His face flushes red immediately. Damn his inability to keep himself composed.

"We are colleagues. Doctors both. We've worked together... I would call him a close friend, even."

Artemy does not sound convincing at all. It's not like he's lying. He's not trying to lie at all, in fact. It's something that someone tells themselves when they aren't ready to admit that there's more there, that they are indeed lovers, even if they haven't spoken that four letter word to each other yet.