“…if you can pose as one of my mannequins for an hour, I’ll let you buy it.” The Second Skin’s shopkeeper flashed Manuel an amused smile.
“Deal.” Manuel immediately blurred out. Well… Manny. Manuel should really start thinking of himself as Manny the Mannequin.
“I’ll expect you to stand still the whole time.” Merlin chuckled, “If I catch you moving, you’re back to a rental.”
“I said… Deal.” Manuel spoke a little bit louder behind his mask this time.
“Alright,” Merlin grinned, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
The shopkeeper set up a display stand for Manuel right by the register. The slightly elevated platform had a metal pole for him to lean against and everything. Manuel couldn’t help but notice there was a nearby mirror so he’d be able to have a good view of himself while on display.
What he didn’t expect was the bundle of clothes in the shopkeeper’s arms.
“Hey, you’re a mannequin, I’m going to use you like one,” Merlin grinned.
“Seriously…?” He whispered behind the mask.
“Yup,” Merlin laughed, “Hold still.”
The wizard reached between Manuel’s legs. He gripped his plastic cock and started twisting again. Manuel tried to let out a yelp, but instead just rigidly stood on the shop floor as Merlin unscrewed the decorative plastic cock.
“Let’s go with something a bit more tasteful for now,” he chuckled.
“Right…” Manuel tried to nod. He was happy the man wasn’t commenting on his excited state.
Merlin screwed on the flaccid cock, then bent down. Manuel wasn’t sure what he was doing, and then heard, “Right leg.”
Manuel lifted his tight leg. Merlin slid something around it before barking, “Left leg.”
Manuel shifted his weight the other direction.
Merlin slid something around his other leg, then started to stand up. Manuel did his best to look down at himself. He could barely just make out Merlin sliding a pair of tighty whities and short shorts up his legs.
“Hey, I can… dress myself.” Manuel tried to say.
“No, you can’t.” Merlin laughed. He manhandled Manuel, pulling the garments up over his waist.
Manuel wasn’t in much of a place to argue. He was right. It was difficult to even just move his arms out of their default position by his sides.
“I’ve been trying to move more of these things lately,” Merlin held up a t-shirt, “Arms up please.”
Manuel did his best to pull his arms up over his head, but it was just… impossible. The best he could do was hold them out in front of himself like the classic zombie pose.
Merlin managed to get the shirt on without too much trouble. Manuel shimmied over to face the mirror. Apparently the costume shop sold its own branded merch? The shirt had The Second Skin logo on the corner near the bottom hem. In the center of the shirt, a large stylized cartoon zipper wiggled down his chest. The irony that it was covering up the actual zipper on Manuel’s costume wasn’t lost on him.
“Alright, get on your stand Manny,” Merlin grinned.
Manuel was having trouble bending his legs fully, but he managed to get all the way up without too much difficulty. He tried to find a position for his legs that he could stand on for a while. When he was finally satisfied, he leaned back gently to try and see how much weight the display bar could hold. Thankfully it was pretty sturdy.
“Hmm… That’s pretty good,” Merlin framed his fingers like a film director, “Let’s make things interesting though.”
The shopkeeper walked over to his cash register. He picked up a pile of business cards and walked back over to Manuel.
“Why don’t you try handing these out for me?” He propped up Manuel’s arm, sliding the stack of cards into his outstretched hand.
“I thought… I should hold still?” Manuel whispered.
“You should,” Merlin said, “Just hold that pose.”
“What?” Manuel’s eyes went wide behind the mask. His arm was going to get really tired having to stay propped up like this…! “Hey!”
“See you in an hour Manny!” Merlin waved dismissively, walking off.
Back at the frat house, Nick finally interrupted Manny’s story, “So did you manage to stay still the entire hour…?”
“Oh yeah,” Manny chuckled, “At first it was just fun being up on display… even if I was a glorified business card holder. People would come by and take a card without even realizing I was a guy in a suit.”
“…were you though?” Nick couldn’t help but ask.
“At first,” Manny replied, “Like I said, it was fun. I was getting really into it.”
Nick nodded his helmet, “And then…?”
Manuel’s nose started to itch. He wanted to win the shopkeeper’s bet… but sometimes one’s baser instincts take over. He looked around, not seeing anyone. Merlin’s voice was faintly echoing all the way across the shop with some customer who had walked in. He could quickly reach up, scratch his nose, and be back to his pose before Merlin was none the wiser.
Only… his body wouldn’t move. He did his best to reach his arm up, but it refused to budge. He tried kicking a leg. He tried to even just swivel his head. All of the plastic surrounding his body was firmly held into place.
“I looked up and saw my reflection in the mirror,” Manny went on, “I could see all the joints. Big hollow pieces where my elbows and shoulders met. I thought I was just… really enjoying myself. Like my imagination had just run away from me.”
“You did realize Merlin had turned you into a mannequin, right?” Nick hissed.
“Oh yeah,” Manny laughed, “It became pretty obvious.”
It was clear Manuel had been standing there for more than an hour. He could see the sun starting to set outside of the shop’s front window. He as a good mannequin though. He didn’t say anything whenever Merlin walked by. He didn’t move an inch when the shopkeeper put a, “I got turned into a mannequin at The Second Skin and all I got was this lousy hat” baseball cap. Not that he could make out the text from where he was standing.
As the evening went on, more shoppers kept obliviously walking by Manuel. One eventually bumped into him, causing his center of balance to rock back and forth. If he had been able to move his legs he would have been able to easily right himself. Instead, Manuel found himself tipping over onto the floor.
He stayed as rigid as a board. Manuel could feel his whole body rattle as he impacted on the floor. An echo vibrated all along his hollow figure.
“Shoot shoot shoot…!” The shopper bent down, quickly standing Manuel upright. He leaned over, doing his best to pick up the scattered business cards.
“Don’t worry about it,” Merlin arrived to help, “Manny’s always tipping over.”
He shoved the cards back into Manuel’s hands and proceeded to help the customer check out. Finally Merlin came back over and undressed Manuel.
“So… I hope you enjoyed yourself,” Merlin grinned, running his finger down Manuel’s chest. He pulled at the zipper, restoring the young man’s mobility in an instant. “So, about those rental terms.”
“I still want to buy it!” Manuel blurred out. The shopkeeper hadn’t even gotten his mask off yet.
Merlin raised an eyebrow, “Even after all that?” He slid the hood off of Manuel’s head. All of the plastic around his body seemed to have returned to its simple foam state.
“I- Yeah!” The college student’s face was flush, “Come on, a deal’s a deal!”
“Alright, if you’re sure.” Merlin gave Manuel a bewildered look, “Let me get this boxed up for you. That’ll be two hundred dollars.”
Nick stared, “Manny, seriously!?”
“What! That’s the price of four rentals! It was a steal!” The mannequin wobbled.
“Uh huh.” Nick said skeptically, “So you put it on tonight and-“
“Oh, no, I put it on the second I got home.”