The brush at the skin, the leathery darkness fused at the seam with the smooth flesh, was different. It had been a very, very long time since Eddie had been touched by someone else...especially like that. He didn't count all of the physical fighting he did with Parker. But most of the time it was just himself. And the symbiote, but mostly just him.
He didn't realize he'd both flinched and leaned inward somewhat to the connection. It felt real, in that brief moment, and he lost sight of his goals during that minute iota of time. Once the feeling left him, though, once it was severed he had to keep himself focused and not reach out to stop John's fingers from fleeing his skin. The touch, he craved it. From anyone. Just the taste of it was enough to leave him hungry for more.
Narrowing his blue eyes, Eddie considered the question at hand, mind still fogged some by the action that was now so distant. "Not anymore. It was strange at first, different. But it's a part of me now. I can hear it talking to me, listening to me. It's nothing like anything any human has ever had the chance to experience...like a living skin." A parasite, he wanted to say. But that seemed unfair. It was, after all, keeping the cancer at bay. Without it he was walking dead.