"Fine."
Tim tightened his grip on the rock until it left pink depressions on his palm. He inhaled till his chest puffed out and focused. It was difficult to describe the sensation—like stretching, but outside the body. He was ripped from something sticky while staying completely still. His vision blurred for half a second and he was back in that world where the colors were drained of everything. Grey grass covered the park while trees in equally dead shades ruffled from the wind. The sun's white rays were punishing, it scorched him in a way difficult to describe. Then—the colors returned.
He wasn't Tim. He was Ravi.
The world suddenly felt a little shorter and everything around him more daunting. His arms were light and his hands were smaller. A slightly oversized geology club t-shirt hung loosely on his shoulders. His brain felt different as he heard the call of curiosity, but the call was less oppressive compared to when he was a squirrel. He turned his head and saw himself—his body—sitting there, blank-eyed and frozen. He—no, It—gripped the rock tighter and it started on something unseen. Ermie waved his hands on the empty husk but no response came.
Tim focused on himself again. He wiggled his fingers and caressed his arms with its darker skin-tone. He flexed his toes in his sneakers and felt queasy when he realized how damp they were. He was wearing another dude's sweaty socks, but realizing those sweaty socks belonged to this body somehow minimized the weird feeling. Yep. He was fully in Ravi's body.
Tim walked up to Ermie, still sitting on the bench. He looked towering from Ravi's perspective, and more feral? Ermie does have that wild appearance like a possum turned human. His friend has messy neck-length hair and his uniform was a hasty mess. Ermie raised a nicked eyebrow.
"Okay, so what? Ravi's in on the joke?" Ermie shouldered Tim's empty body. "Fuck it, dude. You're selling this thing."
Tim sighed. "Dude, it's me."
Ermie snorted. "Right. Sure. And I'm George Washington. Possessing someone is something you read in those nerdy books or shitty choose-your-own-adventure games. It doesn't happen in real life." He rolled his eyes. "Still, I'll continue biting. If you're really Tim, then prove it. Do something Ravi would never do.
Tim considered this. Despite his rough personality, Ermie has his moments of wisdom. This whole thing smells of a well-thought-out prank even though the years have moved past April Fools. If he was to prove his experiences were real, he must do something Ravi would never dare do in his life. For a quiet, polite guy, there were a lot of things he would not do. One of which dangled between his legs. With a quick zip down, he pulled out Ravi's tiny, dark cock and squeezed it.
"Would Ravi show off his cock like this?" Tim pulled the shaft and revealed the cute tip. It was far shorter than what he was used to, and it felt like a part of his manliness disappeared with it. This wasn't the dick of a man. This was the dick of a boy. It wasn't all that bad, however. It was a bit cute and the darkened complexion gave him this exhilarating thrill of feeling something new. It wasn't also surprising to find his borrowed crotch hairless.
"Holy—" Ermie stared, wide-eyed. The fucker didn't hesitate to reach out and pull Ravi's dick closer. He marbled the tiny testicles as if he were playing with marbles. "You weren't kidding."
"I told you multiple times. I can possess people." Tim squirmed uncomfortably, afraid anyone would see. Fuck! Having Ermie play with his balls felt so fucking good. "Can you stop playing with my—I mean—Ravi's balls?"
Ermie pulled his hand out and smelled it, and Tim flashed him a weird look because of it. Seeing him kinda enjoy it made Tim try it out too. He reached down and let the aroma cling to his fingers before smelling it himself. He expected it to smell deeply fragrant, but it was rather disappointing when it only had a faint smell of someone's sweaty testicles. He quickly tucked his dick back and felt relieved when no one saw him just get fondled. Emily was nearby but she was still busy arranging Ermie's mess.
"I still can't wrap my head around the fact that you can do that to people." Ermie shifted uncomfortably on the bench. That was a rare sight. "So, what happened to Ravi? Fuck! Is he awake there? Did he know I fondled his marbles and smelled my fingers?"
"No," Tim said as he rubbed his temple. It was something he always did when he was in thought, and it seemed more than a soul came over to this body. "I'm pretty sure Ravi wouldn't know. I still feel him inside my head, but like subdued? It's like sleep but deeper."
Ermie breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank fuck. That's a stone off my chest. I already have a crappy reputation but fondling the Indian guy's balls will end me. So, how long can you stay as Ravi? It's head wracking trying to talk to you while you're half my size."
"You're just fat,"
"I'm big boned, shithead. My question still stands."
"I feel like I could stay indefinitely as Ravi, theoretically speaking." Tim said, rolling Ravi's arms a little. He never thought how much he'd transfix at the change of his complexion, size, voice, intonation—everything! He was in another dude's body, seeing the world as how they would experience it. The changes go beyond the body since they also affect his mind. "The longer I stay, the more I get…pieces. Not like a movie playing in my head, but like—fragments. Little feelings, memories. Stuff that just feels like Ravi."
Ermie frowned. "Like what?"
Tim hesitated, then rubbed his groin. "I loved it when you fondled my nuts. I love it generally, even though this was my first time getting touched like that. But I loved it especially more because you're the one who fondled my nuts."
"This part… Is it Ravi's mind speaking?"
"Yeah. It's not specifically because of you. It's because a large guy fondled his bits. He has a thing for larger men, I think."
"Welp. That's one fact I'll never erase from my mind." Ermie raised his arm and chuckled a bit. His gaze soon turned to the empty husk beside him. "What about this dude?"
Tim turned to his empty body just sitting there, staring dead ahead with its glassy eyes. He waved his hand in front of its gaze but it did nothing. Flicking its nips failed to give any results as well. It's just a living, empty husk. And yet… Even though he wasn't in it, Tim still felt—connected. Like there is an invisible string tethering him to it. It wasn't just sitting lifelessly—it was waiting.
A weird thought hit Tim. He closed his eyes and focused, pushing the weird idea like willing an RC cart to start driving. A spark. The engine roared to life. He opened his eyes and watched his body stand up, causing Ermie to back away. It picked up a rock on the ground and approached Emily and helped her with the mess. A shudder ran through Tim's borrowed spine when he saw his body help that bitch.
"What the fuck just happened?" Ermie asked then turned to Tim. "Is that still you in there?"
"Yeah, it's still me. And I think I just activated my body. Like an autopilot?" Tim stared at his body as it happily helped that cunt. It may talk and move like him, but he can somehow sense how inauthentic it was. There was no soul inside that body. No real thoughts, just synapses firing to imitate a human being. It wasn't a real thing, just an autopilot.
"So that's you?" Ermie pointed at Autopilot. He's calling it Autopilot now since it seems clearer that way. By now, Emily shooed Autopilot away because it wouldn't follow her sorting strategies. Autopilot stomped away and settled closer to the pond. It's funny how a husk can't also stand up to that woman's attitude.
"That's me, technically." Tim said, now a faint accent in his voice. "But it's also not me."
"I think I'm too dumb to get this."
Tim walked further out and focused his intent on Autopilot. The time in that opposite, greyed-out world passed faster this time. He was back in his body in one quick breath and the slight force nearly pushed him on the pond. His mind reeled as he felt himself flood back into his own skin, into his own senses. His fingers twitched and his legs felt like his own. He made one quick jostle of his crotch and was glad to find the rod he was used to. Looking back, Ermie waved at him while Ravi looked around confused. The guy, eager as ever, returned to hunting rocks but not before walking with his legs apart. Tim must have left with his balls sticking to the side of his leg.
"I got you your proof. Happy now dork face?" Tim said. "I don't think I can possess someone again so soon."
"Are you fucking kidding me!? You have the power to become somebody else and you're going to wimp out this fast? Where's the dog in you, man?"
"There's no dog in me. And I never said I won't possess anyone again. I just need a bit of rest. I think I'm still reeling from Ravi's preference for bigger men."
Geology club wrapped up soon after, with Emily giving a small lecture on sedimentary layers that only a few seemed to care about. Tim would have listened if he hadn't read the topic for the hundredth time. The lesson was mostly made for the new members anyway. With the free time he had, his mind still lingered on what happened. The remnants of Ravi's thoughts and personality still lingered in the hallways of his psyche. And fuck—he could still feel Ermie's fingers playing with his cute balls.
Things seemed to keep interrupting his thoughts today because as soon as today's meeting formally ended, Tim and Ermie's stomachs bellowed a growl. They were starving.
Ermie stretched his arms over his head, yawning. "I don't know about you, but I could eat an entire large pizza right now."
Tim groaned. "Same."
"Too bad we're broke."
"Very."
Tim had blown his entire allowance on a combination of comic books, a rare geode he couldn't resist buying from Gammazon, and a pack of mechanical pencils he definitely didn't need. And he also paid his mom for all the Tupperware he stole. She said it was enough time that I paid for his own storage boxes. On the other hand, Ermie was just always broke. His mom barely covered the basics, and he was lucky if one of the turds gave him two shits about an allowance.
Tim checked his pockets anyway, just in case he had magically forgotten about a stray five-dollar bill. Nope. Just lint, an old receipt from a convenience store, and the flattest riverbed rock he owned. That rock always fooled him into thinking it was a coin. Still, he checked his pockets but only found that strange rock.
"Not even enough for a four-cheese," Ermie sighed. It was the cheapest and the thing they always ordered.
"Not even enough for a one-cheese."
Ermie turned toward Tim. "Alright. Do I have to spell it out for you?"
"Spell it out for me. I'm too hungry to think." During times like this, Tim often came home with Ermie so they'd eat lunch together. But he wanted Pizza and his mom hated anything with cheese. And before he left this morning, he could see the telling signs that today's lunch (and dinner) would be his mom's Scandinavian stinking meatloaf. She wasn't even remotely Scandinavian.
"Possess someone that could lead us to food," Ermie said as he pointed to the people entering the restaurants in the main avenue of their town.