On the Floor (Raphael)

[Raphael Jenkins]

He did come off as eager, but it was more like a puppy that bounced and bounded around your ankles. It was cute, not annoying, and Rapahel couldn't help but be flattered. Although he was pretty flirtatious, there was something about someone responding to the outrageous style that was always gratifying. Raphael had to keep resisting the urge to reach over and ruffle Thyme's hair. The boy reminded him so much of a pet. Maybe Thyme would be his pet. Wouldn't that be cute? A little apostle to follow him around and adore him. The thought amused him and he couldn't keep the smile off of his face.

He watched Ty as the other boy struggled to bring his power under control and do as he asked. It was hard to do what Raphael had asked, and he knew it. But Ty seemed sadly lacking in confidence with his powers, and he'd seen where that led before. It was something Raphael had dealt with when learning. But Ty's power was dangerous, and the boy needed to know that he wasn't going to hurt someone just by accidentally touching them in the hall or whatnot. Hammel was a great place to learn how to learn overall control, but sometimes, the finer and more skilled things you had to learn on your own.

As Thyme leaned in, Raph put up a small barrier, not enough to keep their lips from touching, but enough to keep him from being hurt if Ty's control wasn't up to par. The shock was expected, although Raphael did jump slightly, dropping the barrier and deepening the kiss. His hand slipped up to brush against Ty's cheek on its way to tangle in the hair of the younger boy. The small sparks flew between them, adding a new dimension to the simple act of kissing. Ty was doing really well at controlling the flow, at least, until Raphael pulled away finally and a spark arced between them.

"Very good, Ty. Gotta control at the end too though." That spark told Raphael that Ty hadn't wanted the kiss to end. At least, that's how the blond boy interpreted it. "How long have you been training?" He wondered how long it would take Ty to gain complete control over his electricity. Perhaps he could come up with some interesting experiments to try with him.

[Thyme Ersilia]

The moment Ty’s lips touched Raphael’s, he felt the sparks tingle between them, although they were not harmful. In fact, it really brought the kiss to life, and the college boy deepened the kiss in response. Thyme kissed back eagerly and clung to the fabric of the other boy’s shirt around his waist as fingers brushed through his hair. He had not even kissed Rachel like this when they had dated, but he wondered if it was because they hardly touched that she ended up seeking it from someone else.

It was of no concern now, since Ty was enjoying this moment, though it did seem to end too soon. The spark at the end of the kiss did shock him a little bit, but the pain was minor. He chuckled at Raph’s comment.

“Sorry. It was a bit abrupt. I wasn’t ready”

When asked how long he had been training, Ty had to count the years, since it had been a very long time in his terms.

“Well…I guess four years now? I’ve lost count of the days…”

Thyme would have asked the same question in return, but he figured there was a good possibility that Raphael had already finished his training and could control it to the best of his ability. The boy wondered why he was so curious until he realized it must have been because he was concerned about his safety. He didn’t really blame him, though it was a bit disheartening when someone had to contemplate whether or not it was safe to touch you. However, Raphael seemed to know what he was talking about, and surely he would know what was best…right?

[Raphael Jenkins]

Raphael smiled at Ty and tugged lightly on the other boy's hair."You must be about done then. It took me almost five years to gain complete control of mine. Sometimes it still flares up when I don't feel safe. It's one of those things." The blond gave a shrug as if it simply wasn't important at all. Just giving information. He dropped his hand so he was no longer touching Ty and closed his eyes a moment, concentrating and putting up a field around his arm. Time for the next little lesson.

"Alright, now, concentrate on making it flow through your fingertips, and lightly touching on my arm. I've got a field up, so you won't hurt me, but at some point I'll drop it, so you'll need to make sure that you know what kind of power you are putting forth and controlling it." Raphael waited for Ty to touch him, hoping that the field he had up was going to be enough. He wasn't all that worried about Ty actually hurting him, since he knew that if things got bad, instinct would kick in and protect him. That was the good part.

"I'll reward you if you do well. It'll be like Hammel, but better." Raphael teased, winking at Ty and pursing his lips as if to kiss the younger man. "In fact, if you do this well, we might even do something more...interesting."

[Thyme Ersilia]

There was a bit of hope in Ty’s eyes as he tried to contemplate that his training might have been close to complete. He surely wished that he was nearly done, but he knew he still had plenty to learn before he could walk away breathing easy. Raphael quickly moved on to the next task, and Ty nodded with a smirk, enjoying himself. It was the first time he actually enjoyed a training session, but mainly because of the rewards that were offered. He wasn’t sure Hammel would approve of it really, but haven’t they ever heard of positive reinforcement?

The boy closed his eyes in concentration, letting the electricity flow gently, like water, through his body and into his fingertips. His hand lightly touched his arm, as directed, and he could feel the sparks raising the hairs on Raphael’s arm as the force field was dropped. His blue-green eyes reopened and he smirked as he gently ran his fingers down his arm, spreading the tingling electricity.

“I think this is working…”

He felt so in control for the first time since the birth of his abilities, and could not have been more thrilled.

[Raphael Jenkins]

Raphael could see the hope coming to life in Ty’s eyes, and he smiled. Powers were hard to control, but most of the kids didn’t seem to practice on their own now. He always had. He would walk down the halls with a buffer in place, just to see who noticed and didn’t. He didn’t practice so much now, there wasn’t really a need to. He just went about his merry way and people didn’t bother him so much.

While Ty was busy concentrating on the electricity flowing over Raph’s arm, the bleached blond ran the fingers of the opposite hand down Ty’s cheek, before rubbing his thumb over the younger boy’s lower lip. He wanted to do more than what they had, but it was a serious buzzkill that the kid was so much younger. Once he was 17 though, you could bet that Raph would be on this kid like white on rice.

“See, Ty, you have control over it, you just have to quit being so down on yourself and focus a bit. You should practice at home with stuffed animals or the wall or something. Ask others to help you. That’s how you learn. Besides, if you stay afraid of your power, you’ll never get better with it.”

Raphael praised Ty, then leaned in and gave him a soft kiss. “And that is to tide you over. Find me when you’re legal, sweetheart, and I’ll show you some other neat tricks that your power and my power can do.”

[Thyme Ersilia]

Even though Ty was craving Raphael’s touch and enjoying the thumb on his lip, he knew that there could be nothing more. There was an invisible wall between them, called the law, and it was seriously starting to become a pain. Why couldn’t he make his own decisions? Time and time again, he had lost out on things because of his age, and he was starting to think that perhaps it was time to give up until he was of legal age.

It felt like such a long time, but he didn’t seem to have any choice. It was either be a good boy or risk sending someone to jail. However, he had gotten something out of their encounter, and he was glad to have this newfound control of his powers. He just wished there could have been more. Raphael kissed him again, and he felt himself melting. It was to ‘tide him over’, he said, but to Ty, it was something that would linger in his memory until he could have it again. Dammit all…being a kid sucked.