With a bit of hesitation Harri grabbed one of the turbans from Harvey's bag and began tying it around Harvey's patka.
"Hey what are you doing?!" Harvey protested in a panic
"The uncovered patka was bothering me" Harri lied looking at Harp expectantly as he tied the Gurmukhi Dastar Turban. He stepped back to get a better look of the purple blue turban and the changes only to notice nothing had happened. "Much better!" Harri exclaimed, masking his confusion and disappointment.
Harvey stood there completely tensed up, expecting to turn into a new Harp, but was surprised nothing happened. Though he did think he saw a flicker of a tan for a second. With a sigh his body relaxed.
An awkward silence lingered between the two roommates. "Honestly a turban on your head looks a lot better, than just a patka. You should have just asked me to tie you a turban, if you didn't know how, instead of walking around with just a patka..." Harri said, hoping to smoothover the awkwardness.
The two made a few more awkward exchanges before retiring to their corners to "study". Both eager to try and figure out what this might mean. Why had Harvey turned into Harpinder before, but not this time? What was the difference? Both went over the notes again.
Harvey went through his transformations one by one again.
The first time he remembered transforming was with Gurpreet and his bake sale. He was asked to help and next thing he knew he had a table cloth wrapped around his head as a turban and was helping Gurpreet out as if he knew exactly what they were doing. He kind of remembered being larger, but even now things were fuzzy.
The second time was with Harri, he thinks at least. Harry needed someone to help him out with his outfit and he transformed into a fashion guru through Harry's pink scarf, if he recalled correctly. This was also the first time he transformed another.
After that he became Harpinder after meeting up with Mandeep. He needed an equal to help him with his project both for school and business, so his economics notes became a turban and Harvey transformed. This time was different than before he felt like he became a whole different person as Harpinder, his past and interests had changed and were completely formed, not just foggy like before. This one was a bit unique. Best to stay away from Mandeep for now.
The last time was in the library. Satvinder needed a friend to stand up for him and his banner transformed Harvey into a nerdy Harpinder and while stuck as Harpinder one of the turbans turned Gus into Gursewak...
The common theme seemed to be someone needing something from him and a fabric of theirs wrapping around his patka. It seems for Harvey to transform there had to be a Need and cloth or similar from the person in need.
Harri had reached a similar theory, going over the notes and retracing his own experience. He needed help with his outfit and Harpinder appeared and helped him. The memories of the incident were foggy, but clearer than before. This time he wanted Harpinder to appear to figure out if the transformations were real, but he didn't need anything from Harpinder. He'd have to figure out a need for his next test.
Harri's phone lit up with a message from Gurpreet, he had been stood-up again and was feeling low. Jackpot! He needs a bearish guy to go on a date with his poor friend and give him a confidence boost and Harri knew just the medium to use. Gurpreet was about to date his dream man, the lucky dog.
He had to hurry, figuring this out, now that Harvey was actively seeking to set things right again he was running out of time. Last thing he wanted was to stop being Harri and be turned back into some Harry, he didn't remember being. He loved being Harri, a Punjabi fashion icon, and didn't want that taken from him, for some random white boy no one even remembered anymore. He wasn't sure if he could convince Harvey to leave him like this, but he had a feeling Harp would understand where he's coming from. Especially if he was in love with Gurpreet.
He pulled the bear pride flag from his drawer, the one Gurpreet gifted him a while back, and made his way to Harvey.
Harvey felt he got a good theory for his own transformations, it explained why Harri's turban didn't change him, there was no need for Harpendir to fulfill. But the transformations he caused in others seemed different, less complicated. Those transformations seemed to only require him to attach a turban cloth to another’s head while transformed. Perhaps removing it, while he’s Harvey and not Harpendir, would undo it? Maybe he should try undoing Harri's now and see what happens. No, it probably would be better to try it out with Gursewak, if it didn't work Harri might get mad and he might not let Harvey near him again for another attempt.
"Man I feel sorry for Gurp, he was stood-up by another date..." Harvey heard Harri say in a sympathetic tone. Harvey felt a bit confused; he didn't know Harri and Gurpreet were this close.
"Oh poor guy. Sucks, that he'd be stood up. A kind hearted guy like him deserves a good girl, that'll value him and see how sweet he is." Harvey got up to look at his roommate standing at the door.
"A good guy actually. His confidence seems to have taken a hit. I think he just need a big brown bear, who's totally into him and that'll treat him right. You wouldn't happen to know any bearish Shiks that could jump in and salvage this mess?"
"Can't say that I do, sorry..."
"Oh that's okay, I think you'll do." With that Harri tossed the bear flag towards Harvery's head. Before Harvey could react it pulled itself towards his head and started to merge with his purple turban. Harvey felt a sense of panic rise, had Harri been trying to transform him all along? "Guess I'll get to see what Gurp's dream man looks like."
The flag had combined with the Gurmukhi Dastar Turban giving it a large black bear paw print front and center and a new color gradient.
Once again Harvey felt a wave of heat envelop him as his skin became a deep brown and all of his hair turned black as his features became those of a Punjabi man again. This was followed by a bloated feeling as Harvey watched his stomach grow once more. Like last time it began slowly, before exploding outward into a huge ball of fat that began to hang further and further over his waistband. It was soon joined by two large love handles wrapping around him connecting to a large caboose. His pecs one again swelled up into large pillowy moobs resting on his large gut and wrapping around his torso. His face swelled up, his cheeks large and round framed by a huge double chin and covered by his beard. Like last time he hadn't just grown wider, but also taller. Looking down he could tell he had ended up bigger than at the bake sale, mostly in width, but also in height.
His clothes expanded and changed, growing to fit his massive frame. As the aviator glasses returned to his face, his beard grew longer and thicker and a thick coating of hair spread across his body.
He has once more become Harpendir and his head was quickly fogging up. His heart suddenly ached, the thought of Gurpreet being heartbroken, caused him distress. Gurpreet was such a cute sweet hearted guy, Harp couldn't help but fall for. Though until now he hadn't realized it to focused on his crush on Rupi, but now he felt torn between the two. Hearing how Gurpreet was stood-up, helped him realize his own feelings for the guy.
The brain fog was thicker than usual with this transformation. He could only seem to think about Gurpreet, he barely was aware of his transformation anymore nor that Harri intentionally caused it
"So this is Gurpreet's dream man? Dang Gurp sure likes them biiig" Harri chuckled to himself, giving Harpendir’s belly a nice shake.
"Harri, do you know where Gurp is? I want to cheer him up." Harpendir asked eager to find Gurpreet.
"Sure..."