7
Obi blinks, as the words slowly sunk in.
Miss... wasn't upset about the scar?
Rather, she was angry about what he had said in Tanbarun?
He quickly dug into his memory, searching for that terrifying confrontation. He...had been avoiding her, yes—helping the Lions at the Talon's hideout, patrolling the mountain village's boundaries, something—anything—to serve as a distraction. But Miss sought him out, all the same. She easily found his hiding place, called him down, and—he apologized, for his failure.
She had started to respond, to tell him it wasn't his fault and other nonsense that he really didn't want to hear.
That he still didn't want to hear.
So he—he had covered her mouth, physically prevented her from speaking, and told her that he would not listen to what she had to say. No matter what she had to say.
Such reckless words. But they were his words. And Obi realized then, how deep they must have cut.
He had done much, much worse than leave a scar on her flesh—he'd left one on her heart.
"Miss—"
Shirayuki raises her chin to glare at him—the look silences him instantly—then turns and storms off, only to encounter a wall. So she starts to pace. Back and forth across the length of the room, blanket flaring out behind her like a cloak, whirling on her heel whenever she meets an obstacle, shoulders hunched, hands coiled into fists, entire body trembling with anger—
And yet still too polite to enter another room without permission.
Obi silently tracks her movements with his eyes, feet rooted firmly to the floor, not even daring to shift his weight. He tried in vain to gather enough nerve to speak again, but it had all fallen through the gaping pit that opened in the bottom of his stomach, pooling in his toes and refusing to budge.
Before long Shirayuki finds herself squarely in front of the door they had both entered through. She pauses. And he wonders, then—if she would open it, and walk out. Not that he'd blame her for doing so. But that thought doesn't prevent his heart from leaping up into his throat, where it threatened to smother him.
After a brief moment that feels far, far longer, she spins again, red hair fanning out behind her, glinting like flame in the light thrown out by the fireplace.
And finally, finally, after what feels like an eon, her movements begin to slow, to show less agitation.
Obi swallows hard, trying to force his heart back down into his chest where it belonged.
"Miss—"
"Don't," she snaps, "talk to me yet, Obi."
He shuts his mouth and resumes his silent vigil.
Shirayuki unclenches her fists before folding her arms in front of her, fingertips brushing against her elbows as she continued to pace.
Stupid, stupid, stupid!
Instead of defusing the situation, she had exploded, and flung that back in this face. It had hurt, absolutely, but she hadn't intended to hurt him back. Well. Intentions be damned, because now she'd really gone and done it. Now it was out in the open, instead of lurking within her chest, coiled up in an angry knot somewhere beside her heart.
So. What to do about it?
Say something, Shirayuki.
Really, he could be so, so stubborn. But, then again, so could she. So she ceases her relentless pacing, halting before the fireplace, at almost the exact spot from whence she began.
And there she thinks carefully about what she wants to—needs to—tell him, because the time for hasty and ill-considered words is long past.
"Sorry," Shirayuki finally begins, her back still to him, arms wrapped tight around herself as she swayed with all the emotion she struggled to contain.
"But, Obi, when you said that, I—it made me so, so angry..."
Obi swallows again –
"But... more than I was angry, I… I was scared."
– and inhales, "Miss—"
"So—" she continues, ignoring his interruption, "—I am sorry, for yelling. And for not telling you sooner. About the scar."
"Miss, plea—"
"Will you listen this time?" Shirayuki rounds on him. She's trembling again, her cheeks flushed red as her hair, but this time it had nothing to do with the cold.
He stops short and slowly nods, resigning himself.
Shirayuki takes several deep breaths, eyes blinking and darting about as she chases down her train of thought. She brushes several stray locks of hair back behind her right ear, and looks up, emerald eyes meeting ocher.
Obi's fingers twitch.
"I know...that I'm reckless, that I charge in without always considering the...the consequences. But, Obi, half the reason I—that I can do that, is because I—I know that you're here. That you've got my back."
"B, but, in Tanbarun, when you were acting so strange, I... I was afraid, that you were going t-to leave."
"And I— I... I don't know what to tell you, to convince you to stay."
"Nothing."
"Obi—! "
He raises one arm, gestures for her to wait for just a moment.
"You don't," he continues, voice slow and heavy with the effort of it, "have to say anything, because I'm not going anywhere."