Part 2! I'm back btw ♡ I had COVID-19 for the past weeks but I'm feeling a lot better now.

Image cto: One Dog Woof

ISFP (male) x ENTJ (female)

"Mom, dad!"

"Dan! Honey, it's so good to see you!"

It felt weird for him to see his parents hug him, but he's not feeling any of that affection at all.

No, he's just watching at the side. Because he's not in his body at the moment.

Remember? He's still in the body of a woman - Nix's body.

What a painful reminder that has to drop on him the moment he sees his parents show their warmth and tenderness to his body which Nix is currently in.

It's his mom that spots him first, standing somewhat behind his body. "Oh my, and are you Vernice?" She walks over to him with a huge excited smile on her face.

Just as he was about to reply, he was immediately engulfed in a warm embrace from his own mother. "It's so nice to finally meet you, dearie!" His mom continues.

"I-It's nice to meet you as well, Mrs. dela Cruz," Dan manages to reply and hides his sigh of relief when he is released from the soul-crushing hug of his mother. "Please, call me Nix."

"Thank you so much for inviting us to your home, Nix, my dear." His mom then looks around, a serene smile adorning her features. "I absolutely love how your place looks. It feels very warm and welcoming here."

"Well, I-I should be the one thanking you for coming here." Dan throws a nervous glance at Nix who's watching from across the room. "Dan," he raises an open hand toward Nix's direction, "has been taking really good care of me despite not being at his own place most of the time." He nervously giggles, the voice of Nix sounding oddly weird. From across the room, he spots Nix trying to stifle a laugh threatening to bubble out of his body. A wave of relief courses through him. He's happy to see that Nix is not reacting strongly against her odd behavior demonstrated by him.

Actually, he's been noticing how she's been nicer to him for the past week.

She's not as impatient as she used to be around him and she would love to start new conversations with him.

Even at work, when she's known to be an alpha female, she would always take the time to instruct him on what he needs to do for the day, and slowly she would start to allow him to finish her tasks.

"But wait, shouldn't you be doing these things when we get back home?"

"What are you talking about? I've seen the way you work. I know you can handle it. I trust that you'll be able to handle it."

It was Dan's first time to hear her talk to him with such sincerity. She has always overlooked him or despised the fact that they had to work together. She thinks that he's not aware of her feelings of annoyance and disappointment toward him. He knew ever since the beginning, the only difference is that he knows when to keep his mouth shut. Thus, it was truly a...weird experience to hear her saying that she trusts him.

But internally, it made him happy to hear those words from her, of all people. In some way, her words made him feel that he is worthy of her time and attention. That kind of feeling may seem pathetic to some, but it meant the world to him.

Nix doesn't know about Dan's silent happiness because he never told her...and he has no plans to.

Both prepared dinner for Dan's parents, with Dan doing most of the cooking.

"Nix prepared dinner for you," Nix informs Dan's parents once they all sat around the table with three different main dishes in front of them.

"Wow, how did you know that we like Callos Madrilenos?" Mr. dela Cruz asks Dan. "Did Dan tell you?" (A.N. I LOVE Callos Madrilenos)

"Y-Yes, sir. I, uh, researched how to cook it so I hope that you'll like it," Dan answers. Though, he never had to research since he grew up helping his mom cook it. He knows the recipe by heart. "P-Please, help yourselves."

With the help of Dan's mom, dinner goes smoothly and they never encounter dead air because she always had something to say about Dan - what he was like growing up, his favorite activities, the sports he tried to do (and eventually stopped after two months). Nix would laugh loudly since it was her first time hearing those details about him and yet she had to act as if she went through all those experiences. Dan, on the other hand, had to force himself to laugh and ask follow-up questions to 'know' more about himself. He really wanted to cringe and cover his face out of embarrassment. It did not help that Nix was truly enjoying herself.

"Dan! Ever since you started your new job you've changed!" Mrs. dela Cruz exclaims, a bright smile displayed on her face and she reaches over to gently squeeze Nix's arm. "You're not the shy boy your dad and I raised."

"Oh, mom, a lot of things changed," Nix replies in her usual flamboyant manner, "For one, I now have a girlfriend so I think Nix really changed a lot about me." She then cheekily winks at Dan who could not say a word and just feel his cheeks go hot in an instant.

He never realized that his eyes could wink. When he would practice winking back in high school, he looked like someone who was having eye spasms.

But how in the world could Nix do it so flawlessly?

"Nix, dearie, how could we ever thank you?" Mrs. dela Cruz says caringly, looking straight into Dan's eyes. "Oh! I should bring out Dan's creations!" She takes her bag hanging from the side of the chair and reaches inside to bring out three different amigurumi animals - a frog, a bird, and a turtle. Each creation has colorful clothes on them, also made using crochet.

"O-Oh, my goodness, they're so cute!" Dan exclaims. Internally, he was scared that the sauce from the callos might get any of his creations dirty.

She raises the frog, showing it to everyone at the table then gushes, "Nix, look at this frog! This is my absolute favorite because it's carrying a small backpack while wearing a bucket hat."

"Yes, it's really cute, Mrs. dela Cruz," Dan says, smiling back at his mom.

Nix then chimes in, "That's my favorite creation as well, mom." Dan, beyond confused, carefully glances at Nix. What in the world is she saying? It's her first time, in person, seeing what I made.

"Right, Dan? I'm happy that Nix likes it. I remember, one time, you brought one of your amigurumi animals for show and tell and you were relentlessly bullied by your classmates over it."

Dan vividly remembers that time in middle school. He brought around five different animals to show to his class but not one of them took his craft seriously. He was hurt by what his classmates said about his 'childish' craft and was on the verge of destroying all his amigurumi. Thankfully, his grandmother managed to cheer him up a bit and he decided to keep them in his closet. He took them out when he finished college and decided to go back to the craft.

Dan did not know what to say as Nix. How would she reply to his mom if she was in her body?

"Well, that doesn't matter to me now, mom," Nix suddenly says, shrugging her shoulders. Dan throws her a look of confusion. Where is Nix going with this conversation?

"And why would you think so, Dan?" Mrs. dela Cruz asks.

"Yeah, Dan, why would you think so?" Dan asks in clear absurdity. "You were bullied nonstop by your classmates that time and now it does not matter?" It matters a lot to me, he continued in his head.

"Simple," Nix explains, "if Nix and I were classmates that time, I know she would have taken my side." Then she turns to face Dan. Smiling softly at him, she finishes, "And I'm sure my dear Nix would have punched those bullies to oblivion."

Dan chokes up a bit by her answer. He wouldn't know if Nix had that answer in her this whole time, but it meant a lot for him to hear those words. To know that there is someone who would take his side. Where was Nix when he was growing up alone? Would she have ever spared him a glance if they went to the same school?

But no, he should not ruminate over those useless thoughts. What matters is that in the present, there is someone like Nix who treats him like someone worthy of attention and time.

They were simple words uttered by her, but they are impactful for him. And for that, he's truly thankful for her. In addition to that, he's grateful that of all the people he switched bodies with, it's Nix.

Mr. dela Cruz busts out in loud laughter and he excitedly asks Dan, "That would be breathtaking to witness! Would you really do that, Nix?"

Dan freezes for a second, unprepared to be under the spotlight in an instant. "O-Of course!" he answers, looking at his dad before looking back at Nix, "Dan would have been so happy to have me as his friend."

And as her reply, she slyly throws him another wink. "Ditto," she mouths for only Dan to see.

----------

"Hey, thanks for being patient with my parents tonight," Dan says as he dries the newly-washed plates beside the kitchen sink. Nix still continues to wash the remaining dirty dishes. "I know that they can be a handful."

After three hours of endless talking and laughing, Dan found himself to be more open to talking to his parents, still with the guise of acting like Nix. When his parents had to leave since it was getting late, his mom wrapped him in a hug and thanked him for being a good person to her son.

It's been some time since he was last hugged by his mom, so he savored it.

"I actually had a lot of fun tonight," Nix tells him and laughs softly under her breath. "My parents are waaay different from yours. They're really strict. That would explain why I'm a bit messed up as a person."

Dan stops drying the plate in his hand. "I see nothing wrong with who you are. You think you're messed up, but I just see you," he tells her earnestly.

She closes the tap and leans against the sink. "Really?" She asks, with a slight tilt of her head and a smirk playing about her lips.

"Y-Yeah," Dan answers in a hushed voice and instantly looks down to hide his growing blush.

Nix laughs again and reaches over to cup her hand under his chin to make him look back at her. "I never knew my body was capable of blushing this way-"

"S-Stop teasing me, please! I might d-drop this plate!"

She laughs again but complies by taking her hand away from his chin and returns to facing the sink to finish what's left of the dirty plates. "You're so cute," she comments quietly. "I'm happy I bought it for you."

"Bought? Bought what?"

"Hmm, let's say a simple gift."

"Nix, what did you buy me? You don't have to buy me anything."

"Dan, I wanted to," she says matter of factly. "I got you milk cotton yarn because I heard that it's one of the best kinds of yarn when it comes to your craft. It's arriving in two days and I'm excited for you to open it."

Despite her excitement, Dan was still dumbfounded. "W-Why would you buy me yarn?"

"Easy question. I like what you do...and I like you," she confesses all of a sudden, making Dan's heart stop beating. For a second there, his head has gone haywire.

How could it be so simple for her to say that she likes him?? It would take a century for Dan to even tell someone that he likes them.

"What did you say?" he breathes out, still in sheer disbelief.

"You somehow wedged your way into my heart that now the only thing I want to do is protect such a pure person standing beside me now. Would you give me the permission to like you wholeheartedly?"

"How can you speak about this so easily?"

"What's there to hide when I'm liking a good person? You don't have to like me back and I'm not asking you to. Hm, how about this," she suddenly proposes, "if you like me back, you'll make an amigurumi of my favorite animal and if you don't, then you'll make my least favorite animal."

Going along with her proposal, Dan asks, "What would those animals be, then?"

"My favorite animal would be penguins and my least favorite would be goats. Their eyes scare the crap out of me."

A small smile plays on Dan's lips. "You're in luck then."

"Why?"

He shyly admits, "I currently have enough yarn to make a penguin for you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope you enjoyed this! ♡