Human

eleven

                   

Tommy doesn't see the prosthetic until two weeks later. It's a Friday night and they're in Jake's (empty) apartment, and Tommy watches Jake's face twist as he pulls off his jeans with shaky hands. Watches him suck in a breath as Tommy's eyes roam over the black plastic, the metal, all the way down to the where the artificial foot disappears into his socks.

Tommy slowly pushes himself off the bed until he's kneeling in front of the prosthetic. For one moment, he locks eyes with Jake, seeing the fear in his face. Then, slowly, he lifts up a hand and runs it over the place where real leg turns into fake. Jake shudders, his pupils blown wide. Tommy can't bring himself to look away. Instead, he just leans in and presses his lips to the seam of plastic and skin.

Jake hauls him up, hands trembling, and the world goes supernova.