“You already said that.”
A beautiful shade of red trickled down his neck like the shower water, painting the top of his chest. “Right.” He swallowed once. Twice. Then he gestured vaguely behind him. “I should… you know… the shower.”
“Yes,” they said.
He nodded again. “Okay.”
“Okay.”
“Bye,” Bryce said as he shut the door between them with a quiet click.
“Bye.”
Feeling almost floaty, Zef returned to the kitchen, staring down at their hand. Their fingers flexed again, but the tingles were still there. Even the small, fine hairs on their arms were standing on end.
They lifted their arms and squinted at the raised hair follicles. What in the deities was happening?
Perhaps the internet would know. Google had, after all, never let them down before.
In their room, they shut the door firmly—barely resisting locking it—and turned on their desktop. Their fingers drummed on the desk as the electronics whirred to life, the screen lighting up a few seconds later. Opening their browser, they typed in,What does it mean when you touch your roommate’s hand and it makes you feel weird?
The search results were less than helpful, insinuating that Bryce was a narcissist who used touch as a weapon. Since they were confident that this was not true, they tried a few variations of the question.
Why does my hand tingle after touching my roommate?
According to the internet, Zef had carpal tunnel, paresthesia, or a vitamin B12 deficiency. Which was, honestly, worrisome. They should really book an appointment with their GP for a yearly check-up.
They tried again.
What does it mean when my hair stands on end and I get goosebumps around my roommate?
This resulted in slightly more helpful information. Fight-or-flight response, triggered by fear, excitement, or awe. They did not feel afraid or particularly excited or awed. The webpage said it could also be an intense emotional response.
“Well, that is a bit of an overreaction,” they chided the computer.
The computer did not reply.
Finally, they searched:Why do I feel tingly when I see my roommate wet from the shower?
To their horror, this resulted in numerous pop-ups for pornography.
“Oh my,” they said as their screen filled with a Succubus in a school-girl outfit clutching her breasts as she bounced on an Incubus’s member. “What are you—you should go back to class, young lady!”
They tried to exit out of the pop-ups, but instead of closing down the video, it took them to the website itself with even more thumbnails playing, showing skin and genitals and fluids. So many fluids.
“No, go away,” they cried as they struggled to navigate through the porn to exit the website. “I do not consent to this!”
“Oh, Daddy, I’ve been naughty.” A human girl pouted as a Daemon smacked her in the cheek with his spiked shaft.
“Sweet ancestors, help me,” Zef begged, clicking blindly to close the many pop-up videos.
A gray-and-red Araknis in a blond wig and a milkmaid outfit beckoned their co-star, dressed in a black and white cow costume, forward with a come-hither smile.
“My eyes,” Zef whined. “My virgin eyes!”
A large Bovyn fisted an enormous penis and leered down at a small, human man. “I’m gonna get that mouth pregnant.”
“No, not my virgin ears too!” they wailed in despair.
