#rafmc

“Angry grouper fish…?” You muttered, swatting his hand away from your face. You recalled the grumpy looking fish from the aquarium the two of you visited a few weeks back and your face scrunched even more. “Don’t you think it’s weird that Thomas literally pushed us into this plane…to some city…?” You pushed the partition down so you didn’t have to sit all the way up to see his face. “Since when does he plan ‘inspiration’ trips? You spontaneously leave by yourself for those.”

“Since when are you so suspicious, cutie?” Raf asked, laid back on his seat again with his eyes closed. “You’re right, though. He’s doing this because he wants me to take up the offer of being a guest lecturer at a university.” He answered, exasperation clear in his voice. He then waved his hand around in the air as if he was swatting away your conspiracies. “It’s not just some city, by the way. I lived there for a few years.” Rafayel grumbled the last part, his head tilting away from your gaze.

“Oh…” You sat back in your own seat, a confused look still plastered on your face. “You never told me that before.” You grumbled back, crossing your arms.

Rafayel chuckled softly, placing the back of his hand up to his forehead. “I can practically hear you sulking in your seat, right now.” A small smile played on his lips, his eyes still closed. “You never asked, sooooo.”

You opened your mouth to retaliate, only to close it again. You realized you only ever asked about Lemuria and not a lot about his time adjusting to walking on two feet. Rafayel was already so good at dodging questions that it was hard to stay on topic to prod at him more. Although, you have learned that he was able to be whittled down if you were persistent enough.  “So…why did Thomas act like this was such a great feat? Us coming here?”

“I always avoided coming back here.” His tone was more serious and the smile faltered just enough for you to notice. And just as quick, his playful aura took over again. “Don’t jump to conclusions or anything,” he said, looking at you with his hands up as if he was surrendering. He then dropped them back down to his side and adjusted his seat to be just a bit more upright. “I just don’t think it was flashy enough for me to bring up. Come on, who would want to hear about me spending three years roaming the city and finishing my coursework?” He was going to keep going before he chuckled again, closing his eyes as he shook his head. “Never mind. You totally would, nosy Hunter.”

Your cheeks burned just a bit. You couldn’t help but feel curious about Raf’s past. “Didn’t know it was a crime to learn more about my employer.” You joked.

“Do you like this employer or something?” Raf turned his whole body in his chair to face you, grinning from ear to ear. 

You hesitated. The answer was yes, but you never wanted to admit it. “No, I’m just looking for blackmail material.” You responded instead, smirking at him to mask how flustered you felt, making yourself more comfortable.

“Puh-lease. As if you’ve ever needed to hold something against me to get your way. Last time I checked, you make it nearly impossible to say no to you.” He mirrored you, settling back down in his seat, not bothering with putting the partition between the two of you back up. “Don’t bother getting me to attend the lecture though. I only agreed to come back here because you were coming along. I didn’t think you should miss out on a vacation just because of me.” He said nonchalantly, slipping his eye mask on. “Before you start asking more questions, I’ll be taking a nap. Bother me when we’re back on land, Miss Bodyguard.”

The plane felt quiet again, and you started feeling self-conscious at how loud you were talking. The first-class seating section made it feel like you were in your own room, completely forgetting the other people. You just hoped everyone else had their headphones on to care.

You adjusted your seat to be more laid back, hoping to follow in Raf’s footsteps and get some rest as well. You shut your eyes and waited for the airplane cabin noises to help lull you to sleep. But your thoughts were louder. 

The trip, the lecture, the hotel, the amount of paperwork you had waiting for you, and your feelings for Rafayel. Everything came popping out at you as soon as you closed your eyes. 

The trip still felt odd. It looked like a beautiful city by the beach, almost romantic, and you were spending the whole weekend with Rafayel, all free of charge. Monetarily, at least. You were more worried about the emotional implications and any future hoops you would have to jump to avoid making a fool out of yourself.

Then there was that lecture that Rafayel seemed adamant about skipping, which was most likely at the university he attended.

His alma mater. His past. You were about to look into a chapter of his life that you didn’t even think about before that moment. Was he popular in college? Did he have good grades? Was he a slacker who partied a lot? You tried imagining him in a fraternity, attending toga parties. It led to you thinking about a life where the two of you attended college together. Would the two of you be friends since before? Would you have liked him still or would he like you?

All the questions that popped up in your head made you want to see his university even more. You wanted to get a glance of college Rafayel.

Rafayel was stubborn, but he normally agreed to do things with a slight push. It may have been more accurate to say a harsh pull, though. You almost always had to drag him to his own exhibitions and interviews were even worse. Yet, Thomas had faith in you. According to him, he had attended more things than he ever had before. Something you didn’t believe in until you stalked the comments on his interview articles, and everyone was surprised that he stayed for most of the questions or even for the fact that he did an interview. And Raf has said it himself, he found it hard to say no to you. You were going to get him in that classroom one way or the other.

The more you thought about it, the pile of paperwork that you abandoned to leave for the airport early didn’t seem as daunting anymore. Not compared to how daunting it suddenly felt to have to be in an unfamiliar city, alone with Rafayel. The man you had been pining for for the last few weeks. It may have been longer, but you were in complete denial of your feelings at first. 

When you had first met Rafayel, he was aloof. It was a complete surprise, and he seemed a tad rude. He caught a fish for you and then didn’t even wait for your response to anything. And then all of a sudden, he was under investigation for a connection to a murder. He was an anomaly to you. The entire bodyguard situation also felt fishy (no pun intended). You had only agreed so that he would participate in your investigation.

Yet, months had passed and you were still by his side. There were adventures he took you on that would have probably gotten your Hunter’s license taken away if anyone saw you with him, but there you were. When you thought he just loved to tell you fairytales, just to find out that he was telling the truth, you started slipping into the cracks. Not only did you suddenly understand his motives, but you wanted to be there for him and even help him. The more you saw behind his cocky and goofy layer, the more you wanted to peel the scales off to seek for more. More of him. And that’s when you knew. You were unfortunately falling for him. 

Your head rolled over to the side, opening your eyes again to watch him sleep. To look at the culprit of all your recent worries. 

Rafayel.

Your eyelids fell again as you reanalyzed your situation. A vacation with the guy you liked, who didn’t even know it. You normally would be the first to say something, but you were never sure with him. The more you learned about him, the more he confused you as well. He kept his lighthearted nature around you most of the time, and he somehow found a way to act annoyed even though he wouldn’t do anything to change any situation the two of you were in. It was hard to read him at times. And it probably didn’t help that you bickered with him, matching his energy or he would match yours. 

Rafayel was serious and then he wasn’t. And he usually wasn’t. But when he really felt strongly about something, you got to see him. Although his ambition was clear through his art, it was even clearer in his Lemurian blood. It was something you really started to admire about him, as someone with a past you could hardly remember. He was very in tune with his, and maybe that was why you felt drawn to him when you saw that. And at times, when he looked at you, it was as if he could see something or someone in you that you somehow forgot. 

He was usually smiling, and much like the breeze at his studio, it was a breath of fresh air. But at times, you could see the melancholy in his eyes when he’d look at you, even with shit-eating grin on his lips, there was something. Rafayel knew something, and you just hoped that one day he would share more of him with you. 

As you continued to navigate through your feelings for him, the voices in your head got quieter. The white noise of the plane got louder. And you slowly drifted to sleep.

-

“One bed?” You exclaimed, baffled at the arrangements Thomas made. “Are there no other rooms?” You asked, trying to calm down and suppress your shock.

The front desk worker shook her head, “I’m really sorry. There’s a lot of tourists this weekend with the work holiday on Monday, and…” She looked around before leaning closer to you over the counter, “There’s a noteworthy artist coming into town. I think he graduated from the university here, and a lot of people are awaiting him as well.” Her voice was just above a whisper before she cleared her throat and stood back up straight. “I really am sorry for this, it must have been through our end.”

You sighed, accepting defeat. Although, you still placed the blame on Thomas. He was up to something, you just couldn’t prove it. And as much as you wanted to chew him out, his anniversary weekend had just started, and you let him be. 

The second reason why the two of you were forced to share a bed was sitting in the lobby, watching the bags. He had his sunglasses on and a black baseball cap on. Rafayel was actually in an unusual attire of a gray hoodie and black pants. He was definitely standing out, looking like a celebrity in hiding. Hushed whispers were easily heard throughout the large room, and you found people glancing in his direction.

With a slight weight to your feet, you trudged over to him and broke the news. “Thomas must have been used to only booking one room for you, and the one room only has one bed…so.” Your cheeks burned at the idea, but you stood straight regardless. “Let’s get our stuff up, I need a shower after that long flight.” You grabbed your luggage by its handle, but then felt his fingers atop of yours holding it. 

“I got it, Miss Bodyguard.” Raf swiftly said, tapping on your fingers with his index to motion you to let go, which you did. Your face must have been confused at his sudden gentlemanly behavior since you could practically see an eyeroll behind his sunglasses. “We’re not in Linkon anymore, cutie. This place values manners a lot. If they see me let you carry your own bags, I’ll get chewed out, for sure.” He scoffed, walking with you over to the elevator as he rolled both of yours’ luggages.

There was still an appreciation in your chest, but you giggled over at him. “Oh and when you left for Linkon, you just happened to lose all these said manners?” You accused him, cocking your head up at him as you pressed the ‘up’ button.

Rafayel leaned down closer to your face, pushing his sunglasses down to make eye contact with you, “Sorry, cutie. I didn’t exactly have any ladies around me to learn any manners before, so now I have to adapt since you’re here.”

As you internally cursed at how joyful you felt at the new information, you gave him a teasing smile and pushed his glasses back up. He threw back a warmer smile at you before standing back up, facing the elevator. The relief that you didn’t expect to come was spreading throughout you.

Rafayel is an attractive man, and he was also talented. You even found him to be funny, although you would never admit it to avoid feeding his ego. You were sure that the art student in college would have had many suitors lined up. Your own college days weren’t so innocent yourself, but it would have hurt imagining him with others. The realization further cemented your feelings.

Thankfully, before you could fall deeper into the abyss, the elevator bell dinged and the two of you got on. He hummed along to the tune of the elevator music, as if he had heard it a million times before and you wondered more about his past. Curiosity consumed you.

The room was larger than you expected. Despite the one bed, there was a couch and even a kitchenette. You were worried the two of you would be in each other’s space, but it seemed large enough to breathe normally again. “I can take the couch…” You said, dropping your purse onto its cushions.

“Don’t be silly, the bed’s big enough for the two of us.” He stated, opening the curtains to the balcony to admire the view. “Hm, this place feels like it has barely changed.” He muttered, his hand to his chin.

You looked at him with wide eyes. “You want to sleep together?” The words came out of your mouth before you could even think of wording it more properly. You stammered, trying to correct yourself but his reaction was quicker.

Raf turned back towards you, dramatically covering his chest with your arms, “Oh my god, cutie. You haven’t even taken me to dinner, and you’re already having such indecent thoughts!” He mocked a horrified face before it melted into another one of his playful smirks. He dropped his arms and then went over the bed. He took the two out of the four pillows and created a line down the middle of the bed with them. “Calm down, you’re turning red like that pufferfish you like so much.” He stood back up and presented the bed to you like he was presenting a new painting, “Voila. You stay on your side and I’ll stay on mine.” He then moved to the balcony, opening it and stepping outside. “Go on and take your shower, I’ll chill out here in the sun.” And without waiting for a response from you, he even closed the curtains before you heard the balcony door click shut again.

You glanced back at the bed and felt your stomach do a small flip. It was considerate of him. Along with him leaving the room to let you shower. He would tease you but his actions always showed something else, and it was something that always made you feel comfortable around him. Except, facing your feelings was making you more on edge instead of being able to reciprocate anything. You moved into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Your fingers lightly touched your cheeks, feeling the warmth bloom from the reddened skin. 

Your hands gripped the counter of the sink as you let your head droop down, sighing. There was some sort of barrier between the two of you and you don’t know who built it up. It was obvious he cared about you, but you were just too worried that one wrong step towards him would have him running back to the sea. So you just waited for a sign to fall into your lap or the perfect moment to ring in your head. Something that was hopelessly romantic, but at times, he felt like a lost dream.

The hot shower seemed to have brought back your clarity from your love-fogged mind. And you were ready to take on the weekend. You weren’t exactly sure what the plans were so you just got dressed in something simple yet cute. Since it was a vacation, you figured that Rafayel could serve as your artistic photographer. 

You left the bathroom with a small towel, still drying your hair since you were too lazy to use the blow dryer provided by the hotel. He seemed to still have been waiting outside so you opened the door to find him lounging a swinging chair, his face covered by a magazine. You pressed on an exposed part of his cheek from under the pages. “Wakey. It's your turn.”

His hand grabbed your wrist, earning a gasp from you, keeping your finger on his skin. He moved you just a bit closer to him, his hand bringing your wrist up to his nose, inhaling. The magazine fell off his face and onto the floor with a thud. “What is this?” His eyes were half-lidded as he smelled your wrist. And then he looked up at you, his eyebrows curled upward like he was betrayed or something. “Where did you get this?”

You took your wrist back, his lips brushing against them for too long. “The hotel had perfume samples in the bathroom, I used the green one…you can check for yourself.” You wondered if it smelled bad, but Rafayel’s reaction was something else. Something you couldn’t pinpoint. “I’ll wash it off, and then you can take a shower.” He looked almost dazed, and you just wanted to avoid anything weird. You wondered if it brought back a memory or something. Maybe something bad happened while he lived here. You could never tell, there was always something new about Lemurians.

You ran into the bathroom and washed your wrist, scrubbing with a cloth and hand soap. And then he appeared behind you, watching you from the mirror. His front was radiating heat onto your back as he reached over to grab the perfume, smelling it from the spray bottle itself. Yet the reaction didn’t come back. “Weird…” He grabbed your wet wrist and brought your forearm up to his nose with his free hand and sniffed again. His eyes closed shut and he almost shuddered. “It must be how it is combined with you.” 

You were scared that he was going to get stuck in a trance again, but he let you go and waited for you to wash the suds off. You even remembered to wash further up your arm.  His eyes felt like they were glued onto you through the mirror, but you didn’t dare look. “I might take a nap too while you get ready. Then we can grab a bite to eat while we walk around.”

Rafayel said your name, making your eyes flutter up to his through the reflection. He leaned against the tile wall of the bathroom with his arms crossed. You hummed, waiting for him to continue whatever he was going to say. The two of you just stared at each other for a while, and you no longer were able to determine if the air was thick from your hot shower or from whatever tension was present. He then blinked a few times and chuckled, shaking his head, looking away from you. “I’ll try not to take too long. Figure out what you’re feeling in terms of food, but if you don’t…I’ll just take you to a place I always went to.”

You quickly dried your hands and let him get ready. When you shut the door to the bathroom behind you, you clutched at your chest, feeling your heart pounding. You knew that certain things triggered memories of some sort in Rafayel, but you couldn’t recover very fast from how close he was. And from how drunk he looked in the split second you managed to look at him. You just plopped yourself on the bed, claiming the right side, and attempted to brush it off like he did. Once you got your heartrate back down, exhaustion took over again.

-

“You should have woken me up,” you grumbled as the two of you were walking down the uneven stone pathways of the city. He took you to a brunch place that looked popular and had been on a lot of travel shows, but since it was later into the brunch hour, they ran out of the special flavor of pancakes.

“You shouldn’t have been in such a deep sleep,” he retorted. “We still have a few more days here, we’ll come back. You still liked it didn’t you?” “Well, yeah…” You answered, defeated. It didn’t take too long for your disappointment to disappear. The place was actually beautiful. It felt like a breath of fresh air after being surrounded by skyscrapers at every corner in Linkon. The bright sun and ocean view made it easy to imagine Rafayel spending a lot of his time there. “I can’t believe you don’t take every chance to come back here.” You stopped walking to admire the view over the stone bridge, looking over the water. 

“I’m sure you can’t, cutie. I’ve spent years here, though. There’s not much to come back to anymore.” He stood next to you on the bridge to look at the view with you.

“You were here alone?” You asked, shocked. Although he seemed to have done a lot of things alone before you came along, it was hard to see a younger Raf be alone in a completely different country. “Wouldn’t that have been a bit hard?”

He shook his head, looking out into the sea. “There was someone. A butler, but he’s not here anymore.”

You pressed your lips together in a thin line, nodding. A wave of anxiety hit you, making you avoid pressing more on who or where the person was now. “I like learning these things about you.” You confessed instead. “You’re a very…interesting person.” You nodded, playing with a pebble under your foot.

Rafayel chuckled softly, “Follow me.” He said to you with a smile, shoving his hands into his pants pocket as he started to walk away. His long strides made it hard to keep a walking pace around him, but you didn’t want him to slow down out of fear of missing the window of him being more open about his past.

The two of you ended up at the gates of the university that you assumed he attended. The campus looked like a mix of modern and classic buildings. Although it was obvious that there were a lot of artistic processes that went into designing the place. There were large sculptures decorating the greenery and students were all around with large tubes and easels.

“I feel like you think of my past as something more colorful than it really was. Maybe other chapters, but this one…” Rafayel took a deep breath, as if he was taking in the memories that flooded back to him. “You see these people? I was just like one of them.” He pointed to a guy painting the street life, “I was finishing coursework like how he is right now.” He then walked over to a bulletin board and pointed at several flyers of film showings, “I would visit some of these theatres in my spare time.” And then he faced you. “I’m just trying to say that…I lived just fine back then.” He rubbed in between your eyebrows with a playful smile. “So you can stop worrying so much.”

You swatted his hand away, pouting up at him. “I’m not worried…I’m just curious. I thought all the stories you told me were just little fables to try to get a point over me or something.” You rolled your eyes, walking around the buildings. “Now that I realized some are at least true, I’m trying to piece you together better.”

“Please, when have I ever lied?” Raf tilted his head at you with an accusatory glare.

Your jaw hung open, surprised that he would even act like he never told a fib. You pretended to think hard before saying, “Hm, let’s ask the nurse who scolded us how you actually ‘sprained’ your ankle.”

He looked offended that you even brought it up again and seemed like he was about to argue until a loud voice called out to him, echoing in the stone tunnel. The two of you whipped your head towards the direction it came from and you saw an older man. He was a picture example of a professor that you would always see in the movies.

“Rafayel! I heard the word that you might be arriving, I just didn’t think it was true.” He had a slight limp when he walked so Raf met him halfway. The two of them greeted each other with a handshake. “I’m sure the students are excited to hear you speak tomorrow.” The man said to him, a wide smile spreading across his face, his eyes crinkling as if he had spent his whole life smiling.

“Oh, I’m n-” Raf started to say, sounding like he was going to refuse the gig.

So you stepped in to interrupt him, “I’m sure he’s just as excited to do so as well!” You held your hand out towards the man, “Hi, nice to meet you. I’m his-” You hesitated. You always felt unsure of how to introduce yourself. He always called you his bodyguard, and the two of you were friends. It just stung a little every time since you wanted to be more. “Friend.” You ended up saying.

He shook your hand with glee. “I’m glad to see that has changed.” He held onto your hand tightly as he spoke, “The entire three years that I had seen him here, not once had I seen him with someone.” He pulled you close to him, just enough to be able to speak a bit above a whisper, “Didn’t see him smile this much either…” He laughed, letting you stand back up, dropping your hand.

The heat spread across your cheeks, understanding his implication. You just laughed at his remark, glancing at Rafayel, whose ears were turning pink. “I just preferred to keep to myself, is all.” His hand came up to rub the back of his neck, a move he often pulled when he felt awkward. “I guess…I will be in your shoes for the day, teach.” He sighed, dejected. A playful glare was shot your way and you beamed with pride. “Do you have any tips for me on how to keep the student’s mind entertained for a few hours?”

The man shook his head, “You underestimate yourself, you’re a bit of a legend around here. Even if you spent three hours on the art style of stippling, I’m sure they would still pay attention.”

Rafayel looked like he cringed at the thought but melted into laughter with the man. The two of them caught up with each other as you all walked him to his office before parting ways. And once the man disappeared into the faculty building, you nudged Raf with your shoulder.

“Are you happy you bumped into an old professor? He seems really glad to see you.” You grinned at him, yet he looked like his gaze was somewhere far away.

It took a moment before he looked at you and then genuinely smiled. “I’m happy now.” He poked at your cheek. “It’s too hot out here though. I’ll show you around more indoor things.” He fanned himself with his hands, glaring at the sun. 

You let out a sigh of relief.

“Nuh-uh. Don’t breathe too easily just yet. I’m just coming up with a good payment plan for you. You owe me big time for doing this lecture tomorrow.” He ran his fingers through his hair, exasperated. “It was a lot easier when Thomas was in charge…” The words lingered in the air for a second before he smiled at you again. “I’ll admit though, it wasn’t as fun.”

The rest of the day turned out to be a lot more exciting than you thought. There were moments where you caught glimpses of Rafayel’s far-away look, but he was quick to recover. You just hoped that one day he’d take you with you on those memory lane trips, whether it was good or bad.

When the two of you arrived back at the hotel in the evening, the daunting truth came at you again. You were sharing a bed with him. 

Once you changed into your pajamas, you walked out to find him shirtless in bed. He sat up against the headboard, still on his side and respecting the line, with a laptop on his lap. You hesitantly climbed onto your side of the bed, glancing at his screen, trying to avoid looking at his bare chest. 

“I can see your eyes wander, cutie.” A smug smile was plastered on his face. “I hope you don’t mind, though. I won’t be able to sleep when it’s this warm. This hotel also valued keeping the classic look which meant…no air conditioning. And someone put me up to an early morning teaching, so you wouldn’t want me to be tired, right?”

You shook your head, avoiding prolonging the topic any further. You thought that the sooner you moved the conversation along, the quicker you’d be able to forget about his half-naked body sleeping beside you. “I didn’t think you would already have presentations lined up.”

Raf shrugged. “Contrary to your beliefs, Missy, I did a lot of these lectures before. I’m just looking for one to update for tomorrow.”

“I can’t help but not trust you. I feel like ever since I met you, you refused 80% of the outings Thomas planned.” You said, rolling your eyes. “I think it’s cool though. You’re so mean sometimes, I forget how good you could be.” You rolled onto your belly, getting comfortable on your side.

He looked down at you from where he sat, a small smile playing on his lips. He pushed the glasses, that you just noticed he had on, up his nose bridge with his index finger. “You start it most of the time, by the way.” He ruffled your hair. “Now look at me, I’m here typing away for the many students that are apparently eager for me to present. All because of you.”

“It can’t be that bad, Raf. I mean, who would want to be at school on a Sunday morning anyways?” You asked before reaching over the nightstand to turn the lights off.

-

A lot, apparently. When you entered the lecture hall, all the seats except for two in the front with ‘reserved’ signs were already packed with eager students. There was even some lining the wall in the back and on the sides. It started making you worry about the fire safety capacity. “Wow…” You breathed out at the sight. You turned to Rafayel to comment something, but every time you saw him in his outfit, you felt a bit shy.

The entire walk there, you avoided looking too much at him. He was handsome. Something you already knew, but he looked different. You normally found brown themed suits to be a bit too old school, but when it was on Raf, it was just the right amount. Like he was pulled out of being the main lead for a romantic black and white film, the ones you would swoon over on a lonely Valentine’s night. It was an entire ensemble of a brown suit blazer and slacks. He even had a dark vest and tie underneath, atop his off white button up. What really drove you to madness were the random straps across his chest and thigh. If you were asked what functionality it served, you truly had no idea how to answer besides making him look ten times more handsome. The outfit screamed poised elegance, nothing compared to your simple outfit of a plain black skirt and a cropped button-up lavender colored top. 

The room was loud with excited chatter, and your own voice faltered when he fished his glasses out of his pocket. He rarely ever wore them, and it always made you excited when he did. Raf adjusted his tie and then faced you. “Do I look lecture ready?” He asked, his arms up in the air at his side to let you inspect him.

You pretended to look over him, mocking critiquing faces before giving him a thumbs up. “Professor Qi.” You noticed that the room’s volume lowered and everyone was looking towards the two of you, hushed whispers and small conversations still being exchanged. “Woah…you really are popular.”

He cocked his eyebrow at you and covered his heart with his hand, faking a hurt tone. “For someone who practically forced me to do this, you have no confidence in me.”

Before you could act annoyed, a man came up to the two of you. He was tall and in a simple white long sleeved button up, tucked into gray slacks. He was actually handsome and a lot younger than the other professors you’ve seen around campus in your short time of visiting.

“It really is a pleasure to meet you Mr. Qi. I'm a really big fan of your work and was elated to see that you were joining us today. I personally volunteered to oversee this thing just out of excitement.” The two men shook hands, Rafayel just a bit taller than the other. “I’m Chen. Students call me Mr. Chen but people around me just call me by my last name anyways.” Then he turned towards you with his hand out for you to shake, “And you are his…?”

You were about to take his hand and answer, but Rafayel interrupted you from doing so.

“My partner. You should thank her that I’m even back here, but do you mind helping me set this up?” He lifted his bag with his laptop and material, covering your face almost.

You glared at him, “I can answer myself…” You said in a hushed whisper.

He just stuck his tongue out at you before following Chen to the desk to set up.

Defeated, you sat yourself down on one of the reserved seats at the front. The scene reminded you of your own college days again. You almost always sat in the front of your favorite lectures, and as you watched Rafayel set up his notes, you couldn’t help but admire him. You knew that if he was your professor, you would have been sitting in the front for his lectures as well.

“I knew he was hot…but wow. It’s so much different seeing him in person…” You heard someone whisper behind you. The person they were talking to agreed immediately. The two continued to swoon and you saw what they were saying.

He was incredulously attractive. Not only was Rafayel physically handsome, he held a certain energy around him that radiated confidence and strength. It was hard to be jealous of the people gushing over him considering that you agreed with everything you were saying. Your eyes were glued to him.

You started regretting making fun of the leather gloves he wore to complete his outfit. It didn’t make sense earlier to you, but once you saw him grip the edge of the desk as he read through his plans, you understood. You had to cross your legs just to keep everything inside of you, chewing on your lip to refrain from making any sounds. 

Rafayel was insanely hot.

Coupled with your closeness and the pieces of him that you knew, you finally admitted that you were sinking into the sea of him. You just hoped that he would catch you instead of swimming away, but you were willing to hold your breath until he moved towards you first.

The two of you locked eyes and a small smirk played on his lips before he winked at you and you instantly looked away, blushing. 

All of a sudden, the bell tower of the town struck 9 times. The students in the classroom slowly halted their conversations and waited for Raf and Chen to start. Raf looked like he was still going through the notes, and Chen made his way to the front. “Good morning, everyone. Thank you for taking time out of your weekend to come back to class and listen to a special lecture by a special alumni of this college, Mr. Rafayel Qi. I’m sure many of you are on a path of your own to become an artist, or just a fan of his works, or even both. Let’s all give Mr. Qi a round of applause as a thank you for providing some insight into his mind. And we can save any questions until after, if time allows.” The class erupted with cheers and claps towards Rafayel. 

He was still standing by the desk, bent over looking at his screen, his arms propping himself up. Once the students cheered, he stood up straight and waved at everyone. He hooked a microphone over his ear and hovering a bit in front of his mouth. “Thank you for having me.” He said, seemingly ready to start. The screen behind him lit up with his presentation, and he effortlessly began.

Chen gave him the stage and walked over to you, sitting down on the reserved seat next to you, acknowledging you with a smile, which you returned.

Despite Raf being adamant on avoiding the public eye many times, he was a natural at being in the spotlight. You wouldn’t have been surprised if it was in his blood considering his lineage. When you first saw his aunt Talia perform, you were quite literally starstruck. Now it was Rafayel teaching a class of maybe three hundred people, and it was having the same exact effect. He was an insane professional.

His eyes would land on yours plenty of times, and each time made your heart skip a beat. It looked like his smile grew each time he saw your expression, and you really hoped that it wasn’t too obvious how impressed you were. He moved naturally as he spoke, and although many of the art terms he used made no sense to you, what did make sense was that he was truly an artist. He spoke of feelings and motivations in a way that made you, someone who barely knew how to draw a leaf, feel like you could paint anything.

“Your boyfriend is a natural.” Chen had leaned over to you, speaking in a whisper.

Your eyes widened as his comment and you shook your head with your hands waving in front of you. “Oh no, he’s not…we’re not…um. We’re just friends.” You whispered back, a sour taste taking over your mouth as your chest felt a bit depleted. Friends felt like a lonely title considering your feelings. “But yeah, he’s really good.” 

“Oh!” Chen exclaimed in a hushed manner, a smile growing on his lips. “That’s good.” Before you could ask what he meant, he turned his attention back to Rafayel.

You were slightly confused and still a bit flustered from the question, but Rafayel talked a bit louder, snapping your eyes back to him. And he was already looking right at you, as if he was waiting for you to pay attention again. You couldn’t help but notice the small twitch of his eyebrow as he flickered his eyes between you and the professor. You heard a click of his tongue through the mic as he switched slides and turned away from you. The little hiccup confused you, but he was instantly back to entertaining the students with his knowledge. And you were just as easily entranced as you were earlier.

He was swiftly teaching, and you found it hard to tear your eyes away from him. There were times he would adjust his tie or the fabric around his wrists and he looked insanely ethereal. Even something as normal as taking a break to drink water made you almost drool. You realized how absolutely fucked you were. And how badly you wanted to be fucked. The entire scene of him in the professional sense, giving a well-thought-out presentation made you squirm in your seat. You enjoyed every side of him. The bickering one, the lazy one, the one that would stay up to paint until he turned blind, the caring one, the aloof one, and now the professional professor one. You would even admit that the angry, annoyed, and vengeful sides of him were also downright sexy. 

You internally sighed at your predicament. 

Before you knew it, two hours had already passed and Rafayel had finished. Ending off on a slide that asked for questions. “I’ll only be taking a few, I know many of you would rather enjoy the sunny weather outside soon than being stuck here with me in this stuffy classroom.” He jested but was immediately met with cries of disagreement, making him laugh in a charming way. “You guys flatter me.” And then started picking people from an ocean of raised hands.

Chen leaned over again, “How much longer will you be in town?” He asked, a bit louder than a whisper to speak over the excited chatter.

“I think we leave Monday night.” You answered, your eyes still glancing at Rafayel as you spoke to the young professor. 

He took out a business card and a pen, scribbling something on the back before handing it to you. “If you somehow find any free time, I’d love to show you around…if your friend happens to be too busy.”

You were taken aback by how forward the professor was, his smile was every inch of flirtatious which would have been cute if you weren’t too busy ogling at the artist just a few feet away. Regardless, to avoid any confrontations, you took the card and smiled at him warmly. “Maybe! Thank you.”

His hand hovered atop of yours, almost touching, stopped with hesitance. “I really wish to hear from you. I think you’re very pretty.”

Your cheeks burned from embarrassment. You expected butterflies, but instead there was a flip of worry and maybe misplaced guilt. Before you could even decline anything, the entire room had a mix of giggles and gasps. While Chen was distracted along with you, you pulled your hand back to your lap, before looking up. 

Rafayel was up at the front, his entire body was facing you, his gaze glued onto you. The screen behind him was his desktop. His wallpaper was the scenery from the trip the two of you took to admire a landscape from a jigsaw puzzle you completed. It was the horizon with a rainbow, and a clear shot of you admiring it. “Oops,” he said, smirking. His eyes were still on you as he addressed the rest of the class. “Thank you for listening to me ramble. I wish everyone the best in their journey.” He clicked the remote again and the screen turned black. Another round of applause erupted and people started pouring out of the room. 

“Was that your laptop?” Chen asked before standing up, looking at you with knitted eyebrows from confusion. 

You shook your head, “N-no. It’s his.”

“His wallpaper…” He pondered the same question in your mind.

A gloved hand landed on his shoulder, “It’s an inspiring scene. Should an artist not display their muse?” Rafayel smugly said, speaking to Chen but still looking at you. “Are you happy now, cutie? You should message Thomas about how good I was so he doesn’t push me to do another for a couple of months. Tell him I’ve been a good, honest boy, won’t you?” He removed his hand from Chen’s shoulder and held it out for another handshake. “Thank you so much for having us. It’s very refreshing to see eager students.” The smile he gave Chen didn’t seem to reach his eyes. “I will have to apologize though, but I will be taking my partner on another tour of the campus and then the city. She promised me her full attention after this, so if you would excuse us.” The two shook hands before Rafayel took your hand to help you up from the seat. You thought his hand was slipping into yours, but he grabbed the forgotten card in your hand instead. He held it up to Chen, “Thanks for providing your contact, we’ll be in touch if we need anything. Have a great day.” He placed the card in the inside pocket of his jacket and grabbed you again, dragging you out the door.

“Raf-” You tried saying, wanting to accuse him of leaving all the students waiting to talk to him. You had only noticed the crowd once you looked back to check if you left anything as you were leaving the room. But he never let you talk.

“You wanted to know more about me, right?” He looked back at you as he dragged you along the long echoing corridor. “I’ll show you a secret.” His eyes looked darker, a clear gloss of annoyance filtered his gaze. His smirk was still present, but it didn’t seem as playful.

“Y-yeah…but are you okay? Are you mad that I made you do the lecture? You did really well though…” You cocked your head to the side, confused by his attitude. You normally avoided complimenting him too much, just because he usually teased you. “And…what did you mean about muse? How long have you had that wallpaper, Raf?” You didn’t even know the photo existed. You knew the exact scene, you just never knew he even took one from behind you. It was beautiful, you didn’t know if you were mad that you didn’t know or because he never shared it with you. He truly had the artist’s eye. 

The laugh that echoed through the halls sounded just a tad bitter. “Here I thought I was the only one who had lapses in their eyesight. Aren’t Hunters supposed to be smart, Miss Bodyguard?” He turned a corner and it was as if the building got older and older the further the two of you walked.

“My eyesight is fine, thank you…Where are we even going? It looks like we’re travelling in time.” Your eyes wandered the walls and ceilings, taking in the differences from where you were just a few steps ago. 

He finally let out a more genuine laugh.“The university wanted to preserve parts of the building and just built outwards, so the closer you get to the center, the older it looks because it is older.” He finally turned a corner and into a room. The door creaked and the air inside smelled like old wood, sea water, acrylic paint, and old flowers. The hardwood lost a lot of its varnish and the ceiling had missing tiles. The walls were peeling paint, and a lot of furniture was covered with white cloth.

“An abandoned classroom?” He let go of your wrist as you walked around the room, dropping his bag by the door. Despite looking like no one had used it as a class for many semesters, some of the windows were cracked open just enough to let in some air, blowing through the light blue curtains. The room was lit only by the sun glowing through the fabric covering the windows, making you wonder if the curtains were at one point a darker blue, bleached by years of sunlight. Overall, the room was rather clean.

“I spent a lot of my time here.” Rafayel walked over to a cabinet, opening it to find used canvases. “I’m surprised no one has looked or taken any of these.” His slender, clothed fingers grazed at the random array of works.

You walked to where he was and pulled out a random piece of work. You recognized the style and the signature at the bottom. Rafayel’s. “This is basically a treasure trove…” You caressed the canvas, trying to picture him alone in this room as he made the work in your hands. The colors were cooler and darker, it wasn’t like what you saw him make as of lately. “This feels…”

“Lonely?” He huffed, taking the painting from you again. “You’re reading too much into it again.” He said putting it away, shutting the cabinet.

“You’re the one who said it, I didn’t.” You crossed your arms, glaring at him.

“It’s written all over your face, cutie.” He poked at your cheek, mustering a smile. “This wasn’t why I brought you here though.” He moved past you and uncovered a dark brown leather sofa that was covered by a white cloth. Rafayel plopped down the center of it, his legs spread wide and his head thrown back. He brought one hand up to his face, resting the back of it on his mouth. It was as if he was exhausted. 

You moved in front of him, and as you tried to tease him for already being tired, your voice was stuck in your throat. He looked insanely sexy. If you looked at him long enough, you were afraid that your vision would start playing tricks on you, showing more than you should have seen. Your throat felt dry, and the cool air started feeling extremely warm. Especially in between your legs.

“I’ve been telling you all about my college days. Yet the only thing I’ve learned from you so far about yours…” He dropped his hand from his face, rolling his head to the side to peek at you, still having his head thrown back. “...You have a thing for professors, don’t you?”

Your voice started working again, scoffing. “What makes you say th-”

Rafayel dug into his jacket pocket, pulling out the card in between his index and middle finger. He put it up in the air, reading it. “Hm…’Call me, pretty.’ Interesting.” The piece of paper turned into flames, the ashes being carried by the wind. He brought his head up from the back of the couch, looking at you with a smirk. “Oops.”

“I don’t have a thing for professors…” You said, intimidated. Even you didn’t believe yourself with the way you said it. It sounded like a lie coming out of your mouth, but you didn’t like that Chen guy.

He stood up and walked over to you, closing the distance. Rafayel was taller than you and you had to crane your neck to look up at him with how close he was. You could feel his breath on your face. “I dressed up all pretty for you and even played the part, but you let some other loser professor hold your hand right in front of me?”

Something in you ignited. Instead of cowering, which was what every signal in your body was telling you to do, your hand landed on his chest. Two fingers walked up to his tie in a teasing manner. You held onto his eyes, taking in a deep, yet shaky, breath. “That loser has a name.”

Rafayel’s evol was fire, and you swore he turned into a radiator at your words. It felt as if you walked under the street heaters by the outdoor seating of a restaurant. A passing heat wave. “Tsk, do you enjoy toying with me?” A taunting smirk grew on his face, as if he was pushing you even further. With his back facing the light, you could almost see his eyes glow in the shadows. “Someone’s intentions are as clear as day”

Your eyes narrowed up at him, taunting him back. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” You couldn’t help but flicker your gaze towards his lips, even for just a moment. Yet he mirrored you. “I don’t like professors…like that.” You stated, the hesitation bubbling back up in your throat. The distance between the two of you was slowly closing in, the tips of your noses almost touching. The confession was clinging at your throat, begging to stay inside out of fear. 

A small hum vibrated through his throat,as if he was egging you on to say what you wanted. His half-lidded eyes looked at you with something you couldn’t place. You were just sure that he was looking at your lips too.

“I just…like you.” Your voice came out as a hushed whisper, your eyes flashing at each of his eyes to scan for any negative reactions. Your heart was beating out of your chest.

His smile grew wider, yet his eyes still glinted with some sort of mischief. “Took you long enough.”

You rolled your eyes, your fingers hooking underneath his tie. “Just shut up and kiss me already.” You muttered, pulling him onto your lips with a bruising kiss. You pulled harder than you thought, considering he offered no resistance at all. Both of your eyes fluttered closed as your lips moved against each other.

Rafayel’s lips were warm and you were surprised that he even tasted like he just took a dip from the ocean. He tilted his head, gaining a deeper angle to kiss you. His hands moved to your neck, cradling your head like a baby bird; gentle and caressing your jaw with both thumbs. A small moan came out of him, in turn pulling one out of you soon after. When you took a gasp of air, he took it as an invitation to explore your tongue with his, slipping it past your lips. His left hand moved to behind your head, entangling his fingers into your hair, curling them slightly to grasp at you. His other hand roaming down to your waist, holding you close to him. He took steps forward, prompting you to walk backwards until your butt hit a piece of furniture. Your lips were still interlocked, exchanging spit and whimpers.

Your hands fumbled on the furniture behind you, trying to pull down the white cloth on top of it. But you were so lost in his kiss that you couldn’t find the strength to grip on it enough.

Rafayel pulled away, breathless, smirking at you as you attempted to catch your own breath. You were sure the both of you looked equally wrecked. He looked behind you and swiftly got rid of the cloth covering the mahogany desk. 

You glanced at it, your breath hitching before looking back at Rafayel. You were unable to hide any sort of desperation as you chewed your lip, feeling it already swell from the kiss. You planted both hands beside you on the desk and hopped up to sit on the desk. It felt sturdy enough, and you were ready to embrace whatever about the situation that was making you wetter than you ever felt before.

“You seem eager about doing it in this classroom…on this desk. I’m starting to think you’re not immune to lying either, princess.” His gloved hands moved to your bare thighs, the leather cool against your warm skin, spreading them open to slot himself in between.

“N-no…And who said we’re going to do anything?” You gulped. Your mouth said one thing whilst your hands moved back to his jacket, pulling him closer.

Raf cocked his eyebrow at you, “Oh? You’re right…I can tell you definitely don’t want to do anything naughty.” He leaned down, placing a soft kiss on your jaw. He tried to nuzzle you softly to push your head more upwards, but his glasses pressed against the both of you instead. He pulled back to take them off, haphazardly tossing it onto the couch nearby before reattempting. Your neck was more exposed to him and he peppered kisses down and then up to your ear. “You don’t want this?” He nibbled at your ear, eliciting a moan from you. His hands gripped at the plushness of your thighs, holding you open for him as he rubbed circles into the inner skin.

A shiver ran down your spine, all the way down to your cunt, having you clench around absolutely nothing. A soft sigh escaped your lips as he continued to lick and nibble at the skin around your ear. “I…I want it, Raf. Please?” You surrendered. You hooked two of your fingers through a belt loop of his while the other palmed at his erection through his pants. The moan that came out of his mouth as you touched him almost made you cum on the spot. It had you wondering if Lemurians were actually Sirens. Even just through the pants, you could tell it was large, and it had you squirming on the desk.

“Fuck…” He cursed into your ear, his hands roaming further up your thighs until both sets of fingers were gripping at your hips, his thumbs dangerously close to your clothed pussy. He moved his face from your neck and rested his forehead onto yours, looking right into your eyes. His eyes swam with the same amount of desperation that you felt; half-lidded and glassy. “Tell me what you want, cutie. You’ve been tossing out mixed signals, I want to be absolutely clear about this. Say it. Out loud.” His voice was deeper than you ever heard before, gravelly with need.

A pathetic whimper left your throat. His thumbs rubbed up and down at the crevices of your inner thighs, so close yet so far to your hidden pearl. His voice was doing an absolute number on you. “I want you, Rafayel.” Your words were almost slurred, drunk on him already. “I want you inside of me, please. I need it.” You removed your hand from his length and scooted up the desk to meet both of your clothed sexes together. The two of you groaned. “Shit, please.” The need for him completely overridden every ounce of shame and concern in you. You would have taken him anywhere, and you practically were about to.

“You drive me…crazy, cutie.” Rafayel sighed, taking your lips into his again. His hips rolled against yours, the friction slow and deliberate, and you twitched roughly. His lips smirked into the kiss as he rolled his hips again, sighing. “I’d hate to cum in my pants before I could even feel you…” He pulled his hips away, making you whine, but one of his thumbs moved and pressed down on your clit. “Shit…even with thes thick gloves on…I can feel how fucking wet you are.” He groaned against your lips, rubbing small circles onto your clit in a fast-paced manner. “Who caused this, huh? And don’t play with me, if you try to say that man’s name, I’ll leave you here to take care of yourself while I come up with a special present for my biggest fan. I doubt this school would notice his absence anyways, right?”

You shook your head, whimpering. If any shame was still in your system, it would have flooded you with embarrassment as you heard how audible your arousal was. “All for y-you…Raf…please don’t stop.” Your head dropped down onto his chest, looking down at where his hand was. It was almost embarrassing at how fast you fell apart and how easy it was for him to make you melt. You gripped onto the fabric on his shoulders, twitching against his thumb. Your thighs squeezed at his legs and you held on for dear life, afraid you’d slip into the cracks.

A breathless laugh came out of Rafayel as you grabbed his wrist to stop his movements. He kept circling your sensitive clit even after you came and it was driving you insane. “You came so quick, princess. Are you that sensitive? Or do you just like me that much?” You heard the smug smirk in his voice, and you looked up at him, surely looking like a mess,  to prove it. Rafayel was a cocky horny bastard, and you wanted him even more. “It’s interesting because…when Lemurians fall in love, all our senses are committed to perceive them without question.” He brought the hand that was touching you up to his face, licking at the fabric on this thumb while keeping your eyes locked with each other. “Sweet.” He mumbled before moving his wrist up to his mouth, biting the fabric to take off the glove. He grabbed it from his mouth and dropped it on the floor. “I know you must’ve liked that a lot, cutie, but I want to feel you with all my senses.” His bare hand caressed your cheek, pushing back any hair that was stuck to your face as you attempted to catch your breath, still twitching from your peak.

“Your senses?” Your shaky hand moved up to his exposed neck, lightly dragging a finger down until his eyebrows knitted together, grazing at his adam’s apple. “Like this?” You were breathless, but you managed to smirk up at him, nuzzling into his palm that still held your face. “Or this…?” Your hand moved downwards, slipping underneath his jacket until you found his nipple with your thumb. Something within you suspected he was the type to be sensitive there. And when he lurched forward, caging you in with his arms as his head rested on your shoulder; just because of your thumb grazing at the hardened bud…you knew. 

“You humans are…dauntless. Or stupid.” He breathed out, twitching on top of you as you rubbed at it again. He managed to grab your wrist and pull himself back up, restraining you from touching him more. Rafayel’s erection was even more prominent than before, begging to be released. “I can’t hold back anymore…”

“Don’t then.” You begged.

“I don’t have a condom, cutie.” Concern dripped from his words, but it still reeked of desperation.

“Perfect.” You muttered, pulling him in with his tie again, your other hand fumbling with his zipper. “Keep your clothes on…just in case.” You muttered against his lips. You could tell he didn’t believe your excuse, but you were too sex crazed to care. Your hand slipped into his boxers, pulling his cock out. It nearly jumped out like a jack-in-the box, and he groaned. His hard length was warm to the touch, the tip already moist with his own arousal. You couldn’t help but jerk him off just a little as he dived into your mouth, tracing his name onto your tongue. Each time your thumb rolled over the tip, he whined into your mouth, thrusting his hips.

“If you don’t put me in, I’ll ruin your clothes, cutie…please.” He gasped, begging, gripping at your hips to pull you to the edge of the desk again.

You reached down at your panties, pulling the gusset to the side. He guided himself under your skirt and dragged his tip in between your folds. 

“Fuck…you’re warm…I like that.” He gasped, looking like he was fighting from shutting his eyes. “I like you…a lot.” He moved his cock head down to your entrance and pushed in just slightly, making you tense up. “Say it again. Say you like me…say you want this…me. No matter what I become. A painter, a professor…” You understood what the last bit meant, his voice breaking just enough to see right through him. 

You pulled him further into you with a gasp. “I like you, Raf…and- ngh…I want this so bad.” You swallowed him even deeper, clenching around every inch he had to offer. The pain from the stretch was easily drowned out with pleasure and anticipation. “I like…every version of you and every version to come, Raf.” You gasped as he suddenly thrusted the rest of himself into you, bottoming out completely.

“I’m so sorry,” he gasped, his forehead resting on your shoulder again, no doubt watching where the two of you were connected. “Can’t help myself…you feel so fucking good for me. My good…fucking girl, squeezing me so tightly.” He rambled, his hips moving on their own, dragging every inch of himself throughout your slippery walls.

Every inch of your skin was on fire, you had to make sure he didn’t combust the two of you into flames as he fucked you senseless on the desk. One of your shoes came loose off your foot as he drilled into you faster and faster. You didn’t know how many times you came in a short amount of time.

“No one’s around here…you can be as loud as you want. Scream my name, princess.” He said, breathlessly before chuckling. “Maybe…”

You found enough sanity left in you to be able to move your hand from his shoulders to his chest again, teasing his other nipple. The moment you rubbed against the hardened bud, his hips slapped into yours so hard, you heard his knees hit the desk, making it sound like the wood cracked somewhere.

He whimpered, his hips turning sloppier. “You’re evil…” He whined, latching onto your neck, sucking roughly. “But you’re mine…” Those words sent you over the edge instantly and you came harder than earlier, your back arching into him with a scream. He followed suit not seconds later and spilled into you, still drilling into you mercilessly as he fucked you throughout his own climax.