#i cant stop thinking about my own little ow corner rn sorry

[sabraeal]

Merry and Bright: Part 2

Shirayuki awakens in freefall, promptly brought to an unpleasant end by her whole body slapping against the bedroom floor.

She groans; she’s not hurt besides the angry sting of where her skin hit hardwood, but her pride is certainly wounded. The last time she fell out of a bed, she must have been in the single digits. She better not be coming down with something; vertigo is one of those symptoms that makes WebMD speculate about brain tumors and lupus, and she just doesn’t need that kind of stress three months into her PhD.

She levers herself up onto her knees, blearily peering up at the clock on the bedside table. The numbers swim in her vision for a long moment before the first settles into a glaring red seven. It’s far too early to be functioning, and she’s clearly disoriented by it; this hardly even looks like her room –

Obi lets out a loud huff, hand flopping over the edge of the bed, and she is abruptly aware that this is not her room, and that they are not in their apartment. This is Obi’s old room, untouched since the night her left. And this is not her bed, but –

She scrambles to her feet, staring down at the broad expanse of Obi’s back, the long spread of his limbs – and rolls her eyes. No wonder she ended up on the floor.

“Obi.” She shoves at his side, prodding fingers into his ribs. Her hardly budges. “Obi, come on, you can’t take up the whole bed.”

He grunts into the pillows, hunkering further into the mattress.This is a lost cause.

Shirayuki snatches his hoodie from the chair, shrugging it over her shoulders as she shuffles to the stairs. Even from the top landing she catches the rich scent of coffee and the savory smell of bacon. Her stomach growls, reminding her it’s been a long while since she last ate, and it was only some chicken bites and a biscuit from when they detoured through the rest area for dinner.

(”You’re killing me,” he tells her, pulling out of the drive through. “I didn’t even know there was a non-fried option on the menu.”

“It looked like the healthiest thing.” She pops one in her mouth and is assaulted by salt. She’s hungry enough that she likes it. “They’re roasted.”

“Doc, the whole thing comes with fries and a biscuit.” He glances at her disapprovingly before gunning it onto the highway. “There’s not a thing about that place that’s healthy.”

“Oh, you can have mine, by the way,” she tells him. “The fries I mean.”

He sighs. “Just feed me my dirty rice.”)

She hesitates. It feels strange to go see Bob and Gayle without him. They’re not her family, and she – she doesn’t know if he would be comfortable with her talking with them. Especially talking with them about him. She doesn’t know what he wants them to know or, more importantly, not know.

The decision is abruptly made for her when a black and tan puffball plants itself at the bottom of the stairs and howls.

“Oh, Shirayuki, honey!” Gayle calls up. “Is that you?”

She grimaces, trying to glare at the dog but – it’s just too cute. She can’t blame it for being excited. “Yes.”

“I wasn’t sure if you’d be up.” Gayle’s voice gets closer as she makes her way to the kitchen, tiny dog in tow. “There’s pancakes warming in the oven, ig you’re hungry for them.”

“There’s enough to feed an army,” Bob informs her over the top of the paper.”

Gayle snaps her head around to scold, but Shirayuki says, “Oh good, just enough for Obi.”

The two of them exchange a glance before laughter bubbles out. “True enough,” Bob admits. “Make sure you leave enough.”

“I see you’ve met the Baron.” Gayle nods to her tiny shadow.

“Oh, yes.” She glances down at the fluff curled below her chair. “We met on the stairs.”

“He’s friendly,” she assures Shirayuki, as if the light puppy-snores were not a ringing endorsement for his personality.

“Even friendlier if you bribe him with bacon.”

“Bob.” Gayle send her husband a warning look. Bob, for his part, only winks over the tech section.

“Did you sleep well?” Gayle asks, casual, and Shirayuki feels her shoulders tense.

(“Is this all right?” Obi asks the skin of her neck, his hand hot against her stomach, his belly curving along her spine. There’s nothing for it, she knows, he’s taller than the mattress is long, it’s the only way they’ll fit –

She swallows hard. “Yeah, that’s fine.”)

“Yes.” She rubs at her eyes, hisses as she hits a bump on her nose.

(“OW,” she hisses, clutching her face. Obi startles, his eyes slitting open as he moves his elbow away. He’s taken up half the bed by now, Shirayuki only holding onto the last bastion by the pillows. “Why?”

“Sorry,” he slurs, not sounding the least bit sincere. She rolls up onto her knees, leaning over him.

“How have you had people in your bed before?” she asks, annoyed. “Did you just hide the bodies?”

“Well, Doc,” he drawls sleepily, stretching so that the cotton of his shirt rubs against her palms. “We weren’t exactly sleeping.”)

“As well as could be expected,” Shirayuki amends awkwardly. Bob chokes a little on his coffee, and she realizes there is a whole category of other reasons she might not have gotten enough sleep.

Obi really needs to explain some things.

Gayle levels a glare over her shoulder at her husband. “We weren’t sure if you’d make it to breakfast,” she says. “We weren’t sure if you were an early bird or a…”

“Whatever Obi is,” Bob finished, his mouth lifted up in the corner.

“Did he sleep late when he was here?” she asks.

“I’d faint from shock if he managed to locate an hour before ten,” Gayle laughed, handing her a plate of pancakes and bacon. “Coffee?”

“Ah, no, none for me please.” She takes the plate, wondering what Obi’s – what Bob and Gayle would say if they knew that he regularly taught the eight am section of Shidan’s class. What they would think if they knew he said better to get it over with earlier than later.

Gayle gives her a long look as she digs into her breakfast. It’s delicious, melting on her tongue. “You’re a cocoa girl, aren’t you?”

She blinks. “If you have it…”

“Of course.” Gayle bustles about the kitchen with purpose. “One of our girls – Kelly Ann, you’ll meet her today – she’s a cocoa girl too. Always have to keep the good stuff around for her.”

“And now you,” Bob prompts with an absent smile.

“And now you,” Gayle agrees. “I’m glad you decided to come.”

“Me too.” Shirayuki swallows her bite of pancakes. “It’s good that Obi –”

“No, no, honey,” Gayle puts a hand on her shoulder, and it’s as loving and warm as Shirayuki remembers her own grandmother’s being. “I’m glad you came. I’m sure being back here is going to be…hard for Obi. But knowing he’s found himself a girl that wants to stay by his side for something like this…I’m glad he’s done so well for himself. He was all rough edges when he came here.”

“He had more than a few of those when we met,” Shirayuki admits with a grin.

Gayle’s hand squeezes her gently. “And it speaks leagues about you that you took him as he was.”

“It’s….um….” Shirayuki takes the cocoa offered to her absently, staring down into the whipped cream. “I…”

“I’m looking forward to getting to know you better, Shirayuki.” Gayle smiles, glancing back at her husband. “We both are.”

“…Great.” Shirayuki takes a sip of her cocoa. It’s the best she’s ever tasted.

 The humming won’t stop.

Obi reaches out a hand, slapping at the beside table that isn’t fucking there. He lifts his head, blearily searching the room, only – it’s not his.

More accurately, it isn’t his anymore.

He groans, dropping his head into the pillow. It’s coming back to him now: Christmas, Bob and Gayle, twelve hours of driving to gets across the Carolinas, Doc in his bed…

Oh god. Shirayuki is sleeping in his bed.

The hum starts up again.

Oh right, his phone. His phone is going off. That makes sense. That is a thing that makes sense, unlike any of the other things running through his head right now.

He flicks the screen open, and there are just a fuckton of texts, all from Zen. Because of course, of course the only way to start of his stressful family vacation is with guilt.

“Ugh, mother fucker,” he moans before rolling onto his back, scrolling through about a thousand single-period texts before he finds one from late last night.

Did you guys get in okay?

ru fukn srs rn?

Is that English? Should I be able to read that? At least I know you’re alive now

ur a fukn siko w ur prds get a lyf man im not a frm u cant just bmp a topic wtf im alive slept well just got up

Is Shirayuki up too? I haven’t heard back from her

i dunno i dont c her in bed so prob

He has just enough time to be aware of how stupid he is before Zen texts him back.

What do you mean you don’t see her in bed??? Are you sleeping in the same bed????? OBI???????

g2g brkfst

#obiyuki #merry & bright #my fic #modern au #The Wide Florida Bay #the wide florida bay #ans #listen its just gonna be bedsharing and family feelings all the way down #buckle up friends #the formatting for once is better on ao3 fyi #someday i'll figure out how to do the txt conversations efficiently on here #but today is not that day