Morning Comes

Ernest barely remembered cleaning up and falling asleep, and he slept without dreams until the metallic chirp of his alarm clock woke him. Automatically, he reached over to turn it off...but someone else beat him to it.

"Morning, babe."

It was Tiffany, the recently-revised bombshell version, standing by Ernest's nightstand. She seemed to have just finished showering -- she was wearing a luxurious blue bathrobe, and her hair was still damp.

"Time to rise and shine," she added, a smile playing across her ruby lips.

"Tiffany? You're...you're still here?"

The events of last night came rushing back to Ernest: the party, finding the ring, the car, Tiffany coming back, and the amazing rush of the sex they'd had. Reflexively, he checked his hand. The ring was still there, its gold-and-emerald gaudiness a mute testament to the fact that Ernest's whole world seemed to have turned upside down.

"It was late when we finished up last night, so I figured I'd just crash here. I would have said something, but you were already out like a light. I know I have that effect on you, after all." She winked at him (he doubted he would ever get tired of that), and then shrugged the robe off. It fell to the floor, leaving Tiffany completely naked. A few beads of water still glistened on her skin. Ernest's jaw dropped -- no matter that he'd already seen her in the nude, she was still such a vision of sexiness that he couldn't help it -- but Tiffany only turned playfully and gave her ass a smack. Then she walked over to Ernest's dresser, and pulled open the bottom drawer. He couldn't for the life of him imagine why, since that was where he stored his scarves, mittens, and the like, and it wasn't at all the time of year when anyone would need them.

...except that wasn't what was in there at all. Tiffany reached in and took out a matching pink bra and thong, as well as a pair of jeans, socks, and a purple turtleneck. She set these on the bed, and then also retrieved a makeup bag from the drawer, before pushing it shut.

"Anyway, since I knew I had plenty of stuff here, it just made more sense to stay over. And I'm out of the shower before you -- or Clarissa or Karlie or your mom -- need it, so it's a win all the way around." She put the underwear on, and then finished dressing. Though this was a much more subdued outfit than the stripperiffic one she'd been wearing the night before, and perfectly appropriate for school, the jeans and turtleneck did little to obscure her unreal curves. "Be right back, babe. Just gotta put my makeup on."

She walked out and shut the door. Ernest got up, made the bed, and lost himself in his thoughts for a moment.

He had a ring. A ring that granted wishes. A ring that seemed to have few limits on what it could do. He gazed at the object on his finger; the emerald almost seemed to gaze back at him, but it of course said nothing, and gave him no answers.

What was he supposed to do with this thing? Hell, what had he already done? He'd somehow rewritten Tiffany's entire life, without even meaning to. What other consequences did that have? And, if he wished to undo that wish -- what other ramifications might that have? Ernest was a guy who was prone to overthinking things at the easiest of times, and nothing about this was easy. All he could think of was the science fiction stories he'd read about what happened when someone was given ultimate power; rarely, if ever, did those stories end with "and they all lived happily ever after."

"The bathroom is all yours," Tiffany said as she walked back in. Her makeup wasn't over-the-top, but more of the look that people sometimes call 'natural', without realizing how much effort goes into making it appear that way. She'd done it flawlessly, Ernest noted.

"Thanks. You look great," he added as he stepped out of the room.

Ernest barely felt the hot water as he took his shower. His mind was still spinning, and nothing was clarified when he looked at the ring. Speaking of which, it was an awfully gaudy piece of jewelry for him to be wearing around, and he didn't have any answer for what he would say if someone asked him about it.

"Eh, I wish that no one else would notice the ring," he said. That, at least, seemed safe. "Oh, and I wish I couldn't lose it."