro shrugged. "Fine," she said, "I'll let your words go this time. I kind of owe you one anyway; its kind of my fault you got that injury."
"Wouldn't exactly say that," he said, "you were busy trying not to fall off a cliff." He ran his fingers through his hair and added: "Anyway its only a broken arm: I can take it rough."
Oboro nodded. She wasn't sure what else to say; they weren't close like she was with Hinata or anyone else in the Hoshidan army, and despite having worked with him for nearly a month now she barely had any idea of his interests (well, she had an idea of his interests but she wasn't about to go down that path). She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, debating whether to leave when she noticed Niles staring at his shirt again.
"What?" She asked, frowning. "Is something wrong?"
"No," he said reflectively. "No one has ever fixed my clothing before. I normally do it myself."
"I could tell," Oboro said, "No offense but that patchwork was hideous. I replaced the paneling on the sides and adjusted the collar a bit- it doesn't look good for stitches to run directly across your neckline. I couldn't do anything about the worn out fabric though; I'd really advise you to get a new shirt. Even with all the repairs, it probably won't last that long."
Niles pursed his lips. "You put a lot of effort into a shirt you're telling me to throw out," he observed.
"Well yeah," she said, "I don't give up on clothes that easy! You'd be amazed what people are willing to throw out that can be salvaged into some amazing fashions. Besides, its fun! Fashion isn't all about buying new, its about making what you've got work."
Niles opened his mouth. Then he closed it again. Oboro could see that look dawn on his face that she'd dubbed 'the-fashion-conscious-awakening'- most people got it when they realized how fashionably ignorant they were. She smirked.
"I could help you with your wardrobe," she said, folding her arms and smirking.
"...you suggested something similar when you took my shirt," he said, "something about taking my pants."
Oboro rolled her eyes. "You do know I can beat you up in five minutes flat if the need arises, right?" She said.
"I know," Niles said. "You can knock me down anytime you want. I don't mind. But it was your suggestion, not mine."
"Fine," she said shrugging, "I'll come by tomorrow."
"Tonight is fine."
Oboro stared at him. "Its rather late," she pointed out. "Don't you have to go to bed?"
"I don't mind staying up. I like watching the moon." He gestured inside and inclined his head slightly at her. "Go on," he said, "I won't bite."
He was up to something. But at the same time she found herself itching to fix his wardrobe. He looked the type to keep is clothes rolled into a ball, and she'd seen his horrific dress sense first-hand. Could a girl resist?
"Okay," she said. "But you have to do what I tell you to. Hinata always does."
"Of course." Niles grinned as she stepped past him, entering his room rather gingerly. It was dark and fairly gloomy, par on the course for all Nohrian architecture; a single lantern sat on a desk, illuminating the sharp edge of a long curved knife lying on a satchel of papers. A rope had been strung across the room, on which hung his cloak, quiver and some papers. The moon shone full through the open window by the unmade bed, with a bow hanging off of the bedpost, and illuminated those horribly puffy boots lying awkwardly on their sides on the floor. There was no chair to sit on, neither a chest of drawers. Niles pointed at a backpack propped against the boot end of the bed.
"There's my wardrobe," he said. Oboro stared at the lumpy pack, some unidentified white fabric half-falling out of it. She crouched down by the pack, took a deep breath, and turned it upside down. A jumble of clean and clearly dirt clothing, cocks and various straps and junk fell out. She took another deep breath.
"Oh," she said, "this-"
"If you want to pass out, the bed's right there," Niles said helpfully. "Just fall right across it, its clean enough."
Oboro whirled to face him. "You need help," she said. "Is this how you normally keep your clothes?"
"More or less."
"Help," Oboro repeated, turning back to look at the mess on the floor. "And new clothes." She rifled through them to find only two pairs of pants and shirts. Her face heated a bit as she found a pair of undershorts and she flung them at the quietly snickering Niles.
"Found everything?" He asked, crouching next to her.
"Apparently," Oboro said, holding up a shirt made of some skimpy black see through material. "What's this?"
"Undershirt," Niles said. "Its actually very convenient; doesn't snag... and has other more intimate uses. You seem more interested in my underclothing, if I may say so. Any particular reason for that?"
"Its funny looking," Oboro said, discarding the shirt quickly. "And- why are these so many belts here? Whats this funny looking one?"
"I could explain it to you," Niles whispered in her ear, making her jump. She leaned away from him, rolling her eyes. Broken arm or not, Niles was still the same.
"This shirt is the only one I would let you walk out in," she said, holding one up. "This other one is not only falling apart, but its color is horrible. And you need better pants. Both are weird and unsuitable. I'll buy you better pants as well- are these three the only ones you have?"
"Let me walk out in?" Niles snorted. "Are you my wife?"
"Your stylist," Oboro said, folding up the clothing into a neat little pile. "Like I'd be your wife. I'm trying to help you out here Niles! Be serious!"
Niles' lips twitched again. "Okay," he said, "I'll... get rid of the stuff you want me to. Then I'll just wander around naked, will I?"
"I'll get you new clothing," she answered firmly. "I have a whole lot of fabric waiting in my room, and since we're probably going to be posted here for a few days I'll have them finished in no time." She stood up, dusting her leggings off. Niles stood up slowly, staring at her.
"... you're serious?" He asked. "You want me to be your little dressing doll?"
Oboro sighed. "I will just be dressing you up," she clarified. "If you as much as touch me, my earlier threat stands." She gave him a cold, firm look, pulled out a measuring tape and said: "Hold out your arms."
Niles grinned but held up his arms obligingly. He had the same slender build as Prince Takumi, although he was a bit taller and his shoulders were slightly broader. His arms were corded with muscle, lacking fat to the point that it made him look emaciated, and his sternum and collarbones were very clearly visible thanks to his low-cut shirt. There were a couple of spots directly in the hollow of his throat, and the idea flickered through her mind of what it would be like to touch them.
She swallowed, trying very hard to force all unprofessional thoughts out of her mind.
"Like what you see?" Niles murmured. Oboro swallowed and glared at him.
"No," she said. He licked his lips and bit them, and she felt that strange attraction again. She tore her eyes away from his lips and focused on measuring his waist instead... his waist, with his pleasantly narrow hips. He shifted as she slid the tape down so that her hands brushed his sides instead.
"Niles," she said warningly as her cheeks started to warm up.
"Hey, you're touching me."
"Only because I have to." Avoiding his gaze, she finished her task as quickly as she could with all the professionalism she'd learned over the years.
"Done," she said, turning away only for Niles to grab her arm.
"Wait," he said, giving her a disbelieving look, "so you're really done?"
Oboro nodded. "I've told you this ten times, yes, I'm only making you clothes."
"But all that touching-"
"-was thanks to your fidgeting," she finished. "There would have been none if you'd been still. Have you ever been to a tailor before?"
Niles rubbed his forehead. "If thats all you're really going for, I can tell you to stop wasting your time right now," he said, a trace of impatience in his voice. "I don't need clothes."
"I think you do." Oboro crossed her arms and gave him a flat stare. "You're going to be one of the most fashionable men in this army whether you like it or not."
Niles rubbed his neck this time- the same spot she'd been itching to touch. "Fine," he said, "do whatever you want. Maybe when you're done, you can rip them off of me too. That'll be their eventual fate" He licked his lips.
"Ugh." She rolled her eyes. "Like I ever would. You may be a- with the proper dressing you could look good, but as soon as you open your mouth its all over."
She spun on her heel and walked out as quickly as she could with her cheeks still burning, remembering not to slam the door shut only at the last minute.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Nohrian clothing wasn't her forte. In fact in the past, she would have avoided them like the plague. But once she got started, Oboro found herself unexpected occupied, both with the fun of sewing, and with the thoughts of the recipient of the clothes.
Ever since that night, she couldn't help but feel something when she looked at him. The contours of his body seemed more noticeable, the look in his eye strangely alluring. More than once she found herself staring at him when they would talk about battle tactics, her mind wandering towards how his hair would feel if she touched it, or how his lips would move if she placed her fingers over them. Sometimes she found herself touching the clothing she'd been making rather gently, the way she used to do with Prince Takumi's clothing. If it had been anyone else she would have called it attraction, but with a Nohrian man involved, the very thought made her shudder with repulsion.
But she knew she couldn't give up. Niles started showing up in progressively more tattered clothing, and would smile whenever he would see her. It was like he enjoyed provoking her by showing how bad he let his clothes get, and knowing him she assumed that it was intentional. But now, every time he showed up shabby, the loathing in her gaze was mixed with something like fascination, for sometimes the tears let her see parts of his skin he normally kept covered. It was the guiltiest of pleasures, and she told herself that the only reason she kept staring was because she wanted to get his fitting right.
It took her two weeks to get the clothes ready. The day they were done Oboro took them out and looked them over one final time.
'These should last him some time,' she thought, smoothing the wrinkles out gently, 'And if he gets them torn prematurely, I'll kill him.' She continued to gaze at them, imagining Niles wearing them. The mental picture was unexpectedly pleasant.
Oboro blinked. 'I'm getting to attacked to them,' she thought. 'Better to give them away quickly.' She nodded to herself and went out to find Niles, for they were supposed to be practicing that day.
Niles was loitering outside the Hoshidan side of camp. He straightened up at the sight of her and grinned, wriggling his shoulders in a manner she assumed was supposed to be provocative.
"Ready?" He asked seductively. A passing Kagero gave them a curious look and Oboro scowled.
"Shut up!" She said once Kagero had passed. "Don't talk like that!"
Nles winked. "Like what?" He asked teasingly. Oboro sighed, graabbing him by the arm.
"Come here," she said, dragging him to a corner of the grounds. Once out of earshot (and sight) she pushed the satchel containing his clothes into his arms.
"Here," she said. "Take these."
"Ooh, you- what?" Niles asked, opening the satchel. He peered inside, his grin replaced by a confused expression.
"What are these?" He asked.
"Your new clothes," she explained. "I promised I'd make you some, remember?"
Niles blinked. "Those..." he began slowly, "... you actually made them? You... actually made me clothing?"
Oboro nodded, frowning at the confusion in his voice. "Yeah," she said, "I told you I wanted you to look good." When he continued to gape at her she poked him in the arm.
"What?" She asked. "What is it?"
"You made me clothing," Niles repeated, sounding suspicious. "Why? What do you want in return?"
"Nothing," Oboro said impatiently. "Why would I want anything? Although it would be nice if you stopped being so provocative." Niles' lips parted, although he didn't say anything. Oboro shifted, growing uncomfortable under his gaze.
"How long are you going to stand there like that?" She finally asked. Niles pulled away as if rousing himself.
"No," he said, "I mean, thanks. These are really clothes?"
"Yes!"
"Then thanks." he looked back at the satchel again. Oboro shook her head.
"You know what? Forget the training today," she said, "I'll go see if Jakob had any work for when we move out tomorrow. You take care of these okay? I put a lot of effort into them!"
Niles nodded, still looking as if he was in a bit of a shock. Oboro nodded at him and walked away, feeling a bit unnerved at the encounter. He was an odd man. Did he think she'd been joking about the clothes? Oboro did not go back on her word where clothing was involved.
Then she realized that she was looking forward to seeing him wear the clothes. She knew he- and the clothes by default of course- would look good.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Niles did wear the clothes. He wore them once, maybe twice at most, and never around her. The only times she saw him in them was once when they'd been marching for a week straight, and another time when Prince Leo visited Prince Takumi and he'd clearly dressed for the occasion. The pointed looks she gave him were replaced with blank stares; in fact he replaced his lewd behaviour with a businesslike formality. After nearly a month's passing Oboro was painfully aware that he was not being himself around her, instead putting up a silent, serious front that was beyond irritating. It was a big disappointment to her, because the rest of the army was fast starting to merge into one cohesive force and the Nohr-Hoshido divisons were starting to crumblr down. Oboro walked into the mess hall one night only to find that she could no longer tell which side was Hoshidan- her fellow soldiers were interspersed with the dark-armored Nohrians, laughing and joking as if with old friends.
She walked down the rows of tables slowly, trying to find a certain white haired Nohrian. Personal issues aside, she had gotten used with Niles' fighting style. Nohrians used their bows much more differently than Hoshidans, and it was finally not an odd sight to see the dark skinned man beside her rush into battle, instead of the pale skinned Prince Takumi or the brash Hinata. Off the field however, even seeing him caused a confusing misture of emotions to rise inside her, and the best proof of that was when she caught sight of Niles sitting at the far end of the hall by himself and she wanted to walk away and go to him at the same time.
Niles been looking at something in her direction, for his gaze was already towards her, and when their eyes met he continued to stare at her. Oboro went with the second emotion and made her way to him.
"Hello," she said as she reached him. "Good evening Niles."
Niles smiled as she slid onto the bench next to him. Oboro waited a moment for a salacious remark, but he merely continued to gaze expectantly at her. Disappointment bubbled in the pit of her stomach, even more so when she noticed that he was wearing his old clothes.
"Those things will fall apart one day," she said quietly. Niles looked down at his shirt, then back at her.
"... I've been taking good care of them," he said. Oboro could see a poorly repaired tear on one side that left a gaping hole. She glared at him and he looked away, playing with his food instead. Anger rose in her.
"I get it," she said. "You don't want to be friends with me. You're mad I said bad stuff about your clothes? I'm sorry. I won't bother you again." She stood up and walked away, ignoring him when he called her back. Tears burned her eyes for some inexplicable reason, and the more she thought about it the angeir she got. She'd been given sentry duty that night and she decided to go to the watchtower early, ignoring the rumbling in her stomach for her missed dinner. An eclipse was supposed to be taking place tonight, with a Blood Moon rumored to appear. Most soldiers, already paranoid from their time in Valla, stayed firmly inside and Oboro found the camp looking rather deserted as she made her way to her post. Relieving the guard on duty, she surveyed the area around her. The landscape looked eerie, and the skies looked positively nightmarish with the large red moon hanging in the sky. At least there was a cool breeze blowing. She leaned against the side of the tower and sighed.
'Is it intentional?' She thought. 'Is Niles trying to distance himself from me? Even if he didn't like the clothes, there's no reason to be so mad!' She banged her fist against the ledge she was leaning upon, fuming.
'Maybe he just doesn't want me to be his partner,' she thought. 'Maybe he thinks I'm a dumb Hoshidan, maybe he doesn't like Hoshidans either. Who am I kidding, of course he doesn't!' She shook her head again. 'You're getting worked up over nothing,' she told herself, 'so what if he's not talking, we're doing fine on the field, and I don't really miss his stupid way of talking.'
She stopped. Did she miss his talks? Niles had... an interesting personality. A personality people generally tended to dismiss as bad. But without it, he wasn't himself. Did she miss that part of him?
... that wasn't exactly a train of thought she wanted to follow.
She tried focusing on the landscape instead. It lay red under the weird moonlight, reminding her of blood. The blood of her parents, that night inside the wagon with the blood flowing on the gro-
'No,' she told herself, 'no no no no. Think of something else! Something else!' A mosquito stung her neck and she scratched at it; unbidden her mind wandered towards Niles again. 'Fine,' she thought grinding her teeth, 'I'll think of his... chest area, and nothing else.' For all his lewd talk his chest was the only thing he kept exposed, and since most Hoshidan soldiers dressed more or less the same way it was nothing new. So it would be safe to think about, right?
But did he really not like her? What would it be like to touch his chest? His neck, right at the hollow of his throat?
'I'm not thinking straight,' she thought, frowning. Idly, she rubbed her neck again, imagining it was his neck she was touching. Her eyes fluttered closed...
And the stepladder creaked.
Oboro spun around and rushed to the ladder just as Niles' head poked up over the side. He looked up at her inquiringly and held up a bowl of food.
"Here," he said. Oboro glared at him.
"I'm on duty," she said.
"I know," he answered. "And I know you didn't eat." He clambered all the way up and much to her surprise, she found herself moving back to make room for him.
"Hi," he said. "Here."
He was wearing his new clothes. Even by the dim light she could tell they were new; they were the clothes she'd made for him. She reached out to touch himself before sense reasserted itself.
"Why are you here?" she demanded, folding her arms. Niles tugged at his collar.
"Thanks," he said.
"You already thanked me."
"I wanted to show you I'm wearing them."
"I don't care." That wasn't true; she cared very much, for professional and... other reasons. But she folded her arms and gave him a defiant look. Niles rubbed his forehead.
"Please," he said, "This isn't that I wanted. Eat, first of all; its a five hour shift and you'll be exhausted."
She would be; but she would be damned if she ate what he'd brought. Niles sensed her resentment and put the bowl aside.
"Look," he said. "I'm sorry I didn't wear your clothes. I just... why did you make them?"
"Why do you keep asking me that question?" She demanded, throwing up her hands. "Why did you think I made you anything?"
"I don't know!" Niles pointed out. "Thats my whole point. People don't give me things like clothing- not without asking for something else in return. Not normally, at least. I assumed you wanted sex. But you didn't. So-"
Oboro exhaled. "You thought I wanted sex," she said. "With you?"
"Of course," Niles said, "Why not?"
Oboro gaped at him, unable to articulate a reply for the sheer amount of outrage at the question. Niles took one look at her face and moved on.
"But you didn't," he said quickly. "So I... didn't know what else to do. I didn't-"
"But why the silent treatment?" She demanded. "Why the hell haven't you been talking to me normally?"
Niles looked surprised. "But I have been talking to you normally," he said, "at least, I've been trying. I know I make you mad when I try to talk my way, so I tried not speaking to you till I got my words under control. Its what you wanted right?"
So thats what it was. Oboro ran a hand over her head, suddenly very unsure of what she wanted. She looked back up at him and sighed.
"I see," she said, "so thats why you haven't been talking to me."
"Of course," Niles said. "After what you did I didn't want to upset you again."
Oboro bit her lip, a strange feeling rising in her chest. It was... it was sweet. It was something she wouldn't ever have associated with Niles, and she felt really bad about it.
"You didn't have to go that far," she said softly. Niles shrugged.
"I did," he said, "What you did was- well like I said, people don't do that for me. I got touched. Thats also kind of why I didn't wear them; I didn't want to them to get worn out. They're really good, and... well, you made them."
"Of course," Oboro said, "We are partners, I wanted to do something nice for you. You are rather good looking, so its better if you wear good clothes."
Niles blinked, a slow grin dawning on his face.
"Well," he said softly, "If you want me..." he gestured at himself and winked.
Oboro wanted to laugh. She wasn't sure why, but she did want to laugh. That soft voice, that lewd wink... she'd missed it, in the course of one week she'd missed it badly. She covered her mouth with her hand and looked away, not sure how to feel about that.
"I'm sorry," Niles said quickly, "I didn't-"
"Its okay," she said, holding her hands up. "Its-" Oh. My. God. This was a secret she could never, ever tell anyone.
"Thats who you are," she said finally, "I can't expect you to change. I'm sorry for forcing you to do something you didn't want to. And in any case, I've gotten used to you, so its weird when you try to be... not you."
Niles laughed again. "Thanks," he said. "Does that mean we can be friends now?" He asked.
"Yeah," Oboro said, nodding. "Sure."
"Great." Niles held up the bowl of food. "Now eat. Wouldn't want you passing out here."
"Food with a Nohrian?" Oboro said, then gave him a smile. "Why not? Its a strange night anyway." She accepted the bowl from him gratefully, taking a couple of spoonfuls of the curry he'd brought along with him. It was Nohrian, and rather spicy, but still good. Niles leaned back against the ledge of the tower, staring up at the moon. Oboro watched him between mouthfuls, remembering what he'd told her the previous time.
"You like moon-watching, don't you?" she said. "This one's rather unusual."
"It is," he said, "Although its the one thing I would rather not turn red."
"Why not?"
"Because." He paused, biting his lip, then shook his head. "Nothing."
"What?" Oboro gazed at him curiously. He looked pensive, and she found herself growing curiouser. "What is it?"
"It was the only thing in my childhood that was pure," he said solfty. "It gave me solace."
She wasn't sure how to respond to this. Niles continued to stare ahead, then gave a short laugh.
"And of course most women allow themselves to be seduced under the full moon," he said in a lighter tone of voice. "So it was a good way to earn money." He looked at her and gave her a crooked smile. "But its all in the past now," he said, "and there's other things now to give me peace. So its all good. But what about you? You don't find this arkness troubling?"
"Sort of," she said slowly. "But now that I've been here a while, its not all that dark is it? Its actually pretty okay."
Niles smiled. "Okay," he said, "I can live with that."