The W Word - Part 2

            It had been almost three weeks since David had opened the book. While he managed to stay wish free, his life was still less than tranquil. Living with Devlin was like living with all of the obnoxious traits of his ex-boyfriends made corporeal. Although not as corporeal as David would have liked, since Devlin was able to dematerialize at will. Otherwise David would have drowned him by now. Devlin went through David’s things while he was at work and changed them for his own amusement. He fused the pages in David’s unused notebooks so they were essentially particle board. He straightened all the paperclips and even the plastic clothes hangers. He made the toaster shoot projectiles hard enough to make bread disintegrate on the ceiling. He changed the paint in the rooms and the furniture almost daily. David had lived alone so long he had gotten used to having things a certain way—his way and all this constant change was starting to make him feel ill.

            When confronted Devlin just smiled and offered to fix everything with wishes, although more and more subtly due to David’s rising ire over the subject. If it wasn’t for the amazing night time activities David would have said Devlin had no redeeming qualities at all. David looked forward to the peace and quiet when he was finally Jinn-free.

Today David had been sitting in the car for almost ten minutes before he could will himself to enter his house. He never knew what to expect when he returned from work. Devlin would be dressed in some random style that had a variable effect on David’s libido. Where the clothes came from was a mystery. It was possible they were only illusions since David never saw them left strewn about the house, unlike everything else Devlin tampered with. He was always eager to make use of David’s possessions and afterward he was equally eager to display the havoc he had wreaked. The only rule David had gotten Devlin to agree to was to leave his study alone. Devlin heeded this boundary to the best of his ability, notebooks and paperclips notwithstanding.

           

            Once inside, David was surprised to hear Devlin talking on the land line. He was speaking in a language David didn’t understand although it sounded familiar. David couldn’t imagine any reasons why he would be on the phone.

           

“Looks like David’s home,” Devlin said switching to English. “I’ll call you back later… have fun with the anacondas… cobras, right. Bye.” Devlin turned to greet David. “That was my friend Raj, he’s a jinni as well.”

            “What language was that?”

            “Sort of a blend of Hindi, Marathi and English. He’s in Mumbai at the moment. I’m surprised you didn’t recognize the languages since they are human ones after all.”

            Sometimes David just wanted to smack him. “There are an incredible number of human languages—did you call him in Mumbai? Internationally?” David didn’t know how much calls to India cost, but if calling Cambodia was more than two dollars a minute, there was a risk it could be just as bad.

            “That would be the only way to do it,” Devlin said as if David was daft.

             David pulled Devlin bodily from the chair.

           

            “How long were you on the phone?”

            “Maybe an hour? Maybe two?”

            “Do you have any idea how much that will cost?”

            “You could always wish for more money.” The jinni tilted his head back so that he could look down his nose at the taller man.

            “We have discussed my feelings on that and I don’t want you bringing it up again.”         

           

            “Or you’ll do what exactly?”

            David closed his eyes and took several deep, calming breaths. “I’m amazed you haven’t blinked away already,” David said.

            “I’ve always had a weakness for a good manhandling. But I’ll ‘blink’ as you say, if you try to go too far.”

            If I go too far? David barely managed not to do just that. Devlin was an infuriating creature. One moment alluring the next aggravating and always perplexing. It felt like he was living with an unruly teenager more often than a zillion year old jinni. Or the “spreader of dreams and happiness” or whatever the Hell Devlin claimed he was.

            David released him with a sigh. Even if he had the phone lines turned off, Devlin would probably just twitch his nose and make them come back on again. “Please let me get you a calling card before you make any more international calls, all right?” David said, seeing no other choice.

            “If you wish—” Devlin stepped back in alarm. “It’s just an expression! Don’t be so jumpy.”

            David decided he needed a drink, a habit that was becoming less socially oriented the longer Devlin stayed. “So how many Jinn are there?” David asked in a reluctant attempt to be friendly.

            “I only keep in contact with a few, but there are thousands of us. That’s why we erase the memories of those that are lucky enough to meet us, otherwise we would be too widely known.”

            Lucky? David resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

           

            “Makes sense,” David said. “What with all the flitting from person to person, week to week. Speaking of which, haven’t you been here a lot longer than is normal for you?”

            “Don’t be cross. I’m just not sick of you yet, plus I’ve barely granted any of your wishes—which I’m not talking about, don’t get upset,” Devlin said, quickly raising his hands as if to ward off David’s wrath.

David said nothing.

“I can tell you’re in a bad mood. Is there anything I can do to make the phone call thing up to you? I give great back massages.”

            “With you it would turn into a front massage.”

            “Would that be so bad?”

            David made no response but he allowed himself to be led over to the sofa. His shoulders were incredibly tense and there was no mystery as to why. If he wasn’t going to be able to get rid of Devlin just yet, then he may as well get something out of the situation.

* * *

            The next day when David returned home from work, Devlin was sprawled in front of the TV watching some show with an intensity that was difficult to break. He barely looked up when David greeted him and handed him the calling card. David didn’t think he was listening when he told him how many minutes he had and how it worked, but Devlin nodded anyway before slipping the card into his blue and black plaid pajama bottoms. Today Devlin didn’t appear to be putting much effort into his appearance, unless he was going for the don’t-have-a-job, eat-all-your-food and play-video-games-all-day boyfriend look. He was wearing no shoes and a black t-shirt that said “I want to be naughty.” It wasn’t like he needed to try.

            In a way David was glad the jinni was so preoccupied, he needed to unwind by himself for a while. He went upstairs to his study to spend time with his book collection, something he hadn’t felt like doing since the place had developed certain negative associations.

            The book that was responsible for everything was gone. David assumed Devlin had hidden it somewhere and he was fine with that. He was relieved not to have to look at it. In his opinion it was the literary version of an STD that he was unlucky enough to catch. David wanted to focus his attention on something more pleasant.

            Just a few months before, David had located a very rare book that had been one of his favorites as a child. It was a collection of nursery rhymes that had belonged to his great grandfather and then was passed down to his Uncle Justin. He had loved to read it as a child, but when his Uncle’s house flooded he thought it was among the many things that had been destroyed. He had never been able to procure another copy. Then when he had been helping his mother clean out her storage shed and he had found the copy he had thought lost. Unfortunately it had not been handled with care and the humidity in the shed had caused significant damage from mildew. David had been slowly restoring it, but some of the repairs he had to do were extensive.

            “I worry that fixing you is going to be beyond my abilities. I wish I could make you good as new again,” David said to the book.

            The moment the “w” word was out of his mouth, David's skin became very, very cold. Maybe it wouldn’t count since Devlin wasn’t in hearing range. David whispered a prayer.

            The book faded away before his eyes.

            “No,” David said, staring at where it used to be. “No,” he said again. This was impossible. It was too much. How many more things would be destroyed? The longer the jinni stayed the more losses he would have. It was inevitable when a single word held so much power.

            David stood up nearly knocking his chair to the floor. Clenching his fists he stormed downstairs to confront the person responsible for all this.

            Devlin was no longer absorbed by the television but was instead deeply immersed in a phone call.

            “If I wanted to get rid of him,” Devlin said into the phone, “I’d just convince him to wish to be happy for the rest of his life, then hand him a puppy and shoot him in the head.” Devlin laughed as if he was proud of his joke. “Of course the rules ruin everything… Seriously though, I like it here. I’m not going to let him sign me away in my book anytime soon…Better luck than you apparently…That’s disgusting…” Devlin prattled on, oblivious to David’s approach. For some one as long lived as a jinni, David would have assumed he would have been more aware.

            “Devlin—we need to talk,” David said.

            “Oh… wait. Sorry to stop you but he needs me… right… duty calls… bye.” Devlin clicked the phone off and smiled at David. “Another jinni, Eric in Norway, but I remembered to use the card.”

            David said nothing and after a moment Devlin’s expression faltered. “Is something wrong?” Devlin asked.

            “This isn’t working out. I think it’s time you moved on,” David said. Devlin appeared stunned.

“Everything was fine an hour ago.”

            “And now everything is different. How do I transfer you to someone else? As much as I don’t want to inflict that on another man, I can only hope he’ll be wiser than I was.”

            “Did I do something to make you angry? I thought it was okay to make calls as long as I used the card—”

            “It’s not the phone call.”

            “Then what is it? I thought you enjoyed my company?” Devlin said, sounding defensive.

            “It’s too dangerous to have you here. One slip of the tongue and I could be handed a puppy and shot in the head.”

            Devlin froze. “So you heard that. It was just a joke, a bad one. I'm not allowed to cause harm, I promise. There are Jinn that can do terrible things, mayhem, mass slaughter, truly impressive stuff, but I’m not of that level. So I have restrictions that prevent me from seriously hurting anyone. Even indirectly, I swear, no loop holes on that one.”

            “But you do cause harm, just not the physical kind,” David said quietly.

            “I can make this up to you, whatever it is that’s bothering you—”

            “Do you honestly not know what happened?”

            “When?”

            “The wish.”

           

            “You made a wish? What was it—no wait, I can check myself…” Devlin closed his eyes, his brow furrowed in concentration. “A book—sent back in time to when it was first printed.” He opened his eyes. “Is that the problem?”

            “Can you bring it back?”

            “No. You could wish for a different copy though.”

            “It won’t work.”

            “We could try.”

            “No, I want you gone.”

            “But it was just a book!”

            “You can’t change my mind.”

            Devlin glared at him for a moment before he responded.

            “I’ll leave when I want to and you’ll regret that you even asked me to go.”

            “Is that a threat?” David asked.

            “No, you’re going to change your mind is all.” Devlin crossed his arms stubbornly.

            “What are you planning to do? Are you going to force me to want you to stay in the same way you imprisoned me in my bed a few weeks ago?”

            Devlin dropped his gaze from David and begin picking at the fibers on his pajama pants. “It’s not like that at all.”

            David didn’t know if Devlin was lying or if he was trying to protect his wounded ego. He was beyond the point of caring, it wasn’t like he could do anything about either scenario.

            “I’m going to bed. You can sleep down here on the couch.”

            David walked away without waiting for a response. He spent the rest of the night walled away in his room. Unwilling to risk running in to Devlin, he didn’t bother to go down stairs even to make himself dinner. He went to bed early when he became sick of killing time.

            David had a difficult time falling asleep, which was the opposite of what he had expected. It was almost as if his bed was too quiet, too peaceful and too…empty.

* * *

            Devlin was still asleep on the couch when David came down stairs to get ready for work. He decided to get breakfast on the way rather than lingering. But there was one thing he wanted to try before he left.

During Devlin's call to Norway, David had overheard him say something about being “signed away.” He suspected all he had to do was write something specific in that book of Devlin’s and he would be able to hand him over to the next unlucky man. He might just drop it off in an adult bookstore and leave it to fate. All he had to do was get a hold of the book again.

After a night of very little sleep but plenty of time to think, David had come up with two ways to achieve this goal. The first was to simply find it. But since Devlin most likely used magic to hide it, that was probably impossible. The second was to convince Devlin to give it to him. David had an excellent plan to make Devlin do just that.

            Devlin seemed to be unaware of wishes made when he was not paying attention to them. Since he was sound asleep, David hoped this wish would also go undetected.

The hair on the back of his neck prickled as he whispered the words. He suspected though that this time, if the words did end up having the worst possible outcome, he wouldn’t be the one to take the brunt of it.

* * *

It was around eleven o’clock when Devlin called.

            “David, I need you to come home. Something’s wrong.”

            “I can’t. I’m at work,” David said, trying not to sound smug, but it was difficult. “I’ll be home by five forty-five, maybe six if traffic is bad.”

            “It’s an emergency. I need you to come home now.”

            “Why? Did something happen to the house?”

            “No, that’s fine. It’s me, something is wrong with me. I need your help.”

            “What’s wrong with you?”

            “Something happened to my powers. I woke up and my clothes had disappeared. I tried to conjure more but nothing happened.”

            “Are you still naked?” David asked, momentarily distracted by the image. He glanced around to make sure none of his coworkers were listening to his conversation.

            “This is serious—I think maybe I used too much magic. I’ve never stayed in one place so long before and I—maybe I used it all up.” The pain in Devlin’s voice caused David to wince, but only a little.

            “Well just take it easy and give yourself some time to recharge.”

            “Please come home now—without my powers…”

            “Devlin—”

            “Please.”

            “I can stop by on my lunch hour,” David said, almost unaware the words were leaving his mouth. “But then I’ll have to go back. I can be home in about an hour and fifteen minutes.” David was horrified by what he heard himself say. He absolutely, under no circumstances wanted to go home when Devlin was likely to discover at any moment why his powers were missing.

            “I can’t wait that long,” Devlin said, obviously unaware of just how much David hadn’t wanted to make that concession.

            David took a slow calming breath before he said, “Devlin, are you able to blink without your powers?”

            “No, I can’t do anything,” Devlin said very slowly as if that would help with David’s comprehension.

            “Then don’t provoke me.”

            “Fine,” Devlin said in a way that implied that it wasn’t.

            “I’ll see you soon,” David said and hung up the phone.

* * *

            When David arrived his resolve to get revenge was almost undone by Devlin’s appearance. David had braced himself for warfare as he entered his home. He expected insolence, hysterics and mayhem and could have handled any or all of those. He was completely unprepared for the onslaught of vulnerability that Devlin extruded. Devlin had found some of David’s clothes to wear. A blue long sleeve shirt draped over his frame and David’s pants had to be tightly belted. His feet were bare and the overall effect made him look like he was still in his teens. Instead of posturing and flirting like he usually did, he immediately flung himself into David's arms.

            “Thank you for coming back,” Devlin said.

            David was too thrown by Devlin's behavior to respond for a moment, he simply stood there and held him. He absently noticed Devlin smelled like his favorite aftershave, although it was just a little different, as it always was on another man. He liked it. “Have you eaten?” David said, changing the subject.

            Devlin shook his head. “I always used my spells to make food.”

            “Come in the kitchen with me, I’ll make us sandwiches,” David offered. Devlin shrugged noncommittally, but he followed David into the kitchen.

            David quickly made a sandwich for each of them and they sat down at the table to eat. Despite having eaten nothing all day, Devlin barely picked at his. He looked so forlorn it was almost hard to remember what terrible things he was capable of.

            “I don’t know what happened,” Devlin said. “I was fine last night and then this morning everything was changed.”

            “Did something happen right before you lost your powers? Anything unusual?” David asked trying to keep his tone neutral.

            “How would I know? I was asleep,” Devlin said as if he was amazed at David’s stupidity. Sometimes David wasn’t sure why he tried.

            “I’m sure it will be okay,” David said lamely. “Hurry up and eat. I need to get back to work. It’s a fifteen minute drive.”

            Devlin dropped the piece of crust he had been peeling off the sandwich as if he'd been jolted. “You can’t—I can’t do this alone—”

            “You’ll be all right,” David said. “It’s just a few hours. I’ve been magic-free my whole life and I’m fine.”

            “Don’t you dare leave me alone.”

            “I don’t have a choice. Now eat so I can put your plate away.”

            “If you leave me here I will break every plate in your kitchen.”

            “And then when I get home I will break every bone in your body.”

            Devlin stared at David long and hard. Then he walked over to the cabinet, took out one of David’s new plates and smashed it on the kitchen tiles. He turned to reach for a second plate, but was prevented from creating any more destruction by David’s vice like hand on his wrist.

            “That’s it—I’ve had it with you breaking crap,” David said.

           

Devlin pulled and twisted in an attempt to free himself while David dragged him over to the kitchen chairs. David yanked one of them away from the table to give himself plenty of room before sitting down in it. 

David pulled Devlin in close, preventing him from breaking away. “Stop it—” Devlin said as he clamped his hands over the belt buckle that the other man’s fingers were deftly undoing.

“David no—what’re you doing?” Devlin asked, although both of them knew exactly what David was doing.

            David didn’t waste time coaxing Devlin into position. Instead he flipped Devlin face down over his lap. The too big pants were easily pushed off to lie in a heap on the floor.

            He brought his palm down hard on the jinni’s exposed backside. He’d thought about doing this for weeks, although it hadn’t been part of his plans when he temporarily took away Devlin’s powers. Devlin jerked at the impact, his mouth forming a surprised “ow.”  

            “David you can’t—” Devlin’s words were cut off by an even harder swat. “Ah—you’re hurting me—”

            “Good. You’ve needed a serious spanking since the day we met.” David brought his palm down again and again causing Devlin to writhe and squirm more with each blow.

            “Stop. Stop. Stop.” Devlin stammered out like it was some kind of mantra. He flung his hand back in an attempt to save even a few inches of his skin from pain, but David pinned his arm behind his back before it could do much good.

            “Don’t think you’re getting out of this. Not after all you’ve done.”

            “It was just one plate!”

            David laughed. “It was a lot more than one plate. The threats, the manipulation, the—”

            “How else was I supposed to get you to stay?” Devlin was starting to sound breathless, from his struggles and the gasps that were coming with an increasing frequency.

            “You. Can’t. Make. Me. Stay.” David said punctuating his words with firm, steady strokes.

            “Okay…I made a mistake…I’m sorry!”

            David ignored him.

            “I gave in! What more do you want?”

            Devlin’s attempts to reason his way off David’s lap steadily dissolved into pleas. David was relentless however, thoroughly warming every inch of Devlin’s bottom regardless of how Devlin begged for him to stop.

            When David decided Devlin had received enough, he stood the distraught jinni back on his feet. Scooping up the discarded trousers he deposited both them and Devlin on the living room couch. There he left Devlin to get control of his emotions and put his clothing back into place.

            Once David had walked far enough away to make a phone call and have his conversation be private, he called in to work. He never had intended to give in on that issue, but there was no longer enough time to get back before his lunch break was over.

            It took considerable effort to return to where Devlin was. Tantrums he could handle, but the aftermath made David feel unsure of himself.  He found all types of emotional distress equally intimidating and it was safe to assume Devlin was experiencing more than one.

There wasn’t a lot of room on the sofa so David hovered in the doorway. This room was where most of their uncomfortable conversations had taken place. David braced himself for another one.

            “Why don’t we watch TV for a while?” David asked.

“I thought you had to go back to work,” Devlin said, his voice thick.

David cautiously took a seat next to Devlin. “What’s that show you like called?”

Devlin didn’t look at him, but he mumbled the name. After a few minutes of searching David was able to find it in their list of TV series.

They sat side by side but not touching. Cautiously David put his arm around the other man. He was surprised when Devlin leaned into him instead of away.

            Not having watched the show before, it was hard for David to follow the plot. Despite this, he found he enjoyed just sitting next to Devlin and watching TV since it was a distraction from all the recent turmoil. David knew it wouldn’t last, but that didn't make it less pleasant now. When the second episode was over David managed to talk Devlin into letting him make him another sandwich, since the first one was now questionably old. When Devlin finished eating he twisted around so that his head could rest in David’s lap. It was the first time they had been in such close contact without it being sexual. David absently played with the dark red hair.

            “David?” Devlin said after a while.

            “Hm?”

            “I wish I still had my powers, obviously, but since I don’t...I’m glad it’s you I’m stuck with.”

            David snorted. “After what I just did to you?”

            Devlin shrugged and fixed his amber eyes on David. “I really like you. That’s why I stayed so long.”

            “I thought it was to drive me crazy,” David said, sidestepping the conversation.

            Devlin gave him a lopsided grin that made David’s pulse quicken. “That part’s just in my nature.”

            Devlin slowly touched his lips to David’s. David tasted the warmth of his soft mouth and felt the slight scratch of stubble. He brought his hand up to gently touch Devlin’s face causing Devlin to respond by closing his eyes. David believed Devlin meant what he'd said.

            It would be cruel to withhold the truth about what he had done from Devlin any longer. David knew that, but when it came to Devlin he had a tendency to make the wrong decision. This would be no exception.

They made love on the couch. It wasn’t nearly the spectacle of debauchery they had most nights, but it possessed more sincerity. David felt like Devlin was attempting to drink him in with all his senses. It left David feeling intoxicated.

            That night in bed, David nestled in close to Devlin. Tomorrow would be Saturday and he would have all day to explain what he’d done. He wasn’t looking forward to it. Devlin would be angry and the truce between them would end. In a way David was grateful that he would lose all memories of Devlin once the book was gone. Otherwise there might be some things he would regret.

* * *

            A torrent of ice cold water struck David’s face, shocking him awake. He lurched out of the saturated covers while the freezing water ran down his neck and shoulders.

            Devlin set the empty glass down on the night stand.

“Now that you’re awake, would you care to explain this?”

            Devlin held out his book to David. Any outrage David may have harbored over his method of waking quickly drained away. Devlin flipped through the pages which were previously blank, but now were covered in writing. He stopped and pointed at the last entry.

            “I was going to tell you this morning,” David said.

            “Why did you do this to me?”

            “I just—Devlin I’m sorry.”

            “Why?”

“I wanted to teach you a lesson.” The words sounded condescending even to David’s ears.

            “How nice of you,” Devlin said his voice rough. “I thought I lost everything. I completely fell to pieces and you just—let me.”

            “I wasn’t trying to be cruel. I just wanted you to know what it felt like to be on the wrong end of a bad wish.”

            “Except I didn’t even know it was a wish. Were you planning to leave me like this forever?”

            “No, of course not, just until you agreed to…” David didn’t want to finish the sentence. Now that he no longer had to worry about the wishes he didn’t really object to Devlin’s presence.

            “Agreed to what?”

            “To move on to the next man.” The words sounded harsher than they had when they only lived in David‘s head. They seemed to hang in the air between them for a moment, like a battle line. In that moment David didn’t even want to be on his side.

            Devlin was silent for a long moment.

            “Fine,” Devlin said. David winced at that word knowing it was loaded. “All you have to do is write ‘I wish to give this book away’ in the book then you give it to someone else. Male if you don’t mind. Then you’ll never have to see me again. You won’t even remember I exist,” Devlin said, offering exactly what David had been trying to accomplish for weeks.

            There was a long moment where neither of them spoke. David was the first to break the silence.

            “Do you have a pen?” he asked.

            Devlin shoved the book and the pen at David saying nothing other than a brief admonishment not to get it wet. Writing was made all the more difficult because his arm seemed to have turned to lead. After he wrote them, David stared at the small insignificant looking words for a moment before he handed the book back to Devlin.

            “Now I just have to give it to someone?” David asked, subdued.

            “It didn’t work.”

            “It didn’t?”

            “I shouldn’t be standing here. I should have been drawn into the book. Apparently the wishes don’t work now that I’ve lost my powers.”

            “I could try wishing for your powers back?”

            “Fine.” Devlin didn’t look very hopeful. “Use almost the exact same words you used before. Instead of ‘I wish for Devlin to be unable to work magic’ say ‘I wish for Devlin to be able to work magic.’”

            “How come nothing happens when you say that word?”

            “Natural immunity. Now get on with it.”

            “I wish for Devlin to be able to work magic.”

            Devlin closed his eyes and moved his hand around in the air. It occurred to David that he was writing when he did that, not stitching or conducting.

            “Nothing, try writing it.”

            David did as he was told, but it was no use. The wishes wouldn’t come true without a jinni's power to facilitate it.

            “It’s hopeless,” Devlin said sinking down on the side of the bed. “The magic always takes things in the worst possible way. To rid me of my power it made me human.”

            “Maybe it’s not completely hopeless. I’m sure if we try hard enough we can find a way. Maybe one of your friends will know how.”

            “So now you're stuck with me, after you tried so hard to get rid of me,” Devlin said bitterly.

            “I don’t know, I think I could get used to it.”

            “Wonderful.”

            “No, I’m serious. I kind of regretted trying to get rid of you when it came time to sign you away.”

            “Kind of?” Devlin said as he studied David, waiting for his response.

            “Okay, completely. I would have missed you.”

            “That’s a start,” Devlin said turning away to hide his smile. David caught just enough of it to boost his confidence. He knew Devlin would take a while to forgive him, but the smile gave him hope. As much as he hated the idea he would even try to help Devlin get his powers back. In the meantime they did have great physical chemistry that David planned to exploit in his mission to get Devlin back on friendly terms. David tried to pull Devlin towards him, planning on kissing him thoroughly, but Devlin managed to dodge his reaching hand.

            “Make me breakfast and I’ll work on thinking up ways for you to make it up to me,” Devlin said starting to move towards the kitchen. “Then maybe I’ll only torture you a little when I finally get my powers back.”

            David laughed. “How very generous of you.”

            As they made their way to the kitchen Devlin added, “I guess you’ll have to buy me a car, since I’m going to be staying in this world and all.”

            “And I guess you’ll have to get a job.”

            David laughed at Devlin’s expression before ducking into the kitchen to avoid any sudden projectiles. David suspected he was still going to be replacing a significant number of his things, whether Devlin was human now or not.