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It was... Eerily silent, to say the least, around the house the genie had taken sanctum in. In this magnificent estate it would only be her walking the halls, and not a sound other than whatever shoes she was wearing at the time was made. There was no need. Silence was wonderful. She would do things at her own pace, and rule the house as if it were hers. The thing was, it wasn't. Her boyfriend announced his annual leave during the illness she helped him overcome. Following the improvement of his well being, Loralei was forced to say goodbye as he'd take part in the war that would come year after year. He told her he would return soon, but... Even the steadfast girl had her doubts.

A little over a week had passed by since she had kissed him farewell. And as nice as it was to actually get some alone time, as each day passed she realized more and more that she really did miss Carl. And not having heard a word from him nearly tied her stomach in knots worrying if he was okay. Sure, he had done this every year as he had showed through magic in the library. And each time, he’d return back just fine. But this unsettling absence was beginning to get to her despite how assured she was in the both of them.

Predictably though she didn’t wish to dwell on the negative what-ifs. His temporary vacancy from her life did produce more of these, and with him not here to fuel this almost too-good relationship she started to linger on scarier thoughts. Like… What if this all somehow wasn’t real? She knew that Carl was an emotionally different man than he was just a few months ago. But… What if…. No. She really didn’t want to believe that this was just fake, that he was doing this all as an act. It was ludicrous to even begin to think that at this point. The last thing she wanted to be was naive, and yet… This bond she now held was as innocent as the suggestion. She’d never fallen his hard before, and with the other guys she had known she never wanted to. To be hurt, or betrayed… That much was a nightmare at this point. It was the absolute last thing she wished to think of, so she crammed it into the back of her mind. What was the need to worry anyway?

To aid her efforts in stashing away scary thoughts she had preoccupied herself with menial tasks. Two days ago it was actually attending school. Yesterday it was her practicing her magic a la finding a way to make herself into a dragon. Scared the passersby, that was for sure. Today she had focused on a bit of shopping, as indicated by the bags she had pretty much thrown in their room. She’d organize those later. For now she plopped on her bed, bouncing a bit as she looked to the ceiling. She sighed, breathing out slowly. It was quiet, and empty. She missed him a lot, and there was nothing she could do to ease that feeling. Even as she almost decidedly explored most of the house by now there was nothing besides its empty shell to remind her except… Except…

Straight up like a board, Loralei sat.

Except for my teapot.

Just as the thought graced her mind did the genie already set herself on a path to the library. She slid down the bannister, ran to the doors, and pushed them open. How the hell did I forget about this? She thought to herself in a bit of a mental scold. Seriously though… She had only been dying in anticipation when he told of her the secret, how did it slip her mind until now? Well, now that he was gone she could finally claim whatever prize lay inside. Probably something small, a little token for her to say that he loved her. She chuckled at the thought as she opened the massive doors to lead her to the fated shelf. There she scoured for that green book until her fingers finally grabbed the right one. She pulled back, before strolling in slowly to his relic room.

Amidst what she felt were infinitely more impressive trinkets consisting of weapons and prizes sat her ordinary yet shiny silver teapot. Slowly, she approached her source of power, before wrapping her hands around it. She picked it up, shaking a bit to hear something rattle inside. A small ‘hmm’ sound drew from her lips. Well, might as well cut to the chase. She lifted its lid and reached inside. Using her magic she allowed the pot to be suspended in the air as she pulled out a small box no larger than her palm. And as her fingers traced the top to fold it open...

Her teapot suddenly dropped from the air to clang straight against the ground, rolling around her heels. But she didn’t reach to pick it up. Her heart had seemingly stopped for a moment as her hands shook, her now glassed-over cyan eyes hardly able to behold the present before her. She didn’t dare touch what was in the box… It was almost too sacred for that. Her hand drew over her mouth, as if holding it would prevent the liquid bubbling in her eyes from falling down.

”Oh my god…” She uttered, swallowing despite the lump in her throat.

It was a ring.​

No longer did this hiatus remain as something peaceful. Sure, the air was seemingly forever quiet and the world around her posed any sort of threat. What did turn to hysteria was her inside- deep in her bones came this sort of near-panic of uncertainty. A stew of emotions ranged from confusion to fear to conflict to... Well, enamoration. Never did it seem for more than five minutes that the idea of the ring departed her brain, which desperately attempted to decipher the meaning of it all. No doubt about it, it was a beautiful thing. And as it were? She loved it. She absolutely did. But what did have her flip-flopping all the time was the indications of it. Was it for hat she thought it was? And if so....

Would she say yes?

Another half of the month passed by as Loralei would periodically look at the box- almost to check if it was just a mirage. But it would be there, every time. And the pressing yes or no question would be there, as well as the pros and cons to each response. All she knew from how she currently felt was the very least that she didn't have the heart to deny him. Because... She never knew that he loved her this much. That a man, over five-and-a-half thousand years old, would finally break that streak of being alone to love her. And then... And then perhaps ask for her hand, if she was interpreting this right.

It was too much for her. At least, for her to show. Maybe it was a good thing he wasn't here. She'd be a gross emotional mess and probably hastily say something wrong. The fact remained that she still very much missed him, and wanted nothing more to be with him. She found herself waking up on his side of the bed, or suddenly feeling down when she was just happy to be not tied under any body anymore. Besides from what she wanted, of course. And this... As she sat in the lounge, she wondered- Was this what she wanted?

She sighed. A soft 'mhm' came to her lips, as she relaxed back into her seat. But before she could truly calm herself she jolted out of her seat with almost a concrete jump. Someone opened the door in the foyer.

He was home.

It was a month-not like she was counting or anything- since he left. For a few moments, she panicked as if how to handle the situation. Was he going to play it off cool, or... Dammit, why was she over thinking everything?! Regardless she gulped, before standing up and shoving the tiny box into one of her jacket pockets. She told herself to smile. He was finally home.

So she approached the door of the lounge, and closing it behind her as she would see him. A shaky smile appeared on her face, though this wavered due to the conditions his clothes were in. Was he hurt? Would he be okay? "Carl?" Loralei called out softly, as if it were any doubt. Her footsteps led her to him, eyeing him to make sure he was okay to approach. She stopped a few feet away, before her shoulders heaved and she smiled again. "Y-you're home..."

With that, her would raise, as to hope he'd take it. Had things changed? Only time would tell...​

Though it took a few moments, it wasn't long before it was clear that Carl was equally excited to be reunited as she was. With that, some of the anxiety that lingered within her was gone, replaced by joy of the fact that he had returned. As soon as her hand had been raised it was rejected, but for something more meaningful. Immediately did Loralei close the gap between him as Carl wrapped his arms around her body. And she would do the same. Within that moment did she realize just what she missed with him. She nestled into her chest before kissing him back, so happy that he had returned.

"They must have. You've been gone for a month." She pointed out, not sure if he was aware of this fact. After all he had pretty much been zapped to another dimension. No telling how time was recorded there. However, that didn't matter now. He was safe, minus his torn clothes and tired demeanor. She smirked a bit, chuckling with more of a upbeat tone. "Did you miss me?" She asked, before continuing to play around a bit with his own statement.

Loralei let go for a bit to look at the practical mansion, which appeared as though no one had touched it since the day he left. Though she did clean by hand... Well, there was her magic that accounted for minor mistakes and bumps. "Hm, what? Did you think I was going to throw a wild party or somehow manage to burn it down? Or both?" She asked in a lightly teasing tone, though ended up shaking her head. "That wouldn't be a very nice 'welcome home' to a war hero, now would it?" With that she smiled brightly, before planting a kiss on his lips. But there were some serious issues to address. And as much as she liked to play around with him, she was genuinely elated for his return.

"I wouldn't want to do that to you." She admitted, before running her hand down his clothes. Now those had seen better days. "You need anything? You look exhausted." She pointed out, shaking her head. "This can all wait if you need to take a rest."​

Loralei chuckled. "Me too." She replied simply upon hearing that he did miss her. The feeling was mutual, at least, and though she knew he used to look forward to the war he would think of her. Just as she would, except she valued alone time rather than an inter-dimensional battle. He made a little more humor about her side comment, and she in turn chuckled at it. Amusement park huh?

"Well, now that you mention it..." That was totally doable. After all, she could make anything happen. Almost. She shook her head. "Nah. If I were to pull off anything grandiose it'll be far away from where I keep my stuff. And yours too." Though she would have dismissed the thought completely, she couldn't help but to think of her old days of actual wish granting. But that was pushed off to the side, in favor to continue answering him. "Hm, that's a good way to put it." Loralei responded upon how he phrased his battles. 'A vacation' indeed.

But what got her attention the most out of this long embrace was his request, to which she took a hint at. The poor man of course was tired. He looked like he went through hell and back. Which, wasn't completely out of the question that he did. "Of course not. Don't apologize." She reassured in gentle tone, before letting him go so that she could lead the way. With him behind her she walked up to their bedroom, before opening the door and plopping on her side of the bed. She wasn't tired at all, but if her boyfriend wanted her to she'd accompany him before he'd inevitably drift away. "Get yourself some rest now. We'll talk more when you wake up." Yeah... There were a few 'things' she wanted to discuss. But rest was important, and she could occupy herself in the meantime just as she had been for the past month. Instinctively though, she'd always ask him that same question- "Anything else you want?"​

When Carl arrived to lay down next to her, already he began to drift off seemingly as soon as he arrived. A small chuckle eased from her as she placed a hand on his shoulder, running her fingers on it softly as he dozed off. He passed on her offer in favor of sleep, to which she promptly stood up when he was gone. He would probably be out for awhile as she figured, so she would leave him be. So silently did she exist the room, closing the door behind her as she headed downstairs.

The next few hours were filled with the little bit of cleaning up she felt necessary now that he was home. Just the things she forgot about, or couldn't quite solve with her magic. That wasn't to say though that she didn't take a break somewhere along the way... And by that, she sort of dozed off in the lounge downstairs. But only for a bit. Promptly when she woke up she finished off her last task of returning the laundry back upstairs to their room. Conveniently enough, that was around the time her boyfriend woke up from his rest.

Just as she was leaving she heard a disturbance behind her, to which she promptly turned back around. Naturally, he appeared disoriented. It was only morning when he fell asleep, and now it was later at night. Not like she could feel the difference either. Quietly Loralei entered the room again, to sit on the edge of the bed where he lay. "Welcome back to the land of the living." She commented with a bit of a snicker, before growing a bit serious. "You were out for awhile... Almost twelve hours. It's like nine at night." She stated in a quiet voice. That must have been havoc on both of their internal clocks, but she didn't mind. Loralei shrugged it off, before smiling a bit. "Are you feeling any better? I mean... I can't imagine how exhausting it is to fight nonstop for a month." Well, sort of. She figured he'd have breaks, but still. With a leisurely life here it must have been a tough adjustment. But now? It didn't matter for awhile, at least until next year. A bit of a smile pulled on her face, as she looked down from him. "It was kinda lonely here without you... I'm not gonna lie." A sly grin then pulled on her face, as she wanted to make up for the gap they had with each other. "But at least we can pick up where we left off... Right?"​

Even when he needed to take it easy Carl demonstrated that sort of vigor that never seemed to allow him to give up. Here it was seen, as well as with his sickness. He seemed to regret having to sleep so long, but in her eyes he certainly deserved it. Sure, their little happy reunion was cut short earlier, but... Who's to say that they couldn't pick that up now? And what they had before they left?

"I wouldn't say that... It's okay to need to take it easy. Even for invokers." She said in a comforting tone, hoping he wouldn't be too hard on himself. "Don't worry too much." She sure as hell didn't. About anything, except what she held near and dear to her heart. Or, more currently, her pocket. But his peck had taken her thoughts away from pestering things like this. She looked back at him with another mischievous expression, tapping her chin pensively at his question. Now that she proposed the idea, what was she to do about it? Well... There was the obvious, but... She didn't want to mention anything until she felt the time was right.

"Well..." Lori thought aloud as he played with her hair. In turn, she poked one of his orbs lightly, watching it swirl as to mind its own business. Sometimes she honestly forgot they were there. She was just so used to them, because they went everywhere with her boyfriend. But back to the point. She then grinned almost evilly, as she out of nowhere yet gently pounced him, pinning him down by the arms to the bed more playfully than anything. Her weight was off of him, though it was clear she would have his full attention now. "I mean, I haven't really had the chance to throw you a welcome home party, but we can make up for it somehow..." She chuckled before tracing a finger around his jawline and stopping at his chin. It was then she laughed heartily, dropping off the whole notion as just a joke. "I mean... Just being together. Shooting the breeze. Telling each other secrets, and important things... But if you want specifics, my memory's a bit fuzzy. I think I forgot to say one thing though... After you got off your curse, I wanted to thank you for letting me take care of you." She stopped for a moment to genuinely smile at him, albeit a bit sheepishly. Though she had helped others in the past, she wanted to thank her boyfriend who had already lowered his walls so much with her it seemed, only to rely his life in her hands. Maybe that was just her urge to take care of things, when they'd appreciate it back. Or, at least acknowledge that someone cared for them. "I wanted to thank you for a lot of things, but tragically your wizard disease cut that a bit short. Plus, I'm not even good at putting how I feel into words..." A sigh escaped her lips as she looked back down at him. It was hard to be upset when he was with her. And though his face used to be nothing but condescending and spiteful, she now found comfort in looking down at it. Sort of expected now at this point, but that didn't matter. She saw him in a light she couldn't say she found in anyone else, and she wanted nothing more than to show that to him. She slowly placed her hand down on his chest, right over his beating heart. "Guess that's why they say actions speak louder than them, Hm?"​

Having him pinned down like this almost changed her perspective on how directly she could speak to him, and how everything was now able to be put out on the table. She had his full, undivided attention. And with his comment, she smirked, leaning down to touch her lips to his head. "At least here we can pretend, right?" She asked, hoping for a yes. He deserved it anyway. Best not to keep him stressed out. Loralei didn't think stress and cosmic powers lent themselves well to each other. He still appreciated her help though, and though some of that derived from her instinctual paranoia of not being a good enough genie, she still had the satisfaction of helping someone out. And she'd get something back for it, too. Red as always when he acknowledged her cutely splashed across her face on response to his sentiment. "Well now, I'm glad I get that title then." She chuckled. "I mean, the doctor is always in when you need me." Her chuckle became a laugh, as she hinted at multiple meanings for this. But she'd leave that up for him to determine. Because after that, something of a challenge was presented to her. And gladly, she'd accept it.

"Hm, well I could do the obvious...." Her voice trailed off, as she once more leaned down to press her lips against him. To his collar, his neck, his jaw, and finally to his lips. Her hands then moved from his chest to around his face, but almost as soon as she got there she let go. "But I like keeping a variety, y'know?" She then rolled off of him, floating slightly so that she could hit the ground lightly. She then gestured her head forth towards the door, smiling. "Want to take a walk with me?" Loralei looked at him casually, before leaning against the frame. She was missing something, but... Oh!

"Oh yeah, you might need this." She looked at his tattered clothes, and with a snap of her fingers they were mended again. As if nothing had happened. "There."​

Seeing him slightly upset at her not going further she almost cast a chuckle, had it not been for the fact that he really did look a bit provoked. Hard to get at times? Probably. But evil? Nah… Most of the time anyway. But she liked to keep him on his toes, and ever since he came back home it appeared she would. Loralei had a plan though, and she wanted this first welcome home between her and her boyfriend to really matter. Especially considering what was to come out of the night. On any case she wished to live in the now, despite the side comment she made to him. ”Don’t look so glum. Besides, I don’t ever start what I won’t finish.” She grinned after kissing his cheek. What she did wasn’t going to be open ended. It would just be for later. After all, they had all the time in the world together.

For now though they’d begin their stroll, and happily she sided beside him as they walked through the yard and out of the estate. Though she kept the moment peaceful something akin to alarm came to her when she noticed what exactly happened when he came home. ”Ouch..’ She muttered as she gazed over the large crater now in the ground. Maybe he was right. Never a moment’s rest, even when it was all over. ”I’ll fix that up some time this week. Didn’t hurt too much, did it?” She looked up at him with a great look of concern, before sighing. ”That’s some grand entrance they brewed up for you.” She commented below her breath. But she didn’t concentrate on what the past was. Hopefully, the night ahead would make up for whatever strife he faced yesterday and hours before.

So playfully she grasped his hand, looking up to him slyly as the two traversed down a path in the silent night air. ”Anywhere really. The night’s young, and it’s been awhile since I’ve seen it this pretty out.” Loralei breathed, looking up to the stars and noting how oddly warm it was for this time of year. A shrug came next. ”Figured the beach would be nice, but... “ She looked up to him. ”I guess since I dragged you all the way out here we could go on a bit of an adventure. Nothing big, can’t imagine that you have a lot of energy left even after your sleep. But I could take us absolutely anywhere. And anywhere is where I’d want to be with you. So.. If you have any objections to the shore…” She stopped, before stepping before him. Her cyan gaze traced up to his white eyes, before she tilted her head to the side. ”There’s that.”​

So her idea wasn’t lame. Good. She hadn’t been in awhile due to the decreasing temperature of the island, but Carl was as good of an excuse as any to go and enjoy the sand and surf. Besides, it was a full moon out, and that would sure be pretty to look at from the beach below. And plus, if earlier had indicated anything it would be the fact that he needed to be thrown a bone, at least in terms of what he had been deprived of for a bit over thirty days. And with the way he described his old settings, perhaps it wasn’t such a bad idea to get him back into the swing of things. No matter what they did though, Loralei was most likely going to enjoy it.

”Can do.” She replied simply, crossing the road with him to reroute their destination. The silence that followed the simple confirmation was relaxing, though she did have curiosities of what he’d faced. She hadn’t asked about it yet, so perhaps it was a good thing he spoke up first. Eagerly she turned to him, and listened casually as he’d explain a story of his. A fight with Zeus eh? Well this would be interesting. Unfortunately that intrigued smile wavered as it appeared he was about to recite one of his spells. And all that took was an utterance of some magic words, and he was getting a bit excited with them.

”Um Carl?” She whispered hesitantly before biting her lip. Sun strikes from what she had witnessed were nothing to play around with. And though she was happy to share his excitement this was getting a bit risky. No more did this become a fear when he raised a hand, and brought it down. "Carl wait!" What followed next could only be witnessed in helplessness. She stared wide eyed into the distance, not even flinching as the once night sky lit up as if by a switch. And then... And then she witnessed a house being blown to smithereens as an act of pure accident. So would the people be, whomever inhabited it. There could have been a party there for all she knew and guess what? They'd all be gone. All thanks to her boyfriend.

Slowly she turned to face him, her face blank and eerily emotionless. It took a few moments as she raised her hands to bury her head in them. Because one facepalm wouldn’t suffice for this gargantuan catastrophe. As soon as she was about to utter a word after revealing her face again a foreign object from the sky came practically hurdling after her. A startled yelp arose as she literally poofed out to safety, which happened to be halfway up a nearby lamppost. Her fragile and terrified body clung to the poor pole as she shivered for her life. But alas, it was just a plaque, which stopped mere inches before where she once stood. She watched him observe it, and casually shrug the mistake off as if he had spilled over a drink and not potentially murdered someone. Really? Just really? So silently, she slid down the pole and towards him. Trying so hard to ignore the fire in the distance. Just so she could focus on him. She stood before him again, her arms now folded, her brow raised. Didn’t he know how his spells worked? And how fragile those sort of things may be? Well… Accidents happened. And it wasn’t like he actually intended to hurt anybody. She witnessed him do that before and it was a whole different ball game. Thus this time she’d forgive him, though it appeared that a bit of her own guilt bubbled to the surface. Poor guys didn’t deserve to be struck from the heavens.

Her hand grasped his elbow finally as she began to drag him in the direction of the beach. "Nice going Wreck-It Ralph. Let’s go before you end up blowing up the whole damn island." She yoinked him away from the scenario as if trying as hard as she could to put it in the past. It would be hard to live down but… She didn’t want to particularly ruin anything. More calmly, she sighed, and spoke under her breath ”Just what am I going to do with you...".

On any case she’d heed his advice and take the lead, preferring to speak so that he’d have a chance to recover from that happy little accident. ”Well, good news is that life here went pretty normal here. Didn’t have to strike down any grecian Gods or anything…." She stated, chuckling a bit as they hit the sand. "Just a few more run-ins with old masters… And learned something new and pretty cool I think with my magic..." As exciting as that was, she still couldn’t help but to glance up at the chaos he created. "So are you going to check that out or casually pretend that didn’t happen? Either way I don’t want cops busting down our door. I ain’t cut out for prison you know."

​

Loralei, despite not being terribly pleased about the current situation, couldn't find it in herself to be genuinely mad. I mean, she sort of got used to his shenanigans after she witnessed him freeze a bunch of people only to shatter them, whip up a tornado to prove a point, try to destroy her in the cafeteria, and so on and so forth. Now she felt he had better intentions and things like this would just be an accident... Right? Hopefully he knew that it wasn't her favorite thing to watch someone get blown to pieces from his own hand. Sure would be a bad day on that other person's part.

To relieve this guilty conscious though Carl tried his best to explain and comfort her. "I guess you have a point." Loralei muttered, looking down to the sand as she processed his words. He said she had nothing to fear, and that everything didn't really matter in the end. Besides, whoever that was would probably be rich. Like he said they probably weren't home anyway. Still, not a fun thing to come home to. So for simplicity's sake she decided to drop the subject. Wasn't worth the stress when there was nothing she could do. "Just be more careful next time, okay?"

Moving on then she knew that there was no use chastising the man for what was already taken care of. He did seem to get a reaction out of the mention of her old masters, to which she chuckled a bit. "Not really. I mean I went out one night and managed to bump into a guy from way back. Flirty, but harmless. Not as bad as that guy you took care of." She assured. She didn't want him to get too jealous, because nothing would ever come between what had happened and what was happening now. She liked Carl too much to mess with his head and heart like that.

With that she kept a bit quiet again as to just enjoy the beach she had so come to enjoy. Once more did she take a lead, but stopped only a few feet in front of him. That's when he asked her a question, one that was met with a casual answer. "It's calm. At night, there's hardly anyone here. I'm not big fan of total silence, but hearing the waves in the background is nice. And that being the only thing I hear makes it even better." She explained herself, before approaching her boyfriend again. A small smile worked its way on her face. "But.. Having a friend tag along ain't so bad either. It's just us, and the ocean that leads to the world beyond this island. It's the closest glimpse you can get of it from here." Before getting to sentimental about things, she shrugged. "Besides, this is where you took me on our first real date. At least now we don't have people to ruin things, or almost break your nose." At that memory, she chuckled a bit hesitantly. That memory really wasn't great, but what came out of it was something beautiful.

"That seems like forever ago."​