Not Quite a Rubber Ducky [Active]

[faithxhealer]

Characters: Flonne, a Jupiter Djinni, and Ivan
Content: Flonne finds a Djinni in a very unexpected way...or rather, it finds her.
Setting: Laharl/Flonne/Ivan's hotel room
Time: Midmorning
Warnings: ...implied nudity? Because she's taking a bath? C'mon, guys, it's Flonne. XD

Comments

[sparkplasma]

Ivan hadn't been having the best of mornings, all told. Though he'd gone out on a limb, sort of, in putting up a public bulletin about his missing Djinni, the lack of response had been a little worrying. Lately he couldn't help feeling like someone had found them and was just deliberately keeping them from him. He knew he had no real basis to assume that, but his mind just kept returning to the idea...

And then there were all these rumors of a monster attack (probably further than closer, since he hadn't seen anything yet), not that he had any ideas on what to do about it. He couldn't even guess what it was or what was causing it; it was awfully bold even to be the work of the Organization.

Whatever the case, he'd be nigh upon useless with only one Djinn, so he'd been doing his best to look for them without straying too far from the hotel and his friends. But the city was enormous, and brimming with little nooks and crannies, and Ivan's discouragement had finally gotten to him after less than an hour of searching, forcing him to

[faithxhealer]

Flonne had become rather fond of the Djinn in the short few minutes she'd had it in her lap. She was petting it as though it were a regular house cat when Ivan came in, sounding suprised.

"Oh, hello, Ivan-san!" She turned to greet him with a cheery smile. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

She blinked, momentarily unsure what Ivan was asking about, before it hit her that maybe he wanted to know about the animal in her lap. "Oh, this is Robert!" She'd named the Djinn only a few minutes ago. "I found him in a vent! Or actually, he fell out of the vent on top of me, but he was in a vent!" she announced, hoping that had answered Ivan's question.

[sparkplasma]

Ivan blinked in abject disbelief. She'd found it in a vent. In the hotel. It had been in the hotel all along, right under his nose, and he'd had no idea. How had he not found it sooner?

He shook his head. They had it now, that was what mattered. When he looked up again, it was with an awkward smile. "Actually, that's what I was looking for!" he said sheepishly. "Thank you for finding it. Would you mind if...?" he trailed off, holding out his hands to ask for it back.

[faithxhealer]

"Oh..." Of all the responses Ivan could have given, that was the one Flonne hadn't really expected. "Maybe we should look in the vent again?" she suggested with a smile. "Maybe Robert's friends are up there too!"

"Ummmm..." She looked over at Ivan, then down at Robert. Making her decision, she patted Robert on the head one last time, then stood and offered him to Ivan. "Sure, Ivan-san!"

[sparkplasma]

"Thank you so much," he said again, taking the Djinn gently from her hands (it didn't seem to object). To be perfectly frank, Ivan wasn't sure what the odds were of another one showing up in the same place as the first, but then again, what had been the odds of finding this one to begin with? Rather than answer the suggestion, though, he said, "I don't think its name is Robert, actually..."

Not that he could tell what its name was, though, not just by looking at it. They all looked alike as far as he could tell, but he would know for sure which one it was once he'd absorbed it again. Closing his eyes, he allowed the Djinn to disappear into the air around him in a purple glow, which swirled around him with the brief whirlwind it caused, until the last of it had all been drawn into him.

[faithxhealer]

Flonne wasn't too surprised to hear she'd chosen the wrong name for the Djinn. It wasn't the first time she'd been wrong about something, after all, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. "Oh...do you know what his na-"

She cut herself off with a surprised squeak as the Djinn disappeared. "What- what happened to Robe- Ah- not ro- what happened?"

[sparkplasma]

Ivan was nearly as surprised at her reaction as she'd been at him. "Wh-what?" he asked, startled. That was just how it worked -

Belatedly, though, he remembered; just because strange was the order of the day around here didn't make his powers any less strange to those who'd never seen them before. (Or even to those who had; even after months of knowing him, Garet still complained every time he or Sheba read his mind.) "Uhm, well..." He fumbled for a few seconds, trying to figure out how best to explain it. "Rob- I mean, Aroma," he corrected himself with a shake of his head, "it's a Djinn, which are sort of helpers for Adepts, you could say... I mean, it doesn't work if I don't do that, and anyway I don't want it running off again, and, uh..."

Shoot, he wasn't making any sense, was he? He cut himself off, smiling nervously. With any luck she might understand him in spite of his mouth.

[faithxhealer]

Flonne had absolutely no idea what Ivan was talking about. Something had happened, and the Djinn had disappeared, and...and...she just had no clue.

"Um...Ivan-san?" she tried again, hoping that she might get a coherent answer if she were a little calmer herself. "What happened to the Djinn?"

[sparkplasma]

After a pause, Ivan sighed. So he hadn't managed to get his point across after all. Finally, he closed his hands, and when he opened them again the Djinn in question was sitting contentedly in his palms. Easier to show than tell, after all. "It's right here," he said. "See? It's perfectly fine."

[faithxhealer]

Flonne blinked in surprise when the Djinn reappeared, but she managed not to squeak this time. "Okay..." She nodded slowly, trying to figure things out. "So then how did Rob- ah, Aroma - disappear?"