Jean awoke to the smell of eggs and bacon cooking. She'd looked around and saw that Abis Mal had already gotten up and like all the men she'd ever known he hadn't bothered to make his bed. She also realized that he'd left her completely alone so she could sleep. She smiled. That was a first.

She stretched in contentment. This was the first time she'd ever been in a bed just to sleep. And for the first time she'd experienced dreams. Being human was turning out to be more interesting than she'd originally imagined it would. That was another thing she had to thank her new master for, the experience of sleep and dreams.

She got up and changed her outfit into a more comfortable blouse and a set of balloon pants. She conjured up a mirror and straightened her hair into a more pleasing top bun combination. There. She looked more like a woman than a houri. She wondered whether Abis Mal would be displeased. Well. She'd soon find out.

She walked into the kitchen and found he had already put two plates and silverware on the table. He looked over at her and smiled. "You look wonderful." He hurriedly turned back to the eggs which had started to burn.

"You really think so?" She made a gesture and the eggs were restored to their pre-burnt state.

"Oh, yes." He quickly used a spatula to put two eggs and bacon on her plate and did the same with his own. He smiled. "This is a first for me. Usually I burn everything I cook."

He looked over at her. "I do like the other outfit but I don't care how you dress. Just to have you here and to talk to you is wonderful."

He slid into his chair and indicated that she should do the same. As she did she made a slight gesture to make her top slightly more revealing. He looked up from eating, noticed and shook his head. "Why did you change?"

She frowned. "Isn't that what you wanted?"

He paused. "Yes and no. I want you to be a companion and share conversation with me but to do that you have to be comfortable too."

He looked down at his half eaten eggs and sighed. "This place has changed me or I should say you've changed me." He looked back up at her. "At one time I wouldn't have cared what a woman thought or how she wanted to behave. I would've thought only of myself. With the loss of my desire for riches I seem to have lost some other attitudes." He bent back to his eggs muttering to himself. "If my band of surly desert skunks could see me now, they'd laugh their heads off just before they cut off mine."

She stared at him and felt something welling up inside her. She couldn't identify the feeling as it was so foreign to her. She took a bite of the eggs and another feeling rammed its way into her attention. She was starving.

As she finished cleaning her plate he handed her a plate of hot cinnamon rolls. She took one, bit in, and found herself consumed with a desire to eat them all. "These are delicious." She said around a mouthful of bun. "What genie made these?"

Abis Mal smiled. "Hasim the baker. They just appeared here as part of my wish."

She wolfed the first down and magically a second appeared on her plate. She picked it up and grinned at him. "You know you're making it impossible for me to ever want to go back into that ring."

"What's it like in there?"

She put the roll down and frowned; her appetite suddenly gone. "It's mostly darkness and silence. There's no food and water and all one can do is sleep."

He sighed. "That sounds worse than any prison I've ever been in and I've occupied a few in my days. But they're better than the insane asylum they locked me in once." He shuddered. "I hated it as much as you seem to hate the ring."

She frowned. "Why would they put you in one of those? An asylum I mean."

He fidgeted and then looked up with trembling smile. "If you haven't noticed, I'm different from other men. I don't think like they do and according to their standards they consider me just weird."

"You are different from other men." She conceded. "Don't change. I like you." She downed a third roll.

"You do?" His face lit up. "You're the first. I'm definitely not making the last wish so you can stay and be my friend."

"We'll see." She said. She looked around. "Is breakfast over?"

"Pretty much." He said. "I have an amazing waterfall further back in the cave I want to share with you and later I want to hear more of your adventures."

"That sounds like fun." She made a gesture and all the leftovers and dirty dishes disappeared. She smiled at him. "And that's how I do dishes."