Peorth sat comfortably in her floating chair in the privacy of the Earth Assistance Hotline's Citadel. She had only recently returned to duty after having been out on disability. It felt good to be able to grant wishes once again to the mortals who deserved them. She had felt totally useless, her powers suppressed and form reduced by the demon Velsper. That the Almighty had not chosen to restore her was perplexing. He had not told her so, but she felt that it may have been some punishment for underestimating the first class demon in the first place. After he had hacked into Yggdrasil in his own unique way, Peorth herself had chased him all the way to Earth.

An internal line rang onto her console.

"Peorth_sama?" asked a familiar voice.

"Ere," the brunette goddess said icily. She was still hurt that the subordinate goddesses had taken delight in mocking her during her time of weakness. Ere had not been the only culprit, there were scores of colleagues and peers who found Peorth being trapped in a child's body very amusing.

"A wish call to the Goddess Relief Office is being rerouted to our agency. They're on divert."

"I can only imagine why. Amateurs," the goddess of forever sighed. "But luckily for our caller, he'll get he very best of service. It's better to deal with EAH than GRO especially when the call comes from Earth!"

Ere chuckled. "Standy for transfer."

"Earth Assistance Hotline," Peorth answered huskily.

"Hello? I'm looking for Belldandy…"

Her brow furrowed in shock and annoyance. "Belldandy of the Norns? She's on indefinite leave."

"Oh," he sounded disappointed.

"Fear not, I'll take care of you."

She hung up the receiver and scowled. "What is this?"

The darkened room filled with the strobe flash from a disposable Fuji camera, sitting on a cluttered dresser top. Seemingly defying the laws of physics, a female form took shaped from an energy stream emanating from the small lens. Peorth, clad in a black tube top, white bikini bottoms with her name and symbol written on the back, brown harness and boots appeared before a black haired, brown eyed Asian male named Thien "Tippy" Nguyen. Almost immediately, he flicked on a bedside lamp, and unlike most wishe grantees, he didn't appear the least bit shocked.

Peorth sized her client up and suppressed a giggle. He was wearing nothing under his sheets.

"Hello sailor, new in town?" she asked.

"Huh?" he gave her a puzzled look.

"Sorry," she smiled. "I always wanted to use that line."

"Are you an angel?" he gave her back a line he always wanted to ask, one from Star Wars: Episode One. He did like to quote stuff from movies, a unique character trait.

Peorth tried to read his mind and only saw the fifty US states in alphabetical order.

Clever, she thought. "I am Peorth of the roses," she did a punup pose, one hand behind her head and the other on her left hip. "Goddees First Class, Type Two, Unlimited. I'm no angel, but I have one to answer your query."

Tippy got out of his bed, making sure to keep his sheets wrapped around him. He knelt down on the floor and bowed his head. "Your servant awaits your command, milady."

He was treating this like Renaissance Fair and knew she might not pick that up.

"You may rise," she insisted with a smirk. "I appreciate your worship, but that is not why I have appeared to you."

He clutched the sheet and stood, realizing she was only a couple inches shorter than him. Her allure and beauty felt over powering. He noticed she had strange markings on her forehead and beneath her eyes, something he had seen before in Belldandy. In Peorth, he had never seen more lovely eyes.

"I feel so unworthy of your attention, I am humbled," he whispered.

The goddess scowled then outstretched her hand. "Peorth Rose Storm!"

A barrage of thorny multicolored roses flew in many directions at Tippy, causing him to fall backwards onto his double bed and losing the sheet in the process.

"Do you think you're dreaming, boy?" she asked, looming over him.

"I don't know," he tried to shield himself from another barrage.

"Well, you're not. I am from the Earth Assistance Hotline and have come to bless you with a wish. Do not take me lightly or find reason to disrespect me!"

Her steel glare turned to amusement at the sight of his nakedness. Tippy flushed then grabbed a pillow, trying to cover himself.

"Will this wish last forever? Can I have it in writing?" he asked boldly.

"It will be logged with Yggdrasil and I will give you a rose as a reminder of our contract," she said dryly. "Takes all kinds," she said aside to herself.

"Let me sleep on it, baby let me sleep on it," he quoted to her. "I'll give you an answer in the morning."

"Fine," she nodded, surprising him.

There was awkward silence.

"Do goddesses sleep?"

"We can when we're in this realm," she smiled.

"Listen, I can give you the bed, I'll throw some fresh linen on it and use the couch in the living room."

"I assume you live with other people?" she looked at pictures on his desktop.

"Yeah, I have a roommate and he won't understand your nature."

"So, you're suggesting we make a cover story?"

He nodded sheepishly.

"What do you do for a living?"

"I have two jobs, one at a Resort and Spa, the other at a restaurant."

"Let's say I'm a coworker of yours as well as a paramour!"

He slipped into a pair of boxers and retrieved some clean sheets from the closet.

"I prefer red satin," she told him and transmuted what he had into her choice.

"How powerful are you?" he gasped.

"Enough to grant wishes," she smirked, helping him make up the bed.

"Waitaminute!" her expression changed and her eyes narrowed. Grabbing him, she threw him to the mattress and pinned him down. "Why were you calling Belldandy?"

Come to think of it, how did his call get catergorized as a wish?

He pointed to a small business card by his telephone. Peorth snatched it and read Belldandy's name, title, and contact information.

"I need to use your phone," she frowned.

Ten minutes passed. He heard her talk animatedly with someone named Freya then hang up with a scowl on her face.

"Look, I didn't mean to offend you or make light of anything…" he began.

"Tippy, I spoke with my boss and she tells me you summoned Belldandy a few years ago."

He nodded warily. "She granted me a wish."

"That your sister would recover from cysts on her ovaries, a selfless act," she said warmly.

"Why were you trying to call her after all this time?"

He looked down. "I don't know. I guess she's someone who was hard to forget. I haven't stopped thinking about her since that day. I've never been able to get through to that number anyway."

Peorth nodded in understanding. Then she gave him a big smile. "Well, now you can wish for something for you!"

"I get another wish?" he asked incredulous.

She nodded.

"Like I said, I'll sleep on it and tell you in the morning, okay?" he asked.

"Very well. Bonne nuit."

He gave her a shy smile then left his room, leaving her to her thoughts.

Peorth stared at Belldandy's business card and crumpled it up. "So it would seem she left a broken heart in her wake. I have an idea what he'll wish for and I'll make him forget about her."

She curled up in the bed and drifted off to a very peaceful sleep.

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