Exploring Spiral City

The bath, and everything that came along with it, felt so relaxing and refreshing, but it couldn't wipe away your exhaustion from the day. Forgetting about Mike and the bracelet, you knew you had a few days in Spiral City to really acclimate to your existence, so you and Tori could both be comfortable while hanging onto the hope that someone at the King estate would know at least enough about the bracelet to remove it to recover a bit of normalcy again. If the billionaire recluse Emilia King had things with this kind of power in her collection to just hand out to people, surely she must have all sorts of potential solutions for Tori's curse!

At least in the comfort of warm sheets, you slept well, even if your new body was the lone occupant. You had Tori's company in your mind, but you couldn't help but want to hold her as you slept, to reassure each other that things would work out in the end.

Thanks to the effects of the channeling, you, your clothes, and your accessories had all vanished into some unknown space with no chance of recovery. That meant your phone and wallet were gone, having only Tori's credit card and phone to rely on for everything. She didn't have the same sorts of savings you did, so this trip required **** care in the event that you couldn't get the bracelet off, since then you couldn't cover these expenses for her. Despite your pause, Tori was insistent on making the most of the trip with some new clothes, letting you define the style of this newly sexy shape of hers--particularly, she wanted the outfits to represent variations on your usual look, so she could match you in the future.

C'mon, Pete! Three outfits won't break the bank, Tori spoke in your mind. If you pick things that match well together, that makes up a bunch more combinations! Just commit to a color scheme. Greens and jeans would match your typical style anyway! Tori blow dried her hair as you conversed with each other, still wearing the slightly ill-fitting clothes you'd arrived with. Her expertise with her own typical morning routine meant you could leave much of the heavy lifting to her while you pondered your options. Applying a bit of makeup that you acquired at the hotel's amenities shop near the front desk, you were amazed at the skill Tori possessed for creating a stunning yet simple appearance for her face and hair. While it wasn't a ton of makeup, there was still quite a few steps and a decent chunk of time involved to achieve a 'natural' look. You thought she was pretty regardless, but the contrast in appearance was still remarkable.

By instinct, Tori reached for her glasses, sliding them on--and seeing everything blur. Whoops, **** of habit. I could get used to this though! It's nice to just, y'know, see things, most of my channeling sessions kept my eyesight the same if I was wearing them on contact. Since I'll be saving up money living at your place, maybe I can budget in some money for Lasik surgery.

You didn't take control of Tori directly, but you did influence her to pose a little bit so you could examine the result. "The glasses do give you this 'cute librarian' look, but I do like this look for you too. And all my friends who've done it say it's really boosted their confidence. Since I don't charge rent, I say you should go for it."

Tori snickered in your head. I think I can give you something better than rent money anyway. Of all my channelings I've done in the few years I've had it, I have maybe something like twenty 'repeat customers' you could call them. They're all vastly different, and that's like having two dozen unique girls who will have fun with you at any time, they'll all willingly channel with me just about whenever. I could be as diverse and flexible as choosing a restaurant for dinner, y'know--you just have to decide what you want on the menu!

You smiled, crossing your arms as you look at Tori in the mirror. "What about you, though? As in, just you. Don't get me wrong, I love what I'd seen so far when you're mixed with busty cows or muscly orcas, but I don't want to lose sight of you in between all your variations."

Tori went silent for a little bit. I mean, I do want that. You know that, you can look into my thoughts at any time right now! But... I don't want to screw anything up with us, Pete. I've seen what happens when friendships evolve into other things, and it can all come crashing down. At least when I'm channeling, if I do something wrong or awkward or whatever, I can just blame the situation on the channeling, where I'm not acting myself. But, y'know, it is somewhat awkward since I know you're with Andrea and all and it felt like if I got in the way while I was just myself, like it really would be like forcing you to cheat. I guess I just thought the consequences of channeling where I sometimes barely feel like myself at all would make for a lot of fun for us, but then when I'm not channeling it's like it's the same it always has been with us.

You wrapped your arms around your stomach, squeezing tightly--it was your best attempt at hugging Tori. "I do love Andrea, yes. But... I love you far more. You can't screw things up with me, we know too much about each other for that to ever happen. When you and I get sorted out with this situation, then I'll sort things out with her as well. And you can be whoever you want when you're with me, whether that's channeling someone else, or myself, or just being yourself. You can be anything and everything with me, we'll make the most of your curse."

You could feel your shared heart flutter, and a warmth wash over you as Tori overflowed with happiness. Well, uh, what are we waiting for! Go get us some clothes, Pete! Now I feel like I have to show off for you what we can do together!

The remainder of the day began with picking up new attire, where you and Tori traveled a few blocks to search for just the right articles of clothes to really show off a few looks that Tori recommended: sexy, sporty, comfy. You picked out three of everything to cover each part of the body below the neck: lacy, comfortable, and athletic bras and underpants; socks and nylons for the feet; a pair of jeans, a short skirt and longer tan skirt-pants that buttoned around the waist for the legs; a t-shirt, tank top, and button-up blouse for an inner layer; a long-sleeve henley, zip up hoodie, and cropped olive jacket for the outermost layer. With Tori's guidance, everything worked well together to mix-and-match in a multitude of ways, finding a lot of the mixes to look really good on your frame when you went back to the hotel to experiment with the looks. Deciding on the jacket and jeans for the day, to Tori's delight, you marched her back out to show off her new style and explore the city further.

Spiral City was much larger than Seatown, and there was so much to see. While you preferred Seatown's harbor views, Spiral City's dizzying architectural sprawl fascinated you as well! With you at the helm, examining the buildings with your professional knowledge of their construction, Tori experienced what it would be like to live in your shoes for a bit as an architect. She found all the building trivia fascinating, or maybe she only did because your mind compelled her to, but either way you two had a lot of fun wandering the area that day.

The next couple days blurred together in a whirlwind tour of museums, art galleries, the Spiral City Zoo--Tori typically avoided zoos in case her channeling services were needed but you felt safe doing so this time--and just about any other tourist attraction you could think of. Together in one body, the two of you made it feel like a proper vacation, although wandering the city as a lone woman had posed some... challenges from strangers, on occasion. Though at least during one evening, with three beers in you, you almost found yourself very curious about having someone else's hands on your body.

If you want to do it with someone, then do it! Tori encouraged, to your surprise. Or, more accurately, make me do things with them. In my body, we're a team. I won't feel betrayed just because you're making me think that girl across the way is smoking hot, or because you're curious what that guy next to her would feel like pushing up inside us... If I didn't want to do any of that, I could easily veto it and we wouldn't even feel the need to try. If you're gonna be a part of me like this more often, I mean, this is a potential thing we might do if we're comfortable, right? Besides, with you in my head, I'll know how to drive a guy wild properly with your help!

You almost choked on your beer mid-sip as Tori planted those thoughts in your head. "C'mon, Tori, you're gonna make me make a mess..!" you said quietly to yourself at the bar.

That's the point, Pete!

You chuckled a little to yourself. The bar was filled with a lot of people you found interesting, surprised at your attraction to either sex when Tori and you put your attractions together, and the thought of sleeping with a guy in this body was surprisingly natural and comfortable. Others certainly seemed interested as well... you'd received more than one passing compliment on your looks, though you hadn't really engaged with anyone yet, keeping to yourself. You could certainly try something, to see how you and Tori might work together in finding some assistance for fun with this body... but tomorrow was the day when all the tours at Hideki Labs and Yabusa Motors and the King estate began, and you figured you would need to sleep these beers off to be ready for the part of your trip you'd most looked forward to. You felt like Tori didn't mind either way, leaving the decision up to you once more.