“How would you two like to swap species?” Nate held up the proposed changes on his Chronivac, “Satyr to human, human to satyr. See how the other side lives, and answer the question of which species is best once and for all?”
Marcus and Allen stared back at him dumbfounded.
“I’ll change you back if you want,” Nate grinned, “Who knows, you might like the change of pace.” He rubbed some of the fur on his thigh for emphasis.
“I- I’ll try it,” Allen nodded.
“Really?” Marcus looked at him incredulously.
“Yeah? I mean- Our friend’s got a reality writer, how are we going to pass this up?” Allen smiled nervously.
“Yeah, but-“ Marcus started.
“I’ll let each of you make your own change afterwards if that seals the deal?” Nate beamed.
“I can go first? I have to see if y’all are full of shit about the nudity thing,” Allen laughed.
“You think our entire species is faking clothes being bleating intolerable?” Marcus glared.
“That does sound like something satyrs would do,” Allen laughed, “I’m sure Nate could turn you into a chicken too.”
“Hey!” Marcus’ ears shot up. “You know what, fine, let’s give this whole modesty thing a shot.”
“I think I’ve got everything ready,” Nate held up the device. It was a simple species swap. They’d change into a human or satyr version of themselves, and have just enough instincts to know how the body works. Mhmm, there was just one lingering question. “Are you… going to stay dressed for it Allen?”
“Oh my god,” Allen got up, “You guys can be like kids at a summer camp sometime. You want to measure our peckers next?”
“I think I can just look up those stats?” Nate grinned, “I bet we’ve got you beat.”
“Maybe not for long?” Allen started to peel out of his jersey. He tossed it aside and anxiously wiggled out of his blue jeans. His face was getting redder with each passing second. Nate vaguely remembered what Allen was going through, but it was becoming harder to empathize with the longer he stayed a satyr.
He still had his boxers on for Pan’s sake! If anything, Allen should be sheepish about his total lack of body hair. He kept his black hair cut in a nice trim buzz, and only had the occasional strand of hair on his chest. Compared to the satyr beside him, the two were like practical mirror images.
Marcus truly lived up to the “Beast Man” descriptor that got tossed around at some of the less friendly sports bars. Sure his legs were covered in brown fur, but things hardly stopped at his waist. He had a nice big tuff on his chest, and a considerable amount of scruff on his arms. He had a bushy beard instead of Nate’s cleaner goatee, and even his hair was wild and unkempt.
The two couldn’t be much more different. Actually… now there’s a fun idea. Nate tapped a bit more on the Chronivac. Rather than simply updating their species field, Nate told the device to swap their physical attributes. They’d still have their same faces, but they’d get to try walking in each others metaphorical shoes a bit more now.
“This might tingle a little bit,” Nate laughed. He visibly held up the Chronivac and tapped the “Apply” button.
“Oh jeez are you sure about this!?” Allen wiggled back and forth. His hands were darting between his goofy heart-print boxers, his chest, and well, his everywhere!. He clearly felt like he should be covering up something, but his entire body was feeling strange.
“Baah! I think I can feel it starting too…!” Marcus hopped up off of the sofa. The satyr likewise was giving his body a quick once over. He patted his fur, brushed his tail, and looked himself over for the source of the strange sensations.
“You’ll be fine,” Nate grinned. Then he blinked as he watched the two stand next to each other. Huh. He hadn’t considered how much more fit Allen was. He must have had a nice home gym. Marcus meanwhile had quite a noticeable wine belly. Was… that going to swap too? Whoops!
“Where does it usually start?” Allen looked down at himself. He wiggled his bare feet, “Wait, Marcus, how do you stand on hooves!?”
“How do you stand on feet?” Marcus laughed.
“Relax, both of you will know how to stand up,” Nate reassured them. Then he looked up over reach of their heads. “And it starts with, well…”
Marcus finally spotted the first change. A short pair of black horns was poking out of Allen’s temples. They were growing longer with each passing second as they started to curl out behind his head. Meanwhile Marcus felt his own odd tingling on his scalp.
He reached up and felt… nothing. Just his scruffy mop of hair. Something was missing.
“Your horns!” Allen stared as he watched Marcus’ confusion. Then he finally picked up on what was happening. He reached up to his head and curled his fingers around his new horns in surprise. “Gah!”
“It… it worked!?” Marcus stammered.
“Of course it worked!” Nate bleated, “You two just watched me change a pair of athletes on TV!”
“Maybe it was a deep fake or something!?” Marcus patted his head in disbelief, “I can’t believe my horns are gone!”
That wasn’t the only thing Marcus was losing. The hair on his chin was starting to thin out. Allen’s sideburns meanwhile grew longer and bushier. The new hair continued all the way down to his chin and started to fill out into a proper beard.
“Oh wow,” Allen reached out, “I’ve never seen you clean shaven before.”
“Baah, what? Hey, that’s my beard!” Marcus stared.
Allen reached out and rubbed Marcus’ freshly bare chin. The satyr mimed the moment, rubbing Allen’s new bushy beard. The loss of his facial hair was clearly flustering the satyr. The ears on the side of his head were twitching wildly. Until they weren’t.
The movement around Marcus’s face disappeared as his ears lost their fur. They grew smaller and smaller until he had a pair of proper human ears on the side of his head. His face was looking more human by the second…! Marcus’ mop of hair started shrinking down until it was…
Allen recognized that buzz cut! His ears perked up in surprise. Suddenly the flustered movement was framed around his face! He let go of Marcus’ chin and curiously reached up to his head. He felt his fingers brush through a full head of messy hair before finally curling around a new pair of goat ears.
Nate could watch as their profiles updated in real time. Owen was cranking down the body hair slider on Marcus, while sliding it up on Allen in the same amount.
“Why did I agree to this…!?” Marcus rubbed his arms. Then he… slid his hands between his legs for some reason?
“Bah, come on, this is fun,” Allen grinned. He blinked and rubbed his throat. “Bah? Baah…? Baaaaaah!”
Allen’s eager bleat rang out throughout the house. The two both looked like they had been pushed over a tipping point. Allen’s boxers shifted into a heart-print loin cloth, and Marcus’s loin cloth turned into a very team spirited pair of boxers. Huh. Just how much was reality shifting around them?
“Is it supposed to feel this weird?” Marcus squirmed. The satyr kept trying to lift his arms, then immediately going back to covering himself.
“I think you just got Allen’s modesty,” Nate pretended to check the Chronivac.
“Wait, does that mean…” Allen reached behind himself and undid the knot holding up his loin cloth.
It dropped nonchalantly to the floor. Allen’s legs were looking increasingly furry as he just… stood there. No scrambling to cover his exposed manhood. No rush of adrenaline. No flustered response whatsoever.
“This… feels fine? Better than fine even,” Allen stated at his legs. A flicker of excitement sprang up behind him as Marcus’ tail migrated over to Allen.
“Well this doesn’t!” Marcus shifted his weight back and forth. His hands were firmly between his legs despite the presence of his boxers. He bowed his shoulders forward, blocking as much of his increasingly bare chest as he could with his arms. His hooves clopped loudly as he shifted his weight, but then the sound went away as two feet formed beneath him.
“You just feel naked Marcus. Just put some pants on.” Nate reached down and threw Marcus Allen’s discarded blue jeans.
Marcus caught the pants and immediately knew how to orient them. He instinctively used the material to cover more of his body.
“Oh my god, are those feet?” Marcus wiggled his new toes for a second. Then he hastily stepped into the pants. Clothes first, bewilderment at his changes later.
“You’re even starting to sound human,” Nate muttered.
A wave of relief washed over Marcus, but he quickly hit a literal snag. The new human couldn’t get the pants fully up around his legs. The waistband was too small for his belly, and he couldn’t get the fly to zip up.
“Uh, do you have anything in my size- What the hell!?” Marcus blurted out.
Allen meanwhile was looking down quizzically at his legs. His feet had just shifted into a sturdy pair of cloven goat hooves. More strange than that, he actually knew how to balance on them. He was about to look up at Marcus’s outburst when he let out one of his own.
“What in Pan’s name!?” Allen was looking down at his hooves… and then he couldn’t see them anymore. His hairy stomach pushed out into a noticeable gut and blocked his view.
Marcus’s fat meanwhile dissolved into a respectably fit pair of abs. He blinked, gave them a curious rub, then finished putting his pants on.
“Surprise?” Nate laughed nervously.
“What the bleat did you do!?” Allen rubbed his stomach and gave it a awkward jiggle, “I look like a fat a-“
“Careful now. That’s my wine belly you’re talking about,” Marcus teased. He looked the new satyr up and down, “And my horns, and my beard, and my hooves actually. Not to mention my fat ass.”
“I may have gotten a little over-zealous in what I swapped,” Nate smiled sheepishly, “So… what do you think?”