You take the socks from Colby. You glance down and pat your gut. You then feel the prickly bristles of your goatee and admire the hair on your arms.
"Uhm, what are you doing?" George and Colby seem a little uncomfortable. "You want a minute alone with yourself."
You can't help but chuckle. "You know what?" You set the socks on the floor, unworn. "I think I like this body."
George shrugs. "Alright, fine." He grunts as he bends over and picks up the socks. You look at the pile of shoes before frowning. He looks down at his own mountainous body. "I like mine, too." He grins and sets the socks down.
"Well, that was short-lived," Colby mutters. "No offense, sirs, but I don't see the appeal to your... mature bodies."
George grimaces. "Colby, don't call me 'sir'. I'm your friend, not your superior."
"Sorry, sir, er, George."
You lean back on the couch, scratching your stomach, relaxing in your dad's body. "Wouldn't it be great if we could just... go somewhere and be these guys for a while?"
Colby raises a serious, stern eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
You shrug, resting your eyes. "I mean, what if we could just take a vacation. A long vacation. And we just spend time as somebody else."
George strokes his wild beard thoughtfully. "You know... My uncle does have a cabin he never uses."
You crack an eye open and look at George. "Really...?"
Colby glances between the two of you, a hint of concern on his stoic face. "Guys..."
George continues. "And if I ask my mom, she might let me get out of soccer. I mean, I would be out of here hair for the whole rest of the summer."
You grin, the lines around your mouth deepening. "And I don't really have anything I have to stick around for until school starts."
"Guys!"
Startled, you both turn to Colby, who has the most incredulous expression. "Guys, you can't be serious."
You sit up. "Why not?"
George grins. "Yeah, wouldn't you want to get away from the house for a while?"
Colby shrugs and scratches his buzzed hair. "Well, yeah, but how would we even get away with it? This has bad idea written all over it."
You jump to your feet, startling Colby. There's a manic grin on your face, your hands clenched in excitement. "Maybe. Or maybe it's GENIUS!"
George lunges to his feet as well, the motion shaking the house. "Genius!"
Colby crosses his muscled arms and shakes his head. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but if you guys are in, I'm in, too. If only to see just how badly this turns out."
------------------------------
A week later, you're outside your house, back in your teen body. You have a duffle bag of what your parents think are your own clothes, but are actually a selection of your dad's, along with the magic socks and his loafers. Your mom is there with you, going over a list of things you should take with you on your summer-long trip.
"... and you're sure you have plenty of underwear?"
You give an exasperated sigh. "Yes! Mom, we've been over this and over this."
She nods. "And I'm going to keep going over it and over it." She looks at you, concern etched across her face. She pats a hand to the back of your head and lightly tousles your hair. "I'm just going to be worried about you being gone all summer, is all. Are you sure you're going to be fine?"
You shoulder her hand away, not unkindly. "Mom, I'm 15, now. I think I'll be fine."
She nods, unconvinced. "Alright... Do you have those emergency contact numbers I gave you?"
You're rescued by the sound of a car engine. You see an extra-large SUV pull up into your driveway. At the wheel, you see George's uncle. He throws the vehicle into Park and clambers out. While not nearly as large as George's dad, he's still a fairly round man. His bright orange hair is mostly gray, as well as his neat, short cropped beard. He's mostly bald, save for a nearly shaved horseshoe of hair wrapping around the back of his head. He has a fair amount of orange and brown hair coating his forearms and poking out from the collar of his flannel shirt. There are lines around and under his eyes and etched into his forehead, showing him to be in his 50's. He nods at your mother and grins. "Morning!"
She forces a smile back and approaches him. "Good morning. First, I'm just so glad that you invited my son to come with you on this trip. He's really been looking forward to it all week."
He smiles charmingly back at here. "Sure, thing. I know my nephew's really taken a shine to your son. He wouldn't stop begging me to take him along."
She holds up a small piece of paper to him, an address written on it in neat handwriting. "Now, I just want to make sure that the address for your cabin is correct. And the phone number, in case there's an emergency."
George's uncle glances over the contact information as you load your bags into the back of the SUV, noting Colby's things are in as well. Perfect.
"Looks good to me, ma'am. Don't worry; your son will be fine. He's in good hands."
You mom nods. She turns to you and gives you a tight hug. "You be good, alright?"
You sigh. "Alright, Mom."
You pull yourself from your grip and hop into the passenger seat of the vehicle.
You mom calls after you. "Call me as soon as you get there!"
"Alright, Mom!"
With that, the two of you pull away from the house. You sigh and relax into your seat. Finally. You turn to your driver. "How you doing, Colby?"
Colby, who is currently in the body of George's uncle, gives a noncommittal shrug. "It's going okay. It's really weird how easily you can slip on somebody's personality. It's like putting on a suit, sort of. Those socks of yours really work."
In preparation for your trip, George found a pair of his uncle's shoes in his garage. They were only a few years old, and were thus the perfect way to get the three of you to his cabin. And, through a series of phone calls and shapeshifting, you managed to convince your various families to let you all go on this trip. Of course, you pulled all the money you made mowing lawns from your savings, George grabbed a credit card his parents only used in emergencies, and Colby traded in all the video games he didn't play anymore, so you guys could have some spending money for your vacation. Also important, Colby was able to inherit George's uncle's ability to drive, given some practice.
In a few minutes, you pull up in front of George's house. After a moment, George comes jogging out, bag in hand, a look of excitement on his face. Behind him, his mountainous father steps out of the doorway, his big grin mostly hidden by his bigger beard. Colby hops out and exchanges pleasantries with his "brother". George's dad grabs him in a one-armed bear hug.
"You don't look a day older than the last time I saw ya! Where've ya been, big brother?"
Colby grins back, matching the other's expression except that his isn't hidden by an enormous beard. "And you look fatter and balder since the last time I saw you, kid."
George's dad laughs and roughly rubs Colby's smooth, hairless dome. "Look at who's talkin'! We haven't talked in forever, man! I'm never expected you to invite little George up to your cabin. I haven't been there in years!"
Colby shrugs, not bothering to try and escape his "younger brother's" grip. The younger brother, by the way, was about a foot taller than Colby in his current form. Either George's uncle was fairly short, or his dad was enormous. "Oh, you know. I haven't seen my nephew in forever, I thought it would be nice for him and me to spend some time together."
George, now sitting in the back seat, clears his throat. He impatiently glares at Colby. Colby struggles a little in the bigger man's grip. "Hey, I'd love to swap stories later, but I'm already behind schedule. I'd like to get back to my cabin before midnight."
You can see George's dad looks a little disappointed. He lets Colby go, but not before slapping out a rhythm on his bald head and laughing. Colby chuckles back, rubbing his sore scalp as he makes his way back into the driver seat. As you drive off, Colby turns to George, wincing a little. "Your father is very... friendly."
George blushes slightly. "Yeah, it's kind of embarrassing."
Colby smirks. "But the weird part is how right it felt. For a minute, I actually felt like I was his brother. It was kind of nice having that kind of relationship."
You can't help but shoot Colby a quizzical glance. "But, Colby, you already have a brother."
Colby's smirk disappears, replaced by a glower that doesn't seem to fit his current face. "Yeah, well..." He trails off, leaving an awkward silence.
After a moment, George speaks up. "Don't worry, Colby, you can turn back into the Army-man when we make a pit stop." He turns to you. "You did bring the socks, right?"
You nod.
Colby shakes his head and sighs. "No, no. It's fine. If you two are going to insist on being middle-age fat guys, thin I might as well join you."
"Colby..."
"No, no. No sense in me being the odd man out." He then smirks, showing he was only teasing. "Really, though, it just feels so right being in your uncle's body. Does that sound weird?"
"I think that's how the socks are supposed to work. You feel comfortable in whatever body you turn into."
He nods. "That makes sense. I did bring Army-man's shoes along, though, just in case I want to change things up."
George grins. "Great! I brought some extra shoes, too. Next time we stop, though, I want to change if that's okay with you guys."
Colby nods. "I figured you would."
You grin, remembering your dad's loafers in your bag. "This is going to be fun."