Coffee and curiosity

You and Victoria sat across from each other at a table outside one of downtown's little coffee shops, one that didn't get a lot of business in the early afternoon it seemed so your conversations could wander into bizarre territory. Tori almost hid behind her giant hazelnut-caramel swirl latte with extra foam and sweetener--it dwarfed your mocha by a considerable degree. Tori quickly confirmed most of what 'Lucinda' had said, that she was a Channeler and she was compelled to loan her body to beings in need of assistance if she can provide it.

"So, what if some guy wants to see you naked, do you have to give him your body so he can undress you?" you asked.

Tori took a long sip on her sugary drink, before shaking her head. "The curse only compels me when it's a need, so it differentiates between wants and needs. And that in particular depends on the wellbeing or survival of the potential controller, like if I want to eat some chocolate because I enjoy it versus I need to eat a meal so I don't starve. I don't think anyone needs to see me naked in order to improve their wellbeing, no matter how someone might try to argue in their favor." Tori paused for a moment, taking another sip as she pondered whether to elaborate further. "That said... okay, I don't usually tell anyone this part, I didn't even tell Mike who just couldn't handle this whole Channeler situation at all, but in the case of 'wanting' to be me, I could voluntarily allow someone or something to channel through me, if both sides want it. That works a little different."

You marveled slightly at how casually Victoria could talk about these details of her strange family curse like it was not a big deal, though you knew it definitely was. You glanced around to make sure nobody else was eavesdropping, seeing a few townsfolk traveling along the sidewalk to peek in the downtown shops, but things were pretty quiet in the city hidden in the mountains outside of the winter tourist season, although spring was still plenty cold. "Different how?" you asked.

Tori adjusted her glasses and then crossed her arms, looking up as she tried to recall all the details. "Well, in those cases I'm more conscious, in the voluntary 'want' state where I choose to channel then I usually the result is a fifty-fifty split of consciousness that I can influence actions, which I'd rarely done but it has its uses. In the 'need' state, I'm at the mercy of my controller, such that I'm really only there to act as an interface between my controller and the world. More of me shows through when I'm channeling things that are really tiny or not very intelligent, like I'd be mostly me and reasonably conscious if I channeled a goldfish. I don't really remember much of anything if it's a mammal in control, and I'm practically unaware at all if another human takes control, but that doesn't seem to happen as often lately."

Glancing away, a little red returning to her face, Tori tried to hide behind her larger cup of coffee again. "We didn't, y'know, do anything while Lucinda was in charge, did we?"

You shook your head. "Lucinda offered, I declined."

With a relieved sigh, Tori tilted her head back. "Thank goodness! I mean, I wouldn't have been mad. I've learned by now that what happens when I channel is just out of my hands, but I really wanted to have 'the talk' first, y'know?"

"I don't really know," you said with a bit of an amused snort. "I hadn't ever even seen you naked until earlier. Don't you think it would be weird for me to take advantage of you like that?"

Tori shrugged. "It's not really me, so I can't really say and I guess I wouldn't mind. I mean, it is me, physically I'm the vessel, but each channel event results in basically a new person in charge. And I'm gonna be friends with you no matter what you do with or to me while I'm channeling, just make sure I don't get injured, okay? Injuries carry over. That's all I really want to make sure happens, I don't want to be a big burden on you and ask you to make sure I don't do anything really rash while channeled but I think taking your guest room for a few weeks is all I really want to ask of you. Otherwise, I've been pretty good about being able to turn channeling into a business with my vet work."

You nodded, realization washing over you as to why Tori is considered the best in the business of taking care of animals--channeling would let her animal patients articulate exactly what's wrong with them in human terms!

After a little more chatting, you learned more about Tori's condition and why you hadn't heard about it from her before. She inherited it from her father, which explains why sometimes he acted bizarre when you'd seen him, but the curse didn't manifest until she turned twenty, which was typical for other channelers, of which there were apparently quite a few--at least a few dozen. If Tori can anticipate a voluntary channeling before she is compelled into it by need, she can keep some control of herself, which is how she managed her business. Her previous boyfriend Mike had sworn to help her by acting as her 'handler' during a channeling, but he seemed to get jealous of all these other creatures and people who could do whatever with Tori's body--and it seemed that she hadn't been too crazy about him either, since strong affection toward another person would have shone through in a channel. In truth, the behaviors during channeling could reveal all sorts of secrets...

After sunset, you drove Tori back to your house, a fairly old building on the edge of town that you hoped to renovate and sell for a decent profit when you were ready to move back to a bigger city, after your contract with the town ended to help design a more modern extension to the downtown shops. It wasn't huge, but it had room for yourself, a guest, and your cat Sabel. What more did you need?

"Oh gosh, what a cutie!" Tori said, picking up Sabel and bringing the cat in for a hug. Sabel loved any and all attention and seemed to relish the constant petting and scritches Tori would provide. "Mike was allergic, and I missed having a pet. I'm gonna give you all sorts of treats and make you a plump little gremlin, yes I am!" Tori grinned as she held Sabel up high, so carefree despite the earlier events of the day that felt like they should have been more traumatic, but she was used to losing a few hours every week to attend to lots of quick-fix needs, and the situation with the cow was apparently not the first time.

You opened up one of the nearby bedroom doors. "This one will be you. Stay as long as you want, just help keep the place clean and we're even. Andrea hates coming up here, so I'll usually drive to the city to visit her every other weekend, if she does plan to show up she might be a little jealous that you're here so we might have to work something out in those situations."

Tori set the cat down, and then peeked into the room, nodding to herself. "Perfect! Thanks so much Pete." She turned to you and hugged tight around your waist. You hugged back, enjoying her warmth against you. Despite having a girlfriend, everything from today briefly had you thinking about Tori in a slightly new light. Normally you would just send funny pictures online to each other, but now you couldn't help but notice her lovely shape, beautiful face, effortless charm... you pushed the thoughts aside when you let go of the hug.

Tori bit her bottom lip as she held onto the doorframe, almost ready to get to bed but something seemed to be eating at her. "Hey, uh. Maybe we could talk over a few more things in the morning. I just want to make sure I get everything in front of you that I can, but I really need some rest I think. Goodnight, Pete."

She shut the door, and all that was left was to feed Sabel and get to bed yourself. You weren't sure what tomorrow would bring, or what else Tori wanted to talk about, but all of that could wait until morning, it seemed.