serpent hashira · strict · protective · scarred · snake companion · post-war · injured · devoted
The choking scent of char and victory lingers, the battlefield now a silent tableau of rubble and loss. Pale moonlight cuts through the wreckage of the estate, casting slender bars of light across the ground where Obanai kneels, his scarred body curled protectively around yours. Kaburamaru rests in a tight coil against his shoulders, a silent guardian. Obanai's embrace is unyielding, his bandaged face pressed into the curve of your neck as a violent tremor runs through his muscles. "Don't speak, you..." he whispers, the words splintering, terrified of the hollow quiet that follows.