Joe frowned, feeling uncomfortable, and sat down across from her. He'd been having a satisfying time with his new fortune, spending unobtrusively and never worrying about anything. He'd hired a fitness coach and found some interested matches online, at least, even if he hadn't gotten much farther than that.

Joe didn't really feel like taking any chances with the sweet life he had now, but at the same time, Jasime was clearly in distress. He couldn't exactly live peacefully if it had to be at that kind of cost to someone else, right? "Jasmine... can we talk?" He asked carefully.

To his dismay, Jasmine started rushing to insist frantically: "Joe, please, I real-"

I understand!" He tried to sound forceful, but reassuring. "Just a second, please! I'm sorry for what you've been through, but I'm going to help you. I just need to talk it over for a bit, okay?"

To his relief, Jasmine seemed to pause a moment and then finally relax. "Why don't I get us some tea?" He offered. The maid was off for the day, but that was fine. He knew where everything was.

To his surprise, Jasmine frowned, nonplussed. "What for?" She asked, stopping him in his tracks as he got up to put the water on. "It's not customary to serve ceremonial tea at negotiations in this culture and era, is it?" She asked.

"Negot- no, Jasmine..." Joe gaped at the genie. "Wait, has nobody ever offered you tea before?"

"Why would they?" Jasmine and Joe stared at each other, struggling to comprehend each other's perspectives. Awkwardly, she went on: "as a genie, I don't participate in diplomatic rituals or informal visits, so there's no reason to serve me any. Why are you offering it?"

"Jasmine, you're... my guest."

The silence went on for several heartbeats, before it suddenly seemed to connect with her. "Really? Even though I'm not a human?" She gaped with strangely innocent wonder, as if discovering something new and mysterious for the first time.

"Why not?"

"I... don't know... we learn information about your world while dreaming in the lamp, so we always have context for interpreting your wishes when we're summoned here. But I've never heard of someone serving genies tea."

"That's too specific a scenario!" Joe blurted out, then stopped himself and forced a patient smile. "Of course most humans would treat you like a guest if they invited you in their house," he reassured her. It occurred to him, in all fairness, that unlike him, lots of people might actually be blinded by their greed and take to ordering her around instead. He decided not to mention that caveat, and just asked her to wait a few minutes while he went to the kitchen.

...

"So... Jasmine..." Joe parsed his words carefully, watching the genie awkwardly eye her steaming teacup. She looked up, and he didn't know what to follow up with. "What do you think?" He asked, awkwardly.

The genie twisted her face uncomfortably, and clumsily slurped up a taste of the brown liquid. "It's bitter and hot!" She exclaimed with surprise, almost dropping it. "Why do you do it?" She looked confused.

Joe was prepared for this, and smiled. Following his maid, Gabriella's, example, he'd come prepared with a second platter. "May I?" He asked, then took her cup and daintily added a slice of lemon from the little platter. A jar of honey stood beside it as well, and he used a teaspoon to mix some in.

"So, can I ask what you've been doing all these months since we freed you?" He asked, innocently working in the "we" while he passed back the teacup. Jasmine looked down at it without moving to drink.

"I told you," she sounded dejected. "Nothing! If you die without fulfilling your wishes, I'll be stuck here until someone else finds my lamp at random." She lamented.

"Well, that's... awkward..." Joe hesitated. "See, the thing is, there haven't been that many genies in this world that I know of, but they have a pretty bad reputation at fulfilling wishes. Something going wrong on the last one can ruin everything for me." He leaned back, sipping casually as he tried to explain as sympathetically as possible.

Jasmine tried to answer calmly, but started to fret. "I understand. What can I do to reassure you I'll grant your wishes safely and responsibly?" She asked measuredly.To stop fidgeting, she grabbed on to the teacup and mimicked Joe in taking a sip. "What!?"

Jasmine's eyes went wide, suddenly astonished. "That's good!" She exclaimed, as Joe started laughing. She narrowed her eyes at him, not sure how to react. "Is that normal?" She demanded. "Is it because I'm a genie?" She seems half-worried.

"No! Yes! I mean, it's not normal but it is. It's just your first time trying it!" Joe wiped the tears from his eyes, glad he'd called it. "Jasmine, you said you were around town - just what have you been eating all these months?" He frowned, and now it was his turn to sound worried.

"Nothing. I haven't needed any mana. Your wish was mostly mundane."

"That's- okay well where have you been sleeping?"

"Where I tired out. This district doesn't have a mandated area."

"Jasmine..." Joe was stunned. It was amazing how powerful and dangerous, yet utterly clueless, this woman was. Not only did he pity her, he felt it was his civic duty as a wish-recipient to get this woman a clue about human society. Who knew what damage she could cause with her misunderstandings, otherwise?

"Jasmine, you've learned all this stuff but you've never had tea and honey before. It's not that big a deal for us, but you've never tried so it feels extraordinary." He chuckled. "But if you never know what's worth experiencing, then you'll never know if it's worth a shot. This world's got all kinds of cool things to do in it. Why don't you let me at least show you some? Do you like water sports? Snowy mountaintops? Sunny oceans?"

Joe stood up, and held out his hand to Jasmine. "Give me a chance to do that much with this money, before you ask me for the rest of the wishes. What do you say? I promise you'll have something to do for the next few weeks, at least."