Chapter Text
“What did I say about running to a fire!!”
“Thomas, chill down, will you?”
“No! I will not chill down! You broke your promise to never run into a fire!”
“No one got hurt. I’m okay, you’re okay, everyone is okay, everything is okay”
“EVERYTHING IS NOT OKAY!!!”
Rafayel awkwardly raises his hands in surrender in hopes his manager would drop the topic and move on to another pressing topic like the budget for fixing the building, or what to tell the news, or anything at this point. He can feel how all the people around them have turned their heads towards them from all the yelling and arguing.
“Thomas, buddy, can we drop this topic and move on? The whole street will hear you if you continue to scream like that. It’ll be bad for your throat”
“You are the whole reason why I’m screaming! Do I have to take you to kindergarten class so that you know we don’t straight up into a fire?”
“Now that’s going to be bad for my image”
“Good, that would teach you a lesson in a way you understand” Thomas turns around and looks at his phone to see multiple notifications from the media asking about an interview of the incident. “Lucky for you, I am a merciful and busy man. I will tell Xavier to take you home and make you finish all those pending paintings until you learned your lesson” and with that the manager stomps out the room, leaving the artist alone with Xavier.
Rafayel slump back down to the couch behind him, swinging his arm over his eyes. “Good thing he’s a busy man or else I would never get to hear the end of his nagging. That man can nag for a day if no one interrupt him”
The artist sighs and flips to his stomach, glancing at the hunter who has been silent after things calmed down.
“Mr.Bodyguard, you’ve been silent this whole time. Don’t tell me you’re also mad at me for running into the fire?”
Xavier didn’t reply which can only mean one thing.
“Just say you’re mad, Xavier. No need to give me the silent treatment, it’ll only worsen the feelings for both of us” which is true. Giving him the silent treatment is the worst treatment he can ever endure after a fight. It’s better if someone he cares about loudly explodes their feelings in front of him about all the horrible things he has done than give him the cold shoulders for days.
Xavier stayed silent for a few seconds, his blue eyes looking directly at sunset eyes with intense emotion. “I am mad,” he starts. “But not at you”
Rafayel blinks. “What do you mean by that? Who else is there to blame other than me?”
“Me,” Xavier answered without hesitation. “I am mad at myself for not being able to keeping you safe”
The artist snapped his head towards his bodyguard, eyes wide and expression shocked. Is his bodyguard being serious right now? He is clearly to blame in this situation, he literally ran into a fire! Though he knows he can get out of it without any difficulty his bodyguard and manager don’t know that so of course their worries are valid. But they can’t blame him for not considering their feelings, it’s the first time he had people who genuinely care about him, okay/ He’s not used to this type of thing.
Rafayel looks away from those blue eyes, feeling his face heat up by the mere thought of someone worrying about him. “You’re ridiculous, you know that. Getting mad at yourself for something as trivial as that”
“Your life is nothing trivial, Rafayel” the hunter said, voice more softer around the edge. He moves closer to him, now standing right behind him. “Don’t think so lowly of yourself. Your life is as valuable as anyone else so don’t throw it away carelessly as if it worth nothing”
The artist opened his mouth to say something–anything to shoot back at the hunter about how his life is nothing valuable but the words never made it to his mouth when he locked eyes with galaxy blue eyes.
He admits that his bodyguard’s eyes are a very beautiful shade of blue, one he has never seen before, but right now, those eyes seem to be ten times more beautiful with how soft and gentle they look. And the fact that those same eyes are looking straight at him makes it harder for him to not get lost in them.
Xavier is also not far off from him. The hunter is also getting lost in those sunset eyes. The pull in his soul is getting hard to resist with each second he stared into them. He just wants to give in and lean in, close the distance between them and devour those pink and plump lips until they turn red with bi–
“RAFAYEL! BAD NEWS!”
Both men quickly put distance between them and tried to put on their most professional face. Keyword tried. Because both of their faces have a faint blush on their cheeks that is undoubtedly can be seen by Thomas based on how he’s looking at both of them with a suspicious look.
Rafayel cleared his throat to bring his manager’s attention to him and calmly fixed his posture. “What kind of bad news, Thomas? Did one of the guests request a same day painting again? Or are they asking me to give another boring speech?”
“It’s neither of them actually. The bad news is…one of your paintings got stolen!”
“...” Rafayel let out a not-so-friendly laugh at the news, leaning his head back to his hand. “Thomas, don’t joke around about this type of shit. You know how I’ll get when someone dared to touch any of my paintings”
“I’m not joking, Rafayel. If you don’t believe me then see it for yourself” the manager said as he shoves a tablet to Rafayel’s face.
The artist took the tablet from him and pressed the play button. Footage from one of the CCTV facing his most prize painting began to play. At first nothing had happened, except for the fact that a fire, barely as big as a tennisball, literally appeared out of nowhere from the painting and the surrounding area started to burn. Who knew that a small fire can spread that fast in a matter of seconds, maybe he can use this technique when he needs some fire lighting. It will save him a lot of energy from spending his Evol.
Fast forward a bit after he sees himself admiring his own painting and getting dragged out of the fire by Xavier, something weird happens. A portal tore open in front of the painting, and someone with a black hooded clock came out of it. The person stared at the painting for a few seconds, one hand raising to touch the painting’s frame. It looks to him that the person is also mesmerized by his painting, he means, who wouldn’t be mesmerized by such a masterpiece made by him.
The person then retracts their hand from the frame, still staring at the painting. They stayed in that daze for a few more seconds before the person’s body shook and arch inward. The person lifted both of their shaking hands and a huge portal opened and swallowed his painting and the person in an instant, leaving no trace behind.
“See, I wasn’t lying” Thomas huffs and crosses his arms. “I already contacted the Hunter Association about this incident saying its the work of Wanderers or something from the Deepspace tunnel, and they said they will start investigating it tomorrow morning”
Rafayel looks up from the tablet and gives his manager a smile that doesn’t really reach his eyes. “I know I can count on you, my dear Thomas. Always two steps ahead of me”
“Yeah, yeah, no need for the thanks. Now, go back and take a rest or something, no more running to fire”
“Whatever my manager says”. The artist then turns to Xavier. “Come now, Mr.Bodyguard. Let us retire to our comfortable quarter”
The hunter merely nods at him, not wanting to meet his eyes just yet. His instincts are telling him not to mess with the artist right now and just do what he is told.
The duo exited the area where Rafayel’s car was parked in front of the entrance. Xavier opened the door for Rafayel, doing the same thing he did before they left before going to the driver’s seat.
The ride back was dead silent. Xavier is trying not to keep glancing back every few seconds, worriedly checking if the artist is okay or not because he definitely looks not okay. He would know this because the artist would never be this silent if not for something he considered a very serious offense to him. Looks like the internet is right about some artists loving their art like their own flesh and blood children. He needs to quickly look into this to bring back his smile, he looks better with a smile than a frown.
As the car automatically parks itself in front of the mansion, Xavier clears his throat and slightly looks back at Rafayel.
“Rafayel, are you free after this?”
Rafayel who was frowning while looking at the window suddenly blinked and looked at the hunter with surprise. “I am, why did you ask?"
"I'm thinking we can eat somewhere nice after all that running. I have a nice place in mind that only takes about 10 minutes to walk from here. The food there is great and they have this spot where we can see the sea from there. "He turns his face around to look at Rafayel, his blue eyes stare at him as if they are pleading. “If you're tired, I can even carry you there"
The artist blink slowly, thinking this is a dream and his bodyguard did not actually ask him out on a date because it sounds like it! Oh no, he did not prepare himself for this kind of event in his life. And with those puppy eyes!
“I-um, okay. W-we’ll go there. And you don't need to carry me, I'm not that tired"
Xavier's eyes instantly become 10 times brighter and smiles. "Okay. Let's get going then”
And that’s how Rafayel found staring at Xavier who is happily munching on the food. It looks to him that the hunter is hungrier than him, which makes a lot of sense since he moved a lot, not to mention he had to carry him while doing those stunts. Though he’s confident that he can be considered light weighted, it is still not easy to carry someone while moving. That is unless his bodyguard is just insanely strong and stuff, which he is without a doubt.
The artist didn’t eat most of the time, his eyes always lingering towards his bodyguard. There’s something captivating with the way the hunter’s face lights up while eating. That is a good thing, he doesn’t want to make the hunter uncomfortable. He’s aware of how the hunter kept on glancing at him in the car with worried eyes, an action he finds oddly cute for weird reasons. Eh, it’s probably because he’s cute to begin with which automatically makes his action cute.
Xavier ended up eating more than Rafayel, the hunter instantly apologizing the second he realized. The artist just patted his hair to reassure him and paid for the bill without the hunter knowing.
The two exit the store feeling more refreshed and relaxed after a nice meal. Xavier is right, food can solve the problem. It never crosses his mind how food can make your heart a lot better. Maybe it’s because he survived on caffeine and cigarettes when he’s that mood. He’ll take note of ordering food more often to lighten the mood.
The sun is already starting to set in the background, casting the sky a beautiful color of mixed orange and purple. They walk side by side, shoulders occasionally bumping as they admire the sky. For Rafayel, the sunset is always a sight he loves to see, a view that would never get bored to look at.
For Xavier though, the sunset is just another reminder of how fast time flies. He really wants to stop the time and stay for eternity. Sure the others aren’t here yet, but he wants to be a little selfish and save this moment for himself.
He looks at Rafayel, finding the artist leaning against the railing and looking up. Ah, he looks so beautiful with the sunset behind him, not like he’s not beautiful most of the time. It’s no wonder he feels confident about his looks.
He really wants to kiss him right now.
Rafayel’s face and ears suddenly turned red, looking at him with wide, and shocked eyes. “You–what!”
Xavier blinks, then realization slapped him in the face.
He said his thoughts out loud…