Con cubare

Last time, when we were small, our parents used to sleep with us.

Some nights as goodnight kisses were being dispensed, if we were feeling particularly manja, we'd cry, "Papa, will you sleep with me?" "Mama, will you sleep with me?". Sometimes they would just lie down with the one child who was being particularly demanding until the child fell asleep; other nights they'd take us in ten-minute or so rotations. If it was Papa, he'd just lie there like a big log and I'd keep very still, afraid to fidget or shift my position in case he got annoyed and left. Mama was more accomodating and gave massages and sang to us. I still remember the Boodnight Song.

Good night, my Father
Put thoughts of Jesus in my head.
Holy Spirit, comfort me
Put angels all around my bed.

(Fortunately my relationship with both parents went sour right around puberty, when a father lying in bed with a daughter could be looked askance at, as being too close to the euphemistic meaning of 'sleep with'.)

When DS and I were together, we used to go over to his place after church, have lunch, and then take naps on the sofa. (Mm...big kitty. ^_^ ) Actually, I didn't nap at first, because I was so unused to physical contact with anybody that it was hard to relax enough - being such an antisocial child that I never went to any slumber parties where I might have lain in bed with even another girl. I'd lie unmoving beside him, subconsciously assuming he was like Pa and would be irritated if I disturbed him. Early on, I even tried to breathe in sync.

--okay, I can hear people laughing.

One of my friends had this story about a dumb girl at her college:

Dumbo: What do you and HM do on dates?
TE: Well, I'm usually exhausted after work, so I go over to his house, sit on the sofa with him, and fall asleep.
Another girl: Hi, what's up?
Dumbo: We're talking about TE sleeping with HM.
TE: *roll roll eyes*

I've fallen asleep with EK a couple of times. When both parties are tired it's actually more pleasant to just drift away than expend a lot of energy in making out, and he's easy to relax around. It could be, too, a combination of the fact that this is the second time I'm 'with' someone and therefore I'm more accustomed to it, and that I'm less emotionally invested in him than I was in DS, therefore less nervous about screwing things up.

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to lie in bed with a man I really loved, and whom I was perfectly at ease with...both of those things. Guess it'll be a long time before I find out.

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One time I looked up the word "succubus" in the dictionary after a Fewsion (when Phases Online gets back up we need to have an Archives section so we can put the classic chain story about Pang's Kancil, the giant mosquito, and the succubus). It's derived from the Latin phrase that means "to lie under". Figures - and naturally incubus means "lie on top". Actually...so does "incubate", since the original sense is of a hen bird sitting on her eggs. Rather funny that two words with such different associations* mean the same thing. What could be creepier than a demon that rapes women in their sleep; and what more secure and safe than a mother's breast?

And of course, "concubine" means someone who "sleeps with". Not that hard to figure out once you've tracked down the above-mentioned three words. "Con" is still a real word in Spanish, I think - as in "chili con carne". Yum.

*not counting the molecular biology sense of 'incubate' where you have stuff like "incubate at 37C for 60 minutes with shaking. I tell you ah, if I have a daughter I'm never going to name her Elisa. Booooring kana sai.

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You know how in Malaysia, the redness of a chili-containing dish is usually an indicator of relative spiciness? The first time I encountered chili in North America was at a camp cafeteria, and I thought "diediediedieDIEDIEDIe..." but it turned out to be, essentially, spaghetti sauce with beans. Chewah...