Beyond The Event Horizon (Rafayel x Reader) - Love and Deepspace

Chapter 2: The Stray

Notes/Summary:

You accept Rafayel's hospitality and spend a night in his home. You often mull over strangling him out of annoyance.

Chapter 2: The Stray

When you finally reach the island, it dawns on you that the entire island actually belongs to Rafayel.

"You own a fucking island?" you gape.

"I guess," he shrugs so casually you'd think he's talking about coffee mugs.

You feel great relief when you finally reach the gates of his art studio. Mo Art Studio, the sign outside reads. The house is the embodiment of European architectural elegance, with its high ceilings, classical statues, and gallery-styled walls. The top is a dome-shaped glass that reminds you of an actual museum.

Inside, the windows span from the ceiling to the floor and lush plants decorate the interior tastefully. You realize that the entire first floor is in fact, an art exhibition hall.

"You even have a private art exhibition hall too?" you point out. Sure, the house is huge, but you weren't expecting to see this.

"I'm an artist, I need a place to display my creations," he says nonchalantly.

You don't get to see his paintings though, as the exhibition hall is dark and the canvases are covered by fabric. Rafayel's also quickly leading you to the doors at the back of the exhibition hall, which leads to a separate hallway with a winding staircase to the second floor.

"Upstairs is where I live," Rafayel says. "It's my private studio and home."

His second floor is bathed in the same luminous white palette and with sophisticated home furniture. There are multiple rooms, and he brings you to one of them.

"This is a spare room that my friend sometimes uses. You can sleep here tonight."

"Okay," you nod. The room is big, even for a spare room. There is a queen-sized bed with fitted white sheets, a lightwood study desk, and a wardrobe.

"There's a bathroom inside the spare room, by the way," Rafayel says. "Hold on, before you shower, I need to ask you something... do you eat seafood?"

"Yes."

"Good, because I plan to order seafood pasta for dinner," he grins.

"Sure, I'll eat anything at this point," you say as you start making your way into the bathroom.

"Wait! Let me get you water, you look dehydrated," Rafayel's eyes widen. "And clothes! I don't have women's clothes, so you'll have to use mine."

"Oh, I was planning on re-wearing this," you say and point to your current work outfit.

"No." he deadpans. "I don't want you sleeping in dirty clothes. You'll get the bedsheets dirty."

You almost want to roll your eyes. This man really has his priorities straight.

Rafayel brings you a bottle of cold water which you gulp down in seconds. You didn't realize you had been so thirsty. He also passes you a white t-shirt, black-coloured shorts, a towel, and a toothbrush set.

"I doubt the shorts will fit you well, but I think there's a string inside that you can use to adjust it," he says. "We can get you something proper to wear tomorrow when we go to Linkon City."

"Okay."

Rafayel leaves you alone to shower. The bathroom seems pleasantly normal, nothing too futuristic that would leave you confused on the mechanics. When you look at yourself in the mirror, you cringe a little. Your hair is matted with grease and dirt from days of not showering, and you feel dirty.