James and Raphael

"Maybe," James flashed a smile and whispered. "Just a little bit famous."

"Well since you said 'for once' it sounds like I don't have many more firsts to take from you. I'll try my best to find something you haven't done yet," he teased. He tried to move a bit to try and grab a side rail so that he wouldn't fall when the subway slowed for it's next stop but his efforts were in vain because the subway was so crammed with people there was barely any room to move. In addition, with his back up against the glass door, it was hurting the wings he was hiding in his shirt. "You jump rooftops? I haven't done that before. I prefer to fly when I can."

At that moment, the subway lurched as it hit a stop, and since James had nothing to hold onto, he grabbed onto Raphael with one hand to keep from falling into the person next to him and held his cap with the other to make sure it didn't come off either.

"Just a little bit?" Raphael repeated, a bit incredulous that James was a celebrity all along. Just as he said so, an advertisement that included James's face on it whooshed by. "Oh... I think I just saw you. They caught a very nice angle of your face."

He grinned a bit at James's teasing. It was true. Last time they had met, he had found James very inexperienced in certain areas, for a several century year old zero at least. "You should try jumping rooftops with me then--another first! Unfortunately, I don't have wings like you."

When the subway lurched to a stop, Raphael was nearly pulled off the train by James's sudden grabbing. He dug his foot in to regain his balance and held onto James by grabbing onto his waist. Throwing James what he thought was a charming smile, he said, "Hold on tight~" He waited until the doors shut again to let go of James's waist, casually ghosting his hand over his butt before removing it completely.

James was almost pulled off of the train when Raphael grabbed him and pulled him in close. When the other zero's hand touched his butt, James looked at him with a smile and whispered, "Not in public."

During the ride to the next stop, James used his arm to push himself away from the glass door so that his wings would not be crushed. This basically caused him to push himself really close to Raphael for the duration of the ride. When the doors finally opened at their stop, James simply had to back up a few feet and he was off.

Adjusting his hat and his glasses, he said, "Alright, we're finally off of that thing." He looked around to see which staircase he had to take up and started walking towards it. James already had a set course to go through the city. He planned the shops he was going to for that day.

Raphael gave James a small, pouting look at his refusal to allow any butt-groping, but was satisfied with the close proximity of their bodies for the remaining duration of the train ride. When James stepped out of the subway, he followed suit. He walked closely behind James into the streets of the city, balking rudely at passerby.

"James, are we nearly there?" he asked, thinking that James was leading him to his destination. He was taking in the sights and smells as they walked at a very brisk face. Simultaneously, his mind was still processing the fact that James was famous. And thus, probably rich. And rich people had big beds. And that was good for--

He looked around, realizing that he wasn't at a tea festival, but at a place for... shopping? He gave James a confused look. "Where are we?"

"Almost," James replied as he weaved in and out of the crowd of people walking around the shopping district. He was so preoccupied with making it to the first store that he didn't realize Raphael never gave him his destination as well.

When he finally made it to the store, he placed a hand on the handle and was about to pull it open. "We're in the shopping district," he said, a little confused. "See?" James waved his hand around to show Raphael the lines of clothing stores. "Where were you headed? You never told me." He stepped away from the door of the store so that people could go in and out without having him block the way as he waited for the other zero to answer.

Raphael looked around to see himself on a busy street, lined with stores all selling high end fashion. He gave James a confused look and looked around again. "...where's the tea?"

"Oh! I never told you?" He sighed and said jokingly, "Wow, I must really be getting old." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a flyer for the tea festival he was looking to go to. "Do you know where this would be? Of course... I can wait for you to do your shopping if you really need it done, since we're here anyways."

He looked through the store windows curiously. Raphael never spent much time shopping for clothes, and usually ended up wearing outfits that were completely mismatched. He only needed to look fabulous when naked, after all.

James couldn't help but smile a bit at the old joke. Taking the flyer, James took a look at it and saw that it was another stop after the one they had just gotten off of. "The stop for the tea festival was the one after this one. We'll have to get back on it, unless you want to walk there."

Thinking for a moment, he returned the flyer to Raphael and said, "Well, I already know what I need to get so it won't be too long. I just need to go in and out of a few stores, and the festival lasts a while so we'll make it there on time." Turning back to the store, he opened the door and quickly walked in to buy what he needed. After doing the same at a few more stores, he was done and had a few small bags in his hands. "Alright, I'm done. Now we can head back to the subway and get off at the next stop," he said as he started off towards the subway again.

He hadn't planned on going to the tea festival but he was kind of glad Raphael had shown up all of a sudden wanting to go. At least it gave James something enjoyable to do instead of returning to his apartment and being bored the rest of the day.

After waiting for James to finish shopping, Raphael followed James to the Tea Festival. He was glad to have James lead the way, since without him, his trip would have probably failed. He was also glad because, well, James was rather good in bed. And he was pretty sure he would be able to sleep with him tonight.

After they reached the stop for the Tea Festival, Raphael could clearly see signs of celebration. The air was a strange but nice aromatic mix of different teas. He breathed in, his sensitive nose able to discern at least three or four different teas that were closest to them. "Here we are! Thanks James," he said, patting the other zero on the shoulder. Even though he didn't know any Mandarin, he was able to effective communicate whether or not he wanted to try the tea (sometimes without even asking) or buy it. By the end of the day, he had four bags full of tea.

He sighed happily at the end of it all, his stomach full of liquid from trying so many teas. Looking over at James, he asked with a grin, "So, how was that? I dragged you along but I hope you still enjoyed it. Find any teas you liked?" He gestured down at his bags. "I probably bought it."

"That wasn't half bad," he conceded as they continued to walk. "I liked the second one you bought." James couldn't really remember the name of it, since Raphael had tried so many teas in between. James tried a few as well, but only a third of the amount that Raphael did. Adjusting his cap and glasses again, he started off towards the subway back to his apartment. He heard it roll in, and gestured to Raphael to move quickly before they missed it. The ride back wasn't as crammed as it was earlier that day, but it was still pretty packed. This time they were able to at least stand semi comfortably until they reached his place.

Taking his keys out, he unlocked the door to his flat and opened the door. James kicked his shoes off and tossed the cap onto the sofa while he pulled his shirt up slightly and uncoiled the tail that he had wrapped around his abdomen to hide all day. He let it move around freely now that he didn't have to hide it.

Letting out a sigh, he placed his shopping bags on the coffee table.

"If you haven't had enough tea, I can make it for you when we get to your place," Raphael offered. He tried looking at the subway map on the ride back, but gave up after about ten seconds. It was making his eyes water.

When they reached James's apartment, Raphael was surprised at how nice it was. Well, he was surprised about a lot of things regarding James's popularity in the area. He looked around nosily, closely examining the choice of decor. It was a lot more modern than he would have liked, but he wasn't complaining.

He sat down on the couch and whistled suggestively when James unraveled his tail. "That can't be comfortable, having it wrapped up all the time like that."

Stretching a bit as he took of the glasses, James placed them on the coffee table too. "It's not," he replied. "You get used to it though."

He was tempted to take his shirt off too so that his wings weren't restrained, but decided against it. "The wings however . . . " he started. "That I will never get used to."

James picked up his shopping bags again and walked over to his room, placing them on the ground inside before coming back out and closing the door behind him. "So, where are you staying while you're here in China?" he asked.

"Wings?" Raphael repeated as James expressed his complaint. He remembered James's wings from... the last time they had met. They had certainly made things more difficult. He peered at James's back as he put his bags down.

"If they're making you uncomfortable, you should just take your shirt off," he called with a wink. "It's not like I haven't see it all before."

When James came back and confronted him with the question, Raphael grinned sheepishly. He had booked a hotel but now that he was at James's place, he wanted to see if he could mooch off and live here instead. It was much more comfortable, and also gave him the chance to sleep with him. Their last encounter was rather enjoyable, and it wasn't often Raphael met another Zero who was willing to do so. "I haven't found a place yet actually." He grinned, looking at bit embarrassed.

James ran his fingers through his hair and sighed as he sat on the love seat next to the couch. "You came to China without any place to stay?" he laughed. "How daring."

He paused for a bit and decided to offer to let Raphael stay with him for a bit. He spent most of his days bored anyways, and with Raphael here he would at least have something to do. Perhaps he'd take Raphael up on roof top jumping one of those days.

"Well, if you don't have a place to stay, you're welcome to stay here. As you can see I have plenty of space," he said waving a hand around the room. "If not, I can always make a call to a hotel for you, and you can stay there. Either way, it's your choice," he smiled.

"I'll stay here then, if that's okay," Raphael responded, almost a little too quickly. He chuckled and then gestured towards the mounds of tea now sitting on the ground.

"As thank you, I could make you some tea," he offered. He wondered if maybe it was too soon after the Tea Festival, but he was always in the mood for tea and would make it anyway if James refused. "I bought many different kinds, including ones with some very unique qualities." The one tea he was most excited to try out also acted as an aphrodisiac. As he thought about it, an unconscious smile came onto his face.

James was a little happy that Raphael decided to stay. The place was too quiet for his taste, and the city too loud. Having a housemate for a little while would be something to look forward to.

"Really?" James repeated, curious as to what kind of unique qualities the tea could have. "Like what?"

Seeing the smile creep onto Raphael's face, he smiled as well. James found it really interesting how much Raphael liked tea. Getting up from the chair, he walked over to the kitchen and pulled out a teapot that he rarely used since he usually went out to eat and drink. "Here, you can use whatever you want," he said, looking around to see if he had any cups.