text: In the past, investigations had led Cooper down claustrophobic crevasses to hell, deep into the grim waters of a marina, trekking across the snowy tundra and stumbling over more bodies than he cared to remember. If the worst this case required him to do was to ask covert questions while rubbing warm oil into Park's bare skin, he thought that was only fair. In fact, he felt owed.
  
  In front of him, Park was lying facedown on the massage table with a towel draped over his ass. His skin glistened and there was a faint smell of almonds in the room.
  
  "So how long have you been working here?" Cooper asked, pushing his thumbs in expanding, concentric circles under Park's shoulder blade, like Reggie had demonstrated.
  
  "Almost four months now," she said softly, and readjusted his hands a little.
  
  "It's a much smaller staff than we expected," Cooper said. "Is it always just the five of you?"
  
  "We make it work," she said, sidestepping yet another question. She'd been very reluctant to talk the whole lesson, constantly redirecting to point out specific muscle groupings that were "under strain after walking upright all day" or encouraging them to talk among themselves and forget she was there, which seemed impossible and bizarre.
  
  "Here. Watch this." She kneaded the heels of her hands up Park's lower back on either side of his spine. Cooper noticed they were unexpectedly large for a person of her height. Strong looking. A masseuse's hands, maybe. Was that a thing? "Now you."
  
  Cooper imitated the movement and felt Park shiver a little beneath him. He searched for a different approach. "What's all this news about a missing logger?"
  
  Reggie jerked in place, quickly turning to grab more oil. "Monty's just trying to cause trouble," she said. "If I know Lee, he's probably passed out in his car somewhere."
  
  "You know him?"
  
  Reggie blushed faintly, but it was there. "No, I—I mean, a little. We'd run into each other in town, sometimes."
  
  "Hmm. The ranger who was here said he got into a fight with the grounds guy. Is that the same guy who made you the shadow light?"
  
  "That was just a ridiculous misunderstanding," she said. "Kreuger thought... It doesn't matter. He was wrong. Some people just look for any excuse to fight and say it's because they were looking out for you. But I've been looking out for myself for a long time." She shook her head as if annoyed for speaking. "Let's work on your adjustments now." Reggie asked Park to turn over. "When was the last time you shifted?"
  
  Cooper was surprised by the question, but Park just maneuvered casually to his back, keeping the towel in place and said, "Last night."
  
  "Any sticky spots you want to work on today?"
  
  "No," Park said quickly. There had been some change in the air from relaxed and gentle to tense, anticipatory. Almost like both she and Park were steeling themselves for something.
  
  "Have you ever done this before?" she asked Cooper.
  
  "Done what? A ma-massage?" he stuttered, confused.
  
  Reggie gave him an odd look: part pity, part disbelief. Park too was looking at him with something reluctant in his gaze. "We don't need to do this part," he said.
  
  "No," Cooper protested, quickly. "I want to learn."
  
  Park bit his lip but nodded at Reggie. "Watch me first and then you can do his other half," she said, and took hold of Park's fingers, squeezing them a couple of times before gripping his wrist while her other hand rubbed up his arm to lay flat against his chest.
  
  Cooper was expecting her to gently stretch the muscle or something when suddenly she yanked on his arm, twisting it at the same time. If it made a sound, Cooper couldn't hear over the sound of his own surprised yell. Park's arm was pretty obviously dislocated and...backward. Then Reggie shook it, like shaking dust out of a rug, and it clacked back into place.
  
  After a while Cooper realized he'd been staring silently for too long and looked up to see Park and Reggie watching him cautiously.
  
  I don't want to do that, Cooper thought. I don't. I just don't.
  
  He gently took hold of Park's other fingers and squeezed them, once, twice. His other hand rubbed up his arm to rest against his chest, just as he'd seen Reggie do. Took a deep breath. Then another.
  
  Park's other hand came down gently on his wrist just before he pulled. "I think that's enough for today. Do you mind if we stop here, Reggie?" he asked without looking away from Cooper.
  
  "Of course," she said quickly. "The room is yours for the rest of the hour. Just let me know if you need anything."
  
  She bustled out of the room. Cooper barely saw her go. He was staring at his own shaking hand still pressed flat against Park's chest.
  
  "I can do this," he said after Reggie had left the room.
  
  "I know," Park said simply. "And I'll probably ask you to sometime. But not today. Not here, like this." He let go of Cooper's wrist. "Just kiss me for a moment," he requested.
  
  Cooper bent over and pressed their lips together gently. Then not so gently when Park immediately parted their lips and demanded more. He smelled like the perfumed oils that were both pleasant and irritating because they disrupted his normal scent, and Cooper brushed his hand firmly down his slick chest. He felt him surge upward, kissing him harder, more insistently.
  
  He didn't understand why Park wasn't touching him until he realized that while both their hands were covered in oil, only Cooper was wearing clothes and Park was conscientiously not ruining them.
  
  Cooper smiled against Park's mouth—big, considerate dope—and then pulled away, enjoying the small whimper of protest Park made before sighing and relaxing back onto the massage table.
  
  "Now who's hungry?" Cooper asked teasingly.
  
  "Starving," Park said. "For you, I'm always starving."
  
  Cooper ran his hand down Park's torso and over the towel that was doing a poor job of keeping him decent. He squeezed the growing bulge there and rubbed gently.
  
  For the second time, Park caught his wrist. "But you promised me we'd eat and then see how you're feeling first."
  
  Cooper opened his mouth.
  
  "Real food and not whatever obscene pun you're about to make."
  
  "I didn't realize I was that predictable," Cooper pouted. "I don't know how good it can be for our relationship if I can't surprise you anymore."
  
  Park barked laughter. "Cooper, there hasn't been a single day you've haven't shocked and amazed since the time you started sniffing me, a complete stranger, in the metro. Let's not worry about becoming boring quite yet."