Enter the Washout[Open]

Harmony was baffled that the djinn didn't know what a smoothie was. She could understand getting confused about the island, but smoothies were a common drink in just about every part of the world. She didn't know that he had been asleep for two thousand years; there was no way she could've figured that out. The lady twisted her mouth as she tried to think of how to explain what a smoothie was. Within this time, she heard him talk about the food he liked. He really liked figs and fruits? He would love smoothies then!~

"Oh, smoothies are drinks blended with various fruit. You can use just about any fruit to make a smoothie! They're rather thick and tasty. I'm sure you'd enjoy them if you like fruit. As for figs, if you didn't know what a smoothie was, I doubt you're aware of fig newtons. They're these cookies filled with figs, and they taste soo good!~"

The stalker was not a coincidence. If Ignus was vigilant, he would notice a man trailing them. He was eyeing the red-haired female lustfully; a crazed gleam in his eye revealed him to be not okay in the head. He stepped closer as if he was in a trance. This wasn't some random criminal planning to attack a defenseless woman; this was an overzealous guy with an unhealthy obsession. The tour guide was still oblivious to this. Her focus was on helping the genie out.

"I'd have to take a stop into the grocery store to get you figs. I don't mind doing that, but you still need real food though!~ There's a Chinese restaurant right by the grocery store. Does Chinese food sound good to you?~"

How was she so clueless about what was going on?

@"Maximum_Fatalis"

In that moment her instincts told her that something was off. She couldn't figure out what it was, so she played the bad feelings off as they kept moving. She hoped that it was just her paranoia; while her being paranoid was justified by her bad luck with exes, she didn't like to let it take over her life. In fact, she couldn't feel fear properly at all; all of her negative emotions were taken away by Melody. Whenever they bubbled up, the sister would absorb them so that she could be an endless beam of light. This may have crippled her instead.

At this point, they were definitely within city limits. The grocery store was only a few blocks away. Harmony was grateful that the djinn wasn't picky about his food choices, but she still wanted to accommodate him as bet as she could. Apparently he had combat experience; she couldn't remember what exact point in history he was referring to, but she agreed that it was thousands of years ago. Kings weren't really a thing in this day and age; there were monarchs, but many of them were just figureheads in comparison to the power they had back during ancient times.

The woman was confused and alarmed by how uncomfortably close her got to her suddenly. She hadn't accidentally hit him with a love spell, had she? Most of the nearby pedestrians shrugged it off, but the stalker was furious when he spotted her move close to him. How dare he make a move on his Harmony! The man walked off to the side and out of sight of the two acquaintances. The redhead meanwhile tried her best not to freak out as he confirmed her suspicions. Oh no, now she was dragging yet another person in to help her. The two knights were bad enough, but Ignus was just looking for an island tour!

"It's all my fault....my intention was to help a new person get acquainted to the island, but now one of my exes is about to attack us...."

She didn't even need to look back to know that the follower was probably one of the people in her long list of ex-boyfriends. Getting attacked or stalked by someone was normal for her; she was almost always a damsel in distress. While her twin sister acted as a shield, now she was trying to get around on her own. However, this was a clear road block to independence. Why did she have to be so helpless and passive when she had such vicious people coming after her?

@"Maximum_Fatalis"

Harmony sighed before answering.

"Yeah...it's a normal occurrence at this point."

To think that this is what her pursue for love brought her. Why could she successfully play matchmaker other people, but she completely failed when it came to herself? All of her exes were either assholes or crazies; neither option was appealing. She could only chalk up the fact that she kept ending up in the presence of protectors as pure luck. She had no fighting capability, and she wasn't even sure if she could put up a fight against anyone. She was a very passive, lovey-dovey person; could she really hurt someone else?

Just as Ignus called him out, the stalker walked right in front of the two of them. A portal shut close. So he could create portals to bounce in and out of. The redhead attempted to recognize this guy. She...honestly couldn't.

"Why are you following me? Who are you anyway?"

"Harmony my love, how could you consort with such a being? Don't you know that it is I, Jarvis, who is meant to be your lover?"

"Um....you sure about that? ...Wait, didn't we go on like one date and then break up?"

"Break up? Don't be silly! We never broke up! You merely drifted away from me....but that's okay, I memorized your schedule and even caught glimpses of your beautiful figure."

She shivered. She dated this particular guy once because she knew he had been pursuing her for a while and she decided to take a leap of fate and try it out. The date went rather poorly, and she told him up front that she was disinterested and continued on her search. However, he wasn't letting go. The portal stalker glared at Ignus.

"You...you need to get the hell away from my Harmony or else."

@"Maximum_Fatalis"

The portal leaper did not enjoy listening to Ignus' words. In fact, he really wanted to fight the fiery bastard, but he admittingly wasn't really the combat type. He didn't think this through very well. He acted out of his stalker instinct in an attempt to secure his obsession. Instead he got the wind punched out of him and burned for good measure. He tried to get up to grab Harmony, but even moving an inch was hurting him immensely. The stalker was left to flounder on the ground as he watched his obsession walk away with another man.

The redhead moved closer to the djinn. She felt well guarded in his presence. A smile broke out on her face as they continued on their way.

"Thank you so much!~"

Harmony turned to enter the store. The doors slid open automatically as she stepped onto the mat. She walked in, and there were numerous people doing some last minute shopping before the grocery store closed for the night. There were lines at the registers that took a large amount of products. She strolled over to the snack aisle and went straight to where the cookies were. She made sure to grab a basket, and she filled it with fig newtons. As she was doing this, there were a couple of frat boys obviously scouring for junk food. One of them noticed her and drew his friends' attention to her. Well, more specifically her rear.

The girl heard wolf whistling come from a bit further down the aisle by the chips, but she tried her best to ignore it. She just hoped that none of them would come close to her. She hoped even more so that she didn't know any of the guys.

"Anything else I should grab while we're here?~"

@"Maximum_Fatalis"

She wasn't sure what Ignus did, but she had a feeling that it was thanks to him that the guys shut up. Perhaps they thought he was her boyfriend; perhaps he showed off a bit of those fire powers. Her basket was full of fig newton cookies. Maybe this tour was better for Harmony than Ignus; she got free protection from a powerful djinn. He totally earned those cookies.

"Yes, you can buy as much as you want. This is a grocery store~"

She finished loading the basket and turned to the djinn. Her smile returned. Harmony felt the urge to hug him, but she wasn't sure why. After all, they weren't in a relationship. Perhaps it was because he saved her from that stalker earlier. There were a lot of possibilities that weren't being expressed for some reason. Perhaps the writer can throw more "perhaps" in her post because why not? It's fun adding fluff sentences that break the fourth wall. Going back to the situation, she stepped out of the aisle and moved to the express checkout line.

"There are very few kings that still exist, and many of them are royal figureheads. Royalty is judged by wealth rather than inheritance for the most part now. I do know the island has old powerful families with lots of money~"

She soon made it to the front and bought the fig newton cookies without any issues. The cashier then glanced at her, outside, then back at her. She was focusing on the redhead's attire. Once Harmony was about to grab the bags and walk away, she decided to make a comment.

"Good thing your boyfriend is here, or those men out there would be eating you up in that bikini."