Aftercare

“Jake. Jaaaaaake. Jaaaaaaaaaaake.” A torrent of giggles followed as Chloe wrapped her arms around my neck. Head resting against my back, her Noise bubbled with endless joy. “Guessssssss. Who!” Her hands found my eyes, covering them. It was rather obvious who it was. Covering my eyes didn’t stop me from seeing her Noise. Noise filled to the brim with euphoria. Considering she was enjoying three bumps, I decided to play along.

“Is it Alexis?”

“Nope!” More laughter as she resumed her hugging, forgetting to keep my eyes covered.

“Natalie?”

“Chlooooe!” She popped her head around to grin at me, pressing her finger against my nose. “Your girlfriend silly.”

Obviously.

“You had a good day?”

More giggles. “Mhm!”

“Adam behaved himself?”

She blew a raspberry, spraying spittle on my uniform. “Nooooot reaaaally,” she giggled. Chloe was uncoordinated as her body struggled to keep up with the happy energy pouring from her. Hands roaming my chest, they fiddled with the fabric of my shirt. “But I’m used to his—” She stopped in the middle of her sentence to erupt into laughter. She leaned closer, lowering her voice as if sharing a secret. “Bullshit.” She snorted, then erupted into another fit of giggles.

With a deep breath, I twisted in my seat to face her. “Chloe. Chloe look at me.” Took her a moment to do that as I fought to keep her attention. “Focus, Chloe. Deep breaths.”

Slowly, her Noise stabilized as she mimicked my breathing. It was still a wall of euphoria, but it was no longer sloshing around in chaos. She opened her eyes, looking more like herself—though her smile was a bit too intense to be natural.

“Better?”

It looked like she was trying to fight off a giggle. “Yeah.” She let out a breath, taking a few more slow breaths before speaking again. “This is hitting me so hard.” I lost her to another fit of giggles.

I didn’t bother reading her Noise. The euphoria was too much to get anything useful from it. Reaching out, I rubbed her hands. “Your Noise is healthier than ever. Less looming negative emotions and a happier baseline mean you are starting from a happier place than you are used to. Not to mention you have a natural tendency to be playful around me now. Your Gift is feeding that.”

Taking a slow breath, Chloe seemed to finally have a solid hold of herself. Not that the euphoria disappeared. She was simply better at dealing with it now that she wasn’t letting her impulses guide her actions. Her Noise had stabilized, the positive emotions settled around her instead of bubbling and spiking.

“Four bumps,” she muttered. “Last guy was a quick shooter, but he paid for two.” She climbed onto my lap. Arms around my shoulders, she buried her face in my chest. My hand rested against the small of her back.

“You okay?” I asked as I gently ran my hand up and down her back.

She hummed softly as her Noise started to calm further. “Yeah.” I could hear the smile in her voice. “I just need a moment.”

“Take your time,” I said, rubbing her back as I enjoyed the warmth of her in my arms. This was a strange situation for me. Usually I could pass the time by enjoying the sensations brought by her Noise. That was impossible now, with her Gift making it impossible to make anything out. Instead, I focused on the physical. The warmth of her against me. The gentle movement of her chest as she breathed. The way she felt in my arms, pressed against my chest.

This was... pleasant. A good experience and a reminder that Chloe was more than her Noise. Physical comforts were enjoyable too.

Chloe eventually shifted. Head resting on my shoulder, I felt her take in a deep breath as she turned slightly to look at me. Her voice was soft when she spoke, “I love you.”

I held her tighter. She may have been in high spirits, but that was her Gift. She undoubtedly had a hard time with Adam. She tried to downplay things, but he was becoming more brazen with each meeting. “Want to talk about it?”

She gave me a big smile. “About how much I love you? Sure.” I gave her a look and she giggled. “I’m... good.” Her smile softened as she nuzzled closer to me. “Nothing he can do scares me when I know you will be here to welcome me back.” Her laugh edged more towards cackling than her usual bubbly one. “Fucker overpaid too. I made sooo much money today!”

I found myself automatically searching her Noise, only to find myself blind. When I looked back at her, she was grinning like she’d just won the lottery. “Aww. What’s wrong? Cheat ability broken?” she cooed, wiggling in my lap. The giggles that escaped her were her usual bubbly ones. “I beat the cheat! Yay!” She kissed my cheek before going back to burying her face against my shoulder.

“Why don’t we head home for the day?”

She pulled away, smile still plastered on her face as she looked at me. “Home sounds great.”