A friendlier Drea

Tori put a hand on your cheek. "You're cute like this, Pete, but I need to make sure my new proxy can do things properly before we put her to any more use! We'll get back to a fun day once we have this understood, alright? I'm just gonna see what happens, and maybe I can make the atmosphere a little more pleasant when we're all in one room."

You nodded and took a seat. "Alright, I'll be patient. I'm sure I'll get back into either her body or yours soon enough, given everything we've seen so far."

"Ooh, would you like that?" Tori asked, grinning wider. "I'll stick you inside my body whenever you like, you know!" You chose to ignore the other implications of her words for a moment, as Tori looked back at the book for more guidance on what to do. "Okay, so. Proxy control. I need to access the pure curse-magic side of things. There's two components, the channeling magic and the curse itself. One's blue, and when they're both used it's purple, so I think if I focus on the red part..."

Tori held up her hand as you'd seen her do before when channeling, but she seemed to focus in a new way, taking initiative to try and spawn magic from her palms. She seems to struggle at first, since she hadn't used the magic in this particular way before, but with a grunt, eventually a red magic burst forth from her hands. "Ooh, that feels weird, I gotta say." Tori looked at her hands, and then back to you. "There's always a slight twinge of dread when I feel the curse magic take over control, like I want to run from a monster. This is sort of like... I'm putting the monster on a leash and taking it for a walk... but, okay. I feel how it works, I think I can intuit the rest."

You felt your current body slump a little as Tori placed her glowing palm to your forehead. Your eyes glassed over, taking on a reddish hue. Tori paused for a moment, looking down at you. "Pete, you still with me?"

"Yeah," you say, thinking you're speaking normally but out of Andrea's mouth it sounds dazed and sleepy. "I'm fine, keep doing your thing."

With a nod, Tori focused once more, closing her eyes. It seemed like she was sending commands into Andrea one at a time, as at irregular intervals you could see her magic flare up and feel a warm pulse run through Andrea's body. You didn't feel anything beyond that, however, as you were not included in the control Tori had over Andrea. It seemed that at least while you were inside, a channeled person still had precedence over the body's actions, save for this sluggish feeling overcoming the whole form.

"Okay, grand finale time," Tori said as she stepped back a bit, holding her hand out still. You could see a tendril of red magic still connecting her hand to Andrea's body. Eagerly, Tori tugged on the magic, and in a purple flash you found yourself standing between Andrea and Tori again!

Andrea blinked, and rubbed her head, looking between you two. The way her face scrunched up, you weren't sure if she was about to grow angry and explode at you two, just as she had done when she first arrived. Had Tori's magic done anything at all? But then Andrea simply sneezed instead. "Bleh, sorry. Hey guys, what are we all staring at me for?"

The way Andrea sat back in her seat, the inflection of her voice, the casual response to both you and Tori--it was almost as if you never left her body, she continued to act a lot like how you would. Tori gave you a thumbs-up, it seemed like she was successful to at least some degree. "Oh, nothing much," Tori said. "Hey, can I ask you a couple things, Drea?"

Andrea blinked and pat the couch by her side. "Sure, anything, you know that." This was so strange, seeing Andrea act so differently! In reality, you didn't want her whole personality to be overruled since you liked Andrea a lot on her good days, but that was something Tori would have to figure out later.

Tori quickly went to the couch and took a seat. "Okay, first question. Who are you and what's our relationship?"

Chuckling, Andrea shifted in her seat to turn toward Tori. "What kind of question is that? I'm Andrea, I'm Pete's girlfriend, your best friend, and your channeling proxy."

"So, you're aware that you're meant to do whatever I need you to do with channeling?" Tori asked.

Andrea nodded, not spending too much time pondering the thought. "Yeah, I guess. I don't ask questions or complain, I don't really mind it when I'm channeling someone else. I prefer it when you're directing it, of course, it feels better to know that you're orchestrating who's in my body, makes me feel safer."

Tori's grin only widened. "Yeah, good. Even if it's Pete?"

You crossed your arms as you watched from afar, but Andrea looked at you and smiled. "I mean, isn't it kind of romantic and maybe a little sexy to think of the person you want to spend the rest of your life with as a part of you, sharing your every moment in such an intimate way? Letting him take charge, just the thought of it feels so good..."

"And what if he channels into me? Or he and I do something together without you?"

Andrea shrugged. "I mean I'd like to be there with you guys, I know you've known each other since you were kids. So, if you're channeling him, I'll treat you two like normal, really that feels so much easier to have to keep track of one troublemaker really!" Andrea giggled at the thought. "But also, sharing is caring, right? If you two are going to do things on your own, whatever it is, just spare me the details as a courtesy if things get a little, y'know, steamy. Otherwise, I'm going to want in! Wouldn't that stuff be better with all three of us?"

You felt your own face turning red, looking away. Tori glanced your direction just briefly enough to see your reaction, and she enjoyed what she saw. "Okay, bestie, last question: how about when I channel into you?"

A contented sigh left Andrea's lips. "Oh my, yes, just the thought of that... you know you don't even have to ask permission! Get inside, take over, adjust my body, do whatever you like, I'll be happy. Though, I still would like to share Pete, so can you keep me at least somewhat aware of what's happening? For continuity's sake, it'll be easier if I know. Plus, if you're around family, please make sure to keep up the impression that it's just Pete and me, my parents wouldn't really understand what's going on here."

With a final nod, Tori stood up. It was your turn to ask something though, as you realized that all of this proxy business won't make sense with Andrea still living in Seatown. "Don't you want to go home though, Drea?"

Andrea's face scrunched up again, like she was resolving some sort of conflicted thoughts in her mind. "I know I soured on the mountain living thing before, but for some reason I'm feeling a little more open to the idea. You're already letting Tori live here, and the majority of my work is coordinating with downtown Midvale businesses nowadays, so I should move in too, right? If you're worried about food costs or space, then I guess two of us will just have to be channeling regularly? I mean, if that's okay."

Tori stepped over to you and clasped her hands around yours. "Please? Trying to turn a bad day good, and this could be really, really good for you as well as me."

You shrugged and nodded. "Yeah, of course Drea. I've got space, there's a whole upstairs I haven't really done anything with that we can put a lot of your stuff too."

Tori hugged her arms around you, and Andrea stood up to do the same, wrapping her arms around both you and Tori. Seems your house just keeps getting fuller and fuller..!

"Great! Now, to get back to business," Tori stepped back, grinning again. "We are going to leave this house in two bodies, and we're going to have a good time today. So! Who's channeling who for a day of fun?"

The options were pretty clear, as the only non-channeler you would either be yourself or inside one of the girls' bodies for roaming the city. Back in Drea, you could feel a little better about moving your girlfriend around and continue to get more intimately familiar with her now that you'd dodged a relationship bullet--in a sense, given that Tori basically just overwrote Andrea's core personality. If Tori pulled you inside, as you understood she could do willingly, you could probably still act romantic with Andrea, since you'd have your attraction to her even if Tori didn't feel anything, and if Tori really did put your personality atop Andrea's, then she would probably be receptive to the idea too! But then, you could have Tori go inside Andrea... and Tori could officially play girlfriend, maybe tweaking Andrea into an ideal woman to have a relationship with when both of them worked together. You already sort of knew that all of those possibilities would come to pass, but today was just about taking that first step.