[ExD] - 6.0.15

I transformed into Pino, leaving behind my Erind body slumped on the floor. Deen screamed as she knelt beside my Erind body. Surprise was an understatement to describe her reaction. Whoops. I should’ve explained things before putting on the Pino mask.

Deen hugged my Erind body as she looked up at me. “Erind…? Is that you? You’re Pino all along?”

“Yep,” I said in my metallic voice. “This is my second form.”

“You said that you’re a Greaves robot when we met—”  

“Obviously, I was lying. I-I didn’t want to complicate things at that time.”

Deen looked down.

“And that body you’re holding is also me. I’m not really sure what’s happening, but you can think of it as my soul leaving my original body to transfer into this one.”

Deen fumbled to feel for a pulse on my original body’s wrists. “Yo-you’re not dead, are you?” She placed her hand on its chest.

“I’m definitely not dead. You know that I’m not dead. We’ve talked about this before.” I rolled the singular eye that I had; Deen was so distraught that I might be dead that she forgot this had happened before. To be fair, I should’ve expected this reaction from Deen. I wasn’t that caring of a girlfriend not to account for this.

“You don’t have any heartbeat!” Deen leaned down, holding her ear close to my body’s mouth. “A-and… I can’t hear you breathing. Return to your body! Undo whatever this is!”

“I’m alive, okay? A hundred percent alive. It’s probably a bit surprising because this doesn’t happen when I turn into Blanchette. But you’ve seen that I was fine at the Greaves Tech Fair.”

“This is not a bit surprising! I don’t want my girlfriend dead!” Deen’s eyes were actually watery. “Don’t do this sort of thing!”

I now understand why Spooky Erind was annoyed when I’d always ask if I were dead. I raised my hands as I slowly knelt to be eyelevel with Deen on the ground. “It’s just my Adumbrae power. There’s no problem. I assure you that.”

“Is there a timer for how long your soul can be out of your body?” Deen carried my Erind body to the sofa. She arranged it in a comfortable position before sitting beside it. How sweet that she had more care about my original body than I did. “How long were you separated last time?”

“I can’t recall the duration at Greaves,” I said, standing in front of Deen. “But the longest was like three hours or so before that.” I recalled the time that my condo was attacked by the 2Ms. Spooky Erind told me to use this form to avoid being targeted by the Corebrings who came afterward. If I used Blanchette back then, I would have had to go colossal to defeat the powerful Adumbrae sent by the 2Ms. The Corebrings definitely would’ve killed a giant werewolf destroying buildings in the middle of the city.

“Three hours!” Deen exclaimed as she hugged my original body. “Three hours that you inhabited that… that metal body while your real body is empty? When did this happen? That’s different from the time at Greaves? And why didn’t you reveal to me that Pino is another one of your forms?”

“Okay. That’s a lot of questions. Well… I haven’t found the right time to tell you. I… I didn’t want you to think that I’m more of a monster.” I thought that my explanation would make Deen back down. Feel guilty and shit. But it didn’t work.

Deen narrowed her eyes. “Tell me. Everything. When’s the first time you used this power and what happened? Don’t keep information just because I didn’t ask for it or you don’t think it’s important. I’m going to get furious if you use wordplay or lawyering to justify hiding things from me.”

“This is why kids don’t tell their parents their secrets,” I said. “They’ll just get scolded.”

“Erind, I’m being serious here. Don’t you dare—” She stopped and looked at my original body. “You’re still warm, thank goodness.” She touched its forehead with hers.

“I told you that I’m not dead.”

“I can’t help but worry, okay? What if you can’t return to your body this time? Or what if your body starts to rot while your soul is not here?”

“That’s not happening. In fact, that body of mine retains its superhuman durability and healing. It’s quite safe even if my soul or whatever isn’t inside it.”

“That’s good to hear. Your warmth… You’re not breathing, but you feel alive.” Deen hugged my body again. “You’re like a living doll.”

“I hope you’re not thinking of—”

“Tell me your story,” Deen cut in. “Don’t delay. Don’t hide things.”

I made a sound that approximated a sigh because I couldn’t actually breathe out. This was the result of trying to be honest—extensive interrogation. Still, this was expected because I kept Pino a secret despite Deen and I already bonking each other. Since I was trying to be a good girlfriend, I had to put up with this even though I didn’t like telling the truth. The consolation was that I still told some lies and kept information from Deen.

I narrated how I survived the attack on my condo using my Pino body—it was the first time that the second mask materialized. I explained how my Pino body worked—it was indestructible but easily disassemble. Deen had witnessed this at Greaves.

My strength was at the level of my human self. I was essentially for support, though I didn’t explain my powers yet. I explained that I chose the name for this form from a shortened ‘Pinocchio’. Going to make telling the rest of my story easier with a name for my form.

“Oh, so that’s how Pino came to be. Maybe I should name this body, too.” Deen pulled my Erind body onto her lap and tightly hugged its midsection. She nuzzled her chin against the side of its neck. Kind of weird to see my unconscious body with Deen.

“Deen, that’s my original body,” I said. “That’s still me—Erind Hartwell. Erind without a soul is still Erind. Don’t go changing my name.”

“Okay, I understand. But it occurred to me that we don’t have nicknames for each other.”

“Uh, I never had a nickname. And I call you ‘Deen’, don’t I?”

“And now, many other people do, too. It’s not special anymore. I want something unique between us. Pet names. We’re in a relationship after all.”

“Like, what?” I asked, a bit miffed on the term ‘pet name’. I didn’t want to be Deen’s pet. “Want me to call you ‘babe’ because you’re one? Honey? Dear? I… I’m not good with this.” It felt awkward having pet names for each other. It made us feel… intimate. I wasn’t ready to be this close with someone.

Deen shook her head, bumping her cheek into the cheek of my original self. “I don’t want generic pet names. We can think about this later. Continue your story.”

I told Deen about my difficulties navigating the monster-infested building—the 2Ms’ goons released thousands of parasites that turned the residents into zombies that eventually evolved into more complex monsters. It was a similar playbook to what they did at the Greaves Tech Fair. My Pino form was as weak as my human self, before I became an Adumbrae. I couldn’t carry my Erind body around easily that I had to rely on other survivors.

I didn’t tell her that I manipulated and controlled the surviving residents, those who hadn’t been turned into zombies, to fight for me. And, yes. I sacrificed them for my sake. “At Greaves, you were there to carry me, so it’s all fine.”

“That is fortunate. By the way, Erind, is it alright if I kiss this body of yours?”

“What kind of degenerate idea do you have now?”

“It’s not degenerate! We kiss each other all the time. I was wondering… what would it feel like to kiss this body while you’re also watching me do it.”

I tilted my head. Too bad that my carved face couldn’t smirk. “So… exhibitionism and necrophilia? Not degenerate?”

“It’s no different from what we’re doing normally.”

“Uh, go ahead…” I hoped that I wouldn’t regret agreeing to this.

Deen angled the head of my Erind body to look up to her. Then, she pinched its cheeks, parting the teeth to open the mouth. But Deen didn’t dive in for a kiss immediately. Instead, she liked my body’s lips while giving me a sideways glance. Her tongue went in deeper, sliding between the gap of my lips and teeth. She licked everywhere she could reach without going in for a full kiss.

“That looks… hot,” I said.

Deen looked at me. “Continue with your story while I make out with your body.”