Max felt heat flowing off of his brother's reddening cheeks, who turned away seemingly in an effort to hide it. Though, the heat spread down Kenneth's neck. He could feel their hearts beating irregularly, one faster than the other. His brother's clear embarrassment was just as uncomfortable for him as as it was for Kenneth. Max lurched away, but their joint torso kept him pinned next to his brother. "Come on, please just say it..." he half-pleaded.
"I have a girlfriend." Kenneth said quickly.
"What?" Max questioned, surprised by the answer. He did not understand why brother was so hesitant to say it before, but immediately, he felt the tension in their stomach lessen.
"I have a girlfriend..." Kenneth repeated as he turned to face him. "We've being dating for over a month, and its been going really well."
Max felt their hearts beat in sync again, and the redness on his brother's face disappeared. "That's it." He smirked. "My little brother has a girlfriend!" He reached across their chest to ruffle his brother's hair, but Kenneth quickly grabbed his wrist and pulled it away.
"I'm less than a year younger than you." Kenneth stammered. "Me having a girlfriend should not be surprising."
"I never thought you'd ever start dating." He teased before straitening his face. "So... what's her name?"
"Callie." His brother answered simply, but with a prod he began to divulge more information. "We met at school, through the DnD group." He smiled, as if fondly remembering the first moment they met. "She joined our group, playing a fierce dragonborn fighter. We got to talking before and after a couple games, and I asked her out. We've been dating ever since... in secret. Mom and dad don't know."
"I'm happy for you." Max beamed, genuinely excited for his brother. "When do I get to meet her?"
"That's part of the problem..." Kenneth hesitated. "She doesn't exactly know about the operation. I only told her that I would probably be out of contact for a few days to help with you... At the time, I didn't even know that I would be volunteering to share a body with you."
Max put the pieces together in his mind, understanding why his brother did not want everyone to know that they were physically inseparable. He figured that was a fair request, as he did not have to tell his friends the whole story yet. But his brother's admission brought up more questions. How were they going to date?
"I want to tell her... in person." Kenneth continued. "But I don't know how she will take... the news."
Max shifted his gaze towards their feet, suddenly feeling like a third wheel. "You can invite her over, and..."
"I don't want to deal with that right now." Kenneth interrupted. "I just want to play something to relax, and we can deal with it later."
Max noted that his brother used 'we'. It seemed to highlight that all of their problems, relationship troubles included, were a joint effort now. "Okay." He agreed. Max then grabbed the phone and pulled it closer to him along the desk. "I'll use the phone to text the guys since their contacts are on here now. You should use the computer, bigger screen for gaming anyways."
Kenneth nodded and took control of the mouse to select a game of his. Max scrolled through the contacts, selecting his friends for a group message. It was slow, only being able to use one hand, but he typed out a simple message to his friends. "Hey dudes. Its Max, using a different number. My phone got wrecked. I'm sure you guys heard about the accident, but I'm fine. Just wanted to let you know that I was alive."
Within less than a minute, the phone buzzed from his friends' texts. He read through them, and they all were happy to hear from him. They had thought that his injuries were severe but could not find him in the hospital. "Sometimes it pays to have a mad scientist and surgeon for parents." Max texted back. "I was treated from home and am recovering." After a moment of thinking, he added, "Surprisingly, the accident brought Ken and I closer. We're like two peas in a pod now, inseparable." He had agreed to his brother's request of not sharing the news, but he wanted to give his friends something. And technically, the statement was true in more ways than one. He and Kenneth were obviously physically closer, but he actually felt emotionally closer to him as well. He ended with, "Gotta go. I'll text more later."
Max prodded his brother when he seemed to be in a good place to pause. "Let's get dressed. I'd rather not walk around half-naked anymore."