I was woken up that morning by the sound of the sea.

Outside the window, the waves washed slowly against the shore.

Opening my eyes, I saw the side of a basket. I was in the basket, the side of my face against a pillow, and I could hear a sound of running water from the other room. I could also hear the TV; it said it would be cloudy and bright today.

"Cecile? You're up already?"
"Of course Gabrielle!" It made sense either way, I could feel cold steel on my finger tips, and water against my breasts. Sorry, I mean "our" hands and breasts. Her voice and the water came from different directions.
"Can you bring me over to you? I'm starting to wake up..."

After a moment, the water turned off, and I started to feel cold. But quickly I felt wrapped in cloth; warm again. I felt the cold linoleum, then the warm wood. I heard my basket being felt, then warm hands cradling my chin and crown, lifting me up and moving me closer to the TV. I was set down rather sloppily, some of my long, red hair fell in my face.

"Mmm, good morning! I was getting ready." Cecile said beside me. She was like me, just a head. Her facial features were sharp, framed nicely by her short blonde hair. Neither of us had a neck stump, though our body did.
"Any reason you feel particularly happy today?" Our body was some amalgamation of our previous bodies, as if everything was averaged out. For example, my chest was fairly flat before this happened, and she says that hers was large. From our relative perspectives, we had gotten smaller and larger.
"It's nice outside!"

Indeed it was. It was a Wednesday, and that meant that I was probably going to have a slow day at work. I was a receptionist for the nearby dentist, and Cecile was a hair stylist.

Cecile sat our body down in front of us, it was still naked, and dripping slightly from the shower. The towel fell slightly, revealing a breast.

"Ack, Cecile!" I took over and quickly re-wrapped the towel.
"C'mon Gab', it's my breast too! I know what it looks like!" She took the body back, but I briefly tensed the shoulders from the stress I just had. This momentary conflict caused our body to jerk slightly, making the towel fall off completely.
"Ah!"
"I... I'm sorry."
"Oh, it's fine."

I relaxed and let her take over again. She put the towel around again and took her head from beside me, coming in front of me and flashing a smile before moving to the kitchen.

The way we controlled our body took a long time to figure out. It seemed that whoever was clearly more awake had control of the body by default, and when we were both awake and aware, proximity seemed to be the main factor. However, when we were roughly the same distance from the body, it became a bit more confusing. It seemed that if we wanted to, one of us could control the legs, the other on the arms, but we both find it hard to focus that way.

It also seems that our body works by "commands" in that we're only in "control" as long as we're using it. It's like our body is a robot receiving commands to move;

{bend arm 30 degrees}
{open hand}
{extend bicep}
{close hand}

Of course, it feels very natural and our body reacts instantly. It just seems that if our body was a robot, the software would probably look like that. Neither of us really has true control when we're both in the same range of the body; just actors who can send it movement commands.

"Here" She said, putting a protein shake in front of me, holding her head at hip level. "You do the nourishing today. I cleaned the body up."
"Fine." I drank it through the straw. I wasn't the biggest fan of the taste, but we only had one body now, so we did our best to take care of it. We take turns bringing it to the gym across the road from us. Cecile is confident enough to use the treadmill without losing coordination, but I still find myself using the stationary bike.

"Gab, do you want me to help you with your hair?" Cecile shouted from the other room. I felt that she wasn't holding anything, and did a single clap.
"Right, in a moment!" She shouted back. I could hear the sink again, then the hair dryer. It didn't take very long, as her hair barely passed her chin.

By the time she came out, I had finished the shake, and she'd put on some underwear, though her head was still in the washroom. We had laid some rough-surfaced tape throughout the house, and it contrasted greatly with the carpet and wood, as it would help us move around without having to see our body. By the time she reached the carpet with the couch I was on, I took over and picked myself up, moving myself to the bathroom.

"Easy now." Cecile said from the shelf where she put herself. I set myself in the deep sink, submerging myself in the water completely. We shared the same set of lungs, so as long as one of us was out of the water, the other could stay in indefinitely. I took over briefly to wash my face, then I relaxed and let her wash my hair. I'd rather do it myself, but Cecile was a hair stylist, so she could do it faster, and better.

From Cecile's perspective, she could see everything happening in the bathroom. She did a quick job of washing my hair, after which she placed me upside down in a board with a hole in it. The hole was too narrow for my whole head to fall through, but just enough that my hair could hang out, allowing Cecile to easily blow dry and brush my hair.

"Sigh, you should really cut it short Gab'" She told me, as she often did. "Things would be so much easier for you if you did."
"Maybe." I replied automatically.
"Just a tie, today?" She asked as she ran the brush through my hair. I was used to her voice coming from the other side of the room.
"Yeah, that'd be nice."

She gathered my hair up close to my scalp, and tied it into a high pony tail. Cecile had a better view of the room, so I allowed her to take me down.

We were both on the couch again, but facing the other direction. Cecile was still controlling the body to get dressed. We both had our own tastes in how we should be dressed. I preferred longer skirts and she preferred jeans. Though Cecile needed hands for her job and I didn't.

The body was soon in jeans and a sweater. I took over the body and picked us both up and headed out the door.

My work place was roughly a 15 minute walk from our house. Ceciles was only 10 minutes away. She didn't mind going back and forth like that, we both understood our situation.

"It's a nice day, isn't it?" She asked.
"Mmm, indeed it is" I gave her a quick hug. Our body held cradled our heads in each arm.

As we walked along the path, we saw Julien, who works at the bakery. He gave us a nod like usual. Of course, it wasn't quite like this several months ago when we became like this.

"Ey, Gabrielle, Cecile!" the Doctor said as we entered the dental office. I took control of the arm that was holding my head, and placed it on the tall, wooden box in the middle of the front area.

"I'll see you later, Gab'!" Cecile said as she headed out the door.

*****

After I dropped Gabrielle off at the dental office, I moved towards the salon, holding my head in both hands near the stomach.

Sometimes I feel selfish. Selfish because I get to use the body way more than she does. She understands that you can't cut hair without hands, though it still took us some time to stop arguing.

"Ah, Cecile! You are early!"
"It was so nice outside! I couldn't help myself."

When Gabrielle wasn't around, it was hard for me to resist calling the body "mine" She couldn't feel it when she was this far away from it. Only very vague sensations of whether or not the body had been to the washroom, or had eaten.

Mia - my boss at the salon - was so kind as to find me a tall stool on wheels. It was a platform that was about two feet in diameter, and four feet high on rolling wheels. Its structure was stable enough that it wouldn't fall over on its own.

I'd simply set my head on it, and moved it around with me in the salon. I almost always kept it - with my head on it - between the body and whatever I was doing.

Just after I finished cleaning my tools, the first appointment of the day arrived.

"Why hello, Mademoiselle Benoit." She was a simple woman who knew what she wanted. Her hair was a few inches too long to be considered a "bob" cut, she probably wanted it trimmed, like always.
"Good morning Cecile, dear!"
"Will you be having a trim?"
"Of course!" She was the sort of woman that ought to be wearing a large minx coat and smoking cigarettes through a pipe.

There was initially some fear over whether or not I could safely cut hair with my dynamic perspective, but the boss and the other stylists found that I did just fine as long as my head was positioned properly. I thought that perhaps I could do even better, though I gave up on that when I tried to chat up a customer while I sent the body to find a spray bottle. After going several meters, it starts to slow down more and more, getting sluggish and unresponsive. Neither Gabrielle or I have walked it completely out of range, as it would probably be disastrous.

So, for the most part, I was doing my job just as I always had.

Only a few things changed, really. After getting used to cutting hair without getting disoriented, the only differences were that I could chat while doing something else with my body. Since my workstation was too far from the storeroom, the only time I was ever more than a meter away from the body was when I used the washroom between appointments, chatting with the front desk while my body did what it had to.

Though, we did get a noticeable increase in business.

******

The front desk was set up for me on most days, a keyboard and seat were stowed away on the once-weekly occasion that I come in with the body. It was quite simple, a very small desk the size of a square metre, with a microphone and monitor mounted to the side. A pair of earphones - moulded to my exact ears - were attached, and a small stand of muffled fabric kept my constant "close active window, call Jaques" speech to the computer wouldn't annoy the Doctor and his assistant all day long. Even then, the speech software was set up in a way you wouldn't expect, the sensitivity was set up in reverse; if I spoke over a certain volume, nothing would register. I whispered all my computer commands.

The Doctor was surprisingly accommodating to me. Though he said something about saving office space, and being able to get all this stuff for free, as I was covered by government disability write-offs and tax reductions.

He also enjoyed how removing the larger desk seemed to double the seating space. Not like we needed it, of course, this is a small town, and I set up the appointments so there's never more than 2 people waiting.

"So, all clear?" I asked a patient as he left.
"No cavities this time!" he said, going through the door.

"Doctor?"
"Yes?" He said from the other room, removing a mask and gloves.
"Uh, do you think you could take a look at my back molar? Its been bugging me."
"Hm, alright, when's the next appointment?"
"Not for another hour."

He washed his hands before coming over to me and lifting me away from the desk. I always did enjoy the warmth that his hands gave off in the few occasions that he's checked my teeth. It makes me feel comfortable, in a way that our body can't do, since I can feel it's hand. Not the case with the Doctor.

He was so gentle, he held me as if I were a vase. Not that I minded so much, I guess that sort of attention to detail explains his popularity.

"Hm, what seems to be the problem, exactly?" He sat up in his chair, cradling me in his lap, using one hand to keep me stable.
"In the back, it feels weird." He used his free hand to poke around with a flashlight.
"Hmmm" I could only respond with an eyebrow raise.
"Hmmmmmm"
"Well?"
"Hold on." He took out a pick and poked around near the back. "Does that hurt?"
"Nom rea're"
"Alright." He put his tools away, but rested both his hands on the sides of my face. "You have a wisdom tooth coming in"
"The hell? I had them taken out already."
"Well, I guess you have a 5th one. It happens sometimes." All this time, the Doctor never changed his stoic expression, or matter-of-fact way of speaking. "No point in doing anything yet. Let me know if it starts to hurt, since it's too far from your other teeth to cause problems."
"So, anything else?"
"Nope. Your teeth look fine otherwise. I think I'll head to lunch, want anything?" He said as he moved me back to my desk.
"Sure, maybe some tea from next door?"
"No problem."

*****

"Guhh~" I shuddered, freaking out a little.
"Huh? Are you alright Cecile?" I was glad that the scissors were shut when that happened.
"Oh, I'm fine. I share this body with another person and she drank some tea or whatever."
"That must be so interesting."

I recovered from the hot chamomile going down my throat when I realized the weight that Mlle's statement carried.

"Mademoiselle Benoit, you'd like your head to be detached like this?"
"Oh, well, it's not quite, uh-"

I pushed my head platform around so that I faced her.

"What about my predicament do you find 'interesting'?"
"I- I'm sorry, Cec-"
"Don't worry Mademoiselle, I'm not offended. I'd just like an outside perspective for once. I'd like to hear a voice instead of a whisper."
"Well... I'd imagine that... I, uh, had an odd idea that if I were in your situation I'd maybe.. Connect a camera to a set of TV glasses and hold myself while I brush my teeth?"
"Hm, hadn't thought of that really." I smiled. She was starting to calm down.
"And perhaps.. Put my head in my lap to brush my hair?"
"Guilty." I laughed. "Don't worry Mademoiselle, I'm not so easily offended."

She was much more relaxed after that, and soon left happily with her shortened bob cut.

"I bet you a fiver that she'll be back with a minx scarf." I proposed to Mia.
"I bet not. You're on."
A month from then, I got a free lunch.

*****

Soon, Cecile came to pick me up from work.

We were walking along the road to our house, when Cecile chose a good time to remember that we were out of coffee.

"Oh! We need to head to the roasters. Is that alright?"
"Sigh."
"You're so introverted Gab'~" She gently rubbed her cheek against mine.
"Can't we hold on until tomorrow?"
"No~~~"

I could have intervened, but I wasn't in the mood to screw with our body like that.

"Ah, my favourite customers!" It was obvious why, to me at least. Both our heads are connected to the same esophagus and stomach, and according to our doctor, something psychoactive like coffee would require twice the dosage. Even if only Cecile wanted the caffeine boost from coffee, she'd have to drink two cups (or we both drink one each) to get the effect of a normal person having one cup. It affected us both equally.

"Anything good today?"
"Of course! Smell this new one from Kibuye!"

Cecile placed both our heads on the counter and rested the forearms on either side of us.

"Mmmm, that's quite nice." She said as the clerk held a sample under her nose.
"It's alright." I said.

"And fine specimen from Taypiplaya!"
"Ohhh! Was this just roasted today?"
"A mere 5 hours ago!"
"Awesome! How do you find it Gab'?"
"It's alright."

It was then that I felt our breathing briefly go out of sync. I think I knew what that mean't.

We were walking back again, the bag with the coffee in it was slung around our shoulder.

"Are you alright?" She asked me.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired. That's all."
"If you say so."

When we got back to the house, I took over and set Cecile near the computer. We thought it'd be a good idea to have two, but we quickly realized the silliness of that idea. The only true privacy we could really have from each other was our minds. I took over and moved towards the kitchen.

Like my setup at work, we have a small platform on a set of bars and hinges - much like a monitor arm - positioned in our kitchen. I set my head on it and positioned it so I could see everything. I couldn't really see the cupboards very well, but it was easy to feel out the pots and pans.

I made black beans and steamed brown rice, along with some potatoes broccoli. In the past, Cecile or I were more likely to slack off a little bit when it came to eating healthy. There was nothing really stopping us from the odd treat once in a while, but we've both been a little paranoid about preserving our body. I have to worry about my eating habits directly affecting someone else.

"Food's ready."
"Okay~"

Without looking, Cecile took control of the body, moving it towards herself.

"Ack, damn"
"Are you okay?"
"I just dropped a fork, that's all."
"Oh, good thing it wasn't a bowl."
Or my head.
"Just let me bring everything over.

I twisted the kitchen's movable platform to give myself a good vantage point, and moved the food over to the table, before bringing Cecile over and setting my own head down next to her.

Cecile had agreed a while ago to attempt being more left-handed. As you might be picturing, our heads were positioned between our elbows and we took over our respective hands. As long as I wasn't too antsy, this usually went without any problems.

"Do you think this is enough?"
"I think this is fine."

Our doctor told us that since our brains use 30% of our energy, that we'd have to eat 30% more than usual. Made sense.

After Cecile finished cleaning up, she checked up on me, reading at my computer.

"Hm, what's this?" She asked.
"Oh, some essay by Dostoyevsky."
"Ah, is it good?"
"It's alright."

Cecile walked over and placed her head in front of mine, and pushed me towards her.

"Are you sure you're okay Gab'?"
"I'm fine."
"I don't think so. You need to tell me things, we're in this situation together, so we need to be really transparent."
"There's really nothing wrong."
"I don't think so."
"Okay, I've been stressed lately. I'll get over it."
"If you say so." Cecile appeared to have given up.

Soon, our teeth were brushed and faces washed. Our body was in bed, completely under the covers. Our heads were in our respective baskets.

---

I'm running through a hallway. I'm not sure what I'm running from, but something compels me.

Though as I continue to run, my body starts behaving strangely. My right leg decides to fight against me.

"No!"

My arm spins around for no reason. I try to hop on my responsive leg, but the other one is throwing me off balance.

I come across several doors. I go through the one closest to me. Behind that door, there are 4 doors.

I hop through the left-most door, only to find two on the other side.

I go through the left door, and behind there is one more door.

And then another door behind that one.

I continue to go through door after door, fighting against my body.

After I get through the 12th door, I find myself in what appears to be an infinitely long living room. There's an infinitely long couch and an infinitely long coffee table.

I try to move, but my body is rigid.

"C'mon, move." I hear myself say, the tone of my voice suggesting that I don't really care.

Then, I feel a pain in my neck, as if I was poked there by several needles.

My vision goes awry, the room spins on all axises.

I saw my nude body fly out from under me, separating from my head.

"Why?" I cry out.

My body is completely rigid, all my limbs are straight and "neutral", like you see on the first page of medical textbooks.

It's perfectly in the centre of my vision. Features of my body change in front of me. It's thinned out, shortened, flattened, crushed, exploded.

It's limbs fall off in a bloody mess, the mid section splits open and digestive organs fall out-

Suddenly, I'm back in my room after a jolt and I'm panting. It's the middle of the night.

"Gab'" Cecile said in a very sloppy way. "You okay? You jerked the body somehow"

"I'm," I stuttered. My heartbeat was racing from what I just saw. "I'm so fucked up."

"Huh? What's going on Gab?"

Cecile took the body over, threw the sheets aside and reached into both our baskets, positioning our heads across from each other on our breasts and thighs, bending the knees on the body.

"What happened? Did you have a nightmare?"

"Yeah," I calmed down a bit. "It was like, I went through all these doors, and I had my own body, but then I didn't, and it fell apart in a rancid mess"

As I finished the sentence, I started to feel tears roll down my face, my face becoming hotter.

"Gabrielle..." She moved a hand and slid me down next to Cecile, touching our cheeks together, facing away from each other; our version of a hug. "You should really talk to me if you're ever upset"

"I'm sorry," I sobbed. "It's just sometimes I get so fucking stressed out over having no independence. I try to live with it, I think I do just fine, usually, but damnit, I don't want to be half of someone else-"

"Gabrielle, you're making the body shake"

Then I burst, I cried in screams and moans. I dampened the sheets with my tears. I forced the body into a fetal position and knocked both of us onto the surface of the bed. I tightened, and moved Cecile and I against each other.

I sufficiently dehydrated the body, and I was eventually pulled from my breakdown after Cecile started caressing the side of my face.

"I get really sick of it too, Gab'; I really do"

"You're not so disposed to this shit like I am. I had breakdowns when I had my own body. Now I have to subject you to it as well." I sniffed.

"So, I guess this isn't a matter of not wanting to wear dresses." I forced a laugh out.

"No, not really. I'm not like myself anymore."

"Well-"

"Actually, whatever. I've always lived in my head. I should be a little happier now, I guess."

Cecile took over and lifted her head and kissed me on the forehead.

"Ah! Wha-"

"Well, I've tried to illustrate my compassion to you before, but I guess it usually just feels like you're hugging yourself. A lot of good that does, huh?"

I sniffled again before she continued.

"We can survive like this, Gab; we can enjoy life. There have been people who were blind and deaf at the same time and still managed to write books. There's not a doubt in my mind that we can overcome our problems."

"Thank you, Cecile."

She might have not resolved my deep emotional problems, but all the things that Cecile said would leave me in an emotional high for a long time.

We also stopped using the baskets. We slept together now with the body, our foreheads against each other as our cheeks lay on our stomach.

*****

When I woke up, I still felt kinda tired after last night. Gabrielle, however, was in a very good mood.

It was her day to get the body, as I didn't have to work today. When I opened my eyes, the sheets were covering much of my lower jaw. I could feel warm water flowing over the body, and soon a towel.

When Gabrielle came out of the shower, she had already dressed the body in leggings, a blouse and a shirt.

One of our friends told us that you could easily tell who was in control of the body just by watching it move. For some reason, I hadn't really noticed it until now. Gabrielle's gait was slightly different, her steps were shorter and quicker than mine, she also preferred holding her head in front of her, instead of to the side like I did.

"You seem to be in a fairly good mood today" I said as she washed my hair in the sink.
"Well, yes. I'm feeling a little more confident."

Soon, I was positioned in front of the computer. Gabrielle had cleaned me up, brushed my hair back and put on a hair band.

"So, is there anything else you need?"
"Uh, nope, just the water I guess." I allowed Gabrielle to go the entire morning without taking the body over even once, I was really worried after the events of that night, worried that I might throw her back into the fragile state with one wrong move.
"Ah, thanks. Have a good day!" She smiled back at me as she left.

Our days alone at home were fairly boring. All there was to do was watch TV, read and browse the internet. There wasn't much else I could do.

So, that's what I did. I watched documentaries, read some of the novel I was occupied with and read message boards. Though, I did manage to do something creative once in a while.

I had been writing some short romance stories and posting them online. I'd been doing it like this for the last several months. It's the only way I've been able to keep my libido under control. Many of the people who comment on my work seem to really like what I do, though I've always doubted my abilities. I'm sure that I'm improving, but I don't understand my own popularity.

I haven't had any kind of orgasm for a long time. I've been able to do it with the body and out of range from Gabrielle. We're never home alone with the body. Even then, I don't want to pleasure "myself" without Gab's permission, it'd just seem like rape to me. It wouldn't be fair unless we both enjoyed it. Even then, if we're not both turned on, then the body might not cooperate when it comes to self-lubrication.





It had been a few hours, and I had gotten really engrossed in the writing of my story, when suddenly the door opened and Gabrielle walked through. I was so occupied that I didn't even notice the body coming within sensing range.

"I'm home~" She sang as she entered, discarding her bag and shoes.

"Uh, ah, close window, close window!" I shouted at the voice recognition software, it ended up just writing what I said onto the document.

"Whatcha doing? Ack!" I took over to set Gabrielle down on the couch.
"Hold on Cecile! Wait!"

I was trying again to close the window with my story on it, but it was too late. Gabrille moved herself over and set it next to me at the desk. She sat the body down in the chair behind us.

"Remember what you said last night, about transparency?"
"Sigh, you're right. Go ahead."
"Scroll to top" She said into the active mic.

For the first few minutes, Gab' would say "next page" in regular intervals. Though, after she got to the 5th page, I felt a familiar sensation between the legs of our body. I didn't say anything then.

When she got to page 11, the body's legs crossed aggressively. I knew it wasn't me.

Soon, she was at page 18, and I felt her controlling the hands, moving one to the pelvis, the other to her left breast.

"So, what do you think?" The second I broke the silence, Gabrielle crossed the other leg over and moved the hands to the side after straightening her blouse.

"I- Uh, it's good. It's really well-written"
"How long have you felt like this?"
"What?"
"You must have been aching for an orgasm after all this time. Right?"
"Well, It's not quite-"
"I get the body more than you do, and I'm always in range of it when we're together. I doubt that you touch yourself at work."
"Yes."
"So, you want this too, right?"

I slowly undid the buttons on her blouse.

"Well?" I quickly turned our heads around to face our body, making sure that our cheeks were touching.

"I- I don't mind.."

The blouse was on the floor. I backed the chair up so we could see everything. I quickly undid the bra. Gabrielle had already gotten the legs to shake, and as she did this, I could feel her face warming up.

I stood the body up, it's nicely shaped breasts - an average of our previous bodies - would sway ever so slightly. Gabrielle took over the left hand, massaging the top of the neck stump, something we both were usually too timid to try. The sensations of touching it were still quite weird to us. It was nice.

I made the right hand remove her leggings, pushing them down and stepping out. Our pussy was glistening. I gently rubbed it.

"I don't think I can take the teasing much longer.." Gab' whispered.
"Nor I."

I quickly took over and took both of us to our bed. Laying the body on its back and placing both our heads in front of the pudenda, we continued.

Gabrielle delicately - almost without me realizing it - slowly brought in the ring finger, and pushed into the passage; gradually increasing the speed.

"Wait" She whispered.

She had the body bring me up to the nipple, and she pushed her face into our pussy. The motions of her tongue were almost calculated, almost colouring my vision with intensity.

I did the best I could and teased a nipple with my teeth, I tightened Gabrielle's contact by pulling her closer with our legs. I continued the neck massage with one hand and tweaked the another nipple with the other.

She Gabrielle brought her tongue in and touched the right spot, our whispers suddenly turned into screams and moans.

"Ahhhh!!"

In the haze of excitement, Gabrielle aggressively brought a hand down and vigorously glided inside of us. We screamed again when she gently pulled on our clitoris with her lips.

Our body went limp. We were both sexually satisfied for the first time in months.

"I'm really glad we did that." Gabrielle said. She was visibly happy, her expression couldn't hide it. She was beaming.
"Did it feel good?"
"Incredible." To my surprise, she brought her head over and kissed my forehead.
"Our 'hug', right?"

*****

I was happy again. I realized that having to share a body that I wasn't even attached to wasn't the end of the world. It was more like a beginning.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Cecile asked me, her head and the body positioned behind me.
"Yes. I kept my hair long because, well. I was really pained over losing what I thought was my identity, but I still have it."
"I'm happy that you've leaned to accept this." She glided her fingers through my hair, which spilled over the counter, almost a meter.
"It's so troublesome anyway. My hair isn't my identity. I'm my identity."

Cecile brought my head to our chest, hugging me before putting me back and grabbing the scissors.

"It'll look good, trust me."

It was like my melancholy was being sliced away.