You watch the boy next to you on the couch sigh in a frown, his eyes quickly moving over the pages of the book opened up before the both of you. There is no way you can remember all of this in time for the exam. The human body has 206 bones they say, and somehow you are expected to know and place them all. Impossible! Especially when you factor in the problem that you can’t keep your eyes away from your study partner.
Obito laughs as he finds your gaze on him, his black eyes shining on you fondly. “It’s difficult, isn’t it?” He states it as a fact. You nod and let your eyes move over his face. The round face, the scars, the boyish smile. How can you ever be expected to learn something while he is so handsome right next to you? “I will fail.”
Since you’ve started studying medicine it has only been a haze of classes and exams and trips to the library. You are scraping by, passing exams with the lowest of grades. You know something needs to change, you need to practice more and harder if you ever want to become a doctor. And you do. It was always your first choice of profession.
So you thought to yourself, why not make a study group with Obito? He at least passes his classes without any troubles. There was also the added advantage of spending time with him alone, which you enjoy. However, whenever you are with him you can’t keep your mind from wandering around his looks, the hair, the eyes, the way he scratches his neck when he is thinking. And so you get no actual studying done. Perfect.
“You want me to quiz you?” Obito closes the book and looks at you. A light flashes through his eyes. “Uh sure”, you say. You wonder for a second how he wants to quiz you without the book. To your surprise he takes your hand between his fingers, his touch more soft than you anticipated. Then he touches down the bones in your fingertips from the top down. “What’s this? '' he asks, his fingers lightly pressing the tip of yours. “Phalanxes - Distal, Middle, Proximal.”
Obito touches down your hand, eyebrows raised in question. You feel your heart beating, but you still follow his touch with quick replies: “Metacarpal. Carpus. Radius.” He is merciful enough to let you skip the many bones in the wrist. For a second you think he might let go of your hand as he reaches the end of it, but instead he just smiles and gives you a praising: “Well done”, and continues up your arm.
“Ulna, that's the Radius again, Humerus.” There aren’t many bones in your arm so he is already reaching your shoulder. “Scapula. Clavicle.” Your breath feels like you are taking part in a race, short and heavy, as his eyes are still fixed on yours. Smiling kindly he lightly punches you in the side: “See you can do it!” For the life of you, you can’t explain to yourself how your brain is still working with his presence this close.
He puts a soft hand on the back of your neck as if he was trying to pull you closer to him. You forget to breathe for a second, his fingers feeling like electricity on your skin. “Vertebrae” you breathe, your voice shaking a little. He grins: “Which one?” You force your brain to work. “Cervical.” He nods and winks a little at you.
Keeping the little smile on his face he puts his hand on the lower part of your cheek, his thumb brushing your bottom lip a little. “Mandible.” You force yourself to breathe regularly, in and out, in and out. He leaves his finger on your lips, his eyes fixed on them. Maybe you both are thinking the same thing. You feel warm in your neck, hoping your cheeks won’t flush. A moment passes in which both of you just sit and look at each other, nobody moves.
Then he takes the finger away, his hand now placed on the top of your head. You breathe out deeply, feeling as if you had held your breath for a long time. “Skull”, you say, a bit defeated. Obito gently rubs the top of your head, his fingers moving through your hair: “And?” You shake your head. It is as if his finger on your lips has wiped your mind clean of any rational thought. “Cranium”, he answers for you.
You have not realised how close he has gotten to you. His breath feels warm on your skin as he speaks. It is ridiculous how hard your heart is beating and he must have felt it when he touched your neck. “I-I don’t think I know it all yet. Should probably study more” you say in a weak attempt to wiggle yourself out of the conversation, entirely helpless in the way you are lost in his scent in your nose. He smiles: “No, you just need more practice. Let me show you.”
His hand moves down your back, trailing your spine. “This is the Thoracic Vertebrae” he explains, his fingers moving up your spine again. His touch sprouts goosebumps all over your body. Your mouth feels very dry. His hand is now on your lower back, circling it. Everytime he comes around again your shirt moves a little bit higher, until he finally circles his fingertips on your naked skin: “Lumbar Vertebrae.” Your breath catches in your throat.
He keeps his hand on your back and throws his head back a little in a laugh: “Well, I can’t go much further down from here.” You level your eyes with his, looking up slightly from where you are sitting. One heartbeat passes, then another and then you find the courage to take your hand and put it on his lower cheek, just like he did before. “What’s this?” you ask, now stroking his lower lip with your thumb. His hand continues to touch your lower back.
There is a moment of hesitation before he moves you forward, his hand pushing your back closer to him. You take the thumb away but leave your fingers on his face as your lips find his. You sigh into the feel of him, utterly melting from the first moment you collide. “Tongue,” he whispers as if he is naming it like one of the other bones and you reply “Right” and give it to him, tasting the way he feels on the tip of yours.
You let your hands fall down to his chest, flying over them as you kiss along. “Manubrium” you continue naming the bones you touch as you go along. “Sternum. Ribs.” Maybe this was always supposed to happen. You’d liked Obito since you’d first laid eyes on him when he sat down next to you in your first lecture. Of course you had valued the time with him as a friend, a study partner and confidant. Still, this feels so right.
His hands move along your legs. “Femur” he names the upper part, his lips trembling against yours. “Patella” he touches your knee you kiss his neck as he does. “Tibia. Fibula.” You go over his hand with your fingers, his mouth again on yours. “Middle Phalanx. Proximal. Distal.” He laughs and you laugh too. You know this is stupid, but you’re having too much fun to care.
“Continuing,” he grins, his forehead leaning against yours. His hands wander to your hips and he pulls you even closer. “Pelvic Girdle.” Your nose now presses against his, your eyes so close to his that you blur out. Softly you stroke over his back and whisper against his lips: “Thoracic Vertebrae. Lumbar Vertebrae.” He kisses you gently: “I see, you are receptive to my teaching technique.”
You knock your head slightly into his: “Shh, you.” Once again your lips are drawn to each other, tasting another until your head spins. You’ve wanted to do this - all these months you watched him. Of course he is fantastic at it, not like you ever doubted it. You don’t know where to put your hands next: “We are almost out of bones to easily name”, you laugh and he cups your face.
“I feel like I need more practice before the exam, we should go over them again”, Obito replies with a sly grin. “If you always study so intensely, you’ll be a great doctor someday.” You let him kiss your cheek and your neck, your heart leaping at every little touch. “Oh yeah”, he chuckles. “Just wait until we have to learn every muscle in the body.” He pauses, his head back in front of yours. Forehead pressed to forehead. His black hair tickles your nose. “Or human… sexuality.”
“Pff,” you push your shoulder into his and he falls back into the couch cushions, laughing. “I’m just saying, maybe it would help you pass your classes for a change.” His smile is a tease on his lips and you climb on top of him to kiss it off his face. The book slides off to the ground.
“Shut up.”