Hey, hon. I'm sorry. Um, I had a nightmare. Do you mind if I jump in bed with you?
Oh gosh. Oh, thank you. I feel a little weird doing this.
You're so nice to let me stay with you while I'm in town.
Yeah, it happens sometimes when I'm traveling and in a strange place.
Well, your place isn't strange, but I haven't been here in a while. It's not my bed, you know?
Sorry. Sorry to wake you. Go back to sleep, okay?
Oh. You weren't really sleeping? Yeah?
Mmm. Yeah. Those crickets are pretty loud.
It's only five thirty, though. You should definitely go back to sleep, okay?
Huh? Me? Yeah. I'm tired. But, you know, I...
Sometimes I wake up early. Plus, I'm a little bit jet-lagged.
In a different time zone and all that.
But it's nice to just be cozy with you in the dark.
I really appreciate you letting me jump in bed with you.
I hope it doesn't make you uncomfortable. Are you sure?
It's nice. Though, I love it that we're such old friends.
That we're comfortable doing that. And I know you wouldn't be weird about it.
You know? What do you mean?
Oh, yeah? It's been a while since you had a warm body in bed.
Do you want me to scratch your head? I know how much you love that.
Yeah. I remember how you used to ask me to do that for you all the time.
That feels good, right?
That's always my favorite thing when I go to the hairdresser.
What am I? My mom? The hairdresser? You know what I mean. The salon.
I have to laugh sometimes. The way I talk.
Mmm. Yeah. That feels good. Yeah? But anyways, I was saying...
When I go to the salon, I go to this... Because, you know, I keep my hair long and I have straight hair.
So I go to this Japanese hair salon because they know how to cut hair really straight over there.
Also, they always give a really good scalp massage. You should try it.
Yeah. They do it for guys, too. That's great.
They always do the shampoo and everything. And then they give you a scalp massage.
And they give you a hot towel for your nape. It's awesome.
There. How was that? Keep going?
You want me to just keep scratching your head until the sun rises?
Oh. Oh. You haven't been touched in a while.
Oh, that makes me sad. Everyone should have hands on them.
What about getting a massage or something? Oh, it's not the same?
Do you mean, you like, you want to be touched by someone you know?
Who cares about you? Not someone you're paying?
Oh, that sounded weird, but you know what I meant.
Well, if you want to turn onto your belly, I could rub your back and stroke your back if you'd like.
You already have your shirt off.
Yeah. No, I don't mind. Of course not. Silly. Yeah. Roll over. Go on.
How's that?
Do I feel weird doing this? No.
You're one of my oldest friends. I mean, it's a little bit different, I guess.
I don't think we've ever had so much physical contact. Or should I say prolonged contact?
Well, prolonged. I've only been doing this for a minute, but you know what I mean.
I'm glad it makes you feel good.
How's that? Do you want more pressure? Do you want lighter? Just like that?
Okay. Yeah. You know, it's natural to crave human touch. It stems from infancy.
I read somewhere that newborns crave touch. That's why it's really better for the moms to room in with their baby after birth.
Back in the day, remember if you watched movies from the 50s or whatever, they always showed a baby in the nursery and the mom in their room. But nowadays in the hospitals, they encourage the baby to room with the moms.
So, you know, the mom is always putting her hands on the baby or it would be the dad too. But you know, usually it's the mom because she just gave birth and all. But yeah, it could be the dad.
Like if you're adopting or if mom is sick or something and dad needs to take care of the baby. And anyway, it's really all about touch. It's a very early imprint.
And I can't really cite the source, but I believe there are studies about babies not thriving because of lack of human touch, right? Or vice versa, say slightly premature babies thriving, flourishing really because of the attention they received from touch.
Anyway, I don't even know how I got onto that tangent. Just to say that it's natural to want human touch, you know? Hmm? Sure. I'll stroke your chest. Want to roll over? Yeah.
Oh, babe. I love you so much. One of my best friends ever. Hmm. That feels nice.
You've been working out? I'm just teasing.
You want me to stroke your belly? Okay. Oh, here's another tidbit. You know, I'm the trivia queen, right?
So when you're rubbing somebody's belly, especially children, like if you have a niece or a nephew and they complain of belly discomfort, always rub in a clockwise direction because that's the direction of digestion.
Yeah.
Ask me anything. If I don't know the answer, I'll make it up.
No, I'm kidding. If I don't know, I'll look it up, but this, I'm pretty sure of it.
Oh, honey.
You don't have to apologize.
It's normal to have morning wood.
Kind of sexy in a way.
You want to return the favor?
You want to rub my back?
Sure.
I'm not ever going to say no to a back rub. Are you kidding me?
Oh, my tummy's rumbling a little bit. I guess I'm ready for breakfast soon. Not now though.
Okay. Let me roll over onto my front.
That's nice.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Well, you're definitely rubbing the fright away.
I'm kidding. I wasn't frightened anymore.
Oh, yeah. You can rub my scalp. I like that.
Oh, yes.
That feels good. It feels so good when you have long hair because the hair weighs you down and the scalp a little, so that's nice.
Oh, thank you.
Yeah, I guess I've always kept it long.
You know what feels really good too? As if you grab a small handful of hair and gently tuck.
Yeah, that feels so good.
That's amazing.
Yeah, go back to rubbing my back, please. That was really nice.
You can maybe rub your fingers down the muscles, flanking my spine.
Yes, that's so good.
Oh, you like that?
I like that indent where my spine dips in between the muscles.
Yeah, I've always had it pronounced.
I don't know how you called that.
Sort of trough?
Between the muscles, flanking my spine, I guess.
Yeah.
Sexy on girls.
Are you coming on to me?
That feels so good, babe.
So good.
I might fall asleep, okay? Sleep a little more.
I can make you breakfast when we wake up, okay?
I love you.