Beta Test (#gaymers) (16 page)

They reached for the heavy canvas slipcovers at the same time. Tristan had made sure that the coverings stayed on the largest set pieces, as the higher-ups had given strict orders that the big reveal of their innovative personalization options for the persistent universe for
Space Villager
be part of a carefully orchestrated campaign to roll out the next phase of the game.

Making quick work of removing the covers, they stowed them under one of the tables and stood back to admire the booth. It was gorgeous—large lightweight panels showcasing Ravi’s conceptual drawings of the new features of the universe with three-dimensional space colonies and ships popping out of the panels. The ships were—

“Upside down?” Ravi frowned and pointed to a panel on the end, and holy crap, he was right. The panel was upside down, the ship’s cockpit pointed straight at the floor instead of skyward.

“Oh heck. I screwed up.”

“Don’t worry about that right now.” Ravi gave him a quick pat on the shoulder. “We’ve got to fix it. I assume the tools are back in the truck?”

“Yeah, but I’ve got a screwdriver right here.” Tristan pulled out the multi-tool he kept on his key chain.

“I love your Boy Scout preparedness.” Ravi took the tool from him.

Tristan moved to brace the panel while Ravi unscrewed it. They worked in quick concert, getting the panel turned.
We make a good team.
With Patrick, there would have been a lot of finger-pointing and blaming, but with Ravi there was only a united effort to fix things.

“Done.” Ravi smiled at him. “Now we can admire it for real.”

“It’s a fabulous display.” An unfamiliar feminine voice made them both whip around. A diminutive woman with turquoise streaks in her hair stood at the edge of their booth. “I’m Helen Cho from
Gamer Universe
, and I spoke to—” she glanced down at a tablet “—Rex and let him know I’d be stopping by first thing.”

Whoa.
This was the big time—the largest gaming publication and one of the most respected gaming reporters, known for her hard-nosed reporting in an industry that didn’t always treat female journalists the best.

“Ravi Tandel.” Ravi stuck out a hand. “And this is Tristan Jones. And we’re not in the PR department, but we’ll try our best to answer your questions.”

Bless Ravi and his ever-present charm.

“Well, we want the scoop on these persistent universe changes. How will it affect the user experience?”

Ravi glanced at Tristan. “I think Tris has some pamphlets describing the personalization options. Basically, though, you can craft a universe that includes all users or one that has only you and your friends, or an individualized universe where you can select certain users you don’t want to interact with.”

“And are these changes designed to cut down on cartels taking over certain sectors and harassment?”

Ravi gave Tristan a helpless look, and Tristan took the cue to produce the brochures as well as one of his spreadsheets from his project folder. “As you can see here, these are surveys with the most common user complaints, and all the changes we’re unveiling this week are designed to address those complaints.”

It was a bit disconcerting watching her tap on her tablet, knowing that she was live-tweeting their answers.
Gotta get this right.

Helen took the papers and proceeded to ask follow-up questions that he and Ravi handled way better than Tristan would have predicted. They were the last two guys that
Space Villager
probably wanted as its spokesmen, but they weren’t embarrassing themselves.

“Wow. You really know your stuff,” Helen said at one point, making Tristan grin at Ravi.

What Tristan liked best was how he and Ravi took turns answering with unspoken signals, never talking over each other, and alternating between Ravi’s charm and Tristan’s documentation. Ravi made her laugh over the ship swag packs while Tristan explained their significance.

Helen got a thoughtful expression on her face. “You guys are such...”

Please for the love of God
,
don’t say
“
a
cute couple.
”
I
really want more Ravi kisses tonight
,
but if he thinks we’re being outed as a couple
,
he won’t want to go there anymore.

“...a great team,” Helen finished up, and Tristan couldn’t hide his exhale.

“Thanks.” Ravi said, giving Tristan a questioning look out of the corner of his eyes. “We’re happy to help.”

“Helen! You made it!” Robert and an entourage of front-office people approached the booth. “What do you need to know?”

“Nothing, actually.” She had a gamine grin that said she wasn’t the least bit intimidated by the
Space Villager
brass. “Your guys here did a terrific job explaining everything. Now, I’m off to write my feature, and I’ll see you all at the panel tomorrow.”

“Well, look at that,” Rex said as Helen departed. “You guys actually pulled this off.”

“Oh yeah. It was no problem.” Ravi shrugged, but as soon as the executives were busy admiring the booth, he gave Tristan a warm glance that contained all the memories of the past few days.

No problem indeed.
Tristan returned Ravi’s gaze, sealing the pact that all the hassles they’d encountered would remain just between them. And why that made him feel all gooshy inside to have their journey be only for the two of them, he couldn’t say.

* * *

One of the things Ravi loved most in life was eating out with a big group of friends. Thus, he should have been thrilled when Robert and the rest of the team invited him and Tristan to join them at a steakhouse near the convention center. But instead, he was weirdly unsettled.

“I’m never eating seafood again.” Rex shuddered as they walked over to the restaurant.

“I’m happy to be able to eat
anything
again,” Adrian added. He was in a great mood, holding his boyfriend Noah’s hand as they walked up the steep sidewalk. Noah was a consultant on archeology and geology issues for the game and wasn’t technically needed for the panel, but he’d accompanied Adrian because they were totally still in that lovey-dovey “can’t sleep without you” phase. Katya and Mark were a bit ahead of them, also with linked hands.

All the happy couples made Ravi’s teeth ache. For his part, he’d made sure that Tristan was in front of Katya and Mark. He didn’t need any temptation next to him. All day he’d alternated between wishing he could touch Tristan and cursing himself for getting in this situation. Especially when Katya and Mark arrived and revealed they’d gotten a room in a hotel five minutes away.

I
should have done that.
Guilt pricked at Ravi, made him testy and snappish as the day dragged on.

At the restaurant, he ended up seated next to Adrian and Noah and all their domestic bliss while Tristan was way on the other side of the table by Robert and the rest of management. Ravi should be happy for his
friend
that he got a chance to schmooze with management and bask in the laurels for the job they’d done with the booth. In no way should he be missing Tristan. Not even a little.

“So what’s up with the stitches?” Adrian asked. He was seated next to Ravi’s bad side, and even though he’d tried to style his hair to mask the stitches, they were still pretty obvious, especially up front.

“Shark attack.” Ravi managed a grin.

“No, really, what happened? You know everyone back in the office has been taking bets as to who is going to kill who first. Can’t believe you guys actually pulled it off without a hitch.”

And
that
was why Ravi was keeping the facts of their trip to himself. “Eh. It was no problem. He’s not a bad kid.”

There. That sounded nice and distant. Friendly but not overly familiar. Even so, Adrian studied him for several long moments before lowering his voice. “You know, I kept Josiah quiet about what happened on Friday. Some people like Rex noticed you guys arguing, but as far as rumors...he doesn’t have much to worry about.”

“Thanks. I’m sure he’ll appreciate that.” Ravi took a big swallow of his water. There was another message in Adrian’s eyes, one he really didn’t want to decipher. Adrian was too damn perceptive, and he might not be a gossip, but Ravi still didn’t need the scrutiny. He averted his eyes, trying to find something on the menu he could eat.

By the time Ravi finished a salad bigger than his head, he was totally sick of his friends. Adrian could finish Noah’s sentences. They had pictures of their dogs. Noah made sure Adrian got a gluten-free menu, and Adrian kept the usually shy Noah soothed with lots of little touches.

They work together.
Every day.
An insidious little voice kept nudging Ravi, trying to tell him that things didn’t have to go down like they had with Emilio. Some couples worked together fine. But Noah and Adrian were an anomaly of a perfect match, and Adrian had already been working for
Space Villager
when the other came aboard. It was a far different situation than dating a coworker and navigating all the potholes that plagued new relationships.

He’d already failed miserably at that with Emilio. Noah and Adrian were mated for life—no one was staging screaming matches in the breakroom and no one questioned their professionalism. Hell, Ravi had yet to have a relationship last more than a couple of months. And besides, he and Tristan were
not
in a relationship.

You sure?

They weren’t. They couldn’t be.

Down at the other end of the table, management was laughing at something that Robert said. Tristan sat there looking a bit lost, like the joke had gone over his head, or like perhaps he’d reached his introvert threshold for social stuff.

Without overthinking it, Ravi took out his phone and angled it so that Adrian couldn’t see him type. Adrian was all wrapped up in Noah’s report from the dog sitter anyway.

I blame you, he texted Tristan.

A few seconds later, Tristan fished out his phone. He shot Ravi a quick questioning look before averting his eyes. What did I do???? The reply buzzed on Ravi’s phone.

I should be having a great time, but instead I keep thinking about when I can get you alone in our room.

Ravi knew the message had been received when Tristan’s cheeks turned pink. Yeah? Wasn’t sure you’d want...you know. Now that everyone’s here, I mean.

Yeah, Ravi hadn’t been so sure about that either, but now that he was faced with the prospect of sharing a room and
not
sleeping with Tristan, his objections felt pretty petty. We just have to keep things on the down-low, he texted back. You make your excuses first. I’ll follow in a while.

He made the suggestion mainly because he wasn’t sure he could keep from grinning and grabbing Tristan’s hand if they left together. He was that eager to be alone with his...

Oh fuck. Now he was back to the whole question of what exactly Tristan was.

He’s the thing you can’t quit.
Unfortunately, the pesky voice in his head had no problems speaking up.

Chapter Sixteen

“Let’s start here,” Ravi said. There was an instant where Tristan thought he might be about to grab his hand, but it fled even before the thought finished.

The convention center was totally packed, but Katya and Mark had shooed them away from their area, saying they deserved to explore the con after three solid days manning the
Space Villager
booth. Exploring was a great idea, especially from a marketing perspective. Tristan needed to take notes on what the other games were doing, and he had his notebook with him in his bag. However, instead of investigating the big game manufacturers, Ravi seemed intent on making Tristan check out the Animated Ink booth.

“Hey, we don’t
have
to stick together,” Ravi said mildly. “But since...
people
seem to dig my piercings, I wanted to check out the eyebrow rings.”

“That’s a good idea.” Tristan hoped he wasn’t blushing. The image of Ravi with shiny piercings really shouldn’t turn him on this much.

While Ravi was looking, Tristan idly browsed the catalogs of geeky tattoos.

“Anything speak to you for that memorial tattoo idea? You should see if anything says ‘Derek’ to you.”

“Maybe.” Tristan’s throat tightened. In his world, no one said Derek’s name, at least not that easily. His parents never spoke about him, and Maria got all weepy, but here was Ravi creating this space where not only could Tristan talk about his brother, but he could also share his crazy ideas like the memorial tattoo and Ravi took him seriously.

Tristan continued flipping pages, mainly to have an excuse to not wander away while Ravi held up different body jewelry. “Hey, why don’t
you
have any ink?”

“I’m not sure.” Ravi laughed. “Piercing is more instant gratification, I guess. And I’m kind of picky about art...I’d probably want it to be something that I drew, but then I’d have to trust the tattoo place to get it right.”

“Perfectionist.” Tristan bumped shoulders with him.

“Says the guy who offered to iron my jeans this morning.”

“Shh.” Tristan hissed as his hand landed on a picture of a
Pac-Man
tattoo. Back in the home he’d grown up in in Newport Beach, they’d had a game room on the lower level with three full-size arcade machines. Derek and his friends used to spend hours down there. And
Pac-Man
was his favorite, the only one his pesky little brother could coax him into playing with him. After Derek died, the machines disappeared one day while Tristan was at school. Later, Tristan discovered role-playing games and spent most of high school sucking down those, but he’d never forgotten the sound of Derek’s laughter when he defeated a
Pac-Man
level.

“Derek liked
Pac-Man
,” he admitted to Ravi. “But that would make a stupid tattoo.”

“No, it would be perfect.” Ravi dug his sketchpad and a pen out of his bag. Chewing on his lip, he started sketching. “See?”