When Jon awoke his first coherent thought was oOGod, I wish I didn't have to get up.Oo his second coherent thought was oOThat was close!Oo and followed a frantic check that he hadn't been touching the stone in any way.
Well, at least he was awake now, so he went through his usual morning routine. While his boy got ready for school most of his mind was occupied by the question 'What should I wish for?'.
His family was reasonably well off and he preferred to stay out of high-school popularity contests. So with Wealth and Fame out of the way, naturally his mind settled on the remaining member of the Triumvirate of most popular wishes: Getting a girlfriend.
But if reading a lot of Fantasy-novels had thought him one thing then this: Love-spells needed to be treated with utmost care.
The last thing he needed was to find Karyn lying in a pool of her own blood with his fanatically devoted Fantasy-girl standing over the body over her supposed rival.
Going the obvious route and choosing Karyn as his new girlfriend, also didn't sit right with him. Moral questions about tampering with her mind aside, Jon didn't want to risk their friendship. Not when he could easily keep Karyn as a friend and get a great girlfriend in addition.
Yeah that was the best route. And if Karyn DID have feelings for him? Well, magically turning infatuation into friendship seemed a lot nicer than going the other way round.
Still, he'd best talk it through with Karyn first.
Having a plan in mind, Jon put the stone in the small bag he usually kept his dice in. Feeling quite clever for preventing any accidental skin-contact that way, he put it into his pocket and went off to school.
If anyone would have asked Jon couldn't have said what any of the lessons before lunchbreak had been about. The closer he came to lunchbreak and his first meeting with Karyn the more the question 'How do you tactfully inquire whether your female friend would like to be your first kiss or would prefer you to wish up some magic girlfriend to do the honors?' weighed on his mind.
He was still going over different approaches in his head when he was wandering the halls, looking for Karyn, so he didn't notice Leonard Druller trying to get his attention at first.
But the fourth time he shouted Jons' name, 'The school biggest nerd' was close enough to finally snap Jon out of his musings.
Well he wasn't really the schools biggest nerd anymore, but the title still stuck. Two years of sporadic exercise and far less binge-eating had left him looking solid instead of fat. His skin saw enough sun that it wasn't such a pasty white affair anymore and it had been over a year since his hair had been a greasy unwashed mess. His appearance aside he actually made an effort to socialize a bit.
All these changes aside, he still took pride in being the schools biggest GEEK now (not that Sarah and her ilk cared much for the distinction).
He was also indirectly the reason why Jon got into Pen&Paper; roleplaying. When Leonard made his big decision to become less of a bad cliché, he decided to go cold turkey for a while and left his gaming-group. Which at this point consisted of Kayla Leeson and her younger brother.
Kayla had always been Karyns' best friend aside from Jon, and when she Karyn finally relented and agreed to join her friend for an evening of roleplay she brought Jon with her. The four had been playing regularly ever since.
There was still a standing invitation for Leonard to rejoin the group, but he seemed content to spend his free time on MMORPGS and Comics.
Leonard going out of his way to talk to Jon didn't happen very often, he usually preferred to hang around with Kayla.
Jon really hoped it wasn't about the stone. Karyns tendency to speak her mind was one of her best qualities, but there were times when Jon wished she'd be better at deceiving others.
He had already considered telling Kayla and Leonard about the stone, so it wouldn't be the end of the world if Karyn had blabbed. But he'd still liked to have been involved in the decision.
"Hey Jon," Leonard started without much of a preamble once he was in speaking distance "I am sorry to bother you, but .... I have a raid tonight and my headset broke down yesterday. Would you mind if we swing by your house after school and I borrow yours for a bit?"
Relieved that his worries were unfounded, Jon just smiled and nodded.
Leonard answered his smile in kind "Ah thanks. You are a lifesaver. I owe you one"
The Gifting Flame stirred at that. So a life was owed? Well there was an idea. Oh and what a wonderful idea it was! It could hardly wait to begin.
Of course for something on this scale the stone would have to be destroyed first. Well no matter. It had patiently been widening the loopholes in the limitations the stone imposed on it. And with each slight redefinition of the inherent rules new loopholes opened up or an existing one grew even broader.
With the little influence it could already manifest on the outside world, it would be an easy thing to expedite the process.
The stone would regretably be destroyed in the process, but freeing itself in a less drastic way would delay the scenario much too long.
And the current holder of the stone would also appreciate it, if the owed life was adjusted to his liking as soon as possible too. The desire for companionship was clear on his mind after all.
