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Codex15111

"What?" Wren demanded.

"Hugged another person. Kissed another person. Done anything personal yet outside of hooking up. I'm waiting for the state to procure my proper match. I always wanted to try physical contact, but that's wrong according to the New State Guide for Growing Up According to Code."

"How do you get close to other people like your friends? We spend time together, don't you?" Wren asked.

"I'm sure pre-cohabitation in New State is different than underground. We share conversations online and share hook ups of various kinds over the computer. It gets intimate."

"You and another person can share hooking up?"

"Sure." Codey shrugged. "Why not?"

"It's not real," Wren concluded.

"No, it's not, but it feels real with an avatar."

"You were going to let me hook up last time. I want to return the favor. Sit." Wren pushed him toward the bed. "I can teach you to give a real hug."

Codex moved backward but didn't sit. Wren stood on her tiptoes to reach his shoulders. She pushed him onto the bed where he sat stiffly. She stood next to him.

"I've done this thousands of times in a hook-up," Codey complained.

"A hug is easy." She inched between his knees. "Put your hands around my back."

Codex did but kept as much space between their bodies as possible.

Wren laughed, and he drew back.

"Sorry," she said. "It's just weird that you never hugged anyone in real life before."

Codex lips sealed into a tight line.

Wren grabbed his hands, forced them behind her, squeezed further between his legs, and pressed her body against his. Placing her hands on his back, she squeezed.

Warmth radiated from under his shirt. He was thin but not fragile like many of the New Staters he encountered.

He enjoyed the feeling of being held until she didn't let go and her chest was in his face.. "How long do we do this for?"

"Sorry." She drew back, a blush climbing to her cheeks. "Are you okay?"

"I guess." He didn't want the experiment to end. "You want to try something else?"

She appeared skeptical. "Depends on what you have in mind."

"Stay still."

She squirmed on the bed like a fish out of water.

"What comes next?" He asked.

"I got this." Wren smiled and kissed the tip of his nose. A friendly kiss.

"What was that for?" Codey asked.

"A kiss." The blush deepened on her cheeks.

He couldn't help asking himself why he was doing this. He should stop, but something drove him forward. "It wasn't a kiss like the kind that happens in the hook-ups."

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"Never mind," Codey replied. "Maybe we should just stop this."

"No. Explain it to me. I want to understand the whole hook-up thing and how it's different."

"It just is. That didn't feel like hook-up passion. They show and teach us 'passion' in training for our first hook-up."

"They train you to hook up?" Wren's eyes turned owl-like before narrowing to slits.