I think he's broken. He stopped walking and just slumped on the ground, against a tree. I think he's crying. I can't tell. Was it something I said? My heart feels a bit tight. He looks so pathetic right now. What kind of person can fall from the sky and break dozens of bones but breaks down from a little bit of small talk? "Why are you on the ground?" I asked, to no reply, "Okay. Stay quiet." This body really isn't suited for this. I sat around for a bit waiting for him to say or do anything until I heard faint clopping approaching us. Someone's coming. One carriage, four horses, one pretty blonde woman with golden hair.
"Hail, travelers," she beamed, with a pearly white smile that signaled confidence and status. Her smile was radiant, her body relaxed even with a straight posture.
"Oh, thank goodness you're here!" I started, with my best upper-class impression, "We've had a terrible run-in with some miscreants and lost our only horse. Would you happen to have room for me and my husband?" With that, Remi shot up in a very funny way and I had to suppress my oncoming grin. "We have need to visit the nearest Church. Our estate can compensate you."
"No compensation needed. Please, hop aboard," she replied. People really are that easy. A tone of voice and choice of words can get you anywhere. I dragged Remi onto the back of the carriage, which wasn't too hard with how small and light he is, and I leaned him back against a box of fruit. It smells wonderful in here. Sweet and peachy.
"Feel free to eat," she called from the front, "Stress is hard on the stomach." Her tone of voice felt loving and caring. She's perfect.
"Oh, but are you sure?" I asked.
"Quite," she replied, starting up the horses, "Plentiful rain brought a bountiful harvest. It costs very little to nourish the weary."
"My thanks!" I said, tossing a peach to Remi, grabbing one for myself. It's so sweet and fragrant.
"What are you doing?" he asked, and for the first time since we met, he gave me a face I could understand. Genuine confusion.
"Shhhh, watch this," I replied, and I escaped my body into the dark realm of pretty, shifting colors.
I held the fruit in my hand, which looked like it was trying too hard not to look like a peach (even though it's undeniably a peach) and tried to reorient my thoughts, but Tavi looked at me and asked, "Excuse me? Who are you?"
"What?" I said almost involuntarily.
"Remi! To the front, please," I heard the carriage driver say. I looked at Tavi for a moment, who looked back at me with a face I couldn't understand, and hesitated before walking to the front. I need to take stock of what's happened, but carriage rides are surprisingly bumpy (they always looked so smooth on TV, but this is another arterial-bleed-out moment I suppose) and it's hard to think with how overwhelming it feels being in here. I feel like I'm going to throw up. I need fresh air.
I sat next to the driver with my peach in hand, and asked "How do you know my name?"
"It's me! Tavi!" She said and gave this confident and gorgeous smile. She's beautiful. She looks like the female romantic lead I expected to meet when I spawned here. Her blonde hair blew past her face in the wind but even messy, it was as smooth as golden strands of silk. Her face radiated a gentle loving kindness that made me feel like I could trust her with anything. She's perfect.
"Eughn," I leaked out, "What?"
"Pretty cool, huh?" she asked, and even the timbre of her voice was gorgeous, "Typically I don't show people this because I don't like to die, but you can't hurt me even if you tried!"
Thoughts ran through my head too quickly to orient around what had just happened. This changes everything about Tavi's archetype; I was confused because I didn't have enough information. She's something... I stared at her a little bit longer. It's scary that she's just my type. A ghost?-- a spirit that wanders around unfinished business? Her deep purple eyes stared directly into something deep inside me. A puppeteer?-- like a mage who controls others from a distance? And for a moment, she tucked a tuft of hair behind her ears, and I felt my face flush. Or--
"A demon?" I asked, and before I knew it, I woke up once again in the back of the carriage. Duly noted. Tavi does not like being called a demon. I have quite a few more experiments to run and that's a very, very convenient reset trigger and somehow, it doesn't hurt as much coming from her.
Branch One.
Me: What does it mean to be a demon?
Me: Do demons exist?
Me: What would you prefer to call yourself?
Tavi: Shapeshifter, probably. That's what most people call it.
Me: Oh okay, I see. Do people typically refer to shapeshifters as demons?
Me: Do you go by consensus? Just, whatever most people call you?
Tavi: I guess. I don't have a word for it. I just like how it feels.
Me: How it feels... What does it actually feel like to shift?
Tavi: I don't know. It's hard to explain. Leaving a body, it's like waking up from a vivid dream, and the dream is nicer than the real world. It's lovely.
Me: Mhmm. How do you choose targets?
Me: Right. Why did you swap bodies?
Me: I see. What happened to the woman you shifted into?
Tavi: I don't know. I'm just them I guess. Maybe they're me.
Me: So you basically, what, kill them?
Me: That woman back there, she was you, but who is she now?
Tavi: Just some mage.
Me: No, I mean who's in that body right now?
Tavi: I don't know. I didn't like her body, it was too stiff. Her shoulders hurt. And I don't like using arma.
Me: The book?
Tavi: Yeah, I like feeling mana through my veins better.
Me: What does that even mean?
Me: Why did you shift into the driver?
Tavi: Because she's really nice and you were being really weird.
Me: What?
Me: How was I weird?
Tavi: You just were. You looked kinda pathetic.
Me: Oh.
Tavi: This is boring. I don't like being asked hard questions.
Branch Two.
Me: What does it feel like? To become someone else.
Tavi: It depends on who it is. I feel what they feel. I feel what they felt.
Me: That sounds... painful.
Tavi: Sometimes. One time, I shifted into the body of a mother who had lost her child. I was immediately overwhelmed by complicated feelings. I felt a hole in my stomach, like my hand could pass right through it. I couldn't will myself out of bed. I felt cramps in my muscles from tensing all day, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't relax. Everything felt heavy. Walking felt like dragging a corpse around. I cried for days and days and even when I didn't, I wished I did. It was beautiful.
Me: What? How was it beautiful?
Tavi: I don't know. I don't think you would get it.
Me: Maybe you're right. It sounds... complicated. What does your body feel like now?
Tavi: Light! Airy! Free! I feel something in my head. I don't know what it is but it feels good. Her muscles are stretchy and limber but strong. She took very good care of her body. You would be surprised! Most people don't. I don't think you do. You're weak, like you could snap in half. Oh wait I guess you did! I don't think I would like shifting into you.
Me: Oh. You've thought about shifting into me?
Tavi: Yeah, when I first saw you. I've never seen someone fall from the sky. I wondered what that felt like. How was it?
Me: Oh. Um. Painful I guess. I kinda got used to it.
Tavi: Ahahaha, used to it? What does that even mean?
Me: Nothing much. Yeah. Nothing much.
Branch Three.
Me: So, you can shift yourself into other people's bodies. That's kinda funny. I have a similar power.
Tavi: Really? Really? How?
Me: I'll tell you, but I want to know the rules behind your shapeshifting first.
Tavi: What? That's not fair. You first.
Me: No. I want to know more about you.
Tavi: If you want to know more about me, you need to earn it.
Me: But if I tell you first, you could change what you tell me based on what I tell you.
Tavi: I don't get it. You're being too confusing.
Me: Don't you want to know how I predicted your coin flips? Or how I knew your name?
Tavi: Urgh. Yes. But I'm not telling you first. It's not fair.
Me: Okay, I'll tell you first. It doesn't matter anyways.
Remi changed completely after I shifted and I almost lost all interest in him. He's as predictable as any man is predictable; one pretty girl and everything comes out. His body language completely changed. He was immediately more relaxed in almost every single way. He stopped darting his eyes around; his eyes were fixed squarely on mine and my body, to the point where I almost involuntarily shivered. He's lecherous like all men are, and I've felt it every time I've possessed a beautiful woman. It's nothing exciting so I almost gave up on him. But as he finished his speech, my stomach twisted and I pulled the carriage over to the side of the road.
He stared at me with those dead eyes, and the expressions I couldn't understand makes all the more sense now. He really has met me before. That's how he knows me so well. That's how he could perfectly predict ten coin flips in a row. But, how many times have we met? I reeled back my arm and slapped him across the face, hard enough that it left a sharp stinging feeling in my palm.
"Ow! What the hell, what's wrong with you?" he said, holding his cheek with an expression I could certainly understand as surprise.
"If you knew it would hurt, why didn't you stop me?" I said, realizing my voice feels pleasant to use-- soft and airy, not as harsh and sharp as the other body. Watching his reaction to my voice, I saw a glint of something I couldn't understand in his eyes, and I felt my lips turn slightly into an amused grin.
"This is, it's a new branch," he said, still nursing his cheek, uncharacteristically looking me in the eyes.
"Huh?" I replied with a tilted head.
"I mean it's the first time this has happened," he whimpered. I'm starting to really enjoy his reactions-- they seem so stupid and inconsistent. I leaned in close and cupped his cheek with the same palm I slapped him with so I could observe him better and he flinched for a second as we touched. His eyes darted around, never quite meeting mine, with a slight quiver at the edge of his lips. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my chest. I wanted to pull back, but before I could, he scurried backwards so we weren't so close. He still couldn't meet my eyes. "You're a demon," he stuttered, and a surprisingly curt and petite laugh escaped my lips.
"Hah! What?" I asked, almost without meaning to. The way he said it felt forced and scared and I didn't really understand why he would say that when he did. Is he really that incompetent with women?
"You're a demon!" he said again, which just confused me more, and pissed me off a little bit. I should kill him for that. Oh.
"Are you trying to get me to kill you?" I asked. His cheeks tensed, only a little, but enough to notice.
"Um," he paused with that faraway look again. As he idled, he took a small bite of his peach, staring off absentmindedly. I'm starting to wonder if that's just what he looks like when he's thinking, but he takes too long, his face pauses far too many moments more than I'm used to. But I'll let him have the time if he needs it.