Return to your body

You throw Josh's clothes back on, ensuring everything is in place before heading out of your dorm room. The hallway is silent at this hour, most students either asleep or still out partying. You take the stairs down to the first floor, the unfamiliar weight and balance of Josh's athletic body making your movements feel strangely graceful despite your haste.

The lobby is dimly lit, with only a few security lights casting long shadows across the worn furniture. Daniel has dozed off at the reception desk, his physics textbook still open before him, head tilted at an uncomfortable angle against the wall.

"Lucky break," you whisper to yourself in Josh's deep voice, slipping past without disturbing him.

You make your way to the lounge area where your actual body sits slumped in the corner couch, appearing to anyone passing by as just another student who fell asleep while studying. The sight of your own face, slack and peaceful, creates an odd dissociative ripple through your mind.

"Time to go home," you murmur, sitting down next to your true form. You position Josh's body carefully—not too close to be suspicious if someone walks in, but near enough that you can easily make the transition back.

You take a deep breath, centering yourself. The process of returning is always strange, like stepping through an invisible door only you can perceive. You focus intently on your true form, on the connection that never fully severs no matter how far you travel in another's skin.

The familiar vertigo washes over you as your consciousness detaches from Josh's neural pathways and rushes back to your own. For a brief, disorienting moment, you exist in neither body fully—a consciousness suspended between vessels.

Then you gasp, eyes flying open in your actual body. The sensation is always jarring—like plunging into cold water after hours in a hot tub. Your limbs feel wrong—too short, too light, lacking the powerful musculature you'd been enjoying. Your senses recalibrate, vision shifting as you adjust to your natural height again.

Beside you, Josh's body stirs, his consciousness slowly regaining control now that yours has departed. He blinks rapidly, confusion evident in his expression as he looks around the unfamiliar dorm lounge.

"What the hell?" he mutters, disoriented. "How did I get here?"

You feign waking up yourself, stretching and yawning as though you've just roused from sleep. "Oh, hey," you say casually. "You okay, man? You walked in here and just sat down. Looked pretty out of it."

Josh runs a hand through his hair, brow furrowed with confusion. "I was... at the party. With Courtney." His eyes widen slightly. "Holy shit, did I... Did we..."

"You came in about ten minutes ago," you lie smoothly. "Mumbling something about basketball practice. I think you might still be drunk."

Josh checks his phone, seeing several missed calls from Courtney. "Fuck, last thing I remember was being at her place." He stands, unsteady. "I should probably head back. Sorry for crashing your...whatever this is."

"No problem," you reply with a casual wave. "We've all been there."

You watch as Josh stumbles out of the building, still trying to piece together the missing hours of his evening. A small smile plays across your lips as you return to your room, mission accomplished and the ceremonial underwear safely hidden in your desk drawer. The taste of power lingers—sweet and addictive.