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Luke sagged into the leather-bound couch, a cup of herbal tea in hand; the television had a nature documentary on deers playing.
Danny hung on the arm of the couch, scrolling through TikTok with his volume loud enough Luke could follow each short-lived joke.
Until a minute into the documentary when Danny put his phone down and stared at Luke, a hand under his chin and a lofty-smile on his face.
"Why you watching me like that?" Luke asked, sizing Danny from the corner of his eye.
"Like what?"
"Like you wanna eat me or sumin. It's creepy, Danny."
Danny shot a wide-grin. "I just think you're cute." He said.
The words hit Luke behind his ears and struck his cheeks like a match, making him pause and shuffle himself.
"I'm not cute." He said, coaxing his face to be placid.
"Whaaat? You're like the cutest person I know," Danny argued. "You pet all Danielle's plushies when you're cleaning her room kinda cute."
"They're plushies, they're 'sposed to be pet—."
"—you refuse to watch any documentaries that end up with the deer or gazelle or whatever being hurt kinda cute." Danny continued, and Luke looked him head-on.
"Who wants to watch a deer get hurt?" He punctuated. "Point is, I'm not cute."
"You are." Danny spit back.
"'M not."
"Are to."
"Am not, Danny, and am not gonna tell you again." Luke finished. His cheeks were crackling, heated to the top of his forehead.
Danny slid off the arm of the couch and crowded Luke's face. "You get flustered that I call you cute kinda cute. You're that cute." He said and Luke was empty handed for a reply, instead staring Danny wide-eyed; blood flickered under his cheeks and ran laps in his chest; he thought Danny could hear it from the short distance.
"See?" Danny grinned. "Cute!"
Luke had no more arguments for the night.