60 hours ago

“I won't be home until late,” Jackie said. Derek's eyes blinked open, expecting to see floating gloves or pajama sleeves. “My uniforms are in the dryer. Be a dear and hang them up for me when they're done?” He smiled and nodded. It was really nice to see her beautiful face first thing in the morning, especially after their experience the night before—even if Jackie couldn't consciously remember it.

“No problem, babe. They'll all be hung up.” Like he'd have anything to do with it. As soon as they were done, they'd probably leap out of the dryer themselves and start playing exam patient with Derek. Jackie was ready for work and about to walk out the door, but he didn't care. Regardless of the futility of his plans, he was going to go back to sleep.

Jackie turned back to look at Derek, who was already fluttering back to sleep. “I love you very much, Derek.” He smiled wide, never lifting his head of opening his eyes.

“Love you too,” he murmured.

After she left, not only was he able to get back to sleep, but he slept longer than he expected—longer than he had in the past month. When he woke up, he did so on his own, alone.

“Hey, wow.” He blinked and looked around. No clothes. No gloves. No sashes, ropes, or furniture sliding around on its own. He wanted to make it a point to be heard. “Kinda nice to sleep in. I appreciate it.”

No disembodied voices answered. No drawers shuffled open. No sleep clothes or lingerie to greet him. The closet door was closed, and it stayed that way. It was a less comforting situation than he would have expected.

“Hey, um—anyone?” He snickered at himself. He was so trained that he was actually calling out to them—to do what? Get him out of bed? Dress him? Did last night's events have anything to do with it? “I get it—we're playing 'surprise the fuck out of Derek when he stops expecting it.' Okay.” He sat up and swung himself out of bed, standing up and stretching.

Oh, standing up and stretching. Standing up. On his feet. Against the floor. He threw some boxers on and grabbed his robe, hanging on the hook on the closet door. Every move he made, he expected them—but nothing happened. He took a piss. He washed his face. He walked downstairs. Silence all the way.

It was a test, maybe? Jackie had asked him to hang up her uniforms. They were certainly dry now, and probably needed fluffing—it was nearly 10AM.

When he got to the laundry room, he looked through the dryer's glass door. It was empty, but there was something inside with—writing on it?

Derek,

Five days worth of clothes and whatever toiletries you need in a suitcase, please. You can ask us what they're for once you're done.

Love,
you know who

For a minute, he wanted to refuse. He wanted to shout expletives against his walls and tell them that if they wanted a suitcase packed, it was obvious they could do it themselves. It wasn't compliance or subservience that made him think twice, though—it was knowing that he could only have the information he wanted if he dropped everything he was feeling, took the note out of the dryer, and went to look for his suitcase.

“You got it,” he said, shrugging. They were probably watching him right now, listening to his momentary inner tantrum subside from rational motivation. He wondered if they appreciated their own effects on him, if they got a kick out of it.

When he returned to the staircase, his suitcase was already waiting for him. It hovered, empty, over the stairs, the unzipped top flopping down and nearly touching them.

“Lead the way,” Derek said. “I'm right behind you.” The suitcase began hovering up the stairs, and Derek followed. “I don't expect that you'll be giving me clues in proportion to how done my chore is.” Nothing. He entered the bedroom behind his suitcase, which simply hovered in the middle of the room.

Derek approached a dresser, and he was pushed back toward the bed.

“Hey, come on. If you're not going to talk to me until I follow your directions, then let me--” Another shove. Now he fell back and landed on the bed. “Well, if you're not going to--”

His sock drawer popped open. It shut him up. He tried to stand, but invisible hands held his shoulders in place. His face was turning red, but he refused to let himself snap.

“You're making me nervous, you know. This isn't fair.”

“Five days, Derek. Just tell us what you need.” First words he heard from the voice. Now he understood.

“Not cool,” He said, tensing up a little after he did. When he didn't get a response, it only made him more nervous. “Four pairs of white socks, one pair of dark socks.” The items hovered out in a line, flying over to the suitcase. “Three pairs of boxer briefs, two pairs of boxers.” Another drawer opened, and the items slid themselves into a pouch. “Pair of jeans, two pairs of canvas shorts, pair of athletic shorts.” More shuffling drawers. More hovering clothes to fill the suitcase. “Four t-shirts, one of them white. Short-sleeve button-down. The light one I wear to the beach—I assume you know what I'm talking about.” As the closet opened, Derek finished his list. “One dress shirt, one suit, dark red patterned tie, black tie, dress shoes. Black leather belt.”

He didn't know where he was going. Since he knew he wasn't going to have any of his questions answered until he finished, he simply packed the standard “out-of-town event” suitcase.

“Shaving kit, deodorant, toothbrush and toothpaste.” Derek thought for a second. “You can decide if I'll need anything else—you've seen me get ready every day. I don't want to pack anything you're going to have for me.” Maybe it would clue him in as to what it was planning.

No dice. The items gathered themselves and hovered into the pack, the toothbrush and toothpaste dropping themselves into a plastic bag first.

“That's it,” Derek said. Five days worth of packing. The suitcase zipped itself closed, and hovered back toward the door. Derek still couldn't stand up. “Okay, so now I get to ask what this is all about, right?”

“This is about your decision,” said a voice in the closet. The pink robe fluttered out with its matching camisole, panties and sheer white stockings. “You wanted to stay with us, remember?”

“I wanted to stay with Jackie,” Derek said, watching the robed outfit walk toward him. “Why aren't you letting me up?”

“Try and listen, hon—and think about what you say before you say it. You chose us—twice.”

“Twice?”

“You could have stopped all of this. That decision was yours to make. You were given the option, but you didn't want us to stop. That was...really encouraging.” Derek's face dropped, and the robed outfit came closer—one of its sleeve reaching out toward his face. “No, darling, don't feel guilty about it. We were all so happy—so excited that you wanted us to be a part of your life.” But that wasn't all. Derek knew he'd taken it a step farther—and he was even warned. “And you've come inside us.”

Think twice about the kind of power you're firing into it. Is this what he'd been warned about? Had this silly technicality with an invisible pussy (as opposed—apparently—to an invisible hand or mouth, an animated glove, or a magic condom squeezing him off) been some kind of promise?

“You make me come all the time.”

“You touched us—the way we touch you.” And there was a dreamy sincerity in the voice there that made his hair stand on end. He was warned.

“I did?”

“You made us realize where you need to be, Derek.” The suitcase, the talk, the justifications, the decision Derek made—now he could only thing of one word: binding.

“I need to be with Jackie,” he protested.

“You've made your decision, sweetie.” The hands keeping him in place disappeared, and as the robed outfit leaned toward him on the bed, he slid away and stood up.

“You need to tell me what's going on now,” Derek said to the outfit, turning to it as he backed toward the door. “Please. You said you realize where I need to be. Where is that?”

“I can't explain it right now,” the outfit said, “but it's going to take a few days, and you're going to have to trust us like you never have before.” Derek kept backing away, slowly.

“See, right now I don't trust you,” Derek said, “And I think that I've been a damn good sport about everything you do with me.” The bedroom door slammed and locked just as he approached it. He wasn't exactly surprised.

“You've been wonderful,” The outfit said, approaching him again. “This time, though, we've got to take a few precautions that might seem—drastic. You have my promise, though, Derek. You will not be harmed in any way.”

Black satin rushed over his face, and his robe pulled his arms behind his back. He managed a muffled 'no' before the fabric bunched itself up in his mouth, gagging him. The hem of the fabric pulled away from his nostrils to give him unrestricted air flow, but his mouth was stuffed. A sleep mask wrapped its strap around his head and slid down over his eyes.

He felt something sliding around his feet. Despite his kicking, the garment found his toes and slid around his ankles, holding them in place as he felt denim slide up his legs, over his boxers.

Once he stopped making muffled sounds, the voice spoke.

“The gag is coming out now that you've calmed down,” it said. “Cooperate, and it's the only time we'll have to do it. Understand?” Derek nodded. The wad came out of his mouth and flew away from him. “For now, one question. Push the envelope, and I don't answer it.”

“You're really going to take me from my home?”

“We are, Derek. Nothing about the next couple of days is going to make a lot of sense to you, and there's not a bit I can do about it.” Derek felt his robe begin to slide off his shoulders. “Comfortable t-shirt, Derek—what's your favorite one?”

“Um—red. Scary looking little cartoon rodent on it.” He heard a drawer slide open, and as the robe slid off his arms, soft cotton pulled over them. Derek tried bringing one of his hands up to his face, but once the t-shirt was on, he felt hands grab his wrists and hold them out if front of him. “Is this really necessary?”

“100% precaution, Derek. I'm following orders.” He felt something silky snake around his wrists and over his hands. A sash, tying him up.

“I'd love to know how someone without a body is going to get away with transporting a blindfolded captive,” he let out a nervous laugh.

“Are you kidding, Derek? You have a garage.”

“Yeah, but—how far are you going to get in my sedan before someone realizes: 'Hey, no one's driving!'” Magic clothes. Invisible hands. Dozens of voices at once. Who was he kidding? These were all silly human objections from a limited human perspective. He had no idea what they could do.

“We're not taking your car, Derek. We're taking mine.”

“You--” He felt a finger against his lips. Did that mean-- “You have a--”

“No more talk, Derek. I've already been lenient. I'd like to believe I can take you into your garage and get you into my vehicle without needing this--” Derek felt moist fabric against his lips. It was the makeshift gag from before. “Justify my trust in you, and I'll give you more information.”

He shut up. He felt himself moving through the house, back downstairs, toward the kitchen. They were doing it. They were taking him away—to where? And what about Jackie?

“You can't do this to me,” Derek protested in a tone far stronger than he expected to muster. “It's not right, and what is Jackie going to--” Stuffed. As if it had been inches away from his lips the whole time, waiting for him to talk. Once it was in, he stopped making noise. He already knew he'd fucked up.

“I see the remorse, baby,” A voice said. “Don't worry—I understand why you can't help yourself from snapping. I do understand. But I need to take precautions, too.” He felt a hand on his face. He dared not turn from it, but he tried not to show any relief either. Which was probably worthless. He didn't want to admit it, but those last words—and the touch—were more reassuring than any captor's should be. “You've come so far now—we can't let anything get in the way. Trust us for a few days—just trust us, and I promise you'll be so much happier than you could have ever imagined.”

He knew it was pointless to put up a physical fight, but he also didn't want to be comforted by the force taking him away. They could read his thoughts anyway, right? So be it. He wouldn't think about the clothes, the last four weeks, his eventual destination, attempting escape, or defying his captors. He wouldn't curse the magic clothes, his situation, or his own decisions. He would only think of Jackie.

 

the present

The setting sun was just under the horizon now, painting the sky warm in every direction on the calm sea. Derek hovered in the main suite, naked, pleased by the invisible force.

“Derek—why did you choose us?” What a question to be asked right now. How is it that important questions always came with scores of lubed gloves or incredible invisible fellatio? He knew he had to answer, regardless of his state of mind.

“I chose you because—you were Jackie's clothes,” Derek groaned. “That mesh-shirt outfit was—damn hot—and super mysterious, but even through all of the intense magic you've shown me, Jackie's been the most important thing." No point in holding back. "You should know that by now. You know how angry I was when you took me away.”

“I do know, Derek. But do you trust us now?” No tongue that can do things like this should ever be trusted—visible or invisible...

“I want to. You have to understand that I really want to. You've shown me experiences I couldn't have imagined in a dream, and for as many times as you've acted against my will, you've never hurt me, ever,” he emphasized, “but Jackie's the only thing you totally refuse to talk about. It makes me nervous.”

The tongue stopped swirling, the lips stopped sucking—but he wasn't released.

“Derek,” the voice sounded serious. “We haven't hurt Jackie; we haven't done anything against Jackie's will—at all; and we've even given you a promise that she's not worried about you.”

“But how is that possible?” Derek asked. “Why can't you just--” The mouth on his cock started up again, half the speed but double the pressure. Ten times the intensity.

“How is this possible, Derek? A force you can't see? A force you can only touch when it wants you to? How can you feel so relaxed being pleasured by this unnameable force? How could you have chosen--have consciously CHOSEN--to be in a house where this force enchants all your girlfriend's belongings? You had the opportunity to banish it, and you refused. How is that possible?” This wasn't a rhetorical question, because it had an answer that Derek kept returning to, no matter how little he wanted to admit it.

“Because I--trust you.” Just as the words came out of his mouth, the lips around him detached, replaced by a soft hand.

“You've only got to trust me once more, Derek,” came a whisper, “but it's more than I've ever asked.”

It wasn't resignation. It wasn't a sense of futility. He was pretty sure it wasn't Stockholm. You've only got to trust me once more. Tautologically—it was because he trusted them that he trusted he'd only have to do it once more.

“Anything,” Derek said, nearly sure he meant the word.

“I want to make love to you out there.” And as the sentence flooded his ears, his weightless body was already drifting to the door of the cabin.

“You mean—on the deck.”

“I mean...I want to go for a ride, fly-boy!” Just as his naked body sailed out the door, Derek felt a pair of invisible thighs straddle his midsection. His body lifted off, ten, twenty, fifty feet over the boat.

 

twelve hours ago

Derek had a dream about Jackie the night before. They were both in their bedroom, snuggling between she sheets. Derek remembered looking around the room and seeing things floating astray of dressers and nightstands, furniture lifting off the ground, and even himself and Jackie lifting into the air.

In his dream, Derek reacted the way he would've before Jackie's clothes started moving around on their own. He started shouting for Jackie to wake up, bellowing about gravity being gone, worrying about what would happen to the house, yelling about not daring to go outside—and Jackie, radiant, glowing, eyes fluttering out of sleep, said the most unforgettable thing.

“Let it happen, Derek.” Even in mid-air, she was able to pounce on him like a cat—like she always did. She laughed as their bodies spun in mid-air, and—Derek woke up.

Well, “woke up”. He wasn't even that sure about his state of mind anymore. He'd been kept in darkness for quite a while. When all of this first started happening, he thought he was going to go nuts. If this kidnapping had been their plan all along, then they held off for a few weeks.

It was the outfit that started it. The tight black mesh shirt with painted-on jeans beneath it. For all he knew, Jackie had it for months. It could've been planning meticulously with the house and the rest of the clothes until they had the perfect plan.

But what was the plan? Clues. Hazier since the blackout and the kidnapping.

That dream, though—let it happen, Derek. No. That's what they want, right? Five days. They told him he'd have to trust them, and he was told to pack a suitcase for five days. He was on day three, and they'd been cycling him in and out of outfits, feeding him, taking care of bathroom breaks—all in darkness.

Derek made up his mind.

Let it happen, Derek? Fine, then. No more resistance. They said five days. They've never really lied to you. Just flow with it. Let it happen, Derek? Alrighty, brainbox; whatever you say, subconscious. From here until the end of day five, I give the clothes the chance I gave them when I made the decision to keep them around. I flow with it.

But he wouldn't be kept in darkness for two more days. This evening, he'd be on the sea, and he'd see the dusk in a way no human had ever seen it before.

 

the present

“We're—we're...!” Wild laughter from in front of him, and he felt something slick grind against the underside of his shaft. He groaned.

“Louder!” The voice demanded. “Let it all out, Derek—you're flying!” The invisible hips pushed against his own, and the underside of his shaft was coated with unseen slickness again. Fingers dug into his pecs. His arms were pulled up over his head, wrists held together by invisible force.

“I'm fucking flying!” Derek shouted, bellowing a laugh. When it slowed, he felt the warmth of an invisible body pressing against his own. A whisper sang softly in his ears as the invisible hips shifted once more—lower, lower...

“No,” the voice said, pulling its invisible pussy closer and closer to Derek's tip. When his cock jumped in response, one well-aimed thrust was all it took to put him completely inside. “Now you're fucking-flying.” Derek let out a low shudder, tipping his head back as the magic swallowed him up. He was bathed in warm pacific air, pink-red glow, and the most amazing rush of sensation he'd ever felt. She made him tumble over and under, thrusting herself against him as they sailed through the air.

Derek caught sight of the boat twice, but he wasn't even looking for it anymore. He let go of the thought and let the wind, the lust, and the adrenaline rush through him as he fucked this invisible form over the open water on what seemed like a roller coaster made of air.

There was no question in his mind now: this force meant him no harm--it wanted him to explore the limits of unmitigated pleasure.

He only wished Jackie was there to experience it with him. If she were at his side, it wouldn't matter if they made love in their bed, or hundreds of feet in the air. He wouldn't care if they were alone, or if a dozen of her outfits participated. Magic, no magic--Jackie was the only thing that could make this better.

His arms were released, and his body turned vertical. He could see his cock shifting in and out of the invisible pussy, hard and compressed by tight unseen walls.

“Hold me, Derek. Hold me close to you.” She moved faster as he held his arms out in front of him and curled them up. His forearms and palms found soft invisible skin, smooth as glass, with soft curves he couldn't see. He pulled the invisible body closer, wrapping his arms around it. A shudder came out, a beautiful little sound of surrender that perked Derek's dick when he heard it.

Jackie did the same thing when she was close to orgasm. Derek didn't say a word about the similarity; nothing needed to be said. He held the warm unseen form, tightening his grip around invisible shoulders.

“Fuck me, Derek—make me come.” The words were soft and sweet in contrast to the wind rushing around his face. He could feel lips at his cheek, mouthing the words before they became audible. “make me come...make me come, make me come. Make-me-come-make-me-come!”

Derek threw his hips faster, closing his eyes and feeling the rush as the lips navigated their way to his. A wild tongue invaded his mouth, and the two bodies spun round so that Derek topped the invisible force now, bucking against the soft transparent form. He opened his eyes to see the water far below, rushing under him at an incredible rate. He heard a giggle despite the fact that his lips were still locked in play with hers.

“Didn't I tell you it would be amazing?” The voice asked, laughing and panting through the words. “Ride me hard...” He felt his arms pulled away from the form. Something grabbed his wrists and placed his hands in front of him, slowly lowering his palms over firm, invisible breasts.

When his fingers contracted in response, the hands on his wrists let go, allowing him to grope and squeeze at will. Derek bellowed another laugh and closed his eyes again, rocking and caressing the invisible body under him as he shot higher and higher into the sky.

“Fasterrrr...” The voice moaned. Derek felt a quickening building within him, the rush of sex in free-flight finally catching up with his body. The sounds of pleasure from his unseen partner came louder and more frequently, and Derek could feel her hips—hungry, grinding against his own, begging for release. “Faster...faster...faster!” Still shooting skyward, the pair approached a ceiling of low-laying clouds. The moisture in the air thickened around them as they passed through the red twilight diffusing through it, but there was only one thing on Derek's mind now.

She sang. Louder than the wind rushing around him, louder than his own grunts and moans. It seemed to liquefy him...to make everything around him slow and fluid and...

As the magic body against him reached crescendo, Derek followed in kind. His arms were shoved aside, and he felt warm flesh against his torso again as she latched onto him with invisible arms. The nails in his back pulling him greedily into her body made him erupt in a way he'd never felt. The two went into a spin. As they sailed in directions Derek's equilibrium couldn't comprehend, the dimming red glow in the cloud became brighter.

Faster. Brighter. Surrender.

The first stars were visible from the bow of the drifting Yacht now, but there was no one on the ship to see them. Derek and his unseen captor were no longer there—on the vessel, in the sky, or even in the clouds...

time is unbounded

Warmth. Comfort. Not the words—just ideas, feelings. Was he dreaming?

He didn't have a sense of self. He couldn't see his own body, but from the darkness came forms he recognized. House. Bedroom. Dresser. Bed. Sheets.

Jackie. He could see Jackie, sleeping alone in their bed.

She looked like an angel. Hair framing her beautiful face, lips curled just slightly into a contented smile, eyes dodging beneath closed eyelids. She was dreaming.

Dreaming. The thought occurred again. Was he dreaming? He went back through the forms again, trying to recall. Sheets. Bedroom. House. Comfort. Warmth. Surrender.

Surrender. Just before this, Derek was making love, but in what--

Clouds.

Wind. Water. Soft, dancing hips and tracing fingers and...

Jackie again, dreaming away in bed. Derek didn't understand why or how he came to be here, but he wanted to touch her. He needed to feel her body again, to tell her that he was there with her—home and safe with her. How could he do any of those things without a body?

Try, said a voice. His lens shifted, darting around the room, searching the corners—then back to Jackie. Old habits, the voice giggled. Don't look, Derek. Touch.

He could see every detail of her perfect face, the outline of her gorgeous body beneath the satin sheet and the blanket half-covering her. He was drawn to her collarbones, just where the hem of the sheet met, and--

It moved! The sheet pulled back just slightly before coming to rest again. Did he...

You've got it, the voice said. Stop trying to rationalize it and touch her, With focus on the sheet again, the hem began curling back over Jackie's body. It lifted itself up and over her breasts, the sight of which triggered more impulses. The beautiful teardrop shapes, peaking with rose-colored nipples that he just wanted to--

Jackie stirred, letting out a moan as she shifted her body. Her back arched just slightly, almost as if she was holding herself out to him.

“You don't know how much I've missed you.” He said it, and he heard it—just like he'd heard Jackie stirring. He could speak. “How much I've wanted to touch you.” Just then, Jackie's breasts began moving on their own, squeezed and compressed with the force of invisible hands gently curling around them. Jackie cooed while he massaged her, sucking air through her pursed lips when her nipples danced and shrugged by the direction of Derek's invisible fingers.

Jackie's eyes blinked. Was she—waking up? Derek panicked for a second, unsure of what to do.

Relax, the voice said. There's nothing for you to worry about. Jackie's eyes slowly fluttered open, and a smile went wide across her face. Despite Derek's unexplained incorporeal form, it almost seemed like she was looking directly at him.

“You're here now,” Jackie said. “You don't need to worry about anything ever again.” A tear rolled down her face. She was looking at him.

More warmth. Overwhelming happiness. Contentment. He could feel it radiating off of her. Despite his confusion, her levity was contagious. He couldn't help but feel happy.

“But what am I, Jackie?” his own laugh, echoing in the dim room with her. “Why can't I see myself?”

“Your body is dispersed, Derek. You're in the fabric of reality itself.” He should've been nervous. Scared. But he wasn't. He could only feel her. Warm. Happy. His body was dispersed? Somehow, that made sense. He could feel everything in the room, and he could see it all, but he could also focus his attention on something specific. Right now, that was Jackie.

“I'm—I'm like them?”

“Derek, take my hand.” She reached out her hand. He wasn't there, but her shining eyes saw him. He clasped an invisible hand around her fingers. “You're like me.” He could feel it in her. Overwhelming happiness, comfort, trust—love. This is what love feels like when there's no body to contain it.

“You mean the whole time, that was just you? All those clothes...”

“Not...exactly,” Jackie said.

She comes from something greater, Derek. It was the voice all around him again.

“You mean...?” Derek asked aloud. Jackie put her finger up to her lips.

Jackie started as one of us, Derek. Just as we allowed you to join us, she was allowed to join your world.

The woman he loved wasn't even human, and now—neither was he.

Don't be so melodramatic. You're both human; you're simply more now. You're lucky, boy. Many of us choose to play in the human world, but rarely do we ever trust a human to pass the other way. But you were so willing to remove your walls...with our help, you became. Just as she believed you would.

The clothes, the directions, the capture—from keeping silence to flying out over the Pacific—it was all a prerequisite. It was Jackie's test.

No, boy. It was ours. And you passed.

Derek looked down at Jackie, her eyes closed, her fingers still held in his in his invisible hand. More invisible fingers brushed hair away from her face, and warm lips pressed against her own.

“I love you, Jackie.” After a long kiss, she smiled wide, and another tear dropped.

“I love you too.”

just before dawn, on the pacific

“And he's still not back?” Jackie's pink panties said. “I thought he would've popped back in well before midnight.”

“You've never been chained to a body,” Jackie said, standing on the deck of the Yacht. The panties bobbed over to her and slid up onto the railing of the boat. They were moving slowly toward the coast as the dawn forward to breach the skyline.

“Present case excluded?” The panties asked. Jackie laughed.

“You're not chained to that pair of underwear,” Jackie said. “You're occupying it. There's a difference.”

“You're occupying that body,” The panties wiggled back and forth.

“Well—you know it's not the same for someone like me,” Jackie responded. “I've been living like them for long enough to really appreciate that not everyone can just—poof—'HEY! I'm insubstantial now, guess I'll go sail around the globe at light-speed for a while until I get bored and want my body back'.” She shook her head. “Nearly three decades, trapped in the same form. Even I can't imagine what it must be like. Let him enjoy it as long as he wants.”

“Is it worth the limits? It is worth being able to feel the kind of pain they feel?” The panties asked.

“Well, most of them are so frightened and tense and lonely...but they're also capable of so much. And trust me--until you're in one of these bodies, you'd never believe the ways they feel love. It's absolutely maddening.” Jackie zoned out, looking out at the sunrise and smiling. “Totally worth it.”

“Yeah, well—that's easy for you to say now. You brought back a partner in crime from the other side.” The panties chuckled, but Jackie kept her dreamy eyes on the horizon. “Hey, I just thought of something. Is he gonna know how to—”

“Wait a second,” Jackie held her hand up. “You hear that?”

She could hear him in her mind, grasping, searching for form, looking for—

“Stop the boat!” Jackie said. “Any second now, he should...” Some distance away, a barely noticeable sound grew more audible...

“YAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” The calm surface water carried Derek's voice well, even a couple hundred yards away. Jackie saw him splashdown and cringed, looking over at her panties.

“I suppose I could've been a little clearer about the re-association bit,” She said, “but I'm gonna say that this was bound to happen the first time, no matter how I tried to explain it.” The boat trolled to a stop.

“Hard to port, captain Jackie?” A sweater and skirt on the bridge shouted to her. Jackie laughed, shaking her head.

“No—that's fine. Actually, start on course again. I'll catch up.” And like that, Jackie vanished, leaving a gown and shawl hovering in place where her body used to be. The gown turned to the panties.

“Belly flop?” the outfit asked. The panties swayed back and forth.

“More like a cannonball, I think,” the panties replied, “but it was ass-first, so...”

“Well, at least now he has the option to leave the stinging behind.” The clothes laughed.

Out in the water, Derek was wide-eyed and gasping, keeping himself up with a dog-paddle. He could see the boat in the distance, and just before he mustered a shout, he felt warm lips against his own. They weren't just any invisible lips though. This time...

“Jackie,” he said as he felt his body plucked from the water. His ass and back stung, no doubt from hitting the salt water at height. “It's...”

“Of course it's me, silly. Did you have fun?” Arms wrapped around his stomach, and a body pressed against his wet, salty back as he flew toward the Yacht.

“I, uh—” he laughed. “Fuck yeah. More fun than I could've ever thought possible.” A kiss on his cheek.

“That's my fly-boy. Was the landing okay?” She asked.

“The landing was very...solid.” Derek reached down and rubbed the sides of his hips. Jackie laughed.

“It gets easier,” Jackie laughed. Once over the rails of the yacht, Derek felt his body float down and meet the boat. “Next time, we won't have to take you to the middle of nowhere and fly you into the clouds to do it.”

“Well—amazing as that was,” Derek said, “why did we have to...”

“Part of the program,” the panties said. “Dispersing a big fleshy body isn't exactly easy the first time it happens, even if we're helping you do it. You have to let go too—completely. If intangible force fly-fucking you naked into the clouds over an expanse of nothingness couldn't do it...well, let's just say you're lucky there wasn't an open volcano nearby.”

He didn't bother standing—he let himself be set down in a sitting position despite his little jump when his reddened ass touched the hardwood. He looked around to see about a dozen other clothing items standing (or hovering) around the deck.

Fingers gripped him after he was put down, and when he looked up at his shoulder, he realized he could see them. His sight followed the arm back to a mostly dry and naked Jackie, smiling at him the same way she did the night before.

“Do you know how ecstatically happy you make me, Derek? And how absolutely in love with you I am?” He didn't have the words. He pulled his legs under him, stood up, turned around and wrapped his arms around her naked body. “Oooh, cold, cold, cold!” She squealed, hugging him back and laughing.

“Haaa, you know you like it--” Derek grinned. “You wouldn't have make the choice to have a body if you didn't.” She nuzzled between his shoulder and neck, breathing in his scent with the salty air.

“That's true,” she cooed, patting him on the back. “And if I hadn't, I'd have never found someone so extraordinary.” The choice to have a body. The choice. Derek thought about something.

“Jackie—there's something I still don't understand,” he said. “Something I didn't think to ask when I was getting a hang of my—um...my intangible legs last night.”

“What is it, Derek?”

“Well, first off—you can't read my thoughts?” Jackie let go of him and put her fingers on her temples, narrowing her eyes.

“Not like this,” she said, chuckling. “But even intangible—it's not exactly thoughts, it's just—a sense of the environment. Same way you can move stuff in an intangible state, you can just feel emotions and reactions in the room too. Better than you can with eyes and ears that only exist in one place. But I'm sure it something you get the hang of with practice.” Derek nodded.

“Like last night,” Derek realized, “I felt how content you were, even before you woke up.”

“It's because you trusted me,” Jackie said. “Even when I wasn't there.”

“Okay, so what I want to know is—that mesh-shirt outfit...I mean, what if I had ordered all the magic stuff out of the house?”

“Well,” Jackie said, looking worried, “I guess from there, I would've had my own decision to make—about whether I could handle being with someone who could never really know me. Being human is a unique experience, but not being able to share myself—my true self—with the one I love?” A tear streamed down her face just thinking about it, and she pulled him into a hug. “We don't have to worry about that anymore, Derek.”

“I see what you mean about the way those bodies make you feel love,” The panties chuckled.

“Oh, shut up,” Jackie said, looking over her shoulder and smiling.

“So what would've happened if I'd chosen the other way...and gone with the mesh-shirt outfit?” The other clothes around them snickered. Jackie patted Derek on the back.

“Then you were hers,” Jackie said.

“You mean you'd have just let me go?”

“Not really 'let you go'--more like lend you to her. That was our deal. I would've visited, and I'd still most likely be in love with you—but our positions wouldn't have been the same. It would've been a moment where you chose her over me, in a way.”

“And...what would she have done with me?” Derek asked. More chuckles from the clothes, and this time Jackie joined them.

“No telling, really. She has all sorts of hobbies, toys to play with, projects she's working on. Sometimes she helps simplify lives, sometimes she complicates others. Usually, for people who deserve it.” Jackie sneered. “Usually.”

“The sun's coming up...” The outfit on the bridge shouted to the deck.

Jackie's secret, Jackie's intangible friends in her clothes, the mesh-shirt outfit, the ultimatum—simplifying lives. Derek finally got it. “You had to make a decision about me. That's why she was there, and that's why she brought—them to the party,” Derek said, gesturing at Jackie's clothes. “It was all a preparation for that decision, and then from there...”

“He's pretty smart for a guy,” the panties said.

“I know,” Jackie kissed Derek again, whispering, “that's why I'm keeping him forever.” She faded into nothingness, and Derek hovered up off the deck and toward the cabin. “Come on, fly-boy. Lets take it inside one more time before we get close to port.”

“Talk to you later!” Derek laughed, waving to the panties as he floated in the door.

“Actually, they're going to join us,” Jackie said as the clothes around the boat started following Derek inside. “Some of them actually miss you almost as much as I do.”

Derek laughed as he hovered over the bed in the main cabin. Invisible fingers and lips started on him, making his flesh ripple from his neck to his feet.

“Jackie—one more question?” A chorus of laughter this time—not just Jackie's.

“Sure, lover. Anything.”

“Where'd you get a yacht?”