Alastor shook his head to the last two questions. "I never felt any particular urges for such engagements. Risque magazines only made me uncomfortable. There were some young ladies (and I suspect a closeted gentleman or two) that had taken interest in me due to hearing my voice on the radio and 'falling in love' with it, but the feeling was never reciprocated."

He looked at his hands.

"I didn't start wearing gloves after I died. I wore them all the time when I was alive, too. Forgive the potentially offensive analogy, but the longer I'm in physical contact with someone, the more it feels like spiders are marching beneath my skin at the point of contact. It's very unpleasant for me. And even if I did somehow find a partner that I was interested in, then what? 'I'm sorry, my dear, but I can't stand physical affection so the most affection you'll get from me are words, my cooking, and the very occasional brief touch'? A proper relationship is a partnership, a give-and-take where both parties get something out of it that they couldn't find anywhere with anyone else."

A somewhat twisted view on a relationship, but honestly? That was the healthiest type of relationship he'd ever personally seen. That had to be the norm, right?