[ it's strange to him how just a simple kiss could alleviate years worth of tension. while his emotions still remain intense and volatile, it's also true that he finds solace in how steady tobari remains.
maybe he really is his lifeline and anchor...
regardless, as they walk through the venue, rafayel keeps a courteous smile on his lips. there's a certain polite friendliness that he maintains to each person they encounter. this seems especially the case when he greets the owner, alden, with a perfectly manufactured smile. ] Thank you again for your kind invitation. It's an honor to be able to celebrate such a momentous moment together. While it's a modest gift, I brought you this bottle of wine today. [ he hands it over to one of the staff beside him, whose eyes seem to widen at the bottle.
"wait— that label? isn't that dionysus wine?" "aren't there only five in the entire world?"
the man seems incredibly pleased with the gift, showering them both with compliments on their effort. "you and your partner have such excellent tastes, but considering the cost of this wine, are you sure you're willing to part with it?" ] I don't have much of a taste of wine, and my partner— [ he steps just slightly in front of tobari— ] doesn't drink alcohol, so it would simply be wasted. On the other hand, a professional such as yourself... [ it's rare for rafayel to flatter anyone, but he remains perfectly composed as he does something so out of character.
he knows tobari is probably inwardly trying not to think of the price of the gift, or maybe he's wondering why he's acting so different... and the idea does make him laugh internally, even when he feels anything but humor inside. once the exchange is done, the man seems to make a big show of displaying the gift, even claiming to say he would take a taste as part of the main event, but rafayel is already moving out from the crowd. ]
Sorry. [ he isn't sure why he feels the need to apologize, but he does... ]
during these types of engagements, tobari can just as easily disengage and occupy himself while rafayel takes care of what he needs to—but for this one, he stays at rafayel's side. his face remains carefully impassive and neutral. for all that he lacks his usual scowl, he also doesn't particularly smile. instead his sharp green eyes only look over everyone in the room with the same sentiment that he extends to every rich person: 'i'll wait for you to impress me.'
not with jewels and not with luxury. only with the same thing that rafayel used to win him over: real, genuine charity. falling short of that, all their painted faces blend together.
the exception is this man—alden. tobari lets rafayel do all the talking, doesn't introduce himself or draw much attention to his place as rafayel's partner. when rafayel steps slightly in front of him, his fingers give just the slightest squeeze on his arm, reassuring. he takes in all the oddities. a rare wine that probably costs more than his life's savings. a stray compliment. the blatant lie that tobari doesn't drink.
how strange. they walk away. tobari searches to hold onto rafayel's hand, just so that he can bring it up to his lips. he presses a kiss to the back of his knuckles and gives his verdict in hushed tones only for the two of them, plain and simple: ]
If it wasn't important, you wouldn't lie.
[ it's tobari's own policy on lies. which is to say... he understands and he trusts rafayel's judgment, whatever it is ]
[ there's a lot he feels bad for. the lies he tells in tobari's presence, all the secrets he's continued to keep, and even forcing him to come here and mingle with these people. not that all of them are even guilty, but he can tell there's a certain distance tobari keeps from everyone else in this venue, and he just has a complicated feeling when he sees it.
tobari was kind and should be surrounded by only nice and happy things. yet, he knows even desiring that for him was a little unrealistic.
maybe even a little hypocritical.
sometimes he wonders if anyone should be capable of hiding their intentions like this. then again, he supposed it's just another thing people have to learn on the surface. to survive, one must speak the language of their enemies, even if that language was punctuated by cruelty and greed.
he looks back at the bottle of wine they take away with special care, before he focuses back on tobari. he gives a weak sort of smile, as he grips tobari's fingers just a little tighter. ] Did I lie? I didn't notice. [ he at least tries to pretend to keep up with their usual banter, but he's already walking down the great hall, and turning to look at one of the paintings on the wall. if tobari looks closely at it, he can also see there's a familiar sparkle of color to the painting, resembling scales. ]
[ tobari doesn't trust anyone until they've earned it—and his disdain for rich people runs that much deeper. he knows that he's been allowed into this space because he's rafayel's +1... but if any of them knew anything about his background, his work, or his passions, they'd just scoff. or worse, they'd offer condescending platitudes about his good heart without lifting a finger to offer any real help. as far as he's concerned, everyone in this place besides rafayel was an enemy until proven otherwise.
tobari watches rafayel watch the bottle—and then squeezes his hand back. he'll interlace their fingers together even as they walk around. ]
Oh? Maybe I'm just making things up then.
[ an idle statement that doesn't push... though he'll pause when the scale pattern catches his eye. his footsteps stop before he really notices, his brow automatically pinching. he's not sure what the cause of that is... but it's already putting a bad taste in his mouth. ]
[ sadly, it was a fact that rich people were often at the scene of the crimeโฆ being privileged wasnโt a sin, but heโd argue that very few evils matched up with what an influential man of wealth could often be capable of.
regardless, he does also try to put tobari at ease. he slides his fingers from their joined hands to his wrist, purposely tugging him closer towards him. he wonders if it takes his attention off of the venue, or even the painting on the wall that looms over them ominously. ] As you can see, the owner of this place really enjoys art and wine. Just like my teacher. [ itโs still ironic to him how he can call him that only when heโsโฆ ]
Maybe itโs easy to trick someone when theyโre so single-minded.
[ tobari lets himself be pulled closer—it's true that often times he was careful about pda, but what does he care what a bunch of rich assholes think about him? uncharitably, he assumes that enough of them just think of him as rafayel's empty-headed arm candy anyway. so he'll let his arms loop around rafayel's shoulders loosely, even as tobari looks up at him and searches his expression... he's not sure what he's looking for and yet he doesn't doubt for a second that there's something to find. answers, maybe.
what he says first is easy: ] Your teacher gave the world an awful lot. [ 'so much more than whatever this owner did' is what goes unsaid but is heavily implied. that teacher gave the world rafayel's own skill and what he could share with the world, such an important part of rafayel that tobari can't imagine him without it. ] I think that already makes him stand out.
[ . . . his hand comes up to cup rafayel's face, thumb brushing against the curve of his cheekbone ]
... Greed can be pretty blinding.
[ one of only five wines in the world, huh? a gift and a compliment for such an awful person. tobari does wonder how far rafayel will go—but he finds himself already jumping to the worst conclusion. how long before the body hits the floor? ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deletes myself for writing such a long tag
maybe he really is his lifeline and anchor...
regardless, as they walk through the venue, rafayel keeps a courteous smile on his lips. there's a certain polite friendliness that he maintains to each person they encounter. this seems especially the case when he greets the owner, alden, with a perfectly manufactured smile. ] Thank you again for your kind invitation. It's an honor to be able to celebrate such a momentous moment together. While it's a modest gift, I brought you this bottle of wine today. [ he hands it over to one of the staff beside him, whose eyes seem to widen at the bottle.
"wait— that label? isn't that dionysus wine?"
"aren't there only five in the entire world?"
the man seems incredibly pleased with the gift, showering them both with compliments on their effort. "you and your partner have such excellent tastes, but considering the cost of this wine, are you sure you're willing to part with it?" ] I don't have much of a taste of wine, and my partner— [ he steps just slightly in front of tobari— ] doesn't drink alcohol, so it would simply be wasted. On the other hand, a professional such as yourself... [ it's rare for rafayel to flatter anyone, but he remains perfectly composed as he does something so out of character.
he knows tobari is probably inwardly trying not to think of the price of the gift, or maybe he's wondering why he's acting so different... and the idea does make him laugh internally, even when he feels anything but humor inside. once the exchange is done, the man seems to make a big show of displaying the gift, even claiming to say he would take a taste as part of the main event, but rafayel is already moving out from the crowd. ]
Sorry. [ he isn't sure why he feels the need to apologize, but he does... ]
stop!!!!! eats it all up!!!
during these types of engagements, tobari can just as easily disengage and occupy himself while rafayel takes care of what he needs to—but for this one, he stays at rafayel's side. his face remains carefully impassive and neutral. for all that he lacks his usual scowl, he also doesn't particularly smile. instead his sharp green eyes only look over everyone in the room with the same sentiment that he extends to every rich person: 'i'll wait for you to impress me.'
not with jewels and not with luxury. only with the same thing that rafayel used to win him over: real, genuine charity. falling short of that, all their painted faces blend together.
the exception is this man—alden. tobari lets rafayel do all the talking, doesn't introduce himself or draw much attention to his place as rafayel's partner. when rafayel steps slightly in front of him, his fingers give just the slightest squeeze on his arm, reassuring. he takes in all the oddities. a rare wine that probably costs more than his life's savings. a stray compliment. the blatant lie that tobari doesn't drink.
how strange. they walk away. tobari searches to hold onto rafayel's hand, just so that he can bring it up to his lips. he presses a kiss to the back of his knuckles and gives his verdict in hushed tones only for the two of them, plain and simple: ]
If it wasn't important, you wouldn't lie.
[ it's tobari's own policy on lies. which is to say... he understands and he trusts rafayel's judgment, whatever it is ]
no subject
tobari was kind and should be surrounded by only nice and happy things. yet, he knows even desiring that for him was a little unrealistic.
maybe even a little hypocritical.
sometimes he wonders if anyone should be capable of hiding their intentions like this. then again, he supposed it's just another thing people have to learn on the surface. to survive, one must speak the language of their enemies, even if that language was punctuated by cruelty and greed.
he looks back at the bottle of wine they take away with special care, before he focuses back on tobari. he gives a weak sort of smile, as he grips tobari's fingers just a little tighter. ] Did I lie? I didn't notice. [ he at least tries to pretend to keep up with their usual banter, but he's already walking down the great hall, and turning to look at one of the paintings on the wall. if tobari looks closely at it, he can also see there's a familiar sparkle of color to the painting, resembling scales. ]
no subject
tobari watches rafayel watch the bottle—and then squeezes his hand back. he'll interlace their fingers together even as they walk around. ]
Oh? Maybe I'm just making things up then.
[ an idle statement that doesn't push... though he'll pause when the scale pattern catches his eye. his footsteps stop before he really notices, his brow automatically pinching. he's not sure what the cause of that is... but it's already putting a bad taste in his mouth. ]
no subject
regardless, he does also try to put tobari at ease. he slides his fingers from their joined hands to his wrist, purposely tugging him closer towards him. he wonders if it takes his attention off of the venue, or even the painting on the wall that looms over them ominously. ] As you can see, the owner of this place really enjoys art and wine. Just like my teacher. [ itโs still ironic to him how he can call him that only when heโsโฆ ]
Maybe itโs easy to trick someone when theyโre so single-minded.
no subject
what he says first is easy: ] Your teacher gave the world an awful lot. [ 'so much more than whatever this owner did' is what goes unsaid but is heavily implied. that teacher gave the world rafayel's own skill and what he could share with the world, such an important part of rafayel that tobari can't imagine him without it. ] I think that already makes him stand out.
[ . . . his hand comes up to cup rafayel's face, thumb brushing against the curve of his cheekbone ]
... Greed can be pretty blinding.
[ one of only five wines in the world, huh? a gift and a compliment for such an awful person. tobari does wonder how far rafayel will go—but he finds himself already jumping to the worst conclusion. how long before the body hits the floor? ]