The Aether Candle

"Are you having wine with dinner?" Dan asked.

"I might," she said. "One of the perks of being an adult is that you can make those sorts of decisions without needing to clear them with anyone first."

"I'm an adult," Dan said. "I'm old enough to fight and die for my country. Even to vote, which they keep telling me is like the most importantest thing ever. So why can't I drink? Because Mothers Against Drunk Driving is good at convincing Congress to tie highway funding for the states to their drinking age laws?"

"Where'd you hear that?" his mom asked.

"Civics class."

She frowned. "One glass."

Dan almost made a comment about how she'd probably take advantage of him if he got drunk around her anyway but managed to stop himself. It was a wonder his arteries didn't rupture, his heart was beating so fast. "Okay, we'll start there."

"You're something," his mom said as she leaned against him.

As she switched on the TV, Dan wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Whatever I am, you made me. So what does that say about you?"

#

After his mom went to bed, Dan checked his phone and saw a message from his friend Nora. She'd seen his Facebook status and was wondering how he was doing. She'd probably messaged him there too, but Dan hadn't signed in all day. He hadn't felt like pretending to be heart-broken for the sake of "friends" who were only pretending to be concerned. He'd figured that anyone who really cared would get in touch privately. As of about an hour ago, his best friend Ray had been the only one to do so, but it didn't really surprise him that Nora eventually got in touch as well. If anything, he'd expected to hear from her sooner.

The actual content of her message, though, couldn't have been more predictable.

Or frustrating.

Nora told him to forget about Jenny, as he was too good for her anyway. Then she reminded him that girls their age were looking for all the wrong things. That was the usual crap he got from her. Dan reminded himself that he'd have done even worse in his math and science classes if not for Nora. Her idea of consolation left something to be desired, though.

For a while, he'd had a crush on her. Maybe even still did. She didn't date guys her own age, though—or anyone whose biceps were smaller than her waist. Not that these were the qualities she emphasized when explaining to Dan why he had so much trouble with girls. No, she talked about bad boys versus nice guys and the importance of having confidence. As if the reason she'd never hooked up with Dan was because he didn't make fun of her the way her boyfriends did, or that he tried too hard and came across as desperate.

There were guys who made that mistake, who "put the pussy up on a pedestal" as they said, but that wasn't Dan's problem. Even Ray didn't think so, and he would know. He was probably the only guy at Lakeland who'd hooked up with Nora. According to him, Dan wasn't doing anything wrong—aside from letting himself get discouraged a little too easily. But that didn't stop Nora from speaking to Dan like he was some hopeless dork.

He supposed that one of the reasons he'd been interested in Jenny was that she was friends with Nora, and he'd hoped that if the one saw him as boyfriend material, the other might change her opinion of him as well. But of course that hadn't worked.

Nora wasn't even that hot. Her ass was incredible, but her tits were pretty small. To some guys, that combination was perfect, but Dan couldn't have disagreed more. If he couldn't have both, which was ideal, he'd take tits over ass every day of the week. He might not have paid Nora any attention if they hadn't been friends since middle school. If the pitying tone she adopted whenever they discussed his love life didn't make his blood boil.

He really needed her to see him as something more than a loser. It didn't even matter if she hooked up with him, though that would certainly be nice. According to Ray, she gave great head. If the damn girl would just stop acting like it was obvious that no one would want to date him until they got into their thirties, when being nice and dependable and good with kids became more of a priority, that alone would do wonders for Dan's ego.

"Thanks," Dan muttered after reading through her messages for a second time, as if there was anyone there to hear his sarcasm. He started tapping out a boilerplate response, deleted it, and slipped the phone back in his pocket. He'd reply in the morning, when he'd presumably be in a better mood. At least, if the candle had anything to say about it.

Yeah, that was what he needed. And while Caleb had assured Dan that he was nowhere close to taking Ms. Conklin as a familiar yet, he'd also said that it was a good idea to rotate between two or three partners. Or more. So why not summon Nora?

And her friend Lucie, while he was at it?

The truth was, Nora and Jenny weren't that close. Dan knew that. The two of them were likely to be valedictorian and salutatorian, in an as yet undetermined order, but they didn't hang out. And while Nora saw Jenny as an intellectual peer, that didn't mean she respected her taste in guys. Jenny never wore makeup, or designer clothes, and while Dan wasn't the first to notice the size of her rack, he'd been her first real boyfriend. Lucie, though, was even more sought after than Nora. Which probably irritated the shit out of her. She had bigger breasts than Jenny and was insanely gorgeous. Not even Ray could get in her pants. If Dan could make her moan, that would be something. Even if it was just in the Aether.

#

Someone's phone buzzed. Nora's, apparently. She reached into her designer bag, fished it out, and swiped the screen. After reading the text message, she snorted. "My brother says not to wait for him. He met a couple of girls and thinks he might just skip the frat party and just go home with them."

As expected, Nora's Aether avatar looked better than she herself did—and the real thing was not exactly unappealing. Normally, her brown hair was plagued by frizz she complained about constantly. But here, her curls were perfect. Each lock seemed to be a different shade of brown. Dan had never realized how much he appreciated that. Her nose was still a little prominent, but her caramel complexion had become flawless and her lips, a dark purple, were most enticing. Her eyes were bigger, her brows thicker, and her features just a little softer and more feminine. That purple halter top made the most of her modest endowment, somehow managing to produce actual cleavage—which the real Nora was incapable of, by her own admission. If damn girl would spend a little less time in the gym, or at least something once in a while, she might not need the Aether's help filling out her tops, but he supposed that was the price to be paid for an ass that could easily have made her internet famous, were she interested in such notoriety. Dan could only assume this version of her had an even more impressive backside, though there was only so much room for improvement. Those thighs sure looked good. Her black pants were as tight as plastic wrap, granting them a decent view of her well-muscled legs despite the fact that she was sitting down.

Ray chuckled. "Well, that fucks our plans, but it's a baller move. I ain't even mad."

He too looked different. The bastard was plenty handsome to begin with, inviting comparisons to a young George Clooney. Here, he put the famous actor to shame. His jaw was prominent and angular, his skin nicely tanned, and his raven mane glossy. Like Dan, he'd gone from relatively slim to ultra-lean, acquiring serious definition if not much mass.

Lucie looked down at her nails. Softly, she said, "I'm not either. Can't say I was looking forward to it, after that comment from your brother about how the floors are always sticky." She looked at the other girl. "Could we maybe just stay here?"

Unsurprisingly, her avatar looked even better than Nora's. In the real world, Lucie had skin the color of milk, big brown eyes, jet black hair, and pouty lips that made guys venture guesses about her skills at fellatio. She had a bad habit of waging war on her eyebrows, though. Here, the dark lines above her gorgeous eyes were lush and striking. Her lashes had grown thicker too, not that they'd really needed it. The thick makeup on her lids and surrounding areas, a mix of black and brown, should have struck him as tacky, but didn't. Instead, it made her eyes pop even more. Not that anyone could miss those beauties. They'd become inordinately large, like those of a cartoon character. Her lips, somewhere between pink and red, were both thick and glossy. They weren't so swollen as to make it look like she'd had fat pumped into them or anything, but they were more than a little ripe. Twin sheets of black silk fell past her shoulders, to tops of her large breasts.

In short, she was gorgeous. Painfully so.

And that was just the strain Lucie put on his cardiovascular system when he looked at her face. Her body was pretty damn nice too. True, the slim legs that were barely covered by that short skirt didn't do much for Dan, but damn did she have an incredible rack. The gray tee shirt she wore beneath her white blouse wasn't as tight as it needed to be, but there was no hiding the size of those melons. And there was some meat on her calves. Some shape to her pale thighs. He'd not refuse an invitation to caress them. Or kiss them.

"I guueeess," Nora said to Lucie, making it clear that she was only agreeing under protest. "But we're definitely going out tomorrow night. I don't want to hear any complaints about how hung over you over or how much your head hurts."

Lucie frowned. "Fine. Then I won't drink tonight."

Ray shook his head. "Not an option." He looked to Nora for backup. She provided it.

"Whatever," Lucie said. "I'll have one or two. No more than that."

Nora gave her an impish grin. "We'll see about that."

Seeing an opportunity, Dan gave Lucie his best "can you believe these jerks?" look. She smiled at him before looking away. Were those spots of color in her cheeks?

"Speaking of which," Nora said, "I think it's time to start pouring."

With that, she led Ray into the kitchen of her brother's apartment. As they passed into the mist at the edge of the living room, they disappeared from view.

That made Dan wonder if they'd return. Didn't really matter, though. Ray could have Nora all to himself, if that's what that meant, just as long as he left Lucie for Dan. Yes, he'd come here expecting a threesome. Pulling his best friend in as well had been entirely unintentional. But a few short seconds of staring at the porcelain beauty—and her gallon jugs—left Dan more than willing to settle for some one-on-one action.

"You into video games?" he asked, gesturing towards the pile of consoles and controllers beneath the TV. "Looks like her brother's got a decent collection."

Lucie frowned by way of response. "I guess. If they're not too violent."

"Mario Party?"

She shrugged.

"Or not," Dan said. Which garnered no response.

Things were supposed to be different in the Aether. They certainly had been with Ms. Conklin. Why did he feel as awkward as he would have if he ever found himself alone with Lucie in real life? Why wasn't she throwing herself at him?

Was it just because he didn't expect her to? Had he done a better job of suspending disbelief with their former math teacher? Perhaps. In rather short order, that encounter had grown so implausible, despite the initial realism, that there'd been no room for skepticism. Plus, he'd thought it no more than a dream. Now that he was starting to believe Caleb had actually given him a magic candle that allowed him to enter a place called the Aether, into which he could pull various avatars, his doubts and insecurities had caught up to him. The girl sitting on the couch adjacent to him was no mere figment of his imagination. A product of his subconscious. She might only be an avatar, and it was entirely possible that she'd do things with him that the real Lucie never would, but that was hardly a foregone conclusion.

Or it could just be a sign that she wasn't the least bit into him.

Maybe Ms. Conklin actually was, on some level. Stranger things had happened than a teacher having a crush on one of her students. Or a generic fantasy of seducing a young man that would nonetheless provide Dan something to work with.

Without a word, Lucie grabbed her bag and went to the bathroom. Upon passing through the mist, she too disappeared. Fearing the thoughts that might come to mind if he didn't find a way to preoccupy himself, Dan decided to change into something more comfortable himself. That was all Lucie was doing, after all. She'd be right back. There was no telling about Ray and Nora, but surely his second trip to the Aether wouldn't prove a complete bust. Not in the first five minutes. So he replaced his jeans with mesh shorts and the black button-down with all of nothing, revealing the abs he only wished he really had.

He tossed a pillow and blanket onto the love seat then sat beside them. Hopefully, that way, it just looked like he was getting ready for bed—not trying to seduce anyone.

Did he look ridiculous without a shirt on? No. That was just nerves. Even in the real world, he had a decent body. If his luck with the ladies wasn't what he wanted it to be, it wasn't because of his physique. And here in the Aether, he had plenty to be proud of. But all the same, he worried that Lucie might laugh at him. If she ever came back.

A minute later, she did just that. And she didn't laugh at him, though she did raise her eyebrows. Dan bristled at that, not least because she'd removed her skirt and blouse, leaving only the tee shirt. Sure, it was big enough to double as a nightgown, but a tiny one at that. He couldn't tell what sort of underwear she had on, but below the waist, that was about all that was hidden from view. "That what you normally wear to bed?" Lucie asked as she set her bag down and reclaimed her seat on the sofa. Carefully, so as to deny him even the slightest glimpse of her panties. More was the pity.

Okay, her Aether avatar didn't have much of a lower body either, but those hips were definitely wider than the real Lucie's. And while he'd never seen so much of her bare thighs, Dan didn't think he'd be impressed if he did. The more he looked at this Lucie's stems, though, the more he grew to appreciate them. The curves were subtle, but they were there.

"Normally, I don't wear anything," Dan said. "But I didn't want you to run screaming through the apartment about a Burmese python being on the loose."

"Why do guys think that works?" she asked, tilting her head in a most condescending fashion. "Are girls really supposed to tear their clothes off after hearing a guy claim that he's got a dick so big that it would be terrifying if he was telling the truth?"

Dan said nothing.

"Or is that just the sort of thing that passes for funny when you're so immature?"

He'd almost forgotten that Lucie was an old soul, too sophisticated to be stuck in high school. Nora didn't date guys her own age, but neither did she make them feel like they were too childish to be friends with her. Hell, at times, she was worse than any freshman.

Dan was tempted to remind Lucie that he'd been there for her eighteenth birthday party, so he knew full well that she was a few weeks younger than him. But he knew it wasn't worth it. She'd only reply with some cliche about girls maturing faster. Then he'd ask how she explained Nora's penchant for drawing misshapen penises in her notebooks, or dipping her fries in ketchup and calling them used tampons—which would do him no good. At that point, Lucie would give him a dirty look for calling attention to the girl's shortcomings.

"Suppose I might leave that line out when I publish my memoirs," he admitted.

That, at least, Lucie seemed to find amusing. Somewhat.

"Anyway, you're one to talk, wearing nothing but a shirt," Dan said. "I'd ask you to cover those toothpicks up, but it's too late. I've already been scarred."

"Toothpicks?" Lucie asked, laughing. But she looked down at the legs she'd folded beneath her with doubt written across her face. "Are you chubby chaser?" she asked after a pause long enough to rob the accusation of it bite. "Prefer thunder thighs?"

Dan shrugged. "I prefer some kind of thighs."

"So I don't have any?" She covered them up with a pillow, giving away more than she no doubt meant to. "It's a wonder I manage to stand up."

"Really is."

With a malicious grin, Lucie said, "I suppose Jenny was a little on the heavy side."

"Tell me, when someone goes out of their way to criticize a friend's choice of partner, what do you think that says about them?" Dan asked. "It's one thing if you're expressing legitimate concerns about a rotten personality. But their looks?"

By way of response, Lucie studied her fingernails. There was nary a chip in the pink polish, of course, but it was suddenly very important that she conduct a thorough examination.

"I mean, if I said that I'd heard your boyfriend has a small dick, wouldn't that make you think—oh, wait," Dan said, snapping his fingers. "That's right. You don't have one."

Her eyes went wide and her mouth hung agape. She recovered quickly, though. Before Dan could squeeze in an apology for the comment that he now recognized as being a bit over the line, she said, "Like you'd know if I did."

"Oh?" Dan said. "So he goes to another school?"

"I'm not seeing anyone right now," Lucie replied. "But I go to back to the old country every summer. You've no idea what goes on there. Or how charming European guys are."

"Guess not," Dan said. "Maybe I should start smoking."

"That's exactly what I like about them," Lucie said, rolling her eyes. "Totally nailed it."

Dan moved over to sit beside her. She gave him a look but didn't say anything. Didn't slide away either. He put his arm around her, mimed taking a puff of a cigarette, and adopted his worst fake French accent—even though her family was from the Czech Republic. "Zose Ameriken boys, zey know nut-ding. Party wid Francoise. Oo shall not regret eet."

Laughing, Lucie gave him a shove. "I've never even been to France."

"I was going for German."

She snorted. "You know that's not where I'm from, right?"

"Of course," Dan said. "But I can't do a Slovakian accent."

Looking flabbergasted, she said, "They're two totally different countries, with different—" she began. Then, presumably seeing the grin on his face, she cut herself off. "Okay, you got me there," she finished, giving him a slap that lacked force.

"I really did."

A sigh of consternation was her only reply. Yet Dan sensed something else. A slight buzz building inside him. Energy flowing out of Lucie and into him, born of arousal.

Before he could talk himself out of it, Dan kissed her.

He expected Lucie to push him away, even after his sexploits with Ms. Conklin. And, in time, she did. Not right away, though. For a good ten, fifteen seconds, they shared a nice, sweet kiss. It wasn't overly passionate, but one might call it romantic.

"That was...nice," Lucie said.

"I'm gonna pretend not to notice how surprised you are."

She laughed and slapped his arm again, as playfully as before. "Most guys rush things."

"I'm not—"

"You're on a roll," she said, pressing a finger to his lipls. "Don't ruin it." Before he could respond to that, she added, "Think they're ever coming back with those drinks?"

Dan shrugged. "Thought you weren't interested in drinking?"

She smiled. "I'm not."

With that, she leaned in and kissed him. The Aether finally decided to start cooperating too. Or his subconscious stopped getting in the way. Either way, their second kiss was everything the first was not—and it hadn't disappointed. Slowly, Lucie turned towards him and lowered herself onto her back. Dan followed her down, propping himself up with knee and hand. It took some effort, but he kept his free one from exploring her body the way it very much ached to. After a few seconds, he decided it was okay to gently stroke her hair, but nothing south of that. His mouth did the real work—and did it well. Drawing upon powers that were already starting to feel familiar, Dan heightened her arousal, allowing her to experience greater pleasure from a mere kiss than she'd ever experience in the real world.