Alyssa and Kat floated in the air—as the air, more accurately—together for almost ten minutes. For Alyssa, it was bar none the most amazing thing she had ever felt, floating weightlessly, without even a solid body to be concerned with. Just herself, floating there with no real shape other than the form she currently felt, shaped only by her own immediate desire. And on top of that, she was enjoying a completely new type of connection, closer than she ever dreamed possible, with someone who meant so much to her. Weak as the connection was, it was still a wonderful feeling, even more so since it was entirely new to her.

It felt amazing for Kat as well, though not quite as much so, as while this was the first time she had existed as air along with another person, most of the things she was experiencing were already very familiar to her, or even if not, she at least knew similar things. The familiarity didn't take away too much from the experience, however. And being connected to Alyssa in the way she was, even weakly, enabled Kat to feel some of her enjoyment as well.

As they just floated there, they became almost invisible as they lost almost all concern for their physical form. But they didn't let themselves forget their physical form entirely, for one reason. They didn't want to let themselves mix any more than simply holding hands, as they weren't quite ready for what that would entail. If they lost their form too much, they'd inevitably mix together completely, which they didn't want. Well, not yet anyway—they both knew it was something they had to experience eventually, but only when they knew they were ready.

And it was for that reason that they were done with it as soon as they were. As long as that constant worry was present, they'd never be able to enjoy it as much as they'd like to, however much they were enjoying it as things were. So exchanging nothing more than a nod and some weak surface-level thoughts, they signaled to each other that they were done, fading back into solidity right there, falling a couple inches back onto the floor as they lost their weightlessness, still holding hands.

Kat knew what Alyssa wanted now. She wanted to finally try sharing a body with her. And Kat wanted that too. "So..." she began as she placed her hand on Alyssa's shoulder. "You ready?"

This was an experience that Alyssa had been nothing but excited about. But at this moment, with it about to happen right then and there, she was a little bit scared. What did it feel like to be imprinted upon? Could it hurt? She wasn't at all anxious about the experience of sharing a body with Kat, but the actual process, the moment Kat would enter her body, was what worried her.

Alyssa paused. "...Wait, is this going to hurt?"

"Not at all," Kat laughed. "I'll start slow though. Just let me know when you're ready." She sat on the floor and motioned for Alyssa to follow.

Alyssa sat down with Kat for a minute, thinking about what was about to happen.

Kat knows more about imprinting than I do, and she wouldn't lie to me about this. If she says it won't hurt, then it won't hurt. But Kat's only tried it with people from her dimension; what if people here are different? ...Well I was able to imprint too, so there's no reason to think we are. And she said she'd start slow, so if it hurts she'll stop. But what if it hurts real bad before I can tell her to stop? ...No, it won't. I trust her.

"Ready," said Alyssa.

"Just so you know," started Kat. "When I do this, I'll have access to all your innermost thoughts and memories and everything...remember when I imprinted on your computer and you were a little embarrassed about some of your private files?"

Alyssa thought for a minute about exactly what that would entail.

"Just to let you know, that's nothing compared to this."

"I have nothing to hide from you now," Alyssa said confidently.

"You sure?" asked Kat. "It's okay; I understand completely and won't be offended at all. You sure you want me knowing everything about yourself that you do?"

Alyssa thought some more. "...Yeah, I'm sure. I feel much closer to you now, and I'd actually like that."

Kat smiled at Alyssa. "Aww, that means a lot to me, thanks!"

"Wait, I thought you said people do this with family members," said Alyssa. "Wouldn't it be kind of weird for kids to know all their parents'...urges...and everything? And...certain...memories they have?"

Kat looked confused.

Then Alyssa remembered Kat was from a whole different dimension. "Or is it just people here who think that's weird?"

"I think you guessed it...do people here really consider it normal to keep innocent things like that a secret from your family?"

"Not just from your family," Alyssa clarified. "But that's when it's the most embarrassing."

"Not really embarrassing if they can know the whole story without any awkward explanations, right?" Kat said with a smile.

"That's..." Alyssa started. "I guess that makes sense."

"Besides, where I'm from, people are used to this, so we know how to keep important secrets hidden," she explained. But to someone from your world...your thoughts have always been completely private, right? So you wouldn't be used to suppressing things when someone else is there, because you never had the need." Kat moved closer to Alyssa. "So, you still want to do this?"

"Yep, go right ahead."

"Okay, here goes," said Kat, as she placed her hand on Alyssa's upper arm. "Again, I'll do it gradually." She closed her eyes and started to imprint, but didn't immediately do anything more than start.

Alyssa felt a weird sensation where Kat's hand was. Her fears had been for nothing; it wasn't painful at all. In fact it was quite the opposite. She felt the warmth of Kat's hand, but in a way she'd never felt before. She didn't feel it so much as the temperature on the surface of her skin, but rather a mostly-emotional kind of warmth that went beyond the surface and touched her very being.

"Mmm, that's real nice," Alyssa said. "I've never felt anything like this before, but I like it."

"See, told you it wouldn't hurt," said Kat. "Want me to keep going?"

"Definitely!"

Kat continued the imprinting process, though slower than usual so the process would be more gradual. For Alyssa, it felt very unusual, but it was a wonderful feeling. As Kat slowly passed through the surface of her skin, vanishing into her own body, merging and becoming one with her, Alyssa gradually felt more and more as if Kat was a part of her own personality, though still a distinct person.

When Kat finished, Alyssa felt like she had known her for as long as she could remember. But at the same time, she still remembered meeting for the first time only a couple days ago. Suddenly Alyssa could remember things she knew she had never done. It was like she was remembering these things as a different person, as if being someone else was completely normal for her. It felt similar to remembering dreams, the way it felt completely separate from her usual life, except the memories were no less detailed, and seemed no less real. The comparison was especially apt because these memories were from another dimension where things worked differently. Like remembering a dream, everything seemed perfectly normal in her memory—like of course things worked that way—until she thought about it in the context of her own life, and what she was used to herself. Alyssa was amazed as she constantly discovered new memories like this, one thought leading to another as the torrent of new information rushed into her awareness.

Suddenly Alyssa was surprised to hear a voice in her head, just as clear as if she had heard it with her ears. It was Kat's voice. So what do you think?

"Wait...are you..." Alyssa stammered, too amazed to finish her question.

Of course, Kat didn't need Alyssa to finish her question; she "heard" it before Alyssa even started to put it into words. Yep, that's how it works, she replied in the same way. We can talk to each other in our head like this. Give it a try!

There was a pause. ...Like this? Alyssa imagined herself saying, as if she was actually trying to say it but not really.

Yep! Kat responded. Pretty easy, right?

Yeah, definitely! It feels so much easier and less constrained than talking normally, and that isn't even hard to begin with! Alyssa didn't have that specific wording in mind, thinking more in key words that seamlessly blended together with raw ideas, but Kat heard it just as naturally.

Alyssa was surprised to feel her body stand up on its own. Well, maybe "surprised" isn't the right word—their close connection caused her to know Kat was about to stand up before she actually did—but it certainly felt very strange feeling her own body act without her telling it to.

Feels weird, doesn't it? Kat thought to Alyssa, picking up on her internal reaction. Here, let me show you something cool. Kat walked Alyssa's body over to the bathroom.

As she was about to walk through the door, Alyssa started to resist. Wait, what are you going to—she stopped mid-thought as she realized through their connection that no, Kat wasn't going to use the bathroom in her body. Not that it would be that big a deal, but it would still be kind of a weird first thing to do.

As soon as they walked in, Alyssa noticed her reflection in the mirror. She still looked the same—well, maybe her face looked a little more like Kat's, but if so it was barely noticeable—except her hair was black now, with a light blue streak in her bangs, highlighted with white. It wasn't really Alyssa's style—though she was of course fond of the colors of the streak—but she still found it cool nonetheless how their styles merged. Wait, why did that happen? she asked Kat, not needing to explain what "that" referred to as it was already in the front of her mind.

What do you mean? Kat responded. It's just like imprinting on anything else; you're sort of projected onto whatever, or whoever, you're inhabiting.

Oh, I guess that makes sense, said Alyssa. ...If I wasn't already the dominant personality, would I have changed more?

You got it, answered Kat. And if your personality wasn't there at all, like if you were sleeping, you'd look exactly like me.

That's really cool, thought Alyssa. Can you stop it from happening if you want?

Of course! replied Kat, as their hair turned back to Alyssa's normal blonde color. See?

Ooh, let me try! Alyssa closed her eyes, concentrating on turning her hair brown, changing her body—their body, for the time being—just like she would change an object she was inside. When she opened her eyes, she was amazed to find her hair had turned the exact shade of brown she was picturing. Whoa, that's amazing! she thought. She let out a slight gasp as she realized something. Wait, I can do that whenever I want, right? Not just when we're sharing a body?

Yep, of course! answered Kat. You've seen me do it, right?

Alyssa concentrated some more, this time leaving her eyes open, and watched as her hair turned back to her natural blonde. As she thought of different colors—orange, pink, blue, green, purple, black—her hair was changed by her mental commands, each color washing over it. Alyssa thought of making her hair longer, and it instantly grew to the exact length she was picturing. She thought of curls, which instantly appeared in her hair as well. This is so neat, she thought to herself. I guess I won't be getting my hair cut anymore!

Then she realized something else. There wasn't any reason to think this...power...she had (and that supposedly everyone else had as well but didn't know it) would be limited to only her hair. Actually, she'd seen Kat do it herself, changing more than just her hair, so she'd be surprised if she couldn't change other things too. With a thought, she brought her hair back to normal. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on becoming taller. Sure enough, she felt her head moving upwards, and when she opened her eyes, everything below her looked a bit farther away.

Wait, did you just make yourself taller? Alyssa was somewhat startled to hear Kat's voice in her head again; she had almost forgotten they were still sharing a body. Things like that normally take a lot of practice.

Wait, really? asked Alyssa.

Yeah, Kat replied. Making major changes to your body like that is usually really hard. Where I'm from people become famous for that kind of thing.

I know, you showed me, remember? Alyssa replied, playing the memory in her head for Kat as she walked back to the living room and sat down. What was her name again? Stacy or something?

Yeah, short for Anistasia, Kat said. Anistasia Lynn...wait, do you know someone else with that name or something, like from before we met?

No, why?

I don't know, I just picked up on some kind of familiarity in that memory, like the name, or something about her, seemed familiar when I told you or something.

Kat was right; Alyssa had felt that way upon first hearing of her, but she didn't know why. It was weird having somebody else notice something like that that started in, and never left, her own mind. Yeah, I wonder why...hey, you know what's funny?

What?

When you showed her to me on your phone, weren't you showing me a memory of yours? Then I just showed you that memory.

Ha, yeah, Kat laughed, mentally.

Alyssa lay down on the couch and stretched out. You know, it's really nice having you in here with me, she told Kat. We should spend time like this often.

Yeah, I'd love to! said Kat, giving Alyssa a hug with her own arms.