Xavir
“Are you ready?”
Mia’s fingers fit between the spaces of my own as she gave my much larger hand a delicate yet firm squeeze. I was sure the gesture was meant to bring reassurance, and I refrained from commenting that perhaps she needed far more reassurance than I did.
I was not nervous.
My wife wanted me to meet her family, and I would attempt to please her with this, though it mattered not to me what they thought.
She was mine. My wife. I had fucked her, claimed her. Even if they did not like me, it would make no difference.
I was stealing her anyway.
Although, I could discern that this meant a lot to Mia. She wanted her family to like me. And she wanted me to like them.
So I would work hard on making an impression worthy of note. However, it was a strange sensation following Mia into her family home through the doors and into a dining area to find all heads swiveling to take the both of us in. First our joined hands and then my appearance.
It was a strange thing, because I was a Spymaster. I spent my existence hiding in the shadows. It was my comfort, my strength. It was what I had done to hide my true self from my wife, and yet now she was thrusting me into the light before dozens of eyes to take in my terrifying appearance.
I straightened, my wings snapping out and then against my back. My tail swished beneath me before curling around Mia’s bare leg. She had worn a dressy garment that swished against her legs all the way down to her ankles.
I did not like to see my wife so exposed for others to lay eyes upon her flesh, but it brought me comfort to know that she wore my mark on her neck and my fire in her chest.
And with her legs bare, it only meant ease of access to caress and touch her as much as I desired.
“Hello…” Mia greeted, pulling me deeper into the home.
It was rather large, and I did not have to hunch when I walked in.
However, I did tower over everyone currently present.
My gaze swept over the crowd that had gathered, shuffling slowly in our direction.
They eyed me with apprehension, and some with curiosity lighting their eyes.
Mia’s grip tightened on my own.
“Everyone, this is Xavir. My…” She paused, as if unsure what to say.
She had explained to me before arriving that not all human marriages were as ours.
There were lengthy courtships involved, among other rituals.
All very tedious, when one brimmed with impatience to taste their mate.
I, however, would go through the trials in the traditions of her family, if I could call her my wife before the world. “Fiancee,” she added the word quietly.
Her family burst into motion at the words. At first, it had been silence, and then an explosion of noise that made my wings ruffle.
They rushed at Mia, excited chatter filling the spaces where the silence once inhabited.
They came towards me, yanking us apart.
“You have a fiancee?” an older human woman asked.
If I stared hard enough, I could find similar features in her older, withered face within Mia’s as well.
“Yes.” Mia nodded enthusiastically, face blushing a delicate shade of crimson. “It’s all so new and sudden, but I wanted to share it with all of you.”
They turned to me, crowding around me.
“What is he?” the same older woman asked.
“Wai po! That’s not a nice question to ask,” Mia admonished, her mouth dropping open and appearing slightly scandalized.
They had never seen anyone quite like me. They were all human, after all. Although, I caught the scent of something other and wolfish in the room.
I bowed low in the woman’s–her wai po’s–direction.
“I am Xavir,” I said, straightening. “I am a gargoyle, and I hail from the Underworld.”
There was silence after my proclamation. They stared at me, mouth agape.
Someone in the back called out, “Where’s that at?”
I blinked slowly, unsure of how to answer.
“Is it in Europe?” someone else asked. My head swiveled in their direction.
“Ah, European! That’s why he’s so tall.”
“But what’s his job?”
At that question, every head turned in my direction. The humans all seemed to stand on the tips of their toes, leaning in my direction and waiting for my response.
“I am Spymaster of Shadows, servant and informant to my King of Hell, and Second General of the Legions of the Underworld.” I took a bow, the same way I had done when revealing my title to Mia.
Silence followed.
A young human male at the back blurted out, “So, like, the CIA?”
“I do not know of this see I a.” Humans had many strange expressions.
“He’s a soldier?” someone else commented, looking my body a thorough once over from the tips of my horns down to the claws at my feet. “Yes, a soldier.”
“Ooooh,” sounds echoed through the room, though I could not ascertain if they were positive or not, or if I had made an impression upon Mia’s family as she wanted.
My eyes sought hers, looking for that confirmation that I had pleased her and them. When our gazes collided, she smiled warmly at me, and my chest began to glow.
“Ooh, he comes with a night light!”
“Congratulations, Mia!”
“You found yourself a soldier!”
“A CIA agent, so cool!”
“But is he rich?”
Heads turned to look at me once again.
“Rich?” My head turned to the side.
“Yeah, like money? Jewels? Inheritance?”
Ah, I understood.
Humans put much value upon materialistic things. Nazzar had commented this, and I had prepared myself for the eventuality.
“I have gold,” I told them. “And jewels, coins and currency hoarded away from my travels. It is Mia’s, should she wish it.”
They all cooed over that information, seeming even more delighted at those words.
Their voices rose around us, and I suddenly found myself being pulled into the center of many people. I towered over them all and closed my wings against my back to avoid harming them with them.
Within moments, I was being pushed towards a table, hands pulling me down so I sat in a chair that was uncomfortable for my wings and tail, causing me to hunch in place.
Mia was placed at my side, and suddenly, as if by magic, food began to appear before us. The elder women of her family placed plates and trays of spiced food, rice, meats, and soups all around us.
Mia’s hand reached for mine and she smiled up at me. My wife.
“They accept you,” she whispered. “And our marriage.”
I flashed her a smile, feeling elated at the very thought.
“They did not say so.”
Mia’s lips softened and she gestured at the feast before us. “They won’t,” she said. “They’ll tell us in other ways.” Then she was reaching for long, thin metal sticks that she slipped between her fingers and used to grab food and place it upon a smaller plate. “Now,” she said. “Let’s eat.”