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The first morning Saizo wakes beside Ryoma as his husband is… strange. The sun has yet to rise. There is an arm across his waist – it takes a moment for Saizo to remember it is Ryoma’s, to remember that he is allowed to be here. That he should not ease himself out from Ryoma’s arm, from Ryoma’s bed and return to his own. That he is- that he will always be allowed this, now.
He attempts to roll over – Ryoma’s arm tightens on his waist, and he presses closer to Saizo’s back. Saizo hardly dares breathe. His heart races in his chest. He wants, suddenly, to see Ryoma wake up. Ryoma murmurs something, some muffled protest as Saizo turns, but he settles again when Saizo is facing him. He- he’s sharing Saizo’s pillow. In the night he must have moved closer, or Saizo must have.
This close, Saizo can see each of Ryoma’s eyelashes. The wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. The individual scales that line his cheekbones. There is a very faint frown between Ryoma’s eyebrows, even while asleep. A part of Saizo wants to- wants to kiss it away. Ryoma shifts and the frown deepens. His eyes scrunch a little further shut before opening. He blinks at Saizo, pupils growing from slits as he wakes up.
“Good morning,” Ryoma murmurs, his voice still rough with sleep.
“Ah. Good morning,” Saizo replies. The word milord hovers on his tongue. He forces it back.
He starts to sit up, but Ryoma pulls him back down with a murmur of, “There’s no need to get up yet.” The sun is only just breaking in through the shutters. It is past time for Saizo to have risen. But- but if Ryoma is urging him to stay….
And- and it is warm in Ryoma’s embrace. His hand falls back to Saizo’s hip when Saizo lies down beside him, and he moves if anything even closer – his eyes close again, as if he means to sleep. The frown between his eyebrows has gone, and a small smile plays around his lips. “Husband,” he murmurs, so softly that only Saizo might hear it, and-
It is still not easy to close the gap between them and kiss Ryoma… but it’s easier now that he’s awake than it would have been with him still asleep. Ryoma kisses back lazily, almost carelessly. His hand slides up Saizo’s side and over his shoulder before finally sinking into his hair. One kiss turns into another, and another, each as slow and lazy as the last, until Ryoma finally stops with a nuzzle to Saizo’s neck.
“Ryoma?”
Saizo can feel the curve of Ryoma’s lips against his throat. “Ah,” he murmurs, fingers petting lightly at the nape of Saizo’s neck, “I suppose I’m just happy.”
It’s- Saizo wraps an arm around Ryoma’s shoulders, pulls him closer against his chest. He can feel a flush of embarrassment crawling up his face, and is almost glad that Ryoma isn’t looking.
“I- I am as well,” Saizo admits, and he sounds gruff even to his own ears. Ryoma chuckles against him, soft and- and good, Saizo’s heart pounds in his chest to hear it.
Ryoma rolls him over with a gentle push, dropping a quick kiss to the corner of Saizo’s mouth and then sitting up. “I’m glad,” he says, raising one of Saizo’s hands and kissing the back of it. He stretches, and slips from the bed.
Ryoma does not bother to dress properly; Saizo can see the flash of crimson scales at his collar when he moves. There is no great rush this morning, Ryoma assures him, no need for them to hurry elsewhere. No-one will expect either of them to hurry up the morning after their wedding.
Ryoma says it smiling, eyes half closed. His robe has almost fallen off his shoulder – Saizo has to wrench his eyes from the tempting trail of Ryoma’s scales. It would be shamefully easy to climb into Ryoma’s lap, and then nothing would get done.
Saizo clears his throat. “Breakfast?” he suggests.
“Soon,” Ryoma agrees. He reaches out to touch Saizo’s cheek. “For now I think I would like to enjoy a little more time alone with my husband.” Hearing the word is still enough to make Saizo’s heart constrict painfully, to say nothing of the expression on Ryoma’s face.
“Fine,” Saizo says, and leans into Ryoma’s hand.
(they’re late to breakfast)
The royal family had fit together well before- well. Before. Saizo is a jagged edge in the harmony that had previously reigned between them. A rock they stumble across in the road, an awkward silence they talk around – at mealtimes Saizo sits at Ryoma’s side and- and does not know what to say.
They are… they are his family as well now.
Ryoma says it. “They are your siblings,” and then, “and I would be honoured to call Kaze mine,” and Saizo can hardly speak around his heart beating in his throat.
Saying it, however, doesn’t- doesn’t make it any easier to actually speak to them. Lady Sakura may be his- his sister, so Ryoma says, but when Saizo sees her he still goes to bow, still takes a deferential step back. She’s startled to see him alone – and why shouldn’t she be? He’s been at Ryoma’s side even more than usual of late – and gasps, “Oh!” and Saizo doesn’t-
What does he call her? What does he say?
Lady Sakura smiles, clutches her bow to her chest and says, “Saizo! It’s nice to see you!”
Awkwardly, Saizo folds his arms and nods. “Milady.”
Her smile falls a little. “You, um, you can call me S-Sakura,” she says.
No, is Saizo’s immediate reaction, but…. “Thank you, Sakura,” he replies, and some of her good cheer recovers. “Are you… well?”
Sakura nods firmly. “I was just going to practice,” she says, holding out her bow. There’s a little trace of nervousness as she asks, “W-would you like to come and watch? I-I mean, if you’re not busy or-”
“I’m not,” Saizo interrupts.
It’s a struggle not to fall a step behind her when Lady S- Sakura turns away – even now, Saizo’s place is still in the shadows, behind those who stand in the light. It’s only when she looks at him that Saizo lengthens his stride, walks just about beside her and even then-
It’s not his place.
(she looks like queen mikoto with her bow)
Orochi had laughed when he’d first told her of his wedding – specifically, she’d laughed because it sounded like something from one of those romance novels she’d found Kaze reading.
“You know, a ninja and their master, falling in love,” she’d cackled, and Saizo’d been too embarrassed to continue that conversation.
Despite her unfortunate tendency to giggle at him now – “Passionate Saizo! Romantic Saizo!” she calls after him in the corridors – Orochi is still one of Saizo’s oldest… friends.
(the fortune she’d read for saizo and ryoma had been a good one, promising them happiness)
He doesn’t know how to talk to her either anymore.
Orochi seems to have no such trouble. As soon as she sees him, she stops what she was doing and closes in on him. “Is this where you’ve been hiding, Saizo?” she calls, peering around him. “Lurking in a corner in the library?”
Saizo grunts. The history scrolls are… interesting.
“Barely a month into domestic bliss and already hiding away from your husband? Hardly a good sign, Saizo,” Orochi says.
Saizo makes a disgusted noise. “I’m not hiding,” and definitely not from Ryoma. But Lady Hinoka had invited him to ride her pegasus with her, and Lord Takumi had mentioned something about a spar and-
“Aren’t you?” Orochi challenges.
“Saizos do not hide.”
Orochi folds her arms. “So what are you doing then? Because this,” and she gestures around, “looks exactly like hiding to me.”
With another disgusted noise, Saizo pulls his mask up, shoves the scroll he was reading back onto its shelf and marches out of the library.
Orochi is almost certainly laughing at him again.
(lady hinoka’s pegasus snorts in his hair, and lord takumi can’t quite seem to meet saizo’s eyes, but they don’t turn him away)
Saizo returns to his duties soon enough; he’s still Saizo, though he wears the title of Prince Consort as well. Clumsily. Some of his subordinates watch him differently, as if they expect that softness will suddenly bloom in Saizo’s heart. As if they expect Saizo to suddenly become a different person. As if the crown that is his by right will change him.
Kagero at least treats him no differently. The ease of old comrades. She’d smiled when he’d told her, squeezed his shoulder, and said, “Finally.”
And Kaze-
Well. Kaze keeps smiling at him.
“Is there a problem, Saizo?” Kaze asks.
Saizo folds his arms. “No.” Kaze keeps smiling. It’s just a small thing, sort of vaguely pleased. It doesn’t fade as he looks at Saizo, or as Saizo hands out orders. Saizo frowns.
“Are you sure?” Kaze asks, still smiling. “You look distressed, brother.”
There is- there’s nothing wrong with Kaze smiling. “Hm.”
That smile doesn’t change at all. “How are things,” Kaze asks, “with his highness?”
There’s absolutely no way Saizo can answer that. Not to his brother. “Fine,” he bites out. Kaze’s mouth twitches. Saizo hasn’t been close to Kaze for many years, but- “We’re fine.”
Kaze’s smile widens. “I’m glad,” he says, and there’s not a trace of a lie in his face. Of course he is glad. He’s- he’s always been the gentler of the two of them. Saizo has known that since they were children.
(a consequence of saizo being saizo – kaze has had the chance to be someone else. saizo has always had to be… this)
“Hm. Here,” and Saizo is relieved to finally turn back to work, “new guard rotations.”
Kaze glances over them, pauses for a moment. His smile wavers for perhaps the slightest moment. “Your name-” he starts.
Not a conversation Saizo wants to relive – Ryoma had been insistent. Saizo can still hear his voice. You’re part of the royal family now, Saizo, and just hearing it had been almost enough to make Saizo give in, you have to protect yourself just as much as the rest of us.
“You and Kagero can decide who gets to guard me,” Saizo mutters, voice even more muffled by his mask than usual – he’s glad for that for once.
Kaze’s eyes go wide and startled, and then he laughs. “Oh, that’s going to be fun.”
Frowning, Saizo points out, “I will often be with Ryoma.”
“Ah.” Kaze ducks his head a little. “Yes. That will make it a little easier.” He nods and says, “I’ll go and talk to Kagero. You’ll keep us informed of your movements, Saizo?”
“Yes,” Saizo huffs, not irritated exactly but….
Kaze’s still smiling when he leaves.
Peace takes a certain shape at Castle Shirasagi; mornings, Saizo wakes before Ryoma. A long habit he doubts he will he ever break. There still tends to be a certain… strangeness to waking in Ryoma’s bed, but it’s- He doesn’t want to get used to it. It is a good strangeness, to wake and feel Ryoma close and- and know.
(saizo’s heart stutters in his chest thinking about it. he is no poet)
Much of the day is then taken up with their responsibilities. Though they have now made peace with Nohr, the scars of such a long lasting war are not so easily forgotten. Faceless still roam the borderlands, and much of the Royal Army is tasked with finding their spawning grounds and destroying them – a task made easier with the cooperation of the Nohrian mages who made them.
Then there are bandits; often, shamefully, those men and women whose homes were destroyed during the war and now turned to thievery. Some can be reasoned with, drawn back to follow Ryoma’s path, but-
Well. The Saizo clan is rarely out of work, even with the advent of peace.
He might see Ryoma’s siblings throughout the day; Lady Hinoka prefers to train with the army, while lately Lord Takumi has been down in the fields, using Dragon Veins to revitalise the soil, but L- Sakura visits Saizo often. She talks about her day, her new duties, her plans for the future.
She says that even Ryoma takes a break every now and then, so Saizo should too.
Saizo eats with Ryoma’s family now. Of course, he had watched over them a hundred times before. A thousand times. But now he sits beside them, amongst them, and eats along with them – Ryoma’s family.
(“our family,” ryoma insists. kaze is balanced in the rafters above them, eating a meat bun. ryoma smiles, his thumb brushing over saizo’s hand – lord takumi asks sakura something, loudly, but saizo can’t make himself listen
of course ryoma cannot invite kaze down. it. it would not be proper)
Afterwards is the only- the only real time Saizo gets alone with Ryoma anymore. When they were merely master and servant, no eyes watched them so closely. Perhaps- perhaps Orochi knew, or Kagero. But his clan did not, Kaze did not, and certainly the royal family-
Sometimes it is unbearable to have his heart bared so shamelessly.
(but then- ah then, ryoma will look at him, soft-eyed and it is not so unbearable after all)
It doesn’t surprise Saizo that in the end, Kagero and Kaze are the only ones with the dubious honour of guarding him. Kagero sometimes brings young, untested ninja with her, and makes them sit out the long hours beside her.
It’s a test for them, obviously. Saizo is still Saizo.
The first time he loses her and one of her companions, Kagero simply shakes her head and says, “I expected better of him.”
She brings more promising children with her from time to time. Some even manage to keep up – one, panting after a desperate chase through Shirasagi’s secret passages, lunges for the trailing edge of Saizo’s robe and shouts, “Please stop!”
Saizo does, and Kagero catches up a moment later. “Very well done,” she congratulates her student, glancing up to meet Saizo’s eye.
“Hm,” Saizo says. “Be careful in future. You caught me this time, but an enemy won’t hesitate to fight back.”
The kunoichi nods gratefully, bowing before him. Kagero quietly dismisses her, and together she and Saizo make their way back to his office.
“I am truly happy for you, Saizo,” she says, along the way. Saizo looks at her askance. “Lord Ryoma has always brought out the best in you.”
Saizo frowns. “I can do nothing less for him.”
Kagero shakes her head. “No I… that is not what I mean.” She rolls her shoulders. “I have never seen you happier than by Lord Ryoma’s side.” Saizo feels a pang of guilt at her words. Their relationship ended… poorly. Kagero must see it on his face, because she squeezes his shoulder and says, “This is not a happiness you or I could have given each other, Saizo. We have our own hearts, and they always laid elsewhere.”
“Yes,” he agrees, helplessly, “yes.”
(his heart has always lain at ryoma’s feet)
“You seem to be getting along with Sakura well,” Ryoma says.
Saizo pauses, brush clenched in his hand over the paper. A little dot of ink drips off the end – “Yes,” Saizo agrees, “Lady Sakura is… very kind.”
Ryoma laughs – a warm sound. It curls up in Saizo’s stomach – and comes to sit beside him. “You can call her by name, Saizo,” he murmurs. His arm settles around Saizo’s waist. It is still not quite familiar but- welcome. Wanted.
A wave of something not quite shame rolls through him. “Yes,” Saizo repeats, “Sakura said as much.” Lady Hinoka and Lord Takumi have not. It- it is not the sort of thing that would occur to Lord Takumi, and Lady Hinoka will assume-
Ryoma’s head drops onto Saizo’s shoulder. His scales glint in the candlelight. “The same goes for Hinoka and Takumi,” Ryoma says, easily following the line of Saizo’s thoughts. “I doubt they’ve spoken with you about it, but they’re both glad you’re here.”
“I… see.”
Ryoma chuckles again, rubbing his nose against Saizo’s neck. His scales scratch, a pleasant sort of feeling. “They like seeing us happy. Sakura does too. What did you think they were for?” He gestures towards the latest box of sweets. They’d been more bitter than sweet tonight – enough that Saizo could stomach one or two when Ryoma offered.
He hadn’t thought about their deeper meaning. Sakura just- she just gives them to him. Saizo can hardly refuse a gift from her. The thought never even occurred to him. She’d said, almost in passing, that she was trying to find a sweet Saizo could enjoy.
(he can barely admit to himself that, sometimes, the taste is almost… tolerable when licked from ryoma’s mouth)
“I’ll thank her again,” Saizo murmurs. The… the letter he had been writing is an unsalvageable mess now. It will have to be discarded.
“In the morning,” Ryoma says softly, against Saizo’s jaw.
At Hinoka’s request, Saizo accompanies both her and Sakura out to view the blossoms Sakura is named after; it’s nearing her birthday, and many of the trees are already in full bloom. Out in the sun it’s easier to see both of their scales as well – it’s been many years since Saizo gave much thought to the smattering of scales visible on members of the royal family, but of late he’s had… reason….
Well.
Hinoka’s are of much the same shade as Ryoma’s, while Sakura’s are a pale pink gold. They suit them well, as do Takumi’s – the same colour as his hair.
When Saizo was a child, his father told him that the scales his lord wore were a proof of his royalty; only the king and his family had the blood of dragons flowing through their veins. It had long been a point of contention with Nohr that their royal family is also descended from dragons – now it serves to foster peace between them.
“Saizo!” Hinoka calls, waving her arm excitedly and yanking Saizo out of his musings. “Sakura and I found a good spot!”
Saizo nods and strides over. Hinoka’s already setting out a blanket, and Saizo places the picnic basket to one side. Ryoma had persuaded him to forgo the mask this morning, but he’s still wearing a scarf, and it slips down a little as he sets out the small array of snacks Tsubaki sent them off with.
“Ah,” Hinoka says, “I’m still not used to that.”
Saizo glances up at her. “Pardon?”
“Oh, no-” Hinoka laughs and runs a hand through her hair. “You look a lot like your brother, you know, without your mask on.”
It’s automatic to go and pull the scarf back up slightly – Saizo’s still not comfortable with people seeing his face, and doubts he ever will be – but.
“Thank you,” he says. “You and- you and Sakura looks very alike as well.”
“You think?” Hinoka asks, looking genuinely pleased. She looks over to Sakura, presently reaching up to one tree that’s not quite about to bloom. “People always say I look more like Ryoma.”
There is a certain resemblance – their scales of course, are a close match in colour if not in position. And Hinoka is sometimes like Ryoma; she has that same strength to her. But…. “You and Ryoma are a good match in temperament,” Saizo allows, “but otherwise I believe you and Sakura resemble each other more.”
“We are sisters,” Hinoka agrees. “What about Takumi?”
Saizo pauses, setting down a cup a touch harsher than he means to. “He… he looks most like Lord Sumeragi,” Saizo says.
After a long moment, Hinoka nods. She says, softly, “He’d be happy to hear it, I think.” She gets to her feet easily, suddenly and calls, “Sakura! Come and eat!”
Sakura turns, smiles. Before she joins them, there’s a small rush of power; the tree she was looking at bursts into flower.
Saizo sits at Ryoma’s side during banquets. Sakura’s sat next to Saizo, and Hinoka and Takumi are on Ryoma’s other side. They compromise the royal table for now – their other sibling is still visiting in Nohr. It’s both familiar and unfamiliar to be up here; Saizo takes most meals with Ryoma now, and it is a comfort to have him so close. But- but it’s dangerously exposed up here, and Saizo is uncomfortably aware of the many eyes upon him.
Ryoma glances at him – he’s understood Saizo for many years, but recently has become even more adept than Saizo had expected. Softly he murmurs, “Perhaps they’re simply admiring you.” His hand settles, daringly, on Saizo’s thigh. “You are very handsome,” Ryoma continues – beyond him, Takumi turns an unattractive shade of red and glares at an unaware Ryoma.
Saizo’s own ears feel dangerously hot, and he mutters, “Not at the dinner table,” a little sharply.
Ryoma laughs, loud enough for their guests to hear, but he thankfully moves his hand from Saizo’s thigh and lays it over Saizo’s hand instead. “Later, then,” Ryoma assures Saizo, “for now just stop worrying. Kagero would tell us if there was anything to be concerned about.”
She will, Saizo knows. Kagero is reliable. It doesn’t make Saizo any more comfortable to be sat up here, vulnerable, when he would rather be-
Even as he thinks it, Saizo knows it’s a lie. His vulnerability bothers him, but. But. Being at Ryoma’s side more than makes up for it.
“Um,” Sakura says. Saizo turns to look at her – like Takumi, her cheeks are flushed red, and that- Saizo can’t help blushing in turn. He doesn’t pull his hand out from under Ryoma’s but it’s a close thing. “W-where did you get your outfit, Saizo? It’s very nice!” Sakura asks.
“Ah,” and relating that story is just as embarrassing as- everything. “I spoke to one of L- Takumi’s retainers about acquiring a suitable outfit. Oboro.” And she’d extracted a promise never to let anyone else dress him for formal functions ever again, but… perhaps he didn’t need to mention that.
Sakura’s expression brightens a lot as Saizo says that. “Oh! I think she dressed Takumi as well!” She peers past Saizo and Ryoma both, as if just by looking she’ll be able to tell; Takumi is well dressed.
Oboro has a good eye, and Saizo says so. “Your brother is lucky to have her by his side.”
Sakura nods, and then says, “Ryoma is lucky to have you at his side as well!”
Clearing his throat slightly, and far too aware of the attention Ryoma is paying this conversation – of Ryoma’s hand still covering his hand – Saizo replies, “As long as I am able to stand at Ryoma’s side, I will.”
Ryoma’s fingers slide between Saizo’s, and Sakura smiles.
The Prince Consort of Hoshido cannot take the same kinds of missions Saizo the Fifth once accepted without qualms. The Prince Consort of Hoshido cannot be a thief in the night. The Prince Consort of Hoshido cannot be an assassin. The Prince Consort of Hoshido cannot be Saizo.
(saizo had- he hadn’t wanted to but he’d been prepared, dutifully, to give up active missions for the sake of diplomacy. what would it say, after all, if ryoma’s husband still walked in the shadows?)
So it is not the Prince Consort of Hoshido who is moving quietly through a bandit stronghold. It is merely Saizo. His mask is covering his face again. He has a shuriken in his hand, and the familiar and comforting press of other hidden weapons against his body. Everyone who has seen him tonight is dead.
The local villages will be safe again. Saizo is returning to the castle uninjured, alone. He has… he has completed another mission for Ryoma. Saizo takes a moment to breathe as he exits the abandoned fort. There is something… to walk at Ryoma’s side is no small thing of course. But Saizo has lived too long in the shadows to ever be truly comfortable in the light. But these thoughts have no place during a mission – Saizo turns for the nearest village, and afterwards, home.
Shirasagi is quiet and still when Saizo arrives. Only a handful of other people are still awake at this hour; most of them are Saizo’s own subordinates, and quietly avert their eyes when Saizo passes them. Saizo slips into his old quarters – empty for now – and strips out of his comfortable, if ragged old clothes. A quick wash to get any blood and the worst of the travel dust off, and then Saizo pauses before one of the hidden wardrobes in his old quarters.
It’s full of sleeping robes – robes fit for a prince. And it always hurts a little to shed the part of him that’s merely Saizo and slip back into being the Prince Consort, but this late at night it’s… it’s not so hard to select the darkest, subtlest of his fine robes. There’s a secret route in the ceiling through to Ryoma’s chambers, and Saizo takes it. He drops silently into Ryoma’s- the rooms he shares with Ryoma.
“Oh,” Ryoma says, startling slightly, “welcome home.”
Saizo can’t help jumping a little as well; Ryoma’s sat against the opposite wall, stretched out and with a cushion behind his back, a book in his hand and- and he should be sleeping.
“Ryoma-” Saizo starts, frowning.
But Ryoma just beams at him. “I waited for you, Saizo,” he says, and it’s… not an admonition, “I found I could not sleep without you by my side.”
It’s… it’s maddening how Ryoma can say such things so easily. “I… I see,” Saizo murmurs, and crosses over to kneel at Ryoma’s side. “Thank you.” Saizo still pauses, but only briefly, before leaning in to kiss his husband’s cheek.
Ryoma makes a low, pleased noise, and murmurs, “Come to bed.”
Saizo rests his head against Ryoma’s and replies, eagerly, “Yes.”
“You look happier lately,” Orochi comments one morning, while they sit together outside. She’s smirking, but Saizo finds he can ignore the expression. Orochi often smirks. It is not necessarily about him.
“Hn.”
“Lord Ryoma and Lady Sakura do as well,” Orochi continues, as if Saizo hadn’t spoken. “I am glad.” She hardly sounds mocking at all.
“Of course.” Saizo nods, folding his arms. “They’re both satisfied with my guard details.”
Orochi cackles. “Oh, I bet, Lord Ryoma’s satisfied.” Saizo glares at her until she stops laughing. Hiding her smile behind her hand, Orochi continues, “You know, I heard Lady Sakura is learning how to make mochi in addition to her archery lessons. You’ll develop a sweet tooth yet, Saizo.” She starts giggling again at the face Saizo makes at that comment, and presses a hand to Saizo’s shoulder. “That reminds me! She spoke to me yesterday, actually,” she says. “Lady Sakura wished to know more about your childhood. I told her only what seemed appropriate.”
“Hm. Sakura is… very soft hearted,” Saizo agrees. The ninja way of life is not for everyone, as Saizo has known since childhood. If Sakura knew more about his childhood it would… trouble her.
“She is gentle, yes,” Orochi says, “as Lady Mikoto was. I think Lady Sakura may surprise you yet, Saizo.” At the mention of Lady Mikoto, Orochi’s smile turns slightly melancholic. She looks away, towards the archery grounds.
Saizo must agree with Orochi. Lady Mikoto did not shy away from the shadows. She was not afraid of doing what was necessary, even when what was necessary was not pleasant. Ryoma is the same. Those in the light have ever commanded those in shadow… though now, that looks to be becoming more and more unnecessary. Peace holds, for now.
“Let her keep what innocence remains in her,” Saizo says, eventually. “She’s already seen war. There’s no need for her to see what I do too.”
Orochi snorts, inelegantly. “You’re so serious all the time. You know what you need, Saizo? You need to have fun!” Orochi jumps to her feet, landing lightly on the ground. “I’m going to go and see Kagero, and then we’re going to see Lady Sakura and Lord Ryoma and I’m sure between the four of us we’ll be able to think up something fun for you.”
“Please don’t,” Saizo says, but it’s too late.
The wheels are already turning in Orochi’s mind. She has that look on her face. She pats his knee, smirks slyly, and says, “I’m sure if nothing else Lord Ryoma will have some ideas,” laughs when Saizo blushes, and then runs off to find Kagero.
It’s with no small amount of dread that Saizo approaches the family dining room that evening; if Orochi’s plans have come to fruition then this is surely where any… fun will occur. Saizo gathers his dignity and opens the shogi door as calmly as he can. He’s expecting- something.
Instead, that moment of tense anticipation passes in silence. Ryoma, Sakura, Hinoka and Takumi are already seated and eating – for informal meals they hardly stand on ceremony. Slightly more surprising is that Orochi and Kagero are also seated, slightly further down the table. There is a space between Kagero and Ryoma, clearly left for Saizo, and immediately across from it is Kaze.
Ryoma looks up from his soup and smiles at Saizo. It is so welcoming that Saizo walks over mechanically, and settles on the cushion beside him without so much as looking towards any of the others. Ryoma leans over for a quick, too-fleeting kiss, and then passes Saizo a bowl of rice.
“What is-” Saizo starts to ask, and is interrupted by another of Ryoma’s kisses.
“Orochi spoke to me,” Ryoma admits, voice pitched low enough that he doesn’t interrupt the other conversations continuing around them. “Between the four of us we managed to convince her you would enjoy something like this far more than anything she had planned.” His mouth curls into a wry sort of smile. “Although some of ideas had a certain amount of merit, I’ll admit.”
Saizo can’t help the huff that escapes him at that, and Ryoma’s smile only deepens at it. “It’s… improper,” Saizo feels obliged to point out. Across from him, Kaze is speaking far too familiarly with Sakura. He is not even serving her! If their father could see either of them now-
Ryoma presses his hand to the small of Saizo’s back. “Saizo. If I say Kaze may sit at my table, then he may sit at my table.” There is a touch of iron in his words. The voice of a king. “The same can be said for Kagero and Orochi. They are all welcome here.”
It eases something in Saizo’s chest. He eats a somewhat shaky mouthful of rice under Ryoma’s watchful gaze. The knot of tension – the idea that they are doing something wrong, that this is something that will reflect poorly on Ryoma and Sakura – does not quite fade away completely, but it is difficult to focus on it when Ryoma is looking at him like that.
Ryoma rubs Saizo’s back once more, murmurs, “Enjoy yourself, Saizo,” and turns back to his meal.
And- Saizo still cannot ignore any single command from Ryoma.
So. His brother is eating with… with Sakura. Saizo’s new sister. She is smiling, and so is Kaze. Their conversation does not even seem to be primarily about Saizo; he overhears Sakura saying the name of Nohr’s youngest princess, and some mention of sending letters. Beside him, Kagero and Orochi have their heads bowed together, speaking so softly Saizo doesn’t strain his ears to listen in – but that is hardly new. Across from them, Hinoka and Takumi are talking about their upcoming tour of Hoshido.
And… Ryoma is beside him. His husband, and still just thinking it makes Saizo’s heart beat a treacherous rhythm. Understanding comes suddenly. Ryoma has given him his family sitting here, at one table. All the people Saizo would call family, sitting and eating together. It’s… not something he’s ever dreamed of.
Ryoma places a hand over his. “Saizo?”
Saizo shakes his head. “It’s nothing,” he says, though his heart feels full to overflowing. He meets Ryoma’s eyes. “Thank you.”
Something softens in Ryoma’s expression, just slightly. He lifts Saizo’s hand to his lips, a gesture that always leaves Saizo red-faced. Today is no different. Across from him, Kaze laughs at something Hinoka says, and Sakura asks for Takumi to pass the edamame. Orochi is laughing again, bent against Kagero’s side.
Ryoma tangles his fingers with Saizo’s and smiles warmly. “Husband,” he murmurs, so softly that only Saizo might hear it and-
It is easy to close the gap between them.
(a few seconds later, orochi jabs a finger in saizo’s side and tells him to stop kissing at the dinner table, but for a moment, saizo is perfectly and completely content)