Nate soon snapped out of it.
“Um, actually-“ he says, adjusting a pair of imaginary glasses, “He’s a free genie, he can grant wishes to whomever he wishes, whenever he wishes. He told me so when I released him from the top hat.”
He takes a step towards Zach, a
corner of his lips lifted up in a smirk.
“What? Oh, right- I did say that!”
said Xander, “-and why should I even give you a wish? You trapped me in a thermos!”
“If anything, Nate should be using his wish to punish you!”
Zach looked back and forth between the two, slowly backing out. He wiping the sweat from his palms onto his cargo pants. “Hey, guys, I was just kidding! Besides, I wasn’t going to use my wish for anything bad! You s-see-“
Xander raised an eyebrow.
“Uh, my sister, well, she’s sick- and- “ Even Zach couldn’t believe the bull that was coming out of his mouth.
Nate interrupted him.
“-What was it you did back at the register, again? Oh- That’s right, you tried to turn me into a dog! Well, at least, you spoke the incantation. It’d be _shame_ if whenever someone spoke the incantation *you* were to turn into a dog. And, you know, you were being a bit of a jerk, trying to blackmail me n’all... One might even say, you were being a *_bitch_*...”