#you're sick and rafayel is acting like he's the one in pain (maybe he DOES feel it bc of the bond between you two)

[xlmibby]

rafayel doesn't know how to handle you feeling under the weather - or more like, he's afraid to do anything in case it could possibly hurt you. the thing is, he doesn't want to see you in pain caused by sickness, either.

before you can tell rafayel it's not that serious, he's already doing a throughout research about cold medicines and some old practices that help humans feel better.

it's a bit strange; to watch him being so focused on something that's not painting and creating art in general, watching the sea while sitting on the beach, taking long baths filled with various scented oils... or making you come undone on his tongue.

your thighs press together at the thought.

the imagines of all the nights you've spent tangled in his bedsheets suddenly feel way too vivid. even now, in the haze of sickness, you still remember his lips on your racing pulse and how his name came out in soft breathless gasps, getting louder each time his hips rolled against yours. your hands on his shoulders, his fingers ghosting your sides as he kept on taking you, deeper and deeper–

suddenly, rafayel groans.

your eyes widen at the sound. before you can ask him what's wrong, he erases the distance between the two of you.

the next thing you know is that his lips are already pressing against yours.

rafayel's kisses are just like you remembered them, hot and wanting, leaving you breathless and dizzy. you melt into sensations, allowing them to flow in when rafayel's hand cups your cheek and angles your face to deepen the kiss to his liking. the way he swallows your quiet moans makes it look as if the proximity between the two of you isn't quite enough yet. not when you are the one he's starving on.

you lean back just to take a deep breath– but rafayel pulls you in, kissing you again.

you don't know how much time passes when rafayel's lips slowly trail off yours. you almost whine at the loss - you still want more, you need more - but then, you feel a kiss in the corner of your mouth. then, his lips move down on your cheek, pressing a feather-light peck once and twice and...

his mouth slides over the curve of your jaw; and before you know it, open-mouthed kisses are all over the side of your neck.

rafayel mutters something against your skin, his voice muffled so you can barely make out what he's actually trying to say. once you understand him, though, your breath hitches in the back of your throat.

rafayel wants to make you feel better with his kisses.

probably, you should tell him it won't help you cure faster - quite the opposite, you will give all your germs to him. but when his lips slowly slide over the curve of your jaw, you can't find it in yourself to do anything other than pulling him closer. you can't get enough of the sweet taste his kisses leave on your tongue.

maybe rafayel right. maybe he is all you need right now.

[astracora]

maybe kind of a stupid question😓, but in Turning Point, are the boys going to date too? or is it just MC dating all of them separately?

Hey, they all are part of the polycule together! (or will be, initially it's a bit rockier because they're all very fixated solely on MC). While MC is kind of the mesh point where they join, it doesn't mean they don't interact and date each other.

Future-wise, they live together, and have separate, individual dates when they like. Their dynamics are different per person, so for some lil things that probably won't come up in Turning Point itself, but either pops up in cat curse, or in my head like some kind of daydream.

Zayne and Sylus get along the most intellectually (though Sylus and Xavier can talk about astrophysics pretty happily, and both are experienced with technology and space travel as well), so you're likely to catch them playing board games together. Zayne also is the one who doesn't react much to Sylus' tormenting, but when he's had enough he's had enough and that's what Sylus aims for. (be it sexually or otherwise). He enjoys watching the doctor take his glasses off.

Xavier and Zayne are the calmest together. Xavier in general enjoys spending time with the others, but it probably takes him the longest to integrate himself into a group dynamic because he's been isolated for a really long time and is very used to it. That said he's protective, if he sees someone struggling, he will absolutely act as a shield, and his actions are normally louder than his words. He naps with Sylus constantly, and absolutely uses Sylus as a living cushion (who wouldn't complain its nice when someone doesn't complain about his body heat). Zayne tends to his wounds fairly frequently, especially when he's acting as Lumiere and can't get somewhere safer. He will sit for hours just watching Rafayel paint, because he enjoys how it makes him feel. Though he talks most with MC, he enjoys the presence of companions a lot, especially ones who are on his side in protecting MC.

Rafayel hates hates hates the concept of the polycule most, at the start he struggles with it a lot because he's... selfish in some regards? full of pain in others. It's rough, but he softens and warms to it when he gets supported by the others. Sylus giving MC a nudge to be braver to spend time with him, Zayne checking in on his work, Xavier bringing him water while he's working, or just watching him work. It's one of those, oh these people actually care about me, even if they stink at showing it sometimes (sylus cough sylus). The two continue to fight, but their fighting turns more into a love language. Raffy does not like this pointed out because he's stubborn. He has fallen asleep on Sylus' chest before now... there are photos. He finds Xavier and Zayne the calmest to be around, and though he grates when Zayne reminds him to tidy (because he's an adult!!), he also appreciates when ebb and flow day comes or he's sick and the doctor is there to help take care of him.

Sylus is the least... jealous I think? So he adapts to it quickest, and uses it as an excuse to amuse himself. He finds the dynamic fun, he enjoys poking at his new companions, he LOVES being able to see how the interactions impact MC too. It's a little bit like a science experiment, a little bit like a dragon learning how affection manifests in different ways. I think also fundamentally, he's very aware of his like... presence in the polycule as someone who was labelled an 'enemy' and a 'monster', so he actively wants to make sure there's an awareness that no matter what someone says, his connection to MC (and the polycule by extension), is fundamentally one he values and respects. He also bonds most with Raffy about nature, and its one of the few times they don't jokingly argue with each other. He's also the one who plays sidekick to Xavier's cooking too.

There's probably way more I could word vomit out, but yes TLDR; They all date... They all kiss each other. Just to varying degrees because they're different people!

(Also it improves more over time as well, bearing in mind the yhave hundreds of years with MC, and only have a year at most with each other!)

Edit: also not a stupid question, happy to answer! I forgot to add this earlier!