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Stream of Consciousness (3-27-18)


[WP] You have the ability to take over someone's body by merely touching them, one day you find someone who you cannot take over. [Link to post.]

I stretched in the large bed even before I opened my eyes. Once I greeted the bright orange sunlight I smiled and turned to get myself out of the bed. My foot knocked over a large, empty wine bottle. Mike had a bit of a drinking problem, which meant I could could stay in him pretty regularly. His apartment was beautiful, and I did my part to help him keep it. I got out of bed and got him ready for work. 

I hated using mirrors at first, but over the years I got used to staring at new faces. I couldn't remember anything about my original body, but I grew to love this new freedom once I embraced it. I showered, shaved, and dressed Mike, then took us out the door to the bus stop. I scanned the crowd looking for someone interesting. A cute young, tattooed woman with bright pink hair drew my attention and I hoped she got on the bus. Mike was fine once I got him on the bus headed to work, but he tended to bail if I left him anywhere else. The bus arrived and Mike followed the pink haired woman onto the bus, I smiled to Mike's self. The door closed before we sat down, so I accidentally bumped into her to switch, while mentally apologizing to Mike. 

"Watch it pal," the woman said and elbowed Mike in the stomach. I watched as he mumbled an apology and sat down with a familiar confused look on his face. I settled into the woman's mind as a spectator. Not having a physical body made me effectively immortal, and I spent a lot of time exploring my abilities. I learned to hide myself in their mind and enjoy the ride. While Mike or one of my other safehouses worked I wandered the city and enjoyed the people. 

None of them knew how connected everyone really was, but I did. I learned how to flow through them. I kept myself hidden in someone's mind, but open to connections. Anytime my host touched someone else, I transferred, and continued to enjoy the ride. Like floating down a lazy river on an inner tube, I drifted pleasantly purposeless from one person to the next. Today I chose the pink haired woman as my starting point. While waiting for her to disembark I watched her thoughts like a television, but found them pretty boring. She was a bride to be, and I had no interest in watching her debate her choice of D.J. or live music. One stop before Mike's work the woman stepped off. We were headed to a cake tasting, and I looked forward to that. Unfortunately after brushing past someone I found myself headed the opposite way on a bicycle. 

"Damnit," I said aloud, in his voice. I used the quick burst of control to give me a clue about what kind of body I was in. There were no mirrors handy, and self images were surprisingly unreliable. After I learned I was in a male I shrunk to the back of his mind again. He was in a hurry to deliver something. I never got to see what he needed to deliver. One casual brush later I found myself walking into an Asian market. 

I caught a glimpse of myself in the security mirror. I was just a kid that probably should have been in school. Not that I knew what day it was, but I knew Mike was headed to work, so that meant school was probably also in session. I was shop lifting while the Owner chatted with what I assumed was a regular. I could have stopped him, but didn't. Maybe he'd get away with it, maybe he'd learn a hard lesson. 

"THIEF! STOP, THIEF!" We made it out the door, but the boy started running once the Owner followed him out the door. The crowd parted as the boy ran, but he brushed by someone. I felt myself backing up against the wall and I saw a cop chasing the thieving boy. Once people started going about their business again my new ride walked toward a bright red sports car. Nice! I might have found a new safehouse. As we approached the car I felt pain, and a yelp escaped my mouth. 

"OWW!" I said, and used the guy's right arm to try and rub the pain out of his left. No matter how much I rubbed something felt wrong. It wasn't his left arm that was hurting,.. it was me. I hadn't felt pain in over 100 years, but something definitely hurt me and not my current body. After that realization I noticed someone standing next to me, rubbing their right arm vigorously. 

"Watch it, man!" The pink haired bride to be yelled at us. I shrunk to the back of the guy's mind and he immediately began apologizing to her. 

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I didn't see you there," The man said. The pink haired woman waved him off.

"Shut up, I'm not talking to you." She locked her dark brown eyes to his.

"I'm talking to YOU. I know you're in there." Her lips curled upward. "You didn't think you were the only one, did you?" 



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