What was the worst that could happen, Kent thought. If he's observant enough it'd be a normal outing, he'd said.

He was an idiot. Never take a djinni to a mall. He should have it tattooed to his forehead.

It was a calm, quiet Sunday morning. The sun was shining through the living room, it was the first day in three weeks he hadn't had to report to the office. The last month had been so busy he had barely seen Venus. She had been keeping pretty quiet and to herself in order to help him out. She had of course tried relieving him of work at first, but after turning the base into a real life 8-bit video game, she agreed to stop helping. It wasn't easy convincing his superiors of mass roofing an entire military base, but it was all he had.

Here was a quiet morning, an entire day for him to relax. He made himself a coffee and laid down on his couch, ready to do absolutely nothing for the foreseeable future. He took a deep breath of air conditioned oxygen and tried not to wonder where the troublemaking magic woman was. A few seconds of complete silence passed and the wondering turned into worrying.

Just forget it, Kent. Whatever she's doing, it can't be that bad.

The world was still standing… wasn't it? His eyebrow began to twitch and he couldn't take it anymore. He opened his eyes and was faced with footprints. On his ceiling. Why were there footprints on his ceiling?

He shut his eyes tightly again. Nope. Just ignore it. It doesn't matter. She had to clean it later, it was in the rules.

Except that there weren't just human footprints, and he couldn't rest not knowing what she was up to.

"Venus?" he called out.

"Yes, captain?" she poofed next to his face, so close Kent jumped up into a sitting position.

Calming his pounding heart, he asked. "Why are there footprints on my ceiling?"

She looked up and frowned. "Damn. I knew I missed a spot."

"A spot?! What the hell have you been up to?"

"Oh, nothing. Just hosting spider-creature parties. Hey, I just realized. You're home. How come you're home?"

"What are spider-creatures?"

"You know, spider-men, spider-women, spider-bears, decorative spiders, regular spiders. Are you off today?"

Looking at the footprints trying to understand what she was saying, he confirmed her question by nodding.

"Does that mean you can take me to the mall?!"

"The mall? Oh, I don't know."

"Come on! I need new outfits!"

"You make your own outfits."

"But how do I know what's in fashion anymore. You can't keep me cooped up in here like some kind of prisoner."

He looked at her seriously. "I don't want to do that."

Her face scrunched up. "Aw, no! Don't look so sad about it! I was trying to guilt trip you but it worked too well. I didn't mean it."

Kent sighed. "You really want to go?"

"Pleeease?" she pouted.

"Alright, alright. Let me change."

POOF.

In a puff of red glittered smoke, Kent was dressed in jeans, a button up, and his hair was perfectly gelled and styled. He could even smell his cologne on him.

"Anxious?" He meant to tease her, but stopped short when he saw her.

In her magical dust cloud she had also fixed herself up. She was in a white sundress, appearing like an angel he knew she certainly wasn't. The dress actually fit her very… very nicely. It took a clearing of her throat to snap him out of it. His cheeks flushed and he avoided her knowing smirk as he led her towards his car.

How was he supposed to know how the day would turn out? Sure, he was aware that she usually caused a mess wherever she went, but it was usually just that. A mess. Not complete pandemonium.

At first things had gone smoothly. He purchased her 2 dresses, a pair of sneakers, and a pretzel she had been devouring the last time he saw her. But that had been a while ago. He'd been searching for her for at least 10 minutes before he heard the gasps and followed the sounds instinctively knowing she was the cause of them.

Venus had found the mall fountain. The one where everyone threw their pennies in to make a wish. She was standing in the middle of it, soaked head to toe, dress completely see-through- and entirely distracting- picking out pennies from the fountain. She had a crowd of onlookers, everyone from staring men to laughing women, all amazed by the occurrence.

He would have simply helped her out of the fountain had he not seen what she was doing. Her head was jerking at every penny she picked up. With startling realization, Kent understood she was granting wishes.

He ran forward three steps before surprised screams sounded to his right. He looked and almost fell flat on the ground. There was a young girl sitting atop an actual, real-life unicorn. Her mother was staring jawslacked at the phenomenon. He needed to get that djinni out of the fountain.

Kent heard elated screaming and saw people running outside. He looked to see what the commotion was and heard the yells. "IT'S RAINING MONEY!" the people were saying.

Shit. He needed to get her out and get her out fast.

After fighting the crowds trying to run him over to get outside, he reached the fountain out of breath.

"Captain! Look at this! This pool is made of wishes! It's amazing. This one wished for an ice cream!" Venus bopped her head and Kent assumed some child somewhere had just gotten their dinner ruined. "And this one just wants to lose 20 pounds." Another head bop. "And this one-" she frowned. "I'm not granting this one!" she threw the penny back into the fountain and crossed her arms looking upset.

"Venus, please. We have to go. Undo your wishes and let's get out of here."

She wasn't listening to him. "The nerve of some people. He doesn't like you!" She yelled in the direction of the discarded penny.

"Venus!"

"What?!"

"Stop making it rain pennies, it's a hazard! And get rid of the unicorn and any other ridiculous wish you made come true."

"What's so ridiculous about unicorns?"

"They don't exist."

"Yes, they do." She frowned in confusion.

"Sure, and dragons are real too." Her facial expression didn't change and Kent decided he didn't want to know anymore. "Venus, undo all wishes. Please!"

The dripping wet djinni rolled her eyes before crossing her arms and bopping her head fiercely. He was grateful everyone had run outside to grab the money as red smoke covered the fountain and he noticed the water glittering. She looked exhausted from the effort of granting and ungranting so many wishes at once so Kent climbed into the fountain and helped her out. He slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her against his body to lift her out of the fountain.

"We're going home, alright?" He wasn't really asking but phrased it as a question so he wouldn't sound too harsh.

Venus nodded sadly as he put her on the ground. Kent slipped off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders to cover her ruined dress and protect her from the chill. She stumbled forward and he quickly caught her from falling. She held onto him tightly with a grateful smile and Kent was content to hold her close all the way back to his car- to make sure she didn't get dizzy and fall, of course.

They rode back in silence, ignoring all the sad people in the street looking for the money they thought they had caught. Kent berated himself for thinking the mall would have been a good idea. He reminded himself that Venus did better in less crowded situations. Their trip to carnival being the exception because with so much going on, no one noticed the girl making magic with her hands. He needed to take her to places like private beaches or small theatres. She wasn't used to the 21st century, despite her having lived past it. He needed to ease her through it. He also noticed she had looked particularly upset since finding the one penny she threw back.

"What was the wish?" he asked.

She looked at him questioningly.

"The one you threw back," he clarified.

"Oh. Nothing."

"Not nothing. It upset you."

Venus shrugged and Kent waited for her to respond. It didn't take her long to cave.

"Someone just wished for a call."

"So? What's the big deal? That's not manipulating feelings, is it?"

"No, not really..."

"So, why didn't you grant that one?"

Venus pursed her lips and Kent became very curious as to what information she was hiding.

"Because!" she exploded. "Do you like the mail lady?!"

"What?" he asked, confused.

"That's who it was! The mail lady wanted you to call her."

"We have a mail lady?"

He wasn't sure what he said or did, but Venus' mood shifted entirely. From the sad and upset demeanor she had moments ago, she quieted quickly. A small smile spread on her lips.

"What?" he asked, very confused.

"Nothing," she said with a smile. "You wanna go to France for dinner, tonight?"

Kent swore he got whiplash from her moodshift. He didn't understand anything. Why was she happy he didn't know who the mailman- or lady- was? Why had she been upset at the thought that he might like her? He would have questioned her more, but coq a vin sounded fantastic for dinner.

"That sounds nice," he told her. He didn't understand why her cheeks were pink, but it was a beautiful color on her.