“How about I use it on you?” you tell Claire, calling her bluff. You’ve been her brother long enough to know that she rarely uses Valley-speak at you, except when she’s trying to cozy you up for something. (Like, when she wanted you to chaperone her for her favorite pop band’s concert, where you had to spend hours while she and Katie danced their asses off.)
“Why not you first?”
“Because I know you’re not gonna let me use it on you afterwards.” That’s the other thing that happens when she Valley-speaks you. She always steps back on her promise; after days of insisting, she promised she’d help you do the chores on cleaning day, only to always insist she’s got her own.
Of course, you were right on calling her out. “I dunno. What would you do as me? That isn’t jerking off, of course.”
“Wouldn’t you?”
She blows a raspberry. “Of course not! I’d probably do something else, y’know - something more important than playing with your wee-wee.”
“You really wouldn’t check it out?”
“See?” She hugs her chest, putting some space between you. “You’re only interested in my virginal body! Shame!”
“Stop being so melodramatic, Claire-bear.” (That shuts her off.) “To be fair, I’d probably prank Tina or something. She's the one with a better body.”
“Hey!” She lunges and slaps you, grunting. “I can still grow!”
You snort, but you’re afraid of how she’ll look in a couple years. You still see her as a child, and she dresses like such, but Claire has grown up to be quite pretty. She’s not as chesty as your older sister, but she’s definitely getting there, and she’s quite curvy. Even her glasses do little to hide her pretty face, clearly inherited from your own mother.
Of course, you don’t tell her that. You don’t want to sound like a pervert, even though it’s hard living with two pretty sisters and a pretty mom. “Well, it’s not like I’m gonna do anything when I could get something better. To be honest, I’m more interested in the pranking.”
“Well...” She tilts her head, smiling. “I agree. So – you gonna let me be you?”
“You’re gonna do it without my permission one of these days, so...” You sigh, handing her the black pen. “Go ahead. Just don’t get me into trouble.”
“You will?” She snaps the pen from your hand and grins with glee! “Thank you, Davey! I promise – I'm not gonna get you into too much trouble.”
You regret your decision, but it’s too late. You can only hope and pray Claire will hold to that promise as you feel a heavy lethargy overcome you, your last view being of your little sister pointing the pen as she salivates at the idea of becoming you...
--
You’re not sure how long you’ve been out, but you wake up on the floor, your clothes somewhat mismatched. You grunt as you scratch your eyes, trying to fight the blur. “Claire?”
“Uh-huh?” You hear her rather chirpy, which means she must have had some fun.
“Where am I?”
“At your room, of course.” You see a shadow covering the blur of light, and the scent of shampoo and girl’s perfume. “Why?”
Finally, the blur lifts, and you notice – to your fortune – that she’s dressed, and that there’s no one else inside. Her hair is humid and messy, and she’s looking at you with deep curiosity. “I couldn’t see for a while.”
“Is it that bad?”
“I’m recovering.” You feel her hand grabbing you, leading you to your bed. “How long was I out?”
“Coupl’a hours,” she replies. “Hey - you don’t mind if I borrow you again some other time?”
You scowl at her. “Was it that fun to you?”
“Was it that bad to you?”
You grunt, rubbing your eyes one last time. “It’s like fainting. I didn’t feel a thing afterwards.”
“Cool! So you don’t know anything. That’s interesting.”
“Why?”
“Oh, nothing!” She giggles impishly. “Say - I get why you like those games you play with Nick now.”
You grimace. Claire isn’t a gamer like you, since she finds fighting games and shooters “a bore” - her words, not yours. She played with you when she was little, but it was usually platformers, and the moment she entered middle school she became interested in other things. She does play some puzzle games on her phone, but nothing like the kind you’d play.
So why did she change her mind? “I thought you didn’t like ‘em.”
“Well, not when you’re losing. Hey – maybe I could borrow your body later on so I get better? Maybe I could help you get better; I mean, it’s not that hard.”
“Whaddya mean ‘it’s not hard’? I always get my ass kicked by Nick – I barely win a couple times against Jimmy.”
“He was easy.” You stare at her, and she grins. “I almost forgot – he came in to visit. Said he was bored and wanted to – his words – beat the crap outta you.”
“What did you play?”
“Oh, a couple games. Y’know - Street Fighter, then a little Battlefield, then--”
“But you specifically hate those games.”
“Because I didn’t get ‘em! But after I played them with your mind, I--”
You grab her, and she screeches. “Whaddya mean ‘with my mind’!?”
She slaps your hand away, then answers you with wide-open eyes. “Uh... So, you know how the instructions didn’t say anything about the other pen?”
“Uh... huh. And?”
“Well...” She lowers her head, then starts blabbering as fast as she can. “I figured one had to be for the body and one for the mind, so I used the other one on you while deflated, and I suddenly fainted and then I thought I was you, and then--”
“Claire, calm down! Whaddya mean you thought you were me!?”
“Um, well... I wake up, and I start looking for myself, wondering where I was, but then I wake up and I feel like a rubber band on my mind snaps, and I figure that if I touch your skin, I’ll think like you! So I put you on, use the brown pen, faint again and make the same question, except I actually felt I was you! By the way – did you really think I was gonna get you in trouble?”
“I didn’t know what you were gonna do, then I got knocked out.”
“Well, that was your thought. Oh – and thanks for thinking I’m pretty!”
Her claim leaves you in shock. How does she know?
“Turns out, you can ask whoever you’re wearing questions and they have to answer.” You feel your stomach grumble, and she cackles. “Oh, you should see yourself! Don’t worry – I only got enough to act like you, and I don’t remember most of it. Just the juicy stuff, though.”
“So you got access to my memories?”
“Not really. More like I ask you stuff and you tell me, and it kinda sticks. But I can’t remember old things by myself.”
You sigh in relief. That’s an advantage. “And then what?”
“Like I said – I could act like you, so I figured I could just... y’know, walk around, see if I could fool Mom or Tina, but that’s when Jimmy comes in, so I figure ‘what if I can prank Jimmy into thinking I’m David?’. He told me he wanted to play some games, and I wonder if I could stomach it, so I agree.”
“And he didn’t suspect a thing?”
“S’not like I find him attractive, but he didn’t suspect a thing. I think I acted like you pretty well!”
“Except you said you could beat him at games, when I--”
“Oh, that was--! I mean – like, in Street Fighter, I know he likes to take the Chinese girl with the pig-tails and the big legs--”
Chun-Li, you think to yourself. How does she know what I think about her, but doesn’t remember that?
“--so I went with the karateka guy--”
“Which one? Ryu or--?”
“How should I know!? The one with the white clothes and black hair! Anyways, we start playing, and I notice he starts using that girl’s kicks, so I use the fireballs he shoots from his hands – but then you start telling me how to play, and I realize I know where all the buttons are and stuff, so--”
“You’re telling me you beat him just by me telling you!?”
“Uh-huh! Then, when Jimmy gets bored and switches games, same thing happens. You tell me what I should do, but I notice I could probably do better, so I do a bit of both. That’s basically it – we did it together.”
Are you telling me she’s using my skills to beat Jimmy? So, if I were to have her brain...
“But yeah – I know why you like those games. Not like I’m gonna try them any time soon, but... If you wanna, maybe you could teach me!”
That stuns you. A few months ago, she’d tell you those games are too boring and pointless, but now she wants to play them? And all of that because she put you on like a cheap disguise and somehow your mind convinced her, when you couldn’t?
“Um...” You shrug, finding the idea strangely amusing. “Sure. But you better commit to it.”
“Try to go easy on me – unless I use your body to learn how to play it. I think that’d be easy.”
“Now, hold on...” You stare her down, mortified by how quickly she’s making plans for you. “I only allowed you to borrow me for a while. What do I get in exchange?”
“Right...” She bites her nail. “Yeah, it’s fair.”
“How about I put on you – like I asked? Especially since you put me on first. It’s only fair.”
“Eww, no!”
“Oh, but you can put me on like I’m a toy, right?” You stand up, towering over her. “How’s that supposed to be fair?”
“Look - it doesn’t have to be me, alright? How about one of my friends? Like – you could put on Katie and fool Jess! Or heck – how about you put on Krista and help me screw her up!?” (That would be Krista Mayweather, her sworn enemy since middle school.)
The thought’s tempting – you've seen Krista, and she’s quite the looker – but you know she’s doing it to get off scot-free. What makes you think she’ll keep her promise, when she usually doesn’t? And why you have to help her, all the while she’s not helping you at all?
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