It had been two weeks since Vivian had accidentally employed a djinn to her service.

She soon learned that Omrys was difficult to live with. Even though she could order him to do whatever she pleased, he still retained his bad temper. He was, to put it mildly, hard to adjust to.

“Vivian,” Omrys moaned from the couch. “Can we go somewhere. Why must you keep me cooped up in your pitiful excuse for a house.”

“I took you to the park two days ago and you turned into a chihuahua and attacked someone,” Vivian reminded him patiently.

“Why don't you have any friends?” Omrys complained.

“Why don't you have any friends,” Vivian retorted. She was sitting cross-legged at the coffee table, painting a landscape on a thick piece of card.

“Excuse me, I have many friends,” Omrys informed her.

“Oh, sure. Name three.”

He hesitated. “Well, I have siblings…”

“Right, and are you ‘friends’ with any of them?”

Omrys contemplated her question. “Well, they're all older than me. My opinion of them changes often. I suppose it depends on if they've screwed me over this century or not.”

“You’re the youngest?”

“I have six older siblings,” Omrys said grumpily. “They all suck.”

“Well that explains why you act like a baby all the time,” Vivian muttered, finishing the last patch of sky. A pillow hit her back, and she turned to glare at Omrys briefly before turning back to her artwork.

“So, which sibling is your favourite this century?” Vivian asked him. She hardly knew anything about the Djinn she had suddenly acquired and was still confused about the majority of her contract with him. She had seen the brand on the back of Omrys's hand briefly, a strange mark that he had explained connected them. He said it was the reason contracts held, as it insured consequences if orders were not followed.

“Ugh. Well, it was Ennedi, but he teamed up with Raimeke and dropped all those stupid books around Earth for annoying teenage girls to pick up.”

“Sounds rough,” Vivian said dryly.

“Yes,” Omrys agreed. “I used to look up to Zeke when I was younger, but lately he’s been a little creep. Hate him. I hate all of them, actually.”

Vivian turned to look at him. “They can't be all that bad,” she tried.

“A couple of them torture people for fun,” Omrys told her.

“Oh. Well…”

Vivian brushed some green onto the mountains, creating light with acrylic paint. Omrys picked at the carpet, grumbling to himself. Vivian ignored him and focused on her painting. So far, art was the only subject she wasn't doing terribly at.

“I'm going to pee,” Omrys announced, getting up from the couch.

“You have fun with that.”

He looked over at her artwork. “That looks terrible,” he stated, before walking out of the room. Vivian hoped he could feel her gaze burning into his back.

Vivian rubbed her eyes and stretched, probably getting paint smeared over her face.

Omrys had explained the basics of being a Djinn, albeit badly. His information was always fractured and a lot of the time he would fall asleep or stare at a wall for hours, not saying anything. Vivian supposed this was a good thing, as she felt overwhelmed by the whole concept. The fact that there where beings and places existing that challenged her former concept of reality was quite staggering, especially when Vivian had only discovered this a week ago.

His home was Chaos, sometimes known as Pandemonium to a portion of ‘Knowledgeable People.’ He had described it as being the spirit realm, a place that was ‘incomprehensible’ for her ‘tiny brain.’

Omrys had the ability to grant any wish she requested of him, but his regular gifts where much less impressive. He had explained to Vivian that using his personal magic was different from granting a wish. With wishes, the accessible power was close to limitless, while his own magic was weak and left him drained.

His preferred shape was the boy he usually appeared in, as it was the closest to his pure form and didn't require any energy to maintain. It wasn't uncommon for him to walk around with a pair of antlers occasionally, which Vivian had not yet gotten used to seeing.

Vivian’s reflections were interrupted by a polite cough.

She jumped, brandishing her paintbrush like a weapon. Spinning, she faced the intruder.

It was a man with friendly sea-glass coloured eyes, wearing casual formal attire. He held up his hands in surrender, appearing amused at her choice of weapon.

“Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you,” he said, sounding honest.

Vivian frowned suspiciously, not lowering her paintbrush. “Who are you and why are you in my house?”

“Well, funny story-”

The toilet flushed in the bathroom.

“I'm just here to check up on my little brother and his, er, mistress,” the man said.

Vivian blinked stupidly. “Oh, you’re… Omrys’s brother?”

The man nodded. “Yeah, I'm-”

“Ennedi!” An angry shout came from the bathroom doorway. Vivian backed away slightly as Omrys stormed through the living room, fists clenched.

“Hey, Omrys, you’re looking well,” Ennedi greeted him. His hands were still held up in surrender.

“I'm gonna kill you for getting me mixed up in this, you hear me? Stupid brother,” Omrys spat, advancing toward him.

Ennedi sighed. “Okay, calm down.”

Omrys was almost close enough to touch the stranger. “I'm not going to calm down until you fix this!”

Ennedi’s mouth fixed in a line. “Fine,” he said. Then, he clicked his fingers and Omrys crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

“Um,” Vivian’s eyes flicked back and forth between the stranger and Omrys.

“Oh, don't worry. He’s just sleeping,” Ennedi scratched the back of his head, almost self-consciously.

“That's good,” Vivian said slowly. This person was obviously a Djinn, and one so skilled he could put Omrys to sleep so easily.

The young man stuck out his hand awkwardly. “I'm Ennedi,” he introduced himself.

With nothing better to do, Vivian shook it. “Vivian Lochlan…” She nudged Omrys with her foot.

“You’re sure he’ll be okay?”

Ennedi nodded. “Yes, he’ll be fine. Raimeke’s already tried to kill him four times already and he still survived, so I doubt a little sleeping enchantment will impact his health.”

“Uh, that's good to know, I guess,” Vivian said.

There was a brief period of awkward silence.

“So,” Ennedi cleared his throat. “You’re in a little bit of peril.”

“Oh,” Vivian swallowed nervously. “Nice.”

“Just a little bit, though,” Ennedi said quickly.

“Cool, that's cool…”

Ennedi hesitated. “Do you want to know why?”

Vivian nodded. “Yeah, please. Do you want some tea? I can make tea.”

The Djinn looked mildly surprised at the offer. “That would be nice, thank you.”

Vivian nodded again. “ Okay, make yourself at home,” she told him, gesturing to the couch. “I'll be back in a minute.”

***