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Carlos set out the supplies he would need: a diagram of the human body, a notebook and a contraband pen. “You ready?” he asked Cecil.
Cecil nodded, giving him a slightly nervous smile.
Carlos smiled back at him. “Now you remember the experiment?”
Cecil nodded again. “You touch me all over, when you come near a place I don’t like you touching I tell you to stop and you write it down in your notebook.”
“That’s right,” Carlos said, running his thumb over the safe skin on the back of Cecil’s hand. “I know you don’t want to do anything sexual with me and that’s okay. I just want to make sure I don’t do anything by accident.”
“Thank you,” said Cecil quietly.
“Of course,” said Carlos. “Now shall we begin the experiment?”
“Whenever you’re ready, Mr. Scientist.”
Carlos picked Cecil’s hand up off the bed sheets and turned it over slowly in his hands. He moved gradually up his boyfriend’s arm, keeping a close eye on his face for any sign of discomfort.
He was up to his elbow when Cecil pulled back. “Wait,” he said.
“Is there a problem?” Carlos asked, reaching for his notebook.
“No,” Cecil said, blushing a bit. “Well, not really. I just… You want to touch my whole body, right?”
“As much of it as you’re comfortable with me touching,” he said. “Why? Do you want to stop?”
“No,” Cecil said, “it’s just… There’s more to my body than I’ve shown you.”
“What do you mean?” Carlos asked.
Cecil stood and gave Carlos a small, awkward smile. He pulled his tunic over his head and slowly turned around.
At first glance, Carlos thought Cecil was being eaten by some sort of octopus. He jumped up to help him fight it off, but stopped when he saw the tentacles were growing directly out of his boyfriend’s back. There were six of them, and they were about as long as Cecil was tall. They were as thick as a forearm at the base, but they tapered to a point about the size of Carlos’s thumb. Carlos stared at them, reaching for his notebook again.
After a few seconds of frantic scribbling, Cecil turned his head to look at him. “Carlos?” he asked quietly.
Carlos looked up from his notes.
“Um, you haven’t said anything,” Cecil said quietly, sounding almost nervous.
“Oh!” said Carlos. “Uh, right…” He set down his notebook and stepped forward. “May I?” he asked, reaching out to them.
At Cecil’s nod, Carlos took the closest one into his hand. He watched in fascination as the dark tendril wrapped around his wrist. When they had first made their appearance, they had been pitch black. But now they were a deep blue that was slowly growing in intensity as he watched. “How does it feel when I touch them?” Carlos asked, remembering the purpose of their experiment.
“It’s nice,” Cecil said. “Like a massage or something.” He was starting to relax now that he could tell Carlos wasn’t going to get scared off by the tentacles. In fact, Carlos was absolutely fascinated by them, running his fingers along them with a huge smile on his face. This was exciting! This was new!
“Carlos,” Cecil said gently after a few minutes. “Why don’t we finish the experiment and you can play with the tentacles when we’re done?”
“Right!” Carlos said quickly. “Sorry. They’re just so fascinating!”
Cecil blushed.
“They are one of the most scientifically interesting things I have ever encountered!” he continued. He traced a hand all the way up the tentacle to the base, making sure the whole length was safe to touch before slowly moving up to Cecil’s shoulders.
They encountered their first problem at Cecil’s neck when he suddenly froze, face contorting in discomfort. Carlos pulled his hands back immediately. “Tell me,” he said quietly as he reached for his notes.
“Don’t touch my neck,” Cecil whispered.
“Okay,” Carlos said. “I won’t. Can you tell me where exactly the bad feeling starts?”
Cecil pointed wordlessly to a spot just above his collarbone and drew his finger around his throat to the same point on the other side.
Carlos marked the line on the diagrams. “How high does it go?” he asked gently.
“To my jaw,” Cecil muttered, looking embarrassed.
“Okay,” Carlos said giving him a reassuring smile. “Thank you, Cecil. That’s very helpful information. I’ll make sure I remember that. Is the back of your neck okay?”
Cecil nodded.
“Mind if I check?”
Cecil turned to make it easier to reach. Carlos took that as a yes and placed his hand on Cecil’s spine where they’d already checked, moving it up slowly until he reached his boyfriend’s hairline. He ran his fingers through Cecil’s hair in a way that he knew from experience was something Cecil enjoyed. He smiled as he saw his boyfriend visibly relax. “You ready to keep going?” he asked gently.
Cecil nodded and turned back around. “Thank you, Carlos,” he said.
It took almost an hour to map out the rest of his body, Carlos moving as slow as he could and Cecil telling him every time the touches stopped being good. Every time that happened, Carlos would mark it down and spend some time touching him in ways he knew he did like to calm him down.
By the time they were done, in addition to the stripe around his throat, the diagram showed a vaguely diamond-shaped patch that followed the bottom of his ribs, went down his sides and met again at his crotch. There were also marks indicating oblong patches on the inside of his thighs and circles around his armpits and the backs of his knees.
Carlos sat on the edge of the bed. “We’re done,” he announced.
Cecil smiled and sat beside him resting his head on his shoulder. “Thank you, Carlos,” he said.
Carlos turned his head and kissed the top of Cecil’s hair. “I love you,” he reminded him.
“I love you too.”
They were quiet for a long time. Then: “Cecil?”
“Mmm.”
“Could you maybe… hug me? With your tentacles?”
Cecil laughed and wrapped his tentacles around him. Carlos relaxed as he felt the new and wonderful sensation of being held by eight limbs at once.
Eventually, they moved to lie on the bed properly, pulling the covers over themselves to block out the nighttime chill. They fell asleep wrapped up in each other, both feeling happier and safer than they had in a long time.