[Image: Danielle's body with a ghostly image of Brandon's face behind it.]
Amber and I found her parents' house empty. Not surprising, since she said they went to a movie, and they probably wouldn't be back for an hour or so.
"We'll just wait here for them," Amber said, making sure Danielle could hear over the phone.
"Is it alright if I hang up?" Danielle said. "I'm more comfortable by now, and I'd rather just... have some alone time."
"Sure," Amber said. "I'll call you back when we know more."
"Just don't get too comfortable in my body," I said.
"Wouldn't dream of it," Danielle said. "Love you, sis." She ended the call.
It occurred to me that I kind of had to pee. Amber directed me to the bathroom, and I went in and closed the door. Danielle's admittedly pretty face gave me a disconcerting greeting in the mirror. I peed sitting down, then grabbed a short length of toilet paper, spent a couple of seconds finding my urethra, and dried it.
After I washed my hands, I became aware of an urge to touch all the unfamiliar parts of my new body. Would that count as feeling Danielle up? I wondered. Would it be cheating on Amber? I mean, this is kind of my body now, but kind of not. Just in case it does count, I'm not going to. I partially satisfied myself by running a hand down my long brunette hair, touching my earrings, and testing out my face by making a few expressions in the mirror.
After that, I sat silently with Amber in the living room. I noticed her occasionally looking back and forth between me and the ground in front of her. After a few minutes, I broke the silence. "Amber?"
"Yeah?" she said.
"If... if I never switch back... what will happen to us?"
Amber sighed. "I've been... thinking about that. You know I'm bisexual, so it's not your sex that'd be the problem, but... it wouldn't be easy for me to look at that body and see my partner."
"If it helps," I said, "we physically couldn't have children together. So... maybe it'd technically be incest, but would it be wrong? Not for the reason that straight incest is wrong."
"I know," Amber said. "I already know that body as my sister, though. And the incest taboo is still there. We live in a society, and all that." She paused. "But... I love you. I won't let anything get between us, if I can help it. Even if you're in that body. Even if we have to hide our relationship from almost everyone. Even if I can't bring myself to be intimate with you in all the ways we used to... I promise I'll always love you."
"...As a partner, or as a friend?"
Amber sat silently for a moment. "As close as we can be."
"Well... me too," I said. "And hey, if all those old kings and queens made it work, then so can we, right?" I wasn't sure myself, but I figured it might cheer her up.
"We'll give it our best shot," Amber said, smiling briefly. "Oh, and... don't tell Danielle I said this, but whether she objects to our relationship isn't a factor. If you two can't switch back, her body is yours now, and you decide what to do with it."
"My lips are sealed," I said. I didn't mention that I wasn't nearly as bothered as Amber was by the idea of being related to her by blood, as long as we wouldn't be making any weird inbred babies together. "But I guess we shouldn't worry too much about all this yet, right? There might still be a way to switch us back."
Amber smiled again. "You're right," she said. "We'll cross that bridge when - if - we come to it."
---
After Amber's parents finally came through the front door, Amber got up and welcomed them home, then mentioned the Janus statue to them. It didn't ring a bell for her mom, but her dad got a worried look on his face.
"Have you noticed anything... unusual about that statue?" Amber asked.
Amber's dad turned to her mom. "Honey, is it alright if I talk to Amber alone about this?"
Amber's mom raised her eyebrows. "How long will it take?"
"If I'm not done in time to help you with dinner," Amber's dad said, "I'll make it myself tomorrow."
"That's fine," Amber's mom said. She headed off to the kitchen.
"Dani should also be here for this," Amber said to her dad, glancing back at me.
"I see," said Amber's dad. "Amber, Dani, come with me."
(Continued in Part 3.)
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