After getting hired at the Nordic spa, Randal doesn’t feel confident in his ability to give proper massages to clients. You’re supposed to have a license for this kind of thing, he barely even has training. He works up the courage asks Dwayne if he can practice on him. Dwayne refuses the first 3 times Randal asks but gives in the 4th time. It’s not that he doesn’t want a massage, he would love a free massage. The problem was Randal. Randal’s hands on him, touching his body. His soft, innocent hands on Dwayne’s dirty, scarred, blood-stained body. The hands that belonged to the man who kept him up at night, the man he longed for. It wasn’t right.

Dwayne couldn’t keep saying no, Randal obviously wanted this. He wanted to do something nice for him, a thank-you for the trip they went on a few weeks prior. A gift for bringing him along.

Before Dwayne arrives, Randal cleans up his living room and prepares it for his guest. Lighting candles and setting cheese and crackers on his fanciest china; a hand-me-down from his dear aunt, it’s chipped in at least 3 different places. He brings out an expensive bottle of lotion he borrowed from the spa and lays a soft towel over his couch. He sure hopes Dwayne doesn’t mind his feet hanging over the edge of the couch, he might be a bit too big…

Dwayne knocks on the door at 7pm sharp, right on time. Randal welcomes him in and tells him to take his shirt off then lay on his back on the couch, Dwayne does exactly that. He’s extremely tense, every muscle in his body is tight. He’s never been shirtless around Randal, he’s never been touched like this by anyone. He’s so nervous, it feels like hes sweating out of every pore. Randal notices this and tells him it’s okay, he won’t do anything weird, haha.

Randal walks up to the end of the couch and asks if it’s alright to start, Dwayne silently nods and Randal puts a bit of lotion on his hands. Randal’s hands are about to make contact with Dwayne’s face as he starts crying. It starts out slow, a few tears rolling down his cheeks, his lip slightly quivering; but he eventually turns in to a shaking, teary, runny-nosed mess. Randal pulls his hands away and asks if everything’s alright, he says he doesn’t have to do this.

He’s not even sure why he’s crying. Maybe it’s the thought of Randal touching him softly and sweetly, or maybe it’s the nerves, it could be the fact that he’s never been touched kindly in his life. No one has laid a hand on him that wasn’t meant to hurt, no one cared enough. He grew up surrounded by terrible, abusive assholes. His sister was the only person in his family who even dared to show compassion to him, it was usually in the form of comfort or endearment. Never anything like this.

Dwayne tells Randal that it’s just “something new”, he doesn't say anything more than that. Randal nods and asks if it’s alright to keep going, he doesn’t want to push him too far. Any time he would try to place a hand on him for comfort, Dwayne seemed to cower away from it. It was such a tender moment, Randal has never seen Dwayne cry; he assumed he couldn’t even cry, it seemed so otherworldly.

It didn’t take Dwayne long to stop crying, he stopped almost instantly, as if on cue. A survival tactic he had learned from his childhood: cry long enough to let it out, but don’t let anyone see you. Randal was okay, Randal wouldn’t hurt him. Dwayne told Randal to continue, so he did. Randal lightly massaged Dwayne’s face, some tears still rolled down his cheeks but he was sure they were happy tears. Hopefully. Dwayne wasn’t stopping him, he seemed calm for once.

It was nice to see Dwayne blissful. His eyes closed, his face relaxed, a soft smile on his lips. It made Randal feel all mushy inside. Oh, how he loved him. He really deserves this, you know, he’s nothing but good to Randal. Taking him on trips, driving him out to town, buying him small gifts. He somehow knew exactly what Randal wanted, even if he hadn’t mentioned it. He’s such a nice guy, Randal imagines what it would be like to date him as he works his way down to his shoulders.

Rubbing small circles in to Dwayne’s shoulders, he watches his chest rise up and down. Is he asleep? Already? It’s kind of sweet. Randal continues massaging his shoulders and neck for the next 30 minutes until his hands start to get tired. When he finishes, Dwayne is still fast asleep. Randal watches him for a bit until he feels gross and creepy about it and stops. Something about doing that felt weird, a little too real somehow.

Randal lays a blanket over Dwayne and blows out a few candles, he sits down in his patched-up recliner and opens his phone. Responding to text messages and checking his emails (he’s one popular guy!), he eventually falls asleep; his phone falling on to his chest and his head rolling back. Dwayne wakes up shortly after and gets up, looking around the room. He sees Randal sleeping in the old recliner and lays a blanket over him. He's too good to him, he's too good in general. This world doesn't deserve him. Dwayne returns to the couch and watches him sleep, unbothered by that sickly disgusting feeling in his stomach.