Rey was halfway through sipping his third cup of lukewarm tea when the genie materialized upside-down in front of him like a smug chandelier.
"Okay, so here's the thing," the genie said, sunglasses flickering like a mood ring on fire, "you're spiraling again."
Rey blinked. "I'm literally just drinking tea."
"Yeah, but you're doing it with that face. That melancholy 'I might journal about mortality later' face." He flipped upright, hands flaring dramatically. "We're doing something different today."
Rey glanced toward Beans, who wore a velvety purple cape and a sparkly gold crown, sprawled like royalty across a kitchen chair. She blinked once. Didn't object.
The genie cracked his knuckles, which sparked blue lightning.
"I'm taking over your body. Just for the day."
"Excuse me—?"
"Consent is sexy," the genie said, "and that's why I'm telling you first. Technically."
Before Rey could say a single thing, the genie clapped his hands—
—and the world inverted.
Rey found himself standing in a space made entirely of glass and mirrors. He wasn't in control of his limbs. Or, rather… he wasn't in his body at all.
It floated before him: Rey Mysterio, twenty pounds more confident and smirking like a cryptic Twitter post, now piloted by a manic magical being.
"No no no—what are you doing—"
"Fixing your vibe!" his own mouth said, but with the genie's voice. "Step one: a smoothie. Step two: we get a fit check. Step three: we go OUTSIDE. Touch grass. Absorb sun. Unclench."
Rey watched in horror as his own body moonwalked across the room.
Cut to: Rey's body walking Beans in a sequined fanny pack, blasting hyperpop from his phone like it was a sacred ritual.
Beans strutted. Rey (in genie-mode) waved at joggers like a local celebrity. Real Rey, trapped in a mirror realm, shouted at nothing:
"That is NOT how I walk! Is that how I walk?!"
The genie paused at a bus stop, grinned into the reflection on the glass.
"Honestly, you're kinda hot when you let me drive."
Back home, chaos resumed.
Rey's possessed body reorganized the spice rack in alphabetical order, played three instruments badly, made kale chips, set off the smoke alarm, and tried (unsuccessfully) to convince Beans to join a TikTok dance trend.
Beans simply leapt onto the bookshelf and turned away like a disappointed mentor.
Genie-Rey sighed. "Tough crowd."
By evening, the mirror space softened. Real Rey stood in it—still disoriented, still annoyed—but… a little quieter.
He watched his body laugh while trying to juggle teacups and chant affirmations. He watched the genie move like joy wasn't illegal.
And for the first time, he wondered what it would feel like to stop gripping everything so tightly.
Just once.
With a snap, the genie exited his body, returning it like an apologetic toddler handing back a borrowed toy.
"Fun, right?" he said, spinning midair. "Little chaotic. Little cute."
Rey, back in his skin, sat down hard on the floor. "You juggled teacups."
"And crushed it."
Beans trotted over, still wearing her velvet cape and golden crown, and headbutted Rey's shoulder gently.
The genie floated above them, arms crossed behind his head. "You don't have to live like you're a black-and-white film, Rey-Rey. There's color. Use it."
Rey didn't answer.
But he did laugh—just a little—when Beans tried to put her paw in the teacup and immediately knocked it over.