Noah followed Ruben into the room, one which was decorated for a child, and just as messy as a child of his age would be. He would have winced in pain stepping on the Lego's, but the padded bear costume more than protected his - or rather, Ruben's - foot from the pain. The two boys came to a halt in the middle of the room, Noah feeling excited to have his body back and get back to some sense of normality. This was more than enough of an experience to teach him that swapping heads around was not a decision lightly made.
Noah looked up into Ruben's face, one that he realize was looking... off. Mature, but also somehow drained of his usual Latino complexion. He even thought his nose looked familiar. He realized, with alarm, that it was beginning to resemble his nose! As was the rest of Ruben's head.
"Hey, Noah... so, I don't really know how to put this but... Well, we aren't switching back. I thought about it a lot while I was away, and I think I want to stay a big kid... er, well yeah. You need to go away." Ruben said, guiltily.
"What!?" Noah cried out. "You need to give me my body back, RIGHT NOW!" Noah snapped.
"I'm bigger than you now. And you can't really do any damage in that costume. I don't want to do it, but I will throw you out the front door if it comes to it." Ruben threatened.
"I can't believe this. You actually are trying to steal my body!" Noah exclaimed, flailing his teddy bear arms.
"Yes... and it's actually allowed." Ruben explained. "You swapped with someone underage... and we didn't have our parents or no one sign the special papers. So basically... you did this to yourself."
"But why? This is so unfair!" Noah cried, feeling more like the 10 year old rather than the burgeoning teen he had been.
"Well, that's how you feel and I'm sorry. But now I can hang out with my brother and your old friends and we'll all be on the same level. You can hang out with my old friends, or that Kaylie girl! Here, I'll pack you up some of my clothes and then we can swap our wardrobes later. You probably want to wear other clothes than just that old costume!" Ruben said. He packed a childish looking backpack up with clothes for Noah to wear later.
"Bu-but... you can't..." Noah said, his voice feeling diminished.
"Well, I am." Ruben said. He started guiding, gently pushing Noah down the stairs. He sat down next to Kaylie, who didn't bother to ask what happened, she was so elated to have her bear back.
Later, Noah was picked up and Kaylie dropped off. Noah couldn't even meet his fathers eyes. He could tell he was seething with anger.