TANSTAV part 9

Chapter Three part 3

Xenobia Keller (or Xen) is- well, technically, she's not my girlfriend.  My parents disapprove of our even being friends, because she's only half-gargoyle (her father is a Yoon), and an artist, to boot.  The funny thing about my family: to put it nicely, we're old-fashioned, and to put it truthfully, we're snobs.  My father is this big politician in the monster world, and has these ideas about "preserving purity of the species," and "unsullied blood," and a whole bunch of rubbish like that.  But, having known Xen basically all my life, I feel that species or blood doesn't matter worth a darn in this world.  This difference of opinion is part of what has led to my father and I barely speaking to each other in the past two years.  And, since my relationship with him is already strained, I usually avoid bringing up Xen in conversation (since he usually starts ranting about what a bad influence she is), and certainly never call her my girlfriend.  If he knew the strength of our relationship, he would explode with rage.  And as entertaining as that would be, he would probably disinherit me first.  I like having a little money on the side for when Ishida is slow with my paycheck.

Xen, due to her Dark Fae blood, is smaller and more delicately-boned than most gargoyles, coming up to my shoulder.  She hates the fact that she looks fragile, since she is personally tough as nails.  Her hands and feet are rather big, and she can climb like a Yoon, which I think is awesome.  Other indications of her heritage are her hair, eyes, wings, and tail.  Not that there's anything odd about her having them.  But her hair is red on top, and brown on the bottom.  It looks like she dyes it, but she doesn't.  Typically she leaves it at shoulder length, which I love.  Her eyes are a beautiful shade of purple, and look huge in her small, heart-shaped face.  Xen's wings are brown and furry, and her tail has brown stripes, like a lemur.  Lastly, Xen has the healing powers of a Yoon; however, her blood and tears can only be used on gargoyles.

Without preamble, I swept Xen into a hug.  Because of our different schedules, I hardly ever got to see her.  I tried to enjoy every opportunity I got; burying my face in her hair, I inhaled the lovely scent of her wild rose shampoo.  I heard her give a small, contented sigh as her fingers played with some of the hairs on the back of my neck.  When we finally came apart, she said, "Good to see you too, Tristan."

"Thanks.  Now...what was the question again?"

Xen rolled her eyes.  "What were those people here for?"

"It's a long story.  It's a small issue with a case."  With that, I related the events of the day.

"Three weeks?"  Xen was as flabbergasted as I had been.

"I know.  But under the circumstances, it was the best deal I was likely to get out of him.  I'm thinking of having her see Doc Higgins."

"The shrink?" she asked skeptically.

"He's not that bad!  He helped Larry, didn't he?"

"Yeah, but he's had almost a year! It will take years for the kid to fully recover from this!"

"Ishida doesn't care how much recovered she is, just so long as she can talk to him about what happened."

"That heartless, cruel-" Xen stopped herself before she could call him something naughty.  I thought he deserved it, but admired her self control.

Suddenly, Xen asked me, "When did you eat last?"  She gave me a disapproving frown.

"Last night!" I protested.

"And you haven't had breakfast yet?!" Xen was horrified.  "It's almost noon!  I'll make you some soup."

"You don't have to-"

"Tristan, you are not starving yourself.  I forbid it.  Both you and Calla, when she wakes up, are going to have some food in you, if I have to break every bone in your body!"

With that, she went to the kitchen, and began digging through my cupboards.  We've known each other long enough for her to do breaches of etiquette like that.

"When is the last time you went shopping?!" she scolded.  I shrugged; typically I don't worry much about things like that when I'm working.

Despite my deficiencies in foodstuffs, Xen was able to scrounge up salt, pepper, an old can of chicken broth, and a cooking pot and spoon.  She went to her apartment, which is next door to mine (conveniently enough), and brought back celery, a green onion, soy sauce, minced garlic, ground ginger, eggs, and noodles.  Setting these down, she scrubbed down my kitchen, and then started cooking.  Soon delicious smells were emanating from the pot as she tossed in and stirred different ingredients.  As she stirred the soup, I came up behind her.  Gently I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and then stroked her neck, feeling her shiver.

"You're beautiful," I whispered in her pointed ear.  I traced her jaw with my claws.

"And you are being very distracting," Xen scolded (though she did smile).

"Sorry."  Caressing the side of her face one last time, I moved away to the sofa, so I could watch her from a distance.

Finally, the soup was done.  Xen ladled out two bowls, turned off the stove, and brought our dinner over, along with two spoons.  After saying grace, we dug in.  Let me tell you something: Xen cooks the best food I have ever eaten.  She can make the simplest meal taste like heaven, just by adding a dash of pepper, or a sprig of rosemary, or something like that.  If she weren't focused so much on her art, she could be one of the greatest culinary chefs of the monster world.  Before I knew it, my bowl was empty, and I wanted more.  I quickly went and refilled the bowl.

"Don't forget to save some for Calla," Xen admonished.

"I dunno, this is so good, we should just eat it ourselves.  She need never know."

"Tristan..." Xen gave me a no-nonsense look.  I grinned impudently, and after a moment, Xen did too.

I finished the second helping, and started to get up for thirds.  Xen caught my tail in one hand.

"Oh, no you don't, Mister Greedyguts!"

I tried to tug free, but Xen is stronger than she looks.  So instead, I turned around and scooped her up, off the sofa.  Xen gave a mild exclamation of surprise, but did not seem especially displeased.  In fact, when I lowered my face to hers, she seemed as happy as I was.