Give in, go to the basketball game

After rubbing your forehead for a moment to stave off the beginnings of a headache at this interruption to your day, you threw your hands up in defeat. "I guess there's not really any other good choice. We'll go to the game and then that'll satisfy this need of yours, yeah? If so, let's just do it."

Leo nodded profusely with her borrowed head. "You got it, pal!" It was so weird hearing Tori's voice replicating Leo's speech, especially since she is notoriously horrible at accents when she tries on her own. "I'm just gonna get into some better clothes, I'll pretty myself up a bit, then we'll go. Hey, can I borrow one of your Sharks shirts? Tori has one somewhere but I think one of your t-shirts will fit me better." And with that, Leo picked up one of the boxes of clothes still out in the living area, strolling toward the guest bedroom with a sway in her hips, and then a brief teasing glance over her shoulder before she disappeared. Oh, you hoped Leo would behave in the body of your friend...

You did as Leo asked, finding one of your t-shirts that would look good on Tori's somewhat modified frame. Leo was only gone a few minutes, before she walks out again in jeans and a bra that seemed just barely capable of handling the modifications Leo had made to Tori. She walked casually to the bathroom with a makeup kit, grabbing your t-shirt on the way. "Thanks, won't be long! Just a little foundation, eyeliner, couple other things..."

Leaning against the doorframe of the bathroom, you watched Tori's body being piloted so expertly by Leo, a man who could barely make coffee in the breakroom without making a catastrophic mess. "How do you know how to do all that?"

"Oh, I don't," Leo said, applying foundation with a careful hand. "Tori knows it all, I'm just leveraging her behaviors to match my appearance. You saw her with the cow channeling earlier, but she still acted a lot like Tori, yeah? I still have that, but to a different degree. It's like... Tori likes the car metaphors of being driven, I'll stick with that. Channeling non-humans is sort of like the new Yabusa Breeze sedan, right? That car's got all the latest tech, like lane-assist and automatic braking and built-in GPS and automatic transmission, all the bells and whistles. You barely need to drive it at all, but someone's still gotta turn the wheel and put their foot on the gas. That's like Tori in those situations--she is able to do all this stuff on the behalf of other beings for their safety and comfort while they're experiencing a ride in a human. Now, with me, though, it's more like... a '55 Yabusa Matador. You remember those babies?"

"A baby the size of a tank, more like. I remember seeing one on one of your classic car calendars at work."

Leo let out a low chuckle, entirely uncharacteristic for Tori. "Man, those things are beauties, I had one for a little while in my twenties. Point is, though, they had basically nothing. None of the fancy gadgets, not even power steering or windows. Didn't even have an FM radio, seatbelts were optional when they first came out!" Working next on eyeliner, Leo seemed to be able to chatter easily while working. "So the driver was crucially in charge of everything, knowing where to go and how to get there. But there's still something that has to happen between when I hit the gas and when the car moves forward. That's how Tori and I are right now, my control is more direct and uninhibited, but she's still the engine that actually makes things go."

After spending a considerable time adjusting her bra--for comfort or Leo's enjoyment, or just for teasing you, it was hard to say--before she tucked in the bottom of the Sharks t-shirt, and held her hands up in a pose. "Ta-da, I think I did a pretty good job, huh? Ready for the game!"

You blinked, shaken out of a daze as you'd watched this alternate sports-fan Tori come to life before you. Thoughts ran through your head about her, but you tried to keep your composure. "Uh, yeah, good job. I'll grab a hoodie, then let's go."

"Sounds good, I'll be in the car. I'm driving!" Tori had a license, but she almost always deferred to someone else to drive when in a group. Leo's influence really ran deep! As Leo headed outside, you hurried to grab a zip-up hoodie with the Sharks logo on it, rushing out the door to get into Leo's car, a classic Yabusa convertible from the 60's. All the way to Seatown, you and Leo talked about cars, buildings, old projects, news on old coworkers... though Leo always danced away from any discussion on their current projects, instead turning to your work on the Midvale downtown renovations. You didn't think much of it, rather it was kind of exciting for a girl like Tori to show so much interest in your work at the most intricate detail, even though you knew you were really talking to Leo inside Tori. It just felt... different, somehow.

A passing thought struck you for the briefest moment, and then left you just as quickly. If I met a girl just like Leo is right now, I'd probably ask her to marry me. ...That was weird. But it was kind of true. A beautiful girl with this boisterous attitude and interesting passions? You were used to it from Leo, but through Tori's mouth it all sounded so refreshing. Though, to be fair, Tori was already very much like that, in her own way, now that you think of it. How did you miss it for all these years? Were you just so used to her as a friend that you missed just how incredible she actually would be as something more than that? Things to ponder... but at the moment, it was Leo, via Tori, that was captivating you in a really bizarre, almost confusing way.

Everything went smoothly once you entered Seatown, wandering around downtown for a little while and still joking around for a couple hours before heading to the arena. Once inside, Leo purchased a Leo-sized amount of nachos and beer, while you picked up some lighter fare, and you headed to your seats. The next few hours were filled with cheers, jeers, jumping in joy, and watching Leo down a beer faster than Tori ever attempted. She might as well have channeled a frat bro in that moment, but at least this side of Leo was merely caught up in the heat of the moment.

Into the third period, you'd settled in pretty well with this version of Tori, watching her with a tightness in your chest the whole time, sort of like this remix of two known quantities has become a bit of a crush! But you hadn't anticipated one thing: The Kiss Cam. You were too busy looking at the court to notice it at first, but then you glanced up at the jumbotron when an older couple gave each other a quick peck...and then the camera changed to you and Leo.

"Look, it's us!" Leo said excitedly, pointing up at the screen. She'd pretty much given in entirely to her role as a cute woman, there was not any sense from Leo that she tried to maintain any of her manliness while encased in Tori's body. Though, her face did turn a little red when she read the words on the screen, and she turned to you. "Well, I guess we gotta... gotta do it, huh?"

A similar redness spread across your face. "We don't if you don't--"

"The screen says so, we have to!" Leo exclaimed, before swiftly wrapping her arms around you and locking her lips into a very showy, exaggerated kiss. You felt her heartbeat racing, possibly feeling Leo's as well through her chest crushed against you, as cheers and whistles sounded off all around you. Leo wasn't just kissing you--she was giving the arena a masterclass in affection. Even after the jumbotron had moved on to a far more timid couple, Leo held the kiss for a little longer, slowly breaking away. Realizing just how caught up she had been in the moment, she slid back into her seat, adjusting her glasses and looking away. "Oh, sorry pal, I just..."

You wrapped an arm around her shoulder and smiled at her. "That was great, I won't lie." Leo glanced down, trying to keep her smile from growing wider but failing to regain her composure for quite some time.

The Sharks lost in a nail-biter, but you and Leo weren't thinking about the outcome of the game in that moment. Leo went so far as to hold your hand on the way out, as other fans recognized you two from the jumbotron and yelled things like "it's kiss cam royalty!" or "SportsNet's highlight of the game!" which you just shrugged off. The TV station didn't really share footage of that, did they?

Leo drove the two of you to the hotel that Leo had booked earlier for their temporary stay. The sun hadn't yet gone down, but it seemed like a good place to relax, end the channeling in privacy, and then Leo could give you and Tori a ride back to Midvale. Up in Leo's room, she took a deep breath, smiling at you.

"Thanks, Pete. That was a good time. I should feel real weird about all that, but everything felt really natural today, so I'm just happy thanks to Tori's body. I guess I should let her and you get back to normal, huh?"