A New Nest III
After a moment of pondering your decision and what feels right (and what you feel most comfortable with), you approach the vase and stop before it.
“I think I’d like to speak to Alajeem again,” you say to Akam.
“Very well, Master,” Akam replies.
Akam chants something under his breath that you can’t catch – nor do you really listen, admittedly, for you know you won’t be able to make sense of it anyways – and then, after a moment, there is a bright flash. The vase shakes, and a puff of smoke emanates out from it, which then morphs into the body of Alajeem once again. The djinn yawns dramatically once he is released.
“What’s this?” Alajeem says. He looks about for a moment, then he settles his gaze onto you. “Freeing me again to chat, are we? Am I that much of an entertainment for you, mortal?” He folds his arms. “Or do you wish to continue to rub the fact your ‘friend’ there,” he nods to Akam, “is free and I am not?”
“Oh, don’t start with that nonsense,” Akam says wryly. “Be thankful that Shira isn’t here, or else I would let her tear you down a few pegs, Alajeem.”
Alajeem scoffs. “I’m not afraid of her, nor am I even remotely afraid of you, for that matter, Akam. You’re a child compared to how long I’ve existed, try to remember that fact.” He pauses and snorts. “Shira is younger than me, too, in fact. You ought to show some respect to an elder djinn, even one like me.”
That catches your attention – you were unaware there were actual ages in djinn society, since you thought they’d all come to exist at the same time.
‘Interesting,’ you muse.
Akam merely rolls his eyes in response. “You may tell yourself whatever feels best as an excuse, Alajeem. I’m not here to prattle with you, though.” He nods to you. “My Master wishes to talk to you, and I fulfilled this desire for them.”
There’s a pause. Alajeem’s eyes narrow at Akam.
You look back and forth between them in silence, and you wonder if there’s more going on under the surface between these genies that you don’t know.
“You are far too accepting of a mortal’s whims, Akam,” Alajeem says.
Akam shrugs. “I like them more than you.”
Another beat follows.
“Well then, human?” Alajeem asks you suddenly. “What do you want?”
“I’m sure you overheard our conversation,” you say after a mental moment, as you recall that Alajeem can hear even when he’s in his vase. “Right?”
“I did.” He frowns. “What of it?”
You don’t even bat an eye at the tone Alajeem is using now. You get the sense that there’s a lot working underneath his snarkier, sour exterior – although you also understand that djinn are crafty beings, so, you are basically going out on a proverbial limb in taking anything the djinn says at face value.
“Well,” you reply. “I figured I would throw you a bone by seeing what you yourself wanted, instead of just tossing your vase into any corner I pleased.” You sweep one arm around the shop. “This whole shop is basically filled with places for us to put you, so, I felt that I would ask what you preferred.”
Alajeem furrows his eyebrows together. “What does it matter what I want?”
“Um. Well.” You rub the back of your neck (and damn does it almost feel ‘off’ that you can do that after spending most of the day as an animal). “Why not?”
Akam chuckles and comes to hover beside you. “My Master is considerate, Alajeem.” He puts a friendly hand on your shoulder and smiles at you with an earnest air of fondness. “My Master has what humans would call ‘compassion,’ you see – many mortals are capable of expressing it, which is why you’ve been given a chance to express your voice. Do try to use it wisely, though.”
“I’m not so ill-versed in humans to not know what that word is,” Alajeem says, and his frown deepens. “Yet I fail to see what’s in it for YOU, human, to give me this opportunity. What difference does it make in the end?”
“I suppose nothing,” you reply. “But, I still wanted to try being nice about it.”
“Mm…”
Alajeem’s lips purse. He seems to be perplexed by this, and why he would be perplexed confuses you. You turn to Akam with a questioning expression.
Akam, likely knowing your thoughts, shakes his head. “Alajeem here is struggling to comprehend the notion of ‘being kind’ and expecting nothing in exchange, my dear Master. He’s an old, bitter djinn, as you have no doubt surmised by this point, so you’ll have to forgive him for lacking sense.”
“Oh, shut up,” Alajeem mutters. “There is ALWAYS something more to these types of things – I refuse to believe a mortal would do anything simply because they could.” He eyes you for a moment. “You mortals always desire, even if you don’t realize it. You crave attention, or recognition, or some level of feeling good about yourselves. That’s why you do anything that would benefit someone else; because in your minds, it will also benefit you in some way.”
You frown now. “But that isn’t—”
“Think about it, human,” Alajeem says. His frown softens a small bit, and his gaze becomes… thoughtful? “You go to a store to purchase food – you do this because you need food to survive, thus, it is self-motivated. But, you also exchange currency with your fellow mortals in order to acquire these goods. You pay them, and that money is given to the establishment, which in turn will pay its workers. Thus, their allowance of you to purchase from them works to their advantage, both for the business itself and for all that work there.”
He waves a hand. “They desire money. Money is what matters most to them, because money is what maintains their business, and their business is how they themselves can survive. This is just one example, human, but, it stands true for anything and everything you do. Meaning, I fail to see this act as something that purely offers anything to ME alone. So what do you get, hmm?”
He falls silent now, and seems to half-stare at you questioningly, and yet, given the oddly thoughtful expression you catch, it appears as though he’s also half-pondering to himself at the same time. You’re at a loss for words now.
‘That went… way deeper than I expected it to,’ you think.
“Always trying to make things more difficult for everyone, Alajeem,” Akam says with a sigh. He eyes you, his expression one of mild exasperation. “Apologies for him, Master. Do try not to let his mind games influence you too much – I’ve heard that he is very fond of talking and talking and talking more.”
You nod slowly, but, you don’t respond just yet.
‘Maybe I can figure out a way that will make this easier…’ you think.
Although, at first, you aren’t entirely sure WHAT that could be. You don’t want to come off demanding toward this ancient djinn by any means, yet you also get the sense that, regardless of what you say, he may end up twisting your words around somehow. He strikes you as the sort of being that would do so, if only for his own amusement (or perhaps for legitimate reasons, maybe?).
Then, however, you think of something; if you propose something to Alajeem as a means of an ‘exchange’ somehow, maybe that will fix this situation.
‘I can do it in a way where if he’ll answer some more questions,’ you muse, ‘then in return, I’ll say that he can pick and choose where he wants his vase to go. Almost like a trade, I guess. Maybe doing that will be enough to appease.’
You don’t automatically do that just yet, though, as you also consider that there are probably other ways to deal with this. You can ask Akam for his advice. You can simply tell Alajeem that you’re being sincere and honestly want to know what it is he’d like to do. So, you take a moment to mull over these options – what do you want to do, since you’ve got no pressure to decide?
Choices…
Written by Hollowpages on 02 March 2021
