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I frown. “Are you waiting for something?”
“Huh?”
Rafayel looks up from his phone. Both of us are sitting on the floor in his living room, sketches and books littering the floor around us. Not that either of us are being very productive right now.
I nod at his device. “You keep checking it.”
“Yeeeaaah. I’m waiting for a delivery.”
“More online shopping?”
He laughs at the disapproval in my tone. “Don’t worry, cutie,” he says, reaching out and playfully flicking my forehead. “This one is worth it, trust me.”
The doorbell chimes, and Rafayel leaps to his feet. “You’re gonna love this.”
The mischief in his expression doesn’t reassure me in the slightest.
Not even thirty seconds later, Rafayel hurries back into the room with a package. “Come on!” he exclaims excitedly. “Unboxing time!”
He tosses it to me, and I barely have time to catch it. “Hey!”
“Gotta keep your Hunter reflexes from going rusty,” Rafayel teases, throwing me a wink. “I’ll get you some scissors.”
“Don’t you dare throw them too!”
“Fiiiiiiine.”
But I hear the smile in his voice as he walks away, and I can’t help but grin.
I tear the packaging open the moment Rafayel is sitting beside me again, yanking the cardboard folds apart.
It’s then that I see the label on the box inside.
Period Simulator 3.0.
“A … simulator?” I ask.
“Uh-huh.” Rafayel folds his arms proudly. “And it’s not just for me. There’s two in there; you know, for science.”
“Are you planning to make me suffer with you? After I just finished my period?”
Rafayel glances at me sheepishly. “Well … when you put it that way …”
I laugh, shaking my head. “What brought this on?”
“Well, I was thinking how I couldn’t get a measure of the pain you were in.” Rafayel rubs the back of his neck, the tips of his ears burning. “I thought that maybe if I felt what it was like, it would help me take care of you better.”
I stare at him, something squeezing and softening in my chest all at once. Finally, I smile, leaning in and pressing a kiss to his cheek. “That’s sweet of you,” I tell him. “But you might regret this one.”
“Puh-lease. Not when it’s related to you.”
o-o-o-o-o
“I might be regretting this. Just a little.”
I grin, waving the controller teasingly in his direction. “You’ll do great!” I promise him. “If I can do it, you can!”
Rafayel pulls a face, glancing down at the wires and pads connected to his lower abdomen. “I feel like a lab rat.”
“It’s all for science,” I remind him, looking at the array of equipment attached to my own belly. “Your words, not mine.”
He glares softly at me. “Sometimes I wish your memory was worse.”
“Careful what you wish for!”
A long pause, and Rafayel’s gaze grows a little distant. “You’re right.”
He leans in and kisses me, softly and sweetly. When he pulls back, I blink up at him in confusion. “What was that for?”
Rafayel’s brow pinches. “Just … don’t forget me. Please.”
“Oh, Raf.” I stand on tiptoe and kiss him again. “How could I ever forget you? Who else is gonna break in my high heels for me?”
Rafayel throws his head back and laughs. “I look good in stilettos, dontcha think, cutie?”
The device controller suddenly lights up green to say its ready, and the moment is gone.
“Here we go,” I grin. “What do you want to start at?”
“One. Duh.”
But just as I’m about to press the on button -
“Wait, wait, wait!” he suddenly exclaims. “You go first!”
I can barely keep the laughter out of my voice. “And they say chivalry is dead.”
“You need to tell me which setting is your usual level of pain so I can match it,” Rafayel says. He gives the smallest smirk. “For science, of course.”
Oh boy. “Bring. It. On.”
Rafayel holds out his hand, and I shake it. “May the best woman win,” I say.
He grins mischievously. “You wish I could get pregnant.”
“Who knows, with your wonky fish biology.”
“Excuse you! I’m a Lemurian, not a seahorse.”
“All’s fair in love and war.”
A devilish smirk. “Oh? You don’t say?”
I smack his shoulder as he leans in. “You’re stalling. Just press it already.”
Rafayel shrugs, his eyes still gleaming. “You asked.”
He turns the machine on. The electrical pulses start zapping - and I start giggling. “It tickles!”
“It’s not supposed to tickle!” Rafayel whines. “It’s supposed to simulate pain!”
“I knew you got me a torture device.”
“Hardy-har. Want me to increase the level?”
“Please, this is nothing. Keep going.”
Clearly skeptical, Rafayel pushes the numbers up little by little. By the time it gets to five, I’m almost bored. “Put it up to a ten,” I say.
He stares. “You’re kidding. You are, aren’t you?”
“Do it!”
Looking at me like I’m mad, Rafayel pushes the max button.
My stomach is instantly pummelled, but it’s far from what I’ve experienced on my worst days. I start laughing - and Rafayel stares at me like I’ve grown two heads.
“This is so stupid,” I wheeze.
The electric current suddenly dissipates, and a hand touches my arm.
“I think that’s enough,” Rafayel says gently. After a moment, he clears his throat and the mischief springs back into his eyes. “Besides, I believe it’s my turn.”
I raise my eyebrows. “You want the ultimate test?”
Rafayel’s expression becomes devilish. “Bring it on.”
o-o-o-o-o
“It hurts so much!” Rafayel complains. “It’s just constant. And angry. It’s making me sick.”
“It’s barely a three. I did the same at an eight.”
“How are you so normal about this?!”
“Uh, this is literally what I’ve had to do my whole life. The world doesn’t stop just because you’re menstruating.”
Rafayel drops the bag of groceries on the counter with slightly more force than necessary. “Well, it should!”
I can barely hold back my laughter. “Aw, is someone upset?” I tease. “Is someone on their period?”
Gripping the edges of the counter, Rafayel glares softly at me. “You’ll pay for this later.”
“Please, punish me. Do your worst.”
A burning red slams across Rafayel’s cheeks, the colour reaching up to his ears. “Not. Helping!”
“Sweetie, why are you so worked up? You should smile more. You’re too pretty to be this grumpy.”
I grin impishly at him, and Rafayel rattles off a string of Lemurian swears.
o-o-o-o-o
“Pain is exhausting,” Rafayel mumbles as he falls into bed later that night. “Everything hurts …”
“Welcome to my world,” I tell him, crawling under the covers beside him. “See why it makes me so tired?”
Something twists in Rafayel’s expression, and I know he’s thinking about all the hours I’ve spent curled up in a blanket, on the sofa, on the bed, in his arms, as I’ve dozed fitfully between rounds of medication.
He reaches out, his fingers caressing my cheek. “You know, you’re even stronger than I thought you were,” he admits. “I’m … impressed.”
“What, you thought I was kidding about the pain?”
Rafayel looks stricken. “Of course not,” he says quickly. “It’s just … you have a way higher pain tolerance than I realised. So for it to hurt, it’s gotta be real bad. Like, you’re about to die kind of bad.”
I shrug. “Used to it, I guess.”
“And you’re still going out on missions like that?”
“What other choice do I have?” I ask. “I just take my pain medicine and hope for the best. At least out on the field I can take it out on the Wanderers.”
Rafayel gives a huff of laughter. “That explains some of our earlier missions. Thought you had some personal vendetta against them.”
“I mean, I kinda do,” I say, laughing despite myself. “But it helps take my mind off the pain.”
Rafayel suddenly rolls over and pulls me against his chest, nuzzling his face against my hair. “I’m sorry,” he murmurs. “You shouldn’t have to deal with that.”
I reach for his hand and squeeze it. “It’s easier with you looking after me.”
Rafayel suddenly lifts our joint fingers to nudge my chin, tilting my face to look at him.
His expression is so soft, so caring, that I feel my heart being cradled in his gaze.
“You know I will,” he whispers, leaning in and pressing a gentle kiss to my lips. “Always.”
o-o-o-o-o
A MONTH LATER
As I curl up on the sofa in the afternoon sun, my phone buzzes.
[fishie <3] heyyy cutie wanna hang out today
I sigh, quickly typing back a reply.
I’ve got my period and the cramps are bad. I think I’ll just spend the day at home.
[fishie <3] say no more your guardian fish angel is on his way