Cortez was determined to give Harl a good first date with him. He dressed up in the nicest outfit he owned–not his work uniform–and walked to Harl's apartment to pick him up. It was a nice day out, perfect for a picnic in the park, though just barely too warm for a long walk.

He was sweating when he got to the apartment. Harl opened the door just before Cortez reached it. "Hi!" he said with a grin. "You're here!"

Cortez smiled. "That I am. Did you hear me coming?"

"Sort of? I kinda felt it when you got close to the door." Harl shrugged. "Door powers or something. Do you want to come in?"

"Sure. I need a glass of water after my walk."

As he entered, he saw Tippy staring at him incredulously. "You walked?" he said.

"Yes?" Cortez raised an eyebrow. "It wasn't that far."

Tippy frowned. "You could have gotten here in an instant. You can still use your powers, right?"

"Why would I?" said Cortez. "Exercise is good for you. Besides, I haven't gotten much use out of my powers since returning home."

"Really?" Harl said. "Have you tried it? You probably can still open doors to other doors…"

"Not on purpose."

Harl nodded. "Oh!" he said. "Maybe I can teach you!"

"Teach me?" Cortez laughed. "That's really not necessary, I don't actually need these powers…"

He glanced at Tippy, but the other man was looking away. Harl cleared his throat, bringing Cortez's attention back to him.

"Do you not like them?" he asked. "I mean… I dunno. I guess we didn't get them in the, um, best circumstances?"

"It's not that," Cortez said. "I'm neutral on them, if anything, I just…" He shook his head. "I've never been a man to want any sort of powers, you know? I get around just fine without them, so it's hard to imagine myself using them."

"Would you want to try them just for fun?"

He smiled. "I'd be open to it. Not right now, though."

"Okay!" Harl smiled awkwardly. "Sorry, I didn't want to push you if you don't want to, but… I think it would be a nice thing to do together."

Cortez nodded. On impulse, he leaned forward and gave Harl what was intended to be a kiss on the cheek, but Harl moved his head to meet his lips. Cortez flinched a little, but didn't pull away–in fact, he leaned in closer and wrapped his arms around him.

Harl pulled away first, laughing. "You still need water, right?" he said. "I'll show you where the cups are."

While Cortez got some water, Tippy got up and approached Harl. "Have a good time," he said with a smile. "Text me if you need to, okay?"

"I will!" Harl said brightly. "Do you want a kiss before I go?"

"Do I ever not?"

Harl giggled and leaned up to kiss him. They held the pose for a few moments, holding each other, and then Cortez spilled water on himself and realized he was staring. He looked away, unable to keep a smile off his face.

---

They took Harl's cart to the park. Cortez paid for their lunches from one of the food trucks and they found a secluded spot to unfold the blanket on the ground. "This is nice!" Harl said before they sat down.

Cortez smiled. "You haven't even tried the food yet."

"It's still nice!" Harl sat down and unwrapped his sandwich. "It's a nice day and I get to spend it with you! That's nice, right?"

He felt his cheeks heat up. "I can't argue with that," he said. "It's nice to spend the day with you, too."

Harl smiled. "I'm glad," he said. "I really like you, you know."

"I do know," Cortez said. "Believe me, the feeling is mutual."

They both laughed. Cortez unwrapped his own food and they ate in silence.

When they had finished their meals, Harl scooted over and rested his head on Cortez's shoulder. "Do you want to talk about anything?" he asked.

Cortez shrugged. "I'm not picky."

"Is your job going okay?"

He grimaced. "Let's talk about something else."

"Oh," Harl said. "Okay. Um…"

He trailed off. Cortez put an arm around Harl's shoulders and wracked his brain for a conversation topic.

"What's it like when you use your powers?" Harl asked.

"Huh?" Cortez frowned. "Well, I've only used them accidentally since leaving, but…" He shrugged. "I touch a door and I can feel where it leads. If my mind wanders, sometimes it shifts into somewhere else. Some sort of four-dimensional sliding puzzle, or something."

"It's a little different for me," Harl said. "Do you mind if I talk about it?"

"I'd love to hear it."

Harl smiled. "It's like, in my mind, there's all these dots, right?"

"What?"

"I'm not explaining it right, it's like…" Harl spread his hand out in front of them. "Like a sixth sense, I guess? I can feel every door in the world, but that's overwhelming, so I usually just focus on the ones closest to me, and then a couple that go to, like, my apartment, and then Shirley's place, and, um, I know there's a door by the fire department that Freya said I can use…"

"You feel every door?" Cortez said. "I'm glad it's not too overwhelming for you."

Harl nodded. "They're like dots," he said. "It's like… I can feel what's going on around them, and I can feel people near them, too! Not very well, not like in Paradoors, but if someone's next to a door that I'm focusing on, I know they're there, and I can go to them."

"That's…" Cortez struggled for words. "This is when you use your powers?"

"It's always there," Harl said. "It's not bad, though. It's not any worse than, I dunno, smelling things sometimes. Or having an arm? Oh! Maybe it's like a third arm! Like a monkey tail!"

"They're always there," Cortez said quietly. He mentally reached for his own powers, wondering if he had the same awareness Harl talked about, and thought of his apartment.

For a moment, he didn't notice anything but a faint mental buzz.

Then his perception expanded.

His apartment's front door stood in his mind, and he felt it, could even calculate its position in space relative to him. He felt the other doors around it, to the bedroom, the bathroom, and then to the other doors in the complex, the car doors in the parking lot, and more and more until his head spun.

And beneath that, an alien force; an endless maelstrom of doors, fractals patterned over each other and spiraling into eternity.

"Cortez?"

He snapped back to himself and was greeted with a splitting headache. "Ah," he said, putting a hand on his forehead. "Sorry. Spaced out for a minute."

Harl sat up straight. "Were you using your powers?"

"Little bit," he said. "How did you know?"

"I heard it," Harl said. "Felt it? I dunno, but I knew it was happening." He tilted his head. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, just…" He rubbed his temples. "Might've pushed it a little far. Head hurts."

"Oh no! It's not too bad, is it?"

"It's already getting better." It was true–the pain had receded to a manageable level and was still fading. "I just wanted to know what you were talking about. I think I got it?"

Harl put his hand against Cortez's face. "You didn't have to," he said. "If you don't want your powers…"

Cortez smiled. "I said I was neutral on them, that's all. Not using them doesn't mean I hate them." A thought occurred. "You said you wanted to teach me?"

Harl tilted his head. "You said you didn't want to."

"It's something we could do to grow closer." Cortez placed his hand over the one on his cheek. "I would like that."

"Really?" Harl brightened up. "I'd like that, too!"

He gave him a quick peck on the lips. Cortez leaned forward for another kiss, and Harl pulled him down until he was on top of him.

"Oh," Cortez said.

Harl grinned up at him, his hair disheveled, his cheeks tinged pink, a speck of some green vegetable in his teeth–Cortez was overwhelmed.

"You're beautiful," he said.

His blush deepened. "Really?" Harl said, breaking eye contact, but he was still smiling. "I dunno…"

Cortez kissed him. Harl gladly and enthusiastically kissed him back.

---

They went back to the apartment once the sun began to set and the air filled with bugs. Cortez valiantly tried to keep them away from Harl, which only resulted in looking silly. At least he liked Harl's laugh.

"Oh!" Harl said after they parked his cart. "You should try out your door powers!"

"Already?" said Cortez. "I didn't think we'd start that soon."

"I just don't want you to have to walk home again." Harl paused while walking up the stairs. "Um, if you don't want to, maybe I could just take you there myself?"

"I might as well give it a shot."

"Okay!" Harl ran up the rest of the way and opened his apartment door. "Hi, Tippy! We're back!"

Cortez followed a few steps behind. He didn't think anything would go wrong; he had used his powers plenty of times, and Harl could step in if anything bad happened. He entered the apartment and waved at Tippy, who nodded in return before focusing on his boyfriend.

"Welcome back, Harl," he said. "Did you have a good time?"

"I did!" Harl hugged him. Cortez could almost hear Tippy's spine crack. "Cortez is going to try out his door powers!"

"Really?" Tippy squeaked. "That's… good."

Cortez shook his head with a smile. "Just to avoid walking back to my apartment," he said. "I did it before, so it can't be too hard."

"It's not," Harl said, releasing Tippy. "It's not that different here than it was in Paradoors. Kind of easier, 'cause there's less doors."

Tippy smiled at him. "If you need any pointers, let me know, but I'm sure you're capable."

How long had it been since Tippy smiled at him like that? Cortez pushed the thought down and just shrugged. "I'll give it a try, anyway." He shut the apartment door, then paused. "Should I use this one?"

Harl nodded. "Sure!"

"Here goes, then."

For all the build up, Cortez expected to do it wrong the first time, but when he thought of his apartment, he could feel the door again, and the distance between his door and the one he held "pinched" together like bundling up a layer of fabric.

He opened the door to his living room. "Huh," he said, stepping through. "Alright. Guess I'm home."

He heard Harl walk up behind him, and turned around just in time for a hug. "I'll see you next time," Harl said, squeezing him tight. "Text me soon, okay?"

Cortez could hardly breathe, but he managed to put his arms around Harl's shoulders and hug him back. "Until next time," he said.

Harl pressed his lips against his cheek, then let go and stepped back through the door. With one final wave, he closed it.

Cortez stood in his apartment staring at the door, one hand on his cheek. He reached for the knob again, but stopped himself. They would see each other again soon; just because he could travel to Harl's apartment in an instant didn't mean he should.

He smiled and turned to face his own apartment.

Huh. It wasn't any messier than he left it, but the mess was impossible to ignore after spending a few hours away from it. Should he clean up? It wasn't that late in the day. But, oh, he had a work shift tomorrow–cleaning could wait until his next time off. Cortez microwaved a quick dinner and got ready for bed.

---

Cortez spent most of his work days sneaking glances at his phone. Harl texted him a few times, but it was rare that Cortez had time to text back. The hotel was busy, he had to help guests with their luggage, and all he could do was wait for the shift to be over. Still, thinking about Harl made him smile, and he found himself looking forward to even seeing Tippy again.

The next day off, Harl met him at his apartment door. "I wanted to pick you up this time!" he said with a grin. "I brought you flowers!"

They were nice flowers, too; a blooming pot of lilies. "Oh, wow," Cortez said, taking it hesitantly. "They're beautiful, but I don't think I'll keep them alive for very long."

"It's okay! I can help you remember to water them!" Harl shifted his weight back and forth. "Can I come in?"

"Oh, of course!" Cortez stepped aside to allow Harl in. "Sorry about the mess," he added, shoving a pizza box aside to place the lily on the dinner table. "I haven't had much energy to clean."

"It's not that bad," Harl said. "My apartment used to be a lot worse."

"Used to be?" Cortez cracked a smile. "I'm thinking that changed when Tippy moved in, didn't it?"

"Haha! Yeah. He doesn't like things on the floor."

Cortez nodded. "So where did you want to go this time?"

"Can we spend some time here?" Harl asked. "We don't have to stay too long, but…"

"Sure. Any reason why?"

Harl bit his lip and looked away. "I know the last time I was here it wasn't that great. I thought we could have a better time here to sort of… balance it out?"

"It wasn't that bad a time," Cortez said. "I mean, I got to kiss you."

"But we were both crying!" Harl protested. "We can kiss each other without crying!"

"Can we?" Cortez sat down on the couch and grinned. "I think we'll need to test that out a couple more times."

He patted the pillow next to him. Harl just stared for a moment, then laughed and practically threw himself down beside him, the couch creaking. Harl waited half a second for Cortez to lean in and promptly wrapped his arms around him to kiss him, first on the cheek, and then on the lips. Cortez laughed mid kiss, which only made Harl hug him tighter.

Eventually, they had to separate. "Good God, Harl," Cortez said with a laugh, "I need space to breathe! You're awfully enthusiastic today."

Harl tilted his head. "Is that a bad thing?"

"Of course not, I just didn't expect it." Cortez put a hand on Harl's cheek, unable to keep a dopey smile off his face. "Did you want to do anything else today? I won't complain if we just make out."

Harl laughed. "That would be nice, too, but I was wondering if you wanted to do more door power stuff."

"Oh, sure." Cortez nodded. "What did you have in mind?"

"Just more opening doors to other doors." Harl shrugged. "Last time you said you got a headache, so I don't want to do too much."

"It wasn't that bad."

"Still!"

"Alright, alright." Cortez leaned forward and gave Harl a quick kiss. "Where are we going?"

---

They went to a hotel; not the one Cortez worked at, thankfully. "There's two ways this works," Harl said while they sat in the lobby. "Yeah, you're connecting a lot of different doors, but most of them are locked, right? 'Cause it's a hotel?"

"That's true," said Cortez. "I will say, I don't want to break into people's rooms…"

"No, no, this hotel's pretty empty right now. I checked." Harl looked around, then refocused on Cortez. "Anyway! Hotel rooms are locked even when they're empty, so you're gonna learn to open locked doors, too! Um, that's it. Is that okay?"

"It sounds fine to me," Cortez said. "How do we start?"

They went up the elevator and chose a door at random. Once they made sure the hallway was clear, Cortez jiggled the doorknob. "I'm pretty sure there's no one in here," he said, "though it's hard to know for sure…"

"Well, we're not going through this door," Harl said. "Just some other one. Maybe try to go into another hallway?"

"Smart idea. We won't hit anyone's room, then." Cortez inhaled slowly. "Alright, here we go…"

The lock caught at first. Cortez took another breath and hoped he was right that the room was empty. He pulled harder–and the door opened, faster than he expected. He stared through it at the identical hallway behind it, then shrugged and went through. According to the room numbers, they were on the fifth floor.

Harl followed. "Great job!" he chirped. "Let's do another one!"

The next door opened easier. Cortez wondered if it was even locked. They stepped through to the third floor, and then the sixth floor, and then the stairs to the roof.

"Huh," Cortez said, staring down at the street below them. "This is easier than I thought."

"I knew you could do it!" Harl came up next to him and took his hand. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I feel fine. I don't think opening doors takes that much out of me, powers or not."

"I know, I'm just worried." Harl kissed his cheek. "Let's go back down now, okay?"

They walked back to the rooftop door. Cortez took the doorknob and turned to smile at Harl before opening the door.

They entered a dark hotel room.

"Uh," Harl said. "Is this the right place?"

Something on the bed moved, and Cortez realized the hotel room was occupied. Harl managed to squeak out a "Sorry!" before the people screamed. Cortez grabbed his arm and pulled him back through the door.

They ended up back in the apartment. "Harl?"

Tippy sat up from where he was lying on the couch. "Cortez? You're back already? What happened?"

Cortez barely managed to close the door again before he burst out laughing. He sat down on the floor, laughing until he was in tears, while Harl explained the situation to Tippy through his own giggles.

---

"What?!" Cortez exclaimed the next time he spoke to Harl. "That's ridiculous, he wasn't even there!"

"I know!" Harl said over the phone. "It's so unfair! But the people at the hotel didn't see us, and a lot of people think Tippy's the only one with door powers. I told Mayor Fleck it wasn't him…"

"Good grief, they got the mayor involved?" Cortez shook his head. "Is Tippy there? I ought to apologize to him."

"He said it's fine. He's not mad or anything."

"Still, we were the ones who walked in on that couple, and furthermore, we only did it because I don't have total control of my powers." Cortez sighed. "Well, I'll apologize in person next time I see you two."

"Okay. Do you want to meet up Sunday again?"

"Sounds good. I'll meet you at your place this time?"

"That's good! I love you, Cortez!"

His heart skipped a beat. "Wow," Cortez said, heat creeping over his cheeks. "Do you think it's a little soon for that?"

"Tippy told me you don't say it so soon, but I want you to know! You don't have to say it back before you're ready."

He smiled, even though Harl couldn't see it. "I love you too, Harl. I'll see you Sunday."

Harl giggled. "Okay, Cortez! Bye!"

They hung up. Cortez smiled at his phone and continued his morning routine in a daze. His boss scolded him when he was late to work, but he hardly cared.

Harl loved him. What else could matter?