#thank you sabraeal for last-minute beta reading

[claudeng80]

Up in Flames (Firefighter AU)

Obi’s Kevlar jump jacket is hanging on its hook. On the shelf above sit five empty water bottles in a neat line and a handheld GPS unit with its plug trailing off to the nearest outlet. The cubby below is filled from edge to edge with the bulk of his pack. Everything is just as Mitsuhide demands on inspections.

None of it should be there.

She’s been pretending not to eavesdrop on the radio for days, trying not to stare at the map on the wall in the cafeteria wondering where they all are and what’s happening. The Pincushion fire is a big one, bad enough to call for the full squad of smokejumpers- the whole team was supposed to be gone for days yet, and yet somehow Obi’s here. All she can picture is that he’s hurt. And she didn’t know.

Her feet take her straight toward Ryuu and the clinic, down a hallway lit only by the light from under Zen’s office door and out into the courtyard without thinking. She’s impatient, on the point of running but the clatter of steel on rock hauls her up short. Her quarry is much closer than she expected.

He doesn’t exactly jump up to greet her, but he's too tall to hide in a folding chair, no matter how he slouches. Dark spiky hair no helmet can defeat gives him away, as does the rattle of the loose bricks of the fire pit under his boots. He taught Ryuu to make Smores there before the burn ban went into effect..

“You’re okay!” The words come out a bit loud and maybe she sounds a bit too surprised. He looks okay, at least, so the odds of him having been released and not just having escaped Ryuu through the window are increasing.

“When have you known me not to be?” Obi’s still frowning when he leans down to pick up the tool he dropped. It’s a blade-pick thing on a long handle, she doesn’t know all the names yet, and the sharp part is far too close to his foot for comfort. Yes, his boots have reinforced toes, but it’s still dangerous. “The fire shifted east into easier territory, the hotshots can handle it now. Mitsuhide and most of the others stayed to help them out, but he sent me back with Shuka.”

“Is he-” She looks toward the clinic, ashamed that all this time she hadn’t even noticed. She’s been worried about the wrong firefighter. And here her mouth’s so dry she can’t even finish the perfectly valid question- she’s an embarrassment of a medic. Zen should have left her in the bus station where he found her. It’s a vicious spiral she’s looking down before she’s jarred loose by Obi’s laugh.

“Relax, miss, he just put a foot wrong on a slope and went the fast way down through some brush. His face looks like he lost a fight with a tree and he twisted his knee up pretty good, but Ryuu’s already seen him. The worst part will be when everyone else gets back.” His grin turns feral as he holds up the tool he was sharpening, checking the edge of the blade against the last light of the sun. 

It’s only now that Shirayuki notices the firepit isn’t so empty after all. He's set up the fake fire in lieu of a real one, and its LEDs flicker sadly in the hollow. Kiki gave the toy to Mitsuhide as a birthday present at the beginning of the season, and it’s taken on a life of its own. The number of pranks it’s starred in is more than she can count, and she hasn’t even been there for half of them. She’s not sure what it means to him here, but it does make the darkening courtyard just a bit more comforting. The release of her worry and anger hits her all at once and leaves her a little lightheaded, and she sinks into the other lawn chair, which squeaks beneath her weight. 

Obi eyes her suspiciously for a second, then starts tying the safety cover back onto the tool he’d been sharpening. There’s just enough light left to watch him work, looking far too clean and relaxed for someone just back from having parachuted into the path of a wildfire and spent three days in the backcountry. There’s no awkwardness in the way he moves, just his climber’s grace and competence. The sunset turns his skin to gold. He catches her looking. “Do I pass inspection?”

Hopefully the LEDs are faint enough to disguise the burning in her cheeks. “Our new base will be ready on Friday.” She’s got everything ready to go in her suitcase already, but she knows Obi too well to think he’ll do the same. He’ll throw everything in a duffel bag Thursday night and call that packing.

“The sooner we go, the sooner we’ll get Yuzuri off our backs.” The last sliver of the sun disappears behind the distant mountains as he salutes with the now-less-intimidating tool. 

“I’ll believe it when I see it.” She’s been spamming Shirayuki with satellite data layers and soil moisture updates several times a day. They’re being sent north for political reasons; the endangered Olin Maris is finally getting some attention and splitting off a small smokejumper unit for easy access is Izana’s concession. But the details of the transfer don’t make a whole lot of sense. Obi’s qualified, but nobody expected him to be made foreman anytime soon. And four months ago Shirayuki was sleeping rough with nowhere to go, and now she’ll be chief base medic. Zen’s close-lipped about the whole thing. But they’ll do their jobs and keep the Olin Maris safe (on pain of death, says Yuzuri). Just because it’s all suspicious doesn’t mean they can take the responsibility any less seriously.

It gets dark fast once the sun’s behind the mountains, here. Obi leans over the pit and reaches in, and in the second before his hand closes on the light, it illuminates the curves of his arm. She’s seen those muscles haul ridiculous weights of gear, seen Obi hang upside down from impossibly tiny handholds for fun, but somehow here it softens him. By the glow of the evening sky and the flicker of a child’s campfire toy, she can’t look away as the light casts sharp shadows across his cheekbones and lines every eyelash in gold- “I’ve always thought you looked good by firelight.”

Obi blinks at her, and far too slow, she realizes what just came out of her mouth. She just said that. To his face. To a firefighter.

A cicada spins up its song, somewhere out in the dark. Obi blinks, scoops up the fake fire in his hand, and switches off the light. He’s a shadow in a shadow as her eyes struggle to adjust. “Oh, the uniform,” he says at last. “I know, sexy, right? Makes me look very manly. Half the reason I got into the job.”

That’s not what she meant at all. If she had Yuzuri’s gift of speech or Kiki’s confidence, she’d know what to say to him, how to compliment him the right way. It’s not about a uniform or about his job, it’s about him. But she’s only Shirayuki, and she has no skill for this kind of talk. She shuffles her feet, appreciating the darkness that hides her discomfort and ignoring the gentle sounds of Obi moving around. He’s probably going inside.

The yard-light clicks on with an electrical snap, and Obi’s not by the door, he’s right by her side. It’s far too close. “I’ve always thought so,” she adds, startled, and his eyes as he stares down at her match her expression. This close she can see the specks of ash-burns on his face and smell his soap, and his throat moves as he swallows.

She should- she should go make sure Ryuu’s remembered to eat dinner. It’s late. The first step back is easy, but she slows as she reaches the door and looks back. He’s still watching her go. “Good night,” she adds. “I’m glad you’re coming with me. You probably think I don’t notice how much you help me, but I don’t know where I’d be without you. I’m looking forward to going north, because you’ll be there.” And she punctuates it with the slam of the screen door, putting as much hallway between them as she can before he can answer.