Chapter Text
Last Wish
It sucks.
It just sucks.
Reki is in soooo much trouble. He is in trouble in multiple ways. And he can’t necessarily ask for help. And it sucks! As a genie bound to a lamp, he is forced to play by certain rules. Only a handful of them he is permitted to disclose to his Master. The list is longer than he can memorize and had to be reminded of pretty much every one when he first was brought from the lamp by Langa. Five hundred years stuck in a lamp, there’s a lot you forget.
At first, Reki figured he’d have no problems. He never had before! Humans were all the same; money, power, knowledge, strength, more money. It was only a matter of time before Langa came to his senses and made his wishes and Reki would be sucked back into the lamp to be given to a new master.
But… Langa is different. Langa is very different.
Langa is… amazing…
But that doesn't mean the rules don’t apply!
1. It was forbidden for genies and their Masters to be in a romantic relationship. But since Langa had wished for it, there was nothing the High Council could do but cross their arms and frown at him.
2. Genies can suggest wishes but could never force a human to make a specific wish. The main example being, wishing their genies free. That was very much against the rules.
3. Genies can’t travel from their lamp for longer than 48 hours. It took almost all of his magic to travel to Istanbul for as long as he did. He wasn’t particularly keen on doing that again for multiple reasons.
There are many others but the two that are sucking the most currently are the time restriction guidelines: The genie must grant their Master’s wishes within a year's time or the bangles that bind them to the lamp constrict to the point of losing their hands, leaving them permanently disfigured and without magic. And their Master can never know this rule.
It has been 11 months and 3 weeks since Langa gained possession of his lamp.
“This has gone on long enough!” The mighty green genie Kojiro scolds.
Reki shrinks where he sits on his knees, under the gaze of the council. The massive smoking figures summoned him to the lamp for what ended up being a lecture.
“We should’ve intervened,” Kaoru shakes his head, his long pink hair tied in a loose ponytail that flutters in disapproval. “This power dynamic is the exact situation we were trying to avoid when creating the rules.”
“It’s too late now!” Hiromi throws a hand up, his face deceivingly neutral. “Reki’s Master has to make his final wish. Or Reki’s bangles will…” He can’t even finish without getting choked up. The orange genie put on a hard front but he was soft underneath.
Oka sits silently behind the other genies, his copper colored mist pooling on the mosaic floor. The three lower genies pace and flutter about, arguing amongst each other and firing scolding remarks at Reki who remains on his knees. He knows Oka will have the final say and the others will follow.
Eventually he rises from his throne, “Enough!” He sits back down, sending a wave of copper smoke around the liminal space of Reki’s lamp. “We all know this isn’t ideal. I have some trust in Reki that his master will either make his third wish or free Reki in due time. When that time comes,” He gestures to the surroundings, “We can celebrate in a more fitting location. But playing the ‘wishing things were different’ game has never been our kind’s way.” Oka winks at Reki.
The others sigh and grumble but accept Oka’s resolve to wait it out a little longer.
Oka snaps his finger and his fennec fox companion appears on his lap, the long ears pinned against his head as Oka strokes him. “Reki, do you have any comments to add?”
He hadn’t spoken the whole meeting. Reki had learned that speaking usually dug him a deeper hole so he shook his head ‘no’. The genies gave their goodbyes and good lucks before vanishing into smoke.
When the multicolored smoke settles, Reki releases the breath that was tight in his chest. He shifts to his butt from his knees and sprawls on the cool tile of his lamp’s mosaic floor. As much as he likes his lamp, if he were to be freed and never be back here, he wouldn’t miss it. The vaulted ceiling is draped with elegantly patterned fabrics, most detailed with gold. He spent enough time in here that it felt a little like the padded rooms humans used for the mentally ill.
He couldn’t force Langa to wish for his freedom, and he stopped asking for Langa’s third wish because he didn’t want to grant it and then be forced to leave.
It just reallllly sucks.
With a heavy sigh, Reki stands, kicking the floor cushions as he makes his way to the exit. He just wants to get back to Langa’s bed, to take advantage of the time he had left. With a inhale and a snap, he dissolves into smoke and floats out of the lamp to manifest in the cluttered office he had taken claim. He looks down at his golden harem pants. He never understood why he calls himself the Red Star Genie when his magic always produced so much gold. Figuring it wasn’t worth thinking about, he snaps to exchange them for the loose gray sweatpants he normally sleeps in and hurriedly makes his way back to Langa bed.
Reki stops at the doorway though, Langa sleeping peacefully having a paralyzing effect. His blue hair fans out over the pillowcase as he sleeps, curled in on his side, and the full moon shining through the curtains. Reki has been alive for a long time, like, really long; but he’s only ever been in love a couple times, and none have felt like this. Even though Langa is human, Reki feels like he’s finally found someone who he can trust and feel connected to. Langa restored his faith in humanity and showed him how to love again.
He tries to push all the worry from his mind as he crawls under the blankets and tucks himself against Langa’s back as carefully as possible to avoid waking him.
He is unsuccessful.
“Mmhf, Reki?” Langa hums, pulling Reki’s arm around him as he turns over to face him, his eyes half open. He pulls a little hard on Reki’s wrist which is being constricted by his bangle, he fends off a sharp wince.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you,” Reki tucks the loose strands of hair away from Langa’s face.
“Where’d ya go?” Langa closes his eyes, leaning into Reki’s touch as the single motion becomes continuous petting. Langa’s hair is soft, almost impossibly soft.
“My lamp.”
“Mmmkay,” Langa sighs. He doesn’t pry about Reki’s genie things. His breath starts to even out as he drifts back to sleep, the gentle exhales fall on Reki’s face. “Mm, wait,” Langa’s eyes crack open again, “I had a question.”
“Okay?”
“Do you need to eat?”
“Is it always food with you?” Reki smirks.
“I was jus’ thinkin’,” Langa wiggles a little closer, pressing their foreheads together.
Reki accepts the closeness, squeezing him lightly and scratching gently with his nails on Langa’s bareback. “Ya I need to eat when I’m out of the lamp. But I don’t when I’m locked in it.”
Langa hums in acknowledgement, his ocean blue eyes backing away to study Reki’s response. “What are-,” Langa starts, Reki can see the wheels turning in his mind. “I probably shouldn’t ask, but what are genies, like, made of? Magic?”
“We’re fire spirits.” Reki explains with a smile. “It’s said that genies are made from smokeless fire.”
“Makes sense,” Langa closes his eyes again. “So warm. Always so warm…”
Reki wants to tell him a million more things about genies. About how being bound to a lamp isn’t their normal state. How genies were hunted down and bound to serve humans by Mesopotamian princes. How he was used by the Ottomans during the peak of their empire, passed from one unworthy Master to the next, handing out wishes for wealth and women. How so many genies have been lost in broken or lost lamps. And how he’s most likely lost his family. But he can’t. So he smiles and kisses the sleeping man, hoping that something would change in the next seven days.
It just really fucking sucks.
* * * ~ * * * * * * ~ * * * * * * ~ * * *
“Are you still up to go to Frank's party on Saturday?” Langa asks a couple mornings later as he’s leaving for work. He’s putting on his shoes while juggling his coffee travel mug and messenger bag thrown over one shoulder.
Saturday is four days from now. That would be his last full day. Sudden emotion rises from his stomach, the fire within him always threatening to burn.
“Yeah ‘course.” Reki smiles, holding the door for him.
Langa notices his change in demeanor, his face scrunches up and a hand cups Reki’s chin. “What’s wrong?”
And Reki wants to tell him. He wants to sooo badly! But if he tried, smoke would just pour out. He knows from experience. “I’m fine. It’s fine!”
“They’re all really nice people! Don’t be nervous. And they’re all excited to meet you. I’m sure they are all sick of how much I talk about you at work.”
Oh, Langa thought he was scared of meeting his co-workers. “Thanks, Langa,” He leaned into his human’s hand, turning his head slightly to kiss Langa’s palm.
Langa pulls him into a lingering goodbye kiss, which Reki usually hates but has been savoring these last couple weeks. “Love you,” he says casually. “Don’t get into too much trouble while I’m gone.”
“Love you too,” Reki smiles back. “And no promises!”
Reki is smiling when Langa gets home too. He’s smiling when Langa kisses him longer than usual and walks them back into the bedroom. He smiles snuggling with Langa in their own little bubble. He smiles when he conjures up all of Langa’s favorite meals for dinner with a snap. Even though his arms ache, he’s smiling while holding Langa as they fall asleep.
He’s smiling at the grocery store the next day. Reki winces only a little when Langa squeezes his hand a little too tight as they walk through the produce. He smiles as they take the long way home and stop at a hidden alley decorated with string lights and street art. He smiles as Langa tries on the stupid holographic sunglasses at the smoke shop they find there. He even laughs a little at Langa forgetting the one thing he was meant to do in the kitchen when they get high later that evening.
Reki smiles when Langa refers to him as his boyfriend to his coworker, confirming that they’d be at the event. He wants to scream as the numbness reaches his fingers but he forces a smile at the server’s joke at the restaurant where they are celebrating their one year anniversary of meeting.
And on the day of the party Reki smiles as he kisses Langa good morning after letting him sleep in.
“So what’s the party for again?” Reki rubs his thumb along the ridged coffee mug, not completely feeling the sensation.
“Frank is retiring. He’s one of the district leads. So, like, kinda my boss. But, I don’t really know him.” Langa reaches for a bowl from the cupboards.
“What does retire mean again?”
Langa pauses, figuring out how to best explain the concept to the genie. “It’s basically when you're old enough to survive on the money you had stored so you stop working.”
“Oh right, right!” Reki remembers, “So who do you know that will be there?”
“Oh, um,” Langa pours cereal into his bowl. “Tyler and his girlfriend, Hannah, Kim, Steve, Deven,” he grabs the milk from the fridge and a spoon from the drawer. “Some people from Customer Services. I guess I’m not really sure.”
“Are they nice? Like, are they cool?”
Langa shrugs, taking a bite from his spoon.
Reki narrows his eyebrows a little at him, “What do you mean? Do you spend a lot of time together? Aren’t you friends?”
Langa shrugs again, “I really only talk to them about work.”
Something clicks in Reki’s brain, he’s not sure why it took so long for him to realize. “Langa, do you have other friends?”
Langa takes a bite, looks away and shrugs.
That means that after tomorrow Langa will just have his mother? There’s no one else?
“Langa…” but Reki doesn’t know what to say. He can’t remember the last actual friend he’s had either. But at least Langa wasn’t stuck in a lamp.
“They’re always nice to me, it’ll be fine.” Langa says dismissively.
“Okay,” Reki says equally dismissively.
There’s a heavy pause. Reki focuses on the dirt under his nails, while a creeping tension builds from Langa crunching on his cereal. He sets his spoon down a little more dramatically, the metal clanking on the countertop, as he reaches for a mug from the clean dish rack.
“Okay, what?” Langa asks, a pained expression plastered on his beautiful face. “So I’m not very social. I like being alone.”
“What does that mean? Were you just planning on being alone for your whole life? You seem to enjoy my company! Were you planning on being completely alone before you met me?” Reki’s questions are a little more poignant than Langa must’ve expected. Reki even surprises himself, his stomach turning from the way Langa looks at him.
Langa turns, placing his mug under the Keurig and pushes the button for the coffee to brew with a sigh. The answer must be complicated because Langa just sticks with a quiet, “I don’t know.”
Reki stays quiet, the sound of the Keurig spitting out Langa’s coffee echoes in the kitchen. While there are a million things in Reki’s mind, the most important one is making sure Langa isn’t mad at him. Langa’s form is hunched over the counter, definitely mad at him. Reki didn’t want to fight, he wasn’t allowed to want but that wasn’t the issue here. He slides off the stool and floats over to him, “I just want you to be happy, I’m-” Reki puts his head on Langa’s shoulder. “I love you and I want you to be happy.” Reki’s arms wrap around his waist. “I'm supposed to make you happy.”
Langa’s hands cover Reki’s, he must know what Reki’s getting at. “What happens when I make my third wish?”
Reki feels his heart rate pick up. “I grant it. Then the process starts over, I’ll go back to the lamp.”
“Can I release you again and get three more wishes?”
Reki shakes his head no.
Langa sighs. “Then I don’t wanna ever make my last wish. I wanna stay with you.”
Reki squeezes Langa’s middle as he feels his bangles tighten a fraction. “Okay,” he says quietly.
“Is that allowed?” Langa turns in his arms, his face still red with worry.
“I mean, technically.”
“Ya but I don’t like how you say that? Your face looks all strange!”
“I do not!” Reki nuzzles his face in Langa’s sternum.
“What’s going on with you lately? Is something wrong?”
“I’m fine.”
“I know we’re super close to the anniversary of me releasing you, does it have to do with that?” Langa pulls back to study Reki’s face.
“Nooo… Of course not,” Reki can’t meet his eyes.
“Such a liar!” Langa says, a smile teasing the corner of his lips. “Are you planning something? More baklava?”
Reki’s heart sinks. He prays with all his magic that his face doesn’t show it as he swallows back tears. “Maybe?” Reki smiles. A gut wrenching, tear jerking, wanna scream, pretending not to be dead inside type smile.
Langa notices, (he must!) but he doesn’t say anything. He just pulls Reki in for a tight hug, tight like in any second he could go up in smoke. And in truth, he could.
* * * ~ * * * * * * ~ * * * * * * ~ * * *
Frank apparently is old.
Reki knew retirement was when someone had saved enough money to live without working, but he didn’t realize it took so long. A human’s life is basically over by the time they can actually do what they want! Reki tries to hide his shock as they make their way from the buffet to an empty table, since that was obviously where Langa wanted to stop first.
Langa goes back to fill up a second plate and Reki takes a look around at the other guests. Everyone is clustered in small groups around tables or near the bar, there's a group of middle aged men trying to figure out the karaoke machine, and unfortunately, a spunky blond is making a beeline for him.
“Hiiiii,” she starts when their eyes meet. Her face is overdone with makeup but her eyes are warm, her knee length dress seems too light for the wintery March day. “You must be Langa’s boyfriend! I’m Kim!” Reki stands up and shakes her outstretched hand (as best he could with minimal circulation).
“I’m Reki. Great to meet you,” Reki beams back with as much charm as he can muster. Kim is shorter than he’d realized, but she gives off a large presence. “Langa’s over at the food still.” Reki glances to find Langa arguing over the last slices of brisket with a random coworker.
“That’s okay!” Kim sits at an empty seat at their table. “I wanted to finally meet you!”
“Oh,” Reki swallows, sitting down and straightening his henley over his wrists.
“You’re all Langa talks about, well, besides work stuff and what he’s planning on eating next!” She laughs at her own joke which Reki didn’t even find that funny. “For a while we kinda thought he was making you up!”
She laughs again and Reki fakes a chuckle as best he can and leans back. Jeez, maybe this is why Langa didn’t want to be friends with these people.
“So how did you guys meet?” Kim’s eye contact is a little too intense.
They had already agreed on a fake story. “Oh, we actually went to high school together. I moved here about a year ago and we reconnected as friends first and well, the rest is history.”
“Awe! How lovely!” Kim gave a couple small claps. “I feel like everyone meets online nowadays. Not that there’s anything wrong with that,” Her shoulders bounce expressively as she talks with her hands. “I actually met this really great guy on Bumble but he got transferred to Vancouver and we agreed not to suffer through long distance.”
Reki nods along as Kim continues about her dating life. Reki’s eyes glance down at the cooling BBQ on his plate and he takes a deep breath before grabbing his fork. Success. He takes a bite of baked beans, making an acknowledging hum to Kim who’s now talking about something else entirely.
“Kimmm,” A tall man with pulled back textured hair and honey brown eyes appears from behind Reki and pulls a hand on her shoulder to end her monologue. “You’re gonna scare him off! Hey, I’m Deven.”
Reki shakes his hand too. “Reki, I’m uh- Langa’s boyfriend.” His strength seems weaker.
“So I gotta know,” Deven takes a seat at the last free chair. “What does it take to get Langa out with us?! We’ve been trying for months! Maybe even years! I’m convinced he only came to this because his boss is retiring and we got Cherry Street Grill to cater.”
Reki looks back for Langa, who’s waiting impatiently for the caterer to come back with a new tray of cornbread. “Yeah, the food helps.” Reki looks between the two of them unsure what answer to give them. “I usually have to bribe him with some kind of food when I want to check out a new place.”
Deven and Kim smile back, the skin around Kim’s eyes wrinkling more than Deven’s. “I thought we almost had him at the Christmas party.” Kim’s fist lightly pounds the table.
“There was a Christmas party?” Reki tilts his head. He would’ve liked to have gone to a Christmas party! As far as Reki knew, this was the first gathering they’d been invited to.
“Yep! And the Halloween party and the Canada Day party at High Park! Plus all the happy hour, trivia, and bar hopping events the office tries to organize.” Deven scratches his head thinking of all the events they had been apparently skipping out on. Had Langa just told them they were busy? Why didn’t he want to go? Sure, Kim was a bit of a talker, but these folks seemed nice!
“Hey,” Langa’s soft monotone shakes Reki from his train of thought. He shoots Reki a questioning look. “I ah- see we’ve got visitors.”
Deven and Kim give big exaggerated smiles to their blue-haired co-worker. “Langa! Why have you been keeping Reki from us!? He’s so cute!” Kim reaches over to squeeze Reki’s arm and he gives a sharp exhale, the pain shooting from his hand.
Langa swipes at her to back off. “Ya, I know!” His face blushing a little from the slight admission of affection.
Deven and Kim share a glance and stand up, “Okay! Well, enjoy the food! We’re gonna get some food before you wipe it out. Please stick around, Langa! Don’t just, I don’t know, dine and dash! I think Frank is really happy you made it.” Deven says, giving Langa a light pat on the back as they walk over to the buffet.
Reki pokes a little at his mashed potatoes. His appetite suddenly disappeared. His head swarming with thoughts and his hands buzzing with numbness. Why had they not hung out with them before?
“Sorry ‘bout them,” Langa says, swallowing whatever he was chewing.
Reki looks up and gives a small consoling smile, he feels like he’s been smiling a lot lately. “They seem nice.”
Langa gives a weak grunt in reply, taking a bite of smoked chicken.
“Good food?” Reki already knows the answer.
Langa nods excitedly, his eyes closed tight to savor the taste.
The men working on the karaoke machine have figured out how to play regular music from it, so they deem that a success and head for the bar to celebrate. Maybe they’ll figure out the rest later, but at least there’s some background noise while Reki and Langa eat their food in relative silence. Reki can’t help but notice glances from each clique.
He knows he shouldn’t, but he uses his magic to read their minds. That's not really the right term, just to sense the intention and perception of the person. Read their vibe, if you will. He snaps his fingers under the table and makes sure not to let Langa see how his eyes glow.
~Hard to believe Langa is actually here…
~We should get them to do Karaoke…
~Cute…
~Maybe they’ll finally come to trivia…
Everyone he could sense had good intentions towards them. Which is nice to know no one is secretly homophobic or something. And also nice to know that maybe, after tomorrow, Langa will have support when he needs it. But he’s not gonna think about that! He’s going to get some drinks and do fun stuff with Langa for their last night together.
“I’m gonna get a beer,” Reki stands up, turning to Langa who's still in food heaven. “What do you want?”
“BBQ and beer,” Langa muses lightly. “I’ll take whatever IPA they have. Do you still have my card?”
Reki pats his back pocket and shakes his head. Langa wipes his saucy hand on a napkin and shifts to get his wallet from his back pocket. He hands the whole thing to Reki. “Thank you for not using maaagiiic,” he adds quietly with a sing-song inflection.
Reki’s hand shakes as he takes it, his grip unsure. And Langa's eyes jump to him instantly. “You okay?”
“Ya ‘course,” Reki says as he's already walking away. He’s not okay. But he’s going to do his best.
He gets quick service at the bar. He strikes up a conversation with someone named Tyler who invites him and Langa over for a game night. Reki offers a small, “We’d love that.” After getting his drinks, he has to use all his focus on not dropping the two pints of beer as he walks back to their table.
He sets the glasses down and sits with a sigh. Langa gives him a questioning look, sliding his hand over Reki’s. “Are you sure? I know there’s something you’re not telling me.”
Reki choses to take a long sip of beer instead of answering. “I think there’s a sign up for karaoke, we should get our names in early. Oh! And Tyler wants to have a game night.”
“Reki,” Langa narrows his eyebrow, his blue eyes pleading. “Please.”
“Langa,” Reki looks around, not really wanting to do this in public but also not able to ignore a direct request from his Master. “I can’t-” He slaps his hand over his mouth, the heat of the smoke burns as it rushes up his throat and out his nose.
Langa’s eyes go wide. “What is happening?!” He glances around the room also to see most people either around the bar or in line at the buffet. “Are you sick? Can genies get sick?” He whispers with distress.
Reki feels more panic rising, he’s gonna have to remove himself from the situation. He glances around at the people around and finds the sign for the bathroom. He has never used a bathroom in his life but he knows that it would be more private than an event space with thirty of Langa’s colleagues.
He feels himself mumble, “I’m sorry,” and pretty much runs to the back hallway, stumbling around empty chairs and probably earning glances from whoever heard the clatter.
He’s been in bathrooms before, but not recently. This was cleaner than he remembered them. He curses to himself in the mirror in the dimly lit space. He checks under the stall and finds it unoccupied so he lets himself cough; red smoke and sparks erupt from his lungs. Reki feels immediately better, he sighs as he starts to fan the smoke toward the vent hoping not to set off the fire alarm. It was a good thing it was odorless.
“Reki,” Langa says, holding the swinging door. “Seriously! What is going on?!”
Reki only coughs up more smoke. “I can’t,” he manages.
Langa’s cool hands are cradling his face, he didn’t even realize when he got so close. “Okay okay,” Langa coos. “I got you.”
So they lean on the sink, Langa supporting Reki as he coughs more sparks and smoke. His mind races, trying to find a loophole so he could let Langa know all he needs to do is to wish for his freedom. It seriously wasn’t that hard of a concept but Langa always seemed to not consider it.
“Langa,” Reki pulls away. Langa’s hands travel down Reki’s shoulders and arms to his wrists. Reki winces and gets an idea. “It’s these,” he pulls up his sleeves to show the metal bangles tight on his wrists. The skin around is red and angry, his hands have become a pale color from the lack of circulation.
Langa gasps and gingerly touches the red skin, his eyes focused solely on the genie’s hands. “I don’t understand. You can’t take them off?”
“Genie’s aren’t, ah!” Reki grunts, thinking of how to phrase what he wants to say. “The natural state of a genie isn’t bound to a lamp.”
“Oh,” Langa’s eyes flick to his, the blue looking darker in the low light.
The swinging door behind them opens and they spring apart. A guy in a dark purple button down stops in his tracks upon seeing the two men standing awkwardly by the sink. “Uh, hey, Langa,” the guy tilts his head, confusion clear on his face. “Everything okay?”
“YUP!” Langa quickly turns and pumps bright pink soap in his hand. He then smears it on his white shirt. “A wardrobe malfunction!” He grabs Reki by the shoulder with his clean hand and pushes them toward the door. “Sorry Steve, it’s a big deal since we’re gay and all! Gotta go!”
The swinging door shuts behind them but Langa is still moving, they find an emergency exit and stumble out to the back alley. There is a welcome chill in the air but the alley is dark and full of garbage. Not the perfect place to have this conversation (if he could get words out) but Reki figured it’s better than a public bathroom.
“So I have to make my last wish?” Langa looks small against the brick background, his arms crossed below the soap stain in an attempt to keep warm.
Reki closes his eyes and sighs through his nose, his shoulder slouching. His whole body is fighting itself. He hates that he fell in love with Langa. All the Master’s he’s had before treated him like a slave. It was easy to do whatever they wanted without getting attached. But Langa…
Tears burn his eyes, “I’m so sorry.”
Langa’s eyes are watery too, “How can I fix this? I don’t understand.”
Reki shows his wrists again, hopefully Langa can put the pieces together. “I’m stuck. I’m trapped to the lamp. A thousand years ago, genies were hunted down and bound to lamps to serve humans.”
“I have to free you…” Langa says quietly to himself. “But, then…”
“Then what, Langa!?” Reki’s voice is harsher than he means too.
A tear falls down Langa's cheek, “Then you’d leave.” His voice is rough too, he takes a step back and runs his clean hand through his hair.
“What?!” Reki is taken aback. Leave? Why? “Where would I go?”
“I don’t know!” Langa throws a hand up as he turns around to pace two steps toward the building and back, “I just, it’s just that,” He groans in frustration. Reki knows Langa is really bad at expressing his feelings. “I can’t stand losing more people. After my dad, I-” He takes a shaky breath. “I can’t let people in cuz they always leave… and you.” He gestures to Reki who is standing in shock, not used to Langa spilling this much emotion. “I guess I like that you were mine.”
“Dude, I am yours.” Reki takes a cautious step closer. “Being freed wouldn’t change that.”
“But,” Langa starts.
“No buts!” Reki wants to squeeze the insecurity from him. “Being with you isn’t an obligation.”
“But what about when you left? Way back when we first got here.”
Right. That seemed to really scare him. “I went to look for my family.” Langa’s eyes widen, but Reki looks down, kicking at the broken glass on the pavement. “But they’re gone.” Reki reveals. He had tracked their last known locations and only found broken lamps. He figured they had been lost along with so many others of his kind. “You’re all I care about. I’m not going anywhere.”
Reki feels Langa’s strong arms encircle him and he’s brought in tight to his boyfriend’s chest. His nose is full of soap scent. If he could move his hand, he could snap to clean the shirt, but he can’t. He just wraps his arms around Langa’s waist as tight as he can.
He feels Langa place a kiss on the side of his head, his face snuggling into Reki’s hair. “Okay, I’m ready.”
“Hm?”
“For my last wish.”
Reki isn’t sure why hearing that is such a shock, but his chest tightens. Is this really it? The last wish he’ll ever have to grant? He’s been bound to the lamp for as long as he can remember, how will it feel to be free? He leans back, his eyes meeting Langa’s. There’s more confidence there than before, Reki sees the certainty in his conviction even if Langa’s voice was shaking when he spoke. While he’s not sure what to expect, he’s excited that Langa will be by his side.
Reki nods and flexes his fingers, he wills his lamp to appear. He feels weirdly melancholy about losing his tether to his lamp, it wasn’t completely awful and it wasn’t its fault that he was cursed to grant wishes for humans. It is a beautiful object, Reki figures he can keep it on a shelf in Langa’s apartment.
Langa takes it out of his hands and stares at it with the same kind of interest.
“What a place to do this, huh?” Reki says idly, trying to fill the silence.
The alley really feels the most unromantic place possible for this charged moment but Langa doesn’t seem to mind. He shrugs, his eyes only on Reki. “Doesn’t matter where we are, as long as we’re together, right?”
Reki’s chest tightens impossibly more. “Right,” His voice is all choked up.
Langa rubs the lamp and Reki feels his magic surge through him, the bangles burn into his skin but he grits his teeth and waits.
“Reki, I wish to set you free.”
He musters all his strength and snaps. “And so it shall be.”
Reki feels the air rush out of his lungs as smoke and sparks spiral around him. The bangles crack and clack to the ground. Relief rushes over him. He falls to his knees, feeling dizzy and way too warm. Breathing deep to catch his breath, his hands rush to feel the free skin on his arms. A smile erupts and he can’t help but laugh. He’s free! He’s finally free!
The smoke dissipates and he sees Langa kneeling next to him, his face full of worry.
Reki surges into him, feeling renewed strength and his magic freely flowing through his body again. He spins them up to their feet and lifts them into the air, hugging him as hard as he figures a human can handle. Langa is laughing too as they float down.
When their feet hit the ground, Reki grabs Langa’s face and plants a kiss square on his mouth. Langa exhales with a slight chuckle and tilts his head to the side to get a better angle.
“So now what?” Langa asks breathlessly when they break apart. Reki notices the lamp is discolored and broken in his hands. It hits him that it looks exactly like the lamps that once tethered his family members. An instant spring of hope wells in his stomach. His mother and sisters could have been freed and not gone as he had originally thought. His head buzzes with the idea.
Reki snags the lamp from the ground and poofs it back to the apartment. He waves his hand over Lang’s shirt to fix the soap stain, “We goin’ back to the party?”
Langa smiles, his perfect handsome face beaming at him. “Yeah?”
“Yeah!” Reki steals another quick kiss. “I think we should hang out with your coworkers more often. I can’t believe you didn’t want to go to the Christmas party.”
“I guess there’s always next year.” Langa quips lightly, picking at Reki’s hair in a vain attempt to organize it after all the excitement. They link hands and walk out of the alley to the front of the building.
“What song do you wanna sing for karaoke?” Reki asks holding the door for them to rejoin the party. Faint friendly chatter hums from within.
Langa groans. “We are not doing that.”
Reki rolls his eyes. “We are SO doing that.” Reki feels a dopey smile bloom on his face as he urges Langa toward the small crowd around the karaoke machine.
By the end of the night, they performed a glorious rendition of ‘All Star’ by Smash Mouth and had agreed to attend the next trivia night at the brewery closest to Langa’s work. Reki feels better than he can ever remember.
For the first time in millennia Reki’s actions are his own, and as he looks at Langa, he smiles because his only wish is to be right where he is right now.
✨🧞♂️✨🧞♂️✨🧞♂️✨🧞♂️✨🧞♂️✨