Page 54 of Finding His Happiness
“I’m very proud of you for being able to answer my questions. I’m still feeling very happy about our time together and I’ve shifted into a very content feeling. Watching you get clean in the shower is going to shift me back to a slightly aroused headspace but we’re just going to ignore it.”
He was content.
Almost neutral but slightly positive.
Amazing.
Chapter 17
Palmer
“I like being able to make you happy and...and to follow the simple directions you’re giving.” Ferris was having to think too much about how to answer which made me even more proud of what he was giving me.
“Thank you for letting me know.” I had to remind myself that touching him at the moment would not help the situation. “It makes me more confident in giving you orders.”
His head jerked and he swallowed like his mouth was dry. “You like giving orders but you wouldn’t like it if it was making me feel negatively.”
“That’s correct.” He was processing enough to understand that, so it seemed like we weren’t too deep into some kind of panic attack-like state. “Right now, watching you in the shower is also going to make me feel very good and I’m looking forward to that.”
Blinking a few times, something seemed to catch his attention. “Shower scenes are common in a variety of different types of pornography. There must be a reason for that.”
“You’ve got a point but all I can think of is apes and then cavemen somehow deciding that wet skin is more attractive.” My overthinking his comment had him giving me a faint smile. “Most of those kinds of things go back to fertility but there’s no way that someone who got trapped in the rain or fell into a pond was more fertile or virile.”
The odd conversation had the spinning in his mind slowing to a more manageable pace because his breathing was more even and his shoulders had relaxed again. “You’re right. That can’t be the basis but maybe it’s something about cleanliness? That also comes up in religious doctrine too.”
Sliding my legs to the side of the bed, I stood up and waited for him to follow. “That’s interesting. I hadn’t connected the two but they’re both activities that invoke strong emotions in people.”
Distractions were also good at helping those strong emotions fade.
Ferris hadn’t even seemed to notice getting off the bed as we walked over to the bathroom. “We go to waterparks and pools at rates that probably connect to this somehow.”
“We mix water with everything that gets an emotional reaction from us.” That was actually kind of weird. “Oh, we even have those spas were people float in pods that look like an alien is giving birth to them. I don’t know what they’re actually doing but I saw a commercial for it.”
Actually laughing, Ferris shook his head as I opened the glass door and turned on the shower. The large rectangular space was big enough for both of us, but I was wishing it had two heads at the moment. “Wasn’t there an old movie about pod people? Maybe that was where they came from?”
“Oh.” Scrunching up my face got another laugh from him. “Now that commercial falls into the horror movie category and I’m never going to be able to see it the same way.”
My drama was overplayed enough that he knew he could enjoy my reaction. “We could do that for our next date and research to see if there’s any water connection with them.”
I faked a shiver as his smile widened. “I can’t decide if watching that kind of stuff with you would make it more or less scary. On one hand I like the idea of tracking it logically but I’d have to pay really close attention to do that.”
Pretending to consider it seriously, he stepped in the shower as steam quickly started to build. “I think we have to do some research on that to see what the outcome would be.”
“Oh no. I’m not falling for that.” Shaking my head, I closed the door and went over to grab him a washcloth and a towel from the linen cabinet by the sink. “Con me into something else. That sounds stressful.”
“Not a big horror movie guy?” Ferris eased back into his relaxed side as he slowly turned under the spray. “I never saw the draw of them.”
“Me neither.” Real life was stressful enough. I didn’t need to torture myself on top of that. “I’d rather watch a documentary.”
Placing his towel on the bar attached to the shower door, I stepped in, making sure to give him plenty of room. Thankfully, it was a generous size and I didn’t have to worry about crowding him.
“What about documentaries based on stressful or frightening situations?” Ferris smiled and stepped out of the spray to trade me for it as I handed him his washcloth. “Those don’t feel the same as horror movies to me.”
“Me neither.” Thinking about it, I rinsed off quickly before stepping back and reaching over to grab the bodywash on the shelf at the back for him. “The intent matters and probably a lot of the artistic elements.”
As he poured out some onto his washcloth, he nodded slowly. “I kind of like how obvious they are, though. I don’t have to guess about what point they’re trying to get across.”
“That’s understandable.” I made sure to keep a neutral expression as he handed me the soap and studied my face. “It’s why I don’t do a lot of those psychological thrillers. I like factual shows most of all, but if I’m going to see something at the movies, I do something ridiculous like a movie that’s nothing but explosions and car chases.”
