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Zen's lips moved, but Obi's brain did not register the meaning. He saw the lips mouthing the words, but he had to have misread - he hasn't made any mistakes reading lips since he was 14 - he had to be mistaken.
"I-" he swallows, Zen's palms on his shoulders feel as hot as bracers, he's a little closer than he ever allowed himself to be, and the small difference somehow knocks the oxygen out of Obi's lungs. He tries again, "sorry, what did you say?"
He doesn't know what to feel at Zen's answering expression, a little mortified and a little angry, and just slightly redder. The pout and scowl should not make the sides of Obi's mouth twitch like they do.
"I said, can I kiss you, Obi?"
This is a hallucination, it has to be. Or a fever dream. Maybe he got poisoned and is now dying a slow death, and instead of his life flashing before his eyes he's getting an inexplicable dream where his master wants to smooch him and his girlfriend watches from the sidelines.
"I'm dead." He says. Zen exhales in this affronted way, like Obi's very existence is exhasperating him, and Shirayuki giggles behind the prince's back. She looks fondly at Obi, and his face, which couldn't possibly get any warmer, gets warmer. The light dances in her eyes the same way it does Zen's, but the mirth she is clearly feeling make the breath catch in his throat.
"I promise you're not dead, Obi. You're as alive as you could possibly be." Shirayuki walks over to them, pulling Obi back in his own body and making him once more aware of her lover being practically pressed against his chest. He can't help squirming a bit, embarassed even though it's not technically his fault. Not that it's Zen's fault, because Zen isn't doing anything wrong- wait no, he is, this is an incredibly compromising position and Izana would KILL Obi if he saw them like this, but it's-
His spiraling into thoughts of being executed come to an abrupt halt when a hand rests on his cheek. It's small and calloused, and a little cold, but it does the trick of getting him to look in front of himself again. Zen has scooted over slightly to the right, letting Shirayuki sit next to him.
So, now both of them are crowding Obi. Great. No no really, it's... great. His heart is hammering away inside his chest and he's positive they can feel it. Were he a lesser man, now he would run (nevermind that his legs feel like jelly.)
"Obi."
"Obi..."
Two sets of eyes, lapis lazuli and peridot bear into his own amber ones. He swallows again.
"Y-yes...?"
Zen stares flatly at him and then to his right, "he's not getting it, Yuki." Getting? Getting what?
"I'm sorry I made you go ahead alone, I thought it would be simpler," she apologizes, and Obi is so lost right now, what is going on. Shirayuki's smile meets Zen's frown head on, her eyes going from Zen's to Obi's briefly a few times. Zen frowns harder. Obi can't shake the feeling they're having a conversation just with their eyes. Shirayuki points at Obi with her chin and shoves at Zen's shoulder lightly, causing him to roll his eyes and relent. Seems like Shirayuki won the argument.
She must have, because Obi definitely loses when in the next second-
Two pairs of arms encircle him, two sets of lips, one on each cheek, suddenly appear and render him speechless. He still can't speak when they pull back.
"We've noticed a while ago, you know. For all your skill, you're pretty bad at being subtle."
"What Zen means," Shirayuki intercepts before he's fully registered the meaning, "is that, we love you too, Obi." Her hand grabs his and Zen's, resting close to it.
...
What-
"Doesn't he look a little pale?"
"I think he's just surprised. Obi? Obi, can you still hear us? You're turning purple..."
"Do we call a doctor?"
"Um, is that necessary?"
It's in that moment that everything sets in. He can feel smoke coming out of his ears. He only registers he moved when Shirayuki lets out a yelp, and Zen a garbled gasp. Obi can't help but pull them close, hiding his face on both of their shoulders and letting the heat of their bodies meet the heat of his face. It feels odd. It feels wonderful. He thinks he'll cry if he wakes up and finds this to be a dream.
"Obi..?" the concerned call just makes that prickles behind his eyes sting more. He lets out a shaky exhale and just... takes it all in.
"If it's a dream, I don't wanna wake up..." he finds himself saying.
The two bodies beneath him remain still, as does the air. It takes a moment for their hands to encircle his back and land on his shoulders.
"There's no need to worry," his Phoenix says, "we're here with you."
"You're definitely awake," continues their Silver Chalice, "though you're a bit dense."
And if he strains his ears, he can hear Mitsuhide telling Kiki "I told you so."