Skyhaven trip with Rafayel! What could go wrong :)
The ghost of daylight bleeds into the unlit living room, casting eldritch shadows across the walls as the sun sets below Skyhaven. Bass thunders from the speakers that you have turned up far too loud to show Rafayel your new playlist.
“Do you actually listen to this, cutie?” Rafayel says, a bemused smile flitting across his features.
“What do you mean?” you say as you tap your foot against the gunmetal fabric of the sofa. Rafayel’s arm is looped around your shoulders, pulling you into his body heat and the sea breeze scent ingrained in you as quintessentially him. The scent intermingles with the peppery sweet smell of Caleb’s apartment - the smell of home. Rafayel plays with a strand of your hair, rolling and unrolling it around a long, delicate finger.
“I feel like my eardrums are bleeding,” he says.
“Does it not make you want to dance though?” you say, and you pull away from him to stand up, your hand outstretched to his. He shakes his head. He folds his arms across his chest, but the creases in the outer corners of his dawn-filled eyes give away his suppressed smile.
“Can’t we put on something more relaxing?” he says, a faux pout poised on his lips.
“Sure,” you say as you flop back on the sofa. You switch your playlist over to something more chill, but a surge of disappointment settles in your stomach. You know it’s unlikely that Rafayel will love all the same things as you, but you had daydreamed about dancing with him to your favourite music.
“One day you’ll realise you love it,” you say with a wink in his direction as the front door clicks. The man beside you stiffens. His hand reaches for yours possessively. Slow footsteps echo along the hall before Caleb’s large frame appears in the doorway.
“It’s dark in here, pipsqueak. You should turn a light on,” he says, his voice terse. Over the past few days, Caleb has got in the habit of only addressing you and ignoring the boyfriend you brought here for him to meet. He crosses the room rigidly before flicking on a lamp and illuminating the room in an amber honey glow. He is wearing his Farspace Fleet Colonel uniform, and every time you see him in it, the uncomfortable clench of desire infiltrates your belly - a feeling you refuse to inspect too closely. You are with Rafayel now. You need to learn to restrain it, even if every glance Caleb throws your way has your heart brutalising your ribcage.
Caleb turns to face you, dark rings encircling his eyes. His jaw is pulled tight and his nostrils flare subtly. It is a micro-expression only you can see, but it is one that displays his true feelings stored carefully under the stoic persona he has to play.
“How was your day?” you ask him. Rafayel’s presence burns into your side.
“Fine,” he says, inhaling deeply. His eyes close. His lips purse tightly. The expression is only there for a moment - a desperate attempt to keep it together - but you cannot pretend you didn’t see it.
You want to cross the room and embrace him, but you remember Rafayel’s cold gaze on Caleb yesterday after that less than successful dinner - a gaze that reminds you that you are in love with a god who holds the weight of a merciless ocean. Not only that, but since Caleb came back, he has brought an air of uncertainty with him. He is still the boy you have loved your entire life, but he is colder now. More volatile. As much as you wish you didn’t, you are sometimes nervous around him, even though you know that breaks his heart.
Despite all this, you still hope that your best friend and boyfriend will get along. You’re sure they will. They just need to clear the air and get over themselves.