Night came quickly upon the two of them, with Crocker spending the whole day on his Fairy-hunting machine. Norm lay in his lamp, on his bed, reluctant to close his eyes despite how tired he was. The Genie detested slumber and did all that he could to stay awake. It always failed, just like his attempts to escape. In the middle of the night, he would fall asleep, too tired to care that he was doing it, his mind too fogged to think clearly about what lay beyond the barrier between the waking world and the dream world.

Tonight was no exception, and he sighed, resting his head on the pillow. Maybe this night wouldn't be so bad. Maybe Crocker's affection had temporarily forced it down... Yeah, right.

He scolded himself for thinking of something so stupid. Oh, well. He was going to sleep eventually. He could deal with it.

After all, he'd been doing it for the past fifty thousand years.

•••

It was really, really dark.

Wow, Norm. How profound. You sure know how to capture an audience. He floated around in the blackness for a while, wondering if, at some point, he would reach the wall of his lamp. That was where he'd awoken, right? It was only dark because it was in the middle of the night, right?

He snapped his fingers. Nothing happened.

Fuck.

•••

Crocker couldn't really sleep that night; he was thinking of ways to get Norm to work his magic without wishing for it. In Norm's absence, he'd been thinking it over, and eventually the Genie had won over his rare, sympathetic side.

He sighed and rolled over. His mind was completely blank. Maybe he should sleep on it... or, try to, at least.

•••

Norm looked uneasily around, hardly able to see anything. Through the darkness, he could make out some clothes on hangers. Backing up, he hit a wall and felt it for a door, which apparently didn't exist. How big was this room?

"Norm!" a voice called, high and feminine. A hand grabbed his wrist and yanked at it violently. "Norm!"

No.

He tried to speak, but nothing came out, and the voice continued. "I need to tell you something."

No. Not this one again.

"I love you, Norm." He saw the outline of a girl before he was pushed back into the hangers forcefully. "And we're going to be together forever."

Fuck off!

"You're mine, Norm."

Leave me alone!

"And you always will be."

Leave me alone!

"Always."

No. I don't want this. I don't want to belong to you. I don't want to be yours! I don't want to be anyone's!

She fell atop him and handcuffed him, pulling at his jacket. "Mmm, you're so warm..."

No! Get off me, and let me go! Make your final wish already! Fuck!

Leave me alone!

Leave me alone!

•••

"Leave me alone!"

Crocker jumped up, startled, and looked at the portal. It sounded like sounds were coming from it. Sounds like... screaming.

"Leave me alone!"

Norm? He approached the machine cautiously, unsure; the yelling had quieted now.

Well, he could at least make sure. He hopped in, immediately appearing in Norm's room. The Genie was trembling, his back against the wall, and his head in his hands. "Ah, smoof..."

Crocker hesitantly reached out and touched his arm. Norm responded by yelling and quickly flying away in a panic, shooting an attack at him. When the teacher yelped, he looked up and sighed. "Oh, Crockpot. It's you. Damn, don't do that, ya scared me..."

He blinked under his thick glasses (he often wore them to bed). "What's wrong?"

"Ah, nothin'." He sank to the floor. "It's not important. Just some... stuff. Yeah..."

Crocker felt an urge to hug him like he had been doing recently, but decided it was a bad idea. "Who were you talking to? Is there someone here with you? Someone like a FAIRY?" He began to look everywhere in the room after spazzing a little.

Norm facepalmed. "No, no, it wasn't a Fairy... ugh, just go back to bed, okay?"

"No! There could be a FAIRY GODPARENT here!" His spazz made him land on top of Norm, who pushed him off irritably. "Well, you're grumpy."

Fuck you, Crockpot. You have no idea. "Well, yeah. When people have nightmares they tend to get like that, ya know..."

Nightmares? Crocker blinked at him. "Were you having one right now?"

Ah, fez... Well, there wasn't anything he could do about it now. Reluctantly, he replied, "Yeah, yeah, I have 'em from time to time... doesn't really matter, yeah?"

The teacher considered the question, rubbing his chin. "Well... nightmares aren't good..."

Norm snorted. Yeah. No shit. "If they were good, they wouldn't be nightmares," he retorted sharply, crossing his arms and looking down. The tip of his tail twitched as a response to his irritation. "Go back to bed."

"Are you going to have another nightmare?"

"Why do you care?" he asked, looking up at his master.

"We're friends."

"..."

"Aren't we?"

The Genie sighed. "Yeah, yeah, we are... but nightmares don't matter, all right?"

"But you're scared."

"Am not."

"But you said-"

"I'm not scared, okay?"

Crocker gave him a bit of a questioning look behind his glasses. "Are you sure?"

Man, was this guy dedicated! "I'm fine!"

Deciding he wasn't getting anywhere with Norm, Crocker sighed, and went to the portal. "Fine. But if I hear you screaming again-"

"Yeah, yeah, you'll come back here and scare the shit out of me again. I get it."

As Denzel hopped through the swirling purple transportation device, the Genie blinked at it and went under the covers again, vaguely wondering what would have happened had he told Crocker that he was indeed frightened.

Eh, it doesn't matter.

With that thought in mind, he closed his eyes, attempting to get some sleep.

•••

It was really, really dark.