Whether my mouth was open from astonishment or to
say something, I’m not sure but I finally caught the twinkle
in his eye.
“Djin rummy. Cute. This is a gag, right?”
“Right as rain!” the Djin acknowledged, beaming at me
with a disarming smile. “Had you going for a minute, didn’t
I?”
I started to nod, but he was still going strong.
“Thought we might as well get started on the right foot.
I figure anyone who owns me has got to have a sense of
humor. Might as well find out first thing, ya know? Say,
what’s yer name, anyway?”
He was talking so fast I almost missed the opening. In
fact, I would have if he hadn’t paused and looked expectantly
at me.
“What? Oh! I’m Skeeve. I …”
“Skeeve, huh? Funny name for a Pervert.”
My response was reflexive.
“That’s Per-vect. And I’m not. I mean, I’m not one.”
The Djin cocked his head and squinted at me.
“Really? You sure look like one. Besides, I’ve never
met anyone who wasn’t a Perver . . . excuse me, Pervect
. . . who would argue the difference.”
It was sort of a compliment. Anyway, 1 took it as one.
It’s always nice to know when your spells are working.
“It’s a disguise,” I said. “I figured it was the only way
to operate on Perv without getting hassled by the natives.”
“Perv!”
Kalvin seemed genuinely upset.
“By the gods, Affendi, what are we doing here?”
“Affendi?”
“Sure. You’re the Affendi, I’m the Offender. It’stradition
among Djins. But that’s beside the point. You haven’t
MYTH-NOMERS AND IM-PERVECTIONS 15
answered my question. How did an intelligent lad such as
yourself end up in this godforsaken dimension?”