After Ryan's corpse faded away, Jeff knew it was done; he had won. All that remained of Ryan was a pair of car keys, and the displaced weights.
With that off his shoulders he realized he could feel the symbiote permeating his body. His chest, his muscles, even his kidneys felt the extra mass moving around within him, as this separate creature assimilated itself with him.
Thinking loudly Jeff asked, "Are you there? Ryan? Can you hear me?"
From within his head, "Jeff, I can hear you. What's going on? Everything is weird. I feel great all of a sudden but different."
Jeff had moved from the weight room to the bathroom in the locker room. Staring at himself he could see his body coated in a thin, dark film, rubbing it didn't remove it and it felt like his normal skin. "Hey Ryan?"
"Please, don't call me that."
"Why?"
"I can feel how you felt about Ryan and I am not that anymore, I don't want you to associate me with bad. I want to make you happy."
"Fair enough, but what shall I call you?"
After a moment and a really strange mental sensation, the voice came back, "You can call me Greatness, Great for short."
Jeff laughed out loud, "You do realize Greatness isn't a normal name right?"
"Yes, but I think I searched your mind a moment ago, I am still getting familiar with... us and I found you had a powerful positive reaction to the idea of... inner greatness. Since I am inside you, and I am here to help when you call, I want you to think of me as calling upon your inner greatness."
Jeff really liked it, a pun with sincere truth behind it. "So Great, about you helping me?"
"Anything!"
"How good of a handle do you have on yourself, specifically how you can effect my appearance?"
"I have a vague sense of your surroundings, and I think I am beginning to connect with and interpret your senses so I can be with you externally as well as... Oh, I see why you ask..."
Within a second my skin began shifting colors as though my flesh was clear and I was full of paints that didn't mix. After a moment everything seemed to settle down and I was left looking normal.
"That was interesting."
"I can feel that you are pleased with both the experience and the result. Your pleasure is enough for me, you need not acknowledge it."
Jeff was surprised but it made sense, the symbiote was in his brain reading his thoughts telepathically, "You should have other abilities too. Make me look older, bigger, or just to change what I'm wearing."
"I can feel that I have other abilities but I am still getting used to us. I can feel your anticipation and will do what I can."
Jeff's clothes suddenly pressed to his body and started to disappear. The symbiote was devouring the fibers and a second later Jeff was naked his wallet had fallen to the floor. Jeff then watched as he felt his chest expand out, the symbiote was pressing itself into his small, nearly non existient muscles and he was inflating painlessly.
"Your joy is my ecstasy." Great cut in, sounding as though he was enjoying it as much as Jeff.
Jeff flexed his pec and felt it. It felt real, both inside and externally. Jeff smiled and flexed his bicep. He looked at his slightly more muscular body and then his eyes traveled to his smiling face. The smile turned into a look of awe after he saw the laugh lines around his eyes, his changing expression caused his forehead to wrinkle, then he smiled again and noticed the deep lines in his face as though he were in his mid thirties.
Suddenly across his chest, neck, stomach, arms, legs, and face, black hair started to sprout with different lengths, coarseness and density. Once the hair had grown, it, like his flesh a few moments ago, changed color wildly and then settled on a color close to his natural hair.
The hair on his legs and feet disappeared as Great instead covered his legs with blue jeans. Likewise the hair in the center of his chest disappeared and a white form fitting shirt appeared to cover him.
"Woah...." Jeff could easily pass as a young father to a middle school student, albeit he makes a short man.
"How did you age me so well?"
"As you already know, I am in your skin and inside you, I am making your skin act more saggy than usual and the hair is actually me mimicking hair out of your natural hair follicles. I am in your face as well, to provide a slightly more mature facial structure. For vocal effect I am stretching your voice box."
"Can you make me look more muscular?"
"Not until I eat and grow. There is only so much of me to use to modify your appearance and act as clothes."
"Can you maintain this appearance?"
"For now yes though I am growing fatigued."
How long can you maintain this?"
"Up to an hour, perhaps two. It is a stretch for me to effect things externally in my current state."
Jeff reached down and grabbed his bag and walked out to the school parking lot. He found his new car and drove home. About 10 minutes into the drive Jeff felt colder. Looking in the mirror he realized he was suddenly naked and young looking again.
Laughing out loud he realized he still had a deep voice which didn't seem to fit his body anymore. "That's alright, rest for now. I will just need clothes for a minute when I get home and get into my room. You can let my voice, muscle and hair return to normal."
Jeff felt what could only be interpreted as a sigh of relief telepathically and then came a disorienting feeling of deflating.