Curious, Matt finally decides to look down at the ticket he was given. His eyes widened in shock at the destination he found written on it.
Dubai, UAE
It was even first class. His mind started to rush, thinking about how expensive such a trip even was. And he's getting it for free? It was a pretty surreal experience.
It didn't take long for Matt to find the terminal and cross through it, especially since he lacked any form of luggage. All he's got are the clothes on his back, his phone, and his wallet. As he boarded he also took note of the diverse group of people beginning to board the plane. A part of him felt like they were in a similar situation as he was.
This thought process only got reinforced once he got on the plane. People were shuffling around, various ones going further to the back as many moved to the business and economy classes. But Matt's focus was on the crowd staying in first.
First class already seemed pretty sparse to him. Seats weren't as compact as they were in other classes. Three columns, all of which were usually one seat wide. The seats further towards the back seemed to be the only spots with multiple seats in a single space.
Matt chose to sit in a seat in a window seat that was placed in the middle of the cabin. He also continued to watch as the various other first class members took their seats. Very few of them seem to have small luggage to place in upper compartments, and none of them looked like the type of people who'd pay for a first class ticket to Dubai. This was a very peculiar situation…
Nonetheless, Matt tried to ignore it and decided to pull out his phone so he could set it to airplane mode. The next ten minutes were the uneventful part of the airplane and its passengers going through the preparations for a safe liftoff and flight to its destination. But after those ten minute the engines of the plane began to rumble and it finally took off.
Matt stared out the window, watching as the airport dwindled in size. Confusion still racked his brain about this entire situation, but there was no going back now.
Once the airplane was safely in the air Matt pulled his phone out again. This was going to be a lengthy flight and he needed something to do…
His thought process was distracted by a flight attendant walking near his seat. In her hands was a wine glass and a bottle of presumably expensive wine. "Hello sir!" she started in a cheery manner, "Would you like some complementary wine?"
Matt arched a brow, gaze directing to the bottle. Curious, he also pushed himself further in his seat to look beside her. He found a few other people looking to be offered a similar proposition of beverage. He then looked back at the woman beside him. Her face had a kind smile to it. Matt wasn't really one for wine, but…
"If it's free I guess one glass wouldn't hurt…"
"Here you go then!" she replied. Matt held a hand out and took the glass with the flight attendant proceeding to pop the cap off the bottle and pour him some. Once the glass was adequately filled she placed the cap back on and left wordlessly. She didn't even stay to hear Matt thank her.
Matt spent a moment inspecting the wine. It had a yellowish tint to it, meaning it was some kind of white wine. It also seemed to sparkle in the light of the window beside him. Despite being 20, Matt has never really gotten the chance to indulge in alcoholic beverages, so this would be a first for him.
Putting the glass to his lips, he takes a nice long sip of the liquid. It had a citrus taste with an earthy aftertaste. The alcohol also gave it a hint of bitterness that kind of made consuming it unenjoyable for the young adult man. But he pressed on, drinking the entire thing in one lengthy go.
Matt pulled down the tray that was on the seat in front of him and placed down the glass. Blinking his eyes a few times, he shuts them and begins to yawn, his mind feeling rather fuzzy. "Oough, am I… druuuunk…?" he says to himself with a small giggle. A severe sleepiness overtook him, his other hand numbing and dropping his phone onto his lap.
I've never been drunk before, Matt thinks to himself. It's the very last thought he has before his body slumps in its seat, the man almost instantly in a deep sleep.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Matt is awoken abruptly by the feeling of his shoulder being jostled. A feminine voice enters his ears as he slowly comes to his senses.
"Sir, please wake up. We are about to land."
As if to back up her words, a masculine voice plays on the plane's announcement system. "We will be landing at Dubai International Airport shortly. Please turn off all portable electronic devices…"
Matt begins to tune out the announcement as he groggily sits up. The flight attendant behind him smiles, content with her work before heading off to the next seat.
He groans as he slowly comes back to consciousness. Blinking his eyes, he finds the wine glass he had is now gone. His phone was also in his lap, although its charge is now at 47 percent. At least the power save did some of its job…
He lifts up a hand and fastens his seatbelt in preparation for the plane's descent. Curiously, he looks around the cabin to look at the other passengers. Many of them seemed to be in the same boat as him. Tired and confused. Whatever they put in that wine must've been strong…
Matt was expecting the plane's descent to be boring, but as he looked out the window he found himself in awe of the city's skyline. It was an absolutely stunning cityscape filled with many multi-story buildings and towering skyscrapers, noticeably structured roadways, and a few wide waterways that crossed a portion of the city. Even the coastline and islands can be seldomly seen in the distance!
But what really caught Matt's interest was the largest building in the entire city. A real skyscraper that pierced the air like a beautiful glass spire. The famous Burj Khalifa. He's seen images of it, but never did he think he'd see it with his very own eyes! He felt a small pang in his chest as the skyline started to obscure from view, the plane now fully descending onto the airport's runway.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Dubai International Airport. You are now permitted to unfasten your seatbelts and exit the cabin to the gate…"
All around him, passengers begin to do as prompted. Matt lagged behind a little, still somewhat groggy from his unexpected nap. Luckily, since he didn't have anything on him, he headed straight into the aisle and started walking to the exit.
For a second time it felt like it slowed as he took in the sight of the cabin. Something felt… off. The same amount of people was here, but there was something different about some of them. Before, every passenger looked ill-equipped for a flight like this. Now there were roughly four or five passengers that seemed different. Wearing crisp suits or expensive dresses, an aura of high society encompassing them. They stuck out like a sore thumb in the cabin, but in an odd way.
Matt shook his head. "M…maybe I'm misremembering things…" he whispered to himself. Taking his eyes off the socialites he walks down the aisle and exits the plane.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
"To everyone who was on flight number OC8956, you have all been given complimentary cab rides from the airport. Please keep your phone on to keep track of your ride's ETA."
Matt raised a brow. Complimentary cab rides as well? What kind of flight was this?
He had spent roughly fifteen minutes prior to that announcement roaming around the airport. He wasn't exactly sure where to go or where the exit was. And even then, he'd always find himself filled with awe at the very spectacle of the place. Multiple floors with various counters and such for reasons he couldn't discern. So many of the signs were in Arabic so he couldn't quite understand what was said. Then there was the crowding of the entire place. So many people coming and going, a handful of foreign languages rushing past his ear and he went by different conversations. It was so absurd and confusing. At the sound of the intercom's announcement, Matt decided to take a chance and escape this rowdy airport. He finds the nearest open area that looks like it could be used as an entrance/exit and tests his luck.
He opens a door and finds himself in an area held up by multiple archways. A wide sidewalk extends, and Matt is greeted with the side of a set of roads nestled between buildings and multiple people walking amongst them. He's startled by a train suddenly passing, exiting from the upper layer of the opposite building.
Swallowing a lump in his throat, Matt walks out onto the sidewalk to better see the ends of the road. Pulling the neck of his shirt, he begins to feel a little warm. He was wearing a long sleeved shirt with a design from his favorite game on it, along with a pair of blue jeans and some sneakers. If anything, Matt was not prepared for a trip like this, especially in the Persian Gulf.
A vibration from his phone interrupts his thoughts. Taking it out of his pocket again, he unlocks it and sees a text.
Your driver has notified us that they will be at the main entrance shortly. White Toyota Camry, License Plate #34985
Matt just nods to himself. At this point his brain was so… overwhelmed by everything. He was definitely not prepared for this and he was a little worried about what would happen.
He remains on the sidewalk, watching as people come and go to and from the airport. His mind keeps jumping to their status. While many look like your normal everyday people, there's a handful of others that seem to be of the high society. He felt like he could sense their wealthiness and pride and their foolishness and arrogance, all radiating from their voices and their style of dress and their form. This is very easily a city where the richest go to live it up in luxury.
Matt shakes his head and breaks his thoughts. What is about those people that enthrall him? He's never cared about that lifestyle before! His phone then vibrates again.
Your driver will be pulling up in less than a minute. We hope you enjoy your Dubai Taxi Corporation ride!
As if on cue, a white car with the exact license number mentioned earlier drives up to the entrance. Matt takes this as his cue to leave the airport entrance.
Opening the door, he slides into the back seat of the Toyota and is given a sweet feeling of cold air. Nestling into the cushion, he takes a look at his taxi driver. He was a dark skinned middle aged man with a rectangular facial structure. He had black hair and was clean shaven, and he was wearing a light blue uniform button-up with what looked to be a red stripe running diagonally down the upper half of it.
The man leans from the seat and turns to look at Matt. "Name's Dhakir," he introduced himself, a thick Arabic accent stringing his words along. "I'm takin' it you're Matt?"
Matt nods in response. Satisfied, Dhakir turns to the road and starts the engine. The car begins to drive off, leaving the airport and beginning to enter a sea of cars. Matt spends a while looking out the window and watching the unfamiliar cityscape pass him by.
"I take it you're a tourist, ey Matt?" Dhakir asks.
Matt snaps his head away from the window and looks at the driver. "Uhh, yeah. I've never been here before, really…"
Dhakir hums. "Nothin' to worry about, Matt. You'll be findin' yourself at home here pretty soon!" He follows that up with a husky laugh. Matt just nods, a little uneased by the sentence.
"Right, so your providers never gave me a set destination to drop you off from. Any ideas where you want to be left at?"
Matt hesitated a bit. "I uh… don't… know…"
"Oh, that's fine by me! I can always just cruise around the city, let you take in the sights. Just make sure to remember you'll need to pay for gas mileage!"
A part of Matt is screaming that it is a bad idea and a waste of money, but another part of him seems to just… not mind that prospect. It wouldn't hurt to try and familiarize himself with this place, would it? "I think I'd prefer that…"
"Then let's have ourselves a little cruise~"
And so here Matt was, sitting in a car and watching the cityscape go by. Buildings and restaurants and stores, people coming and going and walking around each one. He'd get a glimpse of sprawling highways that fill him with an odd sense of awe.
Eventually an intersection was reached, and once the cab drove past it Matt was greeted with the sight of a large building to their right and a park to their left. For some reason, a sense of familiarity was starting to creep into his chest.
"Jewel of the Creek Mall to your right. We'll be approaching a bridge that goes over the Dubai Creek as well. Kind of wish I could show you the Infinity Bridge, but that's a way aways from where we are now."
Matt just nods again, head glued to the window as the mall is driven past and the sprawling river begins to enter view. He shivers slightly as he begins to feel something strange in him. Why is he so warm again?
He squirms in his seat a little, pulling at the neck of his shirt. Matt was unaware of the changes starting to settle in his body.
Although it technically started occurring all over his body, it was prominent in his hands and arms first. Fingers were getting thicker and blunter, his hands increasing in size. Muscle mass began to fill his arms, his forearms expanding while his upper arms thickened. The sleeves of his shirt filled out with each passing moment.
His chest was also beginning to enlarge, his torso slowly barrelling out as the chub in his belly began to sink into his abdomen. His body rubbed up against the cotton of his shirt, and he could feel his jeans tighten against his legs.
Swallowing a lump in his throat, he tries to adjust his shirt a little. His neck was widening, his shirt increasingly getting smaller.
"Everything alright there, Mr. Matt?"
Matt grunted. "Y-yeah," he croaked, coughing slightly. Did his voice sound… different? Deeper? No, that can't be. "Everything just feels… tight."
Dhakir laughs. "I'm surprised you can walk around with such tight clothing, Mr. Matt. Especially in heat like this!"
Matt lets out a nervous laugh. "Uh, what's with the mister…?"
"Isn't that what you prefer to be referred to as?"
Matt thought for a moment. N… no? But he… he wants that now. "Yeah, right. You're… yeah."
He shifts in his seat some more and looks outside. The end of the bridge is reaching them, and he could also see a large docking bay for some ferries. A few faint memories begin to enter his head at the sight, but he could barely decipher them. Loud music and fuzzy faces is all he could understand.
His breathing slows as his muscles continue to expand. His grip on his phone begins to tighten, his hands getting another centimeter larger. His forearms continue to add in bulk and he could feel his biceps and triceps burn as they gain sizable mass. And as the sunlight continued to beat on his skin, the pasty white started to take a bit of a darker shade: a bright beige.
A few changes seemed to settle in his face as well. Whiskers of hair poked out above his lip and on his chin, and the color of the hair on his scalp seems to darken slightly. His facial structure even seems to shift slightly as it begins to broaden ever so slightly.
Shifting in his seat again he feels his shirt cling to his body more. His torso getting thicker, pecs getting larger. He felt his gut churn as the muscles within them were gaining some form of prominence. There was even a feeling of pressure in his back as his spine started lengthening. The skin of his legs continued to rub against his jeans, and his shoes suddenly began feeling smaller.
Sweat begins to form across his body, beads of it noticeably dribbling down his forehead. Blinking his eyes he takes his head away from the window and nestles it into the back of the chair. Man, it feels like he just got back from his daily workout!
…but he's never worked out before…
He blinks his eyes again. "What is… going on…" he asks himself a little too loudly, his voice sounding even deeper. A hint of an accent was even starting to form in it, but he was having trouble determining that.
"Perhaps you had a little too much to drink on your flight, Mr. Sareed." Dhakir said in Arabic.
Matt chuckles, understanding what Dhakir said. "That's none of your business, Dhakir." He replied in perfect Arabic. But after a few seconds he blinked again and shook his head. In English he asks, "W-wait… what did you just call me?"
"Mr. Matt," Dhakir says with a smirk. Matt feels so confused that he doesn't feel like disputing it.
Matt raises a hand and runs it down his face, giving a second to stop and feel his lower face. Didn't he shave? No, he doesn't usually shave until his facial hair gets too scruffy…
The tightness of his shirt seemed to alleviate a little as something about it seemed to change. The design on it started to fade, washing out the fabric as the color of the entire thing seemed to change. A deep black seemed to settle in his shirt as it slowly enlarged a little. It took a few seconds, but it went from uncomfortably tight to the kind of tight that comes off as show-offy, revealing the thickness of his pecs and abdominals, and his bulging biceps and triceps.
The same thing seemed to occur in his pants as the denim shifted to a brighter white coloration. They got bigger, encapsulating his form comfortably. This helped greatly as it allowed his thighs to expand properly and gave his calves some room to breath.
The clothing shifts progressed further as a split started to form in the middle of his shirt. Buttons materialized and lined the split, Matt smirking as he began to unbutton the uppermost three. Sparse chest hair revealed itself as he did so.
In Arabic again, Dhakir speaks. "So, Mr. Matt, how may I ask about your business trip to America?"
Matt shook his head. "No one wants to talk business, cabbie. Just let me rest my head a little, why don't you," he says in Arabic in a cocky, rude manner. This was followed up with a cough before something causes him to come to his senses. "I-sorry, I don't know what came over me."
Matt leans forward. That sentence sounds fragmented, split between languages that sound foreign.
Dhakir nods. "No need to do so. Business is quite the boring topic after all. All my clients say that..."
Matt begins to tune out Dhakir. He looks down at his now massive hands, his thicker chest. Why was he so muscular? He could feel something nestle around his neck, finding that his shirt seemed to gain a collar. That wasn't there before was it? And was his skin tone different…? It seemed… darker.
It was also from here on that the conversation progressed in perfect Arabic.
"Do I look any different to you?"
"I wouldn't know, Mr. Sareed."
Matt rolls his eyes. Wait- Mr. Sareed? Why… was…
"Hmph. Are we really taking the longer route?" he says judgingly, cutting his own thoughts off.
"We're passing the governmental buildings now, sir. We'll be on Tariq Bin Ziyad soon."
Matt just scoffed. He just wanted to get back home.
Adjusting himself in his seat again, he could feel his nipples stimulate against his shirt. The material felt different. Silkier.
A couple other changes seemed to settle in his shirt some more. A breast pocket forming right to the placket, the shirt starting to tuck itself into his pants. The sleeves would've rolled themselves up, but he found himself rolling them up by himself. This revealed a metallic silver band on his right arm.
The feeling of his nipples rub on his shirt also started making him feel… aroused. He could feel blood beginning to rush downwards to his groin. Grunting, he aggressively moved around in his seat some more, feeling that his pants felt… softer. Cottony. Something began to tickle his neck as well, a silver and gold 18" cable necklace materializing around his neck.
"Damn," he grunts out. He was getting hard already. His eyes flick to the window and finds they're already at a shopping district lining the Tariq Bin Ziyad road. "How much longer we got, cabbie?"
"Less than 20 minutes, sir."
Matt groaned. "Fine, whatever."
He started to scratch at his face, the man feeling itchy again. Stubble started growing out a bit more, black hair congregating around his lower face into a short and kemp beard. Lighter scruff is visible around his mouth forming a clean goatee. As for the hair on his head, it seemed to have completely darkened to black. The sides also looked to buzz themselves while the hair at the top grew out into a square hairstyle. Messiness was subdued, magically combining itself into a neatly organized cut.
He pulls out his phone again, eyes noticing the casing looked a little different. It looked almost… gel-like, with some kind of glittery gold substance within it. He shakes his head and ignores the thought, unlocking his phone and being greeted with a wallpaper containing a picture of the gulf view he took from his apartment. He also noticed that the skin of his hand was… a rich… beige…
He grunted again, this time in pain. "No… something isn't right."
"What do you mean, Mr. Sareed."
"That… that isn't…"
"But it is, isn't it? Aamar Sareed."
Matt(?) placed a hand at his head, a migraine beginning to form. His facial structure continued to shift even more, formerly round jawline squaring out as his features grew more rectangular. His nose shrunk slightly, narrowing out. A few hairs seem to dispel from his eyebrows as they thinned out at the right end, and hairs added to the left end.
Growling, he pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and started rummaging through it. His credit card was different, he had different sets of cards to various clubs and shit, and his…
His ID was different.
"Why am I thinking I'm some American?" he whispers to himself in disbelief. He wasn't an American, he was a native Emirati!
A cocky smirk plastered itself on his face. "How drunk was I?" he says, following it up with a laugh.
Matt quickly began a foreign memory. Middle class American? Nah, he was a high class Emirati, living it up on the beaches of the UAE with his vast inheritance. Days and nights of partying with his closed circle of friends, being amongst the high society of not just this country but many. He's the kind of person everyone envies.
Aamar begins to scoot away from the window and sits in the middlemost seat, stretching out his muscular arms and puffing out his chest. He takes a moment to admire his body. Only 25 and he's got the perfect form.
"Oy, give me another ETA!"
Dhakir smirks. "I apologize, Mr. Sareed, we're still on the D78. It'll be about 18 minutes or so."
Aamar rolls his eyes, but smiles. His eyes lock onto the overhead mirror, staring at the cabbie. He could sense that man was staring at his form.
He's always liked the older ones…
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Eighteen minutes pass and the cab starts to pull up to Aamar's place of residence.
The Burj Al Arab.
It's a hotel, but Aamar treats it as a place of residence for the time being. He doesn't give a shit.
As the cab begins to pull up to the circular parking area in the front of the Burj Al Arab…