I might have dug out Zane from my old novel project to write down a prompt reply on Reddit (r/WritingPrompts)... so, here it is!
I hope my tiredness from 12hr shift & buggy bluetooth keyboard didn't make too much of a mess!
BTW Grey and Red are placeholder names for Zane and Luciel, as I didn't want to put their names on Reddit LMAO
[WP] "So I get three wishes, but I can’t wish for things that are restricted by the rules?" I asked the genie. "That’s correct," it said. "Okay… but what if I stack two wishes together to overpower the rules and if not, can all three work?"
The genie was staring at the human with their absurdly bright blue eyes – a stark contrast against the greyish skintone and wisps of smoke that made up the lower part of their body - arms crossed. Brows set in a slight scowl and jaw set. They looked clearly annoyed by the current situation they found themself in. All their own fault: if they didn’t anger a being more powerful than them, Grey wouldn’t have been stuck into a damn vase, requiring external help to get out.
And of course, every damn human would ask for the three wishes thing. A very old millennia fad — many other genies agreeded — but what you can do about it? Ugh-
“So” the human said, “I get three wishes, but I can’t wish for things that are restricted by the rules you told me… right?”
Duh.
The genie had to force themself to not roll their eyes. “That’s correct. Three wishes, all fitting those rules.” they deadpanned.
The human frowned slightly, taking his chin in a hand, gaze moving to somewhere not really clear.
The genie could hear the cogs in the human’s brain struggling to grasp the concept. That dude didn’t really look like the sharpest tool in the shed… and of course they had to get someone like him as ‘saviour’.
Double ugh-
They were starting to wonder if they had been also cursed, and not only trapped, when the human spoke again
“Okay… but if I stack two wishes together to overpower the rules and if not, can all three work?”
One eye of the genie twiched. Gods, probably being still stuck in that stinky vase could have been a better situation than the current one.
Anything was better than having to deal with humans and their Pindaric flights trying to — how did Red call it? 'Wish-maxxing'? — to exploit the wishes at their maximum.
Grey couldn’t refrain from letting out a sigh and rub their hand over their face. This is why they preferred to be the one being owed something.
Another sigh, pinching the root of their nose between their fingers. “Babygirl, that’s not how wishes work,” their tone was harsher now. “You do not need to break the rules for asking whatever shit you could possibly want.” They suddenly straightened their back, looming over the human “Unless you are specifically trying to interfere with matters of life, death, free will, alter the timeline or the planes of existence” a pause “are you?”
The human shifted his posture, as if to try to shrink away from the genie.
Those unnatural blue eyes were now narrowed and fixed on him as if trying to bore holes in his skull.
“You are! You little vermin!” Grey exclaimed, their voice now loud like stones rolling down the side of a mountain.
The human jolted, stumbling a couple of steps back, hands clasped, blathering excuses and pleading for mercy.
But the genie's scowl surprisingly turned in a too wide smile.
“Oh, my!” they exclaimed, wisps of greyish smoke now wrapping around the human’s body, like a python curling around their prey.
“I like the sound of that” Grey continued “But-” they rubbed the thumb over index and middle finger “Breaking the rules will cost you.”
Finally. Some good ol’ rulebreaking and some fool ending up owing them more than what they bargained for.