Finding Beauty in the Darkness *Obi x OC*(COMPLETE)

Awake

Ryanne POV

I wake up slightly as I feel myself moving but I can't get my eyes to fully open. I can hear Aeri talking a mile a minute nearby but who is she talking to and why am I moving? Maybe it's just my fever making me delirious. That makes sense as I am rather cold. A male voice reaches my ears a moment later, part of what he says is muffled by my ear against his chest. Okay, I'm definitely not in my bed. Aeri better not have gotten us kidnapped.

"A-Aeri?" I croak out.

"Mistress Rya! You're awake."

"Have we been kidnapped?" I ask as I try to keep myself awake but I feel myself slipping under again.

"No Mistress Rya, I-"

I wake up feeling still quite terrible but less like death is approaching and am surprised that I can actually open my eyes as well. I, of course, can't make out any details but I know for sure that I am no longer in my cottage, so I'm guessing when I woke up earlier it wasn't a fever dream like I'd thought. So, where am I now and who brought me here?And where is Aeri?

"What did you do to yourself Ryan?" That nickname...

"I did nothing to myself, Garak. Why am I in your building?" I hum, gratefully accepting the glass of water from her.

"Your apprentice brought you here with Obi yesterday. They were worried about you."

"I'm fine, it's just a cold."

"You and I both know that you should know it wasn't just a cold." She sighs as she sits in a chair by the bedside. "You were testing poisons again, weren't you?"

"I honestly wasn't. I did gather some and worked with them, including a new plant that finally sprouted, but I didn't ingest or inject anything. I-I... think I know what happened." I sigh. "I had them in my bedroom so Aeri wouldn't be affected by them and I wore the mask and gloves, even cracked the window since the new plant's toxins were scent based, but I fell asleep before I put them away. I don't think I ever got to put them away since Aeri isn't allowed to touch them."

"That explains it then. You should be more careful Ryan. If Obi hadn't gone to pick up my order, you could have died. Your apprentice was panicking and just trying to make you herbal teas hoping you'd get better. She didn't know what to do. You have someone who depends on you and people who care about you, yet you take risks with poisons that are totally unnecessary. You haven't been sleeping again, haven't you?"

"I was asleep for almost a whole week."

She shoots me a look. "You were poisoned, there's a difference."

"You know why I don't sleep. I'm not sure how much longer I have, so I have to learn and focus while I still have time."

"You can't read anymore, you've memorized literally everything you could before you weren't able to read. What else is there to learn that has to be done while you can still see a little?"

"There's still just so much I want to see and do, even beyond just the Herbalism, but I have a job to do so Herbalism comes first. There's no telling when I will lose it completely so if I can get that done at least, it'll be alright."

"I feel like you may have your priorities backward. You should do the things you want before you focus on the herbs because you can still work with them just fine without your sight."

"People are more important. So, when can I get out of here?"

"Three days at least." I sigh at her answer. "So, where is my apprentice?"

"Obi is watching over her. She had some sort of meltdown when she saw Ryuu though."

"Ah, young love."

"I should be saying that to you if you'd ever get out of that cottage and find someone... or pay attention to who is in front of you."

"That sounds like you're hitting on me. I told you, even with alcohol, I still don't go that way."

Aeri and Obi come to visit me about an hour later and despite how tired I feel, I force myself to stay awake. I want to apologize to them for worrying them. Aeri immediately crashes into me and cries into my shoulder about how worried she's been. Way to make me feel better, Kiddo. I rub her back soothingly as Obi takes over the seat Garak previously occupied. I quickly realize that her crying stopped and I'm pretty sure she's fallen asleep. It comes in handy that she seems to be able to sleep any time, anywhere. I look to Obi for help and he moves her to another bed before sitting down again.

"I'm sorry that I worried you, Aeri as well." I mumble.

"It's alright, I'm just glad you're okay. I do wish you'd stop almost killing yourself though."

"Well, in my defense this time was unintentional and emergency antidotes weren't needed."

"True," Obi chuckles. "Still not the best situation."

"How did you even-?" I start to ask but I mentally answer myself. "Oh, right. Garak's order. Were you able to get it?"

He sighs but tells me that he did. "You work too much. Even coming back from the brink of death all you worry about is work."

"What else is there?"

I laugh as I hear him mumble under his breath that I hurt his brain. "Oh no, I didn't get to record the symptoms and side effects... Do you think Garak would give me paper before I forget?"

"I'll go ask, but only because you need it for research."

Obi returns with a small pad of paper and a pen and he helps me fill in the details I missed from being unconscious as I fill out my report on the poison. It'll have to be something I store outside. It's going to be fun removing it from my room and airing it out... I'll have to wash everything off as well. It looks like I'll be sleeping on the couch when we return to the cottage. I look up at Obi when I realize something.

"That was Garak's last order. I guess our weekly meetings are over at least for a while."

"I guess so, though with Garak's ulterior motives, I don't think it will last long. Before you know it she will be sending me out there to collect something easy like a single peppermint leaf."

"What ulterior motives? She's always trying something stupid." I sigh as I tie my hair back from my face.

"Oh, nothing."

"You can't say she has motives and then not tell me." I huff and he chuckles.

I can practically imagine the smirk on his face. "You wouldn't tell me what the old lady said last week."

"Mrs. Pendra told me to snatch you up while I still could because 'you don't come across a cutie like that all that often'." I mumble, feeling my face warm slightly for some reason.

"Garak thinks that she should play matchmaker with me because I'm not with anyone, so she apparently thought you were a good match for me and requested me to pick up her orders for the past three weeks."

"I'm going to hurt her once I'm out of this bed... Trust me, she's been trying to set me up for four years now."