"So what's my schedule for this evening?" Yumi asked while climbing out of the manhole in the park the kids used as a secret tunnel to the factory. It was so weird seeing Odd's body talk without him being the one in control. There was no way Yumi would be able to master his signature brand of humor.
Odd clambered out of the manhole. There was so much more limb to keep track of while climbing now. His elbows had kept bumping into the walls. "Well, try the three B's, bacon, bath, bedtime" Odd counted on Yumi's fingers. They were much longer than his own and felt almost foreign. "What about me?"
"Same here, but...Japanese style. Just try not to say anything stupid in front of my parents. Can you eat with chopsticks?"
"Yeah, as long as they look like forks!" He hoped Yumi's body came with muscle memory.
"Ha, ha very funny. Don't do anything stupid with my body, either!" Yumi chastised. It was less intimidating when she literally had to look up at him. He was secretly glad she never thought to hold things over his head above his reach.
"Mine's still under warranty!" Odd retorted. He already missed his body, this one came with too many responsibilities, not to mention it lacked certain...parts.
Ulrich followed the two out of the manhole. It must have looked like rabbits popping out of their dens the way they followed one after another.
"I think you'd better brush your teeth and go to bed early tonight!" Yumi warned.
"Isn't tonight the night you're supposed to break up with Magali?" Ulrich interjected.
"Yeah, that's right! ...And with Claire too." Odd had forgotten. He'd dated nearly every girl in their grade to try to keep his cover from being blown. Obviously things never worked out with the girls, but he had to keep making it look like he was trying so no one suspected he was in love with his roommate. He didn't think there was a specific rule he was breaking by rooming with someone he was sexually attracted to, but it sure didn't seem like Jim and Delmas would let them continue living together if word got out. He wasn't sure what Ulrich would do if he caught on.
"You're going steady with two girls at the same time? I didn't know that!" Poor Ulrich, there were a lot of things he didn't know about Odd.
"Neither do Magali and Claire, up to now that is."
Odd felt a little guilty for going out with both girls and leading them on, but he had tried being the happily single friend and everyone kept asking him too many questions. He hated lying to his friends but the worst were the surprise blind dates. At least this way he had some semblance of control over what happened. He could even view these dates as practice for the future (or if Ulrich ever showed any signs of feeling the same way as Odd). And besides, no one ever suspected a guy with two girlfriends of being gay.