Summary: Per tradition, before Rafayel can fully become god of the sea he must spend a year on land to find his destined human bride. Unsure how to go about finding his bride he enlists the help of a matchmaker. Your new client is a bit strange but he seems genuine in wanting a love match. With a face that handsome it shouldn’t be too hard to find this “destined bride” he keeps going on about.
Content: And they were roommates. Paintings. Mutual pining idiots.
Word Count: 3800
Chapters: (First) (Previous) (Next)
Read on AO3
Living with you was going well if Rafayel ignored the desperate desire to confess that he was in love with you almost every single time he saw you.
You were nervous at first, creeping around the house like a thief in the night not meant to be there before you finally started to settle in. You spent most of your time trying to find a new job and looking at apartment listings. You had officially quit your job at the cafe and had an interview at a high end restaurant as a waitress. Apparently the pay was better so that was good for you too.
Despite living with him you were still avoiding him as best you could which really did not sit well with him. He had hoped that now that you were speaking again you’d go back to the way things used to be. Outside of a few moments here and there where you brightened around him you almost immediately slipped back into this distant place he couldn’t reach.
He was unsure if what caused this was the stressors of life or something he had done but he couldn’t know unless you told him. But he also did not want to pry too much, lest he overstep and you pull away from him more. So there he was, stuck in this infuriating limbo with no sign of escape.
By the third day of your cohabitation he had made some headway though when he broached the subject of you posing for the painting again. He may as well have asked you to pose nude from the way you tensed up.
“I know you’ve been avoiding it and I have to say I don’t know why,” he said, watching your expression carefully. “We were doing so well, you seemed at ease and even confident as the sessions went by. Then you just stopped with no explanation.”
“I was just busy…” you muttered.
“Because you needed to make money. But I paid you to pose for me. If you needed extra income why didn’t you come back?”
“I guess I forgot.” The lie was weak and Rafayel could see that you knew it too.
“If there is anything that I had done to make you uncomfortable--”
“Oh no, please, it wasn’t your fault. There was nothing you had done.”
“Then why not pose for me one last time to finish the painting?” he asked.
“I supposed you didn’t really need me at that point anymore. You said it was only finishing touches, seemed a waste of your hard earned money to pay me for something you probably didn’t even need me to do.” You were huddling more and more into yourself, sealing tight like a clam.
“My little witch,” Rafayel wanted to cup your face but settled for patting your head instead, “If I didn’t need you do you think I would have been asking for you to come back?”
You glanced at him out of the corner of your eye. “One more session, please. You can use the payment as a security deposit on that new apartment you’re looking for. What do you say?”
You mulled the offer around in your head for a long agonizing moment before nodding. “I can do one more session.”
And that is how Rafayel found himself back in the little studio he had carved out in his aunt’s house, the unfinished portrait propped on the easel waiting to be completed. And there was you, back in the dress, sitting on a stool as Rafayel carefully applied your makeup.
By the tides, was it always this hard to breathe when doing your makeup before? How had he maintained his sanity when you were so soft and warm in his hands? How had he applied color to your eyes and lips without wanting to presses sweet kisses to them? He had to resist dragging his thumb over the supple soft pad of your lip.
After your makeup was finished you sat down to pose as you did before but in the weeks since the last time you had done this you didn’t remember the pose well. So, there was Rafayel, gently contorting your body into the correct position.
Perhaps he should have waited to ask you to pose for him again. He feared being this close to you, touching you like this, he was going to forget himself and undo all his careful work in favor of ravishing you on the studio floor.
Deep breath, Raf. Focus. You are a professional that can keep your feelings in check. Just paint the very pretty girl you’re secretly in love with and in another day or two you can tell her how you feel.
Once you were posed correctly he nearly tripped over his own two feet trying to get some distance between you again. He heard you giggle at his clumsiness and he became very thankful his face was hidden behind the canvas so you couldn’t see how pink his face had gotten.
“I am a god. I can handle this.” he muttered under his breath as he took up the brush. He peeked past the canvas at you. The light was hitting you perfectly, your skin shining and eyes sparkling.
I can’t handle this.
He forced his focus back on his canvas and started applying the final touches to the painting. Before, any time you had posed for him you felt comfortable talking but the silence stretched and stretched until it felt unbearable. There were secrets in that silence and he couldn’t risk breaking it.
Yet, for as tense as the silence was he didn’t want this moment to end. He wanted to stay in this room painting you for a thousand years. There would be nothing to disturb you both, just him and his muse locked together as he tried again and again to do justice to your true beauty. Even with all his talents he didn’t know if there was any medium that could encompass all that made you the most gorgeous being in all creation. But he’d be more than happy spending his days trying.
When the painting was finished and Rafayel could find no more reason to keep you there he stepped back from the canvas and looked it over. Anything he did to it now would ruin it. It was as perfect as it could get, just like you.
“Finished,” he said. “You wanna come see?”
“I actually get to see it now?” you hopped off the couch, legs a little wobbly from being in the same position for a long time.
You moved to his side of the canvas and took a good long look at the portrait. Not since he was a child was Rafayel this nervous to hear what someone thought of his artwork.
He waited…and waited…and waited…
Why weren’t you saying anything?
“You can tell me if you don’t like it, witchy--” Rafayel stepped closer to see your face and saw tears silently falling down your cheeks.
You wiped them away when you noticed him looking at you. “I wasn’t sure what I was gonna think when I saw it finished. I really didn’t think I was gonna cry. Is that really how you see me? I look like I belong in a storybook or something.”
“I only paint what I see. And when I look at you this is what I see.” he reached out, brushing away a tearstain on your cheek. “Does this mean you like it?”
“Is it conceited if I say I love it?” you laughed, pressing the heels of your palms to your burning eyes. “I can’t stop blubbering.”
“Moved to tears is about the greatest compliment an artist can get so don’t be ashamed for bawling.” he ruffled your hair.
“I’m not bawling, geez,” you sniffed, composing yourself once more. “It’s the paint fumes in here. You should open a window.”
He chuckled, wanting to pull you into a hug but stopped himself. “I’ll do that. You can go get changed now.”
You nodded and left the room. Rafayel glanced back at the painting. What in the world was he going to do with this now? He sure as hell wasn’t going to sell it but then what to do? Perhaps if he could get you to fall in love with him it could be your official portrait in Lemuria. You’d look grand gracing the the palace gallery.
He left the studio and saw one of your little beasts scratching and meowing loudly at your door. That was another thing, your cats had slowly taken over the house. He couldn’t go anywhere without one of them being around the corner. Once he fell asleep and he woke up to one on his face trying to suffocate him with their fat, furry body. Not to mention their hair was everywhere. He swept and vacuumed and dusted but almost always when he left the house he was covered in cat hair.
One of them, maybe Tuna, now wanted into your room. Well, if it kept them out of the rest of the house.
He turned the door handle and opened the door. “Go on, get in--”
“Raf!” you screeched.
Rafayel looked up from the ground and felt his heart leap into his throat. You were standing in the center of the room wearing only a pair of panties and only your arms crossed over your chest hid your breasts. You turned away so all he could see was your bare back. “Get out!”
“Sorry!” he slammed the door shut behind him.
Fuck! He just saw you naked. Well, pretty much naked. Oh fuck, that was an image that was never going to leave his head.
It was not like nudity was a new thing to Rafayel, he had studied nude portraits and sculptures, even done some himself when he was learning the arts. But this--but you! Was this fate punishing him for not noticing you sooner?
When he closed his eyes he saw you again, arms crossed tight over your chest, barely hiding the swell of your breasts behind them. He needed a cold dip. Rafayel ran out to the pool Talia had on the back patio and jumped in, letting himself sink to the bottom. He questioned why his aunt needed a pool if the ocean was right there but there was something nice about knowing he could swim without worrying about getting sand or seaweed stuck to his skin and tangled in his hair. And right now he just wanted to float and try to forget about everything.
His blood was running hot, first with the painting and then walking in on you…
The curse of a very good imagination reared its head. His mind wandering to scenarios of closing the bedroom door, but this time he was with you on the other side. He thought of what it would be like to confess how much he adored you and wanted you to be his one and only love. He wanted to take you into his arms, press your naked body to his and kiss you.
He thought of you accepting and reciprocating all that he felt before pulling him towards the bed. Your hands caressing his body, fingers tangled in his hair as you kissed him with a heat and hunger he had never experienced. He imagined what it’d be like to touch you, feel the soft curves of your body in his own hands. He’d memorize every inch of you by touch alone so that he may sculpt your body in clay afterwards.
What would it be like to be with you like that? Your body against his, falling and rising like the tide, the sweetest sounds that not even his detailed imagination could do justice to. His name breathless on your lips…
He slapped his hands over his eyes. Get it, together! He chided himself. One little glimpse and it was like he was a pup going through his first Ebb day.
He snapped up to attention. Damn it. When was Ebb day? He hadn’t experienced it yet this year so it was coming. He had never explained that part of Lemurian biology to you. What if it hit before he remembered? Rafayel knew just how clingy he got during Ebb day. Maybe when that day came he could sequester himself in an underwater cave where no one could find him and get through it on his own.
Rafayel wasn’t sure how long he laid there under the water but the sun had moved noticeably farther across the sky when he emerged. He dried off and went to get changed. As he was pulling on some dry clothes he heard his phone buzz. He picked it up and saw it was a text message from Merri.
Boarding the boat now. Good luck, loverboy.
“I can…” the words were a mutter as the realization crashed into him.
He didn’t have to wait any more!
“Cutie!” Rafayel ran out of the bedroom and stumbled down the hall towards your bedroom. He knocked rapidly. “Hey, are you in there I need to talk to you?”
No response.
He cracked open the door but you weren’t inside. He rushed around the house looking for you but you were gone. Not in the bathroom, the kitchen, the living room. He checked the patio again just in case you left through there when he left but still nothing. He ran down to the beach and scanned the coast in both directions but saw not a single living soul, let alone you.
Where in the world were you?
---
Moving in with Rafayel had been a boon you didn't know you needed and the biggest mistake ever. Because on one hand you were finally not stressing about rent or food or just being able to live since Rafayel and his aunt had been so kind as to put you up. You could relax and get your life in order at your own pace. On the other hand however, being this close to Rafayel all the time was fraying your nerves.
You thought you could ignore your feelings, crush them down into some deep dark hole where you'd never have to see them again. But they refused to stay down and everyday you were around him it made it so much harder to keep yourself in check.
He didn't like you like that. He was dating Merri and they would be happy together and that was it.
You felt so conflicted when it came to Merri too because you genuinely did like her as a friend but you hadn’t texted or spoken to her at all since you got kicked out of your apartment. You didn't want her to worry but it also felt weird to be living in her boyfriend's house without her knowing. You had to assume that Rafayel had told her everything and she was waiting for you to reach out. How did you even start that conversation though? All you felt was guilt for liking her boyfriend. And now you were living in his house.
You reasoned that you would be out of the house soon and then all of this would be easier to bear. Once you had space you could forget about your feelings and you could be talk to Merri again. With Rafayel’s payment for modeling you were one step closer to being able to afford a new apartment. It was now a matter of finding one within your budget which was easier said than done.
Your guilt about ignoring Merri wasn’t alleviated at all when you caved and said you’d model for Rafayel again. Just like all those times before you felt so exposed sitting in front of him but it was worse now with your feelings buzzing around your head like pesky flies. The moment you shooed one away another was flying in.
You could hardly breathe the entire time you were posing, far too aware of his intense gaze. Then actually seeing the completed painting…
It was one thing to have your picture taken, it was an entirely another to have a large oil painting made of yourself. The you on the canvas seemed to glow with an ethereal beauty you didn’t recognize. It was still undeniably you, nothing had been altered or erased with the skilled flick of a wrist, but the you in the painting radiated grandeur in a way the real you could never. How had he done it? How had he painted you but made you so much more?
There was a lot going through your head at the moment. After the painting was finished you needed to clear your head. You also needed space from the house after Rafayel accidentally walked in on you changing. God, that was embarrassing.
You left without a word, walking into town and getting lost down the various store fronts and cafes of the shopping district. Eventually you wandered from the shopping district into the finance district. It was not as welcoming as the shopping district with its chic window displays and rainbow of colors, replaced with grey skyscrapers and neatly trimmed bushes. Even the smell here was different, the smells of fresh baked breads and artisanal coffee replaced with hot asphalt and stagnant water. Business people in crisp black and white suits clicked impatiently up and down the sidewalk, more than one with phones pressed to their ears talking of business and meetings.
Seemed a good a place as any to be miserable. You sat down on a hard iron bench and hissed slightly when the hot metal singed your thighs.
You needed to get over these feelings for Rafayel. It was only hurting you.
You were starting to slip back into your morose thoughts when a shadow passed in front of you and stopped. You felt the cool press of a cold drink against your forehead and jolted to attention. “What the--” your threat died on its tongue when you saw who was standing before you. “Jun?”
A tall and handsome man with long black hair that was pulled back into tight bun stared down at you with a crooked smile and a half drunk iced coffee in his hand. “Sorry, I was walking by and thought I recognized you. Didn’t mean to scare you but you looked so miserable I thought you could use some levity.”
He was wearing a business suit like many of the people you had seen but unlike their stale blacks and greys he was wearing a light beige with an olive green shirt that complimented the deep green of his eyes. He looked great, time had certainly been kind to him. Far kinder than it had been to you, you realized as you sat there in a pair of jean shorts and an old oversized t-shirt you won at a streetfair years ago.
How come the one day you decided to go out looking like a mess is when you ended up running into your ex? What force did you piss off to punish you like this!
“You look great.” he said, offering you a warm smile. “What brings you this way?” Jun asked, taking the seat next to you.
“I was just taking a walk and wound up wandering in,” you tried to be casual but it was just too strange seeing him again. “What are you doing here?”
He pointed to the building you were sitting across from. “I just got off of work. How have you been?”
“Good.” you lied. “Life has been good.”
“That’s good, are you still running that matchmaking business?”
“Not as much now, business has been rather slow. Is that uh, is that the same office you were working in before?” you asked, grasping for anything interesting to say.
“It is. I actually just got a promotion. I have my own corner office and everything.”
“Wow. That’s great.”
“Oh!” he snapped his fingers. “How is your dad? I know the last time I saw you was when we…” he trailed off. He cleared his throat and tried again. “He was really sick the last time we talked.”
“He’s better. It was really scary there for a couple weeks and then it was just a really long recovery period but he’s back in fighting shape.”
“That is a relief.” Jun looked physically relaxed hearing that your dad hadn’t taken a turn for the worse those few years ago. “And your brothers?”
“Derek is set to finish his first year at university this year and Milo graduates high school next year.”
“Seriously? Damn, when did we get so old?” Jun sighed, stretching his face to the sky. “Milo was still in middle school last I knew and Derek’s getting his degree? I swear I just felt a few grey hairs sprout hearing that.”
You rolled your eyes. “How do you think I feel? They’re my baby brothers, they’re perpetually three years old in my head. These kids whose diapers I changed are becoming adults? That’s just not allowed.”
That made the pair of you laugh. “It’s great talking to you again,” Jun said. “When did you move back to the city?”
“A while ago. Are you disappointed I never reached out?”
“If I said I were?”
Your heart did a little pitter patter in your chest. “I’d say it looks like you’re doing just fine without me around bothering you.”
“You were never a bother, far from it actually. And yeah, I may be doing well professionally but that’s only because I don’t really have anything going on socially. Not unless you count very boring dinner meetings and the occasional, very depressing, office party.”
“Sounds like you need to get out more.”
“That is rich coming from you, little miss workaholic.”
“Shut up!” you shoved his shoulder. “I remember you used to like my work ethic.”
“I did admire the grind but when you got into those ruts,” he let out a low whistle. “It got ugly, which is not an adjective I think fits you. But that’s the hard truth of it, cuttlefish.”
You both grew still, the old nickname dropping you into a time long ago when such a silly name made you giggle.
“I…I think I need to get going.” you stood up.
“Do you have to?” Jun stood up too. “I mean, I uh, do you think you have time to do your matchmaking interview on me? I’d like to enlist your services.”
Your palms began to sweat. “Things didn’t end well the last time I tried helping you.”
“That was then. Maybe things are different now that we’re a little older and a little wiser.” He gestured down the street. “Maybe we could get a drink?”
“Right now?”
“Why not?” He held out a hand. “For old time’s sake.”
The refusal was poised on your tongue but you realized something. The entire time you were talking to Jun you hadn’t been thinking about Rafayel. Maybe…maybe this was meant to happen.
You didn’t take Jun’s hand but you fell into step next to him. “You’re paying, mister corner office.”
I’m good now though, and hope to get back into the swing of answering asks and comments and messages and such. Thank you for everyone who checked in on me :)
I’m hoping to do another big chapter update for both Taken and The Day the World Eclipsed here in the next few days
//yall, I am so sorry for going mia the last few days. Work has been absolutely BRUTAL on me. So much so that...
Yeah. I'm forking booted again. "Bunny! You have the worst ankles!" You might be saying. And yes! You would be right! When my ankle was broken in 3 places 10 years ago while coaching my baby figure skaters, I had hardware put in. Fast forward to two years ago when said hardware came out, they had to clean up my tendons. Last year, when I tore my tendon in my other foot and had to have it repaired, they had to clean up my tendons on that side. My orthopedic surgeon said "you have crappy tendons." So now my crappy tendons are in a boot once again. I can't escape the boot!! Take that lifetime of ice hockey, ballet, and figure skating!!!
Hey guys! Sorry for the sudden break but I was feeling pretty burnt out and then I went on vacation so I decided to just give myself more time to rest before I came back. But I am back now, and working on my fics again!
To make up for being gone so long here is a preview of what I am currently working on.
