Great!

"How does it feel?"

The words echoed in Penny's mind. How did it feel? She was staring at her toe, and something was different. It was like she didn't need to respond. It would be great if she just stayed-

"Penny?"

She looked up at Matt, confused. "My toe?" She tried to work it out in her head, but it just didn't make sense. Her toe was hurt, but it didn't seem hurt at all. She didn't worry about it any more than she worried about the collapse of the Roman Empire. It just was.

"Penny, are you alright?"

The world swam back into focus and she blinked. "...yeah," she managed thickly. "Whoof. I might fall over."

"Do you need help?" he asked.

Why would she need help? She racked her brain. Was it because of the booster? Something to do with the anesthetic? She looked at him with a helpless smile. "With what?"

"Uh, can I get you a glass of water?" She wasn't thirsty. Or was she? What was that little tickle on her tongue. Was that thirst?

Then Matt's arms were around her and she realized that she had collapsed into him. She giggled at his face. He was so cute when he looked worried!

"No," she said, straightening up. "Sorry, I was confused. I mean, disoriented. It's a lot to take in!"

"What is?" he asked. Oh, right. He wouldn't know.

"It's like everything has changed a little bit. I have to think extra hard about stuff I used to just know, like it's bad to fall over. Every little thing that happens, I have to think about whether it's good or bad. If I don't, it's just good."

Matt was nodding. He was such an attentive listener! "Do you feel any dimmer or hazier?"

"Not really," she said. "At first it really threw me for a loop, but I'm getting used to it. I can see why things might go dim after a while, though."

"Why's that?" he asked with genuine curiosity.

"It's like climbing a mountain. Thinking, I mean. There's easy patches, where you can just coast. Like writing an email or playing video games. Then there's rockier terrain, like guilt and anxiety. I need a job. I'm worried about this little pain in my toe. I need to lose weight."

"Mmhmm," Matt said. She loved his baritone! She stared at his mouth for a second before he coughed. "Please, continue."

"Oh, right! With the anesthesia, it's like driving up a winding mountain path. Still varied terrain, but you don't actually exert yourself anymore. You can tell when you're on rocky soil, but it doesn't actually hurt you."

"And now?"

She smiled lazily. "It's like the whole mountain has been flattened. It's a leisurely stroll in soft grass on a sunny day. If I squint, I can make out little pebbles and twigs in the grass, but those wouldn't hurt to step on. I have to remind myself that they correspond to rough patches in real life."

He cleared his throat. "I guess that's why it makes you so docile. You don't really have any reason to think doing what you're told is bad."

She nodded. "I think you're right! I'll bet you could start ordering me around and I'd barely notice! Because I would normally understand that it's a negative thing to be essentially a ****, but-"

"Take off your clothes," he interjected.

Penny reached for the hem of her T-shirt as she continued. "Now I wouldn't have any way to tell that you just did something demeaning! I suppose if I really stayed vigilant, I could watch for things like that. Maybe that's what those lucid intervals are. But it seems like so much work already, and the ****'s barely kicking in! Ow!"

Matt had pinched one of her nipples lightly. He looked startled when she reacted so sharply. A beat passed and she didn't react, so he just laughed and kept playing with her breasts. She unzipped her shorts and continued.

"I mean, right now something totally weird could be happening! You could- ow! Wait, you just pinched my nipple! That's like a fucked-up thing to do, or something! Right?"

"Right you are," Matt said with a grin. He had actually bitten it. He had buried his face in her tits not long after she had gotten naked. She pushed his head up so they were making eye contact.

"Holy shit, babe." She was tearing up again. "You just bit my fucking tit and I didn't even notice! Well, I noticed, but it just didn't register as bad. You could have done anything already and I might just not have noticed it! Oh my God, you could be manipulating me and gaslighting me and I wouldn't even know it!"

"What?" Matt didn't know about this new direction.

"I- oh my God, babe, I want you to fucking take advantage of me! I'm gonna be a moron soon, right? I want you to exploit that, to make me do stupid and humiliating things! I want to be walking- nnngh, I want to be walking around with my tits out and not even know it! Oh, Christ, Matt, fuck me now!"