Back to Basics

Chapter 3 – Complicated Kinship

Terry immediately got Terri off of him and yelled, "What do you think you're doing, Terri?! A kiss on the cheek is okay, but not on the lips!"

Terri felt awkward for a moment, looking down to the floor of the tub. "I'm sorry, Terry! I was acting on an impulse and I did something weird."

Terry didn't know whether or not he wanted to be mad or not with his twin brother. Terri had been going through a lot, and Terry knew that he could use a bit of love. Though, he really didn't think something as intimate as a kiss on the lips was really necessary. Terry sighed, getting rid of his anger. "It's okay, Terri. It's just… what impulse were you acting on?"

Terri looked up at his twin brother, then back down to the floor. "Do you remember the conversation that Mom gave us before going off to high school? The one about girls?"

"You mean the one where she explained to us what love is and that we should only fall in love with the perfect girl? Yeah, I remember it. How does that apply to this situation?"

"Well…" Terri started. "She told us that the perfect girl would be able to understand me, compliment me when I'm doing something right, and do the things that I like, even if she doesn't like it herself."

"Oh…" Terry said, knowing where this conversation was going.

"In the past week while we've been dealing with so much, you've probably done all of those things more than a hundred times. And I appreciate you a lot for it."

"So… you kissed me then."

"Yeah, I kissed you," Terri said with a heavy sigh. "And I know that's weird to do that with your own twin brother that's permanently attached to you, but seriously… all we have is each other at this point. There's no other person that I would rather be with than you."

Terry blushed. "All flattery aside, there HAS to be someone that you like other than me."

Terri frowned, surprised that Terry could just pass off what he just said as if it were nothing special. He sighed and answered, "No, not really. And to tell you the truth… if I were going to like somebody, I would like a guy."

Terry turned up the heat on the shower a bit, thinking that it was getting a bit cold. "Well… I could understand that. We share the same body and the same general feelings, and I honestly say that I haven't liked any of the girls at this school, either."

"Can we stop talking about girls, Terry?!" Terri said with a frustrated tone. "I don't want to have this conversation either, but you're passing off this awkward situation as if it's non-existent."

Terry sighed. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry." Terry turned to face Terri, who was finally looking at him rather than looking at the floor. "I'm quite frankly flattered that you would rather be with nobody than with me, and I… feel a bit the same way. Nobody understands us the way that we do."

"Exactly," Terri said with a nod.

"So… what are we going to do about this? This is probably the weirdest situation I have ever been in and I have no idea how to handle it right now."

"I don't know. I've never liked anyone before. Quite frankly, this is all new to me."

Terry sighed. "Well, that doesn't help us too much, does it?" Terry thought for a moment as he rubbed his and Terri's stomach. "What if we try this? We can do what we feel is right for the rest of today and see how things turn out. Almost like a test run."

"That sounds really awkward when you put it that way," Terri said weakly.

"Well, do you have a better idea? You've dragged me into this and now I'm curious about it."

Terri nodded, knowing that his brother was right. "Okay, that sounds fine then. So… we do whatever feels right?"

Terry nodded. "Yeah."

"Okay." Terri placed his hand on Terry's cheek, much like he did a few minutes earlier. This time Terry was prepared and backed off. "Don't worry, Terry. This is a test run, remember?" Terri waited a few moments before Terry brought his head forward again. Terri placed his hand on Terry's cheek again and brought his head forward.

This time, Terri brought his and Terry's lips together with a more gentle touch. He allowed himself to enjoy it a lot more than before rather than freaking out about Terry's reaction. Terri continued to deepen the kiss a bit, doing whatever he felt was right in the situation. After several moments, he separated the kiss, looking into Terry's eyes as he did so.

Terry blinked, a mesmerized look on his face. "Wow…"

Terri chuckled, a large red blush arising on his face. "Yeah, that was pretty amazing. You're a really good kis-…"

Terri was interrupted by Terry's lips. Terry couldn't hold himself back for very long, so he gave into his urges. This kiss went deeper than the last, and Terri was enjoying moment of it. He finally figured out that he had the affections of his twin brother.

Terry finally separated the kiss, his hand still on the back of his brother's neck. "You're a pretty good kisser yourself." Terri blushed madly, his face looking entirely flushed. Terry chuckled, thinking it was cute. "Terri, I've never seen you blush like that for anyone. You… really liked that."

Terri simply nodded in response. He turned away to hide his blushing face, but it was already too late. "It's like I told you. I never really liked anyone before. It's easier for the both of us to like the same thing, and I know that I can completely trust you with anything that I say because you're probably a similar thing that I am."

Terry smiled, putting his hand around Terri's shoulder. "Well, I had to admit that I was skeptical, but this is turning out to be a good test run after all."

A smile creeped onto Terri's face. "You really think so? I thought you would be grossed out with this whole brother loves brother thing."

"I understand why you would think that," Terry said with a frown. "But I'm very understanding, you know. I don't always have to be the slightly less sociable and accepting head of this body."

"I can help you change that," Terri said, gripping Terry's hand in his own.

Terry blushed. "I'd like that. Maybe I can actually talk to your friends instead of ignoring them to read a book or something."

"I think they would like that. They keep asking me if you hate them while you have your headphones in."

"I really don't," Terry said with a chuckle. "I just don't want to cross a barrier where I interact with your friends. They're your friends, not mine."

"There's no barrier, Terry. You can enter the conversation whenever you like."

Terry smiled and nodded. "Okay… thanks." Terry looked around the shower and noticed that the water was starting to get a bit cold. "We have been in the shower for quite a while. We should get out before we waste all of the warm water like last time."

Terri nodded. "Aww… I was just getting used to looking at your naked body, Terry…"

Terry blushed. "I know that's a joke because it's your naked body, too, but don't be so flirtatious Terri. You're making me blush."

Terri chuckled, rubbing Terry's cheek with his hand. "I know, I'm sorry. Sometimes it's fun to mess with you."

Terry chuckled sheepishly, feeling awkward that Terri could be as dominant as he could be submissive. "Fine. But I'll get back at you later today." He turned off the water and grabbed the white towel that was just outside of the shower and began drying them off.

"I guess I deserve it." Terri used his side of the towel in order to dry off his face and neck. Once they finished drying themselves, they hung the towel back up on the rack and grabbed their red shirt before putting it on.

Terry turned around and reached for the doorknob, but hesitated.

"What's wrong, Terry?" Terri asked with a concerned tone.

Terry sighed. "I guess we never discussed what we would do about… you know… being public."

Terri frowned, even though he knew that would be the greatest thing that the two of them would have to overcome. "Why don't we just worry about that after today's "test run"? If we decide not to do this in the end, then the whole being public thing won't be a problem."

Terry nodded. "That's smart. It also gives us a bit of a chance to figure things out."

"Right, so let's not stress about it." Terri instead grabbed the doorknob and gave it a twist before opening the door and exiting the bathroom.

The twins slithered back into the kitchen feeling nicely refreshed. The entire Oozma Kappa fraternity was all awake at this point, getting acquainted with Mike and Sulley as they talk about their current lives.

"Yeah, she's my everything at this point," Mike said, "We've been going out for about 9 months now."

"What are we talking about?" Terri asked as he grabbed a seat for both him and Terry.

"Mike's got himself a girlfriend over at Monster's Inc.," Sulley explained. He looked down at his green friend and smiled. "In fact, aren't you taking your Schmoopsie-poo out for a birthday dinner soon?"

Mike blushed. "I'm the only one who could call her schmoopsie-poo," he said under his breath. He looked up at the rest of the group and said, "Yeah, I'm taking her out to this Japanese restaurant called Harryhausen's. It's the perfect place for a romantic date. Not even an escaped human kid could ruin a place like this."

Terry smiled and nodded. "Sounds like you really like this girl, Mike."

Sulley chuckled. "Not to sound mushy-gushy or anything, but he can't stop talking about her."

Mike nodded. "Yeah, I do. I think I've annoyed Sulley to the point where he doesn't want to come by the apartment anymore."

Sulley nodded. "Yes, you do."

Mike smiled awkwardly. "Heh, sorry." Mike looked at the rest of the Oozma Kappas and thought for a moment. He then said, "What about you guys? Any special monsters in your lives."

"Well, I think you know the answer to that one for me," Don said, referring to his fiancée, Karen.

"And I think it has ruined any good idea of me having a relationship of my own," Scott said. "If only they would stop kissing in the living room," he mumbled to himself.

Don pat Scott on the back. "Eh, we're sorry Scott. We'll try to keep the public displays of affection to a minimum while you're around." Scott sighed and rolled his eyes.

Art simply shrugged, the simply gesture serving as his response.

"What about you two?" Sulley asked Terri and Terry. "It must be rough finding someone you like if you both have to agree on her."

Terri and Terry looked at each other for a brief moment, wondering what actually they should say. Terry smiled and shrugged, knowing what to say. He turned back to Sulley and said, "It's actually not that bad. We have similar tastes, even if sometimes we can't exactly agree on things. There's… actually some we have our eyes on." A small blush peaked on Terry's cheeks.

"Well…" Mike said with a bit of excitement. "Tell us! What's her name?"

Terry looked at his twin brother and smiled. Terri smiled back, even though he had no idea what Terry was trying to do. Terry turned back and said, "Oh, look at the time! Terri and I have to get ready for class."

Terry and Terri began to slither away, which made Mike chuckle. "Oh, come on! Don't be like that! We only ask for a name."

Terry thought back to his English class and said, "What is a name, though? It's simply a classification that we were forcibly given at birth. A restriction. What kind of person would I be if I held this person under a restriction like a name?"

Mike stopped in his tracks. He didn't know whether or not to chuckle or take out a notebook to jot down some notes. "Uh… I don't know what to say to that."

Terry nodded before going into his door. "Exactly." He closed his bedroom door.