Home Sweet Home - Ch.12 - Slumber Party (Patreon)

"Jenna? Where's the bed?" I asked as I stood in the doorway and stared at my new bedroom. 

The genie gave me a blank look as she responded, "What do you mean?"

She was standing next to me, with both arms wrapped around that huge pink plushie pony again. And she was doing her innocent act, pretending like there was nothing wrong with my bedroom.

I sighed, "There's no bed in here. You said you replaced my old bed with a new one. So I could get a good night's sleep?"

"Oh," she acted as though she'd only just figured out what I was talking about. Then with a straight face she looked me in the eye and replied, "No I didn't. I told you I got rid of your old bed because it was too small and the mattress sagged and the pillows were lumpy. But I never said anything about a new bed."

Once again I took a deep breath and forced myself not to over-react. I finally asked, "So I'm supposed to just sleep on that pile of pillows? That's supposed to be better than a proper bed?"

Not only was my bed missing but so was the bedside table. Instead the room was filled wall-to-wall with soft cushions and pillows, enough of them that the pile was about waist-high in the middle. The pillows were an assortment of pastel colours, like pinks and whites and oranges and reds, which reminded me of that big bouquet of flowers from this afternoon at work. And finally the bedroom walls were all draped with curtains, in the same pastel colours. 

"Yeah!" the genie nodded happily. "They're all made of silk and filled with the softest down. It's super comfy, and great for cuddling! And don't worry about blankets, if you get cold you just burrow down into the pillows. Or you can pile them up and make a fort, which is kind of fun even if you're not cold! And actually don't even worry about being cold anyways, because I can control the temperature with magic so it's always perfect."

I frowned as I continued staring into the room, until I finally noticed what else was missing. Not only had my bed and bedside table disappeared, but my dresser was missing too. Then it hit me, even the closet was gone. That corner was now home to a mountain of plushies, in all shapes and sizes and colours.

"Jenna," I frowned as I turned towards her. "What did you do with all my clothes? You remember I said I have to work in the morning, right? It's a big day and I can't afford to have anything go wrong. Including my wardrobe!"

My tone got a little harder and my voice a little louder as I added, "And what happened to my phone charger? And the book I was reading? Where is all my stuff?!"

She was cringing again by that point, and slowly raised up her big plush pony until her face was completely hidden behind it again. 

The genie sounded like she was pouting as she responded quietly from behind her big pony, "I can just poof your clothes on and off whenever you want. Any outfit, any style, any time. No need to waste precious bedroom space on boring closets and dressers. And when I poof clothes on you they're always clean, so you don't have to worry about doing laundry anymore."

Her voice got even quieter as she added, "And I had to get rid of the closet, because it was in the way of Mount Plushmore..."

"What about the rest of my stuff?" I half-demanded as I tried not to get too loud or too angry with the genie. "My phone charger, my book, and everything else I had in my bedside table?"

Jenna mumbled, "It's all still there. In the corner, under the pillows."

"I'm sorry Vikki," she added softly. "I was only trying to help, and I thought it would be fun. If you really don't like it though, I can turn it all back to normal."

It was almost hard to hear her since it sounded like she was talking directly into the side of that huge pony plushie she was still hiding behind. The sadness in her voice came through loud and clear though, and it was enough to leave me worried she was about to burst into tears. 

I sighed, "Sorry for raising my voice Jenna. I'm just surprised, ok? I didn't expect any of this. And I'm under a lot of pressure with work, I have a big open house tomorrow and really needed a quiet peaceful night to prepare for it."

She didn't respond, so after a few seconds I decided to try and get her talking again. I asked, "Why pillows instead of a bed?"

"I thought it'd be more fun," she mumbled into the side of the big pink plushie. "Like a sleepover or a slumber party? And the pillows really are comfy, honest."

After a second or two she added softly, "This is kind of like how I slept when I was trapped in the flask. Or before that it was a bottle. And before that it was a lantern. This was what my bedroom was like in all of my prisons."

"Oh," I frowned as a faint sense of guilt started to settle in my stomach, alongside the fantastic meal she made for me earlier. "I'd have thought you wouldn't want to be reminded of those experiences? I mean, being trapped or imprisoned like that."

Jenna shrugged slightly as she remained mostly hidden behind her plush pony. She mumbled, "Like I said, it's really comfy. And I guess it's familiar? Those were the only homes I ever had."

"Except now I'm free so I don't have anywhere like that anymore," she added softly. 

That's when it dawned on me that it was my fault she didn't have anywhere else to go. I was positive she was still happy to be free, but when she was stuck doing the genie thing she never had to worry about where to live or what to do. 

Being free didn't give her the opportunity to make those sorts of decisions for herself, it meant she absolutely had to make them. And odds were Jenna had no experience with that sort of thing.

On top of all that it also occurred to me that she might not have any family or friends, there might not be anyone else for her to turn to. So as the last person who was nice to her and the one who freed her, of course she came back to me. The more I thought about it the more her situation reminded me of those stories and TV shows where someone saves a stranger's life then ends up having to take them in and look after them. 

I finally took a deep breath then waded into the pillow-filled bedroom as I said, "I guess I should at least give it a try, right? Especially if it's as comfortable as you say."

The genie peaked out from behind her big pink pony plushie and watched as I awkwardly sat down on the pile of pillows. It was a strange sensation as I sank down a little. They were incredibly soft, but in a way it also reminded me a little of a children's ball pit. Only filled with soft fluffy pillows and plushies instead of hard plastic balls.

Once I was settled I looked to Jenna and asked, "Are you coming in too?"

She was still standing in the doorway, but nodded and slowly followed me into the bedroom. Where I'd carefully sat myself down she just sort of twisted and flopped over onto the pillows next to me. She ended up laying on her back about an arm's length away, with her pony plushie ontop of her.

"Are you sure you're ok with this Vikki?" she asked quietly. "I don't want you to be uncomfortable. And I don't want you to be mad at me."

I grimaced slightly, "I'm not mad at you Jenna, I promise. Like I said, it was a surprise. I'm not used to magic the way you are. And I've been stressed about work."

The genie nodded slowly. Then after a pause she asked, "So what do you think of the pillows? Comfy, right?"

"I'm still getting used to them," I replied. 

I shifted around so I was on my side facing her, but the motion made me sink a little deeper. On the other hand the deeper I sank the more comfortable I got, so I wriggled around a little more until I was half-buried in pillows.

"Actually," I smiled, "This is pretty comfy, now that I'm getting the hang of it."

Jenna turned to face me and gave me a hopeful smile, "So you like it? Does that mean we can keep it like this?"

I hesitated briefly before answering, "Let's see how I feel in the morning, ok? I'm willing to give it a fair try, but I'd rather not make any promises yet."

"To be honest Jenna," I added with another slight grimace, "All this is going to take me some time to get used to? And we're going to have to talk, maybe on Sunday? I don't want you to worry or panic, but I don't know if you can stay here long-term?"

"It'd be different if I had a guest room," I added. "Then you could have your own space and fill it with pillows and plushies or whatever else you wanted. My apartment really isn't big enough for two people though? And the landlord might give me a hard time if he finds out I've suddenly got a roommate."

The genie frowned as she hugged her big plushie a little tighter. After a few seconds she asked, "You're a house salesperson right? That's your job, selling houses?"

"That's right," I nodded. "It's called a real estate agent, or a realtor."

She asked, "So how come you live in a tiny apartment? Can't you just take a spare house out of inventory and live in that? Or do you get an employee discount? Maybe you could buy one? Or get it on layaway? I could help."

I couldn't help smiling, "It doesn't work quite like that, unfortunately. Houses are very expensive and I can't afford one. Not yet anyways."

"You could always fix that with a wish," she responded with a hopeful look on her face. "Wish for money, so you can afford a house. Or skip the money part and just wish for your own house?"

That made me grimace again, "I'm not sure I'd be comfortable doing that Jenna, I'm sorry. Maybe someday? But not yet. Like I said, I'm not used to magic the way you are."

She frowned, "Is it because you don't trust me? I promised I wouldn't twist your wishes around or turn them against you. And that was before you freed me. I'd never do anything to hurt you Vikki, you're my very first friend."

"All I want is to help you and make you happy," she added softly.

Hearing that left me with another pang of emotions. I quietly asked, "You've never had a friend before?"

Jenna turned onto her side to face me while she balanced that big pink pony ontop of herself. We were still only about an arm's length apart as she slowly shook her head, "I had masters, and sometimes mistresses. Most people just used their wishes as fast as they could, so I only had a few hours with them before I ended up back in my prison again. Even the ones who took their time didn't really want to know me. Nobody ever asked or cared what my name was, they weren't really interested in me. They only cared about what I could do for them with my magic."

"I'm sorry Jenna," I sighed. "That sounds terrible and lonely. How long did you live like that, do you know? And do you know why you were imprisoned in the first place?"

She shrugged, "I don't think there was any specific reason for it? I think it's just a genie thing. Like that's what we are, it's what we do. As for how long... That depends how you count it I guess?"

"My first master was a mercenary who worked for some caliphate," the genie continued in a quiet voice. "He found my lamp during a battle near Toledo. That was probably around seven-fifty CE? Since then I've had two hundred and seventy-one other masters and mistresses, but like I said most of them used their wishes really fast? The longest time I spent outside my prison was about three weeks, but usually it was a day or less for each one."

"So if you're counting by how much time I've spent out of my prison I'm just over a year old, maybe a year and a half? And I didn't really have a chance to go out and explore stuff until you freed me two weeks ago," she sighed.

I was completely lost for words as I stared at her. My emotions were all over the place and I probably had a look of shock on my face as it all sank in. 

It took me a full minute before I managed to respond, "Jenna I'm so sorry. I can't even imagine what that must have been like for you, but I want to help make things better for you. I want to help you make up for all the time you lost and the experiences you missed out on."

"Thanks Vikki," she replied as she gave me a sad smile. "You've already done so much though, just by freeing me so I could go do all the fun things I've heard about. I'd hate to think I was taking advantage of you."

I reached out and took one of her hands into mine and gave it a gentle squeeze. "You're not taking advantage Jenna, not when I'm offering. And honestly I feel sort of the same way about your magic? I don't want to take advantage of you, especially now that I know your whole life up until now has been about people using you."

Her eyes widened as I held her hand, and she bit her lower lip as the two of us stared at each other for the next minute or so. 

Eventually a little smile formed on her lips and she responded, "But if I offer, then it's not taking advantage. Right? That's what you said."

I felt my cheeks heating up as I realized she got me there. I grimaced slightly, "Maybe? The difference is you've been forced to do that all your life, so even if you're offering it feels like that's continuing a pattern? And like I said before, I'm still a little uncomfortable with magic."

"Anyways," I added as I gave her hand another gentle squeeze, "We can talk more about this later ok? Maybe on Sunday? I still have that big open house to take care of tomorrow, so I should try and get a good night's sleep tonight."

Jenna nodded slowly, "Ok Vikki. Thank you for being my friend, and thank you for letting me stay here with you."

"You're welcome Jenna," I replied with a friendly smile. "Thank you for dinner, and thanks for filling my bedroom with comfy pillows."

"Except now one of us has to get up to turn out the lights," I added with a little sigh.

The genie grinned, "Oh! No we don't! Check it out!"

She pulled her hand free of mine then clapped twice, and just like that all the lights in the apartment went out.

"Thanks Jenna," I smiled in the darkness. "I guess magic can be really convenient sometimes."

She suppressed a laugh as she replied, "That wasn't magic, not really. It's a cool invention I found out about two masters ago? They call it 'The Clapper'. You know, Clap-On, Clap-Off? There were lots of commercials on TV."

"I'll take your word for it," I told her. "Good night Jenna."

"Good night Vikki," she replied happily.

*** This chapter is brought to you courtesy of Meg, who commissioned it! ***