Breakfast, of course.

Joseph woke up to the incredible smell of fresh coffee. Sunlight filtered through the window and he realized it must be around ten. He normally didn't sleep this late.

As he stood, the events of the night before came rushing back to him. Did all of that actually happen? His question was answered when he went into the kitchen and saw Beth sipping a cup of coffee. She greeted him with a kiss and poured him a cup.

He took it and eyed her warily. "Do you... do you still feel like you did last night?"

She frowned. "No man, I think it wore off. What the fuck is wrong with you?" As he felt a sudden surge of panic, her face broke and she started laughing. "Of course, dude! I made you coffee! I just kissed you. You really need to lighten up."

He scowled at her. "I thought you always do what I want. How is fucking with me first thing in the morning going to make me happy?"

"I don't know, you told me you wanted a girlfriend. Do you just want a sex **** or something? Because I could do that. But it seems like you kind of liked it."

He had to admit she was right. "No, it's cool. I like you still acting like the old you. I'm just still sort of trying to figure this out."

She put her mug on the counter and walked up to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Me too. Do you have any idea how strange it feels for my priorities to realign like this? Don't get me wrong, I like it. But it's weird." She let go and picked up her mug, taking another sip. "You know what would help? Someone to talk to about it. You wanna go try this ability on somebody else?"

He looked at her with shock. "You mean, like, do this to somebody else? Like enslave them or whatever?"

Beth took on a mock robotic tone. "Yes Master. Shall we make more slaves?" Rolling her eyes, she spoke plainly again. "I'm not a ****, dude. If you didn't want me to be your girlfriend, I'd probably just go back to living life like normal. Although if you ever needed someone to pick you up at the airport I'd be there."

Joseph was startled yet again. "Wait, what do you mean 'your normal life'? You mean you don't have to be my girlfriend?"

After another sip of coffee, she answered. "Of course not! If you get sick of me, we can break up as easily as we started. Honestly, if you hated me, I'd do everything I could to get out of your life. I'm not here because I'm some brainwashed **** or whatever. I'm here because you want me to be. You may have touched all sorts of people last night, but since the busboy doesn't really think you want or need anything from him, he's just going about his life. Same with James and Kat."

"So I could, like, release you? Like wishing for a genie's freedom?"

She rolled her eyes again. "Dude, you're not getting it. I don't want to be 'released'. I want to make you happy! Making you happy makes me happy! Just learn to take yes for an answer."

He sighed and took another drink from his coffee. "Ok, I'll take yes for an answer. I'm still not sure about doing this to more people, though."

"Look," she said, setting her empty mug down, "It's going to happen. You're going to touch somebody sooner or later. Why don't we try it in a controlled way so we can figure out how it works? For all we know, touch doesn't even trigger it! That's just a theory. Come on, I told you it doesn't make anyone a **** or anything. Just kind of reconfigures their priorities a little."

Joseph considered it. She made a very compelling argument.