Electrolocation

Resting comfortably against the trunk of a tall tree, your shade was occasionally interrupted by tiny streaks of light that made it through the leaves whenever a breeze gently disturbed the greenery. The shallow stream but a foot away from your bare feet burbled gently. Beside you, taking in the summer heat, was your good friend letting the water drip off her fur... and large duckbill. Of course that combination was only possible because she was a platypus.

Stretching lazily after your swim together she flapped her large tail to get a bit more water off, lightly splashing you in the process. It didn’t even matter considering you were still wet, but you still managed a playful shout. “Hey! Quit it!” She laughed in response, flicking a dark webbed finger at you to get a little more water on you.

“Hey, you don’t get to complain after losing in Marco Polo to a BLINDFOLDED girl!”

Recalling how quickly you were found out by the platypus with your t-shirt wrapped around her head was enough to make you laugh as well. Yet as the sound of your laughter was replaced by the droning buzz of cicadas, you really started to think about it.

“How’d you do it?”

She looked at you puzzled for a moment. “Do what?”

The way she innocently tilted her dark bill made you smirk. “Did you cheat? Was my shirt so wet you could see right through it?”

Her confusion remained for a moment longer before she realized what you were getting at. “Oh, well I didn’t cheat... but I took advantage of the fact you clearly don’t know what electrolocation is.”

“Electric what?”

She snorted inelegant at your answer. “You know, it’s like a basic sense. All in the bill?” Noticing the confusion deepen on your face she sighed. “It’s uh, it’s kind of like sensing the energy living things give off...”

To her surprise your eyes light up. “Sense energy? Is that like a super power?” However she immediately pushed you back with a playful shove.

“No, it’s not a super power! I can just pick up the electricity you’re always filled with. From like... muscles and neurons and stuff...” She turns her head up to show off her bill more. “Maybe you can’t feel it because you’ve got those lips instead.”

“Woah, but for real... what does that even feel like? Can you feel me here right now? Like if you close your eyes?”

She dramatically closes her eyes and feels around like she’s blind. The tips of claws on her webbed hands dancing around as if she could feel the movements of energy around her. Slowly, she leans towards you, and abruptly lunges out to grab your shoulders. “No dummy! It works a whole lot better in the water than it does in the air!” She looked down to the wet soil for a second before speaking up again. “It also works pretty well through moist mud and sand and all that, but I’ve learned the hard way it’s ‘improper’ to dig your face through the dirt...”

You put a hand on the sleek fur of her exposed shoulder to catch her attention again. “Come on, that’s super cool!” She gives a little huff before puffing herself back out again to face you, bringing her bill directly over your shoulder.

“It’s not that cool, I can hardly even feel you there when we’re this close above water.”

Your enthusiasm refuses to die down. “Yeah, but what can you feel? What does my aura or whatever say about me?”

She giggles slightly before waving her bill over your arm like a metal detector. “First of all, it’s kind of like describing sight to a blind person, but I’d say it’s a sort of tingle you can feel deep down in your bill.” She does another abrupt back and forth shake of her head as she says that. “It’s not like you’ve got much more of a unique feeling to you than a fish in the river, I can really only gauge size, distance, and direction.” Moving her head back up your arm, she brings her head close to yours before surprising you with the feeling of her sleek aquatic fur brushing against your neck.

Even if you felt your breathing stop by the sudden intimacy, the moment was promptly ruined as she continued her rapid swiveling head movements, tickling you so bad you couldn’t help but laugh. This only made her double down on her bizarre movements as you struggled to breathe through fits of laughter. “This thing I’m doing right now helps me really feel out the energy, and better tell what direction it’s coming from.”

Your chest hurt from the relentless tickling by the time she stopped, leaving you breathing heavily with her long face inches from your own. Her small yet dazzling brown eyes watched your reaction gleefully. “It’s uh, sort of a tingly feeling. Kind of like when you rub your arm around a big CRT TV. But it’s all locked inside your bill, a little bit like smelling, but... different.” She slowly brought her face even closer to yours, the fact she was leaning her body into you becoming increasingly noticeable. “Here, let me get a little closer to really describe it...”

After a couple seconds, you could even feel the way her breathing quicken in her chest, and blow against your cheek before... before... before... a little firm peck presses against the side of your face. Immediately she rears back, as if she was doing more of her special head movements, but the awkwardness and apparent blush tell you that wasn’t what was going on. However your cheeks start to blush as well once you think you figured her out.

“Was that a k-kiss?”

She crosses her arms indignantly. “NO! N-n-not at all... I don’t even have lips dummy, I wouldn’t be stupid enough to even TRY doing that...”

Slowly speaking at the same speed the idea formed in your head, you lean closer to her. “If you taught me about electro-whatever... maybe I can teach you how to kiss...”

Still not fully making eye contact, she reaches out a hand to shake like you had just driven a hard bargain. “S-sure, it’s only fair you s-show me what those lips can do if I told you all about my bill...”