Arthur woke up after a night of restless sleep filled with nightmares of smog blurring his vision, of red flags and green magic , of wars and sword fights and dragons, and of running around in narrow winding streets, breathless, trying to escape from something chasing him. Through all of it, there was always a deep teasing voice murmuring nonsense in the background. Rather than annoying him though, the nonsense was a comfort, the voice a very pleasant companion.

As he felt himself coming to, he lay in bed with his eyes closed, and marveled at the sheer craziness his brain could come up with when exhausted. The rest of the nightmares were one thing,but a magical lamp and a Genie! Really Arthur? He mentally reprimanded a sheepish looking image of himself, and was glad to be finally awake.

Stretching his hands above his head, he yawned as opened his eyes... and promptly regretted it.

Right in front of his bed, in the direct field of his vision... hovered the said Genie he had dreamt.

Hovered was the correct word to use because Merlin couldn't stand, so he was floating in the air... literally- with a trail of smoke going out from under the door to the living room outside, probably connecting to the lamp there.

"Arthur! You are up." Merlin exclaimed gleefully when he saw Arthur opening his eyes.

Nope! He thought, and hastily closed his eyes again... willing himself to fall back asleep, and wake up to find last night had been a dream after all. It was too early in the morning to deal with such insanity, or the prospect of maybe, probably contacting his therapist. He hated his therapist.

Arthur had finally convinced himself that the last few seconds were a continuation of the nightmare from the last night, and that now was when he was finally up, when he felt sunlight on his face. Apparently someone had opened the blinds.

"What the hell are you doing?" Too annoyed to be appalled at his ongoing hallucination, he opened his eyes and glared at the Genie wrecking his morning routine.

Merlin, in a way that was a touch adorable, was lost to the world at the moment. One of the walls of Arthur's room was completely made of panels of transparent glass, with two panels being sliding windows. They were usually covered with blinds because Arthur had odd hours sometimes, and let's be honest, nobody ever likes to wake up because of sun shining on their face at God awful o'clock. When drawn though, they showed a spectacular view of the city below.

Merlin, the idiot, had shoved the blind covering one of the panels to a side like the unrefined peasant he was and was now standing with his nose pressed to the glass, palms flat on the wall. His open mouth was misting up the window... Arthur was sure. Enchanted, is what he looked.

"Oh! This is beautiful." Merlin whispered.

"You are talking like you haven't seen it before." Arthur was whispering too, for a reason he couldn't identify, other than the fact that he didn't want to break the moment.

"But I haven't. Not this world. Not this decade. And even when I did get to see the views, when my masters would allow me instead of keeping me locked in enchanted chests, I have never been so high up. This is... magical."

Merlin's voice was reverent... almost worshiping. Arthur supposed the view from his apartment was beautiful, but he had never realized it could inspire so much awe in someone. Still... he was an asshole and he had a reputation to maintain, so he whined,

"I see you are still here then."

"Told you, not going anywhere." Merlin said distractedly.

"Stop gawking...It makes you look even more stupid than usual, and that's a feat I didn't even realize was possible."

Ignoring Merlin's sputtering and the nasty look he threw his way while backing away from the window, he got up and stretched again, popping his spine and rolling his shoulders. Then he stepped forward, reached around Merlin, and pulled the thread that raised the blinds.

"... and that's how civilized people open the blinds." He smirked, causing Merlin to throw him an even nastier glance, and started walking towards the bathroom.

"Thank you so much for enlightening your poor backwards magical slave, My Lord." He bit out behind his back.

"I think we established you would call me Sir yesterday. None of this My Lord bullshit." He turned his head to glare accusingly at Merlin, who just shrugged and turned back towards the window to stare at the spectacle below, seemingly forgetting that Arthur even existed.

Shaking his head, he stepped into the washroom, and locked it behind himself. Not that it would actually help if Merlin felt like entering it. He was sure he had locked his bedroom door, and look where Merlin was.

"Don't come in here." He called out, because who knew if magical beings of questionable powers knew what personal space meant.

"I know Arthur. Washrooms are not a new invention... or did you not know that?" A distracted voice replied from outside, and Arthur supposed Merlin was had gone back to gawking.

Taking off his clothes and stepping into warm shower felt like a blessing, and Arthur involuntarily groaned, as he let the hot water wash away the tension in his shoulders and the worries nagging his mind. He thought about the day ahead, the meetings that he had to have with his board of directors, and the clients he needed to entertain. Inevitably, his mind went back to Merlin.

He had firmly established the fact that Merlin wasn't going anywhere and wasn't a figment of his exhausted mind. So what was he? Was he the manifestation of Arthur's insanity? Did somebody slip home some weird hallucinogenic drugs whose effect lasts for a really long time? Or was he was really what he claimed to be... A warlock.

The idea sounded ridiculous, but then so did the existence of a lamp genie.

Arthur was sure he could not have imagined Merlin, not with his guileless smiles and cheeky retorts, even if he was remarkably similar to one of his favorite characters from childhood. Because to him, the Genie had been perfect, and if he had to come up with any changes at all, Arthur was sure he would fail at it. Also because Arthur was pretty shit at wild leaps of imaginations - and Merlin was as wild as it came- but nobody needed to know that.

There was also the fact that Merlin felt real. He had shaken his hand, it was solid and warm, his demeanor was refreshingly unique, and his expressions extremely genuine. There was something about him that made Arthur want to believe him, something that urged him not to dismiss him as a mere hallucination. Whatever he was, right now Arthur wanted to give him a chance and damn the consequences.

Turning off the shower, Arthur realized that he had not brought clothes into the shower with him, so used to living alone that he had not thought of the need. Instead of feeling embarrassed though, Arthur thought that it was Merlin's fault for being in his room uninvited in the first place, and if he was centuries old Genie like he claimed to be, he had probably seen a hell of a lot worse things than Arthur's fit body. He wrapped a towel around his lower half, hiding his privates because he wasn't completely shameless, and stepped out.

He shouldn't have worried.

Merlin was still staring out the window like a simpleton, and didn't even bother glancing Arthur's way when the shower door opened. Arthur counted it as a blessing and stepped into the changing room. Wearing a grey Armani suit, he stepped out and cleared his throat meaningfully.

Merlin jumped away from window like it had shocked him, and started looking around, pretending to act normal. It made Arthur throw his head back and laugh. And that made Merlin's ears to become a darker shade of green.

"Now that you have stopped admiring the view, can we talk?"

"Oh yeah!" Suddenly looking alert and a lot more excited, he said, "Magic! You thought of what you want me to do for you?" He was practically bouncing with energy.

Arthur felt like a jerk when he said, "Not yet." It made Merlin's face fall.

"I want to do magic Arthur. It's been ages. Hurry up would you?"

"Give me some ideas then? What's the typical requests?"

"Money, girls, looks, power, more money... it's not really creative, what people want in life. Sometimes they make me want to heal someone they love but let me warn you, I am pretty hopeless at healing."

"You are deluded Merlin. Let me assure you, you are pretty hopeless at everything."

"Arse." Merlin groused, but he was smiling so bright that the insult barely registered.

"Hmm..."Arthur walked to the window Merlin was still standing in front of, and looked out, and wondered aloud. "What do I want that I can't get myself? Money, check. Power, check. Insanely good looks, check. Girls falling at my feet? Every day. I don't know Merlin; I really think you came to the wrong person."

"You are the one who bought me, you Prat! Should have thought of this before you went ahead with it."

"I didn't know I was buying a magical lamp that granted wishes though. I was being a spoiled rich bastard and buying a ridiculously expensive fake antique." Arthur retorted.

"Well, whatever your reasons, you are stuck with me now. So better get over with it already, make a wish."

Arthur smiled, which made him notice his crooked front teeth in his reflection in the glass. Hm, he supposed there was something he could ask Merlin's help for.

"So you see, I do have a flaw," Arthur said dramatically, turning to look Merlin in the eyes, who was rolling them skywards and sighing, "My teeth aren't exactly straight. Fix them." He ordered.

"What... No!" Merlin sputtered.

"What do you mean no? You can't?"

"Of course I can. I would appreciate it if you stop underestimating my powers. But I believe a dentist can fix them."

"Yes, but I am too old to wear braces now." Arthur argued.

"Not my problem. I am not letting you waste your wishes on something petty. "

"Wow. You really are a worst Genie than I even imagined."

"And you are even slower than I imagined. Warlock Arthur! Not a genie. Besides, I like your teeth. They are nice. Make you look less like you have done a thousand plastic surgeries to get an annoyingly perfect face." Merlin flushed green as he said that, embarrassed to be caught praising Arthur's looks.

"Why Merlin... I think you just complimented me."

"I just called you a diva."

"Same thing." Arthur said, making Merlin roll his eyes again.

"And look at that," Arthur continued after glancing at his watch, "Your constant nattering have made me late. Some people have actual jobs you know, rather than just lazing around in a lamp. Gotta go."

He started towards the door, and stopped when Merlin said,

"Um... Sire?"He sounded obedient for a change, and that made Arthur very suspicious.

"What?"

"Can you take me too? Just put the lamp in your briefcase... "

"No way!"

"Please?"

"Why would you even want to? I am just going to office."

"I will go stir crazy here alone, and there is so much I want to see."

"The world hasn't changed all that much in the last decade Merlin."

"Of course it has. But even last time, my master was a library owner of all things, and he locked me with the books every day, never allowing me to go out. I have read about the world and how it has evolved, have heard what goes on because sometimes the TV would be on in the shop, and sometimes the customers trickling in would say things, but I haven't seen anything in half a century. Been practically blind for all it was worth. I would understand if you leave me here, or lock me up someplace. Lord knows many of the previous ones have done it. But..." Merlin said, his voice infused with a heartfelt plea."Please?"

No! This was a horrible idea. He shouldn't.

"Okay." Arthur said, and promptly wanted to slap himself. The look of pure joy on Merlin's face when he glanced his way made him think that however horrible the day was going to be, it was totally worth it.