Luke shifted uncomfortably, staring down at the much smaller hands that now felt clumsy and light compared to what he was used to. His reflection in the TV screen still unnerved him—short, black-haired, no hint of the man he had been only minutes ago. The voice didn’t help either. Every time he spoke, it came out squeaky, young, wrong.
“Stop looking at me like that,” Luke muttered as Dave’s eyes lingered on him with a strange mix of curiosity and amusement.
“Sorry,” Dave said, though the smile tugging at his lips betrayed him. “It’s just… dude, you really do look exactly like my little bro. Like, not kinda, but spot on. It’s freaky.”
Luke groaned, his new voice cracking. “Great. Just what I always wanted.”
Dave tossed him a small bundle of clothes. “Here. You’ll need underwear and shorts. Trainers too. Can’t have you walking around like that.”
Luke’s face darkened as he held up the underwear. They were bright blue briefs with a big red Superman logo on the front. “You have got to be kidding me.”
“Hey, don’t look at me like that,” Dave said, still grinning. “They’re Mike’s, not mine. You want pants or not?”
With a heavy sigh that sounded ridiculous coming from his new lungs, Luke did as he was told. Everything fit perfectly—too perfectly. Pulling on someone else’s kid-sized underwear was humiliating enough, but seeing the shorts and trainers slip onto his new body like they were made for him made his stomach twist.
“This is disgusting,” Luke muttered, tugging at the waistband like he could pull them off by sheer force of will.
“Relax, Mikey,” Dave teased.
Luke snapped his head up. “Don’t call me that.”
Dave raised an eyebrow, smirk still plastered across his face. “What else am I supposed to call you? Think about it. If anyone hears me calling you Luke while you look like this, what are they gonna think? So for now, you’re my little bro. Mikey.”
Luke groaned again, the sound pitiful in his high voice.
“Good,” Dave said, clearly enjoying himself. “Now come on. We’ll get you back to your place and sort this out. But first…” He paused, rubbing his stomach. “I think we should grab something to eat. I kinda want to see how you handle being out in public like this.”
Luke’s head dropped, his cheeks burning as he realized there wasn’t much choice. He was stuck like this for now. Stuck looking like Mike. Stuck being called Mikey.
All he could do was groan again as Dave clapped him on the shoulder, steering him toward the door.
