I get that we have all the time in the world and then some, but can I skim through what happened during Sunday morning?

Verde: Hm… I suppose my request for you to describe every little detail was a bit much, and you have proven yourself to be a very detail-oriented person. So yes, you may skim through the events of the morning of November 23, 2014.

In that case, I grumbled as my eyes began opening and I twisted around my blanket. The violet walls were the first indication that I was in Maxxie’s room, and according to the bright blue light of a clock Maxxie kept on the other side of her room, it was 7:37. I began moving myself upright, when a clump of black hair floated into my field of view. I briefly wondered what it was, but with a yawn and a brief look down at the hoodie I slept in, I got the reminder I was looking for.

I contemplated where I should begin in resuming Maxxie’s life for the next 100 minutes or so. But before my mind could decide, my body hit me with a sensation that sent me to the bathroom, where I began my day by freshening up. From peeing, which I already described in detail. Brushing my teeth, which was uncannily different on account of the minute ways in which mine and Maxxie’s teeth were arranged. To maintaining my hair once again, after it morphed into a tumbleweed overnight. I’ll admit that reshaping the hair was slightly annoying, but Maxxie’s original body looked far better with more kempt hair. So I’d say it was worth it.

After lathering my face with a washcloth, I gave myself a grin as I looked in the mirror.

“You know, I really don’t mind this as much as I thought I would.” I said to myself, trying very hard to match Maxie’s exact tone and pitch. “I mean, yes, this wasn’t the best outcome I could have gotten, but I’d be down with doing this again. I don’t really like the social interactions that much, but who can blame me? Acting like somebody you’re not just feels wrong, especially when you need to do a one-eighty from introvert to extrovert. But the body… it reminds me of a feel-good comfy quilt… Yeah, I really love Maxxie-isms like that, but they never sound right with my voice. Or my original voice, I guess… I should probably go change.”

With that, I went to Maxxie’s bedroom to put on the outfit Maxxie requested I wear today. A violet sweater, a navy overall dress, and some pink and blue striped stockings, with a dragonfly hairpin, because it looked cute. Yes, the outfit was a bit silly when put together, but it had a weird sense of style to it that I actually liked, and I felt like letting Maxxie know that. So, taking my first ever selfie, I sent her a picture of myself in her original body, saying I liked the outfit in a follow-up message.

By the time I finished, Babs opened my door. She was dressed far more plainly than I was at the moment, wearing a long-sleeved cream-colored V-neck and some jeans, and looked rather surprised to see ‘Maxxie’ up and about this early in the morning.

“Huh, you’re already dressed?” Babs asked as she crossed her arms.

“I sure as sugar didn’t stay up for the entire night if that’s what your worry is. I got a good eight hours in Dreamland and everything.” I said while sticking up my nose.

“And can I expect this from you every night?”

“Eh, I don’t wanna make any promises like that.”

“Heh, I figured as much. Breakfast’s ready whenever you are, but I think Tyler’s still asleep if you wanna wake him up for a change.” 

After giving me that mission, Babs left Maxxie’s room, unaware of the Tyler/Terra stuff from last night.

I promptly followed Babs on the way out of Maxxie’s room, and made my way to wake up ‘my’ sister. I saw her bundled up in her covers, curled up into a ball and looking very peaceful as the morning sun pierced through her window and onto her person. I smiled as I watched her sleep soundly, before giving her a little nudge.

“Terra, come on. It’s time to get up.” I said in a sing-song tone.

She quickly began moving around and fluttering her eyes open, eventually letting out a silent yawn as she began to wiggle out of her covers. It took her a few seconds to get to the point where she began greeting me, but as the words began to form in her mouth, her eyes jolted open.

“Oh… good morning Maxxie. I had a pretty weird dream last night.”

“Actually, assuming that dream involved me not really being Maxxie, and you coming out as transgender to me, then I believe that wasn’t a dream, Terra.”

“…Crap. Sorry, I just thought that everything sounded a bit… weird when I remembered it.”

Terra turned away from me as she remembered I was not who I appeared to be.

“Maxxie should be back in about an hour and a half, but in the meantime, let’s get some breakfast, okay?” I said with a wink and a grin.

“S-Sure… Jad.” 

With that conversation out of the way, Terra and I moseyed on downstairs to have ourselves some breakfast. We both shared some toast and eggs in relative silence, seeing as how Babs was within earshot, eating some fruit as she read a book. The food was good, the atmosphere was thick, and I was honestly rushing through it near the end so I could scoot my way out of the kitchen and back into Maxxie’s room. 

Once there… I got onto Maxxie’s computer, closed her e-hentai tabs, and checked my usual sites. …Except it was a Sunday, and no news ever dropped on a Sunday. With nothing else to do, I decided to grab Maxxie’s copy of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and kill some time by unlocking a few characters. 

Verde: And what exactly was her basement like?

I was getting to that. Maxxie’s basement was refurbished a couple years ago, so it looked quite nice. The walls were encompassed with shelves full of books, movies, games, books, small boxes, and so forth. In the midst of all this storage rested an L-shaped couch that could easily fit six people, facing a television of adequate size. The TV itself had a variety of color-coded cables coming from it, each of which corresponded to one of the many game consoles placed in a fixture under the screen. Normally there were only about three systems plugged in at a time. But things got hectic and cluttered due to a lack of backward compatibility from eighth-generation game consoles.

Ignoring the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation TV, the Xbox 360, and the Xbox One, I made my way to the innocuous white box known as the Wii U. I turned it on, put the disc in, and began connecting the GameCube controller adapter before digging through a box to find Maxxie’s old GameCube controllers.

Verde: I have context for what all those things are, but assuming one does not, that sounds like a very needlessly complex string of nonsense. You have a PlayStation 3 plugged into a TV… but that is different than a PlayStation TV.

Yeah, hence why I don’t bring them up to people out of the loop. Video games should be relatively simple, but the medium is lousy with stupid jargon and needlessly complex terminology. But they are also a wonderful and innovative art form that regularly approaches greatness, so it is worth internalizing the rubbish.

Anyhow, after getting the game set up, and adjusting my dress so I could comfortably sit on the couch, I was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell, which rang throughout the entire house. Putting five and two together, I realized that it must be Maxxie in my body, so I promptly ran up the stairs.

By the time I got to the front door, Babs had already greeted her. Regardless, I approached her, smiling, eager to catch up with her, only to have my expression sour as I saw what Maxxie had decided to wear today. It was a very bright red polo shirt and a pair of jeans. Two pieces of clothing I did not recall owning, and would not wear even if I did. I never really wore warmer colors, found the idea of wearing short-sleeved clothing in the winter to be baffling, and had developed a distaste for jeans. Mostly due to the buttons, divots, and zippers that I had found to be uncomfortable. It just made me think about my crotch too darn much…

Seeing as how Babs was right next to us, I didn’t say much to Maxxie, and instead brought her down to the basement, along with Terra, who heard the doorbell from her bedroom. After the three of us were in a mostly isolated room together and gathered around the couch, Maxxie began to dig through my backpack, clearly struggling to find something.

“Please don’t tell me you forgot it,” I murmured.

“I didn’t forget nothing, I just— ah, there we go!” Maxxie said before pulling out the remote responsible for our current predicament.

“So, that thing’s the body swapping remote?” Terra asked as she looked at the violet device.

“Yep, and ‘fore I show you what it’s like to be a lady in both body and mind, I’d like to have a moment as myself.”

Maxxie then promptly pointed the VD towards her current body and pressed button one, aimed the remote at me to press button two, and then pressed Go. As expected, there was a feeling of disembodiment, a loss of my senses, and I soon found myself back in my original body. I began examining myself, moving about my hands and so forth, just making sure that everything was right, even though I felt more uncomfortable sitting down than I normally did.

The shirt was a size too small for me and its material clung tightly against my chest, while my jeans were a bit too tight in some places and too loose in others. They also were a bit short and barely went down to my ankles where I stood up. Thinking back, they were probably Maxxie’s a couple of years ago, but she forgot them, mixed them with my clothes, and I guess my mother assumed that they were my pants.

But before I could voice my irritation, Maxxie let out a loud “Wahoo!” as she began twirling around in her body, feeling up her breasts and butt.

“Ah, it’s good to be home! So how about you Jad? Hell, how was your voyage on the S. S. Maxxisaurus Omega Flare?” Maxxie asked while checking herself out.

“So, that thing really works?” Terra asked as she looked at us in amazement.

“Heck yeah, it does… um… sis-sis still doesn’t sound as good, so… I guess just Terra for now, alright, sis? I’ll come up with something in a couple of days.”

“I’m more than happy with just Terra, sis.”

Terra and Maxxie then embraced each other in a sisterly hug. I smiled as I looked on at them, but I couldn’t deny that I felt a bit guilty about this whole situation. After all, they would have been able to experience this last night if not for me…

“Jad, not to be a jerk, but do you think you can give my sis and me a bit of bonding time?” Maxie asked as she grabbed the VD from my hands.

“Sure, it’s the least I can do for messing up your… you know.”

“Oh please, J-Star, it was a classic example of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. You have nothing to feel bad about.”

“Thanks, Maxxie. You two head upstairs. In the meantime, I’ll unlock a few characters, okay?” I said, gesturing to the GameCube controllers on the couch.

Maxxie then ran off with her newly dubbed sister, thanking me as I stayed in the basement for about an hour, where nothing noteworthy happened.

Verde: Seeing as how the next series of events is a bit… jumbled, I would say it is time for another brief break. But tell me, if you have such a close relationship with Maxxie and her sister, did you really feel the need to distance yourself from them?

They are my family as far as I am concerned, but that does not mean I feel I should not give them some alone time. Plus, I wanted to… mentally prepare for Zoe and Shiaka, who, once again, were set to arrive at 11:00.

Verde: I couldn’t help but notice that you did not express a lot of joy to return to your own body.

…I’m comfortable as myself, it’s just that I did not mind being in Maxxie’s body, and my comfort was a bit disrupted by the wardrobe I was given. I had a pair of pajamas at Maxxie’s house, but I didn’t think to change into them, and as such stayed in Maxxie’s old jeans and shirt. Not that she remembered owning them at any point in time.

Verde: So, you technically crossdressed, didn’t you?

Are you trying to get a story out of me? I’m sure you already know it.

Verde: Oh, I do, but I would like to hear your take on it.

If that’s the case, during a little vacation Maxxie and I went on during the summer of… 2008, right before we would have begun sixth grade, she found a big book about everything under the LGBT banner. Based on that, she thought it would be fun if we crossdressed as each other on our first day of middle school by wearing each other’s uniform. Maxxie, or rather Maxie with one X is a male name, and Jad can be read as an alternate spelling of Jade. Combine this with the fact that our middle school didn’t have a ton of carryover from our elementary school, and teachers could assume that Jad Novus was a girl and Maxxie Flare was a boy.

Based on how adamant Maxxie was about the idea, I agreed and received a full ‘makeover’ from her. I actually came out looking pretty darn cute if I do say so myself. Maxxie, not afraid of walking the line of feminine and masculine, was able to come across as a boy pretty easily, and even nailed a deeper voice with no issue, while I had some difficulty with a higher voice. Thanks testosterone. 

We went through the day with, honestly, zero issues at all— which was not what we were expecting. It made the second day really awkward when we came to school dressed in our gender-appropriate uniforms, and we ended up getting in trouble. It was pretty embarrassing, but Zoe, who was our friend at that point, was able to use cold, hard logic. Which was enough to stop a couple of jerks from picking on us for “expressing our youthful freedoms and taking advantage of an experimental point in one’s life.” Or something along those lines.

Verde: And you crossdressed at later points in time, didn’t you?

…A couple of times, but Maxxie and I never really made a habit of it, and we certainly never tried it in public after the first time. Plus, puberty affects boys and girls differently, and it’s easier to come across as the other gender as a kid.

Verde: The other gender, implying there are only two?

For the love of… Yes, yes, gender is a fluid concept and I messed up. However, I only messed up because there are primarily two genders in society. Some people like to mix and match— they like to fuck with gender— and I think they are cool, quirky people. I think it is great that people are messing with norms like this. It’s just that the language these people use to express themselves is still developing, and it can be impenetrable at the moment. People are still trying to agree on terms, on new pronouns, and it’s all this convoluted mess of language. Well, assuming you learn about most of this stuff from Tumblr.

I know that eventually the language will evolve. I just wish that some of the people pushing for this stuff were a bit more patient and realized that… “the wheels of justice grind slowly, but they’re moving.” They are always moving.

Verde: Are you done quoting mid-nineties Full Motion Video adventure games about cyberpunk serial killers?

Are there more than one of those in existence? Regardless, yes. I just needed to get that out of my system.