“You know that I have the power to link—Deen, can you cut that out?” I placed my hands on my hips. “I’m telling a story here.”

Deen was in the midst of a deep kiss, trying her best to drive her tongue down my original body’s throat. A human tongue wasn’t that long compared to Blanchette’s tongue, but Deen was desperately doing her best. She surfaced and slightly gasped for air, wiping the saliva that made her mouth glisten. “What? I told you that I’m going to make out with you. I’m doing exactly that.”

“I’m not suing you for false advertising. But it’s good manners to pay attention while I’m talking. Were you even listening to anything I’ve said?”

Deen straightened my Erind body on her lap. “I’m giving you my complete attention. But since it’s going to be a long story, I prefer to have a snack.” She licked my original body’s neck as she maintained eye contact with me. “I’m quite proficient at multi-tasking.”

“You’re just messing with me,” I said. Deen was having fun bullying me again. “I’m supposed to be the snack now?”

“A cute and delicious snack. Like your ear. Very delicate, like a porcelain doll’s ear.” She nibbled my earlobe to demonstrate.

I inquisitively tilted my head. “You were always mentioning that when we started, uh…”

“Playing with each other? Heavy quotation marks on the word ‘playing’. Quite tame playing back then.”

“Yeah, that time. I didn’t even consider that I wasn’t straight. Anyway, what’s up with the porcelain doll? Kind of a weird thing to compare me to. Did you have one as a child? Is that a weird rich thing that the wealthy do?”

“My mother has a collection of porcelain dolls,” Deen said with a shrug. “She wouldn’t allow me to touch them because I might break them. But they were very beautiful. And delicate. Your pale complexion and cute ear remind me of them.”

Deen and her mommy issues. I’d rather not delve into that. “Feet. Ear. You’re just going to be freaky for all body parts, aren’t you?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?” She nibbled on my ear for a bit. “This is so much fun. If there’s a living doll of you for sale, I’d buy it.”

“You should structure your sentences better. You make it sound like—”

“Can I customize a body pillow of you?” Deen asked. “It’s possible, isn’t it? But that would mean others would see it. I have to learn how to make one myself instead of ordering it online.”

“Don’t go making a voodoo doll out of me. The next thing I know, you’re pulling my hair to put on your doll.”

“I’m just teasing you, Erind,” Deen said, snaking her left arm into the shirt of my original body. “Why would I want a body pillow when I can just have you turn into Pino and have this free, living doll? I’m going to enjoy this so much.”

“Deen, can you not molest my soulless body? I’m pretty sure that’s a crime. Lack of consent and so on.”

“Do you consent that I can do anything I want with your body?” Deen asked. I could see her arm wriggling around inside my shirt.

“Whatever.”

“Do you consent or not? You should answer yes, or I’ll bite your body.”

“What are you on about? Fine! Fine, if that’s what you want. Play with my body however you like. I’m going to continue my story now. I was talking about my powers. You know about it.”

When the Tea Party attacked Greaves, I linked with Deen and used my powers on her. I made her stronger and faster. Coupled with her future sight, she managed to go toe-to-toe with far stronger Adumbrae of the Tea Party. Deen knew the toll it took on her body when I strengthened her. And so, I omitted the part of the story where I linked to innocent surviving residents of my condo.

I told half-truths. One of the survivors managed to retain his sanity as he was transformed by a parasite into a monster. His superhuman body could handle the power of my link. He was the one who fought the 2Ms. This wasn’t actually how it happened.

Deen stopped tonguing my original body’s ear. “Wait, you linked with a guy?”

It was as if I had the power of future sight; I knew what issue Deen was going to stir up. “He was my only choice. What do you want me to have done? Link with a normal human so that they would die?”

“No… But you didn’t have to link with a guy. You share your mind when linked person, don’t you?”

“Yes. That’s what happened to us when we linked, too. What’s your problem with it?”

Deen didn’t immediately reply. After several seconds, she said, “Let’s go to our bedroom.”

“Our bedroom?”

Deen stood up, cradling my Erind body in her arms. “It was your bedroom. But since we’re a couple, it’s our bedroom now. I want to play with your body. There’s no space here.”

“Ugh,” I groaned, following her. “Is this some display of toxicity? Are you jealous of something that happened in the past that you absolutely shouldn’t be jealous of?”

“Yes, and yes,” Deen said, tossing my body to the bed. “I did tell you that I’ll be a toxic girlfriend, and I’m proud of it.” She climbed onto the bed and started to remove the clothes from my Erind body.

“Are you seriously going to fuck my body while my soul isn’t in it?” I sat on the edge of my bed, near the head of my original body, watching Deen pull its shorts off.

This was equal parts annoying and… arousing. Symbolically, this was the ultimate display of Deen being the ‘top’ in our relationship—she was just using my body however she liked. I was supposed to be the timid one, yes, but I was also stronger than her. I could pin her down and have my way with her, which she would let happen despite her future sight because she wanted it to. Obviously, I didn’t want to be bullied around.

The only way I could win against Deen was to publicly embarrass her, and there weren’t too many opportunities for that. It could also backfire on me. If we tally everything, I was on the losing side.

But I couldn’t help but feel aroused by Deen using me like a… sex doll of sorts, I suppose? I wasn’t even sure how I could feel aroused, given that I didn’t have a normal human body. One thing was for sure: the core inside of my Pino body pulsed with energy and excitement.

Sometimes… it was nice when my partner did all the work. Also, the occasional domination by Deen was thrilling.

There, I admitted that to myself, though I wasn’t going to say it out loud to her. Was it evolutionary? With men being the more aggressive partner and all that. But some men wanted to be dominated. Perhaps this was connected to the need to be wanted?

Weird how I was analyzing human nature while watching myself get undressed. What lessened my annoyance was Deen neatly folding my clothes—shirt, shorts, and underwear—and placing them on the chair by my study table.  

“You’re not taking off your clothes, too?” I asked.

“Maybe later. I want to focus on playing with my doll. But before that…” Deen sat beside me and leaned forward, her lips pressing against mine. Not my actual body, but my Pino body.

“Deen, I really can’t feel your kiss,” I said.

She ignored me, continuing to make out with my carved lips. She might be licking them. Not sure. Then, a sudden tug and pop. Deen pulled my head free from my neck while continuing to kiss me. I tried to get my head back from her, but she was so engrossed with what she was doing that she didn’t notice.

“Hey, I thought you were going to use my original body?” I asked. “Why are you disassembling my Pino body?”

“Because this is also you,” Deen said. “I have an idea. Don’t you dare move or reassemble yourself. I’ll be very angry.”

“I don’t think I would like whatever your idea is.”

Deen stacked a couple of pillows to the side of my naked Erind body and placed my head there. I’d have a good view of what she’d do to it. As for the rest of my Pino body, Deen placed it on my chair. She also removed my arms, up to the elbow joints.

Deen winked at me as she placed my Pino arms inside her clothes. “Make me feel good, will you? I’m treating your Pino body as a sex toy. And enjoy the show.”