boyfriend!xavier likes to text you when he wakes up. he likes to text you before he goes to sleep. he has a whole plethora of silly cartoon ‘goodnight’ stickers and ‘good morning’ stickers saved on his phone that he sends you regardless of the time, so dont be surprised to receive a message at 10:30 am from xavier, bidding you a good night of sleep with an attatched gif of a koala hanging on a half moon.
boyfriend!xavier who’s chat history with you is practically his digital diary. he likes to send you photos of the most random things he encounters. sometimes he provides very little context, but you don’t suppose it needs any. sometimes he sneds you selfies that are so close up that his bangs are in the way of the camera. he also likes to send you photos of your dates with him as if you weren’t present for them, or if it had been ages since the outing occurred.
xavi: (image) we looked so cute back then…
[name]: babe that was twenty minutes ago. you just dropped me off.
boyfriend!xavier who takes every tiktok you send him very seriously. sometimes a bit too seriously. when you sent him one of those ‘missing my gf so i baked her into a cookie’ videos, he sent you back an actual photo of a burnt tray of suspiciously you-shaped gingerbreads. theres a small fire in the background. before you could even reply, too aghast to comment, he started munching on one.
‘it’s a bit salty…’
’XAVIER YOU’RE CHEWING ON MOUTHFULS OF ASH!’
boyfriend!xavier who actually prefers to be next to you and watch you in your sleep, in turn to sleeping himself. not in a creepy way, but he can’t resist but admire your sleeping face, so calm, so relaxed…he cant help but to reach out a finger and squish your cheeks while you’re smushed up against him anyway. he cuddles you closer and buries his face in your neck, pulling the duvet covers over you both, like an arctic hare burrowing into the snow.
boyfriend!xavier who’s favourite sound to fall asleep to is either your voice (if you’re awake and willing) or the sounds of your shared home. he finds the sounds of water bubbling to a boil especially soothing, although you tease him that he only likes it because it sounds like a steaming bowl of beef hot pot, his favourite. he doesn’t admit that really, the sound of you flicking on the kettle, you turning on the tap, you boiling the water, you pouring the steaming liquid out, you rattling the teacup…is what affirms him of your presence. he likes such mundane, ordinary sounds because it assures him that you’re there, you’re by him, and you’re safe.
boyfriend!xavier who’s favourite form of messaging from you is either big paragraphs of text, or long chains of voice recordings. they feel so intimate to him, and he loves to read or listen to your ramblings. there’s still so much he wants to learn from you. plus, there’s nothing he loves more than the sound of your voice.
and of course, xavier responds to every single one of your texts and calls and voicemails, but why this time—
[sorry. the number you’ve dialed has been disconnected]
oh. right.
you’ve been dead for well over a year now. he knew the phone company would shut down your service eventually.
xavier rubs the sleep from his eyes. ever since your absence, your home has grown to become so empty. there are dishes undone in the sink from the last meal you ever made him. windows coated with dust. beds unmade. what the morgue sent him, still on the table. he couldn’t bear to do anything about it.
and now…a phone that xavier can no longer call you and leave you tearful voicemails on. a number that he can’t text you day and night to, with messages that he’ll know you can’t respond to but there are so many things he aches to tell you. a service he can no longer call to whisper to you that ‘i miss you’.
xavier throws his phone into the overflowing sink.
“For me this glass is already broken. I enjoy it; I drink out of it. It holds my water admirably, sometimes even reflecting the sun in beautiful patterns. If I should tap it, it has a lovely ring to it. But when I put this glass on the shelf and the wind knocks it over or my elbow brushes it off the table and it falls to the ground and shatters, I say, ‘Of course.’ When I understand that the glass is already broken, every moment with it is precious.”
I had never heard of this character before, but it really was published over a hundred years ago. Here’s a comics blog talking about her, and a couple more gems:
It's hard to believe that this blog has been running over a dozen years now, and I am just now getting around to mak
Hey did you draw that evil feminist caricature to warn men how their wives would act once they got the right to vote? Illustrator: sure did boss. real sexy, just like you asked.
Thinking of deity Rafayel who has to mimic human behaviour just to make you feel at least. He’s very capable of walking through this life without the rise and fall of his chest taking in air, but just for the sake of your little head leaning onto him, he mimics your breathing pace, forcing his heart to beat in tune with yours.
Sometimes, he has to remind himself to blink, especially when he’s with you. You’ve mentioned it once or twice in passing that his gaze is… intense. Staring at you like he’s trying to memorise every single little detail, from the curve of your lips to how many strands of hair dip from your fringe-
Rafayel would just laugh then, a dry sound. Before he follows up with a snarky little quip about how mesmerised he is by you. But then on, he reminds himself to blink. Slowly, carefully, like a beast trying to appear harmless.
It’s hard for a deity to understand how a human feels. But masquerading as one comes a lot easier.
Rafayel would gladly put on a show of normalcy, if it meant that his presence could be your norm.
AU Idol!Rafayel x Bodyguard!MC, Slow Burn (Snippet 5 of ???)
A/N: and we are back! (see masterlist for past snippets)
The seaside closed-door fan greet has, as expected, gone insanely viral. The engagement numbers are astronomical, record numbers that the label has never seen.
Rafayel’s soft, unguarded smile as he answered questions. The hushed intimacy in his voice. The footage of him at the piano, playing with a tenderness that makes his old hits sound like whispered confessions…the fans are eating it up, screaming at the label to release every song heard in the clips immediately, officially, and yesterday.
Needless to say, the label is pleased.
In fact, "pleased" is probably an understatement. Thomas’s inbox exploded in real time as the footage was released into the wild, and now the higher-ups are breathing down his neck for immediate studio time for the new tracks and a complete overhaul of Rafayel’s branding.
This has turned the world upside down again in terms of Rafayel’s schedule, which is being completely rehashed, again, to usher in this new era– “The Almost Boyfriend Era” as the fans now affectionately call it.
But, at the very least, Rafayel seems to be very much enjoying this. Maybe even a little too much.
“I hope they give you a bonus for all this.” You mutter to Thomas.
You and Thomas are huddled on the side of the studio, working against the clock to finalize a mountain of last minute logistics while Rafayel sits for a high-profile interview about the latest turn of events.
From the interviews you have seen and been so far, Rafayel has always been passive, cryptic, indifferent, making the interviewers sweat, notoriously hard to pin down.
And yet here he is now, with a hint of a smile on his face that could melt the world, with an easy, playful warmth that has the interviewer visibly flustered.
“Well, it’s good to see Rafayel back to his old self, at least.” Thomas sounds tired. Relieved, maybe.
“Rafayel is flirty?”
“When he is relaxed and when he wants to be. Very.”
“Huh.” you look over in his direction.
For a split second, you could have sworn his eyes met yours.
The interviewer, now attempting to recover from Rafayel's string of playfulness, decides to go on the offensive.
"The fans have been calling this the 'Almost Boyfriend Era,' and the rumours are swirling out of control about what may have sparked it." She leans in with a mischievous smile. "So I have to ask on behalf of all the fans out there... is there a person behind this era?"
This kind of question is usually easily deflected.
But you see Rafayel pause. And smile.
You immediately look back down to the document you were reading.
"Someone has recently caught my attention, yes."
You don’t look up.
"The person is…" he continues, his voice a tease, "…very difficult to get away from. Which is a new experience for me."
"…Thomas." Your voice comes out tighter than intended.
"Mm." He doesn't look up either.
"Thomas."
"The branding is consistent with the current era," he says, his typing picking up speed without so much as a pause. "I don't see a problem."
You stare at the side of his head. He is absolutely suppressing a smile. The traitor.
“Well, let’s say if you want to say something to that person through this interview, what would you say?”
Rafayel gives that devastatingly familiar tilt of his head.
“That she should get ready.”
You are in so much trouble.
-------
I am still behind on drafts.. but the next one should be in a week or less hopefully 🫡
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