I'm swamped with work today, so here's one of my pre-written backlog chapters for bad times. It's not that original, but as I said, I'm busy and it's better than no update at all. I thought it was high time for another chapter from Nimrod's POV, so here's Nimrod's first djinn duel. He told no one how he won it...

To the reviewers:

Justreading: Oh, that's not weird. I ship Iblis with a multitude of people, among them being Nimrod, Jenny, Alexandra and myself. Two Wrongs chapter one and two have been posted! I would have done this faster, but the plot bunnies are converging.

Guest53: Thank! That's a crazy dream alright :D Well, I will always continue the Ohana chapters on here, so yeah, there will be more of last week's AU. Damn I love Dybbuk getting the treatment he deserves. Aaaand in regards to your dream, the idea is nice and I can always make it into a chapter, soooo. Also thanks for the reviews over at Two Wrongs!

Anonymousyoyo: Yeah you did actually review twice, but that just means I get MOAAAAr reviews, so I'm the last one complaining :) I haven't moved in yet, but I'm going to get all my stuff there next week. I'm a bit nervous about that because there's going to be roommates, and me plus other people don't always mix well.

Also, you guys, thanks for making me the most reviewed person in the fandom! With 62 reviews, yeah I know. Other authors get thousands. But, I'm happy with the small but precious and valuable response I'm getting. It's like you guys have all read that one tumblr post about what fanfic authors love to see in their reviews and then came here to make it true. And I have not been getting any flames yet! I love y'all.

Nimrod was nervous. After all, this was his first ever djinn duel. He had not done this before.

But, well, he had been challenged, by Rajmus the Ifrit, who seemed to be an expert of sorts at this thing.

Rajmus, the challenger, had opened the duel and swallowed one of Nimrod's pills (a harmless one), now it was Nimrod's turn. He felt he was starting to sweat profusely. These kinds of djinn duels were supposed to "test a djinn's influence over chance and personal luck" and he had been pretty confident that his influence was bound to prove greater than an Ifrit's. But now he suddenly realized that he saw no way at all to influence these three identical-looking pills before him. He felt a surging wave of anxiety. Nimrod liked to be in control of a situation, he liked having the upper hand. But now he saw that he had no idea how to weasel out of this. His chances were exactly the same as his opponent's. No tricks to it. It was really just a matter of lucky guessing.

His hand hovered indecisively over the three pills. Any choice he made could mean his imminent death.

"Don't take the first pill" a voice suddenly whispered.

"What?" Nimrod asked.

Across from him, Rajmus looked up and threw him a questioning glare. "Problem, Marid?"

"No, I just...did you just say something?"

The Ifrit shook his head. "Get on with it" he urged.

"Stupid!" the voice hissed. It was very small and very quiet. And it seemed to sound exclusively in Nimrod's head. Maybe it was his subconscious trying to tell him how to win? Did these things happen? But he knew that voice, and it was not his own.

"You're gonna have to trust me on this" the voice came again. "Make your move now, and don't take the first pill. And by first I mean the one on the left. I know how Rajmus works. It's always the pill on the left with him. He wants a quick victory, and most people start from the left."

"How am I to know that I can trust you?" Nimrod tried to think back. "You could be anyone. You could be a trick."

"If I was, I would probably choose a subtler approach. Now go on, will you."

Now he still didn't know whether to trust the voice or not. But he had to do something, and he had to do it now, so he took his chance and swallowed the pill on the right.

He sat there for a few seconds waiting for death.

Death did not come.

And his opponent's disgruntled face told him that he had won this round.

Now it was Rajmus' turn again. Nimrod had placed his pills randomly, so not even he knew which one contained the diminuendo. The Ifrit took the one that had originally been in the middle. He was nervous too. He had no superior method of guessing better.

Actually, his guess was worse.

Nimrod was just as surprised as Rajmus as the diminuendo binding worked and the evil djinn just sort of crumpled up into himself and disappeared, with the last thing Nimrod saw of him being the horrible expression on his face that was sure to give him nightmares.

And then Nimrod was alone.

"I killed him" he whispered.

"Yeah, so you did" a voice behind him said. It was the same voice that had helped him earlier, only louder this time.

He turned around and saw that someone had just materialized from seemingly nowhere, probably he had been hidden in a nearby wall or object in his astral body. It was... Iblis?

"You?!" Nimrod asked, shocked. "What do you – why did you just-"

"Oh shut up" Iblis hissed. "That was...worse than idiotic of you, Marid. What were you even thinking, going around dueling people like that?!"

"Wha-"

"I said shut up. I swear to God. Were you just feeling suicidal lately? Were you actively trying to get yourself killed there? Do you have any idea how the chances of winning such a stupid duel are? Do you have any idea of anything, and why do I even let you leave the house on your own? You almost gave me a bloody heart attack there, if it weren't for me you would most probably be dead right now! Are you doing this on purpose to annoy me?! Now what exactly is your excuse for getting into stupid shit like that?"

Nimrod was baffled. His greatest enemy turning up at his first djinn duel and scolding him for being reckless was nothing he had anticipated. "What do you want?" he tried to defend himself. "He challenged me."

"That's not a reason for you to accept."

"Well, someone had to stop him anyway. Rajmus has been a problem lately..."

"Rajmus has been a problem lately" Iblis mimicked, his voice thick with acid. "And so you decided to play altruistic hero and bloody duel him at the expense of your own stupid fucking life!" Iblis lashed out and slapped Nimrod in the face. Nimrod, caught in a cloud of bewilderment, didn't even notice much.

"What-?"

"I am sick of you! You and your stupid hero complex, ugh, I hate you!"

Nimrod had his experience with Iblis in this particular mood, and felt the sudden urge to duck behind something. But Iblis didn't direct his rage at him, but at the table with the leftover pills. He flipped it over, kicked it a few times, then it spontaneously caught fire and, at last, exploded. Only a small heap of ash was left.

"Well" Nimrod said carefully. "Now you have destroyed something, are you calmer now?"

Iblis exhaled and rubbed his temples. "A bit, yes."

"Good, mind telling me what this is all about now? Is it because of him?" He gestured towards the chair that Ramjus had occupied before his demise.

"No. I would have bloody killed him anyway, if you hadn't done it already. I've no use for subordinates who can't even follow simple orders. The nerve of this guy! I told everyone you were off-limits!"

"I'm...what?"

"How dare him! And how dare you!" Iblis said, angrily pacing back and forth. "Getting killed by someone who is not me!"

"Oh!" Now Nimrod started to see what this was all about. It was...bizarre, and slightly mad, but it was a hundred percent Iblis. "But he didn't kill me" he dared to softly put in.

"Yes, but! He could have!"

"But he didn't."

"Only because I intervened."

Nimrod shrugged. "So you did. And you disposed of one of your own people for my sake. Wasn't he even family of yours?"

"A cousin or something. Who cares. He was from my father's side of the family. I couldn't bloody stand him anyway."

"So you're a cousin-cide now. Being the one to personally kill me must be very important to you. Or..." Nimrod smiled. "You actually care for me."

Of course Iblis objected. "No, I don't. Bloody hell no. Why would I even. I don't have to stand here and get insulted. Really now. The thought alone! Care about some stupid, reckless-"

"Anyhow" Nimrod interrupted. "You saved my life. And I am thankful."

"Only in order to take it myself" Iblis said with the ghost of a smile. "So don't be."

"Are you going to do that now? Kill me?" Nimrod asked.

Iblis sighed. "No..."

"Whyever not?"

"That would mean that we duel. And as we both know, we amount to about the same, powers-wise. Unlike you, I'm not down with risking failure. Someday I will have a failsafe plan, and then you're going down. But not today."

"Or" Nimrod smiled, "You do care after all." He felt something warm and glowing in his chest. The knowledge that Iblis cares for some reason was somehow much better than the feeling that came with having had his first successful djinn duel. So when Iblis made him promise to never do that shit again, he gladly did. He didn't want this again, the clammy suspense, death – either his or his opponent's – as a certainty. He abhorred killing from the bottom of his heart. So, he swore, no more djinn duels for him.

But Nimrod still led an eventful life, and dangers still lurked. Most of the time, whenever he got into a precarious situation, it was his wits, his djinn powers or his persuasiveness that saved him. But from time to time, when all hope was lost, people, his adversaries, just randomly seemed to drop dead and doors just opened by themselves. Sometimes, on these occasions, Nimrod could just see him: a shadow in the dark, a familiar focus word, whispered, the glint on moonlight on fair hair. And, once, a sticky note attached to the forehead of a corpse, saying "You idiot".

One time, when djinn society in general and Nimrod in particular had been threatened by a ruthlessly efficient organization of djinn hunters, Iblis had personally walked into their headquarters armed only with a small handgun, freed Nimrod and single-handedly burned the building and everyone in it to the ground.

Because only Iblis got to kill Nimrod, and everyone who tried to take his kill had to perish. His own hand or none. And that was the reason. The only reason. Shut up, yes it was.

Because, in his own weird, twisted way, Iblis did care.