Luka laughed so hard that some of his beer spilled out of the bottle in his hand. 

He and Xander had moved to the couch after Xander dropped his bags off in his room. They sat side by side, knees almost touching but not quite—a fact Luka was conscious of. They caught up on everything they missed from each other's lives over the past several months. 

“Wait, so what happened next?” Luka encouraged Xander to elaborate on his story of how his former coworker had to wait for his dog to pass stool because it had accidentally swallowed the ring he was planning to propose to his girlfriend with. 

“So we gave the dog some laxatives to speed up the process,” Xander explained. “But not a lot, just enough to get the job done.”

“And it worked?”

“It worked! But, oh man, you should have seen the mess it made!” 

The two shared a hearty laugh as Xander used his hands to demonstrate the size of the dog's mess. It was huge.

“Anyway,” Xander continued. “Now they're engaged.”

“Congrats to them,” Luka said, bringing the bottle up to his lips. “Does his fiancé know?”

“I don't think so.” Xander mimicked Luka's actions and took a swig from his own drink. “Would you accept a ring if you knew it came out of a dog's ass?”

Luka hummed while considering the question. He lifted his left hand up between them, inspecting the bareness of his fingers. 

“Probably not. But in all fairness, I don't plan to get married in the future either.”

Xander raised a brow. 

“Like, at all?” he asked. 

“Yeah, nah. Marriage isn't for me.” Luka lowered his hand back onto his lap. “You?”

Now it was Xander's turn to raise his hand. Although it was also devoid of any jewellery, there was a bandaid wrapped around his index finger that caught Luka's attention. 

“I don't know,” Xander answered in a pensive voice. “I figure I'd get married when I met the right person, and if they gave me a dogshit ring, then so what? Not like I haven't seen one before.”

“As long as it's been washed and disinfected.”

They laughed again as Xander lowered his arm. He shifted his posture to face towards Luka, bringing one leg up onto the couch. Now it was Luka’s turn to mimic Xander, also turning his body to face him, but Luka kept his hands on his lap as he brought both legs up and crossed them. 

“What happened to your finger?” he asked before taking another sip.

“Oh, this?” Xander brought his hand back up between them. “Cut myself while cooking.”

“You cook?” Luka asked, a mix of disbelief and amusement in his voice. 

For all the years the two men had known each other, Xander had never cooked in front of Luka. When they were sleeping together, there were a handful of times when Luka made Xander breakfast after a night of vigorous sex, but never the reverse. 

“No, well, sort of… I'm trying,” Xander replied. 

Without thinking, Luka reached forward to take hold of Xander's hand, turning it over to inspect the other side. His palm was more callous than Luka remembered, but the warmth was familiar. 

“What were you making?” he asked, instinctively brushing his thumb against Xander's dry skin. 

Not deterred by the sudden contact—in fact, Xander secretly welcomed it—Xander allowed Luka to handle him as they continued talking. 

“Greek salad,” he answered. 

Luka's amethyst eyes peered up. 

“You cut yourself while making salad?” He tried to hold back his laughter. 

Scoffing loudly, Xander rolled his eyes as he retorted. “When was the last time you cooked something?”

“This morning, as a matter of fact,” Luka answered smugly. “Fried an egg with my mi goreng.” 

“What's mi goreng?” Xander asked. 

With an over-the-top gasp, Luka slipped his hand away from Xander's—much to Xander's disappointment—and pressed it against his chest. 

“What's mi goreng?!” he repeated incredulously. “Only the most delicious noodle dish of all time!” 

Xander shook his head as he shrugged his shoulders. “Never heard of it.”

“Mate, I'll make you some for dinner tomorrow. We’ll get some culture into you.” 

“Yeah? Late night beer and home-cooked meals? Looks like I made the right choice moving in with you.”

“I told you, I'm amazing to live with.”

Luka took another sip of his beer, finishing the last of his drink. He inspected the bottle before pushing himself off the couch and standing. 

“Alright, I'm done for the night,” he declared. “Take your time with your drink.”

The look on Xander's face told Luka he wanted to stay up talking for longer. It was honestly endearing, but not the kind of face one should make towards their platonic roommate. 

“What time do you usually wake up in the morning?” Xander managed to ask. 

“Around 7:30,” Luka answered. “Why?”

Xander's grip on his bottle tightened. “Wanna have breakfast together?” 

Luka smiled. “Sure! But you're cooking.”

Xander's face lit up. “Fine by me.”

Taking his empty bottle into the kitchen and dropping it into the recycling bin under the sink, Luka said his final goodnight to Xander before heading into the bathroom. He brushed his teeth and splashed some cold water on his face, letting it air-dry as he headed back to his bedroom. 

He stripped down to his undies, a pair of light grey boxer briefs, and collapsed onto his bed. Pulling the duvet over his body, the cool cotton fabric felt nice as it glided along his warm bare skin. Luka closed his violet eyes and waited for sleep to take him. 

But sleep didn't take him instantly. Luka wanted something else—someone else—to take him. 

He raised his left hand to his face. He felt the residual warmth of Xander's hand in his own, and then a wave of nostalgia washed over him as he recalled all the ways that Xander had used that hand to touch him in the past. The heat spread from his palms down to his arm, flowing from his arm straight through his chest and settling below his stomach. 

Luka inhaled a sharp breath. 

‘I need to get laid,’ he thought to himself as he proceeded not to sleep.