The first and only important time it happened, Mikey had just come home from his second day of high school.

He stuck two Pop Tarts in the toaster, blinked – and he was staring at Gee's bedroom ceiling, his hand wrapped around Gee's cock. He jumped back, snatching his hand away, and heard his own yell coming from upstairs.

Running to the mirror confirmed what he suspected: he was Gerard.

Gerard bursting in right as Mikey wrapped a curious hand around his dick confirmed what he knew: Gerard was him.

"Mikey!"

"What? You were hard." He couldn't stop his hand from moving, because apparently Gerard was the horniest fucker in the world. "You're gonna burn my Pop Tarts."

"Stop it!" Gerard waved his arms, freaking out like he always did. It looked weird in Mikey's body. His arms were bony, and his shirt rode up like...

Gerard's cock jerked in his hand. Hunh, Mikey thought, and concentrated on not tuning Gerard out.

" – can't in my body, Mikey, that's fucking nasty, I'll never be able to touch my dick again! What are you doing, stop it!"

Mikey stopped playing with Gerard's balls and rolled his eyes. "It's your fault for starting," he said. "Seriously, why can't you do it at night like a normal person?"

Sullen Gerard was sullen Gerard, even in Mikey's body. Or maybe Mikey was sullen, too, and that was why it didn't look weird. Or maybe staring at his-Gerard's lips and fucking Gerard's hand was scrambling his brains, because he felt like he was about to –

The laugh that pushed from his lips when he came was definitely Gerard's. "Dude," Mikey said, wiping his hand on his shirt, giggling, "what was that, three seconds? You suck."

"It's your fault!" Gerard shrieked. "You're – it's not me!"

Mikey was vaguely aware that he should be upset, but he kind of figured Gerard was freaking out enough for both of them. "Well, whatever, I took care of it," he said, and pulled his shirt off, grabbing one that didn't look too dirty from its spot on Gerard's desk. "So why are you in my body?"

"You're in mine!" Gerard scowled, shoving Mikey's glasses up on his face. "I knew you couldn't see with them like that."

"It looks cooler," Mikey said, and stared at Gerard's hands. "Your skin is gross. Do you never use lotion?"

Gerard smirked, and Mikey realized too late what he'd said. "Oh, gross," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Not like that."

"You're the one who got me off first thing," Gerard said. "Oh God, I'm going to have to go to school as you tomorrow. This blows."

Mikey knew better than to suggest it would be done with by tomorrow. "Yeah," he said, "well, I've seen who you hang out with. It's gonna suck more for me."

"Fuck you," Gerard said, chewing on his lip. Mikey's lip, actually, and Mikey could tell by the twinge in Gerard's chapped bottom lip that it was gonna suck to get his body back.

"I just came," he said, and ignored the way Gerard's dick jumped at the suggestion. God, he needed to get this body laid, like, yesterday. "And you're seriously lame."

Mikey couldn't tell if it was his own hips or the way Gerard wore them that made thoughts of licking them go through his head. He wasn't even sure which option was less sick. "Whatever," Gerard said. "You didn't drink enough coffee. I'm going to bed."

Mikey suddenly, fiercely wished he knew when they were going to switch back, because then at least he'd be able to force Gerard to shower. "Don't forget to brush my teeth!" he called, but Gerard had already closed Mikey's door.

It was weird to lie in Gerard's bed without Gerard next to him, almost weirder than turning his head to look in the mirror on the wall and realizing he was in Gerard. He made a face at that – not in, in, but still...

Gerard, Mikey knew, wasn't exactly the type to jerk off in front of a mirror. The hard-on was all Mikey's, just like it was Mikey's fault when he watched himself lick his lips and felt his cock twitch a little.

Not okay, not okay, but it didn't stop him from cupping his (Gerard's, he thought, and shuddered at the feeling he couldn't stop from spreading) cock, feeling his stomach clench at how hard he was, how fucking eager he was for this.

"Jesus Christ, Mikey, even your pajama pants don't fi - fuck, not again."

"Sorry," Mikey said, but he twisted his hand, gasping. "Sorry, I just..."

Gerard's nipples, he learned right then, were sensitive as hell. "Oh," he said, and ran his hands over his chest again, jerking off in earnest now.

"Mikey," Gerard said, sounding strangled, "we – you can't. Stop."

"I'm not," Mikey said. He felt weirdly tired, strung out; he was turned on as fuck, but he mostly just wanted to pull Gerard close and sleep with him, maybe give him a hand job. Gerard would be the one to say "That's kinda gay, Mikey," his voice sarcastic enough to hurt, and...

"Okay," Gerard said, and Mikey's focus narrowed to the way his hands shook pushing Mikey's pajamas down. "Okay."

Mikey nodded, moving his hand again, biting his lip. He wanted to touch Gerard – wanted to desperately – but not Gerard-in-his-body. Not like this. Jerking off would do for now, jerking off and hearing Gerard whisper "Mikey" in the wrong voice. Mikey tried not to think about how much it reminded him of the few nights he'd let his mind wander, his own voice and hands working as a stand-in for Gerard's.

The irony made him laugh a little, which was a mistake, because Gerard was at his side in an instant. "Stop it," he whispered, pushing Mikey back. Fuck, he was skinny; Gerard's hands could lift his hips easily, hold him still.

Mikey stared at them, flexing the fingers. He'd have bruises in the morning. "Stop what?"

"This." Gerard's fingers were hesitant, skimming over his hips so lightly Mikey could barely feel it. "You've seen what you do," he said. "You know how I feel."

"Then it's not a big deal, is it," he couldn't help but say. "It's just a reflex, practically."

"You really think so?" Gerard's nervousness looked weird in Mikey's body, making it tense in ways Mikey never was. "It's a reflex for both of us, in that case."

Mikey tried to think of something to say and failed completely, shaking at the feel of his own fingers - Gerard Gerard Gerard, his mind said – sliding up his ribs.

"I'll jerk off," Gerard said, somehow making the words sound like begging. "Nothing but jerking off, I promise. Just let me kiss you first, please."

He couldn't say something sarcastic about narcissism, or maybe he could and just didn't want to. Either way, his stomach was roiling, Gerard's brain twisting the anticipation into something more intense than it would've been if Mikey was in his own body, and he wanted with stupid intensity.

"Okay," he said, and reached up, pulling Gerard down.

It was just a kiss, lips brushing and breath catching. Except this kiss made his head spin, and then Gerard fumbled a bit and his knuckles brushed against Mikey's dick, and suddenly his head was spinning more and -

He was staring down at Gerard. His Gerard, not Gerard-in-him.

"Oh," he said, and tried to quash the sudden, ridiculous feeling of disappointment that washed over him.

"That was easy," Gerard said. He licked his lips.

Mikey didn't usually have a problem with impulse control. "Sorry," he whispered, and leaned down, kissing Gerard and wrapping his hand around Gerard's dick.

He wasn't totally sure what Gerard liked beyond looking at him, so he lined their cocks up and thrust his hips, rubbing them together, his hand sweaty between them. "I want," he said, and shook his head, fighting not to lose focus. "I want...this. More, I mean, I want to blow you and fuck you and - "

"Cheating, Mikes," Gerard said in a tight voice, and came all over both their hands.

And, wow, it was really different like this; Mikey closed his eyes and whimpered a little, following before Gerard had even finished.

It was Gerard who helped Mikey down, who wiped them off and took off his glasses, but it was Mikey who kissed him again, sleepier than he'd have thought he would be. "I can't feel guilty about it," he said. "I mean, maybe the first time I wanted it, but that was ages ago. Sorry."

Gerard leaned in and kissed him a little harder. "Don't be," he said, pulling a blanket up over them. "Just try not to drool on me."

Gerard fell asleep first, of course; he was drooling on the pillow before Mikey had even finished mentally listing all the jokes about being inside Gerard he could make tomorrow.

||

Being a freshman still sucked, and Mikey still got kind of shitty grades, and Gerard was still the art fag who got beaten up after school. Sometimes they switched again, and there was always the not-quite-panic that came with touching the wrong person.

"It works, though," Mikey said ages later, head resting on Gerard's chest. "It works."

Gerard had stopped disagreeing a long time ago.