The focus on Raju's face looks a little excited, now. His gaze is sharp, and his lips are pressed tightly together, with a smile pulling up at their edges. One pass on each side, a very careful few movements with the corner of the blade here in the middle, and then—
Raju slides off the bench, hand squeezing Francis' as he lets go of it so he can stand in front of him, taking the whole of the picture in at once. His eyes dart over Francis' face, creased up at their edges as his smile breaks out from its restraints. He presses his lips together again, but the pleasure and excitement's already escaped. He rinses the blade in the water, puts it aside, dips his hands in the pine-needle water to smooth it over Francis' face, washing the stray spots and lines of lather away, all without looking away for more than an instant at a time.
"There you are," he murmurs, hands settling onto Francis' cheeks, smooth under his palms. His thumbs trace the curve of that now-visible upper lip, starting at the middle and working out. The shock of the difference is lesser than it would have been if Raju hadn't been the one shaving him; it's a transformation, but Raju's been eased into it. He would have been this pleased either way. "You know, some men look exactly the same whether they've got a beard or not. Not you."
no subject
Raju slides off the bench, hand squeezing Francis' as he lets go of it so he can stand in front of him, taking the whole of the picture in at once. His eyes dart over Francis' face, creased up at their edges as his smile breaks out from its restraints. He presses his lips together again, but the pleasure and excitement's already escaped. He rinses the blade in the water, puts it aside, dips his hands in the pine-needle water to smooth it over Francis' face, washing the stray spots and lines of lather away, all without looking away for more than an instant at a time.
"There you are," he murmurs, hands settling onto Francis' cheeks, smooth under his palms. His thumbs trace the curve of that now-visible upper lip, starting at the middle and working out. The shock of the difference is lesser than it would have been if Raju hadn't been the one shaving him; it's a transformation, but Raju's been eased into it. He would have been this pleased either way. "You know, some men look exactly the same whether they've got a beard or not. Not you."