"Loving Djinni"
Part 2
by Osiris Brackhaus & Beryll
- David -
One moment, this breathtakingly gorgeous boy was with me
under the shower, then within a blink, the fucking bastard dissolved into
mist and disappeared!
Damn it!
So much for the cosy little tête-à-tête I had envisioned for the two of us. Surely would have been most relaxing. But he had seemed truly worried.
Fuck.
With a silent curse, I turned off the shower, grabbed a towel
and started looking around in my spacious place to see if I could find my
little sprite. He really was cute, and I shouldn't have hit him with the fact
that he had been bottled for such a long time. It's not as if I never had
heard anything of cultural shocks, and I cursed myself for being so insensitive.
It just started to turn out into a really nice... whatever.
Suddenly, I realised for the first time how huge my place actually was. It didn't contain more than the lounge with the kitchen, a bath, a bedroom, my studio and some smaller rooms, but suddenly, it felt so empty.
Grinning despite myself I wondered if I had taken such a liking in this obnoxious little spirit that I missed him even when he was gone for a few seconds. My, my, that's no good sign.
Well, where would I be if I were a little, frightened Djinni? In my lamp, of course. Stupid me.
So I took the lamp from the low table next to the couch,
and walked with it into my bedroom, grabbing some grey sweatpants of mine
on the way.
Shouldn't be completely nude when trying to offer a shoulder to lean on, but
one shouldn't wear more than absolutely necessary.
Gods, was I really trying to seduce a spirit? He had surely seen better men
then me. Damn, he could probably CONJURE better men than me. Or women, for
that matter.
With a sigh, I put on the pants and dropped myself next to
the lamp on my bed. Was it really such a good idea to coax him out of his
lamp on my fifty square-feet bed, in a room dominated by a *huge* Mapplethorpe
above the bed? But then, hey, that's me.
And I like the way I had decorated my place. Pale greys and white, lots of
empty space, straight lines, some polished wood here and there, some plants.
Only my studio was cluttered with stuff, mostly antiques, many of them real,
the rest of them almost so.
I sat on the bed, my legs crossed, and started rubbing on
the outside of the lamp. It always worked in the fairy-tales, so why shouldn't
it -
It worked.
Again, the mist rose out of the lamp, forming the well known
shape of my Djinni.
But only the upper half.
"Your.. legs"; I stuttered in irritation, pointing moronically at the dense mist where my Djinni's lower body should be.
He looked down with slight annoyance, saying:
"Yes, Master?"
"Where are your legs?"
I was sure he had had them when he had been under the shower with me. Legs, and everything else needed to make a man.
"Is that why you forced me out of my lamp, Master?"
"I didn't force you!", I exclaimed. "I just wanted to .. to ask if you were alright. I was worried."
"Yes, you did force me. You rub, I have to appear. If I want or not. That's part of the fucking curse. You could have just knocked."
He was picking up modern language frighteningly well.
"OK. I'll knock the next time. I apologise. I'm sorry. I was just worried, two thousand years is quite a long time even for a Djinni, I assume."
"You were worried?"
"Of course. You're just a human - well, probably not. But you can be hurt just like anyone of us, so I was just trying to ask if there was anything I could do for you. Listen, maybe."
For a long time, he said nothing, still hovering only partially materialised above the grey covers of my bed, looking at me with an unreadable expression. Maybe I should start with something that didn't require so much trust. After all, he knew me only for a few hours.
"Actually", I asked carefully, "what is your name? I mean, 'Djinni' is more like your race, or your species, so you surely have a name of your own. Will you tell it to me?"
----
- Orlando -
This man was strange. Very, very strange. I was not even sure if he was completely healthy in the head. I mean, come on? Asking me if I was all right? Worrying about my feelings? What kind of behaviour is that for a grown man? That's what a girl would do. Still was rather nice of him.
But the place he had picked to talk to me. With a larger than life picture of a naked Nubian on the ceiling and a bed that just screamed 'use me'. I couldn't help but wonder what kind of consolation exactly he had in mind. Whatever. I didn't feel like playing games.
I had just wanted to be left alone. Was that to much to ask after that shock?
But he was still looking at me - all innocent curiosity. What was it that he had asked? My name. Right. As if I was going to tell him my name. He wouldn't even be able to pronounce that. Even Salomon had had difficulty doing it. But he had managed and thus captured me. But this mortal couldn't possibly know that.
"You can call me Orlando." I said a bit more gruffly than I had intended to. After all he was trying to be nice. In his limited mortal way.
I still kept my feet in my lamp and that clearly irritated him.
"Can't you come out of there?" he asked.
I smiled. "If it is your wish?"
"Y..." He caught himself just in time. "You sneaky little bastard!" he exclaimed. "I am trying to comfort you and you just ridicule me!" He looked genuinely angry. Maybe now I had hurt his feelings? The men of today would take some getting used to.
To offer a sort of truce I made myself appear completely. Again his eyes swept my body full of admiration. What is it about me that makes people desire me? It's not as if I am the best looking djinni. Then again, most people only meet one djinni in their life...
"So did you think on your second wish, master?" I asked politely.
He nodded vigorously and I thought 'oh, boy, here it comes, bedtime'.
"I think I want to take some time to consider it carefully." he said, instead of an order to drop my pantaloons. Maybe I was mistaken with this one.
"By the way, can you please stop calling me master. My names David."
David. A jewish name. I eyed him with renewed distrust. Salomon had been a jew as well.
But he didn't seem to notice my expression. Instead he just leaned back on his giant bed, looking up at the naked Nubian.
"I'm sorry you were trapped for so long." he said thoughtfully. "Must be strange to wake up to such a different world."
"Djinni don't sleep." I corrected him absentmindedly, sitting down on the bed as well, but keeping a careful distance to him.
He ignored my remark and continued. "If there is anything I can help you with to get used to the modern age, let me know."
He was offering me help?! Me, almighty spirit and magical being! That was preposterous! And rather nice.
"Thanks." I grumbled. "I'm fine."
----
- David -
It was something of a surprise to find such a vulnerable
soul underneath all this mighty-and-weathered Spirit attitude of Orlando.
What a strange name this creature had chosen. But nice, though.
It was funny just how quickly I had grown so fond of this obnoxious person.
Not good, not at all.
Mere physical attraction, that would have been OK. And rather understandable.
But this? I was seriously afraid of falling in love, head over heels. And
I didn't mind it one bit.
"Thanks", he said. "I'm fine."
He definitely wasn't, but I didn't rub it. He would learn
soon enough that silencing things like that didn't make them go away. But
it had taken me enough time to learn it as well, so I would just have to give
him some time.
Orlando was lounging on my bed, gracefully, sensually, and the slight sadness
I saw in the corner of his beautiful eyes was just making my body itch, wanting
to hold him, to comfort him. What a Djinni would smell of?
My eyes wandered up his graceful arms, wondered about how sitting in a lamp
did give you such perfect pectorals, such a lovely stomach, such...
I forcefully had to turn away my look if I didn't want to jump him right away. He still needed some time, and I didn't want to press him. But then, what was I supposed to do with such a beaut lying on my bed?
"Hey, Orlando, what do you think of doing something nice?"
He lifted up his head, sceptically raising one eyebrow.
"Such as..?", he asked carefully, as if expecting some perversity of mine. He probably had seen enough of those from former Masters, no wonder considering his body. But that was not what I had in mind.
"What about me inviting you for diner?"
"Inviting?"
"Yeah, we go out, eat somewhere nice, I pay."
"You could wish for a meal, Master...", he said hesitantly.
"No, I'm not talking about that. More like... a date."
"A date?"
What am I talking of?
"Well, like - a noncommittal diner for people who maybe would like to start a relationship."
"I have arranged similar events for Masters, yes...."
"And, what do you say?"
Gods, I am nervous like I haven't been since fourth grade! I must be mad to ask an immortal spirit out for a diner!
"I have never been invited...", Orlando said softly, his eyes full of genuine surprise.
"Was that a yes or a no?"
Yes. please say yes! Yes, yes, yes!
And then, after quite a while of him rolling his beautiful eyes pensively, he answered reluctantly:
"Why not..."
---
- Orlando -
A date. I didn't know him for more than a few hours and he was asking me out on a date. And in such a cute way. He seemed so nervous I briefly wondered if he was going to explode.
And I... To my own surprise I noticed a pleasant warmth settling in my stomach. It was true. Nobody had ever asked me out on a date. Either they had wished for my attention or not been interested enough to invest a wish. Or, before, when I had been a free spirit, I had just taken what I wanted. Nobody had ever been interested enough in ME to actually invite me. It was all about the wishes after all. Or was it...?
Thoughtfully I looked at this strange young man, wondering at the changes that must have happened to the world to produce somebody like him. He was looking so happy, just because I had agreed. As if that had been a wish I had granted. And I was doing nothing but share my time with him.
Which was rather pleasant. I suppose, after eternity in a lamp any company would be pleasant. But he was good looking, surprisingly friendly and - in a mortal way - sweet. Did I like him? Hopefully not. That would really complicate matters. It's so difficult to cheat mortals you like.
I remembered that desert princess, I'd really liked a long time ago. Her I had made really happy with her three wishes, making sure nothing whatsoever went wrong. And I still felt happy about that. Maybe it would be nice to have a likeable master for a change.
"So, where would you like to go?" he asked and I just blinked at him noncomprehending. "A cosy little restaurant or something fancy?" he elaborated.
I couldn't suppress a smile. "I have been stuck in a lamp for two millennia and never been on a date before and you ask me that?"
"Oh." He actually blushed. "Well, then. How about you refresh a bit and get something decent to wear and I pick you up in half an hour...?" he asked.
Grinning I just snapped my fingers and was cleaned and dressed in what he would think of as properly. I had just picked the image of me in a light grey linen suit with a dark red silken shirt from his mind and was rather satisfied to hear him gasp and flush red with sudden need. What an easily aroused boy. Must have been a while since his last good - what did they call it now? - fuck?
"Yeah... well..." he managed to stammer. "I will need a bit longer."
Grinning even wider I snapped my finger in front of his face again and he was cleaned, his hair dried and combed and dressed in one of his own dark suits, complete with cream-coloured shirt and something called cowboy boots. He did look rather delicious.
"That was not a wish, was it?" he asked distrustfully.
"No, master." I replied, meekly casting down my eyes. "That one was on the house."
Grinning himself now, he hit me with a pillow. "You are a bastard!" he declared. "And stop calling me master!"
This time I actually considered obliging him.
----
- David -
"I think I like you", I said, laughing freely as I hadn't done in quite a long time. This sneaky little bastard! He was just looking breathtaking in this grey suit, and the fact that his bordeaux silk shirt was halfway unbuttoned didn't do anything to calm my pulse.
I wondered if it was considered a good omen to hit one's date with a pillow before going out with him on a date. Probably no-one had ever thought about it.
Still grinning, I walked over to the low sideboard where
I had stored the keys of my car, only to stop after a few paces. I turned
around, hardly able to suppress the bewildered blush that crept up my face.
The beautiful creature that so nonchalantly had magicked my outfit onto my
body was still lying on my bed, his chin in his hands, blinking at me in cheesy
innocence.
"I'm not wearing any underwear!", I stated, very insecure of what I was to think of this... fact.
"Right."
Right? Nothing else?
"It's supposed to be a date, isn't it?"
"You little monster! What were you thinking?"
"I think that's pretty obvious", he answered, still smiling viciously, rolling off the bed in the most graceful display of physical fitness I had ever seen.
"Keep it cool, Davie", he said as he walked by me towards the door of my apartment, gently putting his hand on my arm. "I'm not wearing any, either. Can we go now?"
Godinheavens, this boy just did me.
On a second thought, maybe it wasn't so bad to wear as little clothes as possible
tonight.
Forecasts were expecting a hot, hot night.
----
- Orlando -
So that was what he considered a 'fancy restaurant'. They didn't even have naked dancers. And the waiter looked like he had fallen into a pot of glue that had stuck his... well, let's not talk about that. Really unpleasant egyptian torture method...
I studied the menu that the waiter had handed me with interest. Should I tell my master that I can eat how ever much I want without ever being full? As I don't get hungry either. I just eat for the fun of it. Mother always thought it was a disgusting habit.
The menu was in english but most of the items strangely enough were named in a language called french. It took me only a moment to pick it up. They had rather disgusting stuff. But some things sounded edible. So I ordered what I liked and perceived to be considered a decent meal. Davie looked at me open mouthed.
"What?" I asked, when the waiter had left, "Was that to much?"
He shook his head quickly. "No, I was just surprised you speak french as well." he said.
"Oh, that." I waved his comment away. "I pick up languages pretty quickly." I explained casually.
Then I looked at him over the small table we were seated at and smiled. "You look cute in the candle-light." I told him. "Like a little barbarian prince."
He managed to blush and look furious at once.
"I am certainly not a barbarian!" he stated.
Angry he looked even more cute.
"Well, in my time all blondes were considered barbarians." I explained and his anger receded to leave only the blush. Suddenly he was very busy watching his hands.
"Uhm... thanks." he mumbled.
Good heavens! This was just too easy. I would get those wishes out of him in no time. But to my annoyance I discovered I was not that sure I wanted to, anymore. Spending some time with him looked like a desirable prospect. So I turned down a gear.
"So..." I said, trying to get something like a non-threatening conversation going. "You are a grave robber?"
----
- David -
"I most certainly am not!", I exclaimed, a bit
more excited than I would have wished for.
Stop - make that 'than I would have liked'.
In a lower voice, I went on:
"You impetuous little bugger! I am no fucking grave-robber!"
"Cool, Davie, cool. Grave-robbing is a time-honoured occupation. I had quite some assignments with them boys, no small wonder given the places I have to live in."
In exasperation, I leaned back, trying to get over this terrible
person sitting opposite me, stuffing himself with some sinfully expensive
canard á l'orange, smiling as if he hadn't just accused me of being
a criminal.
In his eyes, he probably hadn't.
This boy was driving me mad. For one thing, he was adopting
to his new surroundings with a frightening speed, yet his views of people
were simply outdated and didn't change one bit.
Grave-robbing! Me!
"I'm earning almost all of my money with the honest trade of pieces of art and antiques.", I explained, hoping that no-one at the surrounding tables had overheard the earlier part of this conversation.
But my date just leaned forward, smiling politely, putting
one of his hands on mine, saying:
"There is no such thing as honest trade, Davie, let's be frank about
that."
"Kiss my backside, then. Call it 'legal' trade, if that's better with you."
Orlando's face split in a wide grin, revealing two rows of perfect, sparkling white teeth. Gods, even if the other tables didn't listen, they surely were all watching. At least it felt like they were. Such a jewel as the young man I was dating was rare even in such exalted places as the one we were in.
And I noticed he hadn't pulled back his hand as it would have been expected. With a hint of surprise, I looked down on our hands on the table, looked up again only to see a moment of insecurity pass over the lovely features of my companion. It was gone before I could be sure of it, but anyway, maybe I had just a little effect on this oh-so-worldly spirit.
Turning up my hand to gently stroke Orlando's arm, I realised with astonishment that he was still wearing his bracers underneath his shirt and jacket.
"You're still wearing these bracers?", I asked, and he pulled back his arm as if I had burned him. "What's wrong?"
Defensively, my Djinni put another fork of duck into his mouth, staring at me defiantly.
"I'm sorry, I didn't want to intrude. I was just - "
"These fucking things are part of my curse", he spat, icy anger in his voice as he began to roll up both his sleeves, the golden metal gleaming in the soft candle-light of the restaurant. "You see them? They're fucking slave-guards, Davie, not jewellery. A material representation of the god-forsaken curse that cripples my existence."
"Orlando - ", I tried to calm him, honestly shocked about the pain and the hurt I felt in his voice. There was no way the other guests could have overheard his outbreak, but all I worried about was how on earth someone could possibly be so cruel to hurt someone so much.
"They have been fucking forged onto my arms!", the spirit all but yelled at me. "I will never forget this, and I have been trying to get the fucking things off since the first moment I was forced to wear them!"
I tried to take his hand, to show him with a gesture that I tried to understand, that I wanted to comfort him, but he pulled away.
"I have thought about this every single moment of my existence", he added in the most defeated voice I have ever heard. "I have tried. But this is one of the very two things I will never be able to do."
I though my heart was about to break, but all I could think of to say was:
"I'm sorry...."
---
- Orlando -
Taking a deep breath I tried very hard to calm down. It was not David's fault after all. But why did he have to bring up this dreadful topic. Just talking about it I could feel it again: The way the liquid metal had taken form on my forearms, while that bearded freak engraved his spells in them. While I screamed in pain. Tears of pain and humiliation threatened to form in my eyes and I willed them away. I would not be weak.
Gathering my strength around me like a protective cloak I looked at my master, fully prepared to see him smile about my weakness, about such a mighty creature as me brought so low. But all I could find in his eyes was genuine compassion.
"I'm sorry." I whispered when I realised the rest of the restaurant was staring at our little scene. Time to do some magic. It was just a little gesture of my hand and a mild spell on their minds, but all they had seen was forgotten in an instant.
David looked around in awe, when conversation resumed as if nothing had happened. "How did you do that?" he asked and I just shrugged. "Magic, dear." I answered, regaining some of my confidence. I didn't want his pity. I was strong. I didn't need his pity.
But he wouldn't let it be. He took my hand again and I was afraid of the questions he would ask, when he just rolled down the shirt sleeves to hide the bracers again and smiled a bit sheepishly. He didn't loose another word about it.
"As I said," he continued our conversation, "I trade in arts and yes, it's a legal trade. Most of the time."
A smile reappeared on my face. Ha. I knew it. I know a grave robber when I see one. I listened as he started to tell me how he had come to be in that tomb in the first place and despite knowing that he was just trying to distract he from my dark memories and my best efforts to stay sullen I smiled more and more.
He was just about to launch into another tale, when another young man stopped next to our table, smiling broadly at David and then at me.
"Davie!" he exclaimed with false happiness. "You are back already! How have you been?"
My cute little master looked like a rattle snake had appeared on his plate.
"Karl. How are you." His usually animated voice was clipped and flat.
I looked at this obviously unliked arrival with interest. He looked good. No doubt about that. Well shaped body, intense eyes, wavy hair that invited you to run your fingers through it. Or to grab it real hard in passionate sex-games. He must have noticed my appraising look, for he turned his attention to me.
"And who is this incredibly gorgeous man?" he asked, voice husky and low.
----
- David -
I had just gotten Orlando back into a bearable mood, when
Karl had the audacity to show up. Of all people, it had to be him, my personal
nemesis.
The only man who ever managed to break my heart.
"This is Orlando", I said, trying to do the polite thing introducing my companion. A companion who was currently busy eyeing Karl with a shamelessly undisguised interest. "We met in... "
"Cairo."
"Rome", we said almost simultaneously. Fuck.
"Really? How interesting."
Karl was still that sleazy bastard I remembered from the days when we broke up. The mere thought of those days made my stomach churn.
"Karl, is there anything important you are going to tell me?", I said, giving up any attempt of being patient.
"No, not really", he answered, honestly pulling
over a chair to get himself comfortable at our table. If only my Djinni would
stop smiling at him so... willingly. That would make things much easier.
"I was just here by chance, and as I saw the two of you sitting here,
I though, hey Karl, why not saying hello, spend some time with good old friends?
Or new ones, for that matter..."
If he ever gives Orlando one of these looks, I swear I'll scratch his eyes out.
"Karl, this is a private diner. I can't remember having invited you. Would you please leave?"
Only the twitching muscle in his cheek gave away his anger.
I had seen him loose his temper too often not to notice these first signals.
He still hadn't given me up, at least not as a conquered and submitted person
in his life. And it didn't suit him one bit that I was standing up against
him.
But having a Djinni with two open wishes sitting next to you can give you
a hell of a confidence. Especially if you could wish for this sick bastard's
head to explode like a melon.
I smiled.
He fumed, turning around to Orlando.
"But you wouldn't want me to go, do you, beauty?"
Orlando was still smiling seductively as he said, in a perfectly level voice:
"Karl, your dick might be a massively impressive organ, but as long as your brains do not match, I would prefer to spend my time with Davie."
That look on Karl's face was priceless. But why did he suddenly speak in my favour when he had been all flirtatious with Karl before?
"I think you have outstayed your welcome. It was nice making your acquaintance."
Still Karl was sitting there, frozen, fuming silently.
"Would you please go now? I would loathe to have you fed to the crocodiles."
Abruptly, Karl stood up, turning over his chair in the process.
"You're both fucking mad!", he hissed and stomped out of the place.
Suppressing a giddy giggle, I said with fake sincerity:
"That was very kind of you. But we do not feed unliked people to the crocodiles any longer."
---
- Orlando -
"Really? What a shame." I said, grinning back at Davie. He looked impossibly cute when he was jealous. I would have to keep that in mind for further use. "Who was that guy?"
My master's eyes followed the way 'Karl' had taken and there was enough venom in his voice to make a cobra dizzy when he answered: "My ex."
Ex?
"What's an ex?" I asked promptly.
His eyes returned to me and I was quite satisfied to have his full attention again.
"My former lover." he said.
Aha, that explained a lot. Like why he had been so angry when I had checked out his 'friend'. But he did have a bad taste in lovers! I had smelled that high strung stallion attitude I hated in men on 'Karl' from a mile away. From the hurt in Davie's eyes I concluded that it must have been something serious.
"Hey, man," I said, patting his hand, "he's not worth the heartache. There's plenty of his type. Good looks, hung like a horse but no manners and the heart of a cactus."
Well, I hadn't managed to reassure him but at least now he looked shocked.
"You are impossible." he said exasperated. "If you can see he is so... bad, why did YOU stare at him?"
I grinned. "What's wrong with checking out the meat?" I asked and in the same instant I knew what was wrong. Normally I wouldn't have minded to go out and have some fun while working for a master. But this one looked so hurt now, that I felt my heart wrench. Damn. Yes, I was definitely starting to like him.
"So you thought he was..." Davie started but I stopped him with a finger against his lips.
"Doesn't matter now." I said softly. "Forget him. I already have."
There was a generous amount of doubt in his eyes but it disappeared rapidly to be replaced by contained passion when I let my finger trail over his lips, only to withdraw it when he opened his mouth in a silent sigh.
"Maybe we'd better go back to your loft now." I suggested. I felt a wish of my own coming up in me but I suppressed it ruthlessly. THAT I would not give him without a wish.
If you enjoyed this story, please send feedback to: Osiris Brackhaus & Beryll
go to PART 3