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"You especially,"he said. "I get nervous aroundyou."

"Well, don't."

"You can't just say'well, don't,’" Kell said. "I can't help it. I'm not used to your attitude. And... and,yeah."

"And, yeah?"

"Nothing. That's it."

He eyed Kell.He was still looking out the window, kneading his hands in his lap. Parker reached over and grabbed Kell's wrist. Kell looked over, his eyes wide withsurprise.

"Uh..."

"Cut that out,"Parker said, letting go of his wrist. "It's irritating." It was strange to admit it, but he felt a slight thrill touching him like that. He'd felt it earlier in the day, when he'd pushed Kell back and grabbed him when he was about to fall. It wasn't a feeling he would've ever thought he'd associate with Kell, but there it was. He liked touching him. He liked feeling Kell in hishands.

"Sorry,"Kellmumbled.

As much asKell's submissive personality annoyed Parker, he was beginning to find that it equally turned himon.

He pulledinto the parking lot of Send Noods, and the two of them went inside and got a table in the corner. It was a weekday night, and the restaurant was fairly empty. They ordered their food, and Kell pulled out hissketchbook.

"So,this is what I was thinking," he said, opening his sketchbook. "The assignment says it's for a demographic of betas aged twenty-fiveto--"

Parker stood up."I can't see a damn thing." He went over to Kell's side of the table and sat down next to him, leaning over to look at the sketches in the book. His shoulder touched Kell's. "Alright.Continue."

"Uh,okay. Well... It's, um. It's for a demographic of betas aged twenty-five to forty-five. So I wasthinking..."

Was Kell blushing?His face had definitely taken on a slight shade of pink. Come to think of it, he'd gone red after that moment in the studio, too. Did touching him get himembarrassed?

Parker sat quietly,listening to Kell's reasons for the decisions he'd made for the mockup sketches, their shoulders still touching. When Kell finished, he took the sketchbook from his hands and pulled out apencil.

"Do you mind?"Parkerasked.

"Go for it."

He drewnext to Kell's sketches, taking the elements he thought worked and adding his own. He worked quickly, loosely, the pencil flying across the paper. In five minutes, he had a new mockup done at the same level of rendering detail as Kell's. "What you did works on a general level. But once you look at the type of designs and ads that betas in that demographic actually respond to, you'll learn that this type of composition isn't very attractive. Simpler is better." He turned the sketchbook back to Kell. "Something likethis."

"That's amazing,"Kell said. "You did that so fucking fast. It took me an hour just to come up with one ofthese..."

"Itold you,it's experience. I grind through hundreds of these types of drawings every day forwork."

"Sounds brutal."

"Iguessyou have to take what you can get as an artist, sometimes. Anyway, what you did was good for our class. Professor Young would've given it an A, and it would've been better than everyone else's work.But..."

"We don't wantto do something that's just good for class," Kellsaid.

"Right."

The waiter cameover with their bowls of noodles, and Parker stood up and went back around to the other side of the table. He felt a strange feeling the moment their shoulders separated. He could feel the lingering warmth of that tiny point of contact where they'd been touching, and he actuallylonged for more. He was startled by the feeling but didn't let it show through. Kell quickly packed away his sketchbook, lookingflustered.

They both ate in silence,and Parker found himself taking occasionally glances at Kell as he sucked down the noodles. Weird thoughts were going through hishead.

Idon'tlike him like that,he thought.Or maybe I don't want to like him like that. But it's fucking weird. I've never felt this waybefore.

But in the end,it didn't really matter. Nothing was going to happen between them. He sure as hell wasn't going to do anything, and he knew for certain that Kell wouldn't either, even if he did feel anything for him. Kell was too timid for that. And besides, Parker knew that Kell thought he was a dick. He knew he didn't really like him verymuch.

That was fine.All that mattered was getting this project over with and making something they could both be proudof.