#BOMBOCLATTTT WHAT IS THIS

[tiramisuucakeee]

2. SECOND WISH

( genie in a bottle, jay )

a pair of months had gone by, and jay had grown to be a just king. as he was once before a simple tomb raider and thief, he could understand the struggles of the people and empathize with them.

and you had spent some time out in his kingdom as a humanoid form. of course as a genie you couldn’t just roam around, frightening civilians. so you disguised yourself to look like an average woman.

though the time since jay’s first wish for him seemed like an eternity, for your immortal understanding, it was barely a bat of your eyes.

and soon enough, he revealed his second wish.

jay had grown the nature to invite you over every night to eat, and you complied, you couldn’t really say no to him, and you didn’t want to either, he seemed different than all the other masters.

most of them ignored you until they needed something from you, which you didn’t judge them for, but it still made you feel like a slave to no promise.

and eventually, that thought was so deeply engraved in your free-of-beating heart, consuming your mind. being under jay’s ownership forced you to confront unsettling truths about yourself, and you dreaded that awareness. ignorance felt safer, but the reality of who you were haunted you.

“what are you thinking about?” jay interrupted your train of thought. you sat across him on the long table, dressed in the same exact clothes you’ve always had.

for a moment, you studied him. the jay you had met in that cave still lingered beneath those regal garments. he hadn’t changed at all, in a way that both intrigued and unsettled you.

“i don’t believe my thoughts are the best entertainment you could have,” you scoffed playfully, “you know i also included royal musicians when i created this place right?”

“yes, i know, and i thank you for it,” jay smiled tightly, somehow noticing something was bothering the genie. “please do tell me what you are thinking about.”

“is that your second wish?” you squint your eyes at him, crossing you arms.

“no it’s not, it’s a plea,” he said, an edge of desperation in his voice. you weren’t sure why your thoughts seemed to bother him, but you decided to relent.

“i was thinking about my wishes, i may be a genie but there is still a certain something that i want.” you smile, looking down at the golden cutlery.

“what is it that you wish for?” jay furrows his brows.

“hearing it from you, i really wouldn’t word it like that, it’s more of, a thought, rather than a wish. i’ve thought about myself for so long, so so long. after centuries i still don’t know who i am supposed to be, or if all that i am is just someone to be owned, shaped to the likes of her master.”

“as a genie you most likely only are for that.” jay continued your doubt. “but i’d like to think that we - humans - are all creations of everyone around us, so maybe you’re exactly like me.”

“you’re saying i’m human? me? the genie? immortal being who cannot die? that’s amusing,” you snort.

“you don’t need to be in the form of a human to be one, same as some humans lose their humanity, and become monsters, i image you’ve met some already?” he raises a brow.

“i have,” you look away. “it’s pretty heart breaking.”

“can i ask you a question,” jay inquires, to which you reply. “you need not of my permission, master.”

“would you please stop calling me that?” jay groans.

“what? master?” you ask. “it’s what you are”

“call me something more… more humane, what about… friend?”

“friend? but i’m-”

“i don’t care if you’re a genie or a rat, i want you to be my friend, and that is not a wish, that’s something only you can reciprocate, we can’t be friends if you don’t want to.” his words hung heavily between you, like a line drawn in the sand. you could feel the tension crackle, an unspoken battle between the walls you’d built and the vulnerability he laid bare. his earnestness was disarming, yet it ignited a fear within you, the fear of connection, of being seen as someone.

“i…” you observed his face, like a canvas of gentle strength, where soft angles meet a quiet resolve, while the faintest hint of vulnerability in his expression invites admiration.

“are you asking me that because you feel uncomfortable with what i call you?” you inquired, still not answering. your mind couldn’t fathom the thought of companionship.

yes, you granted any wish someone wanted, but apart from that, there wasn’t anything you could offer, so you just concluded he wanted you to call him something else

“i don’t want you to call me a friend without being one, so i figured you would want to be my friend.” said jay, taking the golden cup in his hand and drinking wine from it.

was that truly the only reason? you have observed him for a while, how he kept to himself, not interacting much with other kings or queens, neither his own people. was he lonely?

you know loneliness can drive the human being mad, and make them irrational, and the last thing you wanted was for him to not be on the right mind and wish for destruction.

“i will be your friend if that’s what you want,” you said, all concecuences taken to count.

“and is that what you want, y/n?” jay stood up, and slowly made his way over to you, each step making your mind race. he knelt beside your chair, his gaze locked on yours, the flickering candlelight casting a warm glow across his face. “after being locked up for a century alone, waiting for someone to free you, don’t you need company?” he reached out to you.

he felt real, you feel him, in every single part of yourself. it was as if his touch had consumed you entirely. “what are you doing to me?” you breathed out, feeling intoxicated. where the gods finally punishing you for messing with their perfect creations?

“what do you mean?” jay retreated his hand, afraid he had done something wrong, maybe it was prohibited to touch a magic being.

“yes i want to be your friend okay?” you gulped, and stood up quickly. “i’m retreating to my lamp for tonight, call me only if you want to make a wish.”

jay stared at the empty space where you had been, his heart pounding. the weight of the unfinished conversation hung heavily, the unfulfilled tension lingering like a whispered promise. he could still feel the heat of your gaze and the intoxicating pull of your presence.

as the silence enveloped him, he wondered what it meant to befriend a being of such power - and if he could dare to wish for more.

in the middle of the night, jay tossed restlessly in bed, the silence weighing heavily. something felt off, not having you there, not knowing how to reach you. the idea of being without your presence gnawed at him. he was a king now, yet without you, he would be nothing. all his power and titles meant little if he couldn’t fix whatever had gone wrong between you both.

he just wanted to be a king, and now that he was, he had nothing else he wished for more than that.

but his actions betrayed him, as he shoved his feathered cover off of him, and walked over to the lamp, hesitating for a second, before softly running his hand along it.

he didn’t care about anything else in this moment, jay had to fix this. whatever he did to make you uncomfortable, he would apologize.

“y/n…?” his voice was low, barely above a whisper, as he crouched closer to the lamp, as if it might help him bridge the gap between the two of you. “can we speak?”

“are you ready to tell me your second wish?” you asked loudly, laying in your chambers at the castle, looking out the window at the infinite miles of sand.

jay closed his eyes, frustration washing over him. his heart raced, and he tugged a hand through his dark hair, shaking his head. “no… not yet.” his voice cracked slightly, betraying the rawness of his frustration. he let out a shaky breath before speaking again, his words edged with urgency. “i beg of you, let me speak to you. there’s something i need to say.”

you almost wanted to apologize to him, his voice so desperate, so raw, it almost made you cave in. selfishly, you wanted to be the one to ease his pain, knowing you were the only one who could be able to. but you shouldn’t. jay had nobody for him, just like you. and you wouldn’t become the one who stayed. a genie was always temporary.

your stomach tightened, each word cutting deeper than you wanted to admit. “if this isn’t about a wish, i won’t hear it. goodnight, jay.”

jay, on the other hand, his heart almost dropped. he thought that you two had grown closer in the time spent together, he didn’t want to make your job as a genie something draining and boring. but maybe, after all, he was just one man of billions you had met, one of countless others you’d granted wishes for, and soon forgotten.

“does that also mean you don’t want to hear it?” he asked, his voice soft but laced with hurt. he’d somehow figured you out, understood you in ways you couldn’t even explain. after all, he had been human more time than you could ever be.

you stayed silent, fighting the tightness in your chest, forcing your eyes to stay fixed on the endless stretch of sand outside the window. the pull to answer him was there, but you couldn’t give in, not this time.

“i see. then i want to make my second wish,” he spoke, determined to get an answer out of you. “i wish to go inside the lamp with you for tonight.” the words hung in the air, a challenge, a plea, and something deeper you couldn’t quite place. your breath caught, your heart thudding in your chest.

“jay, what?” you almost jumped in your seat, looking up at the sky. “you can’t do that! you shouldn’t! don’t waste your wish.”

“i’m afraid the words already came out my mouth, there’s nothing you can do about it apart from granting it, can you?” jay smirked.

sighing, you prepared yourself for what was about to happen, which you had no clue what it would be. and clasped your hands together tightly.

smoke started coming out of the lamp, enveloping jay’s figure, as he felt himself slowly being dragged into it.

inside the lamp, the air felt heavier, the walls thick with the tension between you. long-forgotten hallways twisted around you, a maze you had grown familiar with over the centuries. but now, you stood in front of the man who had just appeared, anger boiling beneath your skin.

“you are just so, so-" you groaned, “i don’t even have the words. why did you wish for this?!”

jay got closer, grabbing your arms, “it’s okay, call me stupid, anything you want, but don’t push me away. after all these months, i really missed your company, that’s why i wished to come here, y/n.”

you shook your head, shrugging him off. “jay, you have one single wish left, after that you’ll never see me again, you shouldn’t say things like that.” the words felt like a wall between you, but deep down, you couldn’t help the quiet ache that followed them. because part of you wanted to believe him.

jay’s eyes darkened, the intensity in his voice almost painful as he took another step forward, his hands reaching for you again, this time more urgent. “i do not care,” he said, his words cutting through the silence. “the day you leave me, i will hurt as much as i want, i will miss you until the day of my death, i will be haunted by your absence. but please… just let me have this night. and the rest of our days.”

there was a rawness to his plea, an edge of desperation that shook you, rattled something deep inside. his words were heavy with sincerity but the fear of what it would mean, what it could cost you both, made it hard to breathe.

you gulped, noticing the small gap between you, which almost played your mind.

“okay,” you nodded, not being able to look up and meet his eyes anymore. telling yourself this would all be over as soon as he made his third wish, you accepted, “you can stay.”

"this is... just amazing, i never imagined a place like this existed," jay murmured, his voice full of awe as he laid his head back, sinking deeper into the warm water.

after showing him around the sprawling, labyrinthine castle - watching him nearly get lost in the hundreds of rooms - deciding to take him to the nearby oasis had felt like a fleeting act of weakness. but maybe, just maybe, you wanted to give in to the idea of being here, in this moment. just for tonight.

you both were in swimming clothes now, the water around you glimmering under the moonlight, the golden sand stretching out beyond the oasis. palm trees swayed lazily in the breeze, casting long shadows on the surface.

"you get used to it when you're here every day," you said, a soft laugh escaping your lips as you pulled your hair up into a messy knot, trying to keep it out of the water. it was a small, mundane act, but in the quiet of the oasis, it felt more intimate than anything else.

jay watched you, his gaze intense and focused, like he was trying to decipher something you weren't saying. his eyes traced your movements with a precision that made you feel exposed, as if he was trying to understand the pieces of you that you kept hidden. the way he observed you—it was almost unnerving, but you couldn't bring yourself to look away either.

“what do you really want?” he then asked, coming in closer to stand next to you.

you furrowed your brows at his question, not understanding the nature of it. as a divine being, even if you have interacted with humans your whole life, they were still different in many ways and very difficult to understand.

"in the moment? ah, no clue, maybe something to drink" you shot back, trying to deflect, but the warmth of his soft laugh caught you off guard.

"no," he said, still chuckling, "i mean, in general, what would your dream life be like?"

you blinked at him, momentarily lost in thought, then replied with a tone of nonchalance, "my dream life would be being a genie." there was a cluelessness to your words, but also a bitterness that had become familiar over time. "i’m sure anybody would want to live in a castle, with free food, free water, and magic of their own."

jay paused, confusion flickering across his face as he took in your answer. "okay..." he said, as though trying to make sense of it all. "but say there was a normal woman in a village, living with her family - no magic, no wishes, no genie divinity - what would the dream life she could have be like? and, being a genie is not an option."

the absurdity of his question made you pout, a playful frown tugging at your lips. "i guess... everything about that already sounds like a dream," you muttered, almost more to yourself than him. "she's free. she gets to do and say anything she wants. of course, i can too, but only to an extent. i’m always thrown back in here after the third wish."

you shrugged, the words leaving you in a soft huff, the exhaustion of centuries weighing on you in that single, vulnerable moment. “she is more free that i will ever be.”

“if i, never wish again, say, would it be possible for you to stay in the castle?” jay asked.

you shook your head, that familiar, aching truth slipping out. "no, that's not possible. if you deliberately chose not to make any more wishes, i have to go back to the lamp as well." your words felt heavy, almost like a finality you weren't ready to admit. "but it's okay. i'm sure your life will still be great after i leave."

“i do not think so,”

“why not?”

jay stepped closer, his voice more serious now, as though the weight of the moment was sinking in. "because you're the one who gave me all this," he said, his eyes not leaving yours. "you're the one who made my life so great. i don’t know what i would do with myself if you leave."

you stared at him, disbelief rising. "i didn't make your life great, jay. you did that. i’m just... a genie. i give wishes. i don't control your life, i just make it possible for you to get what you want, but you’re the king of a whole land, you can’t just forget about it."

"no," jay said, shaking his head, his voice low and edged with frustration. "it's not that simple. you made me see what i actually want, not what i wish for. you made me feel like i could-" he cut himself off, swallowing hard, eyes blazing.

you crossed your arms, taking a step back, the anger bubbling up now. "you don't get it. i'm not here for your convenience. i'm not some tool to make your life easier. i'm not someone you can just-" you stopped short, feeling the words hanging in the air. and yet, there was something more behind your words. a crack in your voice that betrayed everything you felt.

jay's expression hardened. "so what? you want me to just accept that you're leaving? after everything we've been through?"

"yes! because it's the way it is!" your voice raised a notch, frustration boiling over, as the water seemed to get turbulent with your emotions. "i'm not supposed to stay. i'm not supposed to want to stay. but you... you're not going to change that, jay!"

he moved closer, his eyes burning into yours. the air between you was electric now, thick with the tension of unspoken emotions. "you don't get it, do you?" he breathed, his voice low and dangerous. "i don't want this to end. not like this."

your breath hitched, your pulse pounding in your ears. "well, maybe you don't understand, but-"

before you could finish, he cut you off. in an instant, the air between you crackled with energy, your anger and frustration colliding in a rush of heat. jay grabbed your arm, pulling you toward him, and before you could react, his lips crashed into yours, desperate and urgent.

your body froze for a moment, not out of resistance, but out of shock. you didn't know how to react, how to process the way he kissed you-rough, almost frantic, as though he was trying to make you feel every ounce of the frustration and longing that had been building between you. his hands moved to your back, pulling you flush against him as if he could anchor you there, make you stay.

his lips were demanding, and your heart raced, fear and something else swirling in your chest. fear of how easily you were losing control, how easily you were letting him pull you in.

but your body betrayed you, responding to him in ways you didn't want to admit. your hands gripped his shirt, pulling him closer, the kiss deepening as the world around you faded, leaving only the two of you. you felt the heat of him, the urgency of his touch, and it sent a shiver down your spine.

for a moment, all the tension, all the anger, and all the confusion melted away, leaving only the rawness of the connection between you.

when he finally pulled back, both of you breathless, his forehead pressed against yours, his eyes searching yours, wild and desperate. "i don't want to lose you," he whispered, his voice thick with emotion.

you looked up at him, heart hammering, but you couldn't find the words. everything inside you screamed to say something, to admit the truth, but the fear of it - the fear of what this meant, of what this could do - kept you silent. but deep inside, being with him, right now, you have never felt more free.

jay's grip on you tightened, his voice barely a whisper. "you don't have to pretend around me tonight, y/n. i know you feel something in that heart of yours, just let yourself free."

you swallowed hard, your mind spinning. you wanted to scream at him, to push him away, to say that this wasn't what you wanted, but it would be the greatest lie you could ever say. because you wanted this, more than you were willing to admit.

“i don’t want to lose what i have, i can’t just abandon everything i am, just because i want to run around the human world,” fear held you back. fear of losing the only thing you had left, the only thing you really had, was this, the lamp, yourself, the genie.

jay’s hand slid to the back of your neck, his thumb brushing the line of your jaw, his touch soft but insistent. "you don't have to be afraid," he murmured, his lips so close you could felt the warmth of his breath against your lips. "i’m not going anywhere you’re not, even if you leave, i’ll find you, i can’t let you go like this, not when you don’t want it."

your heart thudded harder, your chest tightening in the face of a truth you weren’t sure you could fully accept, let alone voice. but in that moment, as his eyes softened and his expression was nothing but open, you realized that you didn’t need to say anything at all.

you leaned in slightly, the smallest of movements, as if testing his words, if they were truthful or not. his lips brushed against yours, soft, certain. you didn’t pull away anymore. instead, you let your eyes flutter shut, leaning into the kiss, letting it be a quiet thing, a confirmation of your feelings.

it was gentle at first, just the briefest brush of lips, a whisper of a touch that held so much promise. and the kiss deepened again, just enough for you to feel the intensity of his emotions and loyalty to you, the warmth and tenderness he was trying so hard to convey.

when he finally pulled back, his forehead resting against yours once again, you were both breathless, hearts pounding. his voice was a soft murmur, "i’m not going anywhere, y/n, you have my word."

and for the first time in a long time, you allowed yourself to believe it, to believe a man’s words.

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