Raphael /BoyxBoy/

||Nine||

Raphael leaned against the wall, nursing a tattered book between his two hands.

"Hey," I said, unable to keep the surprised tone out of my voice.

He glanced up. "They let me take the afternoon off."

"What are you doing here, then?" I said with a smile.

He rolled his eyes, tucking the book away. "You're not that bad to hang around."

"Oh?" I moved around behind the counter, reading the notes Ben had left there for me. "You could have fooled me."

"Shut it," he joined me on the opposite side, leaning against his elbows. "What's your task for the day?"

I handed him the note with distaste. "Cleaning."

"I would offer my help but you've already seen the state of my flat."

I laughed. "Your place is immaculate compared to the way Dan leaves things on his side of the room."

"Dan?"

"Dorm mate."

"Right," he ran his fingers through his hair. "How's Scarlet?"

"I haven't seen her in a while," I said. "I think she got herself a new boy toy."

"Bad luck."

"I know. I'm totally bummed about it."

"Really? I couldn't tell."

I grinned, especially when I noticed him trying to hide his own smirk, biting at his lower lip.

"We'll need to get started by the look of things. It's going to take ages."

Raphael scanned the store, and I took the moment to scan his body for any signs of new ink but he wore nothing that showed off his skin.

I couldn't yank my thoughts away from the time I spent at his apartment. Found myself thinking about the washed out ink on his inner thighs and the remains on his wrists. I didn't wash out the ones he left on my own arm until I had no choice, loving the way it looked. Dark and a visible contrast against my own color.

"We should start with the shelves at the front," he said, "take the things off and clean them before we put them back."

"Are you sure you want to?"

"We're not having sex, Jake. Save the question for another time."

"So there will be another time?" I pretended to be disinterested, walking to the backroom where Ben kept all the cleaning supplies in a cupboard.

"You're like a horny teenage boy."

I gave a snort. "Accurate. You didn't answer the question."

"You'll have to wait and find out."

"I hate it when people say that."

"Me too." He picked up a pair of gloves. "Coming?"

I bit my tongue. "Yeah."

Raphael shook his head. I found him placing a record on the gramophone after I grabbed my own pair of gloves and the box of cleaning supplies.

Music floated around the room and between the shelves as we started moving things from the first shelf to the floor.

"You really don't have to," I said. "You spend enough time cleaning plates as it is."

"The plates all look the same. The stuff here is different. Each thing is different. Look," he held up a tin box and slid the lid off. "They even preserved the things inside."