Wish for Something Better (closed)

[Mayu]

She listened carefully to what he wanted and listened to the wish she nodded some. Her hand started to glow and when she snapped her fingers the ring started to glow, and all record of the ring had been erased. "It's done, there is no record of the ring in any place in the world. The only two people that know of the ring is the two of us" She said simply. "And for the record Sam Crane, I like your name" She said with a smile.

 

[DrStein]

He stared a moment at the third display of magic today. He was still trying to get his head around all this and progress was slow. A part of him was still convinced that this was a dream and he was still lying passed out on the floor of the museum after taking that fall. "Uh... Sam is fine. On formal occasions I go by Samwise... Sorry, bad joke."

He stood up and stretched, trying to figure out where to go next. "I need to figure out what to do. In the meantime... well, make yourself at home." He walked over to the bookshelf on a whim and spotted his copy of "The Hero with a Thousand Faces." With a living, breathing myth sitting in his living room, it seemed somewhat appropriate. He took the book out and settled into the recliner. He turned on the reading lamp and looked back to Emily. "If you'd like to read anything, help yourself. Or if you just want to explore the house. Let me know if you have a question."

 

[Mayu]

Emily just nodded, and began to look around unsure what she was going to do. But had a feeling that her new master Sam had a big heart, perhaps he was afraid to wish anything from her. But the tales about genies that only gave three wishes, was that of a tale. She noticed some pictures hanging up, she couldn't help but wish that she had been free. But she would serve her new master, with a smile always with one. Course Emily was already a very happy person, always looking at the bright side of things.

Relaxing a bit she finished about an hour, and remembering what he said. That if she had any secrets, taking a deep breath she returned to Sam and looked at him. "I do have a few questions, if you don't mind answering them" She said softly, sitting down on the chair beside him. "Do you live here alone? And what do you do for I believe you call it. A job?"

 

[DrStein]

Sam looked away from his book to Emily. The question actually caught him off-guard. He was expecting questions about things like what the appliances in the kitchen or the TV did. That was how it happened in the movies right? Seems Hollywood lied to him again. "Yeah, I live by myself. I've kind of been married to my work. I work for the museum. They send me artifacts made of metal, especially jewelry, and I clean them up and restore them for study and display." It was often tedious work but until recently seeing the finished product made it worth it. Somewhere along the way though he had stopped enjoying it. Maybe he needed to get away for a while.

"You don't have to sit on the floor, you know," Sam said in an off-hand way. "Make yourself comfortable."

 

[Mayu]

Sam seemed to look at her kinda strange because she sat on the floor, she stood up and just nodded. Sitting down on the chair, she wasn't use to being so comfortable. She was so use to being used, used and discarded like a old and warn piece of cloth. So looking at him, she wasn't to sure about what to say to him. Crossing one leg over the other, she rubbed her neck and silently sighed. "Well in time you will know what you want, hell you could wish for a new house if you wanted. Or could wish for a dog that could talk" She chuckled.

"I am also very curious about the things around here, that use energy? Last time I was out, there was no um what do you call it? Electricity?" She wasn't to sure what the names to everything was, she needed to be brought up to speed that much she knew. But she was more curious about Sam, then everything else around her.

 

[DrStein]

Sam furrowed his brow at her comments. "How did you know it was electricity? Can you... sense energy fields or something?" That sounded nerdy even to him. He closed the book and stood up. There was a lot to explain and he wasn't sure where to start? The TV? The stereo? All the appliances in his kitchen? How everything in the bathroom worked?

He sputtered his lips as he sighed and looked back to Emily. "Uh... Where do you want me to start?" He was struck by a sense of irony that he could explain to a layman the nuances of Arabian art divided up by the various caliphate dynasties and trace the progression of art through European tribes from the Saxons to the Celts to the Franks to the Etruscans... but he didn't know how to explain a TV to someone.

 

[Mayu]

She looked at the way that he looked at her, it actually made her laugh a bit. Slowly standing up she nodded. "I have more power then you think, and you don't have to tell me anything by mouth. All I have to do is touch your forehead and what you know I can know, It doesn't take away anything from you. Just helps me see and understand, all your knowledge about your electricity would be something I would know instantly" Never would she do anything to harm a human so what she said was being honest, though her explanation she knew needed some work.

 

[DrStein]

Sam opened his mouth to speak, but no sentence would form in his head. Finally he sighed and said, "I'm just going to nod my head and pretend that I understood." He thought that might have sounded kind of rude so he quickly added, "Not trying to be crass or anything. I'm supposed to be a scientist. This whole magic thing is kind of fucking with my head."

He was supposed to be a scientist. For some reason that stuck out in his head. Why, he couldn't quite understand. There was something just at the edge of his comprehension and he silently stood there trying to dig it out.

 

[Mayu]

She chuckled "You maybe a scientist but that doesn't mean you know everything about magic, though I doubt anyone knows anything about magic. Humans have always had trouble believing in it, like it's something out of a fairytale" Slowly reaching out she placed her hand on his forehead and closed her eyes. Information came quickly into her head, as she learned what everything was very quickly, within about five minutes she learned everything she had to. And she put her hand down, looking into his eyes she smiled. "Thank you Sam" She said happily, now she was brought up to speed about everything that had happened and what was going on now.

 

[DrStein]

The transfer of knowledge was a warm sensation and not an unpleasant one either. It still didn't bring him any clarity though. "Well, science is kind of the opposite of magic. I'm out of my element." He looked back at the book on the chair and a thought crossed his mind. He picked it up and began flipping through the pages, reading passages here and there. Eventually the thought came together in his head. He was burned out because he had never had his own hero's journey. He didn't know what he wanted out of life because he didn't know what there was to take.

He turned to Emily, a look of hope on his face. "I think I know what to do now. I wish for an extended paid vacation from my work. You and I are going to see the world."

 

[Mayu]

She watched him carefully, and noticed how his eyes seemed to light up. Like he finally got what he wanted on his mind, but listing to what he said. She placed her hands on her hips. He wanted to see the world with a magical woman? a woman he didn't know? that was different. Though he needed to be specific. "I can do that, but you need to tell me how long you need off, with wishes some you have to be very specific so I don't get the wrong thing. It's never a good thing to screw up, not a good feeling either" She said with a soft smile on her face. And she could tell Sam had a hard life, and he deserved for things to go right.

 

[DrStein]

She had a point. Sam thought for a minute. There were so many places he could go. So many things he could see. And he didn't even have to narrow it down. He could literally see the whole world. "Let's say six months to start. I can just extend my leave of absence later. I wish for six months of paid vacation starting tomorrow and no one thinks a second thought about it. Shit, I need a list."

He dashed into the next room, a home office and pulled up a browser and grabbed a steno pad. He began Googling vacation destinations, cities, resorts, writing down anything that struck him as interesting. He found websites that sold "adventures," things like swimming with sharks, parasailing, flights in vintage aircraft, sports car racing... He furiously wrote it all down, filling page after page with destinations and activities.

 

[Mayu]

She watched him and nodded, snapping her fingers and it was done. Several thousand dollars had been wired into his account from his job, and she watched him run around like a chicken with it's head cut off. She chuckled some looking at him, it was a nice sight to see really. Watching him running all over, then settling down to make the list. Walking up behind him, and looked at what he had on his list. She sat down on the chair that was on the other side of his desk, grinning. "Someone is excited" She said happily.

 

[DrStein]

"You could say that," Sam said without looking up from his work. He spent another ten minutes jotting down notes. When it was finally over, he slumped back in his desk chair, rocking back and forth with a grin on his face. "We've got a lot of ground to cover. I'm not sure where to start. There's Rome and Prague and Kyoto and Mexico City... But there's also Micronesia and Patagonia and Morzine... I might need to sleep on it."

He looked over at Emily, still with that smile on his face. "You want to get some dinner?"

 

[Mayu]

She tilted her head, still trying to figure out why this man wanted to treat her like an equal. It felt very strange, something she isn't use to by any means necessary" Sighing a bit she stood up and stretched a little bit. "Well Sam you could just wish for dinner, anything in particular you want?" She was so use to just giving away wishes that she didn't know what it was like to do anything else. She smiled at him kindly.

 

[DrStein]

Sam was a bit surprised by her offer. "Actually... I thought we'd eat out tonight. Sort of celebrate." Now that he had figured out what he needed to do, he realized people didn't eat out just for food. They wanted an experience, even if it was just a noisy, kitschy one. "I know a place with a really good pan-Asian buffet. The Indian food especially is really good."

He stood up and held out his hand to Emily. "Come on, it'll be fun." He offered her a smile, the first one she had seen grace his lips since they met. It seemed to transform his whole face. Whereas before he looked washed out, tired and five years older than he really was, now he looked boyish and handsome. He was still young and had a lot of spirit still left in him. He just had to get it going.

 

[Mayu]

She hadn't ever been outside really, she was always inside her stupid ring. Looking down at his hand, she studied him for a moment. And reached her hand out gently to take his hand and squeezed it kindly, she walked up to him and left the building. She noticed all sorts of things coming at her, but by the knowledge she picked up from his memories. She wasn't afraid, she knew what everything was. And relaxed a bit, looking around and just followed his lead.

 

[DrStein]

Sam drove the two of them into town and pulled into the parking lot of a restaurant called The White Elephant. It wasn't very crowded and the smells wafting up from the buffet were enough to make one's stomach growl in anticipation. They were seated by a Chinese host and Sam ordered for the two of them two classes of water and a pot of tea.

He led Emily to the buffet and handed her a plate. The selection was huge and wrapped around the restaurant in a large U shape. There was Chinese, Mongolian, Korean, Thai, Indian, Japanese... Meats, vegetables, a salad bar, a grill, on and on it went. "I haven't eaten here in about a year. Didn't realize until now just how much I missed it. Try the curried vegetables and the chicken tikka masala."

 

[Mayu]

She watched people pass quickly by in the car, once he showed her the white elephant which to her was a strange name for a restaurant? But she put some food on the plates, the ones he suggested. And her nose pretty much helped her pick out what she wanted, sighing a bit she had a lot on her plate. "Mmm I'm starving, haven't eaten in four hundred years" She whispered to Sam.

 

[DrStein]

At her remark of not eating in 400 years, Sam stopped and looked at her with a lifted brow. "And I thought skipping breakfast sucked."

They went back to the table and Sam was still turning things over in his head. "I suppose I could just wish us to our destinations. Cut down on travel time. I got to study abroad in New Zealand once. It was a 22 hour plane trip, and I am not fucking doing that again." He shoveled a cut of chicken tikka masala into his mouth and leaned back into his seat with a sigh as he chewed. "I've really missed this.

"Anyway, I'm thinking the first thing to see would be a great old world city. Rome, Prague, Vienna, something like that. Hit a couple of those. Then at some point I'd like to see something more exotic. Kyoto maybe. Maybe give India a visit." At this point he seemed to be more thinking out loud than talking. He was off in his own little world. "I found this list of paradises on earth and Patagonia sounds wonderful. But the idea of lounging on the beaches of Micronesia sounds good too. Or maybe spend a week in a log cabin in Algonquin Park in Ontario."

 

[Mayu]

Sitting down she listened to everything he said, and seemed surprised by missing food for 400 years. She smiled but was serious about it as well, sighing softly she watched him use the fork and started to follow his lead about it. So following him on how to use a fork , she got a hang of it. And enjoyed the tastes, she grabbed her glass of something that looked black. She knew it said root beer when she pushed the button to put it in her glass. She sipped it and surprised her, but it was a very good surprise. "Your food is...different more complicated then food I'm use to. I ate a lot of rice, course being well over 400 years old, you come to have very gross type of food like eating bugs, that was something I never liked"

 

[DrStein]

Sam was pulled from his musings by Emily's comments on the food. He smiled at that. "Wait until we go out for breakfast. Fish and goat's milk isn't exactly a standard anymore. And that's to say nothing of desert. Save a little room if you can, because they have some great stuff here."

He thought a bit about that and his smile widened. Traveling meant sampling all kids of foreign cuisine as well. "We'll certainly have to hit the gelaterias when we're in Italy. It's frozen milk and cream and sugar flavored with things like fruit juices. I've only had it once, imported, but it was fantastic."

 

[Mayu]

She saw the smile on his face, so she was saying something right then. Which was nice, listing to him talk about making sure to have some room for later. "I maybe thin but I can more then most" Looking around, she noticed people staring at her. Her dark brown eyes scanned every inch of the place. And her blond hair laid relaxed against her back, since it was down and was so long it went to her hips. "Goats milk was a big deal four hundred years ago, though when your what I am. You forget things, so when you have asked me if I was human? I could have been but no longer remember. But who knows maybe one day I'll have my own answers"

 

[DrStein]

At her talk of having no memories, Sam pursed his lips to hide a frown. It was an existence he couldn't imagine. It made his own problems seem insignificant in comparison. Hell, his deal with Emily was even starting to feel a bit exploitative. Shouldn't he just free the poor girl now? Of course, he had no idea what would happen? Would someone have to take her place in that ring? He consoled himself with the reminder that he had promised to help her. They were going to help each other.

"I figured out where to start. Tomorrow morning, let's go to Venice."

 

[Mayu]

She looked at the way he looked at her, he felt sorry for her. That she could read off of him, though she didn't need pity really. She wasn't a tricky genie, she had met many tricky ones. But she was the only honest genie out there. "You know your lucky you have me Sam, most genies are very tricky, me I always prefer to be honest"