Paul watched enraptured as Gabriel arched into his nails, as fluid as a cat leaning in for a good scratching. No matter the pain, Gabriel never flinched, never away, not from Paul's touch. The sight alone was almost enough to forgive the boy his transgressions but Paul waited patiently for an answer, his cool hand laying almost casually on one of Gabriel's mottled ass cheeks.<br/><br/>He idly palmed it as Gabriel spoke, a placid massage of the abused flesh, completely aware the boy would delight in the aching sting. Paul knew he was being incredibly indulgent, rewarding such bad behavior with benevolent touches but he couldnt quite stop himself. Punishment for Gabriel was complicated as the boy was a true masochist. The crueler the beatings, the sharper the agony, the more he loved it, so any real discipline had to be the exact opposite. It had to be gentleness or nothing at all.<br/><br/>But Paul had missed his boy too much to stop touching him, even if he was being a brat.<br/><br/>"Your birthday..." Paul repeated with a raised brow.<br/><br/>They've never really discussed things beyond the confines of their bed play. Here they were nothing more than their roles, punisher and sinner, while their personal lives stayed firmly locked behind the door. To hear something that intimate, that personal, was a little unexpected.<br/><br/>Of course Paul knew Gabriel's birthday. It had been part of the background check he had done on the boy when Eddy had hired him to model, but for some reason (probably the time zone shift from Paris since he had come directly from the airport) he didnt connect that day to today. He also didnt take Gabriel to be so sentimental about it, but for some reason Paul felt he should have known. He was always punctual on birthdays as that was the easiest way to ingratiate someone towards him, a bouquet of flowers and an expensive and tasteful gift sent with a beautifully calligraphed note was just good networking.<br/><br/>Paul doubted Gabriel wanted such things. The way he said it, it seemed like Paul's presence was his birthday wish come true. And wasnt that just the sweetest?<br/><br/>Struck with a sudden idea, Paul patted Gabriel's red bottom before taking a seat on the bed next to him.<br/><br/>"Stand up, let me see that pretty face," Paul said.<br/><br/>It would be an awkward position for Gabriel, bound as he was he could do little more than prop himself up on his hands and twist around to look at Paul. It seemed uncomfortable, the contortion of his body, which was why Paul had told him to do it.<br/><br/>"Well, birthday boy," Paul said, and his voice sounded utterly strange. It was no longer its usually flat disinterest but instead warm and emotive,<i>charming. </i>He gave Gabriel a smile he usually reserved for his clients, a carefully constructed mask that was handsome and polite and disarmingly friendly. It was an expression Gabriel had seen at art galleries and socialite parties, but never directed at him before. "And just how old are we now?"