[Shadowhunter] Imagines

We'll make this work - Raphael Santiago

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You are a mundane and work in the soup kitchen.

Characters involved: You, Raphael Santiago

Triggers: none

Request: Maple-syrup

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"Thank you, Mister Santiago. I'm pretty sure nobody can make Tamales as good as you." You said as you took the boxes of food out of the slight tanned hands of the Latino man.

"Y/N, how often do I have to tell you? Just call me Raphael. Mister Santiago makes me seem old." He smiled.

You returned his smile warmly and touched his arm slightly. He was as cold as ice. "Are you okay? You are so cold. Do you need something to warm up? Tea? Coffee? I'm sure we also have some leftover soup too."

Raphael shook his head no, but didn't stop smiling. "Thank you for the offer, but no, thank you. Another time." After a quick look on his watch he added: "I really have to go now. See you later? I can teach you to make those tamales."

Your cheeks blushed a slight pink when he gave you that cocky smile, but you couldn't resist.

"At about 5pm?" You asked and tilted your head.

Again he shook his head no. "I'm afraid I can't do it that early. Let's say 7? Or is that too late for you? You probably have a long day at work here."

You shook his sentence off. "I think I'll always find some time for you, Raphael."

That went down quickly. The first time you saw Raphael was two years ago. He brought food for the elderly people every Sunday. He was an amazing cook and a very nice and also pretty handsome man. Your crush on him started soon after, but you tried to hold it back as good as possible, not having the best experiences and memories with relationships.

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It was a long day and shortly before Raphael arrived again in the evening, you thought about just leaving him a note and going home. You were tired and exhausted, but the moment Raphael knocked onto the glass door and walked in, all the negative feelings disappeared.

"How was work, sunshine?" He asked cheerily. "Ready to learn to make some tamales?" He shook the paper bag in his left hand.

You giggled at the nickname. Raphael tended to call you names, but sunshine was definitely new.

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"No, no, no. That's definitely too much filling. It will be super spicy then. Remove a bit." He said while watching you filling the corn leaves with the red pepper and chili mix.

You scraped some of the filling out again. 

"Now that's not enough. May... May I help you?" He said and stood right behind you.

You felt his cold breath in the back of your neck and his cold hand over yours.

He guided your small hand with the spoon in it and filled the corn leaf with the accurate amount of Masa and filling.

Without really noticing you leaned back onto his broad and strong chest and it didn't seem to bother him at all.

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The gentleman that Raphael was, he obviously guided you home, right before midnight.

As you stood in front of the door, you stared into his eyes. In the light of the streetlamps they appeared to be as black as the darkest night. They were beautiful.

"It's about midnight. Do you have a long way to your home? If yes, I don't mind you staying over for the night. In separate beds... couches... whatever... you know... I-." You started to ramble, getting lost in the soft smile of the handsome man.

"That's a very tempting offer, but I think I'll have to go home. I need to take care of the house and my family, you know? But thank you. We should meet up another time. If you're up for it?" Raphael rose one of his eyebrows.

You nodded and were thankful for the darkness that covered your bright red cheeks.

Raphael turned around to go, stopped in his motion, turned back and hugged you tight as good-bye. The scent of cologne hit you harder than ever and you were sure about the fact, that you'd smell like him afterwards, being incredibly happy about it.

Then he was gone. Weird.

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On Wednesday you were walking back home from the soup kitchen. It was about 10pm and the streets were empty. It was a weekday after all.

Suddenly someone pushed you onto the floor and hovered over you.

You closed your eyes in shock, no scream wanted to escape your lungs.

"And that is the mundane that Raphael is meeting up with? I expected more. So weak and unimportant. One like everyone else." A light male voice answered.

You opened your eyes again and saw the man's face right in front of you. His skin was glowing in the darkness, his eyes a light green, his lips red and big canines added to the row of sharp teeth.

Before you could look at him any longer, he bent down and bit down onto your neck, ripping the skin open. A stinging pain flooded through your entire body.

The world started to blur when you felt the heavy weight being lifted off of you.

"That will have consequences, Marcel. Elliot and his friends are already after you. We'll deliver you to the clave. You attacked a mundane. My mundane." You knew the voice. It was familiar.

The moment you raised your head to look at him, you also saw fangs in his mouth. Raphael Santiago was one of them. The man you trusted.

You two were alone. Raphael knelt down to your side. With all your power left in your body, you flinched back and tried to get away from him. The attempt of standing up, failed miserably. But the pain in your body was already immense, it couldn't get worse.

"Please, Y/N. Don't be afraid of me. I'd never hurt you." He stretched his arms out and came a little closer.

Your breathing was unsteady and fast.

"Shh, just let me hold you. You'll be fine, I promise." He tried to comfort you while he wrapped his arms around you and lifted your body onto his lap.

Finally, calming down by his familiar scent, the breathing became easier.

"I wish this never happened. But there is no way to turn it back. What Marcel did... It changes mundanes. You will be one of us. And I'll be there. Always. I give you this promise now and I'll hold onto it until I die. We'll make this work." He tried to explain, his voice filled with grief.

As you realized what he meant, you started to cry into his shoulder. You would also turn into one of them.