"We can discuss things somewhere else, if you'd like, but unfortunately it will mean that I can't guarantee the presence of tea and comfortable chairs. Which seems rather a terrible loss for complicated explanations such as these."

"The part that does not seem like a very good idea is the part where we follow you calmly to wherever you might be leading us," Zheras explains—not as if the guy's five, but as if this can be a pretty reasonable thing for someone to miss and he's pointing it out for their benefit.

"Reasonable enough precautions," shrugs the sorcerer. He promptly sits on the ground and looks at the two of them expectantly. "Would you like to begin with questions, or I an explanation?"

"Why is he part djinn!!!"

"Because I managed to talk a very bored djinn into a risky experimental ritual for the novelty of the experience. The ring is a remote monitoring device tied to his," he points a thumb at Zheras, "necklace. For monitoring how he settles after the aforementioned risky experimental ritual, and also for tracking in case someone were to, oh. Attempt to escape with him out the side door at the drop of a hat." He raises his eyebrows. "Other questions?"

"He found the contract my human self signed, and it did not mention a djinn," Zheras points out, taking a seat, too.

"Yes, because your existence is a state secret. Your human half was informed of the full situation beforehand, but the paper signed did not disclose the full details of it, because we would rather not have it getting out to the general riff-raff of the populace."

Quael succumbs to peer pressure and grumpily also sits.

"Why didn't the djinn have a consent form, though!"

"Djinn," explains the man as if he's talking to a five year old, "do not know how to read. Or write. Or sign consent forms."

"Huh. Do we—they—not?"

"No. They traditionally communicate to one another through flavors and shapes of fire, with variants in dialect, and sometimes they will go through the trouble of learning human vocabulary if they have the time and patience. Most do not, however, seeing humans as not really worth all the trouble of learning such a distasteful language."

"How did you communicate with my djinn self, then?"

"A great deal of patience and creative use of chemistry. I was a curiosity, we worked out a rudimentary system of communication, the rest came after."

"Sounds difficult to ensure I had understood everything that had happened."

"I am an exceptionally patient man. But you're the one who is one half of the being I spoke to, do you feel particularly put out at your situation?"

"...well, no, not as such. Clothes are weird, I guess, and it is not as warm as I would prefer."

"I apologize for both inconveniences. If you'd like, I don't particularly mind if you remove your clothes, though heating up the room is rather a bit complicated by having two humans in it, I'm afraid."

Quael splutters.

"Quael would prefer I stay clothed, and it is not that much of an inconvenience," he says, shrugging.

"As you like, then. Any further questions I can help clear up?"

He looks at Quael.

"Am I, uh. Super fired."

"For releasing a dangerous magical amnesiac out of the warded and safe container, and then attempting to smuggle him outside of the building? Yes, I'm afraid so. That's rather the sort of thing that results in unemployment here. But I understand your position, and apologize for the miscommunication and mis-scheduling that led to it, and you will not be faced with any criminal charges. Though, I can't guarantee that anyone associated with magic will want to hire you after this debacle."

Wince. "Right."

"I... would prefer he stay around, if possible? It seems unfair to him, he thought he was doing the right thing and as far as he could see I was not dangerous."