The Arcanist

I stood up as class ended, stretching from having sat in the same position so long. I reached out with my senses slightly and felt the energy of the light in the room. Stretching my arcane muscles, you might say. I also sensed the blistering summer heat outside. God I hate warm weather. I thought to myself. Even wearing a light t-shirt, loose jeans and pair of runners; I was feeling it as I stepped out of the school.

I better introduce myself before I go much further into the story. My name's Jacob Murphy; an eighteen-year old Australian living in Chicago. I stand about five foot eight, with dark hair that reaches down to around the middle of my back, bright blue eyes and, so I've been told, a handsome face. I like to think of got a decent build. It may not be the bulky muscles of the Gridiron players (who all to often decided to get in my face. Until one decided to take a swing at me and ended up on the floor with my boot on his throat), but I'm not skinny either. It's the sort of build you'd expect to see on a professional gymnast or martial artist. I suppose I could also be considered well hung, tops out at around ten inches when hard, but I don't know (nor care) if size would really have any effect on the quality of sex. Oh, and I'm also a wizard.

Personally I prefer the term 'mage' after reading a rather... unusual chat log quote on bash.org. Now hear me out before you start giving me the weird looks. Magic exists and most everyone can use it, but very few people actually unlock that ability. Despite my rather limited arcane skills, mostly illusions and combat magic, I'm considered something of a prodigy; my body is able to handle far more magic coursing through it than most people, and how well a mage's body can take that is what determines how powerful they are. See; when you cast a spell, the energy for it has to go through your body at some point in the casting, the stronger the spell, the more punishment your body takes. It's not painful and it doesn't actually injure me since the human body temporarily cuts itself off from magic before any real damage is done.

Anyway, that's all you need to know about magic at the moment and that's not what this story really about (though there are a few points in the story where it's used, so the above info isn't a waste of time). This is about the most wonderful, incredible and beautiful woman I know. We'd been friends since I first moved to Chicago back when I was fourteen and had been going out since we were sixteen. She's kind, accepting, funny and is a skilled martial artist (we'd been sparring partners often over the years and she's a lot tougher than her 5 foot nothing stature would suggest). And the day this story starts was her 18th birthday. It was the middle of the week and we'd organised a proper party for the weekend, but I still wanted to make that day special for her.

She'd been dropping subtle hints at wanting to make love (something she'd held off on before now and I wasn't about to push her), I think. I'm not gonna lie; I can be dense sometimes, but I had a backup plan if I was wrong. She's the only person outside of my family (and who isn't a part of the city's arcane community) who knows about my talents and she'd remarked about how she wished that she could use magic. I'd tried to teach her, but it seems she's in the majority of people who can never use magic. But I'd been working on something that would give her at least some arcane power; not full magic, but enough for her to better understand it. It was going to be a surprise for her and would explain what I'd been doing in my lab lately (I'd been practising my potion-making as well, but since most potions need to simmer for several hours, I needed a way to fill in the time).

I waited for her by my car, we'd been living together for a few months now (with her parent's consent, of course) and I was used to her being a little slow to get away from class.



OOC: Closed for me and smiley8022.

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Alex sighed throwin her bag across her back as she picked up her notebook and notes throwing them inside of her bag as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and hurried out of the classroom, she had already kept him waiting to long. Alex got to her locker and grabbed her things quifckly as she finally made it out of the large glass doors leading to outside. She smiled seeing him standing there by his car as she walked nearer to him she couldn't keep the smile from playing on her face for some odd reason, and her birthday was even closer by day. She got to the car and wrapped her arms around his stomach him being taller than her she looked up slightly at his face and shining eyes.

"Hey Jake, how was your day?"

As Alex walked over to me, I wondered for about the thousandth time how I was lucky enough to be with a woman like her. I hugged Alex back. "Apart from boring, tedious and insanely hot?" I joked. "What about yours, birthday girl?"

Alex grineed at the birthday girl and raised up a bit to kiss his lips, after a moment she pulled back and returned to her height as she answered to him."Oh well you poor baby, being insanely heated and waiting for me."She smiles"Well my day, boring too, not too hot for me, and I missed you of course."

"Missed you too. Anyway, let's go; you might not mind this heat but I do. Besides, I've got your present for you at home and I know you'll like it." As I finished speaking, I opened the passenger door for her. Once she was in, I went round to the driver's side, got in and drove off.

I was eager to get home for a few reasons; firstly to check on some potions I'd started that morning (which used some rather expensive ingredients that I didn't want to go to waste), then there was Alex's present (which I was sure would work, but I hadn't been able to properly test it yet) and, finally, the blessed air con. While our house did have a normal air conditioning system; I'd rigged up a magical version to cut down on the electricity bill.

It used evocation magic (the manipulation and conversion of energy) to draw heat out of the air and convert it into light. Not much use in winter, since it would have to convert light into heat, but it stopped us having to use the mechanical air con and the house's normal lights. I'd also installed a simple interface so that Alex (or anyone who couldn't use magic) could turn it on or off and adjust the temperature, the only problem with which was that the temperature was always displayed on the control crystal in Celsius (which I was more used to than Fahrenheit).

"Missed you too. Anyway, let's go; you might not mind this heat but I do. Besides, I've got your present for you at home and I know you'll like it."

Alex smiled hearing this as she climbed in the passenger seat and sat back as the car sped off down the road sending waves of air through the car her dark hair whishing around her face gently as she looked out the window thinking about her birthday and what was to come soon enough.

Alex looked over at Jake with a smile and then a small laugh"Of course you'd love to get home oto your belessed Air conditioner."

I laughed at her comment about my home-made air con. "You really think I'd let a week's worth of enchanting go to waste? Not to mention how long it took to actually put the thing together."

It wasn't long before we made it back home. As we went in (after I disabled the wards of course; nothing ruins a birthday like a strong electrical shock), I dumped my bag in the front hall and started towards my lab. "I just need to duck into the lab and get your present. Don't come down; I'd rather give you it in a place that doesn't stink to high heaven."

Bit of an exaggeration with the smell; but some potions do not smell all that pleasant when they've been simmering for most of the day. That and I wanted to make sure my 'just-in-case' potions hadn't gone off. They have a hell of a shelf life, but it's better to keep a close eye on any potions you plan to use within at least the next day or so.

"Oh, could you turn the air con on? I'll be back in a sec." I stopped in front of what looked like a blank part of the wall and mumbled a phrase in faux-latin. The veil I had set up over the entrance to my lab faded away and I was looking at the heavy steel door that Dad had helped me set up. There were an incredible number of rivets in seemingly random patterns across the surface, but very few of them were for structural stability.

They were part of the security system; eight of the rivets had to be touched in a specific sequence to actually open the door; touch the wrong rivet or one in the wrong order and you'll be knocked out by one hell of an electrical shock. I quickly entered the sequence and the door slid to the side, letting me drop down into my lab via a metal ladder.

I know I said it was an exaggeration about the smell, but that's mainly when I remember to turn the bloody exhaust fan on to suck the fumes out of the lab and send them outside. Which I'd forgotten to do that morning. I coughed at the smell, which reminded me of ionised air and quickly went over to the two potions I'd made that morning; a teleportation potion (which was giving off the ionised smell) and an invisibility potion (which had no smell, thankfully), turning the exhaust fan on and the two heating crystals off (it's either pre-charged heating crystals or gas-fuelled Bunsen burners; I went with the cheaper option).

"Remind me to put a reminder notice on the fan down here sometime; I'm just about suffocating." I called up as I went over to a small wooden box on one of the numerous tables I'd set up against the walls. I quickly unlocked it with a key that'd been in my pocket all day and took Alex's present out.

It was a gold bracelet with four groups of five diamonds spaced evenly around it. They weren't overly large, but it had cost me a fair bit. Engraved between two of the groups in flowing script was (I admit, it a little cliché'd) "J&A". I'd also spend the better part of the last two weeks enchanting it and had to be my finest work.

I climbed out of the lab and closed the door behind me, it's veil automatically returning once closed. "Happy birthday, Alex." I said as I held the bracelet out for her.

Alex smiled at his laugh and followed him inside after watching him take off the wards for her own safety. She nodded at to when he excused himself to the lab to get her present. She was so excited about even the possibilities of what he could get or make her.

Alex watched him start to open the lab while she laughed at his request toward his air con she nodded and walked over to it as she flipped the few necessary switches and made sure the settings were all set right.

Hearing him complain about the stink from down in the lab and how he would have to put a reminder on the fan to always turn it on while brewing up new potions, she walked over to her notepads and in big letters wrote: TURN ON FAN BEFORE LEAVING!!!. She stuck the pad on the fridge and smiled at it while seeing her beloved coming back up.

She stepped forward to his opening hand and an audible gasp was received from her lips when she saw the golden bracelet in his hand with 4 groups of 5 diamonds all around the bracelet. She picked it up and gently turned it around a few times in her fingers and smiled seeing the "J&A" She held onto the bracelet when she jumped up onto him locking her legs around his waist and kissed him"Thank you''

"I think you'll like it more when I tell you what it does." I said. "Put that on and activate it by pressing down on the engraving and you'll be able to use evocation magic. Since the only thing stopping you from using magic is that your body won't accept it; that bracelet channels the energy instead. Here, give it a try."

With a few hand gestures, one of the kitchen cabinets opened and a candle flew out onto the counter. "Just relax your mind, like I taught you to when we were seeing if you could use magic and you should feel the light in the room, like pinpricks on your skin. Imagine a hand grabbing it and taking it over to the wick of the candle. Then imagine that trapped light getting warmer and warmer, until it feels like fire, then release it."

Alex looked at him suprised at the things he were telling her about the braclet as she put the bracelet on and let her fingers trail down the the engravement and pushing down on it.

She saw the kitchen cabinets open and a candle fly out and sit on the counter from Jake. She did as she was told as she relaxed her mind closing her eyes and letting out a slow deep breath. She nodded at his reminder of how he taught her to relax when they tested her before. She felt the light in the room as he said, through her senses, pinpricks on her skin rising. She imagined the hand grabbing the light and pushing it forward until it reached the candle and then the wick. She trapped the light in her tight grasp. Warmer,warmer,warmer..She opened her eyes as she felt the fire and then BAM, the candle was lit.

Alex shreiked happily seeing the candle lit, from her! Not Jake the magic man. She had did that all because of him. She ran over to him and jumped up on him wrapping her arms around his neck, her legs around his waist as she gave him a kiss sighing in pleasure as she slowly pulled back and looked in his eyes with a smile"Thank you so much!"

The burst of flame that lit the candle had been a bit larger than necessary, but it was a lot more controlled than my first try (which ended up setting fire to the kitchen curtains. What? I was seven!).

I wrapped my arms around her as she jumped onto me (while taking a small step back to avoid falling over) and returned her kiss.

"There's a little more you need to know about it; see how the diamonds started glowing blue when you activated it? And how one of them's now a sort of purply colour? Those diamonds show how much longer it'll be before the bracelet switches itself off; like how a mage's body cuts itself off from magic before causing any serious damage. When they all turn blood red, it'd return to being a normal bracelet for about eight hours. You won't be able to use as much magic as a proper mage, but it should be more than enough for you. To be honest, I could've made it last a bit longer, but I wasn't sure how much longer it could go before it starts getting damaged.

So, you want to practice with that a bit more, or did you have something else in mind to do this afternoon?"

As Alex pulled back from the kiss she rested her head against his shoulder listening to him talk about the other things she would need to know about how the bracelet worked, and how the magic she could use, was limited. She nodded understanding that everything including magic-had it's limits.

At his last question she traced her bottom lip thinking of how to reply as she indeed have a few things on her mind at the moment. She smiled and lightly kissed his lips and pressed her forehead against his"Did you have something in your mind that you wanted me to discoveR?"

"Not really, just thought you might want to do something different for your birthday."

I let my hands play idly across her lower back, rubbing the taut muscles under the skin. One of the benefits of having a martial artist for a girlfriend; they always stay in shape.

And, incidentally, providing a considerable incentive to not cheat on them. Alex had proven herself to be the better of us in purely physical combat (since I'm used to augmenting myself with magic) three years ago when she accidentally broke my arm. Well; strictly speaking it was the fall into that ditch that broke it, she just accidentally threw me down there.

Alex chuckled lightly at his almost hinting tone about doing something else on her birthday. She shrugged"Idunno"She said letting the words roll of her tongue seductively"I do know that I wanna be with you tonight. Close, warm, protected."She felt his hands idly playing across her lower back and rubbing her taut muscles there. So many times she had beaten him from her gracefullenss and her skills at martial arts.

She pressed herself to him a little closer while sitting in his arms like this she felt good. She had waited for two years, saving herself all this time. Yes being a bit of a tease here and then and tempting him. Groping and messing around sometimes. But the two had never actually went to far, and never had seen the other completely in nudity. She thought about it all the time and had been thinking about going all the way on this very night, to give herself to him completely and bring the two closer. But she just wasn't sure.

Her lips turned down a bit at the edges as she thought about things for the time being not quite knowing of what she wanted to do. But she was thinking about getting a shower and then maybe letting herself relax, she felt a bit stressed with too much to worry about.

"Something wrong? You feel a little tense?" The way she said she wanted to be with me tonight was a bit more seductive than usual and let me to think that I had been reading those subtle hints of her's correctly. But the way she tensed up just after she said that told a different story.

While I was a little disappointed that I may have been reading more into her actions than was there; I wasn't about to push her, if she didn't want to do the [insert humorous euphemism here] then I'd be fine to wait until she was ready.

She looked up at Jake and shook her head slightly letting her arms latch around his neck her fingers traced the back of his neck, running her fingers lightly through his hair. She looked up at him and kissed him again lightly"Yeah, been feeling tensed up lately, too much stress. I just wanna relax and enjoy my time with you baby."

She saw the slight disappointed look in his eyes and she kissed his forehead"Did I disappoint you in some way baby?"She didn't want to see him upset in any way, he knew that she'd do anything for him always.

I couldn't help but smile at that; I really don't deserve her. "Nah, it's nothing; guess I just let my mind wander. Which probably isn't something a mage should do, otherwise stuff like this could happen." With that, I drew heat out of the air in a way that felt like I was running an ice cube down her spine (only not as wet).

She saw him smile and she smiled as well, she loved it when he was happy. His emotions always affected hers the same. She nodded at his words as she all of a sudden felt like an ice cube was running down her spine as she shivered pushing herself all the way against him the closest she could get with a grin her shoulders slightly rotating as she noticed her nipples had gotten hard from the coldness that were now pushed against his chest."Gosh your talented babe."

"No, just creative; that's the same evocation trick the air-con uses. You could do it with that bracelet. Just remember that the energy has to go somewhere, easiest is to turn it into light."

I got the feeling that I'd enjoy teaching her evocation.

"Yes, very creative."She looked at him talking about the evocation and smiled"Are you aware that you look really sexy today?"She asked while kissing gently on his neck.

"Really? Didn't think I looked any different than I normally do. You, on the other hand, seem a lot sexier than normal, which is saying a lot since I didn't think it was physically possible for you to be any sexier."

Since I wasn't able to kiss anywhere on her body (since her head at my neck was in the way), I decided to be a little more bold than I had so far that afternoon and lowered my hands to her backside, gently massaging the cheeks.

She chuckled at his words"Thank you, and yes I do think you look really sexy today. Me? Alot sexier than normal? That's suprising."

Alex felt his hands slowly slide down her body and start to massage her cheeks as a small groan escaped her lips. She nipped and gently bit at his neck her fingers massaging the back of his head.

I let out a sigh-slash-groan as she started to nip and bite at my neck. "It is surprising; keep this up and you might be the next Aphrodite." I said as I pulled her against me, still kneading her cheeks. I wouldn't be surprised if she could feel my erection at this point; it felt like it'd tear through my pants at this point.

Alex smiled at his groan/sigh. She continued to nip and bite at his neck pushing against him as she lauped a little"Really? The next Aphrodite?"She gasped asa to when he pulled her against him. She moaned at his hands still kneading her cheeks as she moaned feeling his now aware erection pushing agaisnt her groin. She looked behind her and noticed the counter as she tugged on his collar a bit backing her up and sitting her down on it as her legs stayed connected around his waist tightly.

Now that Alex's head was out of the way, I quickly dove in to her neck and did to it what she'd done to mine just before. Since I couldn't get at her butt anymore, my hands worked their way up under her shirt and across the warm flesh of her back.