#scp738

Gavin always got away with it considering he was a huge asset to the school’s football team, as he is now in the university varsity. And he looked great, devilishly handsome, he thought. Only thing he ever did that angered Jeremy was when he got embarrassed their first year here, when he went too far with a joke that Jeremy had to skip the freshmen festivities because of a sprained ankle. Perhaps he could teach Gavin a lesson, he thinks, before turning back to look towards the clock.

Gavin, on the other hand, released a sharp breath and scowled at the bespectacled man sitting below him who ignored him. He sulks and tries to distract himself with the thought of their afternoon practice. Besides his teammates, Jeremy was the only other familiar person to him here on campus. Sure, he’s had girls following him everywhere, but he wasn’t that interested. Besides, it was more fun to pick on someone familiar, he thinks.

Gavin and Jeremy didn’t really have a good relationship, more akin to being the bully and the nerd. He never tried to hurt Jeremy though, except for that one time he slipped and accidentally shoved Jeremy, he just liked his attention for some reason he wasn’t quite sure.

He hoped they were closer, but that would be a miracle.

Gavin picks up his phone to check the time instead. When he opens his screen, he is greeted by that one image of Jeremy that he’s grabbed from the man’s social media a few weeks ago during their summer break.

Gavin exits to the homescreen as quickly as he could, eyes darting around for anyone who might have seen it. He breathes a sigh of relief when he looks up and finds the girls above him were too busy on their laptops to bother, and the guy sitting beside him has already passed out. He pockets his phone and runs a hand through his hair, just in time for the bell to go off. He was quickly up to his feet, not wanting to be late to practice but also wanting to annoy Jeremy one last time.

Jeremy, on the other hand, quickly maneuvered his way around the students going down, wanting to put as much space between him and Gavin. He wanted to drop his bag off in his dorm room first, but he wanted to take the time now when there were less people in that building, like Hank told him. He makes it out of the door past a group of giggling freshmen. He risked a look back, and it seemed like Gavin was tailing him.

“Get off my back, Gavin.” he says as soon as they exit the building, hastening his pace. “This isn’t high school anymore, find someone else.”

“You look like you’re up to something,” Gavin teases, “What’re you up to, nerd?”

“And it’s none of your damn business.” Jeremy quips, picking up his pace. “Just leave me alone, you got your varsity chum with you, go have fun with them.”

Gavin checked the time, he still had a minute or two to spare, and he was having a bit of fun trying to get under Jeremy’s skin. “Come on, is that how you talk to an old classmate? We’re just catching up.”

Jeremy lets out a frustrated sigh at this point, stopping in his tracks to whirl around at Gavin with his eyebrows knit together. “No, this is how I talk to an asshole. And you know nothing about me. So stop.” he half-yells, before turning back to the direction of the next building, an idea brewing in his mind.

Gavin stood in stunned silence, everyone else oblivious to what just happened, but he felt as if someone punched his gut—especially since that someone was Jeremy. The man has never snapped on him as much as he just did, and it stung Gavin. He felt more hurt than angry, as he just nods at Jeremy who disappeared into the admin building before sighing and leaving for practice.

Jeremy casually strode through the building under the pretense that he had important business there, and climbed towards the building’s fourth floor. He realized he might have been harsh with his last words to Gavin, but shrugs it off anyway. He was in a hurry, and he was getting stalled. It warranted Gavin of those words, he thinks to himself.

The fourth floor was deserted, no one really goes up here much and Hank told him they were planning to convert the floor for another purpose. Still, Jeremy quickly made his way towards the door at the end of the hall before anyone saw him. The door was unlocked, as usual, and he let himself in before locking himself in.

Like he had seen many times before, the furniture was near a huge arching window. The walls were dusty and the ceiling had cobwebs here and there. There wasn’t anyone there, and for a second he thought Hank was pulling his leg, before he saw a flicker of something on the throne-like office chair. It was as if there was a man there calling him.

Curious, Jeremy strides forward and onto the desk. He runs his hand on the mahogany desk, noting its sturdiness, before plopping down on the seat across it. It felt like the right thing to do, he thought.

As soon as he does though, he almost falls off his chair when a man in his mid-twenties appears on the throne chair across from him. He was handsome, wearing a crisp blue suit with his blonde hair elegantly combed back and bright green eyes smiling at Jeremy. He has his hands folded together, a feather quill in hand, and papers suddenly manifesting on the desk.

“Whoa, what the f—” he exclaims, almost rising out of his chair. “How’d you get there? Are you a ghost?”

The man just laughs, waving his hand dismissively. “Come on, Mr. Fields. I am aware Hank has informed you of what I can do. I keep track of all my transactions, after all.” He tells Jeremy, punctuating it by flipping through the stack of papers on his desk.

“Right…” Jeremy mutters, composing himself. “So are you like a genie? You grant wishes?”

“Not quite the right word, but in essence.” The man responds. “More akin to the devil, I make an offer, you pay the price. But I don’t ask for your soul, don’t worry.”

“Then what do you ask for? Money?” Jeremy asks, eliciting a stifled laughter from the man who shakes his head. “What then? Our loyalty?”

“No, Jeremy.” He tells him. “Anything of equal value to your request. I have some offers on my own though, would you like to take a look?” He adds, handing Jeremy a list that contains some of the stuff he wants, some other stuff that he dreamed of. But he didn’t know what it would ask for in return, so he wanted to make the request simple.

“I’ll come back for these next time,” Jeremy replies, returning the list. “I wanna start small, and I have a small request.”

The man raised an eyebrow when he took the paper, and gave Jeremy a curious look. “Ah, a small favor. Fine.” He produces a blank sheet of paper from a drawer at this, as well as a jar of ink.

“I want you to teach Gavin a lesson.” Jeremy blurts out. “Gavin Davis, this one jock here that followed me from high school. I want him to stop getting on my nerves.”

The man smirks at this, his hand already writing something on the parchment. “Ah, I think I know him. Is that all?

Jeremy’s mind was racing, as well as his heart, while he stared at the devil’s bright eyes. “Oh, I also want to know why he keeps pestering me, maybe show him something to make it stop?” He adds, the man in front of him giving an approving nod, before sliding the quill and the paper towards Jeremy and pointing towards the signature line.

“Wait, I don’t know the terms of this offer yet,” Jeremy says, though quill is already in his hand. “What will this cost me?”

“Something similar, since you included a little something at the end.” The man shrugs. “I believe the experience for you both would be enough payment. After tomorrow, I assure you it will all be done.”

Jeremy cocks his head to the side at the remark, but shrugs as well and signs regardless. He slides the paper back at the man, who was grinning widely at him as he accepted it and slid it back inside his drawer. He looks at the watch that just appeared on his wrist, before turning back to Jeremy.

“Give it the night, you’ll see tomorrow.” The devil assures Jeremy. “You can go now.”

Jeremy was instantly out of his chair, understanding. The man disappears just as he stands up, and he feels a shiver down his spine. This better be worth it, he tells himself, and then promptly exits the room and out of the building. He wasn’t sure what was going to happen, and asked himself if he should have been a little more specific. But it was already getting dark, even though it was just around five.

He walks back to his dorm, suddenly feeling sleepy, but it has been a long day. He was very much looking forward to the weekend. On the way to his place, he passed by the field where the football players were running laps. His eyes searched for Gavin, and saw him at the end of the group. He takes a few seconds to marvel at the man’s physique, his massive chest practically glowing drenched in sweat, Jeremy has to shake his head to snap himself off staring at Gavin’s biceps. He just wanted to eat something, and then sleep early.

Gavin, on the other hand, sees Jeremy. Their eyes meet for a second, something warm stirring inside Gavin, before the man shakes his head and heads off to the nearby dorm building. Gavin frowns in disappointment, but shakes his head as well and focuses on running, still a little hurt. He feels a wave of drowsiness wash over him, though, and told himself he’d skip tonight’s party to lie down after practice.

—-

Jeremy did not finish his meal that night, he nodded off in the middle of eating his takeout, and drowsily stumbled back to his room. The moment he does, he collapses on the bed in apparent exhaustion, like something had been pulling him onto the bed and tilting his balance. He felt like he was drugged, and quickly slipped to unconsciousness once his back hit the mattress.

Gavin was the same, not even bothering to change out of his wet shirt. As soon as he entered his dorm, he greeted his roommate sleepily and with a yawn, as he plops down on their couch. It didn’t even take more than a minute, and he was already snoring. He felt like something was tugging on his insides, though, pulling, but he slept through it.

Unbeknownst to the two, the devil behind the desk was already setting down to work. He held two strings in both hands, one green tethered to something inside Jeremy, and one violet tethered likewise with Gavin. With a smirk, he tugs at both, dislodging the astral forms of the two out of their body. With a quick motion, he switches hands, and pulls hard on both threads. As he does, both their astral forms whiz past each other, in front of the devil.

He smirks, before sending the green form towards the direction of Gavin’s body, and the violet form towards the direction of Jeremy’s body. As he does, the forms slip into and merge with the sleeping bodies, yet both remain asleep. The devil then dusts his hands off, looking at his watch, before dematerializing.

—-

Jeremy awoke with a start, and immediately knew there was something wrong. He reeks of sweat, and feels as if he’d been sweating in his sleep which he doesn’t do a lot. Not only that, the room looked too dark to be his. His heartbeat races, eyes darting around in the dark. He tries to rise up and falls off his bed—or couch? As his back hits the carpeted floor, he tries to rise up and feels as if he’s gotten heavier overnight, and not just heavy, tight. Thoughts swirled along his mind as he orients himself.

Once he does, though, he stands up and almost falls over, suddenly finding himself taller, towering even. He didn’t even need more light than the sun streaming into the place to recognize what had happened. In his shock, he chokes out half a scream before stumbling back on the couch. He pants for a while, before looking at his new hands, his huge arms, and his chest.

“Holy shit,” he says, in a voice much deeper than his own that he recognized all too well. “Holy shit, I’m Gavin!” He stumbles around the unfamiliar room, finding clothes strewn everywhere as he rushes to where he thinks the bathroom was, to stare at himself in awe. Instead of himself, he saw Gavin in the mirror. Only one thought crossed his mind: the deal from yesterday. A smug grin then is plastered on his new face, the face that both annoyed and attracted him.

At the same time, Gavin stirs on the mattress way too soft to be their couch back at the dorm. His sight was slightly blurry, and he rubs his eyes a couple of times but the scene doesn’t change. Though he didn’t need clear vision to note that he was somewhere else, the room was bright and the material under him was a mattress. He wonders as almost sits up, propping himself up with his elbow. He doesn’t remember getting knocked up.

“What time is—” he asks himself, before abruptly stopping. He clears his throat, and tries to speak again, before he stares at his hand—his new hands, which were slightly smaller than he remembers. He jumps out of the bed, and notes how familiar he sounds. He stumbles around the room, which was hazy, and brings himself to what looked like the dresser. There was a lump on there that looked like glasses, and he confirms this when his vision instantly clears as he puts it on.

Gavin runs to the bathroom, and bursts through the door only to be greeted by Jeremy’s reflection on the mirror, shirtless, with a shocked face. He touches his cheeks, moves his face, and pinches himself.

“I’m…” He remarks, eyes wide as he studies the body he was in, amazed and horrified at the event. “Jeremy. I’m Jeremy?” he asks himself, slightly marvelling at his form and blushing, suddenly conscious. He wanted to get to know the man better, just not this way.

He stared at his reflection for what felt like ten minutes, before a phone rang back in the bedroom. Jeremy’s, no doubt. Or his, for that matter. He dashes for it, and sees the familiar number and caller ID. It was his—or whoever was on the other end.

“Hello?” He immediately answers on the second ring, questions running inside his head. “Why do you have my number? What did you do to me and Jeremy?”

“Gavin?” The voice on the other end was undeniably his. “Fuck, it makes sense now.”

“What makes sense?” Gavin asks. “What’s going on?”

“It’s Jeremy.” The voice on the other line says, making his eyes go wide. “I think we swapped, uhh, bodies.”

Thoughts raced inside his head, and he found himself touching his face again and his other arm. “How is this possible..?”

There was a beat, and an inhale on the other end. Jeremy thought about it, and doesn’t remember any clause on the agreement that said he shouldn’t tell Gavin. After all, he didn’t know that this was the means the devil had to fulfill their deal.

“Don’t panic, but I think I did it.” Jeremy says on the other line. Gavin felt warmth filling the cheeks of his borrowed body, and subsequently felt his groins warming up and feeling something stiff. “Can you come to my—uhh, your dorm? I’ll explain.”

All Gavin could do was agree as they ended the call abruptly. He looked down at his new body, unsure if he was allowed to handle it, and found himself blushing even more. It was funny, he thought, that he was waiting for a miracle yesterday to get him closer to Jeremy and know him more, and now the world has granted it to him but in this form.

As much as he was freaked out by it, he admits to himself that he liked it, in some way. He couldn’t stop smiling at the reflection in the mirror despite himself. It was miles better than any image he has. Gavin had to physically pull himself away from the mirror as he set out to look for clothes.

Jeremy on the other end of the campus just finished handling his own, and stopped gawking at his new reflection too. If the devil was right, this would last for the entire day, perhaps they’d swap back the next morning, so he was going to enjoy every bit of it before it ended. He’s found a clean shirt, and changed to it after sniffing at Gavin’s sweaty top earlier.

As he changed, he had time to poke around Gavin’s room and even cleaned it. Gavin wasn’t too messy, but he seemed to have a habit of leaving his shirts hanging everywhere. He was probably taking his time back in Jeremy’s dorm, so he set to tidy this room up. Jeremy then finds a picture of Gavin, slipping out of the book he just picked up.

It was Gavin, back home. The two lived close by so he recognized the place. Jeremy finds himself smiling at the photo, before catching himself. He finds a few more of Gavin’s pictures scattered under the bed, and he takes a moment to check each as he puts them on a drawer by the dresser. Gavin liked to travel around, it seems, he just found it odd that the man kept them physically instead of an online gallery. Sentimental, he supposes.

He bends down to pick up the rest of the images, going through them as he did the others. The others were from his childhood, it seemed, and Jeremy could recall a few of them. He tucked them into the other images as well. It was only when he was about to stand up, when he took note of one more image, this time was wedged behind the dresser. He picks it up and turns it, chokes out a word, before raising an eyebrow and stifling a laugh of disbelief.

Gavin, on the other hand, was already fully dressed yet was distracted staring at his favorite image of Jeremy on the man’s phone, the same one he had printed. The entire room was tidy, much unlike his own messy one. He’d gone through Jeremy’s shelves and books, his papers and essays, and found no single physical copy of photos, and so he turned to the phone in his hand. He smiled warmly at the image. Now pieces of Jeremy fell into place and he had more than an incomplete image of the man in his head.

He felt as if he knew Jeremy a little more now, he’s read a bit of the man’s books, went through the man’s drafts, and took note of his interests which were books, writing, theatre. Gavin smiled at this—Jeremy’s life felt simple and at ease, and Gavin felt a slight pang of jealousy, and guilt as he thinks he’s caused the man so much annoyance. Still, he loved the images Jeremy kept in his phone. Gavin wished he had his printed copies with him now, the ones in his dorm.

His smile drops when he thinks of this, and realizing Jeremy could have seen them, stands up quickly. “Fuck!” he almost yells, before running out faster than he ever did before. Jeremy’s body didn’t have his stamina, but he sure was fast and was at his door in less than ten minutes.

“Jeremy? Are you there?” He knocks, almost breathlessly. It was fine, he thought, his roommate should be drunk somewhere else from the party he skipped last night. “It’s Gavin!”

Not a second later, the door swings open and Gavin lets himself in, quickly rushing to his room and past a grinning Jeremy.

“Did you—uhh, see some pictures here…” he starts to ask, only to find himself, or Jeremy, standing in front of him with his arms crossed, the photos on one hand. “...that.”

“I want to ask you what these were doing here,” he says, slowly setting them on the table. “And my stuff on your phone too.” Jeremy adds, and Gavin grins sheepishly at this. He looked at his old body, at Jeremy, and noted how taller the man was now. He feels self-conscious, but at the same time in awe at how Jeremy was wearing him.

“Yeah, I can explain.” Gavin says, hastily grabbing the pile and stuffing them into his drawer.

“Later,” Jeremy dismisses, before he sits down at the edge of the bed. “I got some explaining to do, too.” Gavin blinks at this, and sighs in relief, before nodding and taking a seat beside him. It felt weird to be sitting next to who he was supposed to be, he thinks, but something about it excited him.

Jeremy, on the other hand, got to explaining the entire ordeal. He found it a little awkward sitting next to himself, but he felt his insides fluttering at seeing Gavin move and wear him with his hands clasped and rubbing circles on the back of his own hands. Somehow, he thinks the other man was happy with their situation.

Gavin took a few seconds to ponder on everything after Jeremy’s explanation, nodding, and then sighing. “So this lasts until tomorrow?” He asks, to which Jeremy confirms, and notes that Gavin sounded a little disappointed. “Actually, you know what?”

Jeremy raises an eyebrow at this, staring at Gavin who stares off in the distance. “What?”

“I think there’s some good to this, I think.” Gavin says quietly, a small smile curling at the edge of his lips. “Before this, I’ve always wanted to get closer to you. To get to know you more.”

Jeremy was silent at this, mouth slightly ajar at Gavin’s sudden confession. He didn’t know what to say, couldn’t find the words to respond, all he could do was stare.

“I just didn’t know how, I guess.” Gavin added, staring at his palms and curling his fingers inwards. “I mean, I always tried to have your attention. That-that’s the only way I knew how. And this whole thing you wished for is some sort of a blessing I didn’t expect.”

It was all falling into place now, Jeremy thought., just as he had wished yesterday. He knew why Gavin liked to tease him: the man wanted to get closer. He understood now, and this entire swap was the payment for it.

“And I guess,” Gavin says, clasping his hands together again, then turns to stare at Jeremy, towards his own eyes. He smiles,and chuckles before continuing. “I know you a lot more now.”

Jeremy felt like his entire world slowed down. He has never ever seen himself speak as softly about someone, nor has he felt it. He never saw himself looking like this at all, it was as if Gavin filled that part of him in and showed him something he thought he would never see on his own face: tenderness towards someone.

Perhaps he misunderstood Gavin after all, Jeremy thinks. His eyes grow wide, and he just smiles, which then turns to laughter to which Gavin gives him an incredulous look.

“Wow, I—” he starts, fumbling for the words. “Well, fuck it.” He finishes. Gavin raises an eyebrow to him as Jeremy looks down, staring at his new hands and smiling to himself.

“I always thought you just liked picking on me.” Jeremy admits, clenching his palms. “I never would’ve guessed you felt the same way.”

“Yeah—” Gavin admits, laughing sheepishly before catching himself. “Wait, same way?”

It was Jeremy’s turn to grin, and he nodded enthusiastically. “I guess I know a little more about you now than I used to.” He says, punctuating it by pointing at the pile of images, and towards the drawer. “You like keeping pictures don’t you? Sentimental?”

“Yeah, I do.” Gavin nods. “Not really something my football friends agree on, so I keep them hidden.”

“And you’re not a mess, but you like hanging your shirts everywhere like a snake shedding its skin.” Jeremy remarks, to which Gavin laughs at him for being that observant.

“And you’re very neat,” Gavin responds. “All your things are in order, you have ten drafted manuscripts and only one of them is nearing completion. Nerd.”

Jeremy finds himself laughing awkwardly at this, and agrees with a smile as they turn to face each other on the bed. “You’re the nerd now though, and I’m the jock.” He jokes.

Gavin laughs and shrugs at this, readjusting the glasses he wore. “You could wear contacts, but I think you—I look good with this anyway. Always caught my eyes.”

Jeremy brushes off the compliment, and then flexes his muscles in Gavin’s body. “Well, I look good with these too, always caught my eyes. More than you have.” He teases, and winks at Gavin who awkwardly chuckles.

“Well you’re not far off yourself.” Gavin replies, rolling his sleeves and patting his bicep. “Any way you can ask the devil to extend the deal so I’d have time to enjoy this too?”

Jeremy smirks, an eyebrow raised. “Settling in too, I see.” He remarks, teasing Gavin. “We’ll see, how about we get to know each other this weekend?”

Gavin’s eyes almost literally shone at the idea as he nodded. It was one thing to look around at Jeremy’s stuff, but it was also different talking to him. Jeremy thought the same about Gavin, he had his answers anyway and he was sure Gavin would stop getting on his nerves now that they’ve had this talk.

So it wasn’t to anyone’s surprise that ‘Gavin’ decided to ditch his friends for the day to spend time with ‘Jeremy’. Jeremy liked the attention he got as Gavin, and even relished at being able to carry a lot and exude a dominating presence. Gavin, on the other hand, relished the feeling of ease. Not needing to put some swagger to his step or hold his head high, it felt strange yet good to him.

At one point in the afternoon, Gavin asked Jeremy if it was a date, to which he received a small ‘maybe’ and a smile. He accepted the response, and they spent the rest of the afternoon just talking. Jeremy liked how Gavin brought on a few new expressions on his face, the way he laughed sounded better than Jeremy ever did, even the way he fiddled with his fingers made his heart flutter. Gavin liked Jeremy’s presence, even if it felt like he was staring at himself. Jeremy carried his new body with a confidence that Gavin liked, and he felt safe, like there was finally someone to lean on.

The day was over sooner than either expected, and they knew everything would change back tomorrow, at least physically. The campus didn’t allow overnights for people from different dorms, and so they had to part ways to prepare for the swap back. Jeremy led Gavin back to his old dorm, noting the people staring at them. They both shrugged it off, then bid each other goodbye, promising to meet the next day.

The familiar drowsiness set in as they went to their respective dorms, though it wasn’t too heavy this time. They felt warm, a new feeling sat light in their heart as the night took them in and the devil put the threads and their astral forms in their true vessels.

—-

Gavin and Jeremy woke up in both their old dorms, feeling as if the previous day had been a dream. Both stared at their old hands, a little more disappointed than glad at the return of their real bodies. It was only a little over ten in the morning, Sunday, and they already yearned for yesterday.

It was only until half past the next hour that Jeremy sent Gavin a text, proposing an idea which made the man grin at the coffee he was having. They did agree to meet today again, after all. And Jeremy let sit Gavin’s idea from yesterday and over the few minutes of his waking. He knew Gavin wasn’t joking about it, and he wanted it too. Both dressed in their casual clothing, and ventured out of their dormitories.

“Hey, nerd.” Jeremy says with a knowing smile when Gavin comes into view, in his old body. The man grins at him, rolling his eyes in jest, as he joins Jeremy at the backdoor to the administrative building.

“Hey jock, ready to break in?” He replies, eliciting a small laugh from Jeremy. He just laughs, and twists the knob open, showing that it was already unlocked. “Oh well, lockpicker.”

It wasn’t long until both found their way to the fourth floor, in the room on the end of the hallway. It felt a little less empty to Jeremy, now that Gavin was there with him. He already told the man how it goes, and this time, it was Gavin’s turn to ask for a request.

Which was to let them stay swapped, for longer. It was Gavin’s idea from yesterday, and Jeremy agreed to it, with much enthusiasm, as if he himself also couldn’t wait to be back inside the other man’s body. Gavin sat there, Jeremy right beside him with an encouraging smile.

“Ah, so you’re both back. Good.” The devil remarked, although only appearing to Gavin, in almost the same form it did with Jeremy. “How did it go? Learned your lesson yet?”

“Actually,” Gavin started, glancing at Jeremy who was nodding in approval. “On second thought, there’s more to it. We want to do that again.” he says, retelling most of what happened.

The devil was a little more than happy at how his clients twisted the supposedly disastrous deal he made, and he was impressed that he knew it warranted them of some merit. They deserved a reward, he thought, and relented to their request with ease, but the payment this time was that it would be permanent, and that there would be no way they could switch back through any means.

Needless to say, the two didn’t give it much thought and were both just enthusiastic to sign the paper, sealing their fate. Not that they mind it being permanent, anyway.