How to Heal a Herbalist

Entry for Day 1 of Obiyuki Madness 2025 (better than never :D) for @snowwhite-andtheknight: caregiver reversal.

~~~

“Herbalists,” Obi said airily, barely audible over the crunching of snow underfoot, “make the worst patients.”

Miss lifted her head from where it had been resting against the back of his neck, and made an indignant noise that was far cuter than it was intimidating. “You have clearly,” she began in a stern tone, the effect somewhat dampened by the congestion already overpowering her sinuses with a vengeance, “never treated assassins. They are very,” she sneezed, “stubborn.”

We are all capable of greatness.

Great joy. Great sorrow. Great anger. Great compassion. Great patience. Great irritation. Great hate. Great love. Great determination. Great resignation.

We can't choose the things that life throws at us. But we can choose the kind of greatness we strive for.

And when we feel we fall short, there's always tomorrow.

Stabs and Stubbornness

"She's going to figure it out."

Obi turned around, bandage still clenched in his teeth, and looked at his second in command who sat on the bench next to him. The remaining knights had long since filed out of the room, eagerly seeking warm food, warm beds, or warm company after their latest patrol in the icy wilderness around Lyrias. He had encouraged Sashizu to join them, but in hindsight, he should have known that his exceedingly loyal second-in-command would not have left him alone, given that he had been injured.

Grabbing the end of the bandage before letting go with his teeth, Obi pulled the white fabric taut and wrapped it briskly around the wound just below the scar on his shoulder. "Figure what out?"

A lesser man would have rolled his eyes, but ​Sashizu settled for a slight twitch of his eyebrows as his gaze swept over his commander's wounded shoulder that had already begun to sluggishly seep crimson into the layers of bandage. "That you were injured, sir."

Read the rest on A03 here!

A New Journey

Entry for Day 1 of the Obiyuki Do-Si-Do @snowwhite-andtheknight

Summary: Shirayuki gets Obi in the divorce, and they go off on botanical adventures.

~~~

“Delicious!” Kihal exclaimed with pleasure around the tangy-sweet bite of apple, and leaned back against the trunk, her shoulder brushing against Shirayuki’s.

“There’s more where that came from,” Obi called from above, reaching casually to the side and pulling another apple from the branch beside him. “Heads up, miss,” he called, and sent the fruit tumbling down towards her.

She grabbed the apple, shined it vigorously on her coat sleeve, and took a bite. “Thanks, Obi!”

Giving her a salute, he settled against the trunk, arms folded and head pillowed on the fine uniform jacket he had folded in a way that would definitely have given Mitsuhide a conniption. After a few minutes, she noticed that his eyes had slid shut, light snores reaching her ears. Shirayuki smiled.

“He seems comfortable,” Kihal grinned, peeling a slice of apple before offering a piece to Popo, who took it into his beak with a pleased trill. “He isn’t going to fall, is he?”

“No,” Shirayuki assured her. “He’s almost more at home in trees than on the ground.”

6 Sentence Sunday

Thanks for tagging me, @tathrin!

This is from a story I hope to write about Legolas' homecoming, inspired by this art by @fluentisonus.

I hope to write more of it soon!

Sometimes, when I'm actually attempting to properly researching for a fic I'm writing, I look over the vast array of open tabs on my laptop or phone or both, and despair.

So much clutter in the search for such specific information...

And I wonder, is there a point? Typically the things I search for figure in maybe a few sentences, or in the background, or in the general feel of the piece. And maybe, just maybe, I don't need to look up this information...

...and then I remember a story I wrote with a friend in junior high. A story where I came up with a fancy-sounding word combination to describe a character's elegant dress. I remember showing our moms to see what they thought.

And then I remember them laughing because, despite my non-researched convictions, silk-screening is, in fact, a method of printing t-shirts and not the epitome of elegance.

And I open another tab.