WOOOO this was like a beast to edit but thanks to dragonofeternal it's actually pretty good now ;D and not insanely late! I hope y'all enjoy~
oh, and Happy Thanksgiving to any of my fellow Americans...may ur turkey be delicious and ur family time as good as possible! :D
Judal whips his wand out quickly and throws a barrier in front of them, just barely stopping the maddened girl in her tracks. Rage fills her eyes as she pounds on the invisible wall, sending small shimmers through the air along its surface. Judal glances back at Alibaba and Hakuryuu, scowling. "It's not about wishes or anything," he sneers, mocking Alibaba's voice. "Get him outta here, Hakuryuu. I'll take care of this broad."
Hakuryuu pulls Alibaba further into the house, away from the imminent danger. He's sure Judal can handle a skinny coed without much trouble.
Alibaba sinks into one of the chairs in the kitchen dining nook, sighing. "What was that?"
"Do you know her?" Hakuryuu asks, staring down at Alibaba.
"Uh. Maybe? I don't think so, though. Even if she's one of the girls who I've been texting, I never told any of them where I live," he says, looking around nervously. "I have no idea how she got here."
Hakuryuu takes a deep breath. Alibaba's desperation has finally put him in danger, though he supposes he didn't expect it. Even so, it's no real excuse for not following directions. "You wished on the lamp, didn't you?"
"I don't see what the big deal is!" he snaps in frustration. "Is this some kind of practical joke?"
"What?"
"It's not funny," Alibaba says, scowling.
Hakuryuu clenches and unclenches his fists. "It's not a joke. When have I ever played jokes on people?"
This catches Alibaba off guard and he stops complaining briefly. In the awkward silence that follows, Hakuryuu can hear Judal yelling obscenities, which could mean anything. Hopefully he's gotten rid of her, but it doesn't sound likely.
"I guess you are really serious," Alibaba finally says. "But I still don't understand what's happening."
"I'm not going to hold your hand and explain the entire world to you, Alibaba," Hakuryuu says, exasperated. This entire night has turned into a bit of a disaster, and he's trying not to let it color his opinions of Alibaba anymore, no matter how hard that might be. "Sometimes curses are real, so if you don't listen to warnings you can end up in messes like this. Did you wish for anything else?"
Guilty silence follows.
"Alibaba-"
"Okay, okay, I did! Just one other thing though, but I didn't think it would actually do anything," he whines. Hakuryuu looks at him expectantly, waiting for the answer that he already knows. Eventually Alibaba ducks his head in shame. "I wished for Cassim to get out of prison. I didn't know it would happen the way it did."
Hakuryuu almost feels bad for him. "You saw the news reports, then."
"I can't believe he'd lead that kind of prison break, though. Cassim really is a good guy," Alibaba assures him, but Hakuryuu has his doubts. Maybe it is the genie's work, but he can't shake the feeling that violence that extreme is just the result of a wish gone wrong.
"Mmhm," Hakuryuu says, but he doesn't sound convinced. Should he go check on Judal? It's been awhile. He should probably make sure nothing's gone wrong. "I'm going to help Judal."
"What was he doing?" Alibaba asks, still trying to get his answer, and Hakuryuu sighs.
He pulls out of his own wand, mentally congratulating himself for making the habit of keeping it on him. Though with Zagan's wand, it feels weird not to carry it around, now that it's become such a part of his being. "Saving you. You should be grateful," he says shortly, before turning and heading back to Judal.
Judal is still fending off the woman. Hakuryuu has realized that his skills include very little in the way of defensive spells, which makes getting rid of her without violence difficult. Instead, Judal's just been keeping her at bay and yelling for her to go away. Hakuryuu sighs and goes to offer him help just as Aladdin comes down the stairs.
"Is everything alright-" Aladdin starts to ask, probably concerned about the commotion, before cutting off to stare at the scene in front of him. There's a visibly upset woman pounding on an invisible barrier so hard that it's warping the magic while Judal tries to subdue her while swearing loudly. All in all, it's not a good thing to come into. "What the hell?"
Judal glances back and groans. "Oh, you."
Hakuryuu joins Judal. "Do you need help?" Maybe if he doesn't acknowledge Aladdin, the problem will solve itself. Belatedly, he realizes that he's starting to use Judal's coping skills, and that's not always a good thing.
"Uh, maybe? You might be better at this whole...peaceful negotiation thing, though I don't think this bitch wants to leave quietly," Judal answers, jabbing his wand at her accusingly. "You hear that? Alibaba doesn't want you around!"
The woman screams incoherently in reply and almost shatters the barrier in anger. Her face is a contorted parody of rage and need, painted lips twisted into a cruel snarl as she does her best to beat down everything between her and her one true love. "You can't keep us apart! I love him!"
"What are you two doing?" Aladdin asks again. Apparently he's recovered from his shock enough to want answers.
"Alibooba made some sort of dumb wish for girls to love him 'cause he's stupid and desperate," Judal says simply, before turning back to cast a stronger barrier that can ward off her blows without threatening to break or bend. "She's got some sort of extra strength, probs because of the magic behind the wish," Judal tells Hakuryuu, tuning Aladdin out again.
"I've noticed," Hakuryuu says, frowning. He doesn't think he'll be able to do anything through Judal's barrier, but he also doesn't want to risk whatever damage she can do to him with her superpowered anger if he steps outside of it. He's not even sure he'll be able to calm her down.
Aladdin looks at the woman, and then at Judal and Hakuryuu. "Why is this lady here?"
"Why don't you ask your stupid buddy Alibooba," Judal spits back. Hakuryuu realizes that holding up the barrier is taking a decent amount of Judal's focus. He's not the kind to practice defense regularly, and it's annoying and attention-consuming for him at the very least.
"We can explain things later, Aladdin," Hakuryuu says, trying to let Judal focus on the spell by distracting Aladdin. "Why don't you go check on Alibaba, he's probably-"
There's another crash from the door, and Aladdin, Judal, and Hakuryuu turn to stare down the hallway. It sounded like someone at the front door, but thankfully they're not so rude as to come barging in when no one knocks. Then the crash comes again, the door buckling under the force, and finally it splinters inwards, showering bits of wood all over the entryway.
Another woman clambers through the wreckage, mindless of the splintering wood that still stands scraping at her clothes and hair. Once she's through, she comes rushing towards them, desperation and want burning in her eyes. She eyes up the first woman - still pounding on the barrier and demanding to be let in to see Alibaba - and grabs her by her long hair, throwing her away from the barrier. The first woman snarls like an animal and lunges at the second.
Aladdin shakes his head. "We have to stop them. I'm getting my wand." He turns to go upstairs, but freezes when the second woman screams, shoved backwards into the barrier by the first. The first woman lunges, her broken, painted nails reaching for the second woman, but it's to no avail. The second woman pulls out a large knife from her purse, and before anyone can react, she plunges it into the other woman's neck, over and over.
"Holy shit!" Judal yells, but it's over so quickly they don't have time to stop her. The first woman crumples to the ground and goes still, laying in a quickly growing pool of her own blood.
There's an eerie silence as they take in what just happened, but the remaining woman seems unperturbed. "Where's Alibaba? Where are you hiding him?"
"Lady, what the fuck," Judal says incredulously, shaking his head.
"She was in the way," she answers simply. "I'm the only one who deserves his love!" She strikes the barrier with the knife, testing it. "You can't keep him from me. Alibaba and I are going to be together forever."
"Yeah, this is fucked up," he says, turning to gesture at Aladdin aggressively. "You! You're someone magic, too. Why didn't you notice the evil cursed lamp in your own stupid house?" he asks accusingly.
Aladdin frowns. "What cursed lamp? Don't we have bigger things to worry about right now? She just killed someone!"
Judal rolls his eyes, turning back to deal with the problem at hand. Hakuryuu sighs. Apparently it's up to him to explain things. "Alibaba bought a decorative lamp from Judal's antique store a few weeks ago and was given very firm instructions not to wish on it, but he did anyway."
He nods. "I remember. That's where he ran into you."
"Well, since he didn't listen, it's become a mess that has to be cleaned up," Hakuryuu says, gesturing at the disaster around them. Judal murmurs a few words under his breath and the barrier flares out before condensing into a spell, and the woman falls to ground. Oh, god. Did Judal really decide that killing her was the best option? "Judal!"
Judal glares down at the bodies on the ground. "Ugh, this is stupid."
"Did you have to kill her?" Hakuryuu asks, and Judal shakes his head.
"She's not dead, just incapacitated. For now. We're gonna have to dump her somewhere," he says casually. Alibaba pokes his head out of the kitchen now that it's quiet.
"Is she gone?" he asks.
"In a way, yeah," Judal answers, nudging the corpse with his foot. Aladdin is staring in quiet horror, obviously unsure of how to react to a dead body in his home. It's a fair concern.
Alibaba gingerly comes closer, standing near Aladdin defensively. "Is- is that a dead body? Are they both dead?" he asks in horror, voice going high pitched at the end. He looks a little ill.
"Just one of them," Judal says cheerfully. Why is he so bad at this? No one should be this cheery around dead people, especially not innocent bystanders. It would have to be someone truly terrible to inspire this level of happiness without arousing concern. Hakuryuu wishes Judal could feign a little horror, if only to make the whole situation less awkward. "Anyway, we should definitely clean this up soon, 'cause I don't wanna explain it to the food delivery person. It's kinda awkward."
Aladdin looks horrified, too. "Clean this up? We can't just hide a corpse!"
"Of course you can. Look, I'm gonna just...put this unconscious one somewhere else. She's fine," Judal assures everyone, drawing a teleportation sigil on the ground next to her and then nudging her into it with his foot before anyone can disagree further. Hakuryuu sighs.
"You got rid of the evidence!" Alibaba yells, staring wide-eyed where she vanished. "What did you do?"
"What did I do?" Judal points his wand at Alibaba aggressively. "More like what did you do! Here's the answer: You fucked up!"
Alibaba jumps back, pushing Aladdin in front of him in defense. "Uh. Haha. It's not a big deal."
"Someone is dead because there are now women ready to kill for you," Hakuryuu says. "It's very serious."
The mood somehow turns even more somber as everyone but Judal regards the corpse. Since Judal removed her murderer, there really isn't much else they can do except clean up the mess. It's tragic, sure, but if they call the police there's no way to explain themselves. He knows better than to get involved in something like that.
"Are we done standing around feeling guilty or whatever? I'm ditching this dead broad somewhere," Judal says, moving to draw another teleportation sigil. "Hakuryuu, you wanna clean up the rest? You're better at that shit."
He nods. "Of course."
Judal gives him a thumbs up and jumps through the sigil, pulling the corpse along with magic. Hakuryuu pulls out his wand to clean up the blood now that nothing's in the way. It's different than his usual magical tasks, but he's pretty sure he can modify it to work. He enlarges some of the microbes in the air around him and sets them to the dask of absorbing the blood.
Alibaba turns to stare at Hakuryuu now. "How are you so calm? Do you have to deal with dead people all the time?"
"Not often, but it comes up," he answers, watching his microbes work. They're doing a good job, even better than he expected, and he's proud of them. He'll have to test this out more later.
"It comes up?" Aladdin asks, frowning. "What are you doing with someone like Judal?"
"Working for him," Hakuryuu says simply, turning to look at the broken door down the hall. He might be able to fix that, too. The wood has been cut and carved and treated into something unnatural, but that doesn't mean it can't grow together again.
Alibaba sits on the bottom step, watching Hakuryuu work like his entire world has been knocked off kilter. He supposes that makes sense, since apparently Aladdin never mentioned magic to him. Hakuryuu always assumed they were close friends without secrets, but he must have been wrong. He's assuming Aladdin knows about magic, at the very least. He seems horrified by the murder but not the magical circumstances around it.
Aladdin seems unhappy with his answer. "I don't know how you ended up working for him, but he seems dangerous," he says. "He sold a random civilian a cursed item! And murder didn't even faze him."
"Well, yes. But he did give Alibaba a warning," Hakuryuu points out. "I was there."
This causes Aladdin's expression to drop even more. "Hakuryuu…"
Judal reappears before Aladdin can give him some sort of lecture or advice he doesn't need. Hakuryuu now remembers why he didn't keep in touch with them. He always felt like a weight they didn't need, yes, but they also always had such bright, shining ideas about what good means that it was exhausting. That hasn't changed.
At least Judal looks satisfied. "That's taken care of," he says, dusting himself off. "Ooooh, I didn't know your weird giant germ things could do that! Nice."
"They're not giant germs. I've enlarged the microbes in the air-" he begins, and Judal chuckles.
"Yeah, got it. You gonna fix the front door, too?" he asks.
"Yes."
"Good! Hey, what's with all the gloomy faces? I just saved your asses from getting arrested or something shitty like that," Judal whines. "You should be grateful."
Aladdin and Alibaba stare at Judal, mouths agape. Hakuryuu doesn't even try to fix the situation; he just goes to the front door and urges it back together. The splinters creak and complain, but life magic courses through him and the wood, and eventually they obey him. He uses thick vines to position it back in the doorframe and to twist the screws back in. Hakuryuu steps back to look at it proudly: it looks almost good as new.
Judal is, unfortunately, still arguing. He thinks he's done nothing wrong and refuses to listen to anything else.
"Judal," Hakuryuu says, laying a hand on his shoulder. "Maybe we should just go home."
"What? No, I want my dinner," he whines. "Even if your stupid friends don't wanna thank me, they shouldn't be blaming me for this mess."
"I know-"
"What?" Alibaba interrupts. "Dude, someone got killed here and I'm pretty sure Aladdin didn't do it. Or you!"
Judal rolls his eyes. "Do you really think I killed that chick? No way! It's a waste of time."
"But-"
The doorbell rings, and they all whirl around to stare at the front door. Hakuryuu wants it to be their food, but he grips his wand anyway. He's not usually that lucky. Everyone stares, tension and fear vibrating through the air, until Judal flounces forward fearlessly when he realizes no one else will.
Alibaba keeps glancing between the front door and Hakuryuu, like he's not sure what to make of anything that's going on. Miraculously, there's no sign of a struggle, and Judal returns with a large bag of delivery Chinese food.
"Success," he says, grinning. He wanders further down the hall and Hakuryuu follows him until they end up in the kitchen, where Judal plunks the bag down on the counter and starts going through it. "I'm taking our stuff and going home. This is lame."
Hakuryuu leans in. "Do you think that's wise? Someone else could show up looking for Alibaba," he says quietly.
Judal shrugs, unconcerned. "His problem."
"I suppose that's fair." Hakuryuu feels a little bad, but honestly it's Alibaba's fault. He tries not to think about it as he waits for Judal to find their food in the bag.
"Also, I'm gonna throw some protection charms around the house as we leave, 'cause I'm a nice fucking person like that. I'm gonna trust blue-haired brat to deal the rest, since he looks competent. I guess," Judal explains, pulling out their food. "Let's blow this popsicle stand."
"Alright," Hakuryuu agrees. Aladdin and Alibaba are also quietly discussing something between themselves, and he feels himself tense up. Everyone seems to turn on him eventually. "We're going home," he says as they pass, and they both look up guiltily.
Alibaba frowns. "You don't have to," he says, but Aladdin doesn't look like he agrees. Fine.
"Nah, your place fuckin' blows. Try not to make any other reckless wishes," Judal says, grabbing Hakuryuu's hand. "Come on, I wanna get home before this gets cold."
Hakuryuu shrugs, following Judal out. "Have a nice night," he says politely, before shutting the door behind them. Judal is practically skipping down the stairs and off the porch; at least he's in a good mood. Hakuryuu is stressed and upset, mostly at how quick Aladdin was the judge everything.
Judal sets Hakuryuu's food in the backseat but keeps his container of lo mein and a pair of chopsticks when he crawls into the passenger seat. Hakuryuu glances over, concerned.
"What are you doing with that?"
"I'm still hungry," Judal says, opening the container. "Ohh good, it looks like they did listen to my request."
Hakuryuu snatches his chopsticks away. "You cannot seriously think you're going to eat that in my car. You already make a mess with finger food; that is so much worse."
Judal whines. "But I want my food."
"Then be patient. You can wait another twenty minutes to eat," he says, turning the car on. Judal pouts but closes the container and twists around to put it with the rest of the food. He waits until Judal has settled into his seat again and buckled up before heading back to the shop.
Hakuryuu parks behind back in what feels like his usual spot these days and Judal jumps out to grab the food.
"You comin' up?" he asks, containers of food balanced precariously in his hands.
"It looks like you decided for me already," Hakuryuu says, the tiniest hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Somehow Judal has learned how to make him feel better even when he's stressed out.
Judal shrugs. "So? Come on, I still wanna have a nice night with you."
Hakuryuu follows him up the now familiar flight of stairs, into his cozy living room, and Judal goes right for the couch with the food. Hakuryuu removes his shoes by the door and raises an eyebrow. "We could eat at the table, you know."
"No," Judal says simply. "I had to deal with your stupid judgy friends and get rid of a dead body. I wanna be comfy."
He can see he's lost this fight before it's even begun. Hakuryuu gets himself a bowl from the kitchen to prevent any sort of messes, though he knows that Judal is a lost cause. It's his couch, though. He can't save it. "I'm sorry about my friends," Hakuryuu says, settling in next to Judal on the couch and taking his General Tso's Chicken.
"I can see why you didn't wanna hang out with them," he says noisily, slurping up a noodle. "They suck."
"I think they mean well," Hakuryuu explains, but it doesn't make him feel any better. "They're just not good at seeing other people's side of the situation."
Judal nods enthusiastically. "Yeah, and they acted like it was my fault there was a dead body. Like come on, maybe Alibooba should have listened to me the first time."
Hakuryuu takes some time to think over his response and eat. He didn't listen to Judal either, and ended up in trouble because of it. But looking back with a clear mind, he can see that he was at fault. He should have listened. He's always prided himself as somewhere who followed instructions and didn't break the mold, and if he had, he wouldn't be in the situation he is now.
Judal stabs a piece of Hakuryuu's chicken and steals it, plopping it in his own container victoriously before grinning over at him. "I wanted to try it."
Hakuryuu isn't sure he'd want out of it now, though. Working for Judal is satisfying in ways he never expected and whatever they have between them isn't something he'd want to give up.
"You don't like spicy things," Hakuryuu warns him and Judal frowns.
"I know, but it looks like...shiny and sweet, you know? Like a glazed donut, but in chicken form," he says, eyeing it suspiciously.
"It's still sweet, it's just also spicy."
"That is true betrayal," Judal whines. "How dare it!"
Hakuryuu shrugs. "You might still like it. Have you really never tried it before?"
"Just 'cause I'm old doesn't mean I've tried everything," he explains, taking a tentative bite. He cringes slightly but doesn't seem completely grossed out. That's a good sign. "Eh, it could be worse. I like the crunchy outside part."
"Uh huh."
"I do! Just less spice and it would be perfect," Judal says, and Hakuryuu takes note. Maybe if he made some sort of peach glazed chicken, Judal would enjoy it. It sounds simple enough to whip up; he'll have to keep it in mind for the next time he wants to cook for him.
They finish eating quietly, both of them hungrier than usual. Magic is tiring work, and Hakuryuu hadn't realized how much he'd done until he sat down to eat.
Judal leans his head on Hakuryuu's shoulder and breathes out heavily. "You blame Alibaba more than me, don't you?"
He reaches up to scratch Judal's head, and he makes a soft, happy noise. "I do. You did give him fair warning, but him and Aladdin seemed upset with you anyway."
"Probably 'cause I sold an incredibly dangerous item to a moron with no common sense," he says, nudging Hakuryuu's hand for more pets. "Some people think that's irresponsible."
"I guess so."
Judal grins. "You make a good partner. I'm glad you fucked up and have to deal with me."
"Selfish brat."
"I don't hear you complaining."
Hakuryuu doesn't respond, but he doesn't have to. This time, when Judal offers to let him stay, he doesn't turn him down, and settles on the uncomfortable futon in his spare room. Judal barrels in with his arms full of pillows and blankets; it looks like he's preparing some sort of nest. "Hey, I brought you soft stuff."
Hakuryuu raises an eyebrow. "All of this?"
"Yeah! It'll be more comfortable this way," he explains. "I mean, my bed is practically a nest of shit like this, so I figured I could donate some to you for the night."
"I don't think I've ever slept with so many pillows in my life."
"Well, you're missing out. Learn to experience joy!" he says excitedly, dropping everything on the futon. Hakuryuu shakes his head and tries to gather it into some semblance of an organized pile instead of the mess it's in now.
"Thank you," he says, and Judal tosses him some loose pants and a shirt. "And for these, too. You're oddly prepared."
"I like having you around here," Judal says honestly, leaning in to kiss him quickly. "Sleep well, Hakuryuu."