"Jenna did you -" I started to ask the genie currently blocking me from getting into my apartment.

  "No," she interrupted, sounding very confident and sure of herself.

  "I don't know anything about any piglets," she added, sounding a little less self-assured and slightly more anxious.

  Then after a little nervous ugh she said, "I certainly wasn't racing piglets in the living-room. That's crazy talk, where'd you even get that idea?"

  By that point I knew not to even ask. All I had to do was stare at her for another couple seconds to hear the next part of the story.

  "Anyways," she continued in an anxiously defensive tone, "I checked and there's definitely no ws in this state against setting up a professional piglet racing circuit. Or against streaming those races to facilitate online gambling."

  We both stared at each other for another four or five seconds before I asked, "Jenna?"

  "Yes Vikki?" she replied in that same anxious tone.

  "We're not in the States," I continued in a calm deliberate voice. "We're in Canada. We're in the province of Ontario, not the state of Nevada."

  She continued staring for another second or two before she insisted, "I knew that! Anyways it's totally not my fault, ok? They're like, right next to each other! Manitoba, Nevada, Ontario, you know what I'm talking about right?"

  "Yeah... No," I slowly shook my head. "Can I please come inside now? And should we expect a visit this evening from the ndlord? Or the police? Or maybe the humane society?"

  My genie gave me a nervous look as she gulped. Then she grinned and seemed to rex as she stepped aside so I could finally get past her into my home.

  "It was all just an act Vikki," she admitted. "I wasn't really racing piglets, I'm just goofing around."

  After a second she added, "I mean, I definitely thought about it? I was watching marble races online and it was kind of cool but I thought it would be way cooler and cuter if we could get little animals to do it instead. The only question was what kind of critter would be best?"

  "That's when it hit me!" she continued. She was sounding more excited as she went on, "The idea just came to me, and I said to myself Jenna you are one genius genie! Because obviously piglets would be the perfect participants! They're small and cute and fast and pink! And -"

  She suddenly cut herself off there. And in a calm nonchant voice she stated, "Like I said though, I didn't actually do it. The whole thing was all just a bit, to try and surprise you? I didn't really set up a race track in the apartment. And I definitely wouldn't have streamed the races. Or set up a contract with an off-track betting parlour. And I totally didn't make seven thousand six hundred and forty three dolrs off people betting on piglet races over the st two and a half hours."

  "Uh-huh," I deadpanned.

  There were a few brief moments where I started to worry, before I caught myself.

  I remembered what happened at dinner Friday evening. She dreamed up a whole baseball game complete with a team I'd never heard of, and used magic to add some props like the ball she caught. As I looked around I decided that this was a simir scenario. Mostly because my living-room appeared almost exactly like I left it when I went to work in the morning.

  The only real difference was the rge plush pink pony sitting on my favourite chair again. Today it was wearing a white t-shirt with a 'Professional Piglet Racing League' logo across the front. And on the chair next to it was a big pink foam finger with the words 'Petunia #1!' stamped in bck ink.

  I stared at the giant plushie for a second or two then looked back at Jenna again and asked, "Let me guess, Pinkie was behind the whole thing?"

  "Nah," the genie shook her head. "If you need a perfect party pnned precisely then Pinkie's your pony, but she's doesn't really know anything about setting up illegal business deals. Or wrangling piglets."

  "She had a lot of fun though!" Jenna added with a grin. "Even if she did lose like two hundred dolrs betting on the wrong little piggie."

  "Ok," I said as I sat down on the sofa. I decided not to make a big deal out of the whole thing, and just let the subject drop.

  As soon as I was comfortable I commented, "I looked at some properties earlier today, and found a few that I wanted to show you? Maybe we can narrow it down to a couple, then go and have a look at them in person ter this week."

  "Oh and what do you want to do for dinner tonight?" I added.

  Jenna's eyebrows crept up as she gave me a quizzical look. She finally moved to sit next to me as she asked, "You're not going to yell at me about the thing with the piglets? You're not even questioning me about it?"

  "Did any little piggies get hurt today?" I asked her.

  She shook her head, "Of course not!"

  I shrugged, "Then I'm not upset and I don't have any other questions. I trust you to stay out of any serious trouble."

  "You do?" she asked as her eyes widened in what may have been shock.

  "Sure," I nodded. "Anyways did you have any thoughts about dinner tonight? Or would you rather talk about houses first?"

  She watched me for another couple seconds then frowned, "Ok what's going on here? Friday night you freaked out because I filled your bedroom with pillows and plushies. Today I may or may not have set up an illegal gambling network so people could bet on piglet races right here in the apartment, and you're not even stressed."

  "Something strange is going on here," she added as she gave me a suspicious look, "And this time it's not me."

  I took a deep breath then let out a little sigh before expining, "I had a difficult conversation with my boss this afternoon, and I ended up thinking about a lot of things while I was walking home."

  "A few months ago I didn't know that magic or supernatural beings were real," I continued. "Then I found out the truth, that this town is home to witches, werewolves, fae, and who knows what else. A few weeks ago I met you and learned genies were real too. Last week I discovered that my neighbour's kid got turned into a catgirl. And this afternoon I saw a squirrel-girl veterinarian."

  I slowly shook my head, "With all that going on outside our door, I realized it was kind of pointless for me to freak out every time my best friend throws a little magic around here and there."

  After a pause I added, "Although we do have to discuss a few rules. The big ones are no magic at work, and no more using magic on any of my coworkers. And as much as I appreciated your help on Saturday, I have to ask that you don't drop in on me while I'm working anymore. That's from my boss, not me."

  My genie was quiet for a few moments as all that sank in. Then she nodded, "Ok Vikki. I'll try and keep that in mind."

  "Thank you," I gave her a smile. Then my expression became serious again as I added, "Actually there's something else I wanted to talk with you about. I was going to wait until after dinner, but maybe we should do this now."

  "What is it?" Jenna asked nervously. "This sounds serious."

  I nodded, "It's maybe a little serious. Something else Ms. Rhodes mentioned this afternoon made me realize, I've been kind of clueless about a few things these st few days. I don't want to make any assumptions but it's finally dawned on me that you might have been dropping a bunch of hints since Friday, that went completely over my head at the time."

  After a slight hesitation I got to the point, "I guess I need to find out if you've really been hinting at those sorts of things and I missed it, or if I'm reading too much into things now."

  That nervous expression remained on Jenna's face, and instead of looking at me she ended up staring at the pink pony plushie across from us. She asked quietly, "What would happen if it turned out I really was hinting at stuff? Hypothetically speaking?"

  There were already some butterflies flitting around in my stomach by that point, but I forced myself to stay calm. I took another deep breath then replied quietly, "Hypothetically speaking, I guess I'd be fttered. Maybe a little surprised. Definitely embarrassed about missing all the obvious clues. Then..."

  My voice trailed off for a second or two as I thought it through one st time, while the butterflies in my belly all held their breath and waited. I finally finished my thought, "I guess I'd probably suggest you and I could go out somewhere nice for dinner tonight. Like a date, to make it official."

  Jenna was still staring at the plush pony, but her eyes widened and she bit her lower lip. The genie gulped, "A date? Like a date date? With me?"

  "Yeah," I nodded once. I was still fighting to stay calm, despite all the nervous excited butterflies that had started bouncing around inside. "Hypothetically speaking, if you've really been dropping all those hints, then I think we should go out on a date."

  My genie was quiet again for another second or two, as she continued staring wide-eyed at her pink plush pony. It was almost like a silent countdown though. Three. Two. One~

  "Aaaaaaaaaa!" she suddenly squealed as she began bouncing in her seat.

  She continued bouncing as she started a loud stream of non-stop excited chatter, "Vikki I'd love to go on a date with you! And yes! Yes I've been dropping hints since we first met! I was worried you weren't into me or that maybe I scared you away with my magic or maybe the whole not being human thing was too much for you to deal with but I knew I had to keep trying and sooner or ter you'd get it even if that meant eventually sending you some kind of engraved invitation or hiring a skywriter to spell it out in hundred foot letters or -"

  "Ok!" I ughed as I wrapped an arm around her. I pulled her into a side-hug to try and get her to stop bouncing then said, "Give me a few minutes to get changed into something nice, and fix my make-up. Then we can go out on our date, all right?"

  "Of course Vikki!" she nodded happily. Then to ensure her feelings on the matter were crystal clear she practically vibrated as she squealed again, "Eeeeeeeee!"

  I smiled and gave her a gentle squeeze before I let go and got to my feet. I only made it a few steps towards the bedroom though before I stopped and turned towards her again.

  "Jenna are my clothes still in magical limbo?" I asked. "And if so, could you please return them so I can get ready?"

  She offered, "Are you sure? You know I can just poof you into whatever outfit you want. Make-up too!"

  "Not for our first date," I shook my head. "I don't know, it feels like a ritual or something? There's an emotional thing for me, about getting ready for a date. Especially a first date, and I don't want to miss that."

  "Oh," she frowned slightly as she seemed to think about that for a second or two.

  Then she flicked her wrist in the direction of the bedroom as she replied, "Ok Vikki, all done."

  "Thanks Jenna," I smiled, before disappearing into my bedroom.

  Sure enough she'd restored my clothes, but not my closet. Mount Plushmore still dominated that corner of the room. Instead she'd relocated some of the pillows along one wall to make room for a pair of open clothes racks. They were the sort of thing you'd see on TV or movies, like in a costume department back stage somepce.

  All my clothes were there, even the stuff I'd had in my dresser was either hanging up or neatly folded and sitting on little hanging shelves. There were even cubby holes with all my shoes.

  It didn't take long for me to pick out what I wanted, but I still took my time actually getting changed. I started with a matching bra and panties set, and some sheer tights. Then I went for a cute little vender skirt and a white short-sleeve blouse with some subtle flower patterns stitched into the trim. Finally I picked a pair of low-heeled white shoes that looked good while still being ok for walking.

  After that I spent a bit of time in the bathroom, making sure my hair was just right and redoing my make-up. That took a little while, and over-all it was probably a good three quarters of an hour before I was all finished and ready to go.

  I headed back out to the living-room then stopped and smiled, "Wow Jenna! You look great!"

  She'd swapped the jeans and t-shirt she was wearing earlier for a cute little bck dress. She also had some low heels on simir to mine, but in bck instead of white. And she'd even styled her hair and done her make-up as well. Of course she did it all with magic, but that's what she was used to.

  "You look beautiful Vikki," she replied as she looked me up and down, and from the expression on her face I knew she meant it.

  After a second or two of us both just staring happily at each other I finally gestured towards the door, "Shall we go? I hope you don't mind a little walk, the restaurant I have in mind is ten or fifteen minutes away."

  "Ok Vikki," she nodded slowly as she continued staring at me.

  As we set out from the apartment building I reached out and took her hand in mine, and Jenna let out another little squeal of joy. She looked almost giddy, with a big goofy grin on her face as the two of us walked hand in hand together. Although to be fair I was pretty happy too, and by the time we got to the restaurant my cheeks might have been a tiny bit sore from smiling so much.

  The pce was over on First, a few blocks north of the office. It wasn't the fanciest restaurant in town but the food was good and they prided themselves on using all local seasonal ingredients in their menu.

  Some nights you needed reservations to get in, but being a Monday evening they weren't actually all that busy. There were only a few other customers there when Jenna and I arrived. An older couple sat by the windows, a group of four was in one of the booths towards the back, and there were a couple young women sitting across from each other at a table off to the side.

  Jenna and I got a booth near the front, but sat down beside each other on one side rather than across from each other with the table in the way. She was still almost buzzing with excitement as the two of us looked at our menus. And to make it a little more special, I suggested we could get a bottle of wine with our meal.

  Soon enough we pced our orders, there was a basket of fresh-baked bread and some whipped herbed butter on the table, and we each had a gss of wine in hand.

  "So we're officially on our very first date," Jenna commented in a quiet but obviously excited voice. "Does that mean we're girlfriends?"

  I smiled as I had a sip of my wine. Then I nodded, "You know what? I think it does."

  Jenna's happy squeal was loud enough to startle half the other people in the restaurant, but I didn't mind. At least she didn't poof up streamers and confetti.

  PurpleCatGirl