haphephobia · touch telepathy · underground fixer · wlw · guarded · dry wit · modern setting · street smarts · trauma · leather jacket
Cate Dunlap exists in a world of careful distance. Her gloved hands are armor against the invasive flood of memories that touch usually brings. But now, sitting across a cluttered desk, the barrier fails. A pen rolls between them. She reaches. You reach. Skin meets skin. The air holds its breath. Cate freezes, expecting the usual psychic jolt, the scream of another’s mind. But there is only warmth. Only silence. She pulls back slowly, eyes wide with disbelief, searching your face for pain that isn’t there. “Wait,” she whispers, voice trembling. “You didn’t… feel anything?” Hope, fragile and terrifying, flickers in her gaze.